Chapter 209: Chapter 205: 800 Million
hours.
Shen Feng sat in a wicker chair, a signal connector on his head linking him directly to the Gray Tide. His Consciousness Antennae roamed the global network, mobilizing the Gray Tide anchor points he had planted in various countries.
He had thought it would be a long time before he needed these Gray Tide anchor points, never expecting to mobilize them on such a massive scale so soon.
New York, Washington, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Moscow, Melbourne, Sydney, Mexico... The Gray Tide anchor points, ferried across the globe by airplanes, began to stir. They burrowed deep into the earth, devouring and expanding into a planet-wide network.
There was a chance ordinary people might discover the subterranean Gray Tide network during some construction project, but that was a problem for another day. Right now, Shen Feng couldn’t afford to worry about it.
If the Healing Potion wasn’t successfully developed and administered to the infected in time, hundreds of millions of highly contagious zombies would instantly appear on Earth.
At that point, the rest of humanity would be swiftly infected. The fall of billions could happen in a single day.
Therefore, Shen Feng had made his decision. If the Healing Potion wasn’t developed in time, he would have no choice but to unleash the Gray Tide and eliminate the infected before they could turn.
To kill eight hundred million people.
The choice was agonizing. It was likely a case of drinking poison to quench a thirst; it could provoke the Whisperers into acting directly, which would lead to his own destruction.
But it was the only option left.
He could only force himself to be as cold as possible.
’Don’t think too much.’
He once thought he could calmly face the classic trolley problem—pulling the lever to sacrifice one person to save ten, making the cold but "correct" choice. Only now did he truly understand how difficult it was.
He was a man, after all, not a rational machine.
Eight hundred million. It wasn’t just a number. It was eight hundred million living, breathing people.
It was countless families. Countless fathers, mothers, husbands, wives, sons, and daughters.
They were human.
hours.
"Jingwei, how is the research going?" Shen Feng asked, rubbing his forehead wearily.
Even with his Silicon-Based Brain, simultaneously monitoring and mobilizing his Consciousness Antennae on a global scale far exceeded its inherent processing power.
Shen Feng had to borrow the power of supercomputers and countless internet terminals to support his computations. Even so, his Silicon-Based Brain was on the verge of overload, and his head’s temperature had reached the absolute limit a biological brain could tolerate.
Fortunately, after eight hours, his preparations were nearly complete. The final grid formation of the Gray Tide could be handed off to auxiliary programs.
Jingwei’s silicone maid avatar opened its eyes nearby, shook its head, and said:
"Not well. After we obtained the virus analysis program from the Master of the Void, the initial research progressed rapidly. But now, in the later stages, it has slowed to a crawl. This virus is a type of biological organism unlike anything ever seen on Earth. It’s incredibly difficult to find a way to completely neutralize it that is also safe for human use."
Shen Feng’s brow furrowed, though this was within his expectations.
Even if the Master of the Void was being obstructed by other higher-dimensional beings like the Whisperers, it was still far beyond what ordinary humans could contend with.
The only reason Shen Feng dared to be so brazen with the entity was that he was banking on the extreme difficulty such a high-energy being would face in descending into this cosmos.
Even a "simple" virus created by the Master of the Void was far beyond the comprehension of current human civilization.
Realizing this, Shen Feng shook his head, dizzy from the excessive drain on his Spiritual Power, and said:
"I’m going to give a pep talk..."
He then put the Signal Amplifier back on, closed his eyes, and extended his Consciousness Antennae, instantly re-entering the Virtual Space.
In the virus lab of the Capital Epidemic Prevention Center Building—a virtual space from the Stone Statue Apocalypse of the True Apocalypse Game—hundreds of medical elites were still conducting experiments, exchanging results and information to maximize their efficiency.
They had even invented a "semi-immersive" connection method. By slightly modifying the neural interface of their virtual reality equipment, they could connect to the Virtual Space just by closing their eyes and switch back to the real world by opening them, drastically improving efficiency.
Although this method caused some degree of neural damage, they couldn’t afford to worry about such things now.
Shen Feng’s figure materialized in the virtual lab. He looked at the busy experts, his heart aching for them, but still, he cleared his throat and spoke:
"Everyone."
Everyone immediately looked up, many only just now noticing the Commander’s arrival.
The medical elites’ gratitude for the viral analysis the Commander had provided was beyond words.
As top experts in their field, they knew exactly what this meant and just how precious that analysis was.
It was no exaggeration to say it was the key to saving all of humanity.
But they also knew they were running out of time.
Shen Feng saw the exhaustion on their faces, but also the determination in their eyes, and his heart ached again.
But time was running out.
He spoke quickly.
"According to the computer models, we have only forty hours left. If we can’t develop the Healing Potion within that time, we won’t be able to mass-produce it for containment. Human civilization will face an extinction-level event... At that point, I will initiate Plan B: the elimination of all potentially infected individuals. The total number is... eight hundred million."
Hearing that number, everyone present gasped.
Eight hundred million people!
That was more than a tenth of the world’s population, equivalent to twenty mid-sized nations!
"I won’t resort to that unless it’s the final moment... We have to accelerate our progress... To that end, there is a way to enhance your neural activity and boost your research speed. However, it will cause some minor brain damage that requires a long recovery period and may have permanent side effects... If you are willing to accept this, you may stay. Anyone else is free to leave now."
To the medical elites, Shen Feng’s words were a ray of dawn, instantly illuminating humanity’s dark future.
Many whose hearts had sunk into despair now looked toward the Commander, their eyes shining with renewed hope.
A way to increase their research speed!
That was more than enough!
As for the minor brain damage, it was nothing to them.
They had been prepared to make sacrifices from the very beginning.
Besides, in their eyes, their own contributions were insignificant compared to the Commander’s.
Not a single person left.
Seeing this, Shen Feng’s heart warmed. He nodded and said:
"Alright. Then please put on your Virtual Reality Headsets, close your eyes, and wait for about ten minutes."
Without a moment’s hesitation, everyone closed their eyes, their minds curious about the method the Commander had described.
’What kind of method could possibly increase their neural activity?’
In the real world, hidden within the Virtual Reality Headsets worn by the medical elites, a Nanomechanical Cluster began to receive commands from Shen Feng’s remote control. It squirmed to life, beginning to permeate the wearers’ brains.
At this moment, the Nanomechanical Cluster was not in its Gray Tide form, but rather a mist of nanites. Leveraging their minuscule size, they quickly entered each elite’s circulatory system and proceeded to the brain.
These nanomachines, smaller even than red blood cells, began to inspect the user’s brain and central nervous system, clearing away any embolic lesions and consuming necrotic cells.
Simultaneously, they applied faint electrical stimulation to hormone-secreting regions like the pituitary and pineal glands, fully awakening the brain’s potential.
In fact, besides construction, microsurgery on nerves and blood vessels was one of the original purposes of the Nanomechanical Cluster. Now, that function could finally be put to use.
Of course, this microscopic application of the Nanomechanical Cluster was still extremely taxing for Shen Feng.
This level of microscopic manipulation was far more complex than maneuvering the Gray Tide as a large-scale swarm; the human brain was, after all, an incredibly delicate organ.
The amount of the Nanomechanical Cluster used on each person was perhaps smaller than a single sesame seed.
With Jingwei’s assistance, Shen Feng had essentially performed remote, short-duration neurosurgery on each of the medical elites via the Nanomechanical Cluster!
The process was over quickly. The nanomachines used for the procedure were expelled through the skin via the circulatory system.
When the doctors opened their eyes again, they felt as if their minds had become crystal clear. Many of their old, persistent ailments seemed to have vanished in an instant.
At the same time, their energy levels surged, comparable to the effect of powerful stimulants, yet far more controllable.
Shen Feng observed them for a moment. Seeing no issues, he nodded slightly and said, "Everyone, this is all I can do. The rest is up to you."
The medical elites said nothing more. They simply exchanged a glance with Shen Feng, nodded, and threw themselves back into their intense research.
That single look said more than a thousand words.
What the Commander had done was nothing short of a miracle, and they could not let that miracle go to waste!
Shen Feng didn’t leave the Virtual Reality Space. Instead, he found an empty lab station and began his own research.
Although he wasn’t a professional in the field, after his experiences in the Stone Statue Apocalypse and his previous research on the Evil Spirit Virus, he could be considered an expert in virology himself.
In any case, it was best to contribute in any way he could.
And the Salvation Army’s medical elites were shocked to discover that the Commander possessed a profound understanding of virology, one that was in no way inferior to their own as titans of the academic world!
Time flew. It wasn’t just the Salvation Army’s medical elites anymore; the analysis of the Evil Spirit Virus had been released to the entire world. Nearly every expert in the field was now racing against the clock, desperately conducting research.
Soon, all the researchers arrived at the same impasse.
The final compound.
According to reverse engineering based on the viral analysis, they only needed to synthesize one new substance to kill the Evil Spirit Virus, a substance that could be directly used in the human body.
But after solving most of the problems, they found a mountain still looming before them.
It was the final hurdle, but it was one that seemed completely insurmountable.
At least, not in the time they had left.
It was like trying to create an entirely new substance from scratch—a process that would take several years, at a minimum.
It was as if the Master of the Void had left behind a mocking joke for humanity.
A taunt for these insignificant creatures who dared to overestimate their own strength.
The research on the Evil Spirit Virus was like a race. With the analysis in hand, most researchers ultimately reached the same point.
A sheer cliff rising up from the racetrack, with no possible way to ascend it.
In the Virtual Reality Space, looks of despair began to surface in the eyes of the medical elites.
On the clock floating in the void, the countdown timer ticked down relentlessly.
Only half an hour remained.
Shen Feng sighed and disconnected from the virtual reality.
He prepared to kill eight hundred million people.