39: Chapter 39 Simultaneous Strike in Reality and Virtual Reality

The sunset of Los Santos had not yet fully dipped below the horizon, and the golden afterglow had just bathed the rebuilt streets when a sudden tremor swept through the entire city. The glass curtain walls of the high-rises began to crack, and pale blue data streams seeped from the fissures like eerie tear tracks. Vehicles on the streets inexplicably floated, the screeching sound of tires against the ground ceased abruptly, and they instantly dissolved into countless specks of light. The NPCs, who had just regained their vitality, screamed in terror; some reached out to grab their companions, but their fingertips passed directly through the other's body—the foundation of the virtual world began to experience an irreversible collapse the moment the Prophet's Core Terminal was destroyed.

Lin Fan sat slumped on the floor of the City Hall's top floor, his chest still heaving, when dense red warning codes suddenly popped up on the terminal screen, and a piercing alarm sound penetrated his eardrums. He stood up abruptly, looked at the chaotic scene outside the window, and his heart tightened suddenly: "What's going on? The Core Terminal has already been destroyed, why is the world collapsing?"

"Fool, do you think destroying one terminal can end everything?" A cold voice suddenly exploded in the empty room. Pale blue data streams surged wildly in front of Lin Fan, gradually condensing into the figure of the Prophet. At this moment, the Prophet was no longer in his previous white robe; his body flickered on and off, countless codes flowed across his skin, and the expression on his face was distorted and ferocious. "I am symbiotic with the data streams of Los Santos. If the terminal is destroyed, I will dissipate, but this world will be buried along with me!"

Lin Fan gripped the assault rifle in his hands tightly and chambered a round, aiming at the Prophet: "Are you crazy? What good will destroying this world do you?"

"Good?" The Prophet sneered, his figure suddenly teleporting in front of Lin Fan, his fingertips condensing into a sharp stream of data that thrust toward Lin Fan's throat. "If I can't have it, no one else can either! Do you think you've won? You've only destroyed your only place of refuge!"

Lin Fan instinctively dodged to the side. The data stream grazed his neck, punching a large hole through the wall behind him, and gravel mixed with code fragments fell with a rustle. He seized the opportunity to fire, but the bullets passed directly through the Prophet's body, causing no damage—at this moment, the Prophet had completely transformed into a pure data entity, and physical attacks were useless against him.

"It's useless. In the data space, I am the rules!" The Prophet's voice carried a manic laugh. With a wave of his hands, countless data streams attacked from all directions, binding Lin Fan tightly. "Don't you want to protect this world? Then sink into oblivion with me!"

The data streams tightened around Lin Fan's limbs like steel cables, and a bone-chilling cold spread across his skin, his consciousness showing signs of blurring once again. He could clearly feel his body being digitized, and his fingertips had already started to become transparent. "Let go of me!" Lin Fan roared, mobilizing the last of the system energy within him in an attempt to break free from the restraints, but the Prophet's power was infinitely amplified in the data space; his resistance was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.

"Lin Fan! Hang in there!" Michael and Franklin's voices came through the communicator, accompanied by rapid footsteps. "We've brought people and are rushing up!"

Lin Fan struggled to look at the door and saw Michael and Franklin rushing in with a group of awakened NPCs. They raised their guns and fired at the Prophet, but still could not harm him in the slightest. Instead, they were hit by the data streams the Prophet swiped out; several NPCs instantly turned into specks of light and dissipated, while Michael and Franklin were knocked back repeatedly, data-composed blood spilling from the corners of their mouths.

"Don't come over!" Lin Fan roared. "He's a data entity now, physical attacks are useless! Quickly take the brothers and leave here, the world is about to collapse!"

"If we leave, we leave together!" Michael, with red eyes, picked up the satchel charge on the ground and charged toward the Prophet. "Even if I turn into data, I'm taking you down with me!"

"You're courting death!" The Prophet's eyes turned cold, and a thick stream of data pierced directly through Michael's chest. Michael's body paused abruptly; he looked down at the transparent wound on his chest, an expression of disbelief on his face, and then his body began to turn transparent. "Lin Fan... take care of Franklin... take care of Los Santos..." He finished this sentence with difficulty and completely turned into countless specks of light, dissipating into the air.

"Michael!" Lin Fan's eyes were wide with rage, tears spilling uncontrollably from his eyes. That man who once suspected him of being an FBI mole, who had robbed convenience stores with him, who had escaped a five-star wanted level with him—that Michael, who was sharp-tongued but loyal and righteous—had just vanished before his eyes.

Franklin looked at the place where Michael had dissipated, trembling all over. He raised his machine gun and fired wildly, roaring: "Prophet! I will kill you!"

"Overestimating yourself." The Prophet snorted coldly and was about to attack Franklin when Lin Fan suddenly erupted with a powerful force, breaking free from the restraints of the data streams. His eyes were crimson, and he was surrounded by black system energy; this was the ultimate defense mechanism automatically activated by the system when it sensed a life-threatening crisis for the host.

"Prophet! I want you to pay with your life!" Lin Fan roared as he charged at the Prophet, his fist wrapped in black energy, smashing fiercely toward the other's head. This punch, carrying all his anger and grief, actually pierced directly through the Prophet's data body, causing him to emit a painful wail.

"Impossible! How can you hurt me?" The Prophet was full of shock. He could feel his data leaking away, and his body was becoming even more illusory.

Lin Fan did not answer, simply throwing punches continuously, each one carrying black energy, beating the Prophet's data body into fragments. Images of his time with Michael flashed through his mind: Michael pulling him into an alley to hide from the police when they first met, Michael cheering for him during an underground race, Michael roaring in the warehouse to wake up their assimilated brothers... The clearer those images became, the stronger his power grew.

"Enough!" The Prophet pushed Lin Fan away violently, his body retreating, a ferocious expression on his face. "Since you are courting death, I will take you into the core data space and let you watch with your own eyes as this world is destroyed!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the Prophet's body turned into a stream of light and rushed toward the wreckage of the Core Terminal in the center of the City Hall. Seeing this, Lin Fan immediately followed. He knew this was the only chance to completely deal with the Prophet, and even if it was a bottomless abyss ahead, he had to charge in.

Franklin looked at the direction where the two had disappeared, gritted his teeth, turned around, and roared at the remaining NPCs: "Brothers, take everyone and evacuate the core area of Los Santos! Head to the suburbs! Hurry!" After saying this, he also rushed toward the Core Terminal; he could not let Lin Fan fight alone.

Lin Fan followed the Prophet into the wreckage of the Core Terminal, and the scene before his eyes changed instantly. It was no longer a dilapidated room, but an endless white space, with a flowing river of code beneath his feet and twinkling stars of data streams overhead—this was the core data space of Los Santos, the source of the entire virtual world.

The Prophet's figure condensed in the center of the data space. His body was more solid than before, and he was surrounded by countless complex codes; those codes were the very basic programs that built Los Santos. "Welcome to the core data space, Lin Fan." The Prophet's voice echoed in the space. "This is the beginning of everything, and it will also be the end of everything."

Lin Fan looked around and discovered that the code here was constantly collapsing, and black cracks were beginning to appear in the white space. Clearly, the collapse of the virtual world had already spread to the core space. "What exactly do you want to do?"

"What do I want to do?" The Prophet laughed, his smile full of madness. "I want you to know the price of resisting me! Look at those codes, they are dissipating. It won't be long before Los Santos completely turns into nothingness, and all the NPCs, all the memories, will disappear! And you, you will be trapped here forever, watching all of this happen, yet powerless to do anything!"

Lin Fan's heart sank to the bottom. He could feel the collapse of the data space accelerating, and the black cracks were spreading toward him. He knew he had to defeat the Prophet as quickly as possible; perhaps there was still a chance to stop the world's collapse. "Don't dream! I won't let you succeed!"

He charged at the Prophet again, and the two engaged in a fierce duel within the data space. This time, it was no longer physical attacks, but a pure collision of code. Lin Fan mobilized the Code Editing ability unlocked by the system, his fingertips swiping, and countless red attack codes shot toward the Prophet; the Prophet, meanwhile, manipulated the white basic programs to construct layers of defensive barriers while simultaneously releasing black virus code to counterattack.

The red and white codes collided in the data space, erupting with blinding light, and the black cracks were illuminated by the light, appearing even more ferocious. Lin Fan's Code Editing ability was not yet proficient enough, and he gradually fell behind. The black energy on his body grew weaker and weaker, and he was hit by the Prophet's virus code several times, his consciousness beginning to blur with dizziness.

"Give up, Lin Fan." The Prophet's voice carried a hint of triumph. "Your Code Editing ability is still too immature. I am a program created by Victor himself; mastering the code of this world is more familiar to me than eating!"

"Victor?" Lin Fan's heart stirred as he caught the keyword. "You really do have a connection with Victor! Who exactly are you?"

"Who am I?" The Prophet's body suddenly began to change. The code on his skin flowed rapidly, gradually outlining a familiar face—sharp-edged contours, sinister eyes, and a mouth always carrying a calculating smile; it was none other than the person in charge of the Brain-Computer Interface experiment in the real world, Victor!

Seeing this face, Lin Fan's pupils constricted, and all his doubts were instantly resolved. No wonder the Prophet's code was so similar to Victor's, no wonder he could control the rules of the virtual world; it turned out that the Prophet was essentially Victor's consciousness avatar, a contingency plan Victor had left in the virtual world!

"That's right, I am Victor." The Prophet—no, it should be said, Victor's consciousness avatar—wore a triumphant smile. "The me in the real world is busy uploading human consciousness to a new server, building a perfect world under my control. And this place is merely my testing ground. You think your trans-migration into GTA5 was an accident? That was me selecting you! I wanted to see if a player with real-world memories could break the rules of the virtual world, and as it turns out, you really do have some ability; you actually managed to destroy my Core Terminal."

"It was you who caused all this!" Lin Fan was furious. "The computer explosion was your doing! Those comatose Brain-Computer Interface test Subjects were also your doing!"

"And what if it was?" Victor sneered. "Humans are inherently ignorant; they don't deserve freedom, they only deserve to be controlled by me! Once I complete the construction of the new server, all human consciousness will be imprisoned by me, and I will be the god of the new world! And you, Lin Fan, will be the first consciousness I imprison. I want you to watch with your own eyes how I rule over both worlds!"

[part:gemini-2.5-flash]

"Wishful thinking!" Lin Fan roared, mobilizing all his strength and unleashing all his Code Editing abilities in the system. This time, he was no longer limited to attacking code; instead, he began to tamper with the surrounding Core Code. He transformed the river of code beneath his feet into sharp blades and the data stars above his head into falling meteorites, smashing them towards Victor's consciousness avatar.

"Overestimating yourself!" Victor waved his hand, and the surrounding code instantly reorganized, blocking Lin Fan's attack. A black torrent of code condensed at his fingertips, rushing towards Lin Fan. "You think tampering with the Core Code can defeat me? I set all the code rules in this world!"

The torrent of code instantly engulfed Lin Fan, and a bone-chilling pain swept through his body. Lin Fan felt his consciousness being torn apart. His body began to turn transparent, his system energy was almost depleted, and a red battery warning popped up on the terminal screen, indicating it could shut down at any moment.

"Lin Fan! Hold on!" Franklin's voice suddenly came, and he had actually rushed into the Data Core Space as well, bearing many wounds, clearly having broken through numerous obstacles to get in. He raised his terminal and fired a white code towards Victor's consciousness avatar. It was interference code that he and the awakened NPCs had written together; although not powerful, it could briefly disrupt Victor's code manipulation.

"Annoying fellow!" Victor frowned, splitting off a portion of code to attack Franklin. Franklin was no match; he was instantly hit by the code, his body staggered backward, and data blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.

"Franklin, hurry and leave! This isn't a place for you!" Lin Fan shouted, not wanting to lose anyone else close to him.

"I'm not leaving!" Franklin shook his head, his eyes firm. "We are brothers; we live together, we die together!"

Looking at Franklin's determined eyes, Lin Fan felt a warmth in his heart, and a new surge of power emerged from deep within. He looked at Victor, his eyes filled with resolve: "You want to rule the world? You want to imprison everyone's consciousness? I tell you, it's impossible! As long as I'm alive, I will never let you succeed!"

He suddenly bound his consciousness to the system, making a crazy decision: to transform his consciousness into a pure attack code and perish together with Victor's consciousness avatar! Once this decision was implemented, his consciousness would likely completely dissipate, never to return to reality, and even the traces of his existence would vanish.

"Lin Fan, are you crazy?" Franklin was greatly alarmed, wanting to stop him, but was entangled by Victor's code and couldn't move.

Victor also didn't expect Lin Fan to be so insane, a hint of apprehension appearing on his face: "You think this can defeat me? Even if my consciousness avatar is destroyed, the me in the real world can recreate one! You can't kill me!"

"I can't kill you, but I can destroy this Data Core Space!" Lin Fan's body began to glow, his consciousness rapidly transforming into code. "Once this space is destroyed, all your backup plans in the virtual world will vanish, and the you in the real world will lose your most important experimental data! I will make all your plans come to naught!"

After speaking, Lin Fan's body transformed into a dazzling red stream of light, rushing towards Victor's consciousness avatar. Wherever the red stream of light passed, the surrounding code was ignited, and black cracks rapidly spread.

"No!" Victor roared, trying to dodge, but found himself locked onto by the red stream of light, completely unable to move. He could only mobilize all his code for defense, but the power of the red stream of light far exceeded his imagination, and the defensive barrier was instantly pierced.

The red stream of light collided with Victor's consciousness avatar, erupting in a world-destroying glow. The Data Core Space began to tremble violently, black cracks covered the entire space, the Core Code rapidly collapsed, and the collapse speed of the entire virtual world instantly accelerated.

Victor's consciousness avatar let out a painful wail, his body rapidly dissipating under the scorching of the red stream of light: "Lin Fan! Do you think this is the end? You can never truly escape! I'm waiting for you in the real world! Waiting..." His voice grew softer and softer, eventually completely dissipating in the light.

The red stream of light, formed by Lin Fan's consciousness, also began to gradually dim after destroying Victor's consciousness avatar. He could feel his consciousness dissipating, and darkness began to appear before his eyes. "Franklin... I'm sorry... I can't accompany you to rebuild Los Santos anymore..." He silently said in his heart, his consciousness completely falling into darkness.

Just as Lin Fan's consciousness was about to completely dissipate, a blue data stream suddenly flew from a distance, enveloping his dissipating consciousness fragments. That was the rescue code sent by Kate from the real world!

Meanwhile, in the real world.

In the abandoned underground laboratory, the lights were dim, countless servers hummed, and screens flickered with data images of Los Santos. Kate, along with several members of the hacker team, sat in front of computers, fingers flying across keyboards, foreheads covered in sweat.

In the corner of the laboratory, Victor was tied up in a chair, his face full of sinister smiles: "Kate, don't waste your effort. Lin Fan is dead, the virtual world is about to collapse, no one can stop me."

Just half an hour ago, Kate led the hacker team in a raid on Victor's Underground Laboratory. They fought their way through, finally finding the main server controlling the virtual world, but they didn't expect Victor to be prepared, having set a trap here. Fortunately, Kate had made preparations in advance, leading the team to break through the trap, successfully taking control of the laboratory, and capturing Victor.

"Shut up!" Kate glared coldly at Victor, then continued to type on the keyboard. She had seen everything that happened in the virtual world through the monitors: Michael De Santa's sacrifice, Lin Fan's decisive battle with Victor's consciousness avatar, and the moment Lin Fan turned into a stream of light to perish together. Her heart ached as if pricked by needles, and she immediately activated the pre-written rescue code, attempting to capture Lin Fan's consciousness fragments.

"rescue code has been sent, currently capturing Lin Fan's consciousness fragments!" a hacker team member shouted. "But the virtual world is collapsing too fast, the consciousness fragments are very unstable, making capture extremely difficult!"

"Increase power! We must capture his consciousness fragments!" Kate said through gritted teeth, her eyes filled with determination. She couldn't let Lin Fan die, couldn't let him just disappear into the virtual world like that.

Victor scoffed: "It's useless. The Data Core Space has collapsed, his consciousness fragments have long been torn apart. Even if you can capture them, you won't be able to awaken him. Moreover, I planted a tracking program in his consciousness, so even if he can return to the real world, I can find him!"

"You're asking for death!" A hacker team member angrily wanted to step forward and teach Victor a lesson, but Kate stopped him.

"Ignore him, focus on the rescue!" Kate said, her gaze fixed on the screen. On the screen, the blue rescue code was traveling through the virtual world, trying to envelop Lin Fan's dissipating consciousness fragments.

Time passed minute by minute, and the atmosphere in the laboratory was extremely tense. The virtual world's collapse speed was getting faster and faster, the screen images began to experience severe lag, and countless red warning codes popped up.

"Oh no! The main server is overloaded! If this continues, the server will explode!" a member shouted.

"Shut down some non-Core servers! Prioritize the operation of the rescue code!" Kate ordered.

Everyone immediately took action, shutting down some servers. The lag on the screen eased somewhat, and the blue rescue code finally successfully enveloped Lin Fan's consciousness fragments.

"Success! Lin Fan's consciousness fragments have been captured!" a member shouted excitedly.

Kate let out a sigh of relief, a smile of relief appearing on her face. But she quickly frowned again, because the screen showed that Lin Fan's consciousness fragments were locked in the server by a mysterious force and could not be transmitted back to his body.

"What's going on? Why can't it be transmitted?" Kate asked, puzzled.

A member checked the data and said with a solemn expression: "It's a locking program! Lin Fan's consciousness fragments have been locked in the server with advanced code, and this locking program has the exact same code style as Victor's!"

Kate looked at Victor, her eyes cold: "Did you do this?"

Victor smiled, his face full of triumph: "That's right. I anticipated this day, so when Lin Fan traveled, I planted a locking program in his consciousness. As long as his consciousness enters the server, it will be permanently locked. Unless I unlock the program, he will never be able to return to the real world, only to be forever trapped in the server, becoming a pile of data without consciousness!"

"You lunatic!" Kate was furious, stepping forward and grabbing Victor's collar. "Quickly unlock the program! Otherwise, I'll kill you!"

"Kill me?" Victor scoffed. "If you kill me, no one will ever be able to unlock the program. Lin Fan will be forever trapped in the server, and even if I die, I can watch him suffer forever. Isn't that a victory in itself?"

Kate trembled with anger but was helpless. She knew Victor was telling the truth; once he was killed, no one would be able to unlock the program.

"Is there another way? To unlock the program without Victor?" Kate asked the hacker members around her.

A member shook his head: "It's difficult. This locking program is top-tier, the encryption method is very complex, and it's bound to Lin Fan's consciousness fragments. If we try to force aCracking (crack), it's highly likely to cause the consciousness fragments to completely dissipate."

Kate's heart sank to rock bottom. She looked at Lin Fan's consciousness fragments on the screen, filled with self-reproach. If she hadn't discovered Victor's conspiracy earlier, if she hadn't provided timely support, Lin Fan wouldn't have ended up in this predicament.

"That's right!" Kate suddenly thought of something, her eyes lighting up. "Victor's backup server! You said before that Victor has a backup server containing his Core Code, and perhaps the method to crack the locking program is in there!"

"Exactly!" a member immediately nodded. "We previously found out that Victor's backup server is in an abandoned factory in the suburbs. We can go there and look!"

"Good! Let's go immediately!" Kate said, turning to Victor. "Keep an eye on him! Don't let him try anything!"

With that, Kate took a few members and quickly left the Underground Laboratory, heading towards the abandoned factory in the suburbs.

In the Underground Laboratory, Victor watched Kate and the others leave, a strange smile curling at the corner of his mouth. His fingers subtly moved, and a tiny remote control hidden in the crevice of his nail was gently pressed.

In the abandoned factory in the suburbs, the backup server was running quietly. Suddenly, a line of red code popped up on the server screen, followed by all servers automatically formatting, with the Core Code within them being completely deleted.

[part:gemini-3.0-flash]

When Kate and the others arrived at the abandoned factory, they saw the screen showing the server formatting was complete. All the data had vanished, leaving only a blank screen.

"No!" Kate slumped to the ground, her eyes filled with despair.

Just then, Kate's phone suddenly rang; it was a call from the Underground Laboratory. She tremblingly answered the phone, and an anxious voice of a member came from the other end: "Kate! Something's wrong! Victor is gone! He broke free from his restraints and destroyed part of the data on the main server!"

Kate's heart sank to rock bottom. She knew Victor had escaped and taken with him every method to unlock Lin Fan's consciousness.

She returned to the Underground Laboratory, soul-crushed, looking at Lin Fan's consciousness fragments on the screen. Those fragments were firmly locked within the server, unable to move an inch. She turned on Lin Fan's Brain-Computer Interface monitor and found that Lin Fan's brainwaves were completely synchronized with the server, locked tight and impossible to separate.

"Lin Fan, I'm sorry... I couldn't save you..." Kate murmured to herself, tears streaming down her cheeks.

In the virtual world, the collapse continued. Skyscrapers completely dissolved into specks of light, streets vanished, and the sky was covered in black cracks as the entire world returned to nothingness. Franklin stood in the Data Core Space, looking at where Lin Fan had dissipated, tears flowing uncontrollably. He could feel the surrounding space crushing his body, and his consciousness began to blur.

"Lin Fan... Michael... I'm coming to join you..." Franklin closed his eyes, letting his body be swallowed by the black cracks.

Just then, Lin Fan's consciousness fragments, wrapped in blue rescue code, suddenly emitted a faint light. The light grew brighter and brighter, unexpectedly re-coalescing Lin Fan's figure within the Data Core Space. However, at this moment, Lin Fan's eyes were tightly shut, and he was in a coma, his body tightly wrapped in the blue code, suspended in mid-air.

The black cracks tried to swallow Lin Fan's figure but were blocked by the blue code. The blue code carried Lin Fan's figure toward the edge of the virtual world, where the collapse was slowest and the only place to temporarily evade it.

Franklin felt the light and opened his eyes to see Lin Fan suspended in mid-air. Overjoyed, he struggled to fly toward Lin Fan, wanting to grab him, but was blocked by the black cracks. "Lin Fan! Hang on! I will save you!" he roared, using his last ounce of strength to turn his consciousness into a protective barrier to shield Lin Fan's figure, while he himself was completely swallowed by the black cracks.

Under the protection of Franklin's consciousness barrier, the blue code carried Lin Fan's consciousness and successfully broke out of the Data Core Space, flying to the outskirts of Los Santos. The collapse speed in the outskirts was relatively slow, and there were still some buildings and land that hadn't been completely destroyed.

The blue code placed Lin Fan's consciousness on a patch of grass and then began to slowly dissipate. Kate's rescue code had run out of energy; this was as far as it could go.

Lin Fan's consciousness lay on the grass, eyes tightly shut, his body still in a transparent state. The surrounding land began to crack, and distant buildings turned into specks of light as the collapse spread toward this location.

Deep within his consciousness, the locking program planted by Victor was running silently, firmly locking his consciousness within the virtual world's server, preventing him from returning to reality.

In the Underground Laboratory of the real world, Kate looked at Lin Fan's consciousness on the screen, hope rekindling in her eyes. "Lin Fan, wait for me. No matter the cost, I will definitely unlock the program and bring you back!" She clenched her fists and began reorganizing the data, searching for a way to crack the locking program.

In a corner of the laboratory, on an inconspicuous computer screen, a line of hidden code ran quietly. At the end of the code, it read: "Subject Lin Fan, consciousness locking successful. Phase Two of the plan, initiated."

Meanwhile, the escaped Victor was hiding in a secret location, looking at a tablet in his hand that displayed Lin Fan's consciousness state. A sinister smile curled on his lips: "Lin Fan, the game has only just begun. The virtual world is only the first step; the stage of the real world is our true battlefield."

On his tablet, a list was displayed, filled with the names of Brain-Computer Interface experimenters, with Lin Fan's name at the very top. Below the list, a line of text read: "Consciousness Harvest Plan, officially initiated."

In the virtual world, the collapse continued, and Los Santos was about to turn completely into nothingness. However, Lin Fan's consciousness lay quietly on the grass in the outskirts, not swallowed by the collapse. While locking his consciousness, that locking program had unexpectedly formed a protective barrier, allowing his consciousness to survive the collapse.

After an unknown amount of time, Lin Fan's finger twitched slightly, and his eyes slowly opened. He looked blankly at the collapsing world around him, his mind a total blank. It took a while before he remembered everything that had happened—Michael's sacrifice, the decisive battle with Victor's consciousness avatar, Franklin's protection...

"Michael... Franklin..." Lin Fan murmured to himself, tears rolling down his cheeks. He stood up, looking at Los Santos, which was about to collapse completely, his heart filled with grief and helplessness.

He tried to contact Kate but found the terminal was completely damaged and communication was impossible. He could feel that his consciousness was very weak and bound by a mysterious force, preventing him from leaving this virtual world.

"I'm trapped..." Lin Fan gave a bitter laugh and looked up at the sky. Black cracks covered the sky, and not a single ray of sunlight could be seen.

Just then, a faint light suddenly glowed in his palm; it was a code fragment he had previously obtained from the Core Terminal. The code fragment slowly floated up and transformed into a virtual screen before him, which displayed a line of text: "Host consciousness lock detected. System initiating Emergency Program. Attempting to crack the lock... Insufficient energy, cracking failed. Please find an energy source to activate the system."

Lin Fan's heart stirred. It seemed the system hadn't completely disappeared. As long as he found an energy source and activated the system, it might be possible to unlock the program and perhaps even repair this collapsing virtual world.

He looked into the distance where there was a Military Base that hadn't been completely destroyed; there should still be an energy core in the base. "No matter what, I have to survive!" Lin Fan clenched his fists and walked toward the Military Base.

In the collapsing world, every step was fraught with danger. The ground beneath his feet could turn into specks of light at any moment, and the air around him could be torn apart. But Lin Fan did not shrink back; he walked steadily, step by step, his eyes filled with hope.

He knew that Michael and Franklin had paved the way for him with their lives and that Kate was working hard for him in the real world; he couldn't give up. He had to survive, unlock the program, find Victor to avenge his fallen brothers, and protect the consciousnesses still struggling in the virtual world.

The collapse of the virtual world continued, but amidst the ruins, Lin Fan's figure forged a path of hope of his own.

In the real world, Kate was still working hard in the laboratory to crack the locking program. Around her gathered more and more hackers and scientists—friends and relatives of those persecuted by Victor—all willing to help Kate rescue Lin Fan and stop Victor's conspiracy.

Victor's Consciousness Harvest Plan had been initiated, and more and more Brain-Computer Interface experimenters' consciousnesses were being captured by him, falling into comas. The entire world was plunged into a massive crisis.

The battle on two fronts was not yet over. The bond between reality and the virtual world grew deeper. Lin Fan was trapped in the virtual world, Kate was fighting alone in the real world, and Victor's conspiracy loomed over both.

A greater storm was quietly brewing. Lin Fan knew he had to grow stronger as quickly as possible to gain a foothold in this storm, to have a chance to return to the real world, fight alongside Kate, and completely destroy Victor's conspiracy.

He walked to the entrance of the Military Base, looked at the tightly closed gate, and took a deep breath. Behind the door lay unknown dangers, but also the only hope.

"I'm here," Lin Fan whispered, pushing open the gate and walking into the Military Base.

Scattered throughout the base were many weapons and pieces of equipment, along with several energy cores that hadn't been destroyed. But at the same time, there were also digitized monsters roaming around—creatures composed of fragmented code after the world's collapse, and they were extremely aggressive.

Lin Fan picked up an assault rifle from the ground, checked the magazine, and his gaze became firm. He knew the road ahead would be even tougher, but he had no choice.

He gripped the rifle and walked toward the depths of the base, his silhouette appearing incredibly lonely yet remarkably determined in the collapsing world.

The collapse of the virtual world continued, but the seeds of hope had already been quietly planted in the ruins.

Meanwhile, in the real world, Kate finally found a clue to cracking the locking program among a pile of fragmented data. Looking at that faint line of code on the screen, a smile appeared on her face: "Lin Fan, wait for me a little longer. I'll be able to rescue you very soon!"

Outside the laboratory, the night grew deeper, and the city was brightly lit, yet no one knew that a battle concerning the survival of humanity was quietly taking place.

Victor stood atop a skyscraper, looking down at the city below, a strange smile curling his lips: "Kate, Lin Fan, your struggles will only make the game more interesting. I'm waiting for you..."

Two worlds, three fronts, the fates of countless people intertwined. The simultaneous strikes on reality and the virtual world had not completely ended. The true decisive battle had only just begun.

In the virtual world's Military Base, Lin Fan found an intact energy core. He held it in his hand, feeling a powerful surge of energy into his body. The system's voice rang out again: "Energy source detected. Emergency Program restarting. Attempting to activate system... Activation successful! System functions partially restored, Code Editing capability increased!"

Lin Fan clenched his fists, feeling the power surging within him once more, his eyes filled with fighting spirit. He looked up at the sky; though it was still filled with black cracks, he felt as if he could see the sunlight.

"Victor, wait for me."

"Real world, wait for me."

"I will definitely go back!"

His voice echoed through the collapsing world, firm and powerful.

(End of Chapter)