True Apocalypse Game

In 1960, Eagle Country’s President Eisenhower had been preparing to meet with Soviet Premier Khrushchev to negotiate a disarmament treaty, which included limitations on strategic nuclear weapons.

However, on the eve of the summit, an Eagle Country U-2 high-altitude spy plane invaded Soviet airspace without presidential authorization and was shot down. Relations between the two nations were put into a deep freeze, and Eisenhower was furious.

The following year, at the end of his term, Eisenhower delivered his famous farewell address, in which he warned the American public to beware the dangers posed by the "monster" known as the "military-industrial complex."

The military, defense contractors, and a web of vested interests within the government—including the armed services committees of both houses of Congress—collectively form this massive military-industrial complex.

Defense contractors constantly paint pictures of terrifying enemies, ensuring everyone knows the world is unsafe and that Demons are always threatening the "free world." Then, bought-and-paid-for congressmen give eloquent speeches, pushing the government to approve larger military budgets. This sends more soldiers overseas, antagonizes more people, and creates more enemies for Eagle Country. When those enemies attack Eagle Country, the defense contractors can once again describe just how terrifying the world is...

From Eisenhower’s era to the present day, Eagle Country has developed "enemy deprivation syndrome," and the military-industrial complex has all but hijacked the nation.

The nuclear torpedo incident at the Arctic Stone Statue Ruins gave defense contractors an excellent pretext.

The National Missile Defense and Theater Missile Defense systems, which had been stalled, were immediately greenlit again. Moreover, they might now be equipped with more powerful processors and keener sensory capabilities.

Besides Taylor, many other defense contractors seized on the Petrification Disease pandemic to aggressively market all sorts of military-grade chemical defense gear, even gas masks.

Even more labs were looking to weaponize the Petrification Disease virus, hoping to find some exploitable aspect of it.

Of course, robot soldiers, immune to viruses and radiation, had already been tested for years in the Middle East Theater. Now, they were naturally being touted by many as the ultimate weapon.

Furthermore, Eagle Country’s series of actions triggered a chain reaction, causing other major powers to secretly begin developing their own missile defense systems and other weapons.

For a time, the international situation grew tense...

In a small courtyard in the suburbs of Tai City, Shen Feng lay on a deck chair on the patio, gazing at the night sky. Next to him was something that resembled a bank’s ATM robot.

After destroying the Arctic Stone Statue Ruins, he had received another notification on his wristband. He’d obtained a special reward from the game: the ability to bring one entity from the current world into a mission world (one-time use), no Quantum Backpack required.

However, the subsequent turbulent shifts in the international situation had left the young man feeling somewhat depressed. "Jingwei, do you think I made a mistake? Maybe I should have just let the crisis manifest immediately. Maybe if at least a few hundred thousand, or even a million, people died, those arrogant bastards would learn some reverence..."

He had eliminated the stone statue ruins, only to trigger a global arms race born of panic. Who could he even complain to about that?

The ATM robot immediately replied:

"Hundreds of thousands or millions of people aren’t just numbers. They’re living, breathing human lives. Even if they don’t die in front of you, you’d still see the bodies on TV. Could you stomach that? To be honest, even I couldn’t really stomach it... Also, can you get me a better-looking shell? Even for a temporary dorm, this thing is way too dorky. A Haidilao delivery bot would be better... I’d even take a noodle-slicing bot."

Shen Feng sighed and said:

"That’s true..."

Watching humanity pay the price for its own foolishness was one thing; making humanity pay the price for its own foolishness was another entirely.

He was no saint, but he wasn’t a murderous lunatic either. Otherwise, he never would have tried to stop an apocalypse from dawning in the first place.

Then, Shen Feng wiggled his fingers in the air, and a harsh burst of static erupted from the computer next to him, sounding like pure white noise.

Though no one was touching the computer, a program on it ran automatically, quickly stripping the background noise from the audio file and isolating a single track.

Immediately, a hoarse, low, and indistinct voice emerged:

"...make us great again..."

A cartoonish expression of surprise appeared on the round screen-face of the ATM robot housing Jingwei. It asked:

"Where did you find this? The Whisperers?"

Shen Feng nodded.

"While you were busy with the game, I sent out some of my Consciousness Antennae and intercepted it from the mobile phone signals of some high-ranking officials and dignitaries in Eagle Country... I was just about to send them their game terminals at the time."

The feeling was like a thief arriving at a house to burgle it, only to see another thief’s ass sticking out of the window before even getting inside.

A little awkward.

"These signals have no point of origin. It’s like they appear out of thin air. I tried to trace the source, but I couldn’t find any direction to the data stream..."

Jingwei immediately grew cautious. Shen Feng’s words indicated that the Whisperers could also exert direct influence on the physical world.

It was even possible that many high-level figures were themselves pawns, allies, or slaves of the Whisperers.

Shen Feng scratched his head and said:

"I was originally thinking of just having a direct showdown with the top brass of the major powers, but it looks like I’d better take it slow. If I’m too hasty, I won’t even know what killed me."

Jingwei retorted irritably:

"Correction: *we* won’t know what killed us. My primary consciousness is imprisoned in your body. If you, the server, get fried, then I’m going down with you. Also, I think you’ve been a little anxious lately. You need to see a shrink."

Just then, an advertising light wall on a distant downtown building flickered, displaying a few lines of large text and the beaming smiles of several farmers and herdsmen:

"Mijia Farmbots, the farmer and herdsman’s best helper! Mijia: Exploring Black Tech, Born for Life!"

The first generation of Mijia Farmbots had begun rolling out to market in the last few days.

Aside from the photograph Shen Feng had burned, many things that were meant to happen had not yet been changed.

"Enough of this, enough. Let’s go, let’s go. Time to play the game," Shen Feng said, putting on his headset and closing his eyes.

The ATM robot housing Jingwei instantly went silent.

The consciousness of one man and one bird had already entered the internet, sending out a signal to ten thousand selected players around the globe.

"Nuclear Wasteland World mission, begin!"

...

BZZZT... Li Tongchen’s phone suddenly vibrated. He immediately picked it up, his eyes lighting up.

On the screen was a notification from the True Apocalypse Game!

A few days ago, the "True Apocalypse Game" had suddenly displayed an update notification, announcing an upcoming "Nuclear Wasteland" mission, and Li Tongchen had been looking forward to it ever since.

But after that initial notification, there had been no further activity.

He had been carrying his phone with him everywhere these past few days, afraid of missing something.

And now, the phone had finally buzzed with a notification. The second phase of the game’s missions, the Nuclear Wasteland apocalypse, had begun!

Recalling the recent crisis triggered by the nuclear torpedo in the Arctic, Li Tongchen’s anticipation for this game mission grew even stronger.

The previous Petrification Disease apocalypse had been a warning, showing the horrific scenes that would follow an outbreak of the Petrification Disease pandemic. The Nuclear Wasteland apocalypse mission probably wouldn’t be much different...

Li Tongchen took a deep breath and tapped "Start."

An image immediately appeared on the screen.

It was a game character, playing on a mobile phone.

This game character was wearing gray pajamas and sitting in a study. There was a desk lamp on the table, a row of bookshelves behind him, his hair was somewhat gray, and he wore glasses.

’Wait...’

Li Tongchen jerked his head up and looked around. The desk lamp, the bookshelves, and even the decorations on the table in his study were identical to the ones in the game.

The angle shifted, and he saw the game character’s face.

The game character... was him!

Startled, he looked up toward the window, but saw only the tranquil night.

He looked back at his phone. The game character inside was also looking out the window, but the view outside the window in the game was a searing white light that could rival a thousand suns, and a mushroom cloud rising from the city center!