When the "him" standing before him suddenly spoke of being chosen, Pan Jianguo immediately understood his identity.
Only one being could choose players for the "True Apocalypse Game": its developer, the legendary Savior Army Commander!
After the world-saving scenario in the True Apocalypse Game, Pan Jianguo held this mysterious Commander in high regard and felt a strong sense of affinity for him.
He had always felt that the Commander was a distant guardian of humanity, a figure far beyond his reach. Who would have thought he would appear before him today!
The visitor before him smiled faintly, raised a finger to his own head, and said:
"My Consciousness Antennae are here; I am, in a sense, borrowing this body to speak with you. Rest assured, Mr. Pan, I will absolutely guarantee your safety and provide you with the best possible research environment, all without disrupting your current life. As far as your family and colleagues are concerned, you will have never left. But for you, you will come into contact with the Truth you have spent your entire life striving for."
Hearing this, a great weight was lifted from Pan Jianguo’s mind.
From the very beginning, he had an innate trust in the mysterious Savior Army Commander. His only real concern had been that some other nation’s intelligence agency, or some evil organization, might be using this as an opportunity to make a sinister move.
’Possessing a technology as powerful as a Nanomechanical Cluster... it could only be the Savior Army Commander.’
The thought of the research equipment he would have access to—the opportunity to explore Truths completely beyond the reach of current human technology—made Pan Jianguo’s heart burn with renewed excitement.
He could hardly wait.
He immediately asked the visitor before him:
"Do I need to prepare anything? Or should I just head directly to the docks?"
The "him" before him nodded and said:
"I have already built a Space City in the Shield UY Star Realm. It is fully equipped with research facilities, but you may bring some personal items. After all, this trip could last anywhere from a few weeks to several months, or even years."
Hearing the visitor’s words, Pan Jianguo nodded with a smile.
"I’ll leave right now, then. Thank you for taking care of things here."
With that, he took his coat from a hook on the wall, put it on, donned a face mask, and walked out the door without taking anything else.
Judging by his hurried pace, he simply couldn’t wait.
After Pan Jianguo left, the body double walked to his desk, sat down in his chair, straightened the files on the desk, and resumed Pan Jianguo’s work.
Everything at the Quantum Research Institute continued as usual. No one would ever suspect that their Dean had silently departed, replaced by a body double.
When Pan Jianguo reached the main gate of the Quantum Research Institute, a taxi was already parked to one side. Without a moment’s hesitation, he pulled open the door and got in.
Before he could say a word, the driver had already started the car and was heading for the docks.
After crossing more than half the city, the taxi arrived at a bustling fishing port and stopped directly in front of a fishing boat moored at the pier.
It was an ocean-going squid-fishing vessel bound for Peru, the Hu Yu 6823.
Now somewhat accustomed to the Savior Army Commander’s incredible resourcefulness, Pan Jianguo simply opened the car door and boarded the fishing boat.
As he boarded, the people on the fishing boat barely reacted, as if this were a common occurrence.
Only one sailor was there to lead him to a cabin door.
Pushing the door open and entering the cabin, Pan Jianguo discovered that the fishing boat’s interior was a world unto itself. The decor was so luxurious it looked like the inside of a high-end cruise liner.
The space inside opened into a large hall, surrounded by what appeared to be other cabins.
In the center of the hall was a bar that was even serving a variety of drinks. A few people were standing there, chatting idly.
Pan Jianguo took off his mask, walked up to the bar, and said to the bartender:
"I’ll have whatever... as long as it won’t get me drunk."
Hearing his order, a few of the people chatting nearby turned their heads. One of them said with pleasant surprise:
"Old Pan! You’re here! HAHAHA, I just made a bet with everyone that you would definitely come, and that you’d be here within the hour. I won!"
Pan Jianguo paused, stunned, then laughed and clapped the man firmly on the shoulder.
"Zhang Yun! What are you doing here?!"
This was none other than his good friend from the physics community, the astrophysicist Zhang Yun.
"Hello, Dean Pan!"
"I never thought I’d see you here. It’s a pleasure, an absolute pleasure!"
"HAHAHA, Old Pan, you’re not getting out of drinking this time!"
"..."
The others also greeted Pan Jianguo one after another; they were all elite researchers from the nation’s physics community.
Zhang Yun teased:
"What’s that supposed to mean, ’What am I doing here?’?! I see you big shots in quantum physics still look down on us astrophysicists! All that humility of yours is just an act!"
Pan Jianguo quickly waved his hands in denial, but then a realization dawned. He punched Zhang Yun on the shoulder and chided with a laugh:
"You rascal, setting me up again! I see you’re not planning on leaving until you’re good and drunk!"
Just then, the bartender brought over their drinks. They all raised their glasses and began to drink and chat.
After some small talk, Pan Jianguo learned that they had all participated in True Apocalypse Game 1.0 and had been to the virtual research base at Shield UY. Today, they had all received an invitation from the "True Apocalypse Game."
After they accepted the invitation, a duplicate of themselves had also come to meet each of them.
Only after their conversations confirmed that the invitation was genuinely from the Savior Army Commander did they come to this place and run into one another.
"Old Pan, how do you think we’re going to get to Shield UY? Are we really going to use that Undersea Space Wormhole? But what can a fishing boat like this possibly do?" Zhang Yun said with a frown. The others beside him also looked perplexed.
Just then, the ship lurched violently, followed by the sound of a ship’s horn. The "ocean-going fishing boat" they were on had set sail.
Pan Jianguo nodded and said:
"It looks like we’re heading for the Undersea Space Wormhole. Otherwise, there would be no reason to travel by sea. As for how we’ll pass through the wormhole... I remember there was a kind of Super Giant War Armor in the virtual game. Perhaps the Commander has already built one in reality..."
’Or maybe he’ll just use the Nanomechanical Cluster for transport.’
Pan Jianguo didn’t say that last part out loud. He didn’t know if everyone present had witnessed the same astounding display of the Nanomechanical Cluster that he had.
"Who cares how we get there? Since the Commander has a plan, all we have to do is wait. I’m just so full of anticipation right now. I can’t wait to get to the Shield UY Star Realm and conduct quantum mechanics experiments in the real world! I feel like a monkey living in a tree who’s just been told he can use fire... Tsk, tsk, the sheer joy and shock of such a monumental discovery... it’s absolutely intoxicating," Zhang Yun said excitedly, taking a sip from his glass.
The others, Pan Jianguo included, all nodded in profound agreement.
Setting aside their questions about the Commander’s identity, they were like a group of elementary school children waiting for a field trip, eagerly anticipating the magnificent scene that was about to unfold before them.
Much as everyone had anticipated, the fishing boat sped northward at full throttle, moving far faster than they expected. A little over a week later, they had already passed through the Bering Strait and arrived over the Wormhole Sea Region.
Here, a motley fleet was already assembled: cruise ships, fishing boats, freighters, and even warships. There were hundreds of vessels in total, and there were even seaplanes floating on the water.
They learned via radio that these ships were filled with top scientists from all over the world—quantum physicists, materials scientists, chemists, and so on. They were all giants in their respective fields.
Pan Jianguo’s arrival was immediately met with a warm welcome from the crowd. After all, given his status in the global quantum physics community, he was considered one of the foremost leaders in the field.
The ship carrying Pan Jianguo seemed to be the last to arrive.
They had just dropped anchor and steadied when the once-calm surface of the sea suddenly began to boil!