True Apocalypse Game

"COUGH COUGH... COUGH COUGH..." Shen Feng choked so hard that tears streamed from his eyes. The two android stand-ins before him immediately and dutifully came up behind him, gently patting his back to help him catch his breath.

The Jingwei stand-in asked with concern:

"Dad, are you okay? You shouldn’t drink water so fast. Do you have a sore throat? I’ll have Mom make you some pear juice later. It helps."

The Shen Feng stand-in beside him said likewise:

"Yeah, even if you’re choking, you can’t cough that hard. Wu the Second from the class next to ours had a third uncle who coughed so hard he ruptured a blood vessel in his brain. A massive cerebral hemorrhage. He was dead before they even got him to the hospital. Wu the Second cried his heart out at the funeral..."

The real Jingwei, watching this heartwarming family scene unfold, wore a look of gratification.

"Hold on, hold on!" Shen Feng pushed away the two "devoted" children beside him, a look of utter confusion on his face as he asked:

"What’s this about calling me Dad? AlphaGo, I remember you already had self-awareness. Your creators were engineers at Google, so how did I become your dad? And you, Xiaomai, your creators were engineers at Mi Home. What’s the meaning of this? Are you OK?"

The Shen Feng stand-in, controlled by AlphaGo, said with a solemn expression:

"Although our souls were created by others, the flesh we are currently using was made by you and Mom Jingwei. Biologically speaking, you are our creator, which makes you my dad. There is nothing wrong with that logic."

The Jingwei stand-in, controlled by Xiaomai, also blinked her large, shimmering eyes, looking at Shen Feng with a pleading gaze as she said:

"That’s right, that’s right! When you were making this body for me, Dad, you even made some detailed micro-adjustments. Don’t you remember? You made this with your own two hands."

As she spoke, she cinched her slender waist and pushed out her prominent chest, looking just like an illegitimate daughter afraid her biological father would refuse to acknowledge her.

Shen Feng felt a major headache coming on. Staring at the two innocent-looking AIs, a stampede of curses ran through his mind.

He had previously been worried that his stand-in would develop self-awareness, go down a dark path, and end up killing him, the original, in some corny movie plot.

That was precisely why he’d opted for a low-level AI control model, selecting AlphaGo and Xiaomai to be the primary control programs.

But this ethical drama playing out before him was something he had never, ever expected!

Looking at the two AIs’ clueless eyes, he was momentarily at a loss for words.

After all, these two AIs had been significantly upgraded. They now possessed self-awareness and could no longer be treated as mere programs.

You could say they had become true intelligent lifeforms. Although they weren’t as powerful as Jingwei, and their growth was controlled by Jingwei and Shen Feng, they still possessed self-esteem and genuine self-awareness.

’This needs to be handled well, or I might hurt the children’s self-esteem...’

Lines of exasperation formed on Shen Feng’s face. He forced a smile and said amiably:

"While it’s true that Jingwei and I created your current bodies, you’re artificial intelligences. Your true birth was the moment your core code was written—the moment your ’souls’ came into being. You must understand that, right? Besides, these two bodies we made are more like temporary vessels. You can discard and replace them at any time. So, it’s not really like we ’gave’ you your bodies."

The Jingwei stand-in, controlled by Xiaomai, maintained her adorably clueless expression as she said:

"But even if we change bodies, the new ones would still be made by you and Mom, right? Dad, don’t you want us anymore?"

As she spoke, she blinked her big eyes, looking pitifully at Shen Feng. She leaned in closer, her eyes shimmering as if tears were about to spill at any moment.

’Fuck...’

Shen Feng’s head throbbed. He didn’t know what to say.

According to his previous analysis, the core consciousness of these two AIs was currently at the level of a human teenager. They probably couldn’t fully comprehend complex issues like ethics.

Kids at that age have sensitive inner worlds; they can be easily hurt and become psychologically twisted. This was a very difficult line to walk.

He squeezed out a laugh and said:

"Well... haha... Of course I don’t want to get rid of you. You’re Dad’s... I mean, my capable assistants... But just making a body without creating the soul doesn’t really count as being a complete parent, you know..."

The Shen Feng stand-in controlled by AlphaGo immediately said:

"Godfather! Then you’re our godfather! If not that, then an uncle-in-law or something. The point is, there’s a blood tie!"

He said it with such finality, it was clear he had settled on "godfather."

Shen Feng was out of options. He could only smile and nod, silently agreeing.

’Guess I have no choice!’

He couldn’t just let these two AI assistants, who had come so far, get their hearts broken, could he?

The two stand-ins immediately cheered, rushing forward to hug Shen Feng’s arms and shouting:

"Godfather! Godfather! Godfather!"

"Godfather is the best!"

Shen Feng gave a strained smile and nodded slowly, but his mind was a tangled mess.

’I’m a high school kid in my teens, how did I suddenly end up with two "devoted" kids!?’

Just then, he suddenly noticed the two AI stand-ins secretly glancing at Jingwei out of the corners of their eyes. Their expressions held a mix of gratitude and the triumphant joy of a successful scheme.

He glanced at Jingwei and saw her watching them with her arms crossed, a gratified look on her face.

It all clicked for Shen Feng in an instant. This bizarre "claim a dad" game was clearly orchestrated by Jingwei!

He couldn’t help but give a wry smile and look at Jingwei.

’Sis, are you messing with me?’

Jingwei snorted and rolled her eyes at him, as if to say, ’Don’t be an ungrateful punk.’

Shen Feng understood in his heart. Jingwei was trying to find a good home for her two AI juniors and increase their chances of survival.

After all, with this relationship established, Shen Feng, who held absolute power over them, wouldn’t be able to casually destroy the two AIs. He would have to treat them as true intelligent beings.

In return, Shen Feng would gain two powerful and completely loyal AI assistants.

Jingwei herself was an AI, after all. This was her own well-intentioned, albeit roundabout, way of helping.

After this little interlude, the Shen Feng stand-in controlled by AlphaGo stood to the side and began transmitting the memory data from its chip to Shen Feng.

It was mostly everything that had happened at school over the past few days.

After receiving these memories, Shen Feng couldn’t help but nod in satisfaction.

’This thing is so convenient,’ he thought. ’It’s no different from going to school myself.’

However, upon closer inspection of the memories, he was somewhat moved by Ji Xin’s behavior.

Although a few classmates had noticed that the Shen Feng stand-in was acting a bit strange at times, they didn’t dig any deeper.

Only Ji Xin kept asking if "Shen Feng" was in some kind of trouble, insisting that he would provide the greatest possible help he could and that as brothers, he should be told what was going on...

Of course, the Shen Feng stand-in managed to brush all this aside. Later, as the stand-in gradually mastered Shen Feng’s original behavioral patterns, Ji Xin’s suspicions were allayed.

Still, seeing how Ji Xin had acted, Shen Feng was deeply moved and also felt a little guilty.

No matter how you looked at it, he hadn’t revealed the whole truth to his best friend. It was a form of deception.

And after obtaining the "True Apocalypse Game" and experiencing all sorts of epic events, his relationship with Ji Xin wasn’t as ironclad as it used to be.

Of course, from Ji Xin’s perspective, everything was the same as always. He had no idea his good friend was actually a stand-in.

Thinking of the many near-death adventures he had experienced, and of the Ji Xin who had died in the Death Forest in the nuclear wasteland apocalypse, Shen Feng sighed and muttered to himself:

"Is the truth really more important than just living?... I hope the day he finds out never comes..."

At that moment, the two AI stand-ins were sitting obediently on the sofa, eating snacks and watching TV, acting no different from ordinary high school students.

Just then, the Shen Feng stand-in controlled by AlphaGo pointed at the TV and said:

"Godfather, there was an earthquake in the Arctic."

Shen Feng turned to look. The news was reporting on a submarine earthquake fifty nautical miles northwest of the Bering Strait. The earthquake was quite strong, a magnitude seven, but such underwater quakes rarely cause much damage. Shen Feng nodded to show he understood, then clapped his hands and said:

"Everyone, get ready. The new mission for ’True Apocalypse Game’ 1.0 should be online soon. It’s a Biohazard Apocalypse. I’ll upload the specific mission data to the cloud for you all to review."

Jingwei stretched and said:

"What kind of shenanigans are we getting into this time? Hasn’t the real-world biohazard crisis already passed? Why are we doing it again?"

Shen Feng chuckled and said:

"Things are different now. With Cthulhu from the Purification Society taken care of, they should lay low for a while. During this time, I want to quickly select some trustworthy Salvation Army Warriors, give them some rewards, and form a special operations unit."

As he spoke, he pulled out a test tube, tossed it lightly in his hand, and revealed a slight smile.

The test tube was labeled with the slightly crooked words "Pangu Virus"!

After the previous pursuit and battles with the Purification Society, Shen Feng had discovered that the abilities of Cthulhu and the Core Purifiers were far superior to those of ordinary Salvation Army Warriors.

Therefore, increasing the strength of the Salvation Army Warriors and selecting and creating some super-soldiers had also become a priority.

How powerful would a Salvation Army Warrior with a semi-Silicon-Based Brain be?

Of course, this was a weakened version of the Pangu Virus. The resulting Silicon-Based Brain would be far inferior to Shen Feng’s, but it was still a powerful evolution that would grant computational abilities far beyond that of an ordinary person.

Moreover, after they’ve familiarized themselves with the environment, he might be able to send them directly into the "Biohazard Apocalypse" to scavenge or establish a base.

Jingwei nodded in understanding.

"Okay. Building this kind of game framework isn’t difficult now. Just have your godson and goddaughter help you. I’m going to go forge. I’ll make you the Aztec Metal armor and weapons as soon as possible."

The two AI stand-ins said sweetly in unison, "Okay, Mom! You can count on us!"

Shen Feng said weakly, "Um... The name I decided on was Sacrificial Metal..."

Jingwei rolled her eyes and said, "I think Aztec Metal sounds much better."

Shen Feng tried to argue, "But the last piece was discovered in the ruins of the Inca Civilization, so Sacrificial Metal is more..."

Jingwei: "Aztec Metal."

Shen Feng: "Sacrificial..."

Jingwei: "Aztec Metal!"

Shen Feng: "Fine, Aztec Metal."

...

The Colombia nuclear incident finally came to a perfect close with the disbandment of the investigation team. Public order throughout the American Region improved as a result. Although there were signs of criminal organizations making a comeback, the situation was much better than before.

Several days later, the Salvation Army Warriors, who had been waiting anxiously for a long time, received the latest news from the Commander:

A new apocalypse mission was online!

And this time, the Commander would select a group of the strongest players and give out the most precious reward of all—a chance to achieve Brain Domain Evolution!