55: Chapter 55 Betrayal and Choice

The cold wind from the core area of the quantum server still clung to the back of Lin Fan's neck. He pulled Michael's baseball cap tighter, the brim shielding the gloom in his eyes, as he and Kate moved one after the other through the emergency tunnels beneath the FIB Building. The emergency lights on the tunnel walls flickered, casting swaying shadows over them. The sound of tactical boots striking metal steps echoed through the hollow passage, sounding exceptionally piercing.

Having just uncovered the mad truth behind Project Elizabeth and found a clue about Michael's consciousness being transferred, both felt as if a massive boulder were weighing on their hearts; they hardly spoke a word as they walked. Only the code energy in Lin Fan's palm continued to glow with a faint blue light, like an uneasy flame flickering at his fingertips. Elizabeth's three-day countdown had begun, and the only clue regarding Michael was the five words 'Go find Franklin.' Meanwhile, the underground quantum computer behind them emitted a low hum, like the ticking of a death-knell pendulum.

"I've already sent an encrypted message to Franklin; he said he'll wait for us at the abandoned pier at Lake Santos," Kate said, breaking the silence first. Her voice was kept very low as her fingertip swiped across the screen of her tactical communicator, completely deleting the last contact message. "Los Santos is crawling with FIB and military patrols right now. Elizabeth must have ordered a city-wide lockdown. We'll have to take the water route to avoid the checkpoints on the main roads."

Lin Fan nodded without stopping. His gaze swept over the corner ahead as his code energy scouted the path in advance. After confirming there was no ambush, he stepped aside and signaled Kate to follow. "Since Elizabeth dared to let us leave the core area, she definitely isn't up to any good. She might have already set an inescapable trap, waiting for us to walk right into it. The water route may be remote, but it isn't necessarily safe."

"It's better than being a sitting duck on the road," Kate rolled her eyes, raising a hand to rub the wound on her arm. The bandage was damp with sweat, and a stinging pain radiated from beneath the skin, though she pointedly ignored it. "Besides, when it comes to playing dirty, I'm much better at it than those FIB idiots. Back in the Special Forces, I managed to steal an encrypted hard drive from the basement of The Pentagon and get out in one piece. This patrol is nothing."

As she spoke, she pulled a palm-sized black device from her tactical backpack and waved it in front of Lin Fan. "The latest signal jammer. It can block all electronic detection within ten kilometers; even military satellites won't be able to scan us. Relax, follow me, and I'll make sure you get to the pier safely to see Franklin."

Seeing her smug expression, Lin Fan's tense nerves finally relaxed slightly, and a faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Fine, then I'm putting my life in your hands, Boss Kate. I just hope you don't navigate us into Trevor's drug lab like last time and have us chased by a bunch of junkies with shotguns."

"You have the nerve to bring that up!" Kate slapped the back of Lin Fan's head and cursed irritably, "That was clearly a problem with the navigation system you cracked. It routed Lake Santos Pier to Trevor's farm, and now you're blaming me? Lin Fan, did you learn this scapegoating skill from Trevor?"

Their bickering lightened the oppressive tension of the past few days, and the atmosphere in the emergency tunnel was no longer as heavy as before. Just then, Kate's tactical communicator suddenly rang without warning. It wasn't their agreed-upon encrypted ringtone, but a sharp electronic screech filled with heavy interference that made their eardrums ache.

Kate's expression changed instantly. Her finger instinctively moved to cut off the communicator, but the electronic sound seemed stuck to the device and wouldn't turn off. A cold, emotionless male voice transmitted through the device, echoing in the tunnel:

"Kate Rollins, ID 7392. Former Captain of the US Army Delta Force, current FIB Special Tactical Consultant. Three minutes ago, you unauthorizedly entered the FIB underground Quantum Server Core Area and assisted the wanted criminal Lin Fan in cracking top-secret files. You are suspected of treason."

That voice was like a cold scalpel, precisely dissecting Kate's identity. Every word carried an unquestionable weight of authority. Kate's body froze instantly. Her fingers gripping the communicator turned white from the force, her knuckles cracking. The smile on her face vanished completely, replaced by an extreme gravity.

Lin Fan also stopped. The code energy around him tightened instantly, forming a faint blue barrier to protect them both. His eyes were full of vigilance. "Who is it? The military?"

Kate didn't answer. She just stared fixedly at the communicator's screen. There was no caller ID, only a string of jumping red code indicating the communication had been forcibly taken over. The male voice continued, cold as if coming from hell:

"Your family is currently at the Naval Hospital in San Diego, receiving 'special protection.' Your father is in the late stages of lung cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy; your sister just gave birth and is still at the postpartum care center. Kate, you should be clear that the consequences of treason aren't just your own ruin; your family will be implicated as well."

These words hit Kate's heart like a heavy hammer. Her body couldn't help but tremble, and a flash of panic and fear crossed her eyes. She had joined the Special Forces and become an FIB tactical consultant, climbing up with all her might, just so her family could live a stable life, so her sick father could get the best treatment, and so her sister wouldn't suffer after giving birth. And now, her family had become the leverage used against her.

"What do you want?" Kate's voice turned hoarse, carrying an imperceptible tremor. She slowly looked up at Lin Fan, her eyes filled with complex emotions—guilt, struggle, and an indescribable pain.

"It's simple," the male voice said coldly. "Hand over Lin Fan. Bring him to Federal Plaza in downtown Los Santos and hand him over to the military Task Force. As long as you comply, the treason charges will be dropped immediately. Your family will be returned safely, the military will cover all of your father's chemotherapy costs, and your sister will receive the best postpartum care. Otherwise, you know the consequences."

A slight static sound came from the communicator, followed by a photo. In the photo, her father was lying on a hospital bed with an oxygen tube in his nose, his face pale. Her sister was holding the newborn baby, standing by the window of the care center, with two expressionless men in black suits standing behind her.

Those two men were military secret agents; Kate recognized them at a glance.

"I'll give you ten minutes to consider," the male voice spoke again. "In ten minutes, we will plant a tracking program in your tactical backpack. You will need to take Lin Fan and follow our designated route to Federal Plaza. If there is any suspicious movement or any attempt to notify Lin Fan, your family will immediately pay the price for your actions."

With that, the electronic sound from the communicator stopped abruptly, and the screen went black, returning to normal. The entire emergency tunnel fell into dead silence once more, with only the sound of their breathing intertwining heavily in the air.

Kate slowly lowered her head and looked at her hands. Those hands had held guns, swung daggers, cracked countless encrypted systems, and saved many lives. But now, because of her family's safety, they were being held in a death grip by someone else. That cold voice, the treason charges, and the images of her family echoed repeatedly in her mind.

A powerful sense of helplessness enveloped her instantly.

Lin Fan stood to the side, seeing and hearing everything. He didn't speak, just quietly watched Kate. There was no hint of blame in his eyes, only a faint sense of heartache. He could feel the emotions within her like a tangled mess, frantically weaving and tearing—on one side was her blood family, on the other was her comrade-in-arms.

This was an unsolvable multiple-choice question.

Kate's shoulders trembled slightly. She looked up at Lin Fan, her eyes full of struggle and guilt. Her lips moved as if to say something, but she swallowed it back. A thousand words eventually turned into a single hoarse apology: "Lin Fan, I'm sorry."

Lin Fan shook his head and patted her shoulder, his voice gentle. "It's okay, I understand. Family is always the softest weakness and the toughest armor. If it were me, I would make the same choice."

"But..." Kate's eyes turned slightly red. She bit her lip to keep the tears from falling. "But I promised you I'd take you to see Franklin, that I'd help you save Michael, and that we'd stop Project Elizabeth together. Doing this now is betraying you, betraying our agreement."

"This isn't betrayal," Lin Fan's voice remained gentle. His fingertip lightly brushed Kate's tactical backpack. His code energy probed inward and felt a tiny program being rapidly installed; it was the military's tracking program. "In the face of family, all agreements can be set aside for a moment. Kate, don't be so hard on yourself."

Kate looked at Lin Fan, her guilt deepening. She turned away, no longer looking into his eyes, and opened the control panel of her tactical backpack, her fingers tapping rapidly on the screen. A fierce battle was currently raging in her mind—

The military wanted her to install the tracking program and take Lin Fan to Federal Plaza to hand him over in exchange for her family's safety. However, once Lin Fan was captured by the military, given his identity and the code fragments he carried, nothing but endless experimentation and torture would await him. Elizabeth might even directly extract the code fragments, allowing Project Elizabeth to succeed completely.

By then, not only would Lin Fan die, but Michael's consciousness would never be recovered, and all of Los Santos—even the whole world—would be destroyed at Elizabeth's hands.

But if she refused the military's demand, her family would immediately meet with disaster. Her father was still in chemo, and her sister had just given birth; they couldn't withstand any hardship.

On one side was the whole world; on the other was her family.

Kate's fingers trembled slightly on the control panel. A voice in her heart kept asking: Am I protecting him, or am I hurting him?

Protecting him meant defying the military and sacrificing her family; hurting him meant handing him over and letting the world fall into crisis.

What should she do?

This question was like a sharp knife stabbing into her heart, causing her unbearable agony.

Just then, the tracking program in the backpack finished installing. A red prompt box popped up on the screen, showing that the tracking program was active and location data was being transmitted in real-time to the military Task Force. Kate's eyes suddenly became resolute. She took a deep breath, suppressing all her emotions. Her fingers tapped rapidly on the screen as lines of cracking code flowed from her fingertips and merged into the core of the tracking program.

She was a former Captain of the US Army Delta Force and a special tactical consultant for the FIB. When it came to cracking electronic programs, she wasn't much worse than Lin Fan. The military thought that by threatening her family, she would obediently follow orders, but they forgot that the word 'resignation' had never been in her blood.

She could feign cooperation and take Lin Fan toward Federal Plaza, but she could secretly crack and delete this tracking program in the dark, making the military lose their location. As for her family's safety, she had already made a plan: as long as she could get Lin Fan safely to Franklin and they could stop Project Elizabeth together, she would immediately head to San Diego and risk her life to rescue her family.

No matter the cost.

As the final line of code was typed, Kate pressed the enter key. Accompanied by a faint buzzing sound, the tracking program in her backpack was instantly cracked. All positioning data was deleted with a single click, leaving no trace behind. Kate looked at the 'Program Deleted' message on the screen and breathed a sigh of relief, only for her tension to spike again—this was just the first step. Next, she had to feign cooperation with the military and lead Lin Fan toward Federal Plaza, which was riddled with traps.

She turned around and looked at Lin Fan, forcing a calm smile onto her face, though it looked more painful than crying. "Alright, the tracking program has been planted. The military's route is through the emergency exit, then the underground tunnel straight to Federal Plaza. Let's go; we shouldn't keep them waiting."

Lin Fan looked into Kate's eyes and saw a flicker of determination and resolve that she was trying to hide. His code energy had already sensed that the moment the tracking program was planted, Kate had completely cracked and deleted it. He didn't expose her, merely nodding with a faint smile playing on his lips. "Alright, I'll follow your lead."

He knew Kate had made her choice, and it was time for him to make his own.

One after the other, they walked out of the emergency exit and entered the underground tunnel of the FIB Building. The tunnel was pitch black, with only the weak beam of Kate's tactical flashlight illuminating a small area ahead. The tunnel walls were covered in mottled water stains and moss, the air thick with a damp, musty smell. The ground beneath them was uneven and pitted, making every step an effort.

Neither of them spoke along the way, and the atmosphere became oppressive once more. Kate's mind replayed her dilemma as her footsteps grew heavier. Meanwhile, Lin Fan was rapidly calculating—Federal Plaza was the heart of Los Santos and a key defensive zone for the military and the FIB. Now that Elizabeth had ordered a lockdown, it would be swarming with heavy troops, armored vehicles, tanks, and helicopters.

Kate was feigning cooperation to lead him to Federal Plaza, but even with the tracking program deleted, the military would surely have an inescapable net waiting for them. By then, even if Kate wanted to back out, it would be too late. He absolutely could not let Kate fall into such a predicament because of him, nor could he allow her family to be dragged into this.

He was Lin Fan, a wanted criminal who had transmigrated into GTA5; he had never been a coward who needed others to protect him. Since the military's target was him, he would deliver himself to them, using his own life to trade for the safety of Kate and her family.

Once this thought surfaced, it could no longer be suppressed.

The two emerged from the underground tunnel onto the streets of Los Santos. At this moment, the city had lost its former prosperity and bustle. The streets were deserted, save for the occasional military armored vehicle rumbling heavily through the empty thoroughfares. The shops on both sides were tightly shuttered with seals plastered over the windows. The streetlights were all out, leaving only military searchlights to sweep across the sky, illuminating the deathly silent city.

Elizabeth's lockdown was even stricter than they had imagined.

Kate followed the military's designated route, leading Lin Fan toward Federal Plaza. Her pace was slow as she scanned her surroundings out of the corner of her eye, searching for an opportunity to escape. Hidden in her tactical backpack were a micro-pistol and several smoke grenades. At the right moment, she would launch a surprise attack and flee with Lin Fan.

However, Lin Fan seemed to have seen through her thoughts. When they reached a crossroad, he suddenly stopped.

"Kate, don't go any further." Lin Fan's voice was gentle yet carried an unquestionable firmness. He turned to face her, his eyes full of sincerity. "The military's target is me. It has nothing to do with you, and even less to do with your family. You don't need to risk your safety and theirs for my sake."

"Lin Fan, what do you mean?" Kate's heart sank with a bad premonition. She reached out and grabbed his arm. "Don't overthink things. Since I promised to take you away, I'll do it. We'll definitely find a way to both save my family and escape safely."

"There is no other way." Lin Fan shook his head and gently pried her hand away. "Federal Plaza is undoubtedly crawling with military Task Forces and Elizabeth's people. Even if we make it there, we'd just be walking into the lion's den. Besides, your family is still in their hands; they can blackmail you at any time. I can't let you lose everything because of me."

"But..."

"No buts." Lin Fan interrupted her. A faint blue glow of code energy gathered in his palm as he gently brushed it against Kate's forehead. "Kate, thank you. Thank you for accompanying me this far, for holding off those Data Guards in the Quantum Server Core Area, and for risking everything to crack that tracking program for me. Meeting you is the luckiest thing that has happened to me since I transmigrated to this world."

"What are you doing?" Kate looked at the code energy in his palm, her unease intensifying. She tried to grab him, only to find her body frozen by an invisible force, unable to move—Lin Fan had used his code energy to temporarily restrict her movements.

"I'm going to Federal Plaza." A relieved smile touched Lin Fan's lips. "I'll trade myself for your safety and your family's. Kate, listen to me. After I'm taken away, leave Los Santos immediately. Go to San Diego and rescue your family. Then, find Franklin. Tell him about Project Elizabeth and give him the clues about Michael. Tell him he must stop Elizabeth."

"No! Lin Fan, you can't go!" Kate struggled desperately, her eyes turning red as tears finally spilled over. "If you go, it's a dead end! Elizabeth won't let you go, and neither will the military! The code fragment in you is their only goal; they'll treat you like an experimental subject and torture you to death!"

"I know." Lin Fan nodded, his eyes showing no fear, only resolve. "But I have to go. I am the key to starting Project Elizabeth. As long as I'm alive, Elizabeth won't stop, and your family—along with everyone in Los Santos—will be in danger. Only by going can I temporarily stabilize them and buy you all some time."

"Besides, I might not necessarily die." A cunning smile crossed Lin Fan's face, as if he had thought of something fun. "You forgot, I'm the man with code energy. I can crack any electronic system and activate any encrypted pathway. A military prison might not be able to hold me. Who knows, I might even cause some chaos in their base and give Elizabeth a surprise."

As he spoke, he raised his hand toward the sky and gave it the middle finger. "Trying to catch me and extract my code fragment won't be that easy. I'm Lin Fan, the most badass wanted man in Los Santos. How could I possibly fall so easily to these idiots?"

This sudden flash of humor made Kate's tears flow even faster, yet she couldn't help but let out a small, heart-wrenching laugh through her tears.

Seeing her like this, Lin Fan felt a pang of sadness. He reached out and gently wiped the tears from her face, his voice tender. "Stop crying, Boss Kate. You're a Captain in the Special Forces and a tactical consultant for the FIB. You can't just drop tears like this. It's embarrassing if someone sees."

"Screw you!" Kate sobbed as she cursed, yet she couldn't help but grab his hand. "You better come back alive, do you hear me? If you dare die in there, I'll dig through three feet of earth to find your corpse and throw it into Trevor's farm to feed the wild boars!"

"Don't worry, I wouldn't want to put you through that trouble." Lin Fan smiled and released the restriction on her movement. "Alright, I have to go. Remember, take care of yourself and your family. And you must find Franklin to stop Elizabeth."

With that, Lin Fan didn't hesitate further. He turned and strode toward Federal Plaza. His silhouette looked exceptionally lonely on the empty street, yet also exceptionally firm. He pulled Michael's baseball cap tighter, completely suppressing the code energy around him without leaving a trace—he was going to show himself voluntarily, making the military believe he had truly given up resistance and surrendered.

Kate stood where she was, watching Lin Fan's back slowly disappear at the end of the street, her vision blurring with tears again. She wanted to chase after him, to call him back, but she found her legs as heavy as lead, unable to move. Lin Fan's words, his smile, and his line about meeting her being the luckiest thing to happen to him echoed repeatedly in her mind.

She slowly crouched down, burying her face in her knees as her shoulders shook violently. Her muffled sobs sounded incredibly desolate on the empty street.

Am I protecting him, or am I hurting him?

The question rang in her head again, but this time, the answer seemed clear.

Lin Fan walked all the way to Federal Plaza without any concealment, strolling down the empty streets in a grand manner. His figure was soon locked onto by military searchlights, with several blinding beams shooting down from the sky to envelop him.

"Personnel ahead, stop immediately! Put your hands behind your head and get down!"

A harsh command came from the distance, accompanied by the roar of engines as several military armored vehicles sped toward Lin Fan, surrounding him. Dozens of military Task Force members in black combat gear and gas masks jumped out, their assault rifles aimed squarely at Lin Fan, fingers on the triggers, ready to fire at any moment.

Lin Fan stopped and slowly raised his hands behind his head, a faint smile on his lips. "Don't be nervous, I'm here to surrender. I'm the one you want. Release Kate Rollins' family, and I'll go with you."

The Task Force captain took off his gas mask, revealing a cold face. He sized Lin Fan up with a wary gaze. "You're quite sensible, Lin Fan. Don't worry, as long as you cooperate, Kate Rollins' family will be safe and sound."

With a wave of his hand, two Task Force members immediately stepped forward and produced special alloy handcuffs to bind Lin Fan's hands. These alloy handcuffs were specifically designed by the military to deal with ability users; they could block all electronic energy. The moment they touched Lin Fan, his code energy was completely suppressed, unable to be released.

"Take him away!"

At the captain's command, Lin Fan was escorted by the two members and shoved into a military armored vehicle. The heavy door slammed shut, cutting him off from the outside world. The interior was pitch black, with only the faint smell of diesel and metal lingering in the air.

Lin Fan leaned against the corner of the vehicle and closed his eyes. He appeared submissive, but his mind was already racing with calculations. He could feel the armored vehicle heading toward the military base on the outskirts of Los Santos—that was likely the secret experimental base where Elizabeth and the military were collaborating.

His fake surrender was merely a stalling tactic. What he needed to do was enter the military base, find Elizabeth's experimental data, and find a way to crack 'New Eden' while also figuring out how to escape their control.

And now, all he needed to do was wait for the right moment.

[part:gemini-3.1-flash-lite]

The armored vehicle drove for about half an hour and finally came to a stop.

The door opened, and the blinding sunlight shone in, causing Lin Fan to instinctively squint.

Escorted by two Task Force members, he stepped off the armored vehicle.

What came into view was a massive military base, surrounded by barbed wire and security cameras.

Several armed helicopters circled above the base, and on the ground, patrolling soldiers and armored vehicles were everywhere—it was heavily guarded, a place from which even a bird could not escape.

This was the "Black Hawk Base" on the outskirts of Los Santos, one of the military's top-secret experimental bases.

Lin Fan was escorted into the base's experimental building, passing through several thick alloy doors, and finally, he was taken into a cold laboratory.

The laboratory was filled with various advanced experimental equipment.

Screens were scrolling rapidly with dense lines of code and data.

The air was permeated with a faint smell of disinfectant and formalin, making one feel uncomfortable just by smelling it.

Several researchers in white lab coats crowded around, their eyes filled with fanaticism and greed, as if they were looking at a rare treasure, sizing Lin Fan up from head to toe.

"Finally, we have brought you here, Lin Fan."

A familiar voice came from the corner of the laboratory.

Lin Fan looked up and saw the figure of Elizabeth.

She was still wearing that white lab coat, and the look behind her gold-rimmed glasses carried a paranoid fanaticism.

"With the code fragment on you, my Project Elizabeth can finally be fully realized."

Lin Fan looked at Elizabeth, a mocking smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

"Elizabeth, do you think that by capturing me, you can realize your crazy plan? You are too naive."

"Whether I am naive or not, we will soon find out."

Elizabeth chuckled lightly and waved her hand.

Two researchers immediately stepped forward, took out a syringe, and jabbed it into Lin Fan's arm.

"First, we'll draw a tube of your blood for a genetic test to see what kind of secrets are hidden in your body that can breed such powerful code energy."

The moment the needle pierced his skin, Lin Fan's body shuddered slightly, but he did not resist.

He could feel his blood being drawn out bit by bit, placed into a special test tube, and sent into the gene sequencer.

A few minutes later, a test report popped up on the gene sequencer's screen.

A line of red text on the report was particularly eye-catching: Non-human gene fragment detected; gene sequence has no match with any known Earth organism. Suspected alien genes or artificially modified genes.

Seeing this report, all the researchers in the laboratory were stunned, their eyes full of disbelief.

Elizabeth was also taken aback for a moment, but then the fanaticism in her eyes grew even stronger.

She stared fixedly at Lin Fan, as if she had seen the perfect test subject.

"Non-human gene fragment? So that's it. So your code energy isn't accidental, but stems from your genes! Lin Fan, you really are a huge surprise!"

This discovery exploded in the laboratory like a bombshell.

But what they didn't know was that this test report, this discovery of a "non-human gene fragment," would become a deeply buried foreshadowing that, in the near future, would completely reveal the truth about Lin Fan's time travel, uncover the origin of code energy, and even reveal the secrets of the entire universe.

At this moment, seeing this test report, Lin Fan's heart also skipped a beat—could his time travel to this world and possession of code energy really be related to his genes?

Could it be that his body really contained non-human gene fragments?

This question filled his heart with doubt.

Elizabeth quickly recovered from her shock.

She waved her hand and said to the researchers, "Prepare for the experiment. Immediately extract the code fragment from Lin Fan and activate the final startup program for 'New Eden'."

"Yes!"

The researchers immediately busied themselves.

Various pieces of equipment in the laboratory started up one after another, emitting a low hum.

Lin Fan was escorted to a cold metal experimental bed, his limbs fixed by special alloy chains, rendering him unable to move.

He looked at the experimental light above his head; the blinding glare made it impossible for him to open his eyes.

Just then, a sly smile suddenly curled at the corner of Lin Fan's mouth.

He appeared to be bound by alloy handcuffs and alloy chains, unable to release his code energy, but he had prepared a contingency—the moment he was escorted onto the armored vehicle by the military, he had used his code energy to leave a tiny seed of code energy under his fingernails.

This seed was not blocked by the alloy handcuffs and chains, and he could activate it whenever he wanted.

And now was the best time.

Elizabeth and the researchers were all immersed in the joy of impending success, having relaxed their vigilance against him.

Lin Fan closed his eyes, concentrated his mind, and activated the code energy seed under his fingernails.

A faint blue light emerged from under his fingernails, spreading rapidly, following the alloy chains, and quickly infiltrating the laboratory's electronic system.

His code energy, like an invisible serpent, quickly wove through the laboratory's electronic system, cracking encryption programs one by one and taking control of experimental equipment one by one.

"Bzzt—bzzt—"

The equipment in the laboratory suddenly began to malfunction.

The code and data on the screens became chaotic, and the needles of various instruments jumped wildly, emitting piercing alarm sounds.

"What's going on? Why did the equipment suddenly malfunction?"

Elizabeth's expression changed instantly, and she roared at the researchers.

The researchers scrambled to fix the equipment, only to find that the entire electronic system of the laboratory had been completely paralyzed and was impossible to control.

Just then, Lin Fan suddenly opened his eyes, a flash of blue light passing through his eyes, and he shouted, "The game is just beginning now!"

As he spoke, the code energy around him surged violently, breaking through the restraints of the alloy handcuffs and alloy chains, turning into a dazzling blue beam of light that shot straight into the sky.

The alloy door of the laboratory was instantly blown open by the code energy, emitting a loud bang.

Lin Fan jumped off the experimental bed, flexed his wrists, and looked at the pale-faced Elizabeth and the researchers, a cocky smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

"Want to extract my code fragment? Want to activate your New Eden? Elizabeth, did you ask me first?"

He waved his hand, and a blue blade of code energy slashed fiercely at the experimental equipment in the laboratory.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

With loud bangs, the various advanced equipment in the laboratory were instantly smashed to pieces, turning into fragments that scattered all over the floor.

"Lin Fan, how dare you!"

Elizabeth, watching her decades of hard work destroyed in an instant, trembled with rage, her eyes filled with murderous intent.

"Kill him for me! At all costs, kill him!"

The Task Force members outside heard the commotion in the laboratory and immediately rushed in, their assault rifles aimed squarely at Lin Fan, firing wildly.

Bullets rained down on Lin Fan, but the moment they neared his body, they were blocked by a blue barrier of code energy, bouncing off and falling to the ground with a crisp sound.

Lin Fan looked at the Task Force members who had rushed in, a mocking smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

"Is this all you've got? You want to kill me with this? You'd better go home and wash up and go to sleep."

He waved his hand, and several blue blades of code energy shot towards the Task Force members.

Wherever the blades passed, nothing could withstand them.

The assault rifles in the hands of the Task Force members were instantly split in two, and their alloy bulletproof vests were slashed open, scaring them into retreating, not daring to step forward.

Lin Fan took the opportunity to turn around and stride towards the exit of the laboratory.

His code energy spread rapidly throughout the laboratory, paralyzing all the electronic door locks and opening all the passages.

"Chase him! Chase him! You absolutely cannot let him run away!"

Elizabeth's roar echoed in the laboratory, but it couldn't stop Lin Fan's steps at all.

Lin Fan rushed out of the experimental building, with gunfire and alarms sounding one after another behind him.

His figure moved quickly through the base; wherever his code energy passed, all electronic equipment was completely paralyzed, all armored vehicles and helicopters could not start, and all security cameras turned into black screens.

He was like an unstoppable ghost, running wild in this heavily guarded military base.

Occasionally, a few soldiers who weren't afraid of death would step forward to block him, but they were all easily dealt with by Lin Fan using his code energy—either frozen in place, unable to move, or flipped onto the ground, bruised and battered.

"Holy crap, the security at this military base is too pathetic, right?"

Lin Fan couldn't help but complain as he ran.

"It doesn't even have a decent defense system; it's worse than the FIB's underground server room. No wonder Elizabeth chose this place as an experimental base; it turns out to be a shoddy project."

His complaints, transmitted through the code energy, reached the ears of Elizabeth in the distance, making her so angry that she almost spat out a mouthful of blood, yet she was helpless.

Lin Fan rushed out of the Black Hawk Base, jumped onto a military motorcycle parked at the entrance, twisted the throttle, and the motorcycle roared, speeding off in the direction of Los Santos.

The Black Hawk Base behind him was already in a mess, with gunshots, alarms, and roars intertwined, like a grand farce.

Lin Fan rode the motorcycle on the empty road, the wind blowing through his hair, and a wild smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

He had not only escaped from the military's hands but also paralyzed all the systems of the Black Hawk Base and destroyed Elizabeth's experimental equipment.

More importantly, he learned that his body contained non-human gene fragments.

This trip was not in vain.

However, the doubt about that non-human gene fragment, along with Elizabeth's crazy plan, Michael De Santa's whereabouts, and the clues about Franklin, still loomed over his heart like clouds of mist.

He knew that all of this was just the beginning.

After betrayal and choices, what awaited him would be even more dangerous challenges and even crazier confrontations.

And the situation in Los Santos became even more unpredictable because of his escape.

Elizabeth would not give up, and the military would not let him go easily.

They would unite and set a tighter dragnet in Los Santos, waiting for him to walk right into it.

And Lin Fan was ready.

His code energy seemed to have improved during this escape, becoming more refined and powerful.

His eyes were full of determination and fearlessness, as well as a hint of anticipation for the future.

He rode the motorcycle towards the abandoned pier at Lake Santos.

There, Franklin was waiting for him.

There, there were clues to solve all the mysteries.

There, there was also an upcoming ultimate confrontation that belonged to Los Santos.

And that drop of blood extracted by the military, that test report showing "non-human gene fragment," was carefully preserved by Elizabeth, becoming a deeply buried foreshadowing that would trigger an even greater storm in the near future.