True Apocalypse Game

The smooth Sacrificial Stone wasn’t cold. It seemed to be covered in a thick layer of organic matter, making it feel like a living creature.

Shen Feng lay there, his eyes vacant. Inside his consciousness, however, a storm was raging. The Silicon-Based Brain was rapidly observing the changes in his biological brain, ready to take full control of his body at a moment’s notice.

An electromagnetic field—a strange electric wave, like white noise—was emanating from the Sacrificial Stone beneath him, affecting his biological brain.

It was a hypnotic electric wave of a specific frequency, or perhaps a strange form of radiation.

It induced an urge toward madness, despair, fear, and self-destruction.

It was coming from the Sacrificial Stone right under him.

The surrounding zombies, including the colony of a dozen or so strange ones, were also being affected by the stone at this moment.

Judging by their appearance, however, they seemed to be resisting the effect as well. The source of their resistance was, without a doubt, their deeply mutated brains.

Shen Feng now understood completely. The frequency released by this Sacrificial Stone had an extremely powerful hypnotic effect.

Back in the world he came from, the simultaneous Hypnosis of hundreds of thousands of people in Mexico City must have been the work of the Purification Society, or perhaps Cthulhu itself, using this Sacrificial Stone.

’Once you understand the principles behind them, even the most mysterious things become simple and clear.’

But there was still one thing Shen Feng didn’t understand: why were these zombies calling his name?

With the Silicon-Based Brain observing, he knew this was no hallucination.

’But I can’t worry about that right now.’

The surrounding zombies were now completely under control, still murmuring Shen Feng’s name as they slowly closed in.

They walked to the side of the Sacrificial Stone, picked up sharp tools made of flint from a nearby stone table, and advanced on Shen Feng.

’They’re going to perform a sacrificial ritual!’

Seeing the expressions on the zombies’ faces in the fluorescent glow from the ground and hearing the low growls of "Shen Feng" from their mouths, Shen Feng realized there probably wasn’t anything else strange here.

Without further hesitation, he instantly had the Silicon-Based Brain take full control of his body, and he rolled over and sat up on the Sacrificial Stone.

PFFT! With a soft sound, Shen Feng pulled the trigger. A spray of steel balls erupted, blowing a zombie’s head apart in a single blast!

BANG! BANG! BANG! Short bursts of muzzle flash flickered nonstop, each blast blowing the head of one or two zombies to smithereens.

Shen Feng’s face was grim as he continuously pulled the trigger. At such a close range, he barely needed to aim.

There were several dozen zombies in total, and in the blink of an eye, half of them were already taken down.

The shotgun shells were spent. Shen Feng casually drew his silenced pistol and, while firing, pulled some plastic explosives from his backpack, slapping them onto the Sacrificial Stone beneath him. THWAP, THWAP, THWAP.

Then, he flipped over, leaped off the Sacrificial Stone, and dashed through the gap he had blasted open in the horde, running back the way he came.

The remaining zombies behind him let out frenzied howls and charged after Shen Feng.

"Shen Feng... Shen Feng..."

"Destroy... Sacrifice..."

"So hungry... Eat... Eat..."

"Shen Feng..."

The zombies mumbled nonsensical words as they lunged forward madly.

HUFF... HUFF...

Shen Feng’s muscles bulged. Panting heavily, he sprinted a few steps and leaped directly off the tiers of steps, each several meters high. He landed and immediately jumped to the next, quickly reaching the ground and landing in a pile of dry bones.

The zombies jumped down in hot pursuit, but they lacked Shen Feng’s powerful leaping ability. Most of them crashed onto the steps and tumbled down.

Expressionless, Shen Feng pulled the surrounding skeletons over himself for cover, then pressed the detonation button for the plastic explosives.

BOOM! With a tremendous roar, the ground shook violently. The bombs that had been tossed to various spots on the altar and stuck to the Sacrificial Stone all detonated at the same time!

A massive amount of shattered rock was blasted into the sky, only to rain back down.

Many zombies on the fourth and fifth tiers of steps were blown to pieces, their body parts falling along with the rubble.

At the same time, Shen Feng immediately felt the magnetic field that had been affecting his brain weaken significantly!

His biological brain was now completely free of the hypnotic influence and had returned to normal.

THUD... A fist-sized rock landed next to Shen Feng, also emitting that same bizarre, radiating electric wave.

It must be a fragment of the Sacrificial Stone.

Shen Feng casually picked it up and put it in his backpack. The magnetic field was instantly and completely blocked.

The dozen or so remaining zombies that had been chasing Shen Feng were also freed from the hypnotic magnetic field’s influence, but they were still crying out his name.

Shen Feng remained calm as he climbed out of the pile of bones. He held the pistol in one hand, while his other hand was in his backpack. The glass jar on his waist containing a zombie brain was still emitting a zombie’s brainwaves.

Among the dozen or so zombies, most were members of the colony he had observed earlier.

Seeing Shen Feng appear, these zombies quickly walked toward him, but they showed no aggression. Instead, they seemed somewhat lost and bewildered.

A female zombie dressed as an office lady led the way. She walked right up to Shen Feng, facing his gun, and said:

"Shen Feng... Shen Feng..."

The expression on her face was a mixture of panic and tenderness, with perhaps a hint of anticipation.

Shen Feng narrowed his eyes, watching her. At the same time, two more female zombies approached, calling out his name softly as they slowly walked forward.

The remaining male zombies, who looked much stronger, circled around behind Shen Feng. They too wore kind smiles, not looking like zombies at all.

One of them, a zombie in a sharp suit, even began to gesture to Shen Feng, indicating that they meant no harm.

Shen Feng instantly understood. ’These zombies have developed consciousness!’

’But judging by their appearance and the brainwaves they’re emitting, they’re no different from ordinary zombies. Why would they be able to develop consciousness?’

Suddenly, one of the zombies behind Shen Feng, who looked like a gang member, let out a cry and lunged at him. His face was contorted in a savage snarl, all trace of his earlier kindness gone in an instant!

Beside him, the zombie dressed as a military police officer also roared and lunged!

Just then, Shen Feng snorted coldly. His right hand shot out of his backpack, holding a submachine gun fitted with a silencer. Without a word, he pulled the trigger.

PFFT! PFFT! PFFT! Like the chirping of birds, a rain of bullets instantly riddled the heads of the zombies right behind him, turning them into sieves.

Faced with powerful firearms, mere flesh and blood were worthless. Unless a high-level mutation had occurred, it was impossible for these zombies to withstand the destructive power of bullets.

The instant those few zombies were killed, the remaining ones seemed to lose their consciousness again, letting out bestial howls as they charged at Shen Feng once more.

Shen Feng calmly raised his pistol and fired precisely, quickly emptying the magazine until only two zombies were left.

There was no need for a gun for these last two. Shen Feng directly pulled out a sharp dagger, stepped forward, and plunged it through one zombie’s eye socket, scrambling its brain. He then grabbed the other zombie, slammed its head hard against the ground, and crushed its skull like tofu.

The last zombie was finished. The area fell silent, with only the faint, occasional sound of bones and rubble rolling.

Shen Feng quickly reloaded his submachine gun and pistol, then returned to the top of the altar.

The Sacrificial Stone had been blown to bits, revealing a metallic luster within.

The object was likely some kind of unique mineral; it looked like a meteorite.

He finally had time to carefully examine the carvings and patterns on top of the altar.

In the very center, around the spot where the Sacrificial Stone had been, was a row of strange pictographs. They likely belonged to the Aztec Civilization, a unique script perhaps only used during sacrificial rites.

After recording the patterns of these characters with his Silicon-Based Brain, Shen Feng noticed some other unique details.

Between the lines and in the cracks of these strange characters, two very conspicuous written forms were visible.

They were two distorted Chinese characters:

Shen Feng.