Game Rewards

Shen Feng froze for a moment, then instantly understood what Kuafu meant. He bent down to look into the intelligent eyes of this ape and said:

"I don't know whether I should praise you, respect you, or fear you..."

Kuafu grinned and said:

"Just forgive me... I once hunted you down like a madman, burned human stone statues before your eyes, and shamelessly claimed that I would inherit human civilization. There's no way you could hold no grudge over those things. I only hope to offer you one of my eyeballs in exchange for your forgiveness."

After a pause, he continued:

"If one eye isn't enough, I can offer my limbs and flesh as well. But please leave me the other eye, so I can see the future."

His expression was utterly composed, as though he were merely talking about plucking out a strand of hair.

Shen Feng said, "Even if I told you I'd forgive you, you wouldn't believe me, would you?"

This gorilla's intelligence, especially his insight into human nature, had practically reached the level of a philosopher!

Kuafu smiled. "That's right. Cheap pleas for mercy mean nothing to you, and I wouldn't truly feel at ease either. Only real flesh and pain can satisfy both of us."

As he spoke, he set fire to a dead ape, heated the blade of a dagger red-hot, and handed it to Shen Feng. "Mr. Shen, I'll trouble you."

Shen Feng nodded. "All right."

The moment he finished speaking, he struck like lightning, driving the dagger's tip into Kuafu's eye!

Kuafu let out a muffled groan and gripped the two stone statues beside him tightly. The searing pain twisted his face into a grimace, and he nearly crushed his teeth from clenching them!

Yet he did not move at all, allowing Shen Feng to do as he wished.

By nature, he was cunning and suspicious. He simply did not believe Shen Feng would casually forgive what he had done. Only by offering a sacrifice of his own could he put his mind at ease.

Everything was for the apes!

Though Shen Feng's movements were unpracticed, they were swift.

His mind was clearer than ever. All sorts of information about biology and the structure of the eyeball that he had seen before surged forth, even things he himself had forgotten reading.

The dagger spun swiftly, severing the nerves and blood vessels attached to Kuafu's eyeball. With a single turn, he had gouged out Kuafu's left eye!

Blood gushed from Kuafu's eye socket, but most of the blood vessels and wounds had been cauterized by the blade. The bleeding soon stopped.

Kuafu gave another muffled groan, spat out a cracked tooth, tore off a strip from his tactical harness, and tied it over his left eye socket. Then he smiled calmly.

"Mr. Shen... I hope this can quell your anger and make our alliance unbreakable."

Shen Feng nodded and placed Kuafu's eyeball back in his hand.

"It's enough."

Shen Feng's feelings toward this ape, who was both friend and foe, were complicated. If his counterpart had been human rather than a gorilla, he would undoubtedly have been a formidable ruler of his generation!

But now, he had completely submitted to Shen Feng.

With his entire species as collateral.

The smarter Kuafu was, the more he understood that there was no possibility for the Brain Apes to continue on through their own strength alone.

To fully understand the Brain Apes' genes and allow their intelligence to be passed down to the next generation, they needed the support of a complete and mature scientific research system.

The Brain Apes could never accomplish that themselves.

He could only place all his hopes on Shen Feng.

Even for the tiniest sliver of hope, he had to treat Shen Feng as a god.

What did dignity, honor, or disgrace matter before the survival and continuation of his species? They were all empty.

Even knowing that all of this might ultimately amount to nothing, Kuafu would still accept it with a smile, beg for Shen Feng's mercy in the humblest manner possible, and agree to all of his demands.

Everything was for the sake of survival!

Kuafu grinned, finally at ease. "Then let's go see what's in the laboratory. Whatever Mr. Shen requires, I'll do my best to fulfill it."

With that, he got up and limped into the laboratory. Then his legs gave out, and he collapsed to the floor.

He had already been injured, and the pain of having his eye gouged out had battered his nerves. For a moment, he could no longer hold himself up.

Shen Feng frowned. He took out a cardiac stimulant from a storage cabinet in the laboratory and injected Kuafu with it, then gave him some basic disinfection before beginning to inspect the things in the laboratory.

To his surprise, whenever he wanted to inspect something, the device would immediately open on its own. He did not need passwords, keys, or anything of the sort.

When he thought of the laboratory's virus data, the large screen, which had not been activated in a long time, suddenly lit up. A vast amount of research material poured across it, containing everything imaginable.

What was going on?

Could there be an artificial intelligence program installed here?

Only then did Shen Feng realize that the alloy door opening earlier did not seem to have been a coincidence.

Kuafu was leaning weakly against a chair as he said:

"Ha ha, if I'm not mistaken, this should have been caused by changes in your brain structure."

After a pause, he continued:

"Three years ago, one of my kin died by accident. I dissected his brain, and it was completely different from that of ordinary animals. There were black filament-like and honeycomb-like structures inside, some resembling computer storage devices."

"Our brains have already become half machine, half computer. I myself have even 'heard' radio signals before."

"An ape's brain capacity is only one-third that of you humans, yet it has already undergone such changes. Mr. Shen, I can hardly imagine the changes in your own brain... Sometimes, I truly envy you Homo sapiens who evolved ahead of us..."

Upon hearing this, Shen Feng immediately thought of the Pangu Virus!

Could the Pangu Virus have already modified his brain structure, giving him a semi-silicon-based brain that functioned like a signal transmitter? Was that why he had unconsciously entered the laboratory's control system and opened the door earlier?

Or perhaps his brain was still connected to the laboratory's control system, which was why every device automatically opened itself to him!?

Shen Feng's heart surged with excitement. He understood that his guess was very likely correct.

He just did not yet understand how to transmit signals to electronic devices. That would require a great deal of practice.

But perhaps he could try receiving information from other devices!

Shen Feng concentrated fully, looking at the endless research materials and data appearing on the screen as he began to try in his mind:

Transmit files! Transmit digital signals! Transmit data? No, receive data!

But no matter what methods he tried, he still did not feel any new data or information appear in his mind.

No choice... I'll have to use that move...

Shen Feng's expression turned solemn. He found a portable hard drive in a cabinet and plugged it into the computer's main unit.

After copying all the laboratory's data, Shen Feng took out his phone, opened the Real Doomsday Game app, let out a long breath, and said:

"I have found the cause of the large-scale outbreak of the Stone Statue Virus, obtained the final research materials on the Stone Statue Virus, acquired the Stone Statue Disease No. 0 Virus, and injected the Stone Statue Virus serum. The mission is complete. I have not died. Requesting mission rewards."

In the temperature-controlled container beside him was the Stone Statue Disease No. 0 Virus, already sealed away.

Kuafu watched the phone curiously. This was clearly the passage through which the human youth would return to his own world.

A line of text swiftly flashed across the phone screen:

Mission evaluation results... Completion rate: 92%. Congratulations, player, on completing the game mission. Mission rewards are being issued.

Reward One: The player may choose any four items from the mission world to bring back. They may not exceed the transmission energy limit...

Reward Two: The game system may undergo portable conversion...

Reward Three:...

As for Kuafu's submission, I originally didn't want to spell it out so clearly, since most readers could understand it at a glance. But people kept saying the protagonist subdued Kuafu through some kind of domineering aura, that the writing was brainless, and so on... I really had no choice but to add a long explanation. From now on, I'll try to put everything plainly on the page, so that everyone can understand regardless of age, mental maturity, life experience, or education. It was my oversight. Sorry, everyone.