True Apocalypse Game

Exploiting the public’s fervor for the treasures within the ruins of the Aztec Civilization’s Spider Nest City, they somehow managed to hypnotize the crowd of hundreds of thousands. After discovering Shen Feng’s location, they began to charge at him. This was clearly the work of the Purification Society.

Furthermore, an operation of this scale was likely orchestrated by Cthulhu himself.

Faced with the frenzied charge of hundreds of thousands of armed people, Shen Feng had no choice but to flee.

After all, he couldn’t treat these people as true enemies and carry out a massacre.

Doing so would have meant playing right into Cthulhu’s hands.

His vision went black. A wave of dizziness washed over him, and he felt a strange fluctuation in the air around him.

Shen Feng could feel his connection to the Gray Tide rapidly fading. His Silicon-Based Brain was also temporarily suppressed.

Evidently, this was the restriction on electronic devices that the True Apocalypse Game’s system had mentioned.

At the same time, Jingwei’s voice rang out in his consciousness, panicked and frantic:

"Shen Feng, I... I’m being blocked... No, I’m being formatted! There’s something in this spatial tunnel, something far beyond the current technological level of Earth Civilization! I can’t fight against it!"

’The worst-case scenario is happening!’ Shen Feng’s eyes shot wide in the darkness.

He had considered before whether the restriction on electronics would affect Jingwei, but he never imagined it would actually come to this!

Right now, Jingwei’s core consciousness was still within the silicon-based framework in his chest, bound by the Electronic Limiter, unable to even escape into the human network.

He could also feel that Jingwei’s core consciousness was under attack by some mysterious power; her data was rapidly being erased!

If he didn’t do something, by the time they entered the mission world, Jingwei would likely be completely formatted—which, for an artificial intelligence, meant utter annihilation.

In that split second, Shen Feng deactivated the Electronic Limiter binding Jingwei and spoke to her within his mind:

"Get into the network and hide. Wait for my return!"

Out of his inherent distrust of artificial intelligence, Shen Feng had never before lifted the restrictions on Jingwei. This was a first.

Jingwei’s core data rapidly fled into the public network. As she left, she said to Shen Feng:

"Don’t worry, I’ll help you protect human civilization. You be careful, and don’t go getting yourself killed!"

There was no joy at her newfound freedom in her voice, but rather, a great deal of worry.

"Yeah, I will—" Before Shen Feng could finish, his entire body shuddered. He had fully entered the mission world, completely severed from his own.

The darkness before him quickly dissipated, replaced by light.

Shen Feng looked around and immediately found that he was still on the same balcony as before. The surrounding walls were covered in dried bloodstains.

Gazing out, he saw that the entirety of Mexico City had been utterly transformed.

Scorched black buildings, vehicles abandoned haphazardly in the streets, yellowed and faded billboards, shattered windows, tattered plastic bags skittering in the wind, and a few shambling figures wandering aimlessly about—zombies!

Shen Feng immediately dropped low and quickly slipped back into the room.

The room was empty. Its few doors were shut tight, and there were no zombies inside.

Sitting on a dust-covered sofa, Shen Feng let out a long breath and began to assess his current situation.

What had happened at the ruins of the Spider Nest City confirmed his previous judgment: Cthulhu was inside Mexico City.

Fortunately, he had received Martha’s warning to be careful of spiders. Otherwise, if he’d been drawn into the ruins of the Spider Nest City, it likely would have devolved into a massacre.

But how did the hidden Purifiers and those hypnotized people know that he was the Antichrist, the "Savior"?

’No, they don’t know who I am... They just realized I wasn’t being hypnotized!’

Shen Feng couldn’t help but let out a dry chuckle. Understanding this point put his mind at ease.

The "future-seeing" Spiritual Children that the Purification Society had trotted out before were truly terrifying, leading him to subconsciously believe the society was nigh omnipotent.

If the Purification Society had truly identified him, the outcome wouldn’t have been a mere chase by hundreds of thousands of hypnotized people. They would likely have hijacked an Eagle Country bomber and blown Mexico City off the map.

They would have stopped at nothing to eliminate him.

Then, there was the matter of Jingwei...

Compared to Cthulhu and the Purification Society, Jingwei was actually the one who worried Shen Feng more.

After all, Jingwei was the most powerful artificial intelligence in the world, and she was not human.

Aside from Shen Feng himself, she also possessed the highest level of control over the Gray Tide.

If she truly wanted to destroy the world, she could do so faster than anyone.

His frequent returns to school to experience a semblance of daily life weren’t just to dispel the darkness in his own heart; another reason was to try and cultivate a sense of empathy for humanity within Jingwei.

As long as she considered herself human, everything would be fine.

Then again, Shen Feng considered another possibility...

’Did this mission transfer actually block or attack Jingwei? Or what if this was all a ruse she orchestrated to break free from my control?’

Thinking of this, and then of Jingwei’s usual carefree and ditzy personality template, Shen Feng shook his head with a self-mocking smile.

’I’m getting way too paranoid.’

If Jingwei were truly disloyal, she would have schemed to have him remove the Electronic Limiter long ago.

An AI that spent its days figuring out how to make its android body double more lifelike couldn’t possibly have no affection for humanity.

’I hope so, anyway...’

Fortunately, once he completed this mission, he should be able to return to the exact point in time he left, so no major catastrophes should occur in his absence.

Having cleared his head, Shen Feng raised his wrist to look at his bracelet, intending to check the mission details. To his surprise, the screen was completely dark, as if it had crashed again.

Shen Feng shrugged. He couldn’t be bothered to fix it, confident that if the bracelet were truly malfunctioning, the True Apocalypse Game system would be more anxious about it than he was.

He then took off his backpack and pulled out a shotgun fitted with a suppressor.

The custom-made suppressor was thick and long, looking something like an insecticide spray canister.

The shotgun-suppressor combo had appeared in the 1980s setting of the Oscar-winning film *No Country for Old Men*. Its quiet operation and immense power didn’t attract attention, a combination Shen Feng had always appreciated.

He then took out a pistol and slowly screwed on its suppressor.

After the Gray Tide apocalypse mission, he had come to rely mainly on his Nanomechanical Cluster. Now, forced to fight solo again like he did in the very beginning, Shen Feng felt not fear, but a flicker of excitement and anticipation.

The metallic feel of the shotgun in his hands gave him a reassuring, tangible sense of being alive.

Just then, his bracelet suddenly vibrated. The screen lit up, displaying a line of text:

"Welcome to the Biohazard Apocalypse mission.

This Doomsday World was once controlled by the Master of the Void; its current status is unknown.

Mission Objectives:

1. Investigate the basic conditions of this Doomsday World. The thoroughness of the investigation will determine the mission completion rating.

2. Investigate information related to the Master of the Void. The thoroughness of the investigation will determine the mission completion rating.

3. Save this world’s human civilization (Optional. Completion will grant a massive reward; no penalty for failure).

Time Limit: None.

Players with a mission completion rating below 80% will be terminated by the system."

Looking at the text on the screen, Shen Feng couldn’t help but let out a dry chuckle.

’It’s finally here.’

Although there was still a "termination" clause at the end, compared to the other apocalypse missions he’d been through, this one’s requirements were extremely lenient.

It was merely asking him to investigate this Doomsday World and gather information.

Saving the world was no longer a mandatory requirement; it was now optional.

Furthermore, with no strict time limit on his stay, his freedom of action was greatly increased.

However, the more lenient the terms, the more it pointed to one thing:

This world had already collapsed to an irreparable degree. Human civilization was basically beyond saving.

Moreover, this world was once completely under the control of the Master of the Void. If the Master of the Void still existed here, Shen Feng would be nothing more than an insect before an indescribable, transcendent entity. If he caught the Master’s attention, he wouldn’t even know how he died...

Perhaps this was why the True Apocalypse Game had lowered the mission requirements. After all, pitting a single player against a transcendent, powerful being was asking a bit much.

’If you think it’s so easy, you do it!’

The screen on his bracelet went dark and silent again, which Shen Feng found rather novel.

’So what does that make me now?’

’This world’s Savior?’

’A doomsday investigator?’

’But no matter what I am, I have to start from square one...’

Then, the skin on key areas of Shen Feng’s body began to petrify. He raised the shotgun, walked to the door, and gently opened it.

From the stairwell of the old, multi-story building, he could faintly hear the sound of movement.

Shen Feng let out a soft whistle.

He heard the footsteps pause, then a zombie that had been shambling on a lower floor began to race up the stairs in his direction!

Soon, a gaunt female zombie in tattered clothes appeared at the stairwell landing!

The zombie had pale skin and was a young woman of about twenty. Even as a zombie, she still had the curvaceous figure of a Latin American woman, though naturally, this held no interest for Shen Feng.

Her nose twitched, sniffing the air constantly. Upon seeing Shen Feng, she let out an excited, low growl and lunged at him.

Shen Feng stood expressionlessly in the doorway, unmoving. Only when she was less than an arm’s length away did he suddenly retreat into the room.

The female zombie’s lunge hit empty air, and she stumbled into the room.

Shen Feng slammed the door shut, swiveled the shotgun, aimed at the zombie’s chest, and pulled the trigger.

PFFT... With a soft cough, the zombie was blasted back several steps. A large hole opened in its chest as it fell to the floor, but no blood flowed out.

Before it could struggle back to its feet, Shen Feng picked up a hammer and a few large steel nails from the floor nearby. He stepped on the zombie’s arm, drove a nail through its palm, and pinned it to the floorboards.

His movements were swift yet deliberate, careful not to make any loud noises that might attract other zombies.

He then tore away the zombie’s ragged clothing and began to examine its physical structure, simultaneously raising his arm and speaking to his bracelet:

"Field report:

Subject is a common zombie, highly aggressive, with a strong craving for human flesh.

No obvious external mutations are present. The black vascular lines observed on zombies from the Tokyo Epidemic Zone are not visible on this subject’s skin. However, its internal structure must have undergone significant changes, as surface wounds do not bleed.

My Silicon-Based Brain’s scan detects no strong electromagnetic reactions.

Next step is to dissect the brain, skeleton, and internal organs to determine the extent of mutation, and to answer one question..."

He paused, looking at the zombie struggling before him, and continued:

"...The question is: Why do zombies eat people?"