True Apocalypse Game
Chapter 74: Getting a Car to Drive
Throughout human history, thousands of atmospheric nuclear tests have been conducted. Ultra-high-altitude nuclear tests, in particular, can significantly reduce local radioactive fallout, making them a relatively "eco-friendly" way to detonate a nuclear weapon.
For the dozens of nuclear warheads remaining on Earth, launching them into the upper atmosphere for detonation was undoubtedly the quickest method of disposal.
From this point forward, nuclear weapons ceased to exist in this post-nuclear-war wasteland.
It would take at least several hundred, if not thousands, of years before the people here could re-master nuclear technology and build new warheads.
Moreover, Firefly would be vigilant in controlling the emergence of nuclear technology to prevent such a scenario.
The lights in the distant night sky slowly faded, and the music gradually died down.
Shen Feng looked at his bracelet and communicated with it directly via data stream:
"Mission objectives for this world complete. Cause of the global thermonuclear war has been identified. Nuclear control programs for the three pre-war superpowers have been located, and two have been eliminated."
The various data streams obtained from Poseidon flowed into the bracelet, feeding into the True Apocalypse Game’s program.
Finally, he added one last line: "...Avoided acute radiation sickness from high-intensity radiation. Survived."
A line of text flashed across the bracelet’s light screen:
Mission Assessment... 90% Completion. Congratulations, Player, on completing the mission. Issuing rewards.
Reward One: Player may select four items from the mission world to take back. Items must not exceed the transport energy limit.
Reward Two: One Electronic Controller. (Issued)
Reward Three: One-time use of a spatial passage. Can be used to summon an entity from the mission world to the original Doomsday World. Duration is dependent on energy limits.
Shen Feng’s heart lurched when he saw the third reward.
The implications of this reward were immense!
If he ever ran into danger or an intractable problem in his own world, summoning someone from a mission world to help would surely work wonders.
After all, he had only been through two Doomsday World missions. Who knew what powerful allies he might meet in the future?
If he could stack these rights, the power at his disposal would be nearly limitless!
Furthermore, he’d long since noticed that the True Apocalypse Game referred to his home as the "original Doomsday World." This implied there was a high probability that his own world was headed for a large-scale disaster.
When that time came, he would almost certainly need help from outside forces.
As for the four items he could take with him...
Right now, his backpack was stuffed with cash he had taken directly from the Crow Tribe.
To the wasteland’s inhabitants, these colorful slips of paper were useless, but they made for good decoration, so many people had saved a fair amount.
Items inside the Quantum Backpack didn’t count toward the limit. Jingwei had already fully integrated with his body and had no physical volume or weight, so she didn’t count either.
That left him with all four item slots.
Firefly had already decided to stay behind.
Shen Feng turned to look at the strategic missile launcher beside them and said:
"I choose to take this item."
The vehicle was in pristine condition, ready to fire at a moment’s notice. It was armed with a MIRV nuclear warhead with a yield of roughly five megatons.
Every other nuke in the world had just been destroyed. This was the last one.
The True Apocalypse Game icon on the bracelet’s screen flickered, clearly surprised that he would choose to take a nuclear warhead with him.
A moment later, another line of text materialized:
This item is at the critical limit for a single energy transfer. The number of items you may carry will be reduced to one. Do you wish to take this item back to the original Doomsday World?
The missile launcher took up all his slots.
Shen Feng hesitated for a moment before hitting ’Confirm’.
After all, there wasn’t much else worth taking.
The most advanced piece of technology from this mission world was already inside him, his backpack was full of cash, and there was nothing else of real value.
Besides, he had a nagging feeling that this missile launcher might come in handy later.
"Seriously, what do you want this thing for? Are you planning to drive it down the street?" Jingwei asked Shen Feng, completely bewildered.
’What on earth is this kid thinking? Does his city have a traffic problem? I guess driving this thing on the street would be a perfect solution for that!’
Shen Feng ignored Jingwei’s questions. After collecting his mission rewards, he turned to Firefly. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎
"Firefly, I have to go."
Firefly stared at Shen Feng, her eyes like tranquil lakes. Though her heart ached at the thought of him leaving, she still managed to say:
"Shen Feng... Goodbye... Until we meet again."
Shen Feng nodded.
"Until we meet again. I hope that by the time we do, order will have been restored to this world, and the light of civilization will once again shi—"
Before he could finish his sentence, Firefly lunged forward and threw her arms around him in a tight hug.
Shen Feng sighed and raised a hand to ruffle her hair. Firefly pulled back just as quickly and, with a smile, said, "You have my word!"
"You have my word!" Shen Feng replied solemnly, a smile on his face. Then, he issued a new command to his bracelet:
Return!
A familiar line of text appeared on the bracelet’s screen: Commencing dimensional space sterilization. Returning to the original Doomsday World.
In the next instant, right before Firefly’s eyes, Shen Feng and the missile launcher vanished as if they had never been there at all...
"Shen..." Firefly reached out, her hand passing through the empty space where he had just been standing. Only then did it sink in that he was truly gone.
A flicker of loss crossed her eyes, but in the next instant, she lifted her head, her gaze firm once more. ’This was my choice!’
She looked up at the starry sky and said, as if to herself:
"You have my word!"
Then, she picked up a shotgun from the ground, aimed it at the sky, and pulled the trigger.
BANG— The resounding shot echoed far into the night jungle.
Before long, Night Women, each emitting a faint, fluorescent glow, emerged from the jungle and appeared before Firefly, bowing to their new chieftain.
"Take the guns and the books from this place. Prepare to follow me and spread the spark of civilization across this land, and... across this world!"
The basement of the forest farm still held piles of guns, ammunition, and all sorts of books.
Before leaving, Shen Feng and Jingwei had even left Firefly a game-changing 3D printer and a computer filled with all kinds of information.
With the threat of nuclear annihilation lifted, the spark of civilization was about to be rekindled, though it would burn very differently this time...
Watching the Night Women begin to arm themselves, Firefly murmured:
"I am one of the Peach Blossom People, and where I stand is Peach Blossom Spring!"
...
First came darkness, then the familiar sensation of vertigo, accompanied by Jingwei’s gasps and curses.
Shen Feng’s eyes snapped open. He was back in his rented apartment, lying on his bed.
He checked his watch. It was only two in the morning, just two or three hours after he had left.
No, perhaps no time had passed at all.
"We’re in your world now? Whoa, I can feel it! It’s WiFi! Oh my god! Humanity’s greatest invention! A WiFi signal!"
Jingwei’s voice rang out, filled with an excitement like that of a man who’d been celibate for years suddenly finding the contents of his ’Homework’ folder.
Shen Feng sat up in bed, opened his Quantum Backpack, and felt the thick wads of cash inside, a satisfied smile spreading across his face.
’After all that life-and-death fighting, I still can’t live without this stuff.’
Jingwei, who had apparently already connected to the internet, was yelping in delight when she suddenly commented offhandedly to Shen Feng:
"Oh, by the way, that vehicle you wanted seems to be parked downstairs."
The vehicle! The strategic missile launcher!
Shen Feng shot up from the bed, flung the door open, and rushed out into the hallway to look down at the street.
A military-green missile launcher was parked quietly on the street below. Its eight pairs of massive, heavy-duty wheels and its thick launch tube gleamed under the streetlights, looking surprisingly docile.