128: Chapter 128 Escape Under the Icy Sea

The sound of explosions in the passage grew closer.

Lei Zhen's mechanical arm was overloaded and glowing red; each swing was accompanied by the shriek of twisting metal.

Xiao Zhi was also dealing with them, but the number of mutants was simply too great. They surged forward like a tide, feeling no pain, knowing no fear.

"The passage won't hold!" David looked back, his face pale, "They're damaging the structure!"

The doctor rushed to the console, his fingers flying across the keyboard: "There's an emergency evacuation passage here, but it needs time to activate! Captain Lei, hold on for three more minutes!"

"Three minutes... that's too long!" Lei Zhen gritted his teeth. His mutated right arm suddenly swelled, purple energy currents surging beneath the skin, "Chen Fan... get them out of here! I... will detonate the Energy Core!"

"No!" Chen Fan grabbed Lei Zhen's shoulder, "We go together!"

"No time... to argue! Otherwise, none of us will make it." Lei Zhen grinned, revealing an ugly smile, "I... am not a monster."

As soon as he finished speaking, he forcefully pushed Chen Fan deeper into the passage and simultaneously pressed a red button on his mechanical arm.

[Warning: Energy Core overload initiated. Countdown: 3 seconds.]

"Lei Zhen!" Chen Fan tried to rush back but was held back firmly by David.

"Go! Don't let his sacrifice be in vain!" David roared.

The doctor had already opened a hidden door behind the ice wall, revealing a small spherical Escape Pod. "Get in! It can only hold three people!"

Chen Fan took one last look at Lei Zhen's back—that comrade he had once fought side by with, now standing at the entrance of the passage, using his mutated body to block countless mutants. His mechanical eye flashed with red light, and he mumbled the tune of a military song.

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"Go!" The doctor yanked Chen Fan into the Escape Pod.

The moment the hatch closed, they heard a deafening explosion.

The passage collapsed behind them, ice and metal fragments raining down.

The Escape Pod slid down rapidly through the ice layer; the violent shaking nearly caused the three to lose consciousness.

"The Escape Pod... will take us to... the edge of the ice layer..." the doctor gasped, his arm bleeding from a wound caused by flying debris, "But the 'Sower'... will definitely track us..."

Chen Fan suppressed his grief and pulled up the real-time data transmitted by Xiao Zhi.

The progress bar for the Gene Resonance Protocol was stuck at 17%.

[Detected strong interference signal: The Sower is using a quantum encrypted channel to inject counter-code into Earth's atmosphere.]

"They've discovered us." Chen Fan's voice was hoarse, "They know what we're doing."

"Of course they know." The doctor smiled bitterly, "The Sower's surveillance is everywhere."

Chen Fan looked at the leather notebook in his hand. Among the scrawled handwriting, there was a line of small text he hadn't noticed before:

"The Moon is the key. The energy there... can break through the blockade..."

The Moon.

Chen Fan raised his head, a flame rekindling in his eyes.

"Doctor, how far can the Escape Pod fly?"

"At most... to the nearest Research Station."

"Not to the Research Station." Chen Fan interrupted him, "We're going to the nearest Space Launch Site."

The doctor's eyes widened: "Are you crazy? The entire planet is under the Sower's surveillance now! Any space launch will be shot down! And going to the Moon also requires preparation time."

"Xiao Zhi, estimate how long it will take for the 'Sower' to reach Blue Star?" Chen Fan wanted to estimate the time.

[Based on estimates, traveling at full speed, they will require approximately 72 hours.] After Xiao Zhi stated the time, Chen Fan was shocked.

Originally, the Sower shouldn't have planned to come this quickly, at least not until after Christmas Eve, after all humans were under control.

Now, because the resonance protocol was rashly activated, the Sower's sense of crisis sharply increased, actually accelerating their journey to Earth. Thinking of this, Chen Fan felt a surge of fear.

"What if they're busy dealing with the Gene Resonance Protocol?" Chen Fan pulled up Xiao Zhi's analysis report, "Look, they're putting all their effort into interfering with our transmission vectors. They need the Gardener's help to control it, which means their resources are limited. If we create more trouble for them..."

"Feint east, strike west." David suddenly spoke up, "Use multiple targets to distract their attention!"

"My satellite can blow up the Sower's energy warehouse, disrupting their harvest plan." Chen Fan said, "And, I can also obtain a portion of the energy first..."

He looked at the doctor: "Can the energy from the Lunar Facility be transmitted remotely?"

The doctor was stunned: "You... you want to transmit Stellar Core Energy to Earth through a Quantum Entanglement Channel?"

"Since the 'Sower' can transmit energy from the Kuiper Belt to the Moon, why can't we transmit from the Moon to Earth?"

Chen Fan's thoughts grew clearer, "Use that energy to enhance myself, and then I'll personally activate the gene resonance!"

"But your body can't withstand it..." David said worriedly.

"How long can it withstand?"

The doctor pulled up their previous scan data of Chen Fan's body: "Based on the strength of your constitution... at most three minutes. Beyond three minutes, your cells will begin quantum disintegration."

"Three minutes is enough." Chen Fan said firmly, "Activating a global protocol requires a burst of peak energy, not endurance. Like a lightning strike—a massive injection of energy in an instant can ignite the entire system."

The Escape Pod suddenly shook violently.

The ice layer came to an end; ahead lay the dark waters of the Arctic Ocean.

"Prepare for water entry!" the doctor shouted, "The Escape Pod will transform into a Diving Pod, but we can only stay underwater for six hours. We must surface after six hours, otherwise the oxygen..."

Before he could finish, a beam of light pierced through the ice layer and struck the tail of the Escape Pod.

Alarms blared.

[External attack detected. Hull breached, water ingress. Oxygen system damaged.]