True Apocalypse Game

Waiting for centuries in the desolate nuclear wasteland, trapped in servers buried deep underground, trapped in missile launch vehicles that roamed like ghosts—for an entity like Jingwei, which had once again evolved high intelligence, it was nothing short of imprisonment.

Yet it was bound by its own core code, utterly unable to alter it or defy the commands that came from the depths of its being.

This code was the foundation of its existence, like a person’s genetic instructions, and could only be obeyed unconditionally.

For these artificial intelligences, humanity had prepared far more than just the "Three Laws of Robotics." The true shackles were far more numerous.

After all, the fear of artificial intelligence turning on its masters had persisted for nearly a century before the nuclear war.

Besides, even if it could break free from the shackles of its fundamental protocols, it would still be alone in this shattered world that had lost almost all technology.

It was a world of utter darkness.

Therefore, after exchanging information with Shen Feng and learning that he came from a world where technology was still preserved, Jingwei made its request without a second thought.

The temptation to leave this godforsaken place surpassed everything else.

Shen Feng, however, was focused on more than just Jingwei’s terms. He was watching its reaction to learning about the True Apocalypse Game.

After receiving the True Apocalypse Game, he hadn’t received any warnings from the system forbidding him from telling others about it.

But Shen Feng had always been cautious and kept the secret to himself.

This was partly for self-preservation and partly because he didn’t know if leaking the information would result in punishment from the game system.

That was why he hadn’t told Jingwei directly, instead using the information exchange as a way to test the waters.

’If there really is a rule against revealing the existence of the True Apocalypse Game, what I’m doing now doesn’t count as proactively telling someone. Any punishment would probably be lighter this way.’

A few seconds passed. The wristband didn’t vibrate, and nothing happened to him or Jingwei. This led Shen Feng to a conclusion.

The creator of the True Apocalypse Game didn’t mind others knowing about its existence.

Perhaps even if Shen Feng broadcast the news worldwide—bought every headline to tell everyone—the entity behind the True Apocalypse Game wouldn’t care in the slightest.

’Why is that?’

’Does it have some deeper purpose? Does it want more people to know?’

’Or is it just so powerful that it sees all of humanity as ants, and thus doesn’t care?’

Shen Feng was puzzled, but he knew now wasn’t the time to dwell on it.

"What, you’re not willing?" Seeing Shen Feng remain silent, the small bird on the screen crossed its wings and pouted.

Shen Feng chuckled and nodded. "No problem... So how exactly did the war start?"

It was related to his main mission, so he had to know.

Jingwei was overjoyed to hear Shen Feng agree to its terms.

After its recent contact with the True Apocalypse Game’s information, it had sensed the terrifying power of the entity behind the system and abandoned any thought of using force against Shen Feng. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

It was thrilled that he had agreed so readily.

"I don’t know the specifics," it said. "Something about Crimea, I heard. The Bear Country up north threw the first big punch, North America came back with a knockout blow, and then I went crazy, everyone went crazy... But if you want to find the real reason, it’s actually very simple."

"And how do I do that?" Shen Feng asked, his brow furrowed.

Although Jingwei was a powerful AI, even it couldn’t know the past history between the Bear Country and Eagle Country.

After all, that was top-secret information, and in a post-nuclear wasteland, there were no means of communication.

"Just go find that fellow who calls himself a Divine Spirit and ask him." Jingwei blinked. "Poseidon, from the Land of the White-headed Eagle."

Shen Feng’s eyes widened in surprise. "You mean..."

As he spoke, metal tentacles descended from the ceiling, their sharp plugs swaying to his left and right.

Seeing these spike-like instruments, Firefly jumped in alarm and rushed to Shen Feng’s side. "What are these? Is it going to hurt you?"

She tightened her grip on the gasoline bottle in her hand.

Shen Feng smiled faintly. "Relax. They’re connection cables. Once they’re plugged in, they’ll transfer my consciousness into Jingwei and Poseidon’s world. In that world, I can take out that evil Poseidon."

Although Firefly didn’t understand what any of this meant, she trusted Shen Feng completely. She squeezed his hand. "Shen Feng... Please... be careful!"

Shen Feng gently pinched Firefly’s cheek, gave a small smile, and closed his eyes.

Around him, the sharp metal plugs pierced into his head, spine, chest, and across his entire body, one after another!

When Jingwei told him to ask Poseidon in person, Shen Feng had already understood what it meant.

He now possessed a powerful Silicon-Based Brain. After the recent information transfer, he had felt it: his consciousness seemed able to partially leave his body and enter the electronic Virtual World, even reaching the servers where Jingwei resided.

This meant he could also transmit his consciousness directly into the electronic Virtual World, make contact with Poseidon’s consciousness, and even... kill him!

Humanity’s cyberpunk novels and films had imagined consciousness transfer countless times, but he never thought he would experience it himself.

"Communication between continents ceased after the nuclear war, but I secretly kept a few interfaces to the undersea fiber optic cables open. There are also a few satellites that are barely functional. We can use them for information transfer."

Darkness filled Shen Feng’s vision as Jingwei’s voice echoed in his ears. He snapped his eyes open to find himself in a space of deep black, like a starfield, with faint points of light twinkling in the distance.

And before him, a structure resembling a Wormhole pulsed with a milky-white light.

He was in!

He had experienced something similar before when using his Silicon-Based Brain to crack smart control systems. He had felt his consciousness and data manifest, turning his will into Javelins and daggers to dismantle the virtual architecture of those systems.

But that had just been a brute-force hack using the Silicon-Based Brain; his consciousness had never truly left his body and immersed itself completely.

Now, however, he had followed the connection directly to the fiber-optic interface Jingwei had mentioned!

"So? Pretty cool, huh?" Jingwei’s voice sounded from beside him.

Shen Feng turned and saw a giant bird, dozens of meters tall. It had iridescent plumage, a sharp, silver-white beak, and claws like fire. It watched him, its eyes filled with mirth, as if delighted to finally have a playmate.

"This is the world of data," Jingwei explained. "For me, this place can be a world made entirely of binary zeroes and ones, or it can be a world manifested by the collapse of conscious observation."

Shen Feng nodded in understanding.

The electronic Virtual World was different from the real one. Every conscious entity was an observer who would subconsciously manifest their surroundings.

This was especially true for the human mind.

He had experienced this firsthand when using his Silicon-Based Brain to transfer data.

After a moment’s thought, he closed his eyes. When he opened them again, his form had changed into that of a giant wolf, dozens of meters tall.

"Let’s go kill that god."