Chapter 200: Chapter 197: Beating the Grass, Startling the Snake
"Whisperers?" Yamaguchi Sora was taken aback. "What are they?"
Shen Feng nodded slightly.
’So he doesn’t know about the Whisperers. It’s clear that his so-called Master of Nothingness isn’t the same kind of filth as them. This confirms my previous judgment.’
In that instant, Shen Feng had already made his decision. His Consciousness Antennae entered cyberspace, and from within the Virtual Space of the True Apocalypse Game 1.0, he began to send a message to several hundred Salvation Army Warriors.
The message was simple, just a single sentence:
"Warn the target: The Master of the Void has arrived."
These several hundred Salvation Army Warriors all had one thing in common—they were responsible for monitoring recently discovered members of the Purification Society!
Although the previous purge had eliminated many exposed members of the Purification Society, the Salvation Army had since uncovered numerous clues. After gathering and analyzing this information, they had found new leads.
On Shen Feng’s orders, they had held off on eliminating these members to avoid tipping their hand, instead using them as bait to lure out even more of the Purification Society’s hidden agents.
They simply assigned specialized Salvation Army operatives to keep the targets under close surveillance.
And now, these Purification Society members were proving useful!
After the Commander’s mobilization, those several hundred Salvation Army members had used their resources to help contain the plague. But now that the epidemic had stabilized, they found themselves with power they couldn’t use, and they were growing restless. Upon receiving Shen Feng’s orders, they sprang into action at once.
Although they didn’t know what the Commander’s words meant, it was his directive, so it had to be carried out immediately and without question.
Connecting this to the Commander’s presence in the quarantine zone, many also speculated that the Evil Spirit Virus outbreak was likely linked to the Whisperers!
The task was simple enough—just leave a message for the target...
At Eagle Country Congress Hill, a janitor walked up to the office of Cheney, the acting President of the Senate. He showed his credentials to the two security guards at the door, then entered under their watch to begin cleaning.
The cleaning was done methodically and finished in under ten minutes, after which the janitor turned and left.
Meanwhile, Cheney finished his meeting and returned to his office.
The meeting concerned the Evil Spirit Virus epidemic within Eagle Country. Filled with righteous indignation, Cheney had offered many suggestions. He denounced the current containment policies as too radical and demanded that the infected be protected at all costs, allowing them to hold out until a vaccine could be successfully developed.
The moment he closed the door, however, his expression instantly relaxed.
He sat at his desk, crossed his legs, and picked up his coffee cup. Watching the horrifying images of the disaster on TV, Cheney felt a wave of pure delight.
’Such a powerful plague! This must be the great Whisperers’ gambit!’
As a deep-cover member of the Purification Society, he wanted to shout for joy and praise the great being.
As for his own safety, he wasn’t worried at all.
Once this world was purified, they, the first Purifiers, would naturally reach the new world under the great being’s protection.
Suddenly, something in the corner of his eye caught his attention.
It was a wet patch on his desk.
It looked like a line of text!
Cheney frowned and leaned in closer. He saw a line of text written in some kind of cleaning solution:
The Master of the Void has arrived!
’What does this mean?’
’Master of the Void?’
’Who on earth wrote this?’
Cheney immediately called in two of his aides and asked:
"Who was just here?"
"A janitor just came to clean your office, sir. It was on your order. Is something wrong? We watched him the whole time. He never left our sight for a second," an aide asked.
’A janitor...’ Cheney’s eyes narrowed, then he waved his hand and said, "It’s nothing."
He returned to his office and sat down again, completely baffled.
’Could it be a signal from a comrade in the Purification Society?’
’But what on earth is the Master of the Void? I’ve never heard that name before...’
Just then, his phone buzzed. An unfamiliar international number was calling.
Cheney frowned, picked up the phone, pressed the answer key, and heard a familiar yet unfamiliar voice:
"Bob, it’s me."
Recognizing the voice, Cheney frowned. He glanced around the room before lowering his voice and saying:
"Ivanovic? Dammit, why are you contacting me directly!? Have you forgotten the Purification Code!?"
Ivanovic, on the other end of the line, was too frantic to care about protocol. He said urgently:
"Just now, Vincent and I both received a mysterious message, saying the ’Master of the Void’ has arrived. My message appeared in a combat report, and Vincent’s appeared on his cat’s back! More than thirty Purifiers in our cell all got the message at the same time! Bob, something is happening! Someone is sending us a message!"
Then there was a burst of noise from the other side of the phone. The voice paused for a moment, then continued:
"Look at the TV! Fucking Channel 13!"
Cheney frowned and switched to Channel 13. A travel show was on, featuring hot air balloon tours in Turkey. The camera zoomed in on one of the balloons. A banner was hanging conspicuously from its basket, bearing a line of text:
The Master of the Void has arrived!
"It’s Turkey! If I remember correctly, 0873 is the owner of that damn hot air balloon company! Remember our comrades who had ’accidents’ a while back? We’re being watched!"
The voice on the phone was fraught with anxiety.
Meanwhile, sounds of intermittent gunfire, explosions, screams, and shouts could be heard in the background. The man was clearly on a battlefield.
"Where are you?" Cheney asked with a frown.
"Syria. The mountains of Kurdistan. Since the White Palace has abandoned the Kurds, the Kremlin has a duty to take up the mantle of aiding them. It helps advance the coming of the purification... But none of that matters compared to the message. What are we going to do?" Ivanovic pressed.
Cheney knew his cover was likely blown and that staying on the line was dangerous. But the warning was too blatant to ignore. It would be a disaster if this message turned out to be of critical importance to the Purification Society.
After a moment of deliberation, he finally sighed and said:
"Go dark immediately. I’ll contact... Cthulhu."
...
"The Whisperers are a piece of work," Shen Feng said slowly. "My guess is they’re just like this Master of Nothingness of yours—some garbage from a Parallel Cosmos or a High-dimensional Space."
Yamaguchi Sora maintained his polite smile. A flicker of surprise, then a thrill of excitement, showed in his eyes. "Oh? So beings similar to my god do exist? But regardless of whether they are Whisperers or Shouters, none can compare to the Master of the Void! The Master of the Void is the final destination of all things—He is eternity! Mr. Shen, you must embrace the Master of the Void! We will share in His divine glory!"
Shen Feng ignored him, musing aloud, "Honestly, the places these powerful beings come from sound so incredibly grand and high-class. Why would they bother with our crappy little Earth? It’s polluted, it’s noisy... It’s like one of those top-rated tourist traps you see in commercials. Looks amazing, but you get here and instantly regret it. Really, there’s no reason for them to come..."
The corner of Yamaguchi Sora’s mouth lifted. He heard a sign of weakness in Shen Feng’s words. His eyes narrowed, and he said solemnly:
"Mr. Shen, the will of a god is inscrutable. All we can do is connect ourselves tightly with the god, merge ourselves with the god, and not defy the god’s will. Only then can we attain eternity! The Master of the Void values you so highly; you should feel it is the highest honor!"
Yamaguchi Sora took another step forward and said:
"The final moment is coming! We will destroy this filthy, squalid old world and create an eternal new one!"
The words had barely left his mouth when the impaled figures on Tokyo Tower began to wail miserably again. At the same instant, the surrounding zombies stopped spraying their toxic fog and swarmed toward the tower, forming a teeming mob at its base and letting out meaningless, guttural hisses.
Shen Feng remained unmoved. With a slight smile and a wave of his hand, the Gray Tide beside him stirred. In the blink of an eye, it formed a metal table and chairs, the surfaces of which rapidly took on the appearance of solid wood.
Shen Feng pulled out a chair for himself and sat down. He then gestured for Yamaguchi Sora to take a seat, saying:
"Mr. Yamaguchi... you’re the head of the Celestial Divine Association, you’re fabulously wealthy, an elite of Japan. Japan itself is a country with a pretty solid welfare system. So why did you join the Master of the Void? Why do you hate humanity, and Japan, so much? You know, to a lot of people, Japan is a place they’d kill to live in. What is it that you’re so unhappy about?"
Yamaguchi Sora hadn’t expected the man to actually sit down for a chat. He was stunned for a moment, then a smile appeared on his face. He came to the table, bowed slightly in thanks, and then sat down.
’It was laughable if this man was trying to stall for time.’
’The whole world is already infected, and the Master of the Void is about to descend. Time is on my side.’
’If anything, it’s the Celestial Divine Association that needs more time.’
’Since he wants to talk, it means he’s wavering. And if he’s wavering, there’s a chance to win him over.’
’I don’t know why the Master of the Void places so much importance on this man of mysterious origins, but just looking at that powerful Gray Tide, it’s clear his abilities are extraordinary.’
’If this man could truly be brought over to the Master of the Void’s side, controlling the entire world would be effortless.’
At this thought, Yamaguchi Sora’s expression turned serious. He asked:
"Mr. Shen, you think Japan is so great. Well then, let me ask you: are you familiar with the ’artisan spirit’?"
Shen Feng smiled and nodded. "I’ve heard of it. Your country’s artisan spirit—passed down through generations, dedicating a lifetime to mastering a single craft, achieving the pinnacle of perfection. It’s certainly commendable, but..."
Yamaguchi Sora laughed loudly and said:
"Please, Mr. Shen, don’t hold back. If you’re too polite to say it, I’ll say it for you... This whole ’artisan spirit’ is bullshit! It only exists because Japan has become a frozen prison! A politician’s son becomes a politician, a chef’s son becomes a chef, and a shoemaker’s son will always be a shoemaker! Except for the lucky few born at the top and the occasional freak genius, everyone else is just a cog in a machine with no hope of ever moving up! Everything about this place has a stale, suffocating stench that makes me want to vomit!"
Shen Feng raised an eyebrow. He’d expected Yamaguchi Sora to spout some empty, grandstanding rhetoric about the evils of human civilization or how humanity violates natural law—the usual environmentalist boilerplate. He hadn’t expected something so... grounded.
Yamaguchi Sora continued: "The existence of human civilization will eventually reach a developmental bottleneck and then decline. This is the inherent flaw of humanity..."
Shen Feng couldn’t help but roll his eyes.
’Dude, you really walked that right back, didn’t you?’