True Apocalypse Game

Entropy, one of the parameters in thermodynamics that characterizes the state of a substance, is represented by the symbol S. Its physical meaning is a measure of the degree of disorder in a system.

In 1854, T. Clausius first proposed the concept of entropy.

In simpler terms, entropy is a measure of the degree of chaos in our world. The second law of thermodynamics posits that an isolated system always tends to transition from a state of high order to one of low order. This is the principle of increasing entropy.

This also implies that the entire Cosmos, since the Big Bang, is destined to eventually descend into a cold, disordered oblivion.

The birth and death of organisms, the ruin of buildings, the burnout of stars—these are all expressions of entropy.

The process of moving from order to disorder is what is known as increasing entropy. That is, the total energy of the system remains constant, but the amount of usable energy rapidly diminishes.

Shen Feng had some prior knowledge of the theory of increasing entropy. He couldn’t help but frown as he slowly said:

"So, you’re saying that by killing your other self from a Parallel Cosmos, you can achieve a reverse in entropy, making your own existence stronger? No, it shouldn’t have anything to do with energy... but that’s basically the gist of it..."

Destructive’s voice came again, this time with a mischievous edge. "Heh," he chuckled...

"That’s something you’ll have to figure out for yourself... I’m already a dead man walking. Leaving a little mystery behind... gives me something to remember myself by."

Shen Feng nodded, then asked with a serious expression:

"Over the past few days, you could have made some hazmat suits, or hidden in a virology lab to stay isolated from the Stone Statue Virus... If you’d wanted, it wouldn’t have even been hard to use the zombie horde and the Transfer Tower to quarantine all of Hai City... Why didn’t you?"

Although he already had an answer in mind, Shen Feng couldn’t resist asking.

Destructive laughed.

"It’s because the desire to destroy within me became impossible to suppress. I even wanted to destroy myself. What can I say, I’m a madman. Or maybe... I’m just tired."

His Consciousness Field had become extremely faint, as if it could be extinguished at any moment. Clearly, the Transfer Tower in Hai City was beginning to turn to stone.

Shen Feng fell silent. He opened his mouth, but said nothing more.

Self-destruction was also a form of the desire to destroy.

Destructive’s voice came again:

"You won. Or maybe, *I* won... You will receive the gift of my death. I hope you can keep on living. As for me, I’m about to embrace sweet, sweet death... Remember our favorite movie, *Blade Runner*? What Roy said before he died?"

Shen Feng nodded slightly. He opened his mouth and spoke in unison with the voice of Destructive in the Consciousness Field:

"I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe... Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those... moments... will be lost in time, like tears... in... rain.

Time...

to die..."

As the last word was spoken, Destructive’s Consciousness Field dissipated completely. Shen Feng could no longer feel his presence.

Clearly, he had turned completely to stone and died.

Shen Feng looked up toward the distant horizon, as if trying to see Hai City, tens of thousands of kilometers away.

’Is Destructive dead?’

’Perhaps...’

In any case, for now, he could finally relax in this Doomsday World.

"It’s gone! The ringing in my ears is gone!" Reyes, who was not far off, suddenly rubbed his ears and exclaimed to Colin in delighted surprise.

"Hahaha, you’re right! It’s really gone! The zombies have all turned to stone. Does this mean the good times are finally here?" Colin was equally ecstatic.

All this time, they had constantly felt a strange sense of pressure and intermittent ringing in their ears, but now it had all vanished without a trace.

Though they didn’t understand what had happened, they could feel on a subconscious level that everything had changed.

They followed Shen Feng out of the coffee shop and onto the street. The zombies were completely gone. Even their snarls could no longer be heard. There were only rows of stone statues, many of them looking somewhat damaged.

At the same time, across the street, a figure emerged from a residential building, pushing the door open. He held a sharp dagger, a bewildered look on his face, and walked with a slight tremble, as if he had severe arthritis.

Clearly, this was a survivor.

Reyes and Colin quickly called out to him:

"Hey, buddy! It’s safe! The zombies are all dead!"

"Hahaha, you’re one lucky guy! It’s all thanks to Mr. Shen! You look a little dazed, don’t you?"

Throughout Mexico City, survivors who had been hiding for ages began to emerge from their Shelters. All told, their numbers reached the thousands.

Similar scenes were playing out in the ruins of cities all across Earth.

The total number of survivors worldwide was in the hundreds of thousands. Having lived through the apocalypse, they were all ecstatic.

The zombies had all turned to stone. They no longer had to worry about being devoured. It was all like a dream!

Watching the survivor embrace Reyes and Colin, Shen Feng couldn’t help but smile with relief.

’Human civilization in this world should be able to recover relatively quickly.’

After all, the apocalypse had only started a year ago, and much of the old technology and equipment was still usable.

These survivors had access to enough resources to support billions, more than enough to establish a fully-functional city.

From there, they could repopulate and carry on the legacy of their former civilization.

This might take decades, or even centuries, but compared to the arduous early days of human civilization, that was nothing.

Shen Feng raised his arm and began inputting a report into his wristband—everything he had experienced over the past few days, along with all the information he had gathered.

He was originally just a surveyor in this Doomsday World. He never expected that, due to the absence of the Master of the Void and Destructive’s carelessness, he would so easily end up saving this world’s human civilization.

Quite the windfall.

Seeing Mr. Shen off to the side, busy recording something, Reyes didn’t dare disturb him. Instead, he grabbed a bullhorn, climbed onto the roof of a nearby building, fired a few shots into the air, and then bellowed:

"Friends! Mr. Shen has wiped out all the zombies! We’re safe! We don’t have to live in fear anymore! Come on! Join Mr. Shen, and let’s embrace a bright future together!"

He then snuck a glance at Shen Feng. Seeing that Mr. Shen didn’t look displeased, he gleefully continued his wild shouting, hoping to rally the other survivors.

He and Colin had already agreed: since the zombies were all gone, Mr. Shen, the hero who saved the world, should rightfully become the new ruler of all of Mexico... no, all of America. And the two of them, Colin and himself, would serve as Mr. Shen’s right-hand men.

’After all, they were talking about ruling the entire American Continent. A place that big... one person couldn’t possibly manage it all.’

’As the first people to follow Mr. Shen, it was only natural that they should do their part...’

Shen Feng didn’t put a stop to Reyes and Colin’s little schemes and machinations.

After all, if this world’s human civilization was to recover, congregating together was a necessary step.

Soon, a few hesitant figures appeared at the end of the street. Only after confirming there was no danger did they slowly approach.

They were men and women, all of them sallow-faced and emaciated, clearly malnourished. Their eyes held a mixture of fear and confusion. They were obviously survivors who had sensed the change outside and had just emerged from their Shelters.

Reyes and Colin excitedly rushed to greet them, explaining the current situation. They made sure to emphasize everything Shen Feng had done, eagerly trumpeting Mr. Shen’s heroic deeds.

The newcomers cautiously bowed to the mysterious young man from the East before setting about to gather food and do other tasks they were capable of.

That night, Shen Feng, who hadn’t slept properly in days, finally got a good night’s sleep.

By the time he woke up the next morning, several hundred new survivors had gathered in the neighborhood.

Most of these survivors had heard of Mr. Shen’s renowned feats from Reyes and Colin, and thus treated him with the utmost respect.

Under the organization of Reyes, Colin, and the others, the area had already turned into a small community.

Shen Feng didn’t interact with the others. Instead, he stayed for a few more days, trying to sense the benefit he was supposed to have gained from killing Destructive, but he came up with nothing.

Over the next few days, more and more survivors gathered, their numbers swelling to over a thousand.

There were also some twisted malcontents who thought Reyes and Colin were just spewing bullshit. They believed the stories of Mr. Shen’s greatness were nothing but overblown rumors and came looking for trouble, guns in hand.

Shen Feng snapped the necks of all dozen or so of them on the spot. After that, the community became much more peaceful.

A few days later, Shen Feng still couldn’t find the ’entropy’ feeling Destructive had spoken of, so he packed his things and prepared to leave.

This world was now safe and peaceful, more or less. But Mexico City, the one he was about to return to, was still a complete mess.

He still remembered the horrifying scene from before he left: hundreds of thousands of people, all under mass Hypnosis.

He was certain that when he returned to Mexico City, the massive Sacrificial Stone in the Aztec Civilization’s Spider Nest City would still be emitting its damn magnetic field.

He had the survivors gather a pile of various weapons for him, along with some other items he planned to take back. Shen Feng stuffed his backpack until it was full to bursting.

Reyes and Colin sensed Shen Feng’s intentions. They wanted to say something, but didn’t dare open their mouths.

After personally witnessing the bizarre scene at the Transfer Tower, in their minds, Mr. Shen was no longer human. He was an existence akin to an Elf Spirit Monster.

A being like that naturally wouldn’t need to consider their feelings when deciding what to do.

At a military base on the outskirts of Mexico City, Shen Feng hefted his backpack and spoke to his wristband:

"’Biohazard Apocalypse survey mission complete. Hidden objective ’Save Human Civilization’ also complete. Requesting mission rewards.’"

A screen of light immediately flickered to life on his wristband, seeming far more excited than he was.

A line of text quickly flashed across the screen:

Mission Evaluation... 95% Completion. Congratulations, Player, on completing the game mission. Dispensing mission rewards.

Reward 1: Player may select any five (5) items from the mission world to bring back. Selection must not exceed transport energy limits...

Reward 2: One (1) Genetic Potion...

Reward 3: One (1) cross-dimensional transport channel to this Doomsday World (Usage Limit: 10 times)...