Shen Feng looked at the sage of the Ape Race before him and said calmly,
"Indeed. I have now mastered a fully developed Cloning Technology, so creating human bodies is no difficult task. Of course, these human bodies would all possess the ability to procreate naturally. At the same time, brain transplant technology is also quite mature. The Nanomechanical Cluster can control rejection responses. If you are willing, I can perform brain transplant surgery for all apes, transferring your semi-Silicon-Based Brains into human bodies..."
"Once you possess human bodies, your offspring will naturally be human. From birth, they will have powerful brains and a high intellectual starting point, so you won’t have to worry about your descendants regressing into primitive beasts..."
"The question now is..." At this, Shen Feng’s eyes narrowed, and he asked Kuafu in a deep voice, "Are you and your people willing to survive and procreate as humans, or to die as apes—like a fleeting meteor in Earth’s history, never to be remembered again?"
Kuafu was so stunned by Shen Feng’s question that he froze on the spot. A few seconds passed before he felt the searing pain in his fingers and immediately dropped the cigarette butt.
He then gave a bitter laugh, his usual calm and composed demeanor gone. Looking at Shen Feng, he said with a sense of resignation,
"Mr. Shen... you are truly a Devil who can read the hearts of apes... Though I have always prioritized survival above all, I never imagined changing my race... Even we Brain Apes have our pride... This choice is simply too difficult..."
Those who are not our kin are bound to have different minds. To prevent this, one only needs to transform the other party into one’s own kind.
Simple and brutal, but effective.
Shen Feng met Kuafu’s gaze, looking deep into his eyes, and said slowly in a magnetic voice,
"Don’t rush your decision. You only need to know that the Brain Ape Race has not fallen into complete despair. You still have a chance to continue your line. The day you make your choice, I will know."
Kuafu trembled, his earlier composure completely shattered.
’He had once thought that his powerful intellect and previous interactions with Shen Feng meant he could occasionally see himself as an equal to the young human before him. Now, however, he felt as if his fur had been stripped away, leaving him completely exposed.’
’Under this boy’s gaze, it felt as if nothing in his heart could remain hidden.’
’But maybe this was for the best...’
Kuafu grinned, a great weight suddenly lifting from his heart.
’The Brain Ape Race was never a powerful, civilized species to begin with—not even a small ripple in the history of Earth. In truth, they were just apes who had risen from the ruins of human civilization’s demise.’
’If they could align themselves with this powerful patron, it might actually be a good thing in the long run.’
Having come to this realization, he spoke to Shen Feng with great solemnity,
"Thank you for your benevolence. Regardless of the outcome, please accept the eternal loyalty of the Brain Ape Race... This matter of changing our bodies is too momentous. Forgive me for not being able to give you an immediate answer. I will find a suitable opportunity to present this to my people and let all apes decide together... Thank you for bringing a ray of light to the Brain Ape Race in this eternal darkness. We will hold it in our hearts forever..."
The matter was simply too momentous. Even though he was the patriarch, the undisputed sage of the Brain Ape Race, he couldn’t make such a decision in haste. It would have to wait.
Shen Feng chuckled, patted Kuafu’s shoulder, and said,
"I’ll be waiting for the day you make your decision... One day you will understand that compared to the splendor and mystery of the Cosmos, both Brain Apes and humans are but tiny specks of dust. Many of the things we agonize over are utterly insignificant and meaningless. Only survival and death are eternal."
He then stood up and looked toward the distant horizon.
There, the contrails left by the strategic missiles still hadn’t completely dissipated.
For Shen Feng, explaining the body-replacement plan to Kuafu was merely a way to pass the time while he waited.
His real concern at the moment was whether the strategic nuclear missiles would produce the desired effect.
If they proved ineffective, not only might the human civilization of the Dark Apocalypse be annihilated, but he himself could be erased. The promise he’d made to the Brain Ape Race about new bodies would naturally become impossible to fulfill.
Almost half an hour had passed.
The east wind bloomed a thousand trees of fire in the night, scattering stars like rain.
He figured the East Wind strategic nuclear missiles must have already released their multiple hundred-kiloton warheads, which would now be falling like a brilliant meteor shower onto the lands of the Indian Peninsula, the British Mainland, and North America.
Oh, and the abandoned Mexico City.
If all went according to plan, millions, perhaps tens of millions, of stone statues would be destroyed.
"Xiaofeng, I’ve linked to the few remaining high-resolution satellites in this world. They can barely manage some basic monitoring, but... do you want to see?" Jingwei’s voice chimed in at the perfect moment, addressing the very thing on Shen Feng’s mind.
Before Shen Feng could answer, a wall of the Gray Tide had already risen before him, forming a smooth screen.
The signal from the satellites was then transmitted directly onto the smooth screen.
They were high-resolution photographs taken from orbit.
Major cities like New Delhi, Mumbai, London, and New York were now seas of fire. Giant mushroom clouds billowed high into the sky, turning these once-silent cities back into blazing Hells.
The images showed that the cores of these cities had been reduced to rubble and ruin.
The violent shockwaves from the nuclear detonations had destroyed countless buildings; the relatively fragile stone statues stood even less of a chance.
"Based on analysis of current satellite photos and videos, the number of statues completely destroyed is between 130 and 150 million," Jingwei said rapidly, providing a figure.
Shen Feng frowned.
’That’s not nearly enough.’
’There were several billion statues across the globe. If they were indeed the source of the problem, he would need to destroy at least five hundred million—perhaps even a billion—to have any tangible effect.’
"Did the other part of the plan not work?" Shen Feng asked.
’If this doesn’t work, I’ll just have to find more strategic nuclear missiles and keep launching them.’
Jingwei replied,
"Precision strikes have been carried out on weak nodes along the Mediterranean-Himalayan seismic belt and the Ring of Fire. We also targeted Yellowstone National Park in North America, the Taal Volcano in the Philippines, and the Bromo volcano in Indonesia. Large-scale volcanic eruptions and superquakes are currently brewing... Wait, it’s starting. Yellowstone has erupted."