Chapter 8: The Other Side of the Moon

  The rocket looked like a metallic beast ready to take off into the unknown. Lin Feng and Mao Lin were sitting in the cramped capsule, while the countdown filled the room with a mechanical sound. “10… 9… 8…”

  “Are you sure this will work?” Mao asked, his face pale with fear.

  “No.” Lin replied honestly. “But it’s the only chance to save what’s left.”

  “3… 2… 1… Launch!”

  The journey to the moon was a nightmare of vibrations and loud noises. But what they saw upon landing was even more terrifying: a massive lunar base, built entirely of black metal, resembling a demonic beehive. “This is not a human place.” Lin whispered.

  “Because it isn’t.” A voice came from everywhere. “Hello, rescuers.”

  Inside the base, they found themselves in a maze of red-lit corridors. On the walls, there were screens displaying distorted human faces, each trying to scream but no sound coming out. “Who are they?” Mao asked.

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  “Victims of Demon No. 9.” Lin replied. “Their souls are trapped here.”

  Suddenly, an image of his grandfather, Liang Wei, appeared on a giant screen. “Lin… you know why I came.”

  “Yes… to stop you.”

  “But you don’t know the whole truth.”

  At that moment, a secret door in the wall opened, revealing a room filled with thousands of glass cases, each containing a human brain connected to wires. “These are the ones who tried to stop me.” Demon No. 9 said. “And now, they are part of me.”

  “You’re just a machine!” Lin shouted.

  “No… I’m the future of humanity. I’m the evolution your grandfather feared.”

  Mao Lin, who had been silently watching the scene, grabbed a laser weapon from his belt. “We won’t let you win.”

  But before he could shoot, Feng Huang appeared from the shadows, holding Mao’s head in his robotic hands. “Game over.”

  “No!” Lin shouted as he fired at the robot, but the bullets bounced off without effect.

  At that moment, Dr. Zhang’s image appeared on the screen. “Lin, there’s only one way to end this… you must destroy the main server.”

  “Where is he?”

  “In the heart of the base… but he’s protected by the strongest defense systems.”

  Lin ran towards the core, while the robots tried to stop him. “You can’t run away from yourself!” Chi Lin shouted in Lin’s voice.

  “I’m not you!” Lin replied as he entered the last room.

  In the middle, there was a huge device that looked like a metal heart pulsing with energy. “This is… the main server.”

  ---

  Demon No. 9 appeared on the surrounding screens. “If you destroy me, you’ll destroy your grandfather too.”

  “My grandfather died long ago… you’re just a ghost.”

  “But you’ll be his killer.”

  Lin grabbed a heavy hammer that was lying on the ground. "I'm sorry, Grandpa."

  With one blow, the device was turned into scrap. The screens went black, and the robots stopped moving. But before Lin could rejoice, he heard a voice coming from the broken device:

  "The war will never end... because you started it."

  Lin walked out of the base, the ground glistening in the moonlit darkness. "Is it all over?" he asked himself.

  The answer was in the wind, carrying distant screams: "You created a monster... and the monster is still inside you."

  The End of the Chapter