I Am a Computer

The EVA theme song, "Come, Sweet Death," was still echoing in his chest. Shen Feng stood before the mirror, touching his chest with a speechless expression.

What was going on?!

Why had these two things grown out?!

Wasn't he supposed to evolve into a computer?

How had he turned into speakers instead?!

Stop!

Shen Feng silently commanded in his mind, and the music came to an abrupt halt.

He could not help letting out a long sigh of relief. Fortunately, he could still control the things. Otherwise, if Errenzhuan started playing from his chest while he was walking down the street, it would be mortifying.

All sorts of medical and biological knowledge from the Stone Statue Apocalypse rapidly flashed through his mind. Shen Feng understood that the changes inside his body were likely the result of the combined effects of the Stone Statue Virus, the Pangu Virus, the Skinning Agent, the Stone Statue Disease vaccine, and various other drugs.

Besides, he had nearly turned into a stone statue at the time, so some irreversible changes inside his body were only normal.

Fortunately, there did not seem to be any serious harm to his body yet.

Shen Feng sat back down in front of the computer, turned off the music player, plugged in the portable hard drive he had brought back from the Stone Statue Apocalypse, stared at the screen, and began hypnotizing himself.

"I'm not a speaker, I'm not a speaker... I'm a computer, I'm a computer... I'm a computer..."

He did not know how many times he repeated it in his mind. Just as he was about to fall asleep, he suddenly felt a stabbing pain in his head. Then, it was as though a beam of light had split open the crown of his skull, and that same sensation from the Stone Statue Apocalypse returned!

The computer screen before him suddenly lit up, then rapidly began opening all kinds of files, software, browsers, and more. In the blink of an eye, they filled the entire screen!

The computer's built-in fan began spinning at high speed, and its temperature rose rapidly as well.

Shen Feng's eyes widened as countless streams of data flashed continuously through his mind.

010101010101010101...

What appeared in his field of vision was no longer a laptop, but data surging like a flood!

He himself was like a surfer, drifting through the torrent of data!

Within that data space were bright points of light, each representing a folder or a piece of software.

Ahead of him seemed to be a river-like path, giving him a feeling of boundless freedom. Yet deep down, he vaguely sensed extreme danger and did not dare approach it.

Still, the temptation of that freedom was simply too alluring, making him unable to resist drawing closer.

Just then, every light in his consciousness vanished abruptly. Darkness surrounded him, and the smell of something burnt reached his nose.

Shen Feng jolted and saw that the computer in front of him was smoking, its screen completely black.

Under such high-speed operation, the old laptop simply could not take it and had burned out.

Yet Shen Feng did not feel the slightest bit of regret. His eyes were still filled with shock.

Just now, all the information on that computer—including several movies in the "study materials" folder—had been copied into his own brain!

The sensation was different from ordinary memories. It was as though his brain had become a database. When he was not using the information, it would simply be stored away.

But the moment he needed it, it would immediately be presented to him in the greatest possible detail!

That included all the research materials concerning Stone Statue Disease on the portable hard drive from the Stone Statue Apocalypse, as well as all kinds of biology- and medicine-related knowledge!

At last, Shen Feng completely understood what Kuafu had meant when he said, "Half of our brains have already become machines, become computers."

All kinds of information on the Stone Statue Disease virus and vaccine flickered rapidly through his mind, and Shen Feng relaxed slightly.

These things could be said to be the most valuable information he had gained from his journey through the Stone Statue Apocalypse.

With them, he no longer had to fear Stone Statue Disease.

But he still needed a computer...

He went downstairs and bought a handheld metal-cutting saw from a hardware store. Back home, Shen Feng cut several small corners off the gold ingot, totaling roughly one kilogram, stuffed them into his pocket, and searched the streets for gold shops.

The gold ingot was simply too large. If he took it out and exchanged it for cash directly, it would easily arouse suspicion and create inconvenience.

Cutting it into smaller pieces made things much easier.

The current gold price was around 350 yuan per gram. Shen Feng did not waste any words and went straight to several gold shops, quickly selling it for 300 yuan per gram.

The shop owners had gotten a bargain, so naturally they would not make a fuss about it. Besides, Shen Feng only exchanged a little over one hundred grams at a time, so it was not much money.

Before long, after making the rounds, Shen Feng had more than 300,000 yuan in his account.

He had never held this much money before. Although a month of life-and-death battles had made him far calmer than before, Shen Feng was still extremely happy.

He picked out a desktop computer that cost around ten thousand yuan and happily carried it home.

After setting it up and trying it out, he could not help sighing. You got what you paid for—this thing was much faster than his previous lousy laptop that had cost just over a thousand yuan.

He could finally install all those games he had always wanted to play and enjoy them properly.

After all, money was no longer a problem for him.

However, Shen Feng did not rush to play games. Instead, he continued searching for news about the stone statues on the Arctic ice field.

After looking for a long time, aside from reports that the Ice Dragon Expedition Team was examining the stone statues and preparing to excavate the ruins further, he found no news of virus infections or anything similar.

Perhaps he had been worrying too much.

That stone statue might not have been a Stone Statue Disease patient at all. It might have merely resembled the director of Radiant City's Epidemic Prevention Center.

Even if the stone statue found beneath the Arctic ice cap truly had been a Stone Statue Disease patient, after so many years, the virus surely would no longer be active.

Still, after considering it, Shen Feng ultimately found the Ice Dragon Expedition Team's public contact email and sent them some information about the Stone Statue Disease virus's contagiousness and symptoms.

It was at least a warning. There were many things he was powerless to stop for now. He could only do what he could and leave the rest to fate.

Of course, during the process, he used a large number of proxy IPs and multiple layers of rerouting to disguise his address, ensuring that they would not be able to find him.

Those little computer tricks were a byproduct of having just linked his consciousness to a computer.

After finishing all that, Shen Feng felt his tightly wound nerves relax considerably and began playing games on the new computer he had just bought.

He immediately discovered that after becoming silicon-based, his brain operated much faster overall—at practically lightning speed. Combined with his current hand speed and control, he was utterly unstoppable in games.

After playing a few rounds of PUBG, his superb skills immediately drew countless friend requests. Of course, even more people accused him of using cheats.

Shen Feng was only playing games to relax now. He ordered takeout for lunch and continued fighting, playing every game he liked until the afternoon. Finally, he collapsed onto the bed in boredom.

Ever since returning from the Stone Statue Apocalypse, he had felt as though everything was unreal. Only now was he gradually regaining his sense of reality.

He was Shen Feng, just an ordinary high school student, not some cold-blooded hunter who hunted and was hunted in the wilderness.

He checked the time. It was already evening. Shen Feng got up, went downstairs, rode his bicycle to the One Skewer Barbecue stall.

"Xiaofeng, you're here so early today?" Old Chang greeted him with a grin.

"Why do I feel like you've gotten thinner? Eat more late-night snacks tonight. I'll have Old Zhou grill you a few extra kidneys to build up your strength." Brother Hai walked over holding an apron, speaking as he helped Shen Feng put it on.

Warmth filled Shen Feng's heart. He grinned and said, "It's from working out. I'm fine."

Then he skillfully began threading and grilling the meat.

There were especially many customers that night. They did not close the barbecue stall until midnight.

The group gathered around a table for beer and late-night snacks. Holding his glass, Shen Feng said to Brother Hai with some hesitation, "Brother Hai, I won't be able to come help out at your stall anymore."

Brother Hai froze, then asked, "What's wrong? Run into some trouble? Just tell your brother. If you're short on money, I'll lend you some. Name an amount."

He knew quite a bit about Shen Feng's family circumstances, so he helped whenever he could.

"Yeah, Xiaofeng. We brothers might not have much money, but we definitely won't stand by and do nothing!" Wang Erduo said solemnly from the side.

Shen Feng scratched his head somewhat awkwardly and said, "It's not that I'm short on money. It's that I have money now... A distant relative of mine passed away and left me some inheritance. Several hundred thousand yuan—enough for university and living expenses, so..."

Hearing this, Brother Hai burst into laughter. "That's a good thing! That's great! Haha, you brat, you've finally made it through the hard times! Good, good! Then you really shouldn't keep working here. You need to focus on studying and get into a good university!"

Old Zhou, Old Chang, and the others were equally delighted, happy for Shen Feng.

"Come on, come on, drink!"

"Haha, you brat, you kept such huge good news to yourself all night!"

"Come by for skewers often in the future! Brother Hai said you won't have to pay!"

Shen Feng was smiling too, warmth filling his heart. He raised his glass and clinked it with everyone else's, then drained it in one go.

Phew... That hit the spot!

Setting down his glass, Shen Feng felt incomparably refreshed.

The lively atmosphere of the barbecue stall had completely brought back the feeling he used to have.

Just then, the wristband on his wrist suddenly vibrated, and a line of text flashed across its electronic screen:

A new game mission is about to begin. Player's newly unlocked world: Nuclear Wasteland Apocalypse.