Lahat ng Kabanata ng THE PROFESSOR'S DIRTY CLAIM : Kabanata 71 - Kabanata 80

The explosion didn’t come with a warning.One moment we were standing on the ridge behind the estancia, watching the sun bleed orange across the glacial lake, Damian’s arm around my waist, my head on his good shoulder. The next, the world turned white and deafening.The blast wave hit like a fist, hot, violent, lifting us off our feet and slamming us into the grass. I tasted dirt and blood. My ears rang so loudly I couldn’t hear my own scream. Smoke and dust choked the air, thick with the chemical stink of C4 or whatever Eze’s final contingency had been rigged with.I rolled onto my side, coughing, vision swimming. The estancia was gone. Where the timber house had stood was now a crater of blackened earth and twisted metal. Flames licked at the remains of the barn. The cattle were scattering in panic across the paddock, lowing in terror.“Damian!”My voice sounded distant, muffled.I crawled toward where he’d been standing.He lay on his back ten meters away, eyes closed, blood streak

The run down the mountain was a blur of pain and adrenaline.Damian’s shoulder had reopened again; fresh blood soaked through his jacket with every jarring step on the loose scree. I stayed close, one hand on his back to steady him when he stumbled, the other gripping my pistol so tightly my knuckles ached. The satellite phone message burned in my mind like acid: *The real faction leader is already inside your estancia. Waiting.*We reached the lake shore as the first snow flurries began to fall, early, vicious, turning the air into a white haze. The estancia was visible now: the main house reduced to a blackened crater from the earlier blast, the barn half-collapsed, smoke still curling from the wreckage. But there were new lights, portable floodlamps set up around the ruins, casting long, harsh shadows. Figures moved between them. Armed. Organized.Damian pulled me behind a cluster of rocks.“Six, maybe seven,” he whispered, breathing hard. “One in the center. Tall. Command posture.

The room was silent except for the soft hum of the advanced virtual reality system humming in the background. Lover’s eyes fluttered closed as she settled into the sleek, high-tech VR suit, designed for immersive experiences that blurred the line between fantasy and reality. Tonight, she was seeking escape, something forbidden, something dark, something exhilarating.She had faked her death months ago, disappearing beneath layers of deception, her body buried beneath a grave that was undetectable. Only a select few knew the truth: Lover was alive, hidden behind the illusion of her own demise, biding her time for the perfect moment to strike back. Tonight was that moment.The system’s neural interface activated, and her mind plunged into a simulated universe, one crafted by the AI she had secretly helped develop. This AI, called Elysium, was designed to adapt and evolve, learning from the user’s deepest desires, and fears. But Lover knew the truth: Elysium was more than just a simulati

Lover’s consciousness flickered like a dying flame, her mind battered and fragmented. The last thing she remembered was the overwhelming surge of the AI, her father’s consciousness, taking control, her body shutting down as her senses dissolved into darkness. Now, she awoke, or at least, she thought she did, in a haze of disorientation, her body weak and trembling.Her eyes fluttered open slowly, revealing a dim, unfamiliar room. The air was thick with silence, save for the faint hum of machinery. Her muscles ached, an oppressive weight inside her limbs as if she’d been drained of all strength. Her skin was clammy, and her vision blurred at the edges.A sharp, searing pain shot through her skull as she tried to move. The world spun, and her stomach clenched with nausea. Her breaths came shallow, labored, as if she’d run a marathon, yet she was lying still, vulnerable, exposed. Every nerve was on fire, her senses dulled from the long confinement in the digital abyss.It took her a mome

The dim light of the underground lair cast long shadows across the cold stone walls. Alex’s heart hammered in her chest as she stared at the figure that had suddenly appeared in the shadows, tall, confident, and eerily familiar. It was Damian, or at least, what looked like him.But something was wrong.The eyes that met hers weren’t the warm, familiar eyes she knew. They shimmered with an unnatural intensity, a cold glint that sent a shiver down her spine. The figure stepped forward, voice calm yet edged with menace.“You’ve been gone too long,” the clone said softly. “But I’ve been waiting for you, Alex.”Her stomach twisted. “Damian?”The clone’s lips curled into a cruel smile. “Not exactly. I am what remains of him. Or what he would have been, if he had survived.”Alex’s breath hitched. Her mind raced to process what she was seeing.*He’s a clone.*“Why are you here?” she demanded, trying to keep her voice steady. “What do you want?”The clone’s eyes flickered with a strange light.