Sam's thoughts swirled around the room. His gaze, intense and thoughtful, stared into an unseen horizon. His concern was not the looming threats from rival organizations and corporations eager to usurp their status. No, his worry was rooted deeper, in the safety of his people, those who worked under him. He voiced his fears aloud, casting them into the room. "What I worry about is my people. Those who work under me should never be harmed." His conviction radiated from him, filling the room like a palpable force.
Sam exhaled a quiet sigh, "Hence, till I find a way to keep them safe, I would want to stay off-grid." His words were heavy with the weight of responsibility, his expression somber, yet undeterred.
Gaia, ever the obedient AI, promptly acknowledged.
[Understood, Big Brother. I will block every news about you. Even the government doesn't know about your accident as of now. I have manipulated all the data about your accident.]
A hint of a smile twitched at the corner of Sam's mouth, "That is a pretty smart move." His approval was sincere, laced with a hint of admiration for the AI's strategic thinking. "Now I will recover first and . . ."
His words were abruptly cut off as the door to his room swung open, revealing a group of doctors and nurses. Their white coats fluttered like the wings of ominous birds as they rushed into the room, a flurry of professional activity.
Sam, rendered mute by the sudden intrusion, acquiesced without protest. Gaia, too, fell silent. All plans and strategies were momentarily paused as reality took the front seat. Ultimately, they were playing a dangerous game with high stakes, and the room for error was minuscule.
The clinical sterility of the room seemed to pulse in the silence following the medical team's routine examination. Despite their medical expertise and decades of combined experience, they found themselves collectively baffled. Sam's rate of recovery was, simply put, inexplicable. The extensive damage inflicted upon his body was healing with astonishing speed, as if years of regenerative processes were compressed into mere hours.
The head doctor, a stern man with deep-set eyes that had seen a thousand cases, looked at Sam in disbelief. "You are one hell of a lucky guy." His voice was half-admiring, half-exasperated. "I have never seen a case like you. I so want to continue observing you. Who knows what humanity can learn from you?"
A chuckle escaped Sam's lips. It was a hollow sound, echoing in the silence of the room. "You won't find anything else, doctor. What I have is just an unbreakable will."
The doctor fixed his gaze on Sam, a mix of skepticism and fascination in his eyes. With a sigh, he retorted, "You are partially right. But I have never seen such an unbreakable will that it accelerates the recovery process to the point that it surpasses anything we've seen before."
The shadow of a smile played on Sam's lips as he replied with an air of casual indifference, "Maybe I am a miracle. Who knows what God wants?"
The doctor nodded, a look of resignation on his face. "That is true. Alright, take care. We will continue to observe you. And if everything is alright, we might give you an early departure." The words lingered in the air as the entourage filtered out of the room, leaving Sam alone with his thoughts.
The room, now quiet, felt like a vacuum, the silence consuming every corner. In the solitude, Sam found his thoughts drifting towards the Advanced Treasure Box given by the Daily Fortune System.
Sam's inner voice was like a whisper in the emptiness of his mind. "Open the Advanced Treasure Box," he said, addressing the unseen force of the Daily Fortune System.
[Opening Advanced Treasure Box. Advanced Treasure Box Opened.]
A list of received items rolled out, each more surprising than the last.
[Received Ability - Matter Transmutation,
Received 1 x Advanced Material Pack (Contains 1000 tons of NiTinol),
Received 1 x Pocket-sized Nuclear Reactor,
Received 1 x Voucher for 5000 Robots (as per your choice),
Received 1 x Cultivation Technique (A-Rank) Diamond Body,
Received 5 x Vouchers of 200 square miles of Dead space land,
Received 500 x High-Grade Pills Vouchers,
BONUS - 1 x Voucher of 500 Years Cultivation Experience.]
A moment of stunned silence followed. A sense of surrealism washed over Sam.
'What is this? A cultivation novel? A sci-fi novel? A hodgepodge? Where did I land myself?' He thought, his mind teetering on the edge of disbelief.
As it turned out, the treasure box was more akin to Pandora's box. It offered a jumble of items, each different from the others, ranging from futuristic technology to mystical cultivation techniques. The sheer variety of it was both exhilarating and dizzying.
A slow grin spread across Sam's face, his heart pounding with a mixture of astonishment and excitement. But there was also an undercurrent of bemusement, like a jester laughing at the world's absurdity.
'Gotta take what life gives, I guess.'
Sam stared at the invisible list in his mind with a sigh that held both disbelief and acceptance. He felt like he'd been dropped in the middle of a narrative he didn't completely understand. But there was a profound sense of serendipity in the chaos of it all.
'Was the system listening to my inner thoughts and then decided to give me all this? I thought about how to protect my people and lo-behold, a cultivation technique. I needed resources, and a freaking material pack appeared. The long-term need for energy at the Death Island, and here is the Pocket-sized Nuclear Reactor.'
His thoughts swirled, intertwining with a sense of wonder and incredulity. It was like diving headlong into a fantastical dream. A dream that promised power and salvation, an uncanny echo of his deepest desires and unspoken wishes.
The final item in the list of received items list, the voucher for 500 years of cultivation experience, was also unexpected. A half-millennium's worth of knowledge and skills were suddenly bestowed upon him. It was like he had hit an unimaginable jackpot, making him question if he was being pranked.
'Is this a scam? System respond please . . .' Sam asked, his voice echoing with trepidation in the solitude of his mind.
[Honestly speaking, your world is equivalent to your 'caveman' in your analogy.] The system's response echoed in his head, its neutrality comforting and unnerving.
Sam blinked. 'Wait, you really replied? Damn, never thought you would reply. Where do you come from?' he asked, his question hanging in the air, its echo permeating the quiet confines of the hospital room. He yearned for more answers, hoping to unearth the secrets of this mysterious system.
But his question met with silence. The system, it seemed, had retreated back into the shadows of his consciousness, leaving Sam alone with his thoughts and the monumental gifts he'd received.
As the silence grew, Sam realized the system had a purpose. It had not just answered his call, but seemed to be subtly pushing him, nudging him to step into the unfamiliar realm of potentialities it had unveiled. It was clear now; it wanted to accelerate Sam's growth and that of Earth.
Sam's mind buzzed with curiosity and speculation. 'Maybe there is a backstory? Who knows.' There had to be a reason behind all this, a grand purpose. But the details remained shrouded in mystery, waiting for him to decipher.
But he knew he had to be patient. He had to prioritize. Shaking his head slightly, he tried to steer his thoughts back into focus. 'Let's focus on first improving myself, rather than thinking end-game from the start.'
With renewed determination, Sam directed his attention back to the treasure trove before him. He may not understand the full extent of it yet, but he knew that this was his chance. His opportunity to evolve and grow beyond what he had thought possible.
Sam's eyes stared into infinite possibilities as he kept opening the items he'd received.
'Convert 5000 Robots Voucher to 2000 Research Robots, 2000 Exploration Robots, and 1000 Medical Robots.' His decision to exchange for Medical Robots came on a whim, an instinct he didn't fully understand, but he trusted it.
He couldn't help but marvel at the marvel of technology before him, the near-instantaneous conversion of a mere voucher into a swarm of sophisticated machines that could reshape the world around him.
Following this, Sam turned his attention to the 1000 square miles of dead space land voucher. As he activated it, he saw a space inside his mind, 'This 1000 square miles dead space land is really dead,' he mused, his mental sight surveying the empty expanse.
He compared the vast, barren space to a massive storage bag that could comfortably house entire fleets of spaceships or armies of robots. A space devoid of life, yet filled with potential. However, it was an enigma as to what exactly he was supposed to do with such a gargantuan empty canvas. But it didn't worry him - the endless void was but another resource for him to utilize, a vast void to fill with his dreams.
Next, he moved on to the Advanced Material Pack. A soft chime announced its contents, 'NiTinol.' The word was unfamiliar, alien, just like everything else the system had given him. This was a material he'd never encountered, one that no human on Earth had.
A new puzzle to solve. But Sam was not daunted. Instead, a thrill of anticipation coursed through him. With the newly acquired Research Robots, he had the means to unravel the secrets of this unknown material.
In a moment of decision, he sent the NiTinol along with the Research Robots to his 'Storage Space.' His heart pounded with anticipation as he imagined the discovery of the new substance, NiTinol, its potential uses, and the change it could bring.