8 Chapter 8

After taking a shower, I felt soothed and bored.

Shen Cong looked in the mirror, examining his current appearance. He had shaved all his hair because no one was looking at him and because it was redundant. His bald head was sharp. The beard he'd grown had also been shaved off. At 22, Shen Cong had regained his youthful and handsome look, despite his muscular tension making him look skinny.

The constant changes brought to him by the activity are still ongoing. Every day, Shen Cong exercises to increase his strength, speed, agility, endurance, and his five senses - they all show improvement. The strength within him burgeons, his speed is such that he can run 100 meters in eight seconds, agility has shown improvement due to daily gymnastic exercises, and he doesn't feel any fatigue from the increase in endurance. He can now see and hear the smallest of things clearly.

The only aspect untouched by the activity seems to be his mental state. This is something Shen Cong has to fine-tune himself and then strengthen his connection with King Kong, so as to control it as easily as his own arm.

Every day, under Shen Cong's training regimen of leading King Kong to absorb the free activity, King Kong's activity has accumulated significantly. Shen Cong can also now ingest activity by eating tooth wolf meat.

What the activity brought to him is an overall improvement in physical fitness. But he realized the activity couldn't improve his mental state. This is something Shen Cong must handle himself by improving his concentration, and then communicate better with King Kong to make controlling it as easy as using his own arm.

They have been working together daily to absorb the freely available activity and King Kong's activity has been accumulating a lot. Shen Cong himself has been absorbing activity by eating the meat of the toothed wolf.

The activity is increasing his physical fitness; strength, speed, agility, endurance, and all five senses are all becoming sharper. His strength is surging, he can run 100 meters in eight seconds, and his endurance has enhanced to the point of feeling no fatigue. Little escapes his sharp eyes and ears now.

The only part where the activity has not had a significant effect is his spiritual side. It seems Shen Cong has to hone his willpower himself, then communicate better with King Kong in order to control the King Kong as easily as using his own arms.

Every day, Shen Cong has been working on using his willpower to guide King Kong to absorb the freely available activity, and King Kong's activity level has been accumulating more and more. If the disaster storm had stopped more than half a month ago, King Kong's activity wouldn't have been able to cover the entire body-only about 20% of it could be activated.

However, now King Kong has managed to achieve at least 85% active injection. Certain complicated circuits and devices remain, and Shen Cong has continually been guiding King Kong to slowly alloy them.

Alloying is a process of injecting activity. After the components of the alloy, the nature of the material structure does not change, meaning a capacitor still performs as a capacitor, a diode as a diode, and their function is unchanged. They simply gain the ability to rejuvenate themselves, and their power is greatly enhanced.

Shen Cong believes that with enough willpower and substantial knowledge reserves, he can evolve all parts, including even the complex ones, into their most perfect form. That is to say, King Kong has the potential to keep evolving.

As long as he holds on, Shen Cong has faith he may be able to evolve King Kong to the point of becoming an aircraft carrier. Of course, this is the theory. As of now, he does not even dare to shape a complex component, as it necessitates substantial knowledge. Even a genius capable of turning a stone into gold cannot build a computer out of thin air without understanding the working principle of the computer, the structure of each device, and how to set up the system.

For now, Shen Cong's evolutionary guidance for King Kong is primarily focused on basic structures, such as reshaping its external armor into a streamlined shape, and replacing weaker parts with stronger metal. He has also been actively guiding King Kong to conduct more alloys to ensure a 100% distribution of active bodies to the whole, ensuring the natural wear and tear of the machine does not affect its performance substantially.

"I have a hunch that when King Kong's activity levels reach 100%, there may be a breakthrough change." Shen Cong pondered. This sixth sense feeling came without any reason or logic, but he could not deny it.

Despite it being nearly two months since the world fell apart, Shen Cong still feels clueless about the apocalypse. He's only discovered a few active applications, few mutant monsters. Vital questions like the origin of the meteor shower, the present state of the world, the underlying reasons for the mutant transformations, the nature of radon activity, and the future prospects of the world, remain unanswered. These mysteries, he realizes, are waiting for him to uncover- provided he lives on.

Curious about his surroundings, Shen Cong has made sudden trips to the first warehouse compartment of the underground waterworks warehouse. He has secured the door there and installed a long wave transmitter inside it for positioning. After filling the entrance with sand and stones, he's ready to leave the ruins of Wuwei County and make his way towards Hefei, the provincial capital. His goal is to locate a source of diesel fuel. In the post-apocalyptic world, survival takes precedence, and supplies are the focus of his daily efforts.

As the exhaust pipe emits smoke and the motor roars, the melodic sound of music fills the air, prompting Shen Cong to hum along to the familiar tunes.

"On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair," Shen Cong sings softly, the lyrics of the iconic song resonating with him. "Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air."

Driving towards the northeast, Shen Cong gazes at the yellow sand stretching out ahead, leaving behind the ruins of Wuwei County. From the cab of King Kong, he observes the scenery passing by on the electronic screen, feeling a mix of surprise and nostalgia. Just two months ago, this area was bustling with traffic, but now all that remains are broken walls buried under layers of yellow sand and gravel.

Suddenly, a loud boom reverberates through the air as the ruins of a nearby building collapse, sending a cloud of dust into the sky.

"That should be the Century Building," Shen Cong murmurs, slowing down King Kong as he examines the ruins. Comparing the radar map, he confirms that the building was once the Century Building in Wuxian County. Beneath it lies a hardware street, a place where Shen Cong used to purchase various spare parts.

Pausing for a moment to reflect on the past, Shen Cong eventually shakes his head and resumes driving.

Looking ahead, he mutters to himself, "Just a little further and we'll reach Xingyuan Community..."

Soon, he arrives at the ruins of Xingyuan District, an area that no longer resembles its former self. It is now just a flat expanse of rubble and debris, devoid of any signs of the once lively community or the six-story buildings that once stood tall.

Shen Cong's gaze lingers, searching for traces of the past, but ultimately he gives up. "Well, no use dwelling on the past. Let's continue on..."

After a while, the ruins of Wuwei County disappear from King Kong's display, and Shen Cong, accompanied by the music and the hum of the engine, ventures deeper into the expanse of yellow sand. With no GPS or navigation system, Shen Cong relies on a compass and the radar map to navigate through this treacherous terrain.

Driving on a landscape dominated by yellow sand can be maddening, but Shen Cong's reclusive nature allows him to adapt to the solitude. He closes his eyes, projects his willpower onto the Vajra, and continues to guide King Kong.

Currently, 85% of King Kong's activity has been infused, leaving only a few components and circuits that need to be alloyed. Shen Cong diligently guides each alloying process, striving to distribute 100% of the active body throughout King Kong. This way, the natural wear and tear won't pose a significant concern.

Amidst this process, a sudden alarm interrupts Shen Cong's focused thoughts. He opens his eyes and sees that the compass on the instrument panel is signaling an alarm. The needle, which once pointed north, is now rotating aimlessly.

Something is wrong.

In an instant, Shen Cong connects the alarm to an impending crisis. His mind races, a typical response for someone who feels persecuted. He quickly adjusts the camera angle to capture the sky, and what he sees sends shivers down his spine.

"It's a storm!"

Shen Cong immediately realizes that the storm, which had raged for a month during the apocalypse, is rapidly approaching. He stops King Kong, secures it in place by embedding the eight outriggers into the gravel and yellow sand. He lowers the 15A radar, closes the ventilation openings, disconnects power sources prone to attracting lightning, and raises the lightning rod to guarantee its grounding.

As he waits for the storm to arrive, the once bright sun is concealed behind dark clouds. The sky darkens, plunging the surroundings into an even deeper gloom than the night.

Stillness and anticipation pervade the air as Shen Cong braces himself for the onslaught.