Ambitions and Schemes

Wu Pifu considered the Pink Serpent his great enemy for a simple reason: they were separated by only one isolation wall. Since the Pink Serpent could contaminate the monsters in this medical base from afar, it would hardly be impossible for it to gradually contaminate him and the others living here as well.

He still had no idea how powerful the Pink Serpent's contamination was. One mistake, and he might be infected too. There were only thieves who stole for a thousand days; who could guard against thieves for a thousand days?

That was not all. At present, there were two main directions in which the isolation walls could be opened from the area he was in. One led toward the large plaza in 6122 Area, while the other required passing through 6124 Area and continuing all the way to 6125 Area before reaching a similar large plaza. Everything in between was silent, unknown territory.

The Gaia had an enormous number of basic, functional, and public facilities. Medical facilities alone had three tiers: medical bases, medical district stations, and medical center stations. At the very least, a medical district station was needed for large-scale treatment equipment, and medical district stations could only be found in plazas.

One should not underestimate humanity's technological level in the year 2877. Even the most ordinary treatment pod could perform miracles. As long as one's head remained, it could bring them back to life. Medium-sized medical facilities like medical district stations even had rapid cloning pods, genetic error-correction pods, and the like.

Besides that, armories could only be found in plazas, and all sorts of food sources were likewise available only in plazas.

So long as Wu Pifu continued living, advancing into a plaza and facing the Pink Serpent was inevitable in the future.

There was another route, but everything there was unknown. At least they already knew of the Pink Serpent here. Unless they learned about the silent regions in the other direction, they would definitely choose the Pink Serpent's side.

Wu Pifu stood still for a moment, staring deeply toward the end of the passage. Beyond that isolation wall was a small plaza. According to the map displayed by the Main Brain, the plaza contained a medical district station, a small armory, two staff cafeterias and citizen cafeterias, one recreational facility, and one sanatorium. Wu Pifu wanted all of them.

(The only concern is, how did this nightmare know that my name is Pifu? Could it possess supernatural mental powers besides contamination?)

Wu Pifu shook his head and temporarily set those thoughts aside. He began walking toward a large metal door in the passage.

The metal door opened automatically. Inside were six treatment pods, along with another type of functional pod. Wu Pifu examined the functional pod for a few moments, but did not ask about it. Instead, he walked straight to one of the treatment pods and entered after it opened.

As the scan began and text appeared on the screen, displaying various injuries and treatment information, Wu Pifu finally saw the number he had long awaited.

"Remaining carbon-based nanite units: 2,662."

Seeing that, Wu Pifu finally breathed a complete sigh of relief.

The predecessors had told him all this. Generally speaking, a maintenance base would have one treatment pod, intended for maintenance workers who accidentally died on the spot due to improper use of equipment and needed immediate emergency treatment. However, it came with very few carbon-based nanite units, usually fewer than one hundred, and required constant replenishment and replacement.

A medical base, on the other hand, existed primarily to provide medical care for a small area, and usually stored around three thousand carbon-based nanite units.

As for medical district stations and medical centers, he did not know, but they probably held tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of carbon-based nanite units.

Although this medical base did not have a full three thousand carbon-based nanite units, more than twenty-six hundred was still an enormous fortune for a small number of individuals. Even if they regularly lost arms and legs, it could probably provide treatment more than a thousand times.

Wu Pifu naturally treated his injuries on the spot. It only used up 1.2 carbon-based nanite units.

Wu Pifu also confirmed that as he continued growing stronger, the number of carbon-based nanite units needed for the same injuries was rapidly increasing. He just did not know whether a single treatment would consume dozens or hundreds of carbon-based nanite units in the future.

But that was a matter for some distant future. After finishing his treatment, Wu Pifu immediately returned to the hibernation chamber. After thinking for a moment, he woke Yamadai first.

As the hibernation pod's outer cover opened, Yamadai slowly opened his eyes inside. He was still dazed for the first dozen seconds or so, then his brows furrowed. Clearly, once the freezing wore off, the pain from his injuries began to flare up throughout his body.

Wu Pifu did not hesitate. He grabbed Yamadai by the back of his neck with one hand, lifted him up, and strode toward the medical base.

Yamadai shouted, "I saw you carrying Xu Shilan in your arms earlier. Why am I getting hauled around like this!?"

Wu Pifu fell silent for a moment. "You mean... you want me to carry you?"

"...Forget it. That image disgusts me." Yamadai paused for half a second before immediately refusing with conviction.

Although Yamadai's spine was broken, being carried along like this would naturally worsen his injuries. But with a treatment pod available, it did not matter.

A few minutes later, Yamadai sprang out of the treatment pod. He swung his arms and twisted his spine. The pain throughout his entire body had vanished completely. Only then did he laugh heartily. "Every time I recover from serious injuries, it feels amazing. Could I have some kind of masochistic kink?"

Wu Pifu seriously began thinking about it. Yamadai patted his shoulder. "I'm joking. Don't tell me you actually think I have a masochistic kink? Anyway, how long was I asleep?"

Wu Pifu calculated the time. "More than two days. Nearly three."

"...More than two days? Nearly three?" Yamadai froze.

He followed Wu Pifu back to the hibernation chamber and watched him carry Xu Shilan out of her pod. Finally unable to hold himself back, he said, "No, this isn't right. When I entered the hibernation pod, you had established a Level Two shelter, right? Even if it was a special Level Two shelter, that should have only given you early access to a personal information digitization interface. Don't tell me you used your upgrade reward not on strength, but on raising your title?"

Wu Pifu was operating the treatment pod for Xu Shilan. He did not hide it and nodded. "That's right. I'm now a Level Two maintenance worker."

Yamadai said with a trace of anger, "Foolish, brother. I'm telling you, that was foolish! Even though I've only just woken up, I know shelters are extremely difficult to establish. Every shelter is a burden, and gaining strength through them is also incredibly difficult. Yet you used such a precious reward on a title? I told you not to rush, not to rush. Rushing leads to mistakes. See? Just as expected! Sigh..."

Wu Pifu ignored Yamadai and continued operating the treatment pod. Soon, carbon-based nanite units entered Xu Shilan's body under the pod's control. Guided by intelligent operation, they began repairing all the damage within her body, including the damage caused by oxygen deprivation in her brain.

Before long, Xu Shilan opened her eyes. She blinked her large eyes several times before confirming her current condition.

When Xu Shilan emerged from the treatment pod, she realized this was not the maintenance base. She was naturally intelligent and quickly figured out what had happened after the battle with the paper men.

She looked at Yamadai, then at Wu Pifu, and smiled. "It seems my little hero saved us."

Yamadai said disdainfully, "Quit acting flirty. Your little hero? Do you know what this guy did? He's practically gambling with all our lives!"

Xu Shilan's expression turned serious. "What happened?"

Yamadai told her that Wu Pifu had used his upgrade reward on his title, followed by a long string of complaints.

Yet Xu Shilan's expression relaxed instead. She gently shook her head. "Actually, it's not as bad as you think. The value of a title is even greater than you imagine."

Seeing Wu Pifu and Yamadai's confusion, Xu Shilan said, "Maintenance workers are expendable. I think you both know that. But do you know why one only needs to raise their title three times to go from a maintenance worker to a citizen? It is not because citizens are worthless, but because such rewards are extremely precious."

Yamadai immediately said, "That's exactly why I said he wasted it!"

Xu Shilan shook her head. "I'm not finished. That proves just how precious title upgrades are. If not for the drastic changes in this dream world, one would normally need an achievement as great as saving an entire area to raise their title once. And every title upgrade brings a qualitative change in the treatment provided by the Main Brain. I do not know much about the benefits below citizen status, but once one becomes a citizen, they receive a microquantum share of the Main Brain."

"A microquantum share?" Wu Pifu and Yamadai were both confused.

Xu Shilan said, "Personal storage... You know xianxia novels, right? It is like a spatial pocket, a storage treasure of sorts. Citizens can casually open a microquantum space anywhere within Gaia's range under the Main Brain's control. Depending on the citizen's rank, the microquantum space can be large or small. A Level One citizen has a microquantum space of roughly one cubic meter."

Wu Pifu and Yamadai's eyes both lit up. Yamadai spoke first. "That's incredible. Technology during your Fourth War had developed that far?"

Xu Shilan merely covered her mouth and chuckled. She shook her head. "That is not all a microquantum share can do. Before the Fourth War broke out, the entire Earth was within the Main Brain's microquantum share delivery range. For example, if you were walking alone in the Sahara Desert and ran out of water, you could have the Main Brain deliver fresh water and food. If you were injured or poisoned, you could also have the Main Brain deliver carbon-based nanite units, then use energy to simulate the functions of a treatment pod for treatment. A Level One citizen could have roughly ten units of carbon-based nanite units delivered each month. The fresh water and food deliveries were not much, but the monthly quota was enough to last at least seven to ten days."

Wu Pifu and Yamadai were even more shocked. Xu Shilan then said to Wu Pifu, "Raising your title is not as useless as you think. Once you become a citizen, it will be a qualitative transformation."

Yamadai helplessly shut his mouth, but Xu Shilan continued, "Still, I want to ask you why. Why did you suddenly think of raising your title?"

Wu Pifu thought for a moment. "I can't tell you the truth about 'Weekend.' If I say it, something terrible will happen, and all of us will encounter misfortune at the same time. You need to witness it with your own eyes. But what I can say is that different title levels receive different preferential functions from the Main Brain during 'Weekend.' That was one reason I raised my title. The second reason was that we had run out of carbon-based nanite units. There was not even enough for a single treatment. If I had not opened the isolation wall this time and entered this medical base, then if I encountered another fierce battle in the dream world, I would die too, let alone save the two of you."

Yamadai paused, then nodded after a moment. Xu Shilan nodded as well.

The three slowly walked from the medical base back to the hibernation chamber. Xu Shilan asked, "We've experienced a dream world once now. I must have fainted back then, right? What happened afterward? Did we establish a shelter?"

"You didn't faint. You died once outright."

Before Wu Pifu could speak, Yamadai said bluntly, "Those two huge lumps on your chest provided no cushioning at all. Your entire chest caved in. You were dead beyond doubt. I'm wondering whether you had some technological enhancements done."

Xu Shilan's face flushed red. She glared viciously at Yamadai. "You two are both hopelessly straight steel men! Tell me, what happened afterward? Explain it to me clearly!"

Wu Pifu was not as glib as Yamadai. He told her everything that had happened after Xu Shilan's death, point by point.

Xu Shilan pondered for a moment. "So that means we have a special Level Two shelter?"

Wu Pifu corrected her seriously, "Not we. Me. For some reason, neither of you established an event shelter, purchased a building, or formed a faction, so neither of you established any shelter."

Xu Shilan chuckled. "But we're partners now. I don't believe you wouldn't help us."

Wu Pifu nodded seriously again. "Of course I'll help. We are indeed partners now."

Xu Shilan smiled happily, then said seriously, "You established a special Level Two shelter, met a native of that dream world who is also the leader of a faction, and you are very familiar with that dream world's history. Those are all advantages. With your help, Yamadai and I should easily be able to establish Level Two shelters in that world. At the very least, purchasing buildings of Level Two shelter grade should not be a problem. But that is not the key. The key is..."

"What do you want to do in that dream world? You named your special Level Two shelter Peace Hotel. That was certainly not a spur-of-the-moment decision, was it?"

Wu Pifu had nothing to hide from the two of them. He sat down cross-legged and said seriously, "I want to establish Level Three, Level Four, and even Level Five shelters in that dream world. As for how..."

"I plan to kill the supreme ruler of the Qing Dynasty in that era!"