63: Chapter 63 Prisoners in the Satellite

The tires of the Zentorno car crushed over the barren soil on the outskirts of Los Santos, screeching to a halt before the wire fence surrounding the satellite launch base. The sound of rubber friction tore through the silent night, startling a few night birds from the treetops. It was late at night, and the ink-black sky held no starlight; only the base's searchlights, like the eyes of a giant beast, swept back and forth across the open wilderness. Wherever their cold beams touched, there were guards armed with live ammunition and cold metal fences. The entire base was like a dormant steel beast, emitting a suffocating pressure.

Lin Fan pushed open the car door and lightly brushed his fingertips across the car body. Pale blue Code energy flowed from his fingertips, instantly covering the entire car. A system prompt, [Code Editing: Optical Camouflage Activated, Duration 60 Minutes], flashed before his eyes. He turned back to look at Michael in the passenger seat and Franklin in the driver's seat, lowering his voice: "Franklin, you stay here and operate the drone to monitor the perimeter of the base. If you spot any reinforcements, notify us immediately with the signal. Remember, unless absolutely necessary, do not expose yourself under any circumstances."

Franklin nodded, raised his hand to pat the modified drone on his lap, and said with a serious look: "Don't worry, Brother Fan, leave this to me. Be careful after you go in; the guards at this base don't look like pushovers."

Lin Fan turned his gaze to Michael. Michael's face was still pale, but there was a bit more determination in his eyes. His fingertips unconsciously rubbed his wrist, where a faint scar remained—a remnant from when he participated in the experiment all those years ago. "Michael, follow behind me later. My stealth code can cover two people, but we must avoid the searchlights and thermal imagers. If we are discovered, we will be surrounded." Lin Fan's voice was low, carrying a hint of caution. Since merging with Michael's lingering thoughts in the previous chapter, he could clearly feel the guilt and unease in Michael's heart, and he understood even better that this satellite launch base was the place where Michael's lifelong nightmares were hidden.

Michael took a deep breath, raised his hand, and patted Lin Fan on the shoulder: "I'm fine. Let's go. No matter what's inside, I'll face it with you."

The two crouched low, using the cover of the night to quickly approach the wire fence. Lin Fan gathered Code energy at his fingertips again, and a pale blue blade of light instantly swept across. The wire fence was sliced open with a neat cut, without making a sound. The two slipped through the fence, keeping their bodies low, and moved quickly across the gravel road of the base. The beams of the searchlights swept over their heads, but due to the effect of the optical camouflage, they couldn't capture their figures at all.

The defense inside the base was far tighter than imagined. There was a guard post every ten meters, with guards holding fully automatic rifles, scanning their surroundings vigilantly. Both sides of the base's roads were also equipped with many infrared sensor devices; once any living thing approached, an alarm would immediately sound. Relying on the [Hacker Mastery] skill unlocked by the system, Lin Fan quickly swiped his fingertips through the air. A pale blue stream of code, like a swimming snake, drilled into the infrared sensor devices, instantly shielding all sensor signals. The two wove between the base's guard posts like ghosts, without being discovered in the slightest.

"Elizabeth's handiwork is quite something; for a satellite launch base, the defense is tighter than the FIB headquarters." Franklin's voice came through the Bluetooth headset with a hint of amazement. The drone he was operating was hovering over the base, transmitting the footage inside to Lin Fan's phone in real-time. "I see the core launch tower right in the center of the base. That place has the most guards, and there's an electronic keypad door that looks like it requires authorization to enter."

Lin Fan looked up at the core launch tower in the center of the base. It was a metal tower over a hundred meters high, its body shimmering with a cold metallic luster. The top of the tower was connected to a huge satellite antenna, slowly rotating in the night, emitting a faint blue light. He could clearly feel an extremely powerful Code energy surging from the launch tower, resonating strongly with the Code energy in his body. The source of that energy was the core cabin of the launch tower, which was also where Elizabeth's Core Code server was located.

"Leave the keypad door to me; you guys keep monitoring the perimeter." After saying this, Lin Fan quickly approached the core launch tower with Michael. Four heavily armed guards stood at the entrance of the launch tower, holding shotguns and guarding the electronic keypad door. The screen of the keypad door flickered with complex numbers and symbols, looking like it required high-level authorization to unlock.

Lin Fan signaled Michael to hide behind a nearby container, while he slowly approached. He gathered a faint stream of Code energy at his fingertips and reached toward one of the guards' walkie-talkies. [Hacker Intrusion: Communication device hacked, obtaining keypad door authorization]. As soon as the system prompt faded, a string of code suddenly flashed across the keypad door's screen. The originally locked screen instantly lit up, displaying the words [Authorization Verified]. The heavy electronic keypad door slowly opened to both sides, emitting a low mechanical sound.

The guards were instantly alert, raising their guns to look at the keypad door: "What's going on? Who unlocked the door?"

Just as the guards were in a panic, Lin Fan flashed out from the shadows like a ghost. The modified military dagger in his hand cut a cold arc, instantly slitting the throats of two guards. Blood splattered on the cold ground, making a sizzling sound. Michael also rushed up immediately, raising his hand to punch one guard in the chin, while his other hand snatched the rifle from the opponent and smashed it hard against the head of the last guard. The four guards fell to the ground instantly, without even having time to let out a scream.

"Nice work." Lin Fan patted Michael on the shoulder and quickly walked into the launch tower. The interior of the launch tower was a long metal corridor. The walls of the corridor were covered with various circuits and display screens, which flickered with complex code and satellite data. The air was filled with a faint smell of machine oil and the scent of Code energy.

The two moved quickly along the metal corridor. At the end of the corridor was a high-speed elevator. Lin Fan pressed the elevator button, and the elevator door slowly opened; it was empty inside. The two walked into the elevator and pressed the button for the top-floor core cabin. The elevator began to ascend rapidly. The sound of wind rushed past their ears, and the numbers on the display screen jumped continuously, rapidly soaring from the 1st floor to the 88th floor.

The elevator door slowly opened, and a powerful wave of Code energy rushed toward them. Lin Fan and Michael frowned simultaneously, raising their hands to shield their foreheads as they adapted to this powerful energy pressure. The space in the core cabin was far larger than imagined, as big as a football field. The top of the cabin was huge transparent glass, through which they could clearly see the starry sky outside. In the center of the cabin stood a massive Code server, its screen flickering with countless pale blue streams of code, like a rushing river. Surrounding the server were countless light orbs of various sizes, floating in the air and emitting a faint white light, resembling a sky full of stars.

"What are those?" Michael's voice trembled slightly. He pointed at the floating light orbs, his eyes filled with shock and fear. He could clearly feel that human consciousness was contained within these light orbs.

Lin Fan walked forward slowly and gently touched one of the light orbs with his fingertip. A faint stream of consciousness instantly flooded into his mind. It was the consciousness of an ordinary person, filled with fear, despair, and helplessness, along with some fragmented memory snippets—the streets of Los Santos, the smiling faces of family members, and finally, the scene of being taken away by Elizabeth's people.

"These are human consciousnesses imprisoned by Elizabeth." Lin Fan's voice was low, carrying a trace of anger. "She not only wants to control Los Santos but also wants to extract human consciousness and refine it into Code energy to provide power for her plans."

These light orbs were Elizabeth's "Consciousness Cage." She used Code energy to extract the consciousness of ordinary citizens of Los Santos, and even some people who were her enemies, and imprison them in the satellite core cabin, making them her "energy batteries," forever trapped in this void of space, unable to be freed.

Lin Fan's gaze swept quickly through the countless light orbs. Suddenly, he felt a familiar fluctuation of consciousness. The fluctuation was very weak but carried a trace of a familiar aura—it was precisely Michael's lingering consciousness. He walked quickly toward the source of that fluctuation. There, amidst countless white light orbs, was a translucent orb emitting a faint yellow light—it was Michael's lingering consciousness orb. This orb trembled slightly in the air, continuously emitting intermittent Morse code, as if it were calling for help, or perhaps transmitting some kind of information.

"Michael!" Lin Fan raised his hand, wanting to touch this light orb. Michael also stepped forward quickly, his eyes filled with excitement and heartache. This lingering consciousness was a part of his consciousness that he had forcibly split off during the experiment years ago to protect Lin Fan. He hadn't expected it to be imprisoned here by Elizabeth, unable to be freed for decades.

Just as Lin Fan's fingertip was about to touch Michael's lingering consciousness orb, his gaze was suddenly drawn to another orb. Among the countless white light orbs and Michael's yellow light orb, a golden orb was hidden. This orb was smaller than all the other orbs, yet it emitted an extremely powerful energy fluctuation, with faint golden patterns flowing on its surface. It appeared exceptionally dazzling among the many orbs, like a diamond hidden in the sand.

The energy fluctuation of this golden orb was very special; it belonged neither to human consciousness nor to Elizabeth's Code energy. Instead, it had a high degree of compatibility with the Code energy in Lin Fan's body. Lin Fan couldn't help but reach out and gently touch this golden orb.

The moment his fingertip touched the golden orb, a powerful stream of memories flooded into Lin Fan's mind like a tide. Countless fragmented memory snippets flashed rapidly before his eyes—all memories from his early childhood: in a cozy little house, his mother holding his hand, teaching him to walk; his father holding him, flying a kite in the yard; and him sitting at a desk, holding a paintbrush, drawing the smiling faces of his family on paper... These memory snippets were all memories from before Lin Fan transmigrated, the most precious childhood memories he had long forgotten.

After being touched by Lin Fan, the golden orb trembled slightly, and the golden patterns on its surface became brighter. A few more memory snippets flashed by, but these were scenes of Lin Fan being captured by Elizabeth's people and sent to the laboratory. Finally, the image froze on the moment Michael held him, desperately rushing out of the laboratory. Afterward, the golden orb returned to calmness and hid itself among the countless orbs again, as if everything that had just happened had never occurred.

"Lin Fan, what's wrong?" Seeing Lin Fan suddenly freeze in place, his eyes filled with complex emotions—shock, nostalgia, and a trace of sadness—Michael quickly stepped forward and asked.

Lin Fan snapped back to reality and shook his head, suppressing the memory snippets in his mind. He didn't know what this golden orb was or why it contained his childhood memories, but he knew for sure that this orb was not simple; it was another foreshadowing planted by Elizabeth. Perhaps this orb was the key to unlocking the mystery of his transmigration.

"It's nothing, just saw something familiar." Lin Fan said indifferently, raising his hand to look at Michael's lingering consciousness orb again. "Let's rescue your lingering consciousness first, then think of a way to destroy this Code server."

However, just as Lin Fan gathered Code energy at his fingertips again, wanting to unlock the imprisonment of Michael's lingering consciousness, a cold mechanical voice suddenly rang out in the satellite core cabin. The lights of the entire core cabin instantly turned blood-red, and countless red streams of code poured out from the Code server, like venomous snakes, slithering rapidly through the air.

[Warning: External intrusion detected, satellite AI "Eva" has been activated, Consciousness Cage defense system initiated!]

As the cold mechanical voice faded, countless red laser lines suddenly descended from the top of the core cabin, shrouding the entire core cabin. Stimulated by the laser lines, the floating consciousness orbs began to tremble violently, emitting painful wails. Michael's lingering consciousness orb was directly entangled by a laser line, continuously emitting even more urgent Morse code, as if it were enduring immense pain.

"Not good, it's a trap!" Lin Fan's expression changed drastically. He hadn't expected that Elizabeth had already laid a trap in the core cabin, waiting for him to walk right into it.

Just then, a figure flashed across the screen of the Code server. Elizabeth's face appeared on the screen, her lips curled into a cold smile, and her eyes were filled with mockery and triumph: "Lin Fan, my experiment subject no. 0, you finally came. Are you surprised? Are you caught off guard?"

"Elizabeth, you lunatic!" Lin Fan roared, gathering powerful Code energy at his fingertips and shooting it toward Elizabeth on the screen. The pale blue stream of code instantly hit the screen. The image on the screen twisted instantly but quickly returned to normal.

"A lunatic?" Elizabeth chuckled softly. "I'm just doing what I'm supposed to do. Lin Fan, do you think you can escape my grasp? From the moment you became experiment subject no. 0, your fate was already sealed. You will always be my pawn, and you will never escape my control."

After she finished speaking, she raised her hand and tapped lightly on the screen. [Consciousness Corridor Initiated, Target: Lin Fan, Forced Memory Playback Started!]

The cold mechanical voice fell once more. Lin Fan suddenly felt a powerful suction force coming from the Code Server; his consciousness was instantly pulled out of his body and swept into a void.

This space resembled a long corridor, its walls covered in countless screens that forcibly played the painful scenes of Lin Fan's experimentation—the young him lying on an operating table, his body covered in tubes and electrodes as Elizabeth held a syringe, injecting code fragment into his body. He convulsed violently, blood spilling from the corners of his mouth as he let out painful whimpers. There were also scenes of him being carried by Michael, rushing out of the laboratory with swarms of pursuers behind them, bullets whistling past his ears...

These images were Lin Fan's most painful memories, the ones he had always wanted to forget. Now, forcibly played by Elizabeth, they were like sharp knives stabbing deep into his heart, dealing a massive blow to his consciousness. Waves of intense, stinging pain surged through his mind, as if it were about to be torn apart.

"Ah!" Lin Fan let out a painful roar. His consciousness struggled frantically within the Memory Corridor, wanting to shake off these painful images, but he found that no matter how hard he tried, he could not break free. These images were like maggots on a bone, clinging tightly to his consciousness and constantly stimulating his nerves.

"Lin Fan, give up. You cannot escape." Elizabeth's voice echoed in the Memory Corridor, laced with a hint of mockery. "These memories are your shackles; you will never be able to escape them. You are destined to become my experiment subject, destined to sacrifice everything for my plan."

"No! I do not accept this fate!" Lin Fan suddenly roared, a cry filled with endless rage and unwillingness that shattered the constraints of the Memory Corridor.

He remembered everything he had experienced since transmigrating to Los Santos, the days he fought side-by-side with Michael and Franklin, the consciousnesses imprisoned by Elizabeth, and the childhood memories within the golden light orb. His gaze became increasingly firm, and a powerful conviction welled up from the bottom of his heart, supporting his consciousness.

"My, Lin Fan's, fate has never been controlled by others. Even you, Elizabeth, don't think you can manipulate me!"

Lin Fan's roar echoed in the Memory Corridor. His consciousness began to condense frantically, and the code energy within his body erupted like a volcano. A pale blue code stream surged rapidly through the Memory Corridor, colliding with Elizabeth's red code stream and producing violent explosions.

[Code Reverse Intrusion initiated. Target: Satellite AI "Eva". Intrusion progress: 10%... 50%... 90%... 100%!]

[Intrusion successful. Satellite AI "Eva" is temporarily controlled. Memory Corridor closed!]

The system prompt rang in Lin Fan's mind, and his consciousness instantly broke free from the Memory Corridor, returning to his body.

He opened his eyes abruptly, a pale blue light flashing in his eyes. His fingertips traced rapidly through the air, and the pale blue code stream, like a rushing river, surged into the Code Server. The originally blood-red lighting of the Core Cabin instantly returned to white, and those red laser lines vanished instantly. The trapped remnant consciousness orb of Michael was also freed, floating slightly in the air.

Lin Fan had succeeded! Relying on his powerful conviction and code energy, he had reverse-hacked the Satellite AI "Eva" and briefly seized control of the satellite!

This was Lin Fan's highlight moment, and his first true, complete victory in his confrontation with Elizabeth! He was no longer the experiment subject no. 0 who could be manipulated by Elizabeth at will, but a powerhouse capable of confronting her head-on and even countering her!

Michael watched the scene before him, his eyes filled with shock and admiration. He walked quickly to Lin Fan's side and patted his shoulder: "Lin Fan, you are amazing!"

Lin Fan panted slightly; the reverse intrusion had consumed a large amount of his code energy, and his face was somewhat pale, but his gaze remained firm: "Don't celebrate too early. I have only temporarily controlled the Satellite AI. Elizabeth will soon discover this. We must destroy the Code Server as soon as possible to rescue these imprisoned consciousnesses."

Just as Lin Fan raised his hand to condense code energy, intending to destroy the Code Server, a sound of footsteps suddenly came from the entrance of the Core Cabin. A familiar figure walked in slowly, wearing a black hooded trench coat with the hood pulled low. The mechanical prosthetic eye in his left eye flickered with a cold blue light under the illumination—it was Night Owl.

Seeing Night Owl, Lin Fan instantly became vigilant, raising his hand to shield Michael behind him. He condensed code energy at his fingertips and looked at him with cold eyes: "Night Owl, why are you here? You really are in league with Elizabeth. Everything in the previous chapter was a show you put on, just to lure me here, right?"

Lin Fan thought that Night Owl had been Elizabeth's person from the very beginning, and the so-called "Deep Blue Watch wants to stop Elizabeth" was merely a scam they had set up together, intended to make Lin Fan lower his guard and walk right into the trap that had long been prepared.

However, Night Owl did not make a move. He slowly took off his hood, revealing a face with deep contours. There was no mockery on his face; instead, it carried a hint of exhaustion and pain. His gaze fell upon the floating consciousness orbs, his eyes filled with guilt and sorrow.

"Elizabeth and I were indeed early collaborators." Night Owl's voice was low and slightly hoarse. "Back then, I participated in the code experiments with her, researching how to use code energy to control Los Santos. At that time, like her, I was blinded by power and desire, thinking I could change the world."

Night Owl's words confirmed Lin Fan's guess; he was indeed in league with Elizabeth. But Lin Fan heard something different in his tone—it was a remorse born of betrayal, and a hint of helplessness.

"Then why did you betray her? Why did you establish Deep Blue Watch and pretend to stop her?" Lin Fan questioned, not relaxing his vigilance and still staring intently at Night Owl to prevent him from launching a sudden attack.

Night Owl's gaze slowly shifted to one of the countless orbs, one emitting a pale purple light. That orb was brighter than the others, and the consciousness fluctuations within it were gentler. Night Owl's eyes were filled with tenderness and pain, and his voice became choked with emotion: "Because she imprisoned my daughter."

These words exploded like a thunderclap in the ears of Lin Fan and Michael. Both were stunned; they had not expected this to be the reason why Night Owl betrayed Elizabeth.

"My daughter is named Xiaoya. She was only five years old back then. Due to an accident, her body suffered severe trauma, and she has been lying in a hospital bed, comatose." Night Owl's voice trembled slightly as he slowly recounted his story. "To save her, I collaborated with Elizabeth and participated in the code experiments. I thought that with code energy, I could make my daughter wake up and restore her to health."

"But I didn't expect that madwoman Elizabeth, for the sake of the experiment, would secretly extract my daughter's consciousness, imprisoning it in this Satellite Core Cabin, making her a part of the consciousness prison and her energy battery."

"When I discovered all of this, it was already too late. I wanted to rescue my daughter, but I found that I was no match for Elizabeth. Her code energy was far stronger than mine, and she controlled the Satellite AI; I couldn't even get near the Core Cabin."

"In order to rescue my daughter, I could only pretend to continue cooperating with her. I secretly established Deep Blue Watch, gathering a group of people dissatisfied with Elizabeth, wanting to find an opportunity to overthrow her rule and rescue my daughter, as well as these consciousnesses she has imprisoned."

Night Owl's words were filled with remorse and pain; tears even welled up in the corners of his eyes. A man who had originally been blinded by power and desire had finally awakened after losing his most precious daughter and wanted to make amends for his mistakes.

Lin Fan looked at Night Owl and then at that pale purple orb. He could clearly feel that inside that orb lay the consciousness of a little girl, filled with innocence, naivety, and a faint trace of fear—it was indeed the consciousness of a child.

His vigilance gradually relaxed. Night Owl's words did not seem false, and there was no malice in his code energy fluctuations; instead, they were filled with pain, guilt, and a hint of anger toward Elizabeth.

"Is what you said true?" Lin Fan asked, his eyes still holding a trace of suspicion.

"I have no need to lie to you." Night Owl raised his hand, his fingertips condensing a weak stream of black code energy, which he shot toward the pale purple orb. Under the touch of the black code energy, the orb trembled slightly and emitted a gentle flow of consciousness that entered Night Owl's mind. Night Owl's gaze became even gentler. "Now, Elizabeth's influence is growing stronger. She will soon complete her plan to break the barrier between virtual and reality. When that happens, not only will Los Santos fall into chaos, but the real world will also be affected, and countless people will lose their lives."

"I know you are the only one who can confront Elizabeth. Only you can destroy her Code Server and rescue these imprisoned consciousnesses, including my daughter and your childhood memories." Night Owl's gaze fell on the golden orb, his eyes showing a hint of understanding. "That golden orb is your consciousness core from before you transmigrated. Elizabeth has always wanted to obtain it because only by merging your pre-transmigration consciousness core with your current code energy can she truly break the barrier between virtual and reality."

Night Owl's words unraveled the doubts in Lin Fan's heart and made him clearer about what his mission truly was.

"I know you don't trust me yet." Night Owl looked at Lin Fan, his eyes filled with sincerity. "But now, we have a common enemy and a common goal. I hope to form a temporary alliance with you to confront Elizabeth together, destroy the Code Server, and rescue these imprisoned consciousnesses."

"I can help you crack Elizabeth's ultimate defense system, help you find the weak point in her Core Code, and even help you take complete control of this satellite, as long as you can rescue my daughter and these innocent people."

Night Owl extended his hand, his eyes filled with anticipation. He knew this was his only chance and the only hope of saving his daughter.

Lin Fan looked at the hand Night Owl extended, then at the floating consciousness orbs, at Michael's remnant consciousness orb, and at the golden orb that hid his own childhood memories. His gaze became increasingly firm.

He knew that Night Owl's words might be true or false, and perhaps this was another new trap, but he had no choice. To destroy Elizabeth's Code Server, to rescue these imprisoned consciousnesses, to protect Los Santos, and even to find the truth behind his own transmigration, he needed Night Owl's help. He needed this person, who was familiar with everything about Elizabeth, to become his ally.

Even if this was a trap, he dared to brave it!

Because he was Lin Fan, a wanted criminal who had transmigrated into GTA5, and the experiment subject no. 0 who never accepted his fate!

Lin Fan raised his hand and tightly grasped Night Owl's hand. The pale blue code energy and the black code energy collided in their palms, but instead of clashing, they merged together, forming a purple-blue light that flickered slightly in the air.

"Fine, I agree. Temporary alliance, formed!"

A simple sentence, foreshadowing that the landscape of Los Santos was about to undergo earth-shaking changes. The joining of forces between Lin Fan and Night Owl also made this ultimate showdown with Elizabeth even more unpredictable.

Outside the satellite launch base, Elizabeth stood beside a black off-road vehicle, watching the purple-blue light flickering at the top of the core launch tower. A cold smile curled at the corners of her mouth, her eyes filled with anticipation: "Lin Fan, Night Owl, your joining forces has actually made this game interesting. However, do you think you can defeat me this way? Too naive. The rules of this game have always been set by me; everything about you is under my control..."

She raised her hand and gently pressed the remote control in her hand. Deep within the satellite launch base, a low mechanical sound suddenly emerged. A much larger wave of code energy was slowly awakening; that was Elizabeth's ultimate killer move, and the final gift she had left for Lin Fan and Night Owl.

A new storm was quietly brewing, and whether the temporary alliance between Lin Fan and Night Owl could withstand Elizabeth's ultimate attack, and whether they could successfully destroy the Code Server and rescue these imprisoned consciousnesses, everything remained an unknown variable.