Joyce was dozing off when someone suddenly knocked on the table.
He opened his eyes bleary-eyed to find a well-dressed man who had entered at some point and was now sitting across from him with one leg crossed over the other. "Mr. Joyce?"
"That's me. Are you a lawyer?" Joyce asked. "How should I address you?"
"Ji Shiyu," the man replied. "Since this is a free service, I won't waste too much of your time here. Let's get straight to the point. What I'm about to tell you may be a lot to take in, so prepare yourself."
"All right, thank you very much!" Joyce nodded.
"You robbed the Gold Shop to exploit a loophole and extend your hibernation period, didn't you?" Ji Shiyu asked with a complicated smile.
"Yes."
"Unfortunately, your efforts failed. This robbery won't extend your hibernation period. Instead, it will cause your hibernation to be terminated immediately." Ji Shiyu said, "You claimed that whether from the perspective of the contract or the law, both would support your continued hibernation. In reality, both will directly terminate it."
"How is that possible?!"
"The earlier versions of the Dream City Criminal Law were indeed incomplete, but they've been continuously revised. The newly revised sections came into effect after New Year's Day," Ji Shiyu said.
Terror appeared on Joyce's face.
"You said your physical condition made it impossible for you to serve your sentence in reality, so you could only serve it in a dream. That's wrong. After being taken out of hibernation, your physical condition would actually allow you to survive for a few more months. Only people who would die immediately upon thawing qualify for serving their sentence solely in a dream." Ji Shiyu spoke unhurriedly. "Legally, the preference is for you to end hibernation and serve your