123: Chapter 123 The Symbol of Division and the Truth of Awakening

In the meeting room of Fanxing Technology, the air was heavy.

Chen Fan stared intently at the symbol on the holographic projection—three circles nested within a triangle, split by a vertical line down the middle. The symbol looked as if it were drawn in blood, appearing particularly jarring on the ground next to the wreckage of the armored vehicle.

"This isn't an invitation," Chen Fan suddenly spoke, his voice cold and certain. "This is... a declaration of war."

Everyone looked at him.

"The triangle represents the complete will of the 'Sowers,' and the vertical line in the middle represents division." Chen Fan walked to the projection and traced his finger along the vertical line. "They are telling me: either choose to stand with them and become the executioners of the 'Harvest,' or choose to stand with humanity and become their enemy. There is no middle ground."

Director Zhao frowned. "But why now? They could have easily continued observing you, just like the Doctor did before."

"Because time is running out." Chen Fan pulled up the Christmas Eve countdown. "One month and fifteen days. If they can't ensure that all 'Gardeners' are on the same side, the entire 'Harvest Project' will face variables. And I—" he pointed to himself, "am the biggest variable."

Academician Wang's expression was grave. "Then how do you plan to choose?"

Chen Fan didn't answer immediately. He walked to the window and looked at the busy scene in the factory outside—workers were working overtime to produce vaccines and disinfectant, the robot production lines were running at full speed, and batches of Guardian-IIs were rolling off the line, ready to be shipped everywhere.

Just then, Chen Fan's phone vibrated. It was an urgent message from Xiao Zhi:

[Abnormal energy fluctuations detected. Source located in the central district of the Magic City. Coordinates marked. Energy signature highly similar to the Stellar Core Energy inside the attackers, but the intensity is three orders of magnitude higher.]

[Also received an encrypted communication request. Source unknown. Encryption method shares the same origin as the quantum encryption algorithm used by Alpha Capital.]

Everyone in the meeting room saw the message.

"Connect it," Chen Fan said.

[Establishing secure channel... Connection successful.]

A figure appeared on the holographic screen. It wasn't the Doctor, but an Asian man in his thirties, wearing a simple gray suit and sitting in a modern-style office.

"Mr. Chen Fan, a pleasure to meet you." The man's Chinese was standard but had a slight accent. "I am the Asian regional representative of the 'New Dawn Society.' You can call me 'Lin'."

New Dawn Society. A gene-editing organization from Europe.

"You kidnapped Dr. David and Captain Lei Zhen," Chen Fan said coldly.

"Please refer to it as 'protective custody,'" Lin smiled. "Dr. David knows too much, and Captain Lei Zhen... we admire his military talent. In the 'New World,' such talent should be given a better position."

"Let them go."

"I'm afraid not," Lin shook his head. "But we can make a deal. Both of them in exchange for the 'Key Sequence' in your hands."

Chen Fan's eyes narrowed. "You want the formula for the antiviral agent?"

"Yes," Lin admitted frankly. "The design of 'reaper-8' has flaws; it cannot distinguish between 'superior genes' and 'ordinary genes' and can only perform a crude screening. We need your key to perfect it, so it can precisely eliminate those... genetic traits not worth keeping."

"For example?" Chen Fan suppressed his anger.

"Carriers of hereditary disease genes, certain racial traits considered 'inferior,' populations with intelligence below a specific threshold..." Lin listed them nonchalantly. "Of course, that also includes those who stubbornly refuse to 'evolve'."

"So you want me to help you perfect a tool for ethnic cleansing?"

"We call it 'Civilization Optimization,'" Lin corrected. "Mr. Chen, you and I both know that the human species has reached a bottleneck. Resources are limited, the population is excessive, and internal conflicts are irreconcilable. The 'Sowers' gave us an opportunity—to break this bottleneck and create a new human civilization."

He leaned forward, his eyes becoming fervent. "Think about it: a world without disease, without ignorance, without conflict. Everyone is a product of genetic optimization, possessing wisdom and abilities beyond the present. Isn't this the utopia humanity has always pursued?"

Chen Fan was silent for a few seconds, then asked a seemingly unrelated question: "Mr. Lin, do you have children?"

Lin was taken aback. "I have a daughter, five years old."

"If the 'Harvest Protocol' is activated, will your daughter pass the screening?"

"Of course," Lin said without hesitation. "Her genes have undergone three optimizations, and her intelligence test scores are two standard deviations above her peers."

"And if she falls in love with someone with 'ordinary genes' in the future?" Chen Fan continued to ask. "What if she chooses not to undergo the next genetic enhancement? What if she questions the 'perfect world' you've designed? At that point, will she still be 'worth keeping'?"

Lin's expression froze.

"See, that's the problem." Chen Fan's voice was calm and powerful. "Once you start using genes to determine a person's value, no one is ever truly safe. Today's standards might change tomorrow. Today's 'superior genes' might be defined as 'defects' tomorrow. When life can be modified and deleted at will, so-called 'perfection' becomes a nightmare that never ends."

Lin was silent for a long time and finally sighed. "Mr. Chen, you disappoint me. The Doctor said you were a pragmatic person; I thought you would understand our ideals."

"I understand," Chen Fan said. "I understand that you want to create a better world. But a better world should not be achieved by destroying the current one."

The communication was cut.

The meeting room was silent.

Director Zhao was the first to break the silence. "Comrade Chen Fan, we need to trace that communication signal."

"I'm already on it." Chen Fan pulled up the tracking results. "The signal source is in an office building in the Magic City's Financial Center, but it should be a relay station. Xiao Zhi, continue tracing."

[Tracing... The signal went through seven encrypted hops, and the final source points to—the North Pole.]

The North Pole again.

"What's there?" Academician Wang asked.

Director Zhao pulled up a top-secret file. "In the 1970s, the Soviet Union detected abnormal electromagnetic signals at an ice station in the Arctic Ocean. The source was located three thousand meters beneath the ice. The technology at the time was unable to explore further. File code: 'Polaris Gate'."

"'Polaris Gate'..." Chen Fan mulled over the name. "So the North Pole isn't just a control hub; it might also be... an entrance?"

"An entrance to what?"

"An entrance connecting the 'Sowers' to Earth." A realization flashed in Chen Fan's eyes. "If they really come from interstellar space, there must be a way to come and go. If the North Pole is their base, then the so-called 'Harvest' might not just be on a biological level..."

He suddenly thought of something. "Xiao Zhi, calculate how much transport capacity and organizational ability would be needed to release 'reaper-8' at forty-three drop points globally simultaneously?"

[Calculating... Requires at least two hundred large transport aircraft sorties, or an equivalent scale of missile/drone systems. However, Alpha Capital's public assets worldwide do not possess this level of delivery capability.]

"So they must have a hidden delivery method." Chen Fan's mind raced. "Could it be... from space?"

This hypothesis made everyone gasp.

"Deploying biological weapons from space?" Director Li was incredulous. "How is that possible?"

"If the 'Sowers' truly come from interstellar space, their technology could definitely achieve it." Chen Fan pulled up a satellite orbit map. "Imagine if they deployed satellites or space stations carrying the virus in low Earth orbit. Releasing them at a designated time, the virus would fall evenly across the Earth like rain..."

Just then, Su Qingyue pushed the door open in a hurry, holding a freshly printed report. "Chen Fan, this is the analysis Xiao Zhi just completed. Regarding the Stellar Core Energy in your body..."

The report showed that the energy in Chen Fan's body wasn't being passively accumulated but was actively "resonating." Every time he used his Amplification ability, the energy would resonate with some kind of cosmic background radiation, increasing in intensity almost imperceptibly.

More crucially, Xiao Zhi found a hidden sequence in Chen Fan's DNA—not an encoding method that should belong to Earth's organisms. This sequence was only 137 base pairs long, and its arrangement was identical to the virus Key Sequence.

"This is..." Chen Fan looked at the report in shock.

[Analysis Conclusion: Genetic markers homologous to the Ω virus exist within the host's body. These markers are not innate but were implanted later.]

"They 'sowed' in my body too?" Chen Fan murmured.

It wasn't just simple energy resonance, but genetic modification. Without knowing it, he had been transformed into some kind of... creation of the "Sowers."

Everyone's eyes in the meeting room were fixed on him, and the atmosphere became delicate.

Lei Zhen was missing, David was kidnapped, and now genetic markers homologous to the enemy were found in Chen Fan's body... "I need to have a checkup." Chen Fan broke the silence. "Comprehensive gene sequencing and energy scanning. If I've really been modified, I must know to what extent and if there are any... backdoors."

Academician Wang patted his shoulder. "Comrade Chen Fan, we believe in you. Regardless of the outcome, the contributions you've made to humanity are real."

"Thank you." Chen Fan nodded. "But until the test results are out, I suggest suspending all my duties at headquarters."

"No." Director Zhao said resolutely. "We need your wisdom and ability right now. As for the genetic markers in your body... as long as your will stands with humanity, you are still our comrade."

Director Li also voiced his support. "There's a saying in science—genes don't determine destiny; choices do."

Looking at these people who still chose to believe in him in this moment of crisis, a warm current surged in Chen Fan's heart.

"Then let's get back to work." He pulled up the global map again. "Since they might deploy from space, we need space defense. The satellites for the 'star dome project' must be launched ahead of schedule."

"But the satellites haven't been fully tested..." Su Qingyue reminded him.

"Launch and test simultaneously." Chen Fan made the decision. "Launch the first one tomorrow. Also, I want all countries to share their space monitoring data. If there really are satellites carrying the virus, we should be able to detect anomalies in orbit."

The plan was quickly formulated: space monitoring, antiviral agent production, global press conference, searching for David and Lei Zhen... multiple fronts were advancing simultaneously.

By the time the meeting ended, it was already late at night.

Chen Fan stayed in the lab alone, preparing to undergo a comprehensive genetic test. Before lying on the examination table, he asked Xiao Zhi one last question:

"If I've really been modified into one of their 'Gardeners,' can I still change back into an ordinary person?"

[Insufficient data, unable to answer. However, based on existing information, it is speculated that genetic modification may be irreversible.]

Chen Fan was silent for a moment, then lay down calmly. "Begin the test."

The machine started, and the scanning beam covered his body from head to toe.

At the edge of his fading consciousness, Chen Fan seemed to hear a voice, not from his ears, but echoing directly from the depths of his consciousness:

"Awaken, Gardener. Your mission is about to begin."

Then, a complex stream of information flooded into his mind—Star Charts, protocols, Harvest Schedules, and... a coordinate located beneath the Arctic ice.

Chen Fan snapped his eyes open.

The scanner emitted a completion tone, but he knew that some changes could no longer be detected by instruments.

He sat up and looked at his open palm.

In his palm, faint silver patterns were emerging, forming a complete symbol of three nested circles within a triangle.

This time, there was no vertical line in the middle.

The symbol slowly rotated in his palm, emitting a faint starlight.

"This is my choice," Chen Fan said softly, clenching his fist.

The patterns faded, but the feeling of resonating with the stars was already deeply etched in the depths of his consciousness.

Christmas Eve countdown: one month and fourteen days.

And Chen Fan knew that before the countdown ended, he had to make a trip to the North Pole.

To face the thing that would decide the fate of humanity—the "Polaris Gate."