Chapter 159: Chapter 158: Room Service From Another Lifetime
Shen Feng didn’t have the last Nanomechanical Cluster self-destruct. Instead, he left it behind.
Technology itself wasn’t the problem; the real issue was human greed and desire.
On this Earth, human civilization was like a tiny flame in a gale, in danger of being snuffed out at any moment.
The Nanomechanical Cluster’s existence was crucial for human civilization.
After all, restoring the former glory of human civilization would require more than just the factories Shen Feng had left behind. It would require talent, time, and knowledge passed down through generations.
Until then, humanity needed a powerful force to protect itself from extinction.
Otherwise, a global windstorm or some other catastrophe could easily wipe out what was left of civilization.
Of course, Shen Feng didn’t hand over administrator privileges. Instead, he granted the Salvation Army Warriors high-level auxiliary administrator permissions.
They could control the Gray Tide, but they couldn’t modify its base protocol.
Shen Feng placed restrictions on the Nanomechanical Clusters within their source code.
First, they could not attack humans. Second, the total number of Nanomechanical Insects had an upper limit; once that limit was reached, they would begin to naturally decay.
Furthermore, the Nanomechanical Insects could attack one another to eliminate rogue or damaged units.
This would ensure a Gray Tide disaster could never happen again.
After all, the number of Nanomechanical Insects that could exist in this world was now strictly limited, their combined volume no more than the size of a mountain.
Moreover, the Salvation Army Warriors with high-level auxiliary administrator permissions all had identical levels of control over the Nanomechanical Cluster.
This was a form of checks and balances.
After all, the human heart is notoriously fickle.
Even someone willing to sacrifice their life to save civilization could be corrupted by power and desire.
Shen Feng’s arrangements were met with the full approval and support of the Salvation Army Warriors.
They, too, understood that even they could lose their way, making this the wisest possible decision.
After finalizing these arrangements, Shen Feng spoke to his True Apocalypse Game wristband.
"Cause of the Gray Tide outbreak has been identified and the Gray Tide has been brought under complete control. An updated sample of the Gray Tide has been acquired. Structural damage and assimilation were avoided. I request to submit the Gray Tide apocalypse mission and claim the rewards."
A few lines of text flashed on the wristband’s screen:
"Please place the latest iterated sample of the Gray Tide into a sealed container."
Glancing at the vast, desolate landscape around him, Shen Feng couldn’t help but roll his eyes.
’Where am I supposed to find a sealed container for you out here?’
After a moment’s thought, he dug a hole in the ground, dropped in a fist-sized sample of the Nanomechanical Cluster, and then sealed the opening with mud.
’This has to be the most primitive sealed container ever.’
Soon, another line of text flashed on the wristband’s screen:
"Initiating mission evaluation: Completion Rate, ninety-five percent. Distributing rewards: Reward 1, one vial of Antiviral Serum. Reward 2, one-time use of a spatial channel, allowing for a summons from the original Doomsday World to the current mission world, duration dependent on energy limits. Reward 3, permission to bring one entity from the mission world back to the original Doomsday World, size dependent on energy transfer limits. Reward 4, one-time use of a spatial channel, allowing for a summons from the mission world to the original Doomsday World, duration dependent on energy limits."
Shen Feng couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.
’These rewards are quite generous.’
Still, he hadn’t achieved one hundred percent mission completion.
It was likely related to Arthur Seldon’s sudden world-destroying rampage.
Shen Feng could guess without much effort that, besides Arthur Seldon’s own mind being twisted by the death of his loved ones and his own desires, the Whisperer’s influence was surely at play.
Of course, he hadn’t found any concrete information to support this.
But he figured the Whisperer wouldn’t have passed up such an opportunity.
The two spatial channel permissions were essentially bidirectional, which was extremely significant for Shen Feng.
He now had two permissions to move things from the mission world to his original world, and one permission to move things from his original world to the mission world.
At a critical moment, such permissions could be incredibly useful.
As for the Antiviral Serum, it seemed a bit odd.
But Shen Feng’s experience had taught him that the more inconspicuous a reward from the game system sounded, the more amazing it was likely to be.
Take *Nanomechanical Principles* and *Basic Principles of Hypnosis*, for example.
He decided not to claim the serum for now, leaving it in storage instead.
After all, he likely had no use for it at the moment, but he had no idea what kind of situation would call for it.
As for the reward of bringing something from the mission world back to his original world, the choice was even simpler.
Without a second thought, Shen Feng selected a portion of the Nanomechanical Cluster.
Besides that, this world really had nothing else of value to offer.
He wasn’t shy about it, immediately selecting a room-sized portion of the Gray Tide. But he was informed that this exceeded the energy limit. After cutting it down again and again, he settled on a mass roughly the size of a car.
But that was more than enough.
After all, the stuff could continuously consume and grow; it could probably devour all of Earth if it wanted to.
As for his Quantum Backpack, he filled it with several paintings.
They were paintings and calligraphy taken from the museum Arthur Seldon had preserved.
The *Mona Lisa*, *Sunflower*, the *Qingming River Painting*, *The Emperor’s Sedan Chair*—all of them were world-class masterpieces.
Of course, his original world also had these paintings. Both sets were authentic, just from different worlds.
After doing all this, Shen Feng, enveloped by the Gray Tide, looked out over the reborn world one last time, wanting to make sure he hadn’t missed anything.
"Did you forget about Xiaoguai?" Jingwei said irritably.
Shen Feng paused. "What Xiaoguai?"
"The Dongfeng strategic nuclear missile launcher! Men truly are heartless cads. Use something once and forget all about it!" Jingwei huffed.
Shen Feng slapped his forehead. He had indeed forgotten about the launch vehicle.
’The nuke was fired, but the truck is still here!’
’But where on earth did you get a name like Xiaoguai?’
"Where’s the truck?" Shen Feng asked quickly.
"It was forcibly sent back ages ago! Its energy signature was too high, so it could only stay for a short while. I already had it return through the spatial channel on its own," Jingwei said, clearly displeased with how Shen Feng had neglected Xiaoguai.
’After all, even if its onboard computer was a low-level artificial intelligence, it was still an AI!’
’You have a terrible attitude towards artificial intelligence!’
"As long as it made it back, that’s fine. We should go back, too." Shen Feng was a little baffled, not understanding why Jingwei was upset. But he figured a high-level AI was bound to have its own personality template; a small tantrum was nothing to worry about.
After bidding farewell to the assembled Salvation Army Warriors, Shen Feng gave the command to his wristband:
"Mission complete. Requesting return to original world!"
The words had barely left his lips when, under the reluctant gazes of the Salvation Army Warriors, Shen Feng vanished on the spot, leaving behind only a pair of footprints and the small, mountain-like mass of Gray Tide.
The warriors all walked forward, silently staring at Shen Feng’s footprints and the massive Gray Tide.
After countless hardships, this world had finally been saved.
It was just a shame the Savior was gone.
After a moment, Li Tongchen looked at his comrades with steely resolve and declared loudly:
"Comrades! The Savior already told us that we are our own saviors! This world needs us to save it! I hope that when the Savior needs us, we can give him our full support! Let’s begin!"
With that, he walked toward the Gray Tide.
A huge mass of the Nanomechanical Cluster immediately surged forth, enveloping Li Tongchen’s body and taking the form of a giant.
Following his lead, the other Salvation Army Warriors stepped forward to claim their own portions of the Nanomechanical Cluster.
They would take the Gray Tide under their control to all corners of the world, saving and gathering survivors, and relighting the torch of human civilization.
This great fire would blossom across the world, destined to illuminate this planet once plunged into darkness.
...
The familiar darkness and dizziness washed over him, and Shen Feng snapped his eyes open.
Warm lights, a carpet, a large bed, a mirror—the familiar furnishings of a hotel room.
He was back in his hotel room.
On the table before him sat a half-finished can of Coke.
It was the exact moment he had left.
But after everything he had experienced in the Gray Tide apocalypse, many things now felt different.
Shen Feng shook his head, bringing his mind back to the moment before he had left for the Gray Tide apocalypse. He then fell back onto the soft bed and let out a long, deep sigh.
’Comfortable.’
’This is the life.’
The food and rest in the Gray Tide apocalypse had been just enough to meet the most basic of needs.
His stomach rumbled. He was suddenly hit with an intense craving for Chinese food.
Dumplings, specifically.
’Preferably half chive and egg, and half carrot and lamb.’
’The lamb dumplings had to have a whole meatball in each one; only then would they be perfect.’
’Dipped in aged black vinegar... Mmm...’
As Shen Feng’s mouth watered at the thought, he was about to connect to the Wi-Fi and order some food.
In the center of the room was a silver-gray metallic mass—the Nanomechanical Cluster he had brought back with him.
Shen Feng beckoned, and the mass of Gray Tide bounded to his bedside like a large dog awaiting a command.
Shen Feng stroked the Gray Tide with one hand while searching for a suitable nearby restaurant with the other.
Just then, a flurry of faint, disorganized footsteps sounded from outside the door.
Shen Feng frowned. From the vibrations in the floor, he could tell at least several dozen people were approaching, and they were carrying heavy loads.
An ordinary person wouldn’t have heard it, but it couldn’t escape his senses; after all, the Gray Tide also possessed a massive number of sensors.
The people stopped right outside his room.
More and more of them gathered there.
Then, a knock echoed from the door:
KNOCK KNOCK.
"Sir, room service."
