Chapter 149: Chapter 148: Human-powered Punk Chase
The most basic hero’s story has at least these few components:
Act One: The hero’s birth (awakening as a hero).
Act Two: The hero’s suffering (suffering a major setback and hitting rock bottom).
Act Three: The hero’s baptism (obtaining the secret to victory, a weapon, like the Hero’s Sword).
Act Four: The hero’s triumph (using the secret to defeat the Demon King villain and achieve final victory).
Shen Feng had already gone through the first two acts. Coming to this world and discovering the cause of the Gray Tide apocalypse counted as his awakening as a hero.
And encountering the Mike Robot and the High-Level Construction Machine counted as the hero’s suffering.
Of course, it hadn’t really affected him much, but it could just about be classified that way in terms of plot.
So now, by following the clues to the Gray Tide Graveyard and finding the descendant of Arthur Seldon, he had found the ultimate weapon to defeat his enemy—his Hero’s Sword.
Shen Feng hefted the head in his hand. His Silicon-Based Brain released brainwaves, probing the mechanical skull.
At the same time, his palm emitted a high-frequency noise, using bone-conduction resonance to suppress the head and prevent it from disassembling into a Nanomechanical Cluster.
Meanwhile, Jingwei was mobilizing her maximum computing power to try and hack into the mechanical head’s core controller.
As expected, there was a consciousness inside similar to a Nanomechanical Robot’s.
"Who... who are you? Where are you taking me?"
Turman’s head spoke, his blue eyes still full of innocence, as if his body were still intact and he was just a little boy.
Shen Feng smiled slightly. "Looks like your creator didn’t give you a very high intelligence Level or much autonomy..."
"Tur... Turman!?" Just then, a man walked out of the blacksmith shop. He stared, dumbfounded, at Turman’s headless mechanical body standing in place.
It was the blacksmith, Turman’s master.
He had run out as soon as the alarm sounded, wanting to see if Turman was in any danger, but he never expected to see such a bizarre scene.
"Master," Turman’s head said, a little bewildered.
Shen Feng said to the old blacksmith, "Don’t worry, he can’t die. He was never human to begin with. He’s the so-called descendant of the legendary Arthur Seldon—a tool. His name is a dead giveaway, too. It’s ’tool man.’ Literally. Tool. Man. Would a normal person be given a name like that? You never noticed anything?"
The old blacksmith stood frozen on the spot.
Construction Machines that could block electromagnetic pulses, Turman turning out to be a robot, a head that could still talk after being plucked off...
The shock of it all was too much. He couldn’t process it, nor could he comprehend Shen Feng’s words.
Nanomechanical Robots continued to fall from the sky. The sounds of gunfire echoed throughout the Gray Tide Graveyard as the new Construction Machines, capable of blocking electromagnetic radiation, began their slaughter of the survivors.
Suddenly, Turman’s eyes emitted a blinding light, turning him into a beacon. It immediately drew the attention of the new Construction Machines, and they started running toward Shen Feng.
"Discovered. Backdoor program vulnerability. Item priority: Maximum."
"Discovered. Backdoor program vulnerability. Item priority: Maximum."
"Discovered. Backdoor program vulnerability..."
But just then, a melodious, electronic alarm echoed from the sky once more:
"Discovered. Viral Construction Machine. Violation of Azure Sky Technology Company regulation..."
"Level authority is ultra-high-level auxiliary administrator... Accepting command..."
Looking up, he saw that the Construction Machines that had just dropped from the metal dome were now being held in a tight embrace by burly, bald, dark-skinned figures. Their entire bodies, Nanomechanical Clusters, writhed and enveloped the machines like mercury, beginning to assimilate them!
BOOM! With a loud explosion that kicked up a cloud of sand and dust, a massive Nanomechanical Cluster crashed down in front of Shen Feng.
The dust settled, revealing two Mike Robots that had completed their assimilation.
The Mike Robots had now absorbed those latest Nanomechanical Robots and modified themselves, also gaining the ability to temporarily block electromagnetic radiation!
From their appearance, they now looked completely human.
"Asian boy..." Both Mike Robots flashed a savage grin, revealing mouths full of sharp, metal teeth.
After several near-death struggles, it had finally grown stronger. It could even devour these latest models of Nanomechanical Robots, absorb their advantages, and improve itself.
And now, the enemy it had been hunting was right before its eyes. After it killed this boy, it would continue to evolve until it found the control core, devoured it, and became the undisputed ruler of this world.
On the way to the Gray Tide Graveyard, it had imagined the Asian boy’s terrified expression more than once. Now, it was about to savor the thrill of making its enemy tremble in fear...
But unexpectedly, the Asian boy before it showed not a hint of fear or panic. Instead, his face wore an impatient, perfunctory smirk!
"Well, look who it is." Shen Feng raised a hand in greeting, having already shifted into his combat form.
Then he jumped on a bicycle and started pedaling furiously toward the edge of the Gray Tide Graveyard.
Feeling mocked, the two Mike Robots let out a furious roar and were about to give chase, but a black shadow flashed, and they were intercepted by three new Construction Machines, locking them in battle.
Shen Feng held Turman’s head in one hand and the handlebars in the other. He pedaled so hard the bicycle moved at the speed of a motorcycle.
Turman looked around curiously, then said in a dazed voice:
"Where are you taking me? My heart is pounding."
Shen Feng replied quickly as he pedaled, "You don’t have a heart anymore."
By now, the new Construction Machines and Mike Robots falling from the dome and those on the ground had all spotted Shen Feng. They abandoned the desperately resisting humans and swarmed in his direction.
Wherever Shen Feng passed, Construction Machines rained down one after another. THUD, THUD, THUD, they landed, trying to block his path.
"Two Construction Machines eight meters ahead, accelerate... three Mike Robots fifty meters ahead, turn left, then right, then go straight..." Jingwei had now become a GPS, constantly giving voice prompts.
Pedaling his bike to dodge the lunging Nanomechanical Robots, Shen Feng glanced up at the figures constantly falling from the dome and then at the humans around him fighting with guns and other weapons, and couldn’t help but chuckle.
’What the hell is this?’
’Manpower-punk?’
Just as the bicycle was about to fall apart, Shen Feng reached the edge of the Gray Tide Graveyard and rode straight into the expanse of dead Nanomechanical Clusters that looked like gray sand.
Shen Feng leaped off, and the bicycle disintegrated completely.
He landed at an entrance, rushed into the colossal structure while holding Turman’s head, and broke into a sprint, searching for a way up.
Here, there was no longer the risk of being surrounded in an open area.
Seeing Shen Feng take the lead and flee, the Mike Robots let out furious roars. They wanted to pursue him but were blocked by even more of the new Construction Machines.
Shen Feng sprinted through the colossal structure with dozens of new Construction Machines hot on his heels.
"You know, you kind of look like one of those pop idols who sing, dance, rap, and dribble a basketball," Jingwei teased.
"Cut the crap and figure out how to hack the core control programs of those things behind us," Shen Feng snapped.
Although he was in his combat form, he was still a biological entity. The new Construction Machines behind him were immune to high-frequency sound waves and highly resistant to electromagnetic pulses. If they caught him, he’d be skinned alive, if not killed outright.
After all, having your body deconstructed at the cellular level by trillions of Nanomechanical Insects was not a pleasant experience.
While releasing electromagnetic waves to interfere with and analyze the pursuing new Construction Machines, Jingwei griped:
"These things are actually using partial insulation materials. Plus, they’ve replaced their original gear structure with a synaptic one, making their internal connections more random. That’s why they’re immune to high-frequency noise and can partially resist EMP interference... If I’m right, the information link between each Nanomechanical Insect at the microscopic level also uses a brand-new communication method—it’s not traditional radio waves anymore."
Shen Feng’s brow furrowed. "If that’s the case, these new Construction Machines will be much harder to deal with... An unconventional communication method would eliminate the possibility of external interference... Could it be quantum communication!?"
That was the only way they could use insulating materials in their basic construction to increase their resistance to electromagnetic pulses.
But that also meant Shen Feng’s brainwave interference was useless, and hacking their programming would be incredibly difficult.
"Bingo! You got it, kiddo!" Jingwei said excitedly, sounding like she wanted to set off firecrackers. "Well, this just makes things easy! Guess which country is the world leader in quantum communication? Including quantum encrypted communication and real-deal quantum information transmission."
"Hua... Hua Country?" Something suddenly occurred to Shen Feng.
"And guess where yours truly came from?"
"The... Chinese Academy of Sciences?" Shen Feng’s tone had turned to joyful surprise.
"Hahahaha, correct! I got bored of playing with the Mozi Satellite back in the day. I figured out quantum communication ages ago. In my eyes, the quantum communication these new Construction Machines are using is garbage! Just watch me break in!"
As she spoke, Jingwei instantly broke through the Nanomechanical Cluster network of the new Construction Machines behind them, preparing for a full-scale invasion and takeover.
But then, she suddenly fell silent for a full minute.
Shen Feng asked, "What’s wrong? Did something happen?"
"Understanding the structure and being able to crack it are two different things... Haha... After all... this quantum communication... it’s too random and uncertain... It’s not that I can’t get in, it just... needs a little time... about two days should do it... With your stamina, running for two days and two nights shouldn’t be a problem, right?"
Shen Feng rolled his eyes. "What’s the problem?"
"Permissions. I need high-level permissions to get through the firewall smoothly."
Shen Feng chuckled. "Should have said so sooner... You’ve got permissions."
With that, he abruptly stopped his sprint, aimed Turman’s head at the pursuing new Construction Machines, and gave the head a little pat.
