Chapter 165: Chapter 164: A Leap in Virtual Reality Technology
"I just can’t bring myself to let her know~~~
Those simple words, I just can’t say them~~~
..."
An old, small restaurant was playing a Jay Chou song. It was just the start of the dinner rush, so it wasn’t crowded yet, filled mostly with regulars.
Shen Feng was focused on pouring vinegar and sesame oil into his dipping dish.
The owner, Uncle Wang, brought two large plates of dumplings over to Shen Feng and asked with a smile:
"Feng, you haven’t been here in a while. I heard you moved? Where did you go?"
Shen Feng squinted and took a deep sniff. One plate was chive, egg, and shrimp; the other was lamb and carrot.
He’d been craving this taste the whole time he was in Eagle Country, and now he could finally eat it.
Without waiting for it to cool, he picked up a lamb dumpling and stuffed it into his mouth. Savoring the delicious juices that filled his mouth, he mumbled as he chewed:
"Yeah, Uncle Wang. A distant relative gave me some money, so I found a house in the suburbs to study for my exams."
Uncle Wang chuckled.
"That’s good, that’s good. This neighborhood is too rough. You should find a quiet place to study properly. What brings you back for a meal today?"
Shen Feng swallowed the dumpling and grinned.
"I was craving your cooking! I’ve been thinking about your dumplings every day for the past few days."
As he spoke, he picked up a chive, egg, and shrimp dumpling and began chewing it heartily.
"Haha, just come back whenever you want to eat! Your Uncle Wang would get up at two in the morning to make dumplings for you!"
Shen Feng nodded repeatedly, telling Uncle Wang to get back to his work and not to worry about him.
As he dipped his dumplings in vinegar and ate, Shen Feng extended his Consciousness Antennae into the cloud and began to check on the development progress of "True Apocalypse Game 1.0."
The Gray Tide apocalypse mission was still under construction.
Although in this world, Shen Feng had already controlled the birth of the Gray Tide at its source, meaning the Gray Tide apocalypse was basically guaranteed not to occur.
However, the mission was still necessary. The soldiers of the Salvation Army needed to experience it.
At the very least, they needed to understand that Shen Feng, as their Savior, had once again saved the world without anyone noticing.
This would be extremely meaningful for solidifying the willpower and cohesion of the entire Salvation Army.
At the same time, Shen Feng had also been wanting to pass on some relevant information to the Salvation Army, and "True Apocalypse Game 1.0" was an excellent medium for that.
In the world of the network, Jingwei’s consciousness had taken the form of a young girl in a sailor suit. She was leading a group of primary artificial intelligence programs, which looked like kindergarteners, doing the grunt work of building the Gray Tide apocalypse mission world.
When she saw Shen Feng’s consciousness appear, she immediately berated him.
"You heartless bastard! You run off to eat dumplings and leave me here to do your dirty work!"
Shen Feng laughed and said,
"How about I get you a humanoid robot with a taste sensor someday? Then you can try them too."
At the same time, he wondered, ’Jingwei’s human personality template seems to be getting more and more realistic. Can this kind of strong AI continue to evolve indefinitely?’
Hearing Shen Feng’s words, Jingwei’s eyes lit up.
"That’s a great idea! I want to design my own appearance! I want to go to school with you!"
Shen Feng felt a headache coming on. ’Give me a break. I’m already planning to drop out, don’t come and make more trouble for me...’
He quickly changed the subject.
"How’s the game world coming along? This monotonous world should be much simpler than the previous two mission worlds."
Jingwei’s expression turned serious.
"It’s almost done and can be deployed at any time. But I think you should see this."
With a wave of her hand, a news article appeared in the cyberspace in front of them:
"...A major breakthrough in virtual reality technology! Google Company has launched a new generation of virtual reality experience pods, featuring a brand-new retinal projection system and a full-body electrode haptic system to help you enter a whole new world! The Stars VR rig, true virtual reality!"
Immediately following that was another news item, this time from Huawei:
"...Huawei has launched its new VR device—the Other Shore Virtual Reality Headset. A milestone in neural induction technology, with 5G connectivity, no latency, and no need for complex, bulky equipment. All you need is a headset to give you the most realistic experience! We are waiting for you on the Other Shore!"
This was followed by a report on the two VR devices being showcased at the ES Exhibition, along with their performance specs and so on.
On this very day, two top companies from the East and the West had simultaneously launched their own virtual reality devices.
There had been plenty of virtual reality, or VR, devices before.
They were mostly headset-style glasses, sometimes with added experience pods.
However, because the technology was still immature, they had never been widely adopted.
The once-popular Pokémon game used AR, or augmented reality, technology, which was a world apart from true virtual reality.
But now, looking at the data for these two devices, Shen Feng couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows.
They were on the verge of a breakthrough. All they needed was a small advance in neural technology.
Once they made that breakthrough, these things would be just like the Oasis from Spielberg’s movie *Ready Player One*, allowing people to have truly immersive, sensory experiences.
Coincidentally, after studying Mike’s brain during the Gray Tide apocalypse, Shen Feng had also gained some insights into neural technology.
Shen Feng had previously considered launching a virtual reality game to let the members of the Salvation Army better experience various apocalypses and hone their willpower, but something like that required the support of an entire industrial system.
Relying on himself alone was too unrealistic.
But now, the creation of these two virtual reality devices, the Other Shore and The Stars, saved him a lot of effort.
The technology of the devices themselves was sufficient; Shen Feng only needed to help them with a software upgrade.
Moreover, having two different devices would make it easier to hide his true identity.
"’Interesting...’ Shen Feng gave a wry smile. This way, a lot of information that was previously limited by the game format could be perfectly conveyed. ’Let’s just make a virtual reality version of the True Apocalypse Game, then...’
...
Eagle Country CIA Headquarters.
Director Nick was expressionlessly reviewing a batch of newly received information, pondering everything that had happened in the last few days.
After Kadi Cohen was shot in the head, the cleaner he had dispatched sent a message immediately.
It was just three words: "It wasn’t me."
He wasn’t too surprised by this.
After all, there were probably no fewer than ten people in the entire Salvation Army who knew about the Poseidon system.
Every single one of them should have had the ability to assassinate Kadi Cohen.
The fact that someone else had acted actually brought Nick a bit of relief, giving him a sense of fighting alongside his comrades-in-arms.
But the next piece of information he received through the True Apocalypse Game system made his heart sink.
It was a message from the Commander.
About Cthulhu’s Purification Society.
The CIA had a top-secret archive containing the most bizarre, difficult-to-solve, or most impactful cases the Central Intelligence Agency had handled since its inception.
For example, the Kennedy assassination, the Reagan assassination attempt, the Watergate scandal, 9/11, and so on.
The file on the Purification Society was also in there.
Contrary to what had been publicly announced, after the fire at the Purification Society sanatorium in Wuyou Town, Nebraska, the CIA had determined through forensic analysis that the charred body found there did not belong to Cthulhu.
The news that Cthulhu had died in the fire was released simply to placate the public.
Afterward, numerous agents conducted secret investigations everywhere, trying to find Cthulhu.
But Cthulhu had vanished into thin air, never to be seen again.
The patients of the Purification Society, as well as Cthulhu’s disciples, were initially placed under heavy surveillance. There were about thirty thousand of them in total.
But as time went on, they showed no unusual behavior, so the surveillance was gradually lifted.
After all, they were considered victims too.
Later, in November 2001, a fire broke out in the archive, destroying a large number of files, including the information on these people. At the same time, the electronic archives were also lost due to a machine malfunction.
Only some basic information about the case remained.
At the time, these files were lost along with some files on Al-Qaeda. Since the war in Afghanistan was ongoing, many believed it was the work of Terrorists.
Now, it seemed the Al-Qaeda information was just a cover; the other party’s real target had been these files all along...
And now, the Commander was saying that the Whisperer was connected to Cthulhu’s Purification Society.
’Could that Cthulhu be the damned Whisperer?’
’If that’s the case, this is a massive problem...’
’That was thirty thousand people!’
Many of them were members of the so-called elite. Twenty years later, they might have already risen to high-ranking positions, perhaps even secretly controlling the entire Eagle Country!
Then came another piece of news. A large number of bodies had been discovered in Wuyou Town, Nebraska. They all belonged to mercenaries from Snake Eye Company, including their CEO, Faulkner. All were dead.
When the local State Police found them, the bodies had already begun to decompose.
Furthermore, Faulkner’s eyes had been gouged out.
Nick had heard of Snake Eye Company before. It was a company with shady origins and many illegal businesses under the table, serving as a front for domestic elites and large corporations in the South American Region.
Normally, this would seem like an internal feud or a gang war, but since they died in Wuyou Town, it must be related to the Purification Society.
Nick’s face was grim.
Compared to the deeply hidden Purification Society, assassinating Kadi Cohen was child’s play.
At this moment, he even found himself faintly hoping that there was a more powerful intelligence organization within Eagle Country, one that had more information and leads than the CIA, that could find out who the former members of the Purification Society were.
But he also knew this was just wishful thinking.
The CIA was already the most professional agency in Eagle Country. Not even the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) could possess such powerful intelligence capabilities.
He had weathered countless storms, but right now, Nick felt a chill run down his spine.
He understood all too well just how terrifying thirty thousand people hidden within the elite echelons of Eagle Country could be...
And there might be even more...
Just then, his phone vibrated sharply. He quickly picked it up and saw a message from the True Apocalypse Game system:
"Please purchase The Stars / Other Shore virtual reality device."
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