Shen Feng was taken aback for a moment, but then he instantly understood Kuafu's meaning. He leaned down, looked into the ape's eyes which glinted with intelligence, and said,
"I don't know whether I should praise you, respect you, or fear you..."
Kuafu grinned.
"I only ask for your forgiveness," he said. "I once hunted you relentlessly, burned human statues before your very eyes, and brazenly claimed to be the heir to human civilization. It's impossible for you not to hold a grudge. I only hope to offer one of my eyeballs in exchange for your forgiveness."
After a pause, he continued,
"If one eye is not enough, I can also offer my limbs and flesh. But please, leave me my other eye so that I can see the future."
His expression was utterly composed, as if he were talking about plucking a single hair from his body.
Shen Feng said, "Even if I said I forgive you, you wouldn't believe me, would you?"
'This ape's wisdom, especially his insight into human nature, is on the level of a philosopher!'
Kuafu chuckled. "Yes. A cheap plea for mercy would be meaningless to you, and I would find no peace of mind. Only real flesh and pain can satisfy us both."
As he spoke, he lit the corpse of a dead ape on fire, heated the blade of a dagger in the flames until it glowed red, and handed it to Shen Feng. "Mr. Shen, I'll have to trouble you."
Shen Feng nodded. "Alright."
The word had barely left his lips when he struck like lightning, plunging the tip of the dagger into Kuafu's eye!
Kuafu let out a muffled groan, his hands gripping two nearby stone statues for dear life. The excruciating pain contorted his features, and he ground his teeth so hard they nearly shattered!
Yet he remained perfectly still, allowing Shen Feng to proceed.
His own nature was cunning and suspicious; he never believed for a second that Shen Feng would simply forgive his past actions. Only by offering a personal sacrifice could he set his own mind at ease.
'Everything, for the sake of the apes!'
Although Shen Feng's movements were unpracticed, they were incredibly swift.
His mind was preternaturally clear. Information on biology and ocular anatomy he'd once read, things he'd long since forgotten, flooded his mind.
The dagger twisted rapidly, severing the nerves and blood vessels connected to Kuafu's eyeball. With a single rotation, he had carved out Kuafu's left eye!
Blood gushed from Kuafu's socket, but the hot blade had cauterized most of the vessels, and the bleeding quickly stopped.
Kuafu grunted, spat out a cracked tooth, and tore a strap from his gear, tying it around his head to cover the empty socket. He then smiled candidly.
"Mr. Shen... I hope this is enough to quell your anger and make our alliance unbreakable."
Shen Feng nodded and placed the eyeball back into Kuafu's hand.
"It is enough."
'My feelings about this ape, this frenemy, are so complicated,' Shen Feng thought. 'If he were a man and not an ape, he would undoubtedly be a titan of his era!'
But now, he had completely submitted to him.
With his entire species as collateral.
Because the smarter Kuafu was, the more clearly he understood that the Brain Apes had zero chance of continuing on their own.
To unravel the secrets of the Brain Apes' genes and ensure their intelligence could be passed on to the next generation would require the support of a complete and mature scientific research system.
That was something the Brain Apes could never achieve by themselves.
His only choice was to entrust all of it to Shen Feng.
For even the faintest glimmer of hope, he had to worship Shen Feng as a god.
Dignity, honor, shame—all of it was hollow when faced with the survival of his people.
Even knowing this might all be for naught, Kuafu had to accept it with a smile, begging for Shen Feng's pity with the most subservient attitude, ready to agree to any and all of his demands.
All of it, just to survive!
Kuafu grinned, finally looking relieved. "Well then, let's go see what's in the research lab. Whatever you require, Mr. Shen, I will do my best to fulfill."
With that, he got to his feet and limped into the research lab, only for his legs to buckle, sending him collapsing to the floor.
He was already wounded, and the agony of having his eye carved out was a shock to his nervous system. He simply couldn't hold himself up any longer.
Shen Feng frowned, took a cardiac stimulant from a storage cabinet in the lab, and gave Kuafu an injection. After briefly disinfecting Kuafu's wound, he began to inspect the lab's contents.
To his surprise, whenever he wanted to examine a piece of equipment, it would open on its own, with no need for passwords or keys.
He then thought about the lab's virus data, and the large screen, long dormant, flared to life. A torrent of research material cascaded down the display, a comprehensive and exhaustive collection.
'What is going on?'
'Is there an AI program installed here?'
Shen Feng now realized that the alloy door opening earlier had likely been no coincidence.
Kuafu, leaning weakly against a chair, said:
"Haha, if I'm not mistaken, this is likely due to a change in the structure of your brain."
After a pause, he continued,
"Three years ago, one of my kinsmen died accidentally. I dissected his brain. It was completely different from a normal animal's—inside were black, filament-like and honeycomb structures, a bit like computer memory."
"Our brains are already half-machine, half-computer. I've even 'heard' radio signals myself before."
"An ape's brain capacity is only one-third of a human's, yet we've already undergone such a transformation. Mr. Shen, the changes in your own brain... I can scarcely imagine it. Sometimes, I truly envy you Homo sapiens for your premature evolution..."
Hearing this, a thought struck Shen Feng like lightning. 'The Pangu Virus!'
'Could the Pangu Virus have already modified my brain structure, giving me a partial-silicon brain that acts as a signal transmitter? Is that how I was able to unconsciously access the lab's control system and open the main door? Or is my brain still connected to the system right now? Is that why all the equipment is opening for me!?'
A thrill shot through Shen Feng as he realized his suspicions were probably correct.
He just didn't quite understand how to transmit signals to electronic devices yet; it would take a great deal of practice.
'However,' he thought, 'maybe I can try to *receive* information from devices!'
Shen Feng focused his full attention on the research materials and data scrolling across the screen, and began to experiment in his mind:
'Data transfer! Digital signal transfer! Data transmission? No, receive data!'
But though he tried several different commands, he didn't feel any new information appearing in his brain.
'It's no use... Guess I'll have to do it the old-fashioned way...'
With a solemn expression, Shen Feng found a portable hard drive in a cabinet and plugged it into the computer.
Once all the lab's data was finished copying, Shen Feng took out his phone, opened the True Apocalypse Game app, let out a long breath, and spoke:
"Cause of the large-scale Stone Statue Virus outbreak found. Final Stone Statue Virus research data obtained. Petrification Disease Virus 0 acquired. Stone Statue Virus serum injected. Mission complete. Subject survived. Requesting mission reward."
In the insulated container beside him was Petrification Disease Virus 0, already safely sealed.
Nearby, Kuafu watched the phone with curiosity. Clearly, this device was the young human's gateway back to his own world.
A line of text quickly flashed onto the phone's screen:
Mission Assessment... Completion Rate: 92%. Congratulations, player, on completing the mission. Issuing mission rewards.
Reward 1: Player may select any four (4) items from the mission world to bring back. Total may not exceed the transfer energy limit...
Reward 2: Game system portability modification is now available...
Reward 3: ...