28: Chapter 28 The Final Connection Between Reality and Virtual Reality

The cold sensation of metal pressed against the back of her neck. Kate's fingertips still rested on the Enter key of the console, the thin calluses on her pads brushing against the chilly keycap, bringing a slight sting. She could smell the strong scent of disinfectant on the security guard, mixed with a faint hint of gunpowder, and the barrel of the gun pressed against her temple; that cold, hard reality was seeping into her skin inch by inch.

"Put down what's in your hands and turn around." The security captain's voice was like tempered ice, carrying an authoritative tone that brooked no argument. Behind him, two guards had already raised their Electromagnetic Pulse Guns, their dark muzzles aimed at the core motherboard of the console. If the triggers were pulled, this machine, which maintained the connection between Lin Fan's consciousness and reality, would turn into a pile of scrap metal in an instant.

Kate's breath hitched for a moment, her peripheral vision sweeping over the flickering green data stream on the screen. It was the curve of Lin Fan's consciousness fluctuations, which had just undergone a violent shock and was currently in an extremely unstable state. Her gaze fell on the countdown in the bottom right corner—thirty seconds left. In just thirty seconds, she could finish inputting the final command, synchronizing the real-world coordinate data to the administrator terminal in the virtual space, tearing open a crack for Lin Fan to escape.

"I'll say it again, put it down!" The security captain's voice suddenly rose, the muzzle pressing even tighter. Kate could even feel the texture of the metal gun body digging into her skin.

Her fingers curled slightly, nails digging deep into her palm. Her gaze went past the guard's shoulder, falling on the scene outside the glass window—under the gray sky stood a forest of steel skyscrapers. Giant electronic screens flickered on the buildings, looping advertisements for the Victor Group. Behind the glamorous images were countless NPCs controlled by consciousness, sacrifices who, like Michael, had become puppets of code.

A very faint, determined smile tugged at the corner of Kate's mouth. She didn't lower her hands; instead, she pressed her fingertips heavily onto the Enter key.

"Buzz—"

The console emitted a low hum, and the data stream on the screen instantly boiled over. The green characters were like a tide breaking free from its shackles, frantically washing over the entire interface. The countdown in the bottom right corner instantly hit zero, and a line of striking large red characters jumped out—[Coordinate synchronization complete! Consciousness Channel opening...]

"You're asking for death!" The security captain's pupils constricted as he roared and pulled the trigger.

Kate closed her eyes. The characteristic hum of the Electromagnetic Pulse Gun reached her ears, along with the crisp sound of console components bursting. She could feel a wave of scorching heat rushing toward her, and deep within her consciousness, the faint bond connected to Lin Fan was vibrating frantically.

With a smile on her face, she used the last of her strength to whisper into the communicator, "Lin Fan, survive."

The moment the gunshot rang out, the console screen shattered completely. Glass shards splattered onto her cheek, leaving a thin trail of blood. But her finger remained in the position of having pressed Enter, like a frozen statue.

Meanwhile, in the virtual world.

The sky was falling.

Lin Fan stood in the central plaza of the the Underworld, watching helplessly as the dome above was torn apart as if by an invisible giant hand. Shattered metal plates, engulfed in billowing thick smoke, crashed down. Distant skyscrapers were collapsing frantically, fragments of reinforced concrete falling like rain. The ground split into hideous fissures, and crimson lava surged from the cracks, enveloping the entire city in a purgatory-like firelight.

"Run!" Franklin's roar was drowned out by the deafening sound of the collapse. He grabbed Lin Fan's arm, trying to drag him away from the danger zone, only to find Lin Fan's body seemed nailed to the ground, unable to move.

Trevor leaned behind a section of broken wall, his submachine gun already out of bullets. He looked at the apocalyptic scene before him, watching the NPCs wailing in the collapse, his eyes filled with despair. "What the hell is going on? What did that bastard Victor do?"

Lin Fan didn't answer. He could feel a bizarre change occurring in his body.

Countless lines of blue code were continuously seeping out from his fingertips and pores, like living vines wrapping around his limbs and climbing up his neck. The code carried a bone-chilling coldness, burrowing into his blood vessels and flowing through his entire body with the blood, bringing a suffocating pain.

He looked down at his palms. The skin, which had been clearly flesh and blood, was bit by bit becoming transparent, revealing the crisscrossing blue data streams beneath. He could clearly see his bones and internal organs being eroded by code, turning into nothingness piece by piece.

"Permissions... Administrator permissions are being stripped..." Lin Fan's voice was as raspy as sandpaper rubbing together. With every word he spoke, code spilled from the corners of his mouth. "Victor... he's reclaiming the code of the entire virtual world."

Franklin's face instantly turned pale. He finally understood that Victor never intended to fight them for permissions from the start. What Victor wanted was to destroy this world, to destroy everything, including himself.

"Why..." Lin Fan stumbled back a step, his knees hitting the scorching ground hard. The heat of the lava burned his skin through the thin fabric of his pants, but he couldn't feel the slightest pain. His consciousness was becoming blurred, and the scene before him began to distort. The collapsing buildings and surging lava were all turning into strings of junk code.

He looked up at the gray sky beyond the shattered dome. That sky was exactly the same as the real-world sky Kate had once shown him.

Deep within his consciousness, the bond connected to Kate was gradually weakening, like a candle in the wind that could go out at any moment.

Lin Fan's heart felt as if it were being squeezed by an invisible hand, the pain making it hard for him to breathe. He thought of Kate's smile, the things she had said over the communicator, and her final, tearful "survive."

"Kate..." Lin Fan's voice carried a hint of a sob. More and more code spilled out, almost about to swallow him whole. "Is this... the end?"

Franklin rushed over, wanting to hold him, only to find his hands passing right through Lin Fan's body. The blue code was like water, flowing through his fingertips, carrying a cold despair.

"No! Lin Fan! Hold on!" Franklin's eyes turned red as he shouted frantically. "The channel! The channel Kate mentioned! We can still get out!"

Lin Fan shook his head, a bitter smile tugging at his lips. He could feel the Consciousness Channel closing. Victor's code was frantically devouring everything, including the crack that had just opened.

Just then, a sharp sound of metal grinding suddenly came from the other side of the plaza.

Lin Fan turned his head with difficulty and saw a rusty mechanical arm struggling to emerge from the collapsed ruins. It was a discarded mechanical arm from Victor's lab; someone had started it up, and it was moving unsteadily toward the center of the plaza.

At the end of the mechanical arm was a charcoal pencil. It was writing something, stroke by stroke, on the scorching ground.

Because of the ground's vibration, the handwriting was crooked and even a bit blurry. But Lin Fan recognized it at a glance.

It was four letters—HELP

Franklin and Trevor saw it too. Their bodies stiffened abruptly, their eyes filled with shock.

Lin Fan's pupils constricted, his heart feeling as if it had been struck by a heavy hammer.

This wasn't something from the virtual world.

This was a mechanical arm from the real world.

It was Kate.

Kate was controlling it.

Deep within his consciousness, that faint bond suddenly erupted with a burst of intense light. Lin FanIt seems like I can see, in the real-world lab, Kate was surrounded by guards, yet still used the last of her strength to control this discarded mechanical arm to send him a signal.

Tears finally slid down Lin Fan's cheeks. The scalding tears hit the ground with a sizzle, but they couldn't wash away the cold code.

He looked at those four crooked letters, watching the mechanical arm stubbornly remain there before the falling debris could crush it, as if it were waiting for something.

Just then, a burst of arrogant laughter suddenly echoed throughout the entire virtual world.

The laughter carried unconcealed triumph and madness, like a whisper from hell, drilling into everyone's ears.

"Lin Fan, you lost."

Victor's voice.

Lin Fan jerked his head up and looked toward the sky.

There, the originally shattered dome was slowly healing. Countless lines of black code, like a spider web, wrapped around the broken metal plates, stitching them back together. And right in the center of the dome, a black figure was slowly emerging.

Victor floated in mid-air, wearing a black trench coat with an arrogant smile on his face. Countless lines of black code swirled around his body like living venomous snakes, flicking their tongues and emitting a dangerous aura.

"You thought that by getting administrator permissions, you could beat me?" Victor's laughter grew louder, carrying an almost frenzied pleasure. "You thought Kate's little trick could open a Consciousness Channel? How naive!"

He reached out and made a light grasping motion toward Lin Fan below.

Lin Fan's body jolted violently as a severe sense of suffocation instantly swept over him. The spilled code, as if receiving some kind of summons, frantically poured back into his body. He could feel his consciousness being crushed mercilessly, as if it were about to be ground into powder.

"This world is my creation." Victor's voice carried a God-like arrogance. "All the rules, all life, are under my control. You, Michael, and Franklin are nothing more than pawns on my chessboard."

"If I let you live, you live; if I let you die, you die."

Franklin's eyes looked ready to burst. He picked up a stone from the ground and hurled it at Victor. But before the stone could even touch the corner of Victor's coat, it was shattered by a line of black code, turning into dust.

"Victor! You lunatic!" Franklin roared, his voice filled with powerlessness.

Trevor's fists were clenched tight, nails digging into his flesh, blood dripping from between his fingers. He looked at Victor floating in mid-air, then at Lin Fan being devoured by the code, his eyes filled with despair.

Lin Fan knelt on the ground, his body becoming more and more transparent, almost merging with the code. His breathing became increasingly difficult, and his consciousness was slowly dissipating.

He could see Victor's triumphant face, hear his arrogant laughter, and feel his life slipping away bit by bit.

Deep within his consciousness, Kate's voice, Michael's voice, Franklin's, and Trevor's voices intertwined like a song of despair.

"Survive..."

"Don't let me die in vain..."

"Who the hell is playing who in this crappy game..."

A very faint smile suddenly tugged at the corner of Lin Fan's mouth.

He looked up at Victor, the despair in his eyes gone, replaced by a near-frenzied determination.

At his fingertips, one last line of blue code remained.

It was the real-world coordinate data Kate had synchronized to him.

Victor seemed to sense something, and the smile on his face stiffened slightly. "What are you trying to do?"

Lin Fan didn't speak. He used the last of his strength to clench that line of code tightly in his palm.

An intense light instantly erupted from within his body.

The light was too dazzling, like a rising sun, illuminating the entire purgatory-like virtual world.

Victor's scream echoed through the sky.

(End of Chapter)