True Apocalypse Game

Nick raised his eyebrows and gave a slight nod.

He didn’t know how many others had received the Commander’s order to "purge the remnants of the Purification Society," but he was certain the order wasn’t issued without cause.

At the very least, he now possessed information that would be enough to lead him to one of the Purification Society’s branches.

These were clues he had uncovered after passing a message to the monitored Purification Society targets, as per the Commander’s orders, during the Evil Spirit Virus pandemic. He hadn’t expected them to be useful so soon.

With this thought, Nick walked over to a nearby bookshelf. He reached out and gently pressed a button on the wall. The bookshelf slid apart, revealing a safe embedded within.

After passing the iris scan, Nick opened the safe door and carefully took out a piece of paper from inside.

On the paper was a single line of handwritten text.

The Master of the Void has arrived.

This was the message the Commander had ordered him to pass to the monitored targets.

He had found it baffling at the time, but unexpectedly, after receiving the message, the target had immediately begun contacting others. The methods used for concealment were only three layers deep, a sign that the news was extremely urgent for the Purification Society.

It was through this incident that Nick had managed to dig up some new members of the Purification Society.

At the time, the Evil Spirit Virus was at its peak, and without further instructions from the Commander, Nick had simply ordered his subordinates to keep the new targets under surveillance and not act rashly.

’Now it seems the permission to invite new players and the order to purge the remnants of the Purification Society have come one after another. I can probably combine the two.’

’Use the purge of the Purification Society’s remnants to select new players who meet my standards...’

Thinking this, Nick flicked open his lighter, first setting the paper ablaze and then using the flame to light a cigar.

Then, he suddenly remembered something. He glanced up at the smoke detector on the ceiling and quickly opened a window to fan the smoke out.

Once that was done, he returned to his desk, looked at a file on it, took a deep breath, and dialed a number.

Soon, a voice with a thick Arabic accent came through:

"Persepolis Palace record shop, how may I help you?"

Nick considered his words for a few seconds, then lowered his voice and said slowly:

"Injillic Choir, 1980s, one copy of the B-61 vinyl record. Prepare for mailing to the mountains."

The person on the other end seemed utterly shocked and stunned by Nick’s words. After almost ten seconds, he spoke in a trembling voice:

"Is this... Is this order valid?"

Nick frowned, seemingly displeased with the person on the other end for even asking the question, but he still answered:

"It will be soon."

Then he hung up.

He let the silver ash from his cigar fall, thought for a moment, and then dialed another number.

"Have G come see me."

...

「Somewhere in the Kremlin.」

Vasily stared intently at the True Apocalypse Game icon on his laptop and the instructions for the new player invitation permissions, unable to hide his excitement.

He, too, had received the directive to purge the remnants of the Purification Society.

This was exactly what he’d been hoping for.

’I’ve been searching for traces of the Purification Society for some time and have found some extremely important clues. Now is the time to follow them to their source...’

As for candidates for new players, Vasily already had a few in mind.

He pondered for a moment, glanced at the number "8" next to his invitation slots, then stood up and went directly to another office. Closing the door behind him, he spoke to a man inside who was focused on a document:

"Victor, do you still believe in the common ideal of all humanity?"

The man, who had a full beard, was taken aback by Vasily’s words. He looked up and laughed.

"What is it, my dear Vasily? Are you about to tell me a bad joke? The Moscow winter is cold enough as it is..."

Vasily didn’t smile. He stared at Victor, expressionless, trying to read something in his eyes.

He knew this old friend of several decades very well.

’Choosing anyone else might be a mistake, but choosing Victor is absolutely the right call.’

He was sure of it!

Seeing Vasily’s expression, Victor frowned. A thought seemed to strike him, and he asked:

"Is this about something important? Is there anything we can’t say to each other?"

Vasily’s expression remained solemn as he said slowly:

"I’m just asking if you still remember the ideals of our youth... Comrades."

Hearing Vasily’s words and seeing the resolve in his eyes, Victor finally understood that his old friend wasn’t being impulsive or telling a joke. He was asking this question in all seriousness.

Victor immediately walked to the office door and locked it from the inside. At the same time, he took a small signal jammer from a drawer, placed it on the desk, and switched it on, temporarily blocking all electronic signals in the room to prevent any eavesdropping.

Only then did he sit down in front of Vasily, look him in the eye, and say gravely:

"Of course, Comrades. Though many in this country wish to forget that memory, I will never forget. I once swore an oath under the flag to fight for the cause of all humanity! I have never forgotten, and I will not forget until I die!"

Looking at Victor’s earnest expression, Vasily couldn’t help but think back almost thirty years, to when they were just boys, recruited for KGB training. He remembered the heartbreak of watching that flag being lowered over the Kremlin.

So many years had passed. They were now middle-aged men in their forties, and their former KGB background had earned them the trust of the current head of state. Time had flown by too quickly.

’Fate is such a trickster.’

Vasily nodded slowly, a wry smile on his face. "Good, as long as you haven’t forgotten, my dear Victor. I want to officially introduce you to a game..."

He would recruit Victor as his first invited player.

The Commander’s ideal of protecting human civilization was remarkably similar—or rather, completely identical—to the noble ideal they had cherished for so many years.

All of this was worth dedicating their lives to.

Vasily felt a fire burning in his heart, a flame that even the frigid winds from the Arctic couldn’t extinguish.

"A game? What game?" Victor was stunned. Vasily seemed like a stranger just then. After being so formal and mysterious, he was now talking about introducing him to a game?

But just as he finished speaking, the laptop on the side suddenly vibrated, and a red eyeball icon popped up on the screen.

"True Apocalypse Game. Welcome aboard..."

...

When news of the Salvation Army’s expansion spread among the players of the True Apocalypse Game, it was like a bombshell dropped into a calm pond, immediately causing a huge uproar.

Almost all the veteran players understood the situation regarding this new player recruitment permission perfectly.

It was both a mission and a massive opportunity!

Through this recruitment, each of them could build their own faction, and with the Commander’s tacit approval!

However, all of this came with one prerequisite: the new players they recruited had to be sufficiently valuable.

Otherwise, not only would all their previous efforts be for naught, but they would also face severe punishment from the Commander.

This was, without a doubt, their biggest concern.

That was why, after receiving the recruitment permission, none of the veteran players acted rashly. Instead, they all began to carefully select their new recruits only after deep deliberation.

In total, over a thousand players received the order to "purge the remnants of the Purification Society" and began their operations as well.

Most of them held some clues about the Purification Society’s sleeper members.

Previously, following the Commander’s instructions, they had all lain low and made no major moves. Furthermore, the Purification Society’s sleeper agents also seemed to have received some news, throwing them into chaos for a time. They didn’t even cause any trouble during the Evil Spirit Virus containment efforts.

And now, it was time to reap the rewards...

...

「Middle East. In the mountains of eastern Turkey.」

A team was moving through the desolate mountains. Everyone was fully armed and silent, with only their eyes visible.

The backpacks they carried clearly concealed weapons, and every member exuded a deadly aura.

The team leader was a lean white man who was constantly looking at a device in his hand and giving various hand signals to the team behind him.

Just then, a blip appeared on the screen of the man’s device. He immediately gave a hand signal, and everyone took cover in a mountain hollow.

Soon, the sound of a drone passing overhead was heard, and then it vanished without a trace.

The white man waved them forward and spoke to a middle-aged man in sunglasses behind him:

"Kavan Brothers, I told you, you can trust me completely. Once this mission is complete, everything will be different. You will receive real help, establish your own nation. We will never abandon you like the Eagle Country people, leaving you to be devoured by wolves."

The middle-aged man sneered.

"Mr. Hall, the only friends we Kurds have are the mountains."