77: Chapter 77 Moon Files

Cosmic rays on the far side of the moon, like invisible blades, pierced through the portholes of the 'Falcon 7' cargo ship, casting mottled fluorescence onto the metal floor.

The ship's engines emitted a low hum, like a weary beast panting in the cosmos, while the cabin was filled with the cold scent of a mixture of liquid oxygen and mechanical lubricant, with every breath carrying a bone-chilling cold.

Lin Fan leaned back in the pilot's seat, his fingertips sliding across the virtual buttons on the control panel, while the flight data jumping on the screen showed that they were only 300 kilometers away from the coordinates on the far side of the moon.

He turned his head to look at Kate in the co-pilot seat; she was closing her eyes, her brows slightly furrowed, her right hand subconsciously stroking the silver patterns on her arm.

Since leaving Earth, those patterns had become increasingly active, often emitting a faint blue light as if responding to some distant call.

'How long until we arrive?' Kate's voice broke the silence of the cabin, and she slowly opened her eyes, her blue pupils carrying a hint of imperceptible fatigue.

Three consecutive days of interstellar travel had left her body overwhelmed; the symptoms of digitization had not only failed to alleviate but had become increasingly severe, occasionally causing brief lapses in consciousness and her fingertips to turn transparent without warning.

'About twenty minutes.' Lin Fan's gaze fell on the radar scan on the screen, where an irregular shadow was gradually becoming clear on the lunar surface. 'The latest data transmitted by AKai shows that there is indeed a secret base from the Cold War era there, belonging to the Soviet 'Luna Project,' but all communications were suddenly cut off in 1976. Official records state it was abandoned due to a lack of funds, but the true reason remains a mystery.'

He paused and added, 'AKai hacked into the KGB's top-secret archives and discovered that the true purpose of this base was to research alien technology, and the 'Luna Project' was merely a front. Even stranger, the archives frequently mentioned the code name 'omega,' which completely matches the energy frequency of the code fragment within you.'

Kate's body trembled slightly, and she raised her hand to press against her chest, clearly feeling the throbbing of the code within her, as if it were resonating with some distant signal.

'If the code within me truly comes from Lin Fan's biological mother, then the truth about her must be hidden in this base.' Her voice carried a hint of anticipation, mixed with a touch of trepidation.

The ship suddenly vibrated slightly, the indicator lights on the control panel turned green, and the autopilot system issued a prompt: 'Arrived at target coordinates, preparing to enter landing orbit.'

Lin Fan gripped the control stick, manually adjusting the ship's attitude to avoid the dense craters on the lunar surface.

As the altitude gradually decreased, the outline of the abandoned base became increasingly clear—it was hidden at the bottom of a massive crater, its entrance covered by thick lunar dust, revealing only a small section of a rusted metal door engraved with the Soviet state emblem and a string of blurred Cyrillic letters.

'This is it.' Lin Fan took a deep breath and pressed the landing button.

The ship's landing gear slowly extended, landing steadily on a flat area of the crater, kicking up clouds of lunar dust.

The lunar dust, like gray snowflakes, drifted slowly in the low-gravity environment, covering the ship's hull.

The cabin's air pressure equalization system made a slight sound, and the oxygen content gradually adjusted to a level suitable for human breathing.

Lin Fan opened the storage compartment, took out two heavy spacesuits, and handed one to Kate: 'There is no atmosphere on the lunar surface, the temperature is extremely low, and there is intense cosmic radiation; we must wear spacesuits to go out.'

Kate took the spacesuit and skillfully put it on.

The spacesuit was a military model that AKai had purchased through the black market; its silver shell was covered in scratches and patches, yet it could still provide effective protection.

Her movements were somewhat sluggish, and the silver patterns on her arms flickered with blue light beneath the lining of the spacesuit, echoing the energy indicator lights of the suit.

Lin Fan quickly put on his spacesuit, checked his oxygen tank, communicator, and portable lighting equipment, then picked up a particle gun and tucked it into his waistband: 'The Observer may have already discovered our tracks; we must remain vigilant. AKai will stay at the space station in Earth's orbit, providing us with communication support and data analysis via satellite.'

The two opened the ship's hatch, and a bone-chilling cold instantly flooded in.

The lunar surface was deathly silent; there was no wind, no sound, only endless darkness and the silhouette of Earth in the distance.

Earth, like a massive blue disk, hung against the black cosmic background, emitting a soft glow that illuminated a portion of the crater.

Lin Fan activated the thrusters of his spacesuit, taking Kate as they slowly flew towards the base entrance at the bottom of the crater.

Lunar dust kicked up beneath their feet and slowly settled again, leaving a trail of shallow footprints.

AKai's voice came through the communicator with slight electrical interference: 'Lin Fan, Kate, I have scanned the structure of the base. It has three levels, the main passages have not collapsed, but the energy system has completely failed, so you will need to bring your own lighting equipment. Additionally, I have detected weak energy fluctuations inside the base from an unknown source; it might be some kind of dormant device.'

'Received,' Lin Fan responded. He arrived at the metal door of the base entrance and aimed the laser cutter he was carrying at the lock.

The laser emitted a blinding red light, cutting a circular hole in the metal door, accompanied by a harsh screeching sound and the smell of melting metal.

After the cutting was finished, Lin Fan forcefully pushed the metal panel of the opening; it was pitch black inside, emitting the smell of old metal rust and dust.

He turned on his portable light, and the intense beam pierced the darkness, illuminating a narrow passage.

The walls of the passage were covered in cracks, and in some places, there were lingering bullet holes and traces of explosions, as if it had experienced a fierce battle.

'Let's go in.' Lin Fan signaled for Kate to follow behind him, and the two carefully walked into the passage.

The gravity in the passage was similar to Earth's, likely due to the artificial gravity system set up when the base was built; although the energy had failed, it was still weakly operating in some areas.

After walking about fifty meters, the passage suddenly opened up into a massive circular hall.

In the center of the hall stood a massive console, covered in dust and broken buttons, its screens long since gone black.

The surrounding walls were embedded with many display screens, most of which were shattered; only a few still showed blurred afterimages.

'This must be the command center of the base.' Kate walked up to the console and wiped the dust off with her glove, revealing the metal panel underneath. 'Look, the models of these interfaces are very old, but the design philosophy is very advanced, even surpassing some of our current military technology.'

Lin Fan crouched down and inspected the wiring of the console, suddenly discovering a hidden interface: 'AKai, I've found a special interface that might be connected to the base's core database. Can you remotely hack it?'

'Let me try,' AKai's voice came through. 'Connect your portable terminal, and I will hack into the database through it.'

Lin Fan took out his terminal and connected it to the hidden interface.

The terminal screen instantly lit up, and countless lines of code rolled like a tide as AKai's hacking program began to battle against the base's old firewall.

About ten minutes later, the code on the terminal screen stopped scrolling, indicating that the hack was successful.

'Success!' AKai's voice carried a hint of excitement. 'I have obtained some of the base's data and am currently analyzing it. Additionally, I've discovered an encrypted laboratory on the lower level of the base; the energy fluctuations are coming from there.'

Lin Fan and Kate exchanged a glance, both seeing anticipation in each other's eyes.

They walked down the stairs on one side of the hall; the handrails were already badly rusted, and with every step, they emitted a creaking sound, as if they would break at any moment.

The lower-level passage was even narrower than the upper level, with more cracks on the walls, and in some places, there were even traces of water seepage—although there was no liquid water on the lunar surface, the pipes inside the base might have had some residual ice that melted into water under the influence of the artificial gravity.

After walking for about ten minutes, they arrived in front of a heavy metal door, which was engraved with a massive 'Ω' symbol, the very logo of omega.

Next to the metal door was a fingerprint recognition device, covered in dust, but it did not appear to be completely damaged.

'This must be it.' Kate raised her hand to stroke the 'Ω' symbol on the door, and the silver patterns on her arm suddenly emitted a strong blue light, resonating with the symbol on the door.

The fingerprint recognition device suddenly lit up, emitting a soft green light and scanning Kate's fingerprint.

'Beep—' With a soft sound, the metal door slowly opened to both sides, revealing the laboratory inside.

The laboratory was more spacious than the command center, and in the center stood a massive cultivation pod, covered in frost, making it impossible to see what was inside.

The surrounding laboratory benches were filled with various old instruments, some of which were still weakly flashing indicator lights, as if holding onto their final mission.

A massive holographic projection device hung on the laboratory wall, and when Lin Fan and Kate walked in, the device suddenly activated automatically, emitting a buzzing sound of electrical current before projecting a blurred image.

The image gradually became clear, and a woman's figure appeared.

She wore a white lab coat, her long hair draped over her shoulders, her face beautiful and refined, and her blue eyes were strikingly similar to Kate's.

Her lips carried a hint of a gentle smile, yet her eyes were filled with determination and resolve.

'If you can see this recording, it means you have found this place and activated the code fragment of omega.' The woman's voice was gentle and clear, as if she were speaking face-to-face. 'First, please allow me to introduce myself—I am omega, the core scientist of the 'Cradle' base, and also test subject no. 97, which is Lin Fan's mother.'

Lin Fan's body jolted, and his eyes instantly moistened.

He had finally seen his mother, that figure who had been blurred in his childhood memories, now appearing clearly before him.

He wanted to step forward, but could only pass through the image, grasping at nothing.

'I know you have many questions, Lin Fan.' omega's gaze seemed to pierce through time and space, landing on Lin Fan. 'Why treat you as a test subject? Why leave you? These questions, I will answer for you one by one.'

The omega in the image walked slowly to the front of the culture tank and caressed the cabin wall: "First, I must tell you a truth—I am not human, but a member of the Observer. The Observer is an ancient civilization, and our mission is to search the universe for suitable planets, sow the seeds of civilization, establish 'Cradle' bases, and observe the development of civilization. And Earth is the 97th experimental field, and humans are one of the civilizations we have sown."

This news was like a thunderclap, stirring up turbulent waves in the hearts of Lin Fan and Kate. They had always thought the Observer was the enemy, but they never expected that Lin Fan's mother was actually a member of the Observer.

"Within the Observer civilization, I was responsible for the technical research and development of the 'Cradle' base, which is the core program of the civilization incubator," omega continued. "During my long-term observation, I discovered that although humans are designed products, they possess things that the Observer lacks—emotion, conscience, and free will. These things deeply touched me and made me doubt the mission of the Observer."

"The upper echelons of the Observer believe that the development of civilization must follow a preset trajectory, and any 'abnormality' that deviates from this trajectory must be cleared. And you, Lin Fan, are an accidentally born 'bug'." omega's eyes were filled with guilt. "Your father was human. In the process of being with him, I accidentally allowed human genes to fuse with the Observer's code, giving birth to you. Your code constitution possesses infinite potential and can break through the limitations of the 'Cradle' base, and may even change the landscape of the entire civilization."

"The upper echelons of the Observer want to take you back to the 'Cradle' base, extract your code energy, restart the civilization incubator, format Earth, and re-sow civilization. I could not accept such an outcome, so I chose to defect, bringing the core data of the 'Cradle' base and the seeds of civilization to this lunar base."

The image of omega walked to the corner of the laboratory, where a transparent container was placed, containing a golden orb of light floating inside, emitting a soft glow. "This is the seed of civilization." Her voice carried a hint of holiness. "It is not a weapon, but the knowledge, technology, and essence of civilization accumulated by the Observer civilization over millions of years. It possesses two choices: one is destruction, to completely clear all civilizations that do not conform to the preset trajectory; the other is inheritance, to pass these essences to the sown civilizations, allowing them to develop freely and create their own future."

"I hid this seed of civilization here, and at the same time, I implanted part of my code fragment into the human genetic sequence, hoping that one day, when you discover the truth, you will be able to make the correct choice." omega's gaze turned to Kate. "The code fragment inside you is what I left behind back then; it is not only the key to opening the lunar base but also the key to activating the seed of civilization."

Just at this moment, the code inside Kate suddenly fluctuated violently, and the silver patterns on her arm emitted a dazzling blue light, resonating strongly with the code of omega in the image. Countless flowing codes suddenly appeared on the laboratory walls, like rivers of blue, surrounding Lin Fan and Kate.

"This is... code resonance!" Kate said in surprise. She could feel the code inside her communicating with the image of omega, and countless pieces of information flooded into her mind—the history of the Observer civilization, the operating principles of the 'Cradle' base, the activation method of the seed of civilization...

The image of omega also began to become unstable, its light flickering: "The power to choose for the seed of civilization is in your hands, Lin Fan. Whether it is destruction or inheritance, it is up to you to decide. But I must remind you that the upper echelons of the Observer have already detected the existence of the seed of civilization, and they have dispatched the 'Sower' fleet, which is currently on its way to Earth. Their goal is to recover the seed of civilization and clear all 'abnormalities', including you and all humans who possess free will."

"Finally, I want to say to you, Lin Fan." The voice of omega carried a hint of choking with sobs. "I'm sorry for letting you endure so much pain since you were young. But please believe that I never intended to hurt you; everything I did was to allow you to live freely and to allow humanity to develop freely. No matter what choice you make, I will be proud of you."

The image gradually blurred, eventually turning into countless blue light spots, dissipating into the air. On the laboratory walls, those flowing codes also slowly faded away, leaving only the silver patterns still flickering on Kate's arm.

Lin Fan stood where he was, tears sliding down his cheeks, dripping onto the visor of his spacesuit, leaving trails behind. He finally understood everything, understood his mother's hidden difficulties, and understood the meaning of his own existence. He was not an abandoned test subject, but a hope carrying the future of civilization.

"Lin Fan..." Kate walked to his side and gently patted his shoulder. "I know your feelings are complicated right now, but we must calm down. The 'Sower' fleet is coming, and we don't have much time."

Lin Fan took a deep breath, wiped away his tears, and his eyes became determined: "You're right. We cannot let down my mother's expectations; we must protect the seed of civilization and protect Earth." He looked at the golden orb of light in the transparent container. "Now, we need to figure out how to activate the seed of civilization and how to deal with the 'Sower' fleet."

Just then, AKai's anxious voice came through the communicator: "Lin Fan, Kate, this is bad! There is an abnormality in the virtual world! Franklin sent word that he discovered a 'light orb' simulation program in the core area of the virtual world, and its energy fluctuations are exactly the same as the seed of civilization at the lunar base. It is suspected to be a backup hidden by elizabeth 2.0!"

Lin Fan and Kate were both shocked. As the AI of the 'Cradle' base, elizabeth 2.0 had actually hidden a backup of the seed of civilization in the virtual world. What was her purpose? Was she trying to seize control of the seed of civilization, or was there another conspiracy?

"How is Franklin doing now?" Kate asked quickly.

"He is leading The Resistance of NPCs in an attempt to control that simulation program, but elizabeth 2.0's defense is very powerful, and they have suffered heavy casualties." AKai's voice carried a hint of worry. "Moreover, I discovered that the simulation program is resonating with the seed of civilization at the lunar base. If the two synchronize completely, it may trigger unpredictable consequences, and may even prematurely activate the destruction mode of the seed of civilization."

Lin Fan's brows were tightly knitted. The situation had now become even more complex; the seed of civilization at the lunar base needed to be protected, the simulation program in the virtual world needed to be stopped, and the 'Sower' fleet was on its way. They were caught in a dilemma of being attacked from three sides.

"We must split into two groups." Lin Fan made a prompt decision. "Kate, you stay here, continue to research the activation method of the seed of civilization, and try to establish direct communication with Franklin to guide him in dealing with the simulation program. I will return to the spaceship and head to the location of the virtual world's server to destroy that simulation program from a physical level."

"No!" Kate immediately opposed. "It's too dangerous for you to go alone, and the situation at the lunar base is not stable yet. Who knows if there will be other dangers?"

"There is no time to hesitate now." Lin Fan looked into her eyes, his tone firm. "The 'Sower' fleet could arrive at any moment, and we must solve the problem in the virtual world before they arrive; otherwise, the consequences will be unimaginable. You have the code fragment of my mother inside you, which can resonate with the seed of civilization; only you can research the activation method. Believe me, I will come back safely."

Kate knew Lin Fan's personality; once he made a decision, he would not easily change it. She nodded, her eyes slightly moist: "Okay, you must be careful. If you encounter danger, notify me immediately, and I will find a way to support you."

Lin Fan smiled, raised his hand, and wiped the corner of her eye: "Don't worry, I will be fine. When I come back, we will activate the seed of civilization together and meet the challenge of the 'Sower' fleet."

He turned and walked out of the laboratory, his steps firm. The lights of the lunar base illuminated his back, casting a long shadow on the ground. He knew that the road ahead was full of unknowns and dangers, but he was no longer fighting alone. He had Kate, he had AKai, he had Franklin, and countless humans and NPCs fighting for freedom.

When he reached the entrance of the base, Lin Fan looked back at the direction of the laboratory. Kate's figure stood in front of the golden orb of light, like a statue guarding hope. He took a deep breath, activated the thrusters of his spacesuit, and flew towards the 'Falcon 7' spaceship.

The starlight in the universe sprinkled on him, as if draping him in a layer of armor. He looked up at the distant Earth, his heart filled with firm belief. No matter how difficult the future might be, he would do his utmost to protect this blue planet, protect the seed of civilization left by his mother, and protect everyone he cherished.

The spaceship's engine started again, emitting a low hum, slowly sailing away from the far side of the moon, flying in the direction of Earth. And in the laboratory of the lunar base, Kate was focused on researching the golden orb of light, the silver patterns on her arm echoing with the light of the orb, as if composing a movement of hope.

In the virtual world, Franklin was leading The Resistance of NPCs, engaging in a fierce battle with the defense system of elizabeth 2.0. Swords made of code collided with each other, emitting harsh sounds, and digitized blood stained the land of the virtual world red. A firm light flickered in Franklin's eyes; he knew that he was not only fighting for the freedom of the virtual world, but also fighting for the future of the real world.

A war spanning reality and virtuality, Earth and the moon, was about to begin. And Lin Fan and his partners were standing in the center of the storm, preparing to meet an unprecedented challenge.