Chapter 148: Chapter 147: Act 3: Hero’s Sword
Jeff continued with a look of reverence:
"The Savior has saved the world from peril several times, but he’s incredibly mysterious and elusive. This statue depicts the first time the Savior appeared before the Salvation Army. It’s said that at the edge of a cornfield, the Savior revealed the Truth of the world and the Cosmos to the first members of the Salvation Army. It’s known to history as the Sermon in the Field."
Shen Feng remained silent. The scene depicted in the sculpture was the exact moment he had first appeared in True Apocalypse Game 1.0, revealing the truth of the apocalypse to those elite players.
’To think that in this Parallel World, it would all be passed down as a sacred event.’
"What happened next? Why didn’t the Savior defeat the Gray Tide and save this world?" Shen Feng asked.
A look of sorrow crossed Jeff’s face as he said, "Later, the Savior suddenly vanished... Some Salvation Army soldiers speculated that he might have met with a terrible fate, or perhaps he grew disappointed with human civilization and went into seclusion... But he had already sown the seeds of battle! When the Gray Tide erupted, the Salvation Army never stopped fighting! His spirit and soul will live on here forever!"
As he spoke the last sentence, a light seemed to flash in Jeff’s eyes.
Shen Feng nodded and said nothing more.
’I have to find out the real reason my other self disappeared during the Gray Tide apocalypse. I can’t let history repeat itself.’
After giving his explanation, Jeff bid Shen Feng farewell and left to go on patrol.
He had walked this way with Shen Feng partly out of friendliness, but also to get a measure of the newcomer’s character.
So far, he seemed normal enough.
After all, in this brutal apocalyptic world, humanity had a common enemy: the Gray Tide. Even the most vicious individuals tended to curb their antisocial tendencies after moving here.
If someone really didn’t know what was good for them, the peacekeepers’ bullets would be there to persuade them.
"Go register your identity file at the city hall! They still have a camera there and can take a picture for the record, so you won’t be forgotten after you die," Jeff called out from a distance. "City hall is a few dozen kilometers ahead; you can ride a bike to get there. If you don’t have a place to sleep tonight, just find any empty room."
Only after hearing Jeff did Shen Feng notice the bicycles parked randomly along the streets.
Some of the bikes were brand new, obviously freshly made.
People would occasionally ride off on one or park one somewhere.
It was a bit like a bike-sharing system.
Except here, they were clearly public property, and no one tried to claim them for personal use.
It seemed that in Tomb City, located in the Gray Tide Graveyard, the constant, imminent danger had diminished the concept of private ownership. That, combined with a relatively stable food supply, had led to many things becoming public property.
After all, what was the point of amassing possessions?
The Gray Tide could swallow it all up the very next day.
As far as he could see, most people wore friendly smiles. They were sincere and quick to help one another.
Under the crushing pressure of the Gray Tide and the strain of scarce resources, these human survivors had, against all odds, forged an incredible sense of unity.
Everyone understood that only by sticking together and doing their part could they keep Tomb City running and delay the day it was swallowed by the Gray Tide.
After all, no one knew if a day would come when the Nanomechanical Clusters would no longer be afraid of electromagnetic pulses.
When that happened, their fate of being devoured would be sealed.
City Hall.
’A good place, indeed...’
Those photo archives were extremely important to Shen Feng.
"Jingwei, have you memorized Arthur Seldon’s appearance? Extrapolate what his descendants would look like."
"No problem. Piece of cake," Jingwei replied confidently.
When he had entered Chief Governor Galen Seldon’s office, there had been two photographs on the wall: one of Arthur Seldon and one of his wife.
For Jingwei, extrapolating a descendant’s appearance from two direct blood relatives was about as difficult as a Ph.D. student doing elementary school math.
Shen Feng hopped on a bicycle and casually pedaled toward city hall.
Tomb City was said to be dozens of kilometers across, but its actual area wasn’t very large.
Especially for someone like Shen Feng, who had undergone a special physical evolution.
Besides, city hall wasn’t far from the small settlement he was in.
After more than three hours of asking for directions and taking in the local sights, Shen Feng arrived at Tomb City’s city hall.
There was no distinction between day and night here; people relied entirely on a few towering mechanical clocks to tell the time.
When Shen Feng arrived at city hall, it was already what passed for midnight, and the staff had long since closed up and gone home.
The entirety of Tomb City had grown quiet; most of its inhabitants were already asleep.
The door wasn’t even locked. After all, who would have any designs on the archives? They were essentially worthless.
They were little more than epitaphs for the living, kept just in case.
Shen Feng pushed the door open and quickly found the archive room.
All the files were neatly arranged. To his surprise, they were written on handmade paper.
The precious camera, along with the city hall’s computer and other electronics, were kept in a separate room. The entire room was sealed with lead sheeting to shield the devices from the external electromagnetic pulses.
This location also happened to be the spot in all of Tomb City with the weakest electromagnetic pulses, which was how they managed to preserve everything.
Shen Feng took a deep breath and began flipping through the bound volumes of files.
Each person’s file consisted of only a single sheet of paper, bound together with others into volumes.
Shen Feng grabbed one volume and began flipping through the pages at incredible speed, his eyes only scanning the photos.
Each photo was before his eyes for only a split second, but that was long enough.
His Silicon-Based Brain began working at a furious pace, analyzing the photos alongside Jingwei, trying to find a match for the facial features of Arthur Horton and his wife.
Each volume contained the files of three hundred people, and there were roughly seven hundred volumes in total. It took Shen Feng thirty seconds to get through each one. He continued like this for the entire night. Just as he heard the footsteps of someone entering the main door of city hall, Shen Feng put down the final volume, took a deep breath, and walked out.
The person outside was surprised to see Shen Feng emerge from the archive room. They asked him a few questions but received no reply, ultimately dismissing him as just some weirdo.
By now, Shen Feng had committed the data of over two hundred thousand people to memory. After a full night of input and sorting, he had singled out seven individuals who were suspected descendants of Arthur Horton.
He memorized all their addresses and origins, regardless of their accuracy.
However, after a whole night without rest, his biological brain was exhausted.
He found an empty house and slept for a while. Then, he traded a pistol and some bullets from his pack for supplies. After a meal of fish soup with rice, Shen Feng felt his energy partially restored and immediately, tirelessly, began his search through Tomb City.
The first person he found was an old man on his last legs. Shen Feng chatted with him briefly and learned that he was a cryo-sleeper who had woken up a little over ten years ago. Even before going into hibernation, he had already been older than Arthur Seldon.
The second was an optimistic young man, a native of Tomb City. But after carefully observing his features and bone structure, Shen Feng saw he had Native American ancestry going back four or five generations and immediately ruled him out.
The next few candidates were equally unpromising: a middle-aged woman who had woken from a cryo-pod just two or three years ago, another who had features clearly inconsistent with Arthur Seldon’s.
Finally, Shen Feng arrived at a blacksmith shop on the outskirts of Tomb City to find the last person on his list.
A twelve- or thirteen-year-old boy.
An orphan who lived all alone.
According to the archives and the neighbors, the boy was a native of Tomb City. Last year, his parents had gone out exploring together. They seemed to have run into a Construction Machine and never returned, leaving the poor child behind.
Fortunately, the boy was extremely self-reliant, surprisingly strong, and a quick study. He had found work at the town’s blacksmith shop and was managing to survive.
"Hello, I’m looking for Turman. Is he here?" Shen Feng asked, stepping into the noisy blacksmith shop.
A bare-chested, brawny man glanced at him, then bellowed, "Turman, someone’s here for you!"
A moment later, the sound of footsteps echoed, and a fair-skinned, freckled boy ran out from the back room.
He had deep blue eyes and a somewhat timid expression.
The moment he saw the boy, Shen Feng knew. This was him. This was the descendant of Arthur Seldon he had been looking for!
’The resemblance is uncanny!’
’It wasn’t just the looks, either. It was an intuition, a feeling!’
Shen Feng gave a slight smile and said to Turman, "Turman? Can I have a word with you?"
Turman looked at Shen Feng curiously and followed him out of the blacksmith shop.
Although only twelve or thirteen, his years of working the forge had made Turman quite sturdy.
Shen Feng stared into Turman’s eyes, scrutinizing him. "Where are you from? Do you remember anything from before you came to Tomb City?"
Turman was taken aback. "Who are you? I... I’ve lived in Tomb City my whole life. I’ve never left."
Shen Feng suddenly stepped forward, grabbed the boy’s hand, and examined his palm carefully.
Turman jumped, and just as he was about to pull his arm away, Shen Feng let go. "Sorry," Shen Feng said with a smile. "I didn’t mean to startle you."
At that moment, Shen Feng completely confirmed his suspicions.
’This feeling... It’s all too familiar.’
Turman glanced at Shen Feng, then turned to go back to the forge, not wanting to waste any more time on this weirdo.
Just then, alarms suddenly blared throughout Tomb City!
Immediately after, black clumps of Nanomechanical Clusters began to fall from the metal dome above.
Upon landing, the clusters splattered apart, cushioning the impact and revealing tall, humanoid Construction Machines within.
These Construction Machines were clearly a different model from before. Their exteriors were covered in a substance resembling flesh, and they were completely unaffected by the electromagnetic pulse environment.
Humanity’s worst fear had come to pass!
Construction Machines that could shield themselves from electromagnetic pulses had appeared!
"Preparing to clear error zone. Preparing to clear error zone... Commencing format and sterilization protocol in this sector. Commencing format and sterilization protocol in this sector..."
The Construction Machines uttered the words in cold, electronic voices, their eyes glowing red.
The working people didn’t scream or panic. Instead, they grabbed whatever weapons were at hand and charged the Construction Machines.
They had long been prepared for this day.
Turman was stunned by the sudden turn of events, frozen in place, unsure what to do.
"So it begins..." Shen Feng muttered with a smile, not the least bit surprised.
’When you already know the script, there aren’t many surprises. You just have to follow it step by step.’
Then, with a sudden burst of power, he rushed in front of Turman.
He grabbed Turman’s head with both hands, and with a sudden, violent twist, wrenched it clean off!
Turman’s eyes were still blinking, his face a mask of astonishment. From his severed neck came the glint of silver-gray metal, sparking with tiny arcs of electricity!
