"Commander!"
"Stephen, you bastard!"
David and Abdullah’s eyes went wide. They never expected Stephen to betray the Commander and immediately rushed forward.
The soldiers in front, Kavan and Rogers, didn’t say a word. One darted behind Stephen, grabbing the hand holding the gun and disarming him in an instant. The other kicked Stephen to his knees and wrenched both arms behind his back. With a sickening CRACK, his joints were broken.
"Haha, hahaha! I’ve served the Whispering God! I killed the Antichrist! I killed the Antichrist! This world will be purified, and I will gain eternal life!" Stephen screamed, a crazed expression on his face, as if he couldn’t even feel the pain from his broken arms.
Just then, Zhao Lizhang and the others arrived. Hearing Stephen’s words, they were utterly horrified and furious, their eyes practically shooting fire.
This bastard was actually scum from the Purification Society!
Unexpectedly, Kavan was quite calm. After hearing Stephen’s words, he said with a deadpan expression:
"A lowly ant wishes to rival the glory of a sacred giant dragon? How could the Savior possibly be harmed by a mortal’s weapon?"
Only then did everyone, including Stephen, realize that the Commander, who had been shot several times, had been standing there the whole time, not moving an inch.
On the young Easterner’s forehead, the three bullet holes squirmed for a moment before pushing out three misshapen bullets, which fell to the ground with a CLINK CLANK. The holes on his forehead then healed completely, as if they were never there!
At the same time, the youth’s face squirmed like melting wax, and in the blink of an eye, it transformed into a different appearance—higher cheekbones, deeper-set eyes, looking somewhat like a local from the Middle East.
This magic-like scene left everyone, including Stephen, stunned.
Then, the Commander strode over to Stephen, pried his eyes open to examine his pupils, and said with great interest:
"The Purification Society’s Hypnosis is getting stronger and stronger. I actually didn’t notice when you were hypnotized; at least, there’s no effective record of it... Your new Cthulhu’s abilities are quite impressive indeed."
Stephen looked at the young man before him in utter shock, his voice trembling:
"Scum! Shameless! To actually use a body double!? Weren’t you supposed to grant us a personal audience!? Deceiving your own followers! You have no sense of honor, yet you dare call yourself the Savior?"
Hearing this, Shen Feng almost laughed out of sheer exasperation.
’When did Britons ever learn the meaning of ’a sense of honor’?’
’The way these Purifiers’ minds work truly is different from ordinary people.’
Ignoring Stephen’s words, Shen Feng instead pulled him up, patted his shoulder, and said:
"You did a good job. Go back and tell your Cthulhu to keep up the good work. Listen to the Whisperer, report some achievements occasionally, so the Whisperer doesn’t get suspicious and come deal with things personally. This time, when you go back... hmm, just say you managed to wound me."
Stephen looked completely bewildered, having no idea what this cunning Antichrist meant.
But in the next moment, the ground around them suddenly came alive like a slime, coiling up from his feet and spreading upward, reaching Stephen’s head in the blink of an eye!
Then, amidst his shock and struggles, it completely enveloped him, like a mummy!
The metal tide enveloping Stephen quickly merged into the ground and vanished in an instant, leaving only flat earth behind.
Stephen was gone.
Zhao Lizhang and the others nearby recognized what it was in an instant.
After experiencing the apocalyptic missions in "True Apocalypse Game" 1.0, they naturally knew that this was the Gray Tide, this was Nanomechanical Cluster technology!
They had originally thought it was something from another world, something that existed only within the "True Apocalypse Game," but they never imagined it had long since appeared in the real world and was completely under the Commander’s control!
Having experienced the Gray Tide apocalypse in the Virtual World, they naturally understood just how powerful this Nanomechanical Cluster was—powerful enough to destroy a world, and also powerful enough to allow a civilization to leap forward!
Sensing everyone’s questioning gazes, Shen Feng nodded slightly and said:
"That’s right. This is the Gray Tide, and it’s even more powerful than the one you know. It has been fused with the energy and technology of Beast Gold."
Hearing this, the few people around him felt their hearts surge with even more excitement.
They had also been logging into "True Apocalypse Game 1.0" recently, trying hard to clear the Water World Apocalypse mission, but they had been stuck and unable to make progress.
Those World Beasts were simply too strong. With only the resources available in the Water World Apocalypse mission, it was impossible for them to contend with the World Beasts.
Not to mention the Purification Church, which was always lurking in the shadows and causing trouble.
However, because of this, through countless failures, these Salvation Army Warriors had scoured the entire Water World in the Virtual World, gaining a thorough understanding of the various technologies from before that human civilization was lost.
This included Beast Gold refinement technology and controllable nuclear fusion technology.
The existence of Beast Gold could be said to be the root of controllable nuclear fusion technology, like gasoline for a car engine.
But in the real world, the underwater Wormhole seemed to have become calm, and those World Beasts had returned home, never to appear again. Even though they had mastered the technique for refining Beast Gold, they had no World Beasts to refine it from, leaving them stumped for a while.
Only now did they understand that the Commander had long ago mastered the Nanomechanical Cluster technology and had already refined Beast Gold.
Shen Feng turned and walked towards the massive, umbrella-shaped cylindrical machine. Zhao Lizhang, Abdullah, and the others hurried to follow. It was only then that they discovered a small tea table and several wicker chairs hidden beneath the enormous machine.
On the tea table sat a teapot, a few teacups, and a plate of snacks.
Shen Feng casually chose a chair and sat down, saying to the others:
"Sit."
The few men who, just moments before at the peace treaty signing, had been arrogant masters deciding the fate of small nations, now sat down respectfully like primary school students.
Although the person before them looked like an ordinary youth, and they were all middle-aged or older men, no one would ever actually mistake the Commander for a common teenager.
’After all, this is just a Gray Tide body double. The person pulling the strings from behind might be an old man with one foot in the grave...’ Zhao Lizhang thought to himself.
Seeing that everyone was a bit reserved and nervous, Shen Feng couldn’t help but smile and say:
"Drink the tea. That’s an order. It’s a shame the person who loves afternoon tea the most was just dragged off for brain surgery."
Hearing the Commander make a joke, the men couldn’t help but laugh together. They picked up their teacups, feeling a bit more relaxed.
But on second thought, what the Commander just said was... brain surgery?
The men silently drank half their tea. The atmosphere grew quiet for a moment, and then they heard the young man before them speak slowly:
"I said I wanted to see you, but really, I just wanted you to see this Space Wormhole Generator, and to take a message back with you."
As he spoke, Shen Feng pointed to the huge, umbrella-shaped cylindrical machine beside them:
"Go back and tell your colleagues and superiors that the times have changed... Welcome to the age of cosmic exploration."