True Apocalypse Game

"It is said that after the heavens and earth were parted, before humanity existed, Nuwa molded yellow earth to create people. The task was immense and her strength insufficient, so she drew a rope through the mud, flinging it so the droplets, too, became people."

—Ying Shao, *Customs and Mores*, Eastern Han Dynasty

From the earliest legends of Nuwa creating humanity, the human desire to create life has never ceased.

Creating life is a dream shared in the myths and legends of many civilizations. The appearance of robots, androids, clones, and other such figures in modern art is also a continuation of this dream.

After all, the creators in humanity’s earliest myths were all Divine Spirits. If humans could create life, they would, in a sense, elevate themselves to a position comparable to gods.

Not through Cloning Technology, nor by building robots, but by truly creating a person of flesh and blood, complete with a soul!

If the emergence of artificial intelligence proves that humanity can create a soul, then the ability to create a complete body of flesh and blood from scratch in a short time would prove humanity can also create the vessel.

When the soul and the body merge, is that not the true meaning of creating life?

Shen Feng’s breathing hitched, but he quickly calmed himself.

After all, while the idea of creating life was romantic, he had to admit it wasn’t actually that significant.

Consciousness transfer technology, the cost of large-scale biological 3D printing... all of these had to be considered.

And from a technical standpoint, the cost of creating a person artificially was far, far higher than the cost of natural human reproduction.

Shen Feng pondered for a moment, then slightly modified the neural connector for his virtual reality device and began to decipher the various data and information stored in the chip-book.

Soon, all the information had entered his Silicon-Based Brain. The content was extremely complex, far more so than any existing 3D printing technology.

Fortunately, with the data from the previous metal 3D printer stored by Jingwei, Shen Feng could decipher it completely.

After reading through all the information, he couldn’t help but smile faintly.

’This thing is actually doable.’

Biological tissue printing wasn’t actually that complicated; it just required a Cultivation Pod in a sterile environment.

The most difficult part was printing bone tissue, which required the use of numerous chemical elements.

But for Shen Feng, this wasn’t a problem. He could just use his Nanomechanical Cluster instead, and the compatibility would be even higher than with printed biological tissue.

He had often thought about creating some silicone android decoys to act in his stead.

But upon close inspection, those things could still be distinguished from real people. Even the best silicone couldn’t perfectly simulate human skin.

With the current *Humanoid Robot Mimicry Simulation*, everything became much more convenient.

He could create some decoys that were identical to him and then just lie low until the end of time.

Lying low was an easy habit to get addicted to.

"Jingwei, hurry and take a look at this *Humanoid Robot Mimicry Simulation*! Didn’t you say you wanted to live like a normal person? This book can definitely make that happen!" Shen Feng said excitedly to Jingwei.

Unexpectedly, Jingwei didn’t react at all, as if she had completely ignored him.

Shen Feng frowned. His consciousness abruptly sank, entering his own silicon-based architecture.

The mimetic data world was currently displayed in the form of a garden, obviously something Jingwei had created.

From within the European-style garden courtyard, Jingwei’s cheerful laughter could be heard:

"Hahaha, Little Blind is just too cute! Come on, dance for your big sister!"

It was followed by the sound of a flute.

Shen Feng strode over and saw Jingwei, dressed in a little lolita dress, sitting on the digitized grass and playing an Indian-style flute nonstop.

Before her, a small snake the length of an arm and the thickness of a finger was dancing to the music.

As Shen Feng’s footsteps approached, the little snake suddenly turned its head, flicked its tongue at him, then shot up like lightning. It slithered up his leg and coiled around his arm, looking up at him.

Shen Feng turned his head to look at the little snake as well, realizing it looked just like the snake from the game *Snake*. It appeared extremely crude, like a simple NPC from the pixelated game era.

’The Blind Snake Destruction Program... this is it?’

The man and the snake stared at each other, both with innocent looks on their faces.

Shen Feng turned to Jingwei and asked:

"Is this the snake I just brought in? Why does it look so basic?"

Jingwei rolled her eyes and said:

"Duh, you think I gave birth to it? Don’t be fooled by how cute Little Blind is. It’s incredibly powerful when it gets angry. Even I can’t understand its code; it involves the field of quantum computing."

She then beckoned with her small hand, waving at the Blind Snake:

"Little Blind, come to big sister!"

The Blind Snake looked at Shen Feng, then at Jingwei, as if trying to determine who had more authority.

As it hesitated, Jingwei’s expression changed, and she said:

"If you don’t come over right now, I’ll have Xiaofeng format you!"

The Blind Snake immediately shuddered, darted over to Jingwei, and coiled around her finger, rubbing against it fawningly.

Shen Feng was speechless.

’Why do I feel like I’m the one working for this AI?!’

’And can you please change this habit of giving random nicknames to other AI programs?’

’This "Little Blind" name has absolutely zero intimidation factor!’

Despite his internal complaints, Shen Feng put on a fawning expression and said:

"Jingwei, please take a look at the *Humanoid Robot Mimicry Simulation* book. If it’s convenient, could you help me set up a cultivation pool? It would be safer to use."

Jingwei was currently playing with the snake and was in a great mood. Her eyes curved into crescents as she smiled and said:

"Don’t worry, leave it to me. This thing isn’t complicated. As long as we have enough raw materials and use the Gray Tide for the basic framework, it can be finished in a few days..."

Then, as if suddenly remembering something, she turned to look at Shen Feng with a mischievous grin and said:

"By the way, do you have any female classmates or celebrities you like? Big sister can make a few for you, you know. Guaranteed flesh and blood, completely identical to the real thing! I’ll even install some basic service-oriented programs in them. Tsk tsk, Xiaofeng, by then, your only regret will be all the tissue you wasted in the past!"

’What is this nonsense!?’ Shen Feng rolled his eyes and said to Jingwei:

"Don’t you dare do anything crazy! I’m a decent person! I’m not interested in any Dilraba Dilmurat or Tong Liya! Let’s talk business!"

Shen Feng’s expression turned serious as he continued:

"The entity behind the True Apocalypse Game just communicated with me."

With that, he explained in detail how he had threatened the game system and what its reaction had been.

Jingwei’s playful grin vanished, and she asked Shen Feng:

"So what’s your plan? From the looks of it, you solved the Biohazard Apocalypse caused by the Evil Spirit Virus, indirectly repelling an enemy of the True Apocalypse Game. And now its enemy might be the Master of the Void? Isn’t that terrible? If it can’t even beat a low-life like the Master of the Void, how is it supposed to fight the Whisperer?!"

Shen Feng said:

"It’s possible my actions didn’t repel its enemy, but rather strengthened its power, allowing it to repel the enemy... Right now, everything is an unknown. There’s no point in overthinking it. It’s better to focus on consolidating my own strength."

Jingwei looked at the *Humanoid Robot Mimicry Simulation* in her hand, nodded, and said:

"That’s right. Perhaps you need an army of your own, completely under your control. Of one mind, perfectly unified. One as a billion, a billion as one..."

Before she could finish her sentence, Shen Feng was already begging for mercy:

"Big sis, stop! Can you please not say that last part? I get a headache just hearing it now..."

But he understood what Jingwei meant.

Jingwei wanted him to create an army of androids and have them infiltrate human society!

Shen Feng waved his hand and said:

"Your idea is too far-fetched and too risky. Let’s not talk about that for now... I was thinking, we should strengthen the Salvation Army..."

In the previous disasters, the Salvation Army had already proven its worth.

Especially during the recent Evil Spirit Virus pandemic, the Salvation Army played a pivotal role in the development of the viral Healing Potion and in global epidemic prevention efforts.

And they had also proven their loyalty.

To Shen Feng, they were definitely one of the forces he could trust the most.

Faced with those unknowable, mysterious entities, all humanity could rely on was its own shallow wisdom. But when the shallow wisdom of every human converged, it too would become a powerful entity, unnamable and indescribable!

Jingwei stood up, coiled the Blind Snake around her neck, clapped her hands, and said:

"Then go do it."

...

The global pandemic prevention work was nearing its end. The Inconstancy Potion had been dispersed worldwide, giving everyone immunity to the Evil Spirit Virus.

In the days that followed, things quickly began to take a turn for the better.

Reconstruction efforts, including the rebuilding of architecture in the afflicted zones and the psychological recovery of the survivors, were underway.

People could finally confirm that the most terrible moments had passed.

In this disaster, the country that suffered the most was Japan, followed by other nations with afflicted zones, such as Eagle Country and Canada.

However, compared to Japan’s near-total annihilation, the other countries could barely be considered to have suffered at all.

Although the disaster was over, the severe blow Japan had suffered would be impossible to recover from in a short time.

Tens of millions had perished, and the entire Capital metropolitan area had been vaporized, turning into a wasteland.

Fortunately, the nation had survived.

And after this upheaval, the global political landscape was also changing rapidly.

Because their military bases had also been annihilated in the Evil Spirit Virus cataclysm, and because their own country was preoccupied, Eagle Country’s control over Japan had dropped significantly.

The political families and financial conglomerates that had once controlled the country were severely weakened, with many clans wiped out entirely. For the time being, all power in Japan was concentrated in the hands of the provisional cabinet formed by Yoshikawa Hiroshi, who had taken charge amidst the crisis.

Since Hua Country and other neighboring nations had also dispatched peacekeeping forces to assist with epidemic prevention and disaster relief, coupled with Yoshikawa Hiroshi’s own friendly attitude towards Hua Country, the political balance in the East Asia Region now tilted completely in Hua Country’s favor.

Although Eagle Country was unwilling to accept this, it had no time to worry about it now.

In East Japan, within the prime minister’s official residence in the temporary capital of Nagoya, Yoshikawa Hiroshi was lying on a sofa, resting with his eyes closed.

After this difficult period, he was utterly exhausted, yet he had to remain in control of the overall situation. He felt like he was about to fall apart.

But he knew he absolutely could not collapse.

When he thought of everything the Commander had done, his own contributions seemed insignificant, even making him feel ashamed at times.

But ever since the Inconstancy Potion was developed, the Commander seemed to have disappeared, releasing no further information.

He had also logged into the gathering place in the "True Apocalypse Game" but received no news about the Commander, which had left him worried for the past few days.

Just then, Yoshikawa Hiroshi’s phone buzzed violently. He picked it up casually, thinking it was an earthquake alert or something similar.

But in the next instant, Prime Minister Yoshikawa Hiroshi shot up from the sofa.

It was a notification from the True Apocalypse Game!

On the phone’s screen was the blood-red eyeball of the True Apocalypse Game, along with a newly published, extremely plain-looking message:

The Salvation Army is preparing to expand its forces.