After becoming rich overnight, I handed over the system.

Chapter 395 What is the truth?

At the end of the passage is a ventilation opening, below which is a circular laboratory.

Yu Yang carefully parted the grille and peered down; the sight below made his heart ache.

Cheng Hai was strapped to a tilted operating table. His skin was an unhealthy grayish-blue, and there were rough surgical marks on both sides of his neck, clearly indicating that some kind of gill-like organ had been forcibly implanted.

Even more horrifying, his left arm was completely deformed, with webbed structures growing between his fingers and his fingertips elongating into claw-like shapes.

In the laboratory, two technicians in black uniforms were preparing some kind of syringe.

A tall figure stood beside him, his entire body shrouded in deep red diving armor, his helmet visor an opaque black.

Cheng Hai understood that this must be the "harvester" that those people had just mentioned.

“One last attempt,” the Reaper announced in a cold, shrill synthesized voice. “If this fusion still fails, proceed with Plan B.”

The technician nodded and inserted the syringe into Cheng Hai's neck.

A moment later, Cheng Hai's body convulsed violently, his chest heaving like a fish out of water, while the monitoring equipment emitted a sharp alarm.

"It's failed again!" a technician exclaimed. "The vital signs are dropping rapidly!"

The Reaper turned and walked toward the console: "Prepare for neural extraction; at least he can tell us the defensive weaknesses of that floating city."

Yu Yang felt that they couldn't wait any longer.

He loosened the ventilation grille and silently landed in the laboratory, right behind two technicians.

Before they could react, Yu Yang had already hit one person in the neck with a high-pressure water gun, while simultaneously delivering a karate chop to the back of the neck of the second person.

The Reaper turned around quickly, its red armor appearing like blood under the light.

“Ah, Dr. Yu,” the synthesized voice carried an unsettling sense of pleasure, “Lyan has finally let his little pet out to play?”

Without saying a word, Yu Yang raised his gun and fired.

The water bullet exploded on the Reaper's armor, but only left a slight dent.

“Naive,” the Reaper sneered, pressing a button on his wrist.

The laboratory door suddenly locked, and several weapon units descended from the ceiling, all aimed at Yu Yang.

“You think Ryan is the savior? He’s one of the culprits who destroyed the old world. The Noah Project was never about saving humanity, but about creating new gods—monsters like you and me.”

Yu Yang slowly moved toward the operating table: "I don't know what you're talking about, I just want to take my friend away."

“Your ‘friend’ is no longer entirely human,” the Reaper sneered. “Look at what we’ve done to him, and look at yourself. Do you really think those abilities are gifts? They’re shackles, binding you to the ocean forever.”

Taking advantage of the harvester's distraction while he was talking, Yu Yang suddenly lunged at the operating table and pressed the release button on Cheng Hai's wrist guard.

The restraints snapped open, but Cheng Hai remained unconscious.

“It’s no use,” the Reaper shook his head. “His transformation process was too brutal; his nervous system has collapsed. Even if we take him back, he’ll just be a vegetable.”

Yu Yang checked Cheng Hai's weak pulse, then looked up angrily and demanded, "Why did you do this?"

“For survival,” the Reaper suddenly removed his helmet, revealing his true face, a face that bore a seven-tenths resemblance to Ryan but was much younger.

"In order to stand on the side of victory in the war between the land faction and the aquatic faction, I am Carl Lane, Victor's son, and the first successful hybrid. But I saw through my father's lies."

Carl took a step closer, his skin appearing a sickly purplish-blue under the light: "You think the Great Flood was a natural disaster? It was the Noah Project that artificially accelerated the melting of glaciers; they needed the ocean to cover the earth!"

Yu Yang shook his head in shock: "Impossible! My father would never get involved in something like this!"

“Your father found out the truth, so they killed him,” Carl sneered. “Ask Victor John Yu the real cause of his death.”

An alarm suddenly blared throughout the entire base.

“External intrusion detected,” the cyborg female voice announced. “All personnel to combat positions.”

Karl's expression changed: "Laine has sent troops."

He quickly put his helmet back on. "Last chance, Yu Yang. Join us, and you and your friends will live. Keep believing Ryan's lies, and you'll all die."

Yu Yang picked up Cheng Hai: "I choose the truth. But not the kind you're talking about."

Karl snorted angrily and activated the weapon in his hand: "Then let's all go to hell together!"

The moment he fired, the outer wall of the laboratory suddenly exploded, and high-pressure seawater blasted in like cannonballs.

Yu Yang instinctively protected Cheng Hai, feeling the armor automatically form a protective airbag.

In the chaos, he saw several blue-skinned warriors swim in through the breach, wielding strange biological weapons and exchanging fire with the base guards.

A familiar figure swam toward Yu Yang—it was Victor Lane, now wearing combat armor with his gills fully open.

"Grab me!" Ryan's voice came through the water. "We must get out of here immediately!"

Yu Yang hugged Cheng Hai tightly and grabbed Ryan's outstretched hand.

A powerful pulling force suddenly enveloped them, as if they were being grabbed by the tentacles of a giant squid.

Their vision went black for a moment, and when it came back to light, they were already in a streamlined, transparent submersible, with the deep sea rushing past them on the outside.

"Cheng Hai needs medical help!" Yu Yang checked his friend's vital signs, which were getting weaker and weaker.

Ryan pressed a button on the bulkhead, and the medical pod rose from the floor: "Put him in! There's a stem cell repair system inside."

After settling Cheng Hai in, Yu Yang turned to Ryan: "Is what Carl said true? About the great flood, about my father's death?"

Ryan's expression became complicated: "Partly truth, partly lies. Project Noah did attempt to influence the climate, but the aim was to slow down, not accelerate, the melting of glaciers. By the time we discovered the government was prepared to use our research as a weapon, it was too late."

"What about my father?"

“John discovered that Carl was secretly contacting the military, preparing to use aquatic adaptation technology to create super soldiers.” A look of pain flashed in Ryan’s eyes.

“Karl killed him and staged it as an experimental accident. By the time I found out, it was too late!”

The submersible suddenly shook violently, and an alarm sounded.

"Locked on!" the pilot shouted. "The Deepsea Eye's pursuit vessel!"

Ryan quickly fastened his seatbelt: "Hold on! We're going to perform a deep evasion maneuver!"

The submersible plunged downwards at a near-vertical angle, causing a sudden increase in pressure.

Yu Yang felt a stinging pain in his eardrums, and his gills automatically adjusted to adapt to the pressure change.

Through the bulkhead, he saw several black submersibles hot on his heels, their torpedoes leaving deadly trails in the water.

"They're trying to force us into the trench!" the driver shouted. "There are strong currents there!"

“I know,” Ryan said calmly, “Execute the ‘Sea Serpent’ maneuver!”