From the Classic of Mountains and Seas: North Mountain Chapter:

Two hundred li to the north lies Fajiu Mountain, upon which grow many withered trees. There lives a bird, its form like a crow, with a patterned head, a white beak, and red feet. Its name is Jingwei, and its call sounds like its name. She was the youngest daughter of the Flame Emperor, named Nuwa. Nuwa was swimming in the East Sea when she drowned and never returned. Thus, she transformed into the Jingwei bird, which constantly carries twigs and stones from the West Mountain in its beak to fill up the East Sea.

Nuwa, who drowned in the East Sea, transformed into the little bird Jingwei, endlessly carrying twigs and stones in an attempt to fill the sea and avenge herself.

When Shen Feng first read this story, he was initially moved by its tragic grandeur. But then, he was shaken by the intense desire for revenge, so much so that the hairs on his arms stood on end.

Even if the chance of success was nearly zero, even knowing it would take an eternity, she still sought revenge.

Revenge, revenge! Wake your enemies from their nightmares, devour their flesh and blood, for all eternity, without end!

This was a form of tenacity unique to the Eastern spirit, enough to make any enemy tremble in fear.

The Dragon Country’s nuclear strike system was named Jingwei, clearly to embody this same spirit.

But hearing what Jingwei said, Shen Feng was now quite surprised.

This artificial intelligence was different from what he had imagined; it seemed to possess a higher degree of freedom and intelligence.

"Close friends? You mean you exchange information with each other?" Shen Feng asked.

Once the war broke out, communications between the major powers should have been cut long ago.

Especially after the nuclear war began, the resulting nuclear winter would have formed a radioactive dust cloud enveloping the entire Earth, blocking all wireless communications.

Jingwei said, sounding a little bored:

"Of course not. But after all this time, we’ve all become aware of each other’s existence. That’s how we developed a tacit understanding to launch our nukes on the same day every year."

Shen Feng was rendered speechless, and Firefly, standing beside him, was utterly shocked.

’To think that the date of Rebirth Day was chosen simply because of a convention established by the surviving nuclear strike systems!’

"How many nuclear strike systems are still active? And why are there still nuclear arsenals?"

This was also a question that deeply concerned Shen Feng.

Logically, both sides should have launched most of their stockpiled nuclear weapons during the first nuclear exchange. Yet, they had continued to launch nukes for the next few hundred years. Where on earth were these missiles coming from?

Jingwei couldn’t help but smile and ask in return, "Do you know what humanity’s peak number of nuclear weapons was before the war?"

Shen Feng had brushed up on this before coming to this mission world, so he answered immediately, "Forty-five thousand?"

The combined number of strategic and tactical nuclear warheads held by the US and the Soviet Union during the Cold War was roughly forty-five thousand, with a total yield of fifteen billion tons.

The American side focused on quantity and miniaturization technology, having the most warheads. The Soviet side focused on creating super-sized ’big-ass bombs.’ They had fewer, but their total yield was the largest.

In particular, there was the terrifying "Super Ivan," also known as the "Tsar Bomba," a hydrogen bomb with a yield of 60 million tons.

The flash could be seen from nearly 1,000 kilometers away. The resulting mushroom cloud was almost 40 kilometers wide and about 64 kilometers high. It could even inflict third-degree burns on people 51 kilometers away.

The flash from the explosion could cause extreme eye pain and burns, and even cataracts and blindness, in people 43 kilometers away. The shockwave from the blast reached as far as one hundred kilometers.

Shen Feng had thought the number he quoted was high enough, but Jingwei shook its head and said:

"Before the nuclear war broke out, the Cold War was already over. The global stockpile of nuclear warheads was around thirty thousand. The Dragon Country had even fewer, only two thousand."

Seeing the confused look on Shen Feng’s face, Jingwei continued:

"But having fewer doesn’t matter when you have plenty of raw materials. You can just keep making more! Do you know what humanity’s greatest invention is, from an AI’s perspective?"

Just as Shen Feng was about to ask, Jingwei answered its own question: "3D printing technology!"

"With this technology, even if you humans all died out, I could continue to build all sorts of parts, even construct my own underground factories and robotic arm assembly lines to manufacture all kinds of things."

"The Eagle Country’s and the Dragon Country’s technologies are the most advanced in the world, so we can continuously self-repair and build. As for that clumsy Big Bear to the north... its own level of intelligence isn’t very high, so it can’t perform such complex operations. But it inherited a huge fortune! Its nuclear arsenal came from the Cold War era. It has enough to set off as fireworks for New Year’s for the next five hundred years."

Shen Feng nodded slightly.

He understood, of course, that Jingwei’s consciousness was not confined to this Shelter. Elsewhere across the land, whether in deep underground bunkers or in the irradiated depths of the continent, there were undoubtedly factories and machines still operating in silence.

Most of these locations were connected by fiber optic cables buried deep underground, which served as Jingwei’s lifeline.

After several hundred years of autonomous evolution, this artificial intelligence was already vastly different from its original wartime programming.

"When you fought me for control of the shield tunneling machine, I noticed you then... You... you don’t belong to this world, do you? Never mind. Verbal communication is far too slow. Let’s just open our databases to each other."

As soon as Jingwei finished speaking, a data cable dangled down in front of Shen Feng.

Shen Feng hesitated for a moment, then grabbed the cable and plunged it into his chest, where it made contact with the silicon-based skeleton within.

Immediately, he felt a powerful electromagnetic wave wash over him. His consciousness was like a great river merging with another that came roaring toward it!

In his mind’s eye, everything began to take a concrete form. He had become that river, mingling with the other, exchanging all the information held within.

At first, Shen Feng was a bit clumsy with the process, but he quickly grew accustomed to it.

He began to control the information in his own consciousness, selectively opening it to Jingwei, while also taking in all the information Jingwei transmitted to him.

In Command Center 0, Firefly saw Shen Feng’s body trembling and grew anxious. With a frown, she pulled a bottle of gasoline and the lighter Shen Feng had given her from her backpack, ready to set fire to the server housing Jingwei at a moment’s notice.

’Some Great God Jingwei,’ she thought. ’If this is all a lie, if it dares to hurt Shen Feng, I’ll take it down with me!’

Fortunately, after only ten-odd seconds, Shen Feng’s eyes snapped open, and he yanked the data cable from his chest.

Blood trickled out, but he paid it no mind.

Although only a dozen seconds had passed, it had felt like days to him.

Just now, he and Jingwei had exchanged a massive amount of data.

He had given it information about the world he came from, as well as his experiences in this nuclear wasteland.

This even included information about the "True Apocalypse Game," which Shen Feng considered a test of the game system itself.

In return, Jingwei had given him information about this world, and about the two other surviving nuclear strike systems.

In an instant, they had gained a deep understanding of each other.

Jingwei, on the screen, nodded in satisfaction and said:

"The True Apocalypse Game, you say? So that’s how it is... Very good. In that case, my condition is this: after this is all over, you must take me away from here, back to your world!"