Real-World Problems

This was a very real problem: people died when they were killed, and if people did not eat, they starved to death just the same.

Almost all of Gaia Z District's Sector 6123 had been sealed off. Since waking up, Wu Pifu had faced nothing but this Stasis Pod and a Maintenance Base Station. Other than all kinds of instruments and tools, there was only the assorted junk the predecessors had won through lotteries. Food had become the primary survival issue for maintenance personnel like them.

To put it bluntly, they had no favorable impression of the Unified Human Government.

Although the Unified Human Government had revived them from cryogenic suspension, it had done so to make them repay their debts like slaves. Though they were called maintenance personnel, only those in the first two hundred—or even the first two hundred and fifty—wake-up shifts had a chance of reaching a new homeland and becoming citizens. The rest would spend their entire lives on these cold spaceships.

As for the maintenance personnel after the two-hundredth or two-hundred-and-fiftieth shifts, most of them had connections or had paid bribes.

The Unified Human Government might have appeared to be a future democratic government, but in Wu Pifu's eyes, it was actually a feudal aristocratic utopia with rigid hierarchies.

Even citizens were divided into ranks: first-class citizens, second-class citizens, third-class citizens, and so on. What each rank could enjoy, what rights it possessed, and even how long it could live were all different.

So how could maintenance personnel possibly risk their lives to maintain a government like that? Especially when the maintenance contract was essentially usury.

If they had the chance, these maintenance personnel could simply refuse to enter the Dream World. They were all just muddling through and waiting to die anyway, so why risk being trapped between life and death in the Dream World to save such a government and those so-called citizens who were really aristocrats?

But as he had said, this was a very real problem. Maintenance personnel had to eat, and there was no food in the sealed, cramped space apart from fresh water. They had to enter the Dream World to survive, even if only for the sake of finding something to eat.

And once they entered the Dream World, although they could return to Gaia after staying for five days, there was a chance they would encounter a Nightmare during those five days. Even if the Nightmare was slow-witted, encountering any other strange horror in the Dream World could leave them dead without a burial place.

But once they established a Sanctuary, they could awaken maintenance personnel according to its level, and they would also receive rewards from the Main Brain. The first random draw after establishing a Sanctuary often yielded that Dream World's power system, giving them the strength to protect themselves.

However, after establishing a Sanctuary, a Level 1 Sanctuary required them to enter for ten days every thirty days, while a Level 2 Sanctuary required seven days every thirty days. During that time, they might encounter a Nightmare. And if they were determined not to enter the Dream World, allowing the Sanctuary to fall into ruin, there was a strong chance of attracting a Level 2 Nightmare, which could then break through from the Dream World into reality and kill everyone.

Take the Pink Serpent, the culprit that had destroyed 6120 through 6122. According to some records left behind by their predecessors, it had been a Level 2 Nightmare that broke through from a Dream World Sanctuary!

"So I have no choice. If I want to eat and stay alive, I have to go to the Dream World. And if I enter the Dream World, you need strength too, which means we have to establish a Sanctuary. But once we have a Sanctuary, we need to enter the Dream World even more to stop Nightmares from breaking through. It's one link after another. Even if we don't want to work for the Unified Human Government, there's nothing we can do." Wu Pifu spoke in a low voice.

Yamadai and Xu Shilan both fell silent.

Neither of them was a novice or a fool. One had been a battlefield veteran of the Third War, while the other was a con artist and arms dealer. They immediately understood what Wu Pifu meant.

They had no way out, no path to choose.

They could either starve to death here, or enter the Dream World and struggle to survive, seeking that sliver of hope.

Next, Wu Pifu introduced the Dream World to them.

There were two ways to enter the Dream World through the Main Brain. One was downward penetration.

For example, if you had a Sanctuary in Baseline Reality 0.9, you could use that Dream World as an anchor point and penetrate downward into the Dream World of Baseline Reality 0.8. Likewise, if you penetrated downward from reality, you would enter the Dream World of Baseline Reality 0.9.

The second method was random penetration.

This kind of penetration was truly random. You might end up in a world of Baseline Reality 0.9, or you might end up in a world of Baseline Reality 0.1. It all depended on luck.

"Before I woke you two up, two predecessors and I encountered a Level 2 Nightmare. Both of them died, but by a stroke of luck, I obtained a Level 2 Sanctuary in a Dream World of Baseline Reality 0.7. You see how strong I am now? Most of it came from that Level 2 Sanctuary."

Wu Pifu did not hide this from them. Though he remained somewhat wary of Xu Shilan, the three of them were tied to the same rope. In a nightmare world like this, failing to cooperate sincerely was suicide. So he showed them his status panel.

Wu Pifu.

Level 1 Maintenance Personnel.

Physical Body: Level 2. Soul: Level 1. Inspiration: Level 2.

National Arts: Dark Force. Tiger Demon Art: Mastery Beyond Perfection.

This was also the first time Wu Pifu had looked at his status panel after completing his enhancements.

His gains were even greater than he had expected. His physical body and inspiration had both originally been Level 1, but now they had both become Level 2. That meant he could run as fast as Bolt, and even without circulating his blood and qi, his punching power would not lose to Tyson's. His stamina and endurance had reached Iron Men standards. This would greatly increase his ability to survive in the Dream World.

The two newcomers stared at the status panel, then each summoned their own and showed them to Wu Pifu.

Yamadai.

Level 1 Maintenance Personnel.

Physical Body: Level 2. Soul: Level 1. Inspiration: Level 1.

Yamadai truly was a veteran of the Third War. He had probably undergone some degree of genetic modification, as his physical body was also Level 2. That surprised Wu Pifu, but when he recalled the scene of Yamadai carrying the tank cannon barrel earlier, his physical body was indeed at Level 2—though he had likely only just reached the Edge of it.

The other one surprised Wu Pifu even more.

Xu Shilan.

Level 1 Maintenance Personnel.

Physical Body: Level 1. Soul: Level 2. Inspiration: Level 1.

Level 2 Soul!?

This was the first time Wu Pifu had seen someone whose soul was not Level 1!

He had seen the status panels of the older predecessors before. Some had Level 2 physical bodies, some possessed various cultivation methods or strange arts, and some had Level 2 inspiration, but he had never seen anyone with a soul above Level 1!

Although he did not know what a Level 2 Soul meant, Wu Pifu had a feeling it was something impressive!

Meanwhile, Yamadai and Xu Shilan stared intently at the parts of Wu Pifu's panel that differed from theirs... cultivation methods and realms!

They both had Level 2 physical bodies, yet Wu Pifu could easily slaughter the mutated creature from before, while Yamadai would be effortlessly devoured by it.

The difference in their combat strength was at least tenfold!

Yamadai hesitated for a moment and was just about to speak when Xu Shilan beat him to it. "Brother Wu, can you teach us your National Arts?"

There was nothing deliberately coy in the way Xu Shilan said the words "Brother Wu," but both Wu Pifu and Yamadai felt their bodies shiver slightly.

Wu Pifu nodded. "Of course I can. But let me make this clear first. I got this cultivation method from the random draw after establishing a Level 1 Sanctuary. According to what the predecessors said, when you first establish a Sanctuary in a Dream World, the random draw generally gives you a cultivation method from that world's power system. The Main Brain might be rigged, and the cultivation method will also suit you well. This National Arts suits me, but it might not suit you. There's something else I need to make clear in advance."

"Cultivating this National Arts is extraordinarily dangerous. All the information I know about it was directly transmitted into my brain by the Main Brain, and I was forcibly made to memorize it. I couldn't forget it even if I wanted to. But language and information are different. I can explain it to you and tell you about my cultivation insights, but what you understand might not be the original method in my mind. When cultivating, the slightest difference can lead you a thousand miles astray. Reversing your blood and qi and dying suddenly are both possible. It's not that I'm being stingy."

Yamadai and Xu Shilan exchanged a glance, but neither brought up the National Arts cultivation method again.

After that, Wu Pifu told them much more about the Dream World, Sanctuaries, and the various regions of Gaia that he knew about.

"The Dream World originates from the Dream Network constructed by the Unified Human Government. There are endless worlds within it. I just explained Baseline Reality: the lower it is, the further it deviates from reality. The lowest I've ever gone is Baseline Reality 0.7. I don't know what lies below that."

"The rewards for the various Sanctuary levels..."

"...Those are the three ways to establish a Sanctuary. The first is to buy one. The Sanctuary will be in the building you purchase. It is the easiest kind of Sanctuary to establish, but it has the greatest restrictions and is the most dangerous, because your Sanctuary cannot move. Once a Nightmare finds it, you either flee back to reality and pray that it is not Level 2 and cannot follow you into reality, or fight the Nightmare to the death."

"A faction Sanctuary is located at your faction's headquarters, but it can be relocated. As long as most of your faction relocates, the Sanctuary can move elsewhere and avoid Nightmares. But where there are many people, there are many conflicting intentions. Once you lose your faction, your Sanctuary will collapse. And having many people also makes it easier for Nightmares to parasitize them."

"The best kind is a historical record Sanctuary. Fame—leaving your name in history. Wherever you are is the Sanctuary, so you can travel freely through that Dream World, avoid Nightmares, and return at any time and from anywhere. But if you encounter a Level 2 Nightmare face-to-face and return, the Level 2 Nightmare can still come into the real world."

"...The various sectors have all gone quiet. According to the predecessors, there was once a flourishing period for maintenance personnel. Many districts and sectors produced Level 2 and Level 3 Sanctuaries. Some sectors even had dozens of maintenance personnel who worked together to open several sealed passages, finding places like cafeterias, medical stations, and all kinds of shopping centers. But gradually, the people in those sectors vanished without a trace. The Pink Serpent I mentioned, for example, was recorded by predecessors from who knew how many shifts ago."

Wu Pifu spoke on and off for at least two hours, until his mouth was dry. He went to pour himself a cup of fresh water and gulped it down before saying, "That's basically everything I can tell you. This is what I know about this world and the Dream World. There are still some things I haven't remembered. You can ask if you have questions. Then make your preparations..."

Yamadai and Xu Shilan both nodded. Xu Shilan said sweetly, "Brother Wu, are you taking us into the Dream World now?"

But Wu Pifu shook his head. "No. Prepare yourselves. There's a lot of clutter here, and I don't know what might be useful. Take whatever you want to bring. If you don't want to bring anything, rest and prepare yourselves mentally. Save up your strength too. I'm going to sleep now and recover my stamina."

"Gather at the Stasis Pod in twelve hours, then..."

"...we set off for the Dream World to eat breakfast!"