Dream of the Universe

Killing the supreme ruler of a vast nation with a population of over a hundred million...

And not by ambushing them with firearms during a parade, but by storming the heavily guarded Forbidden City—this was almost impossible.

"This is basically impossible."

Xu Shilan and Yamadai spoke at the same time.

Yamadai said, "You said you became stronger after experiencing the end of 'Zhou,' at least more than twice as strong as before. Even then, it would still be impossible. Tell me, how great is the gap between you and the Transcendent Strength grandmasters of that world?"

Wu Pifu thought for a moment. "If I enter the controllable demonic state, I should be evenly matched with one. After all, I've never fought one before. I won't know who would win until I do."

Yamadai immediately growled, "You said it yourself. You used the controllable demonic state twice during the end of 'Zhou,' and your mental negative backlash rate increased by one percent, right? Keep using it, and you'll die that much faster!"

Wu Pifu shook his head slightly. Xu Shilan spoke as well. "Even if you use the controllable demonic state and can rival a Transcendent Strength grandmaster, can you fight two at once? Can you match a thousand soldiers alone? Can you ram headfirst into ranks of lined-up musketmen with your flesh and blood? Can your body withstand cannon fire?"

Wu Pifu honestly shook his head. "I can't."

Xu Shilan spread her hands. "Then how are you supposed to kill the Qing Dynasty's supreme ruler?"

Wu Pifu said, "Because she'll come to me and let me kill her."

Yamadai and Xu Shilan both froze. Wu Pifu continued, "Because it's a world of Baseline Reality 0.9. So long as I don't interfere with the course of history on a large scale—and in fact, I have no way to interfere with history in such a short time—the Qing Dynasty's supreme ruler will arrive near Peace Hotel four months from now. She'll arrive as a refugee. I don't know how many people will accompany her, but it shouldn't be more than a thousand, and most will be palace maids and eunuchs. That will be the best time to kill her!"

Yamadai and Xu Shilan fell into thought again. As he thought, Yamadai said, "If we have a four-month buffer, I should be able to make a crude one-use Gauss weapon. Long-range sniping should be possible."

Xu Shilan added, "Or we could make some extremely powerful explosives. If we can find radioactive elements, I can also help create some nuclear-like weapons. For an ambush, a refugee party of around a thousand should be manageable."

Black lines immediately spread across Wu Pifu's forehead. He stared at his two teammates for a long while before shaking his head.

What kind of people were these? No wonder they were Maintainers—expendables, outright super-terrorists!

Uh, I'm a Maintainer too. An expendable... never mind, then.

Wu Pifu said, "We can consider it. We have around four months anyway, so we can plan it slowly."

Both nodded. Yamadai asked, "So are we going back to the Peace Hotel Dream World next? Right now?"

Wu Pifu thought about it. "The time I agreed on with Lin Heier is tomorrow. I'm exhausted today, so I'll sleep here in Gaia, rest for the night, and recover properly. Tomorrow, we'll go to the Peace Hotel Dream World, spend seven days there, and complete this seven-day garrison assignment for every thirty days. After that... I'll probably have to go to the Buddha Mud Yaksha Dream World in the Song Dynasty. You two..."

Yamadai laughed heartily and patted his chest. "Aren't we going together? Without you as our main force, the two of us would be in constant danger even in a Baseline Reality 0.9 world. We might as well stick with you."

Xu Shilan smiled and nodded as well.

Warmth rose in Wu Pifu's heart. He lowered his head slightly. "All right... first the Peace Hotel Dream World, then we'll head to the Buddha Mud Yaksha Dream World in the Song Dynasty and complete its thirty-day garrison assignment. After that... I'll take you to establish your shelters!"

The three of them relaxed, chatting and laughing among themselves.

Although Yamadai and Xu Shilan had both narrowly escaped death, one was a veteran of the Third War, and "licking blood from the edge of a blade" wasn't nearly enough to describe him. As for the other, Wu Pifu had no idea what she had experienced, but considering how she claimed to be avenging her younger brother, and how the Main Brain had exposed so many of her terrorist crimes, she was probably the sort who didn't value her own life either.

Though the three were not completely safe yet, and had not even solved their food problem, they at least had a medical base station and more than 2,600 carbon-based nanounits. For the time being, they no longer had to worry about staying alive. The road had to be walked one step at a time, and all three were somewhat relaxed now.

Wu Pifu handed out the remaining steamed buns to the other two. They ate the buns, drank some water, then used scraps of cloth and other miscellaneous items from the maintenance base station to make three makeshift nests. They lay down separately and chatted for a while longer. Yamadai was the first to yawn.

Xu Shilan suddenly said, "Do you think this Gaia might actually be a virtual scenario within the Dream Network?"

Yamadai's narrowed eyes immediately opened. Wu Pifu did the same. After a moment, Wu Pifu shook his head. "A brain in a vat? People were already proposing that in the twentieth century. The problem is, we have no way to verify it, do we?"

Xu Shilan smiled bitterly. "Right. We have no way to verify it..."

Yamadai suddenly asked, "If this really is virtual reality, a virtual scenario in the Dream Network, then why would the Unified Human Government do this? There has to be a reason."

Lying on her back, Xu Shilan reached upward. "A social experiment? A simulation of the limits of the human mind? An exploration of the afterlife? Or something else? Perhaps you don't know, but I know all too well. The Thirteen Singularity Technology Groups are capable of such things. Although the Unified Human Government isn't entirely controlled by the Thirteen Singularity Technology Groups, those thirteen groups hold a huge share of power within it. They've conducted no shortage of utterly deranged experiments..."

Wu Pifu said nothing. In the webnovels, science fiction novels, comics, and films from his memories, there were countless descriptions of deranged future corporations. Those might have been works of fiction, but art came from reality, and reality was often even more outrageous. He did not doubt Xu Shilan's words.

Yamadai, however, truly could not understand. He had been born and raised during the middle and later stages of the Third War, when humanity had united against the bioweapons beasts. He could not comprehend how such things had come to exist. After thinking for a moment, he said, "I keep hearing you mention the Thirteen Singularity Technology Groups. I know what singularity technology is—technology that surpasses imagination and exceeds the limits of theory. But what deranged experiments have those thirteen groups actually done?"

Xu Shilan smiled. Her smile was even somewhat eerie. In a tone that made Wu Pifu and Yamadai shudder, she said, "I won't say much about the others. I'll just tell you about one experiment I witnessed personally, even partly participated in... the Post-Death Return Experiment."

"Post-death... return?" Wu Pifu and Yamadai repeated the name.

Xu Shilan continued in that same tone, "It wasn't some ideological transformation or transfer, nor was it anything like souls leaving bodies. It was true obliteration—ashes scattered, souls dispersed, complete and absolute extinction. Absolute annihilation at the quantum level. Then, through an extremely dreadful and terrifying unethical method, tens of millions of lives were sent into the afterlife through this absolute annihilation. Afterward, their clones, simulated personalities, and simulated consciousnesses were used in an attempt to create some kind of quantum-entanglement-like influence, in order to confirm information from the afterlife..."

Xu Shilan stopped speaking. The two men said nothing either. After a long time, Wu Pifu finally asked, "Did it succeed?"

"I don't know."

Xu Shilan shook her head. "The experiment was expected to last three hundred years, but the Fourth War broke out when it was only halfway through. I was also removed from the list of people informed about the experiment. After that, I began avenging my younger brother."

Only then did Wu Pifu and Yamadai truly understand the madness of the Thirteen Singularity Technology Groups, and why the Fourth War had erupted.

Wu Pifu asked, "So the Human Revolutionary Union was on the side of justice?"

Xu Shilan laughed mockingly. "If they were just, then how did Earth disappear? How did the Solar System become a source of chaos, forcing us to undertake this great interstellar migration? They were no better than the Unified Human Government."

The three fell silent. Yamadai suddenly asked, "So... are we really in the Dream Network right now? Have we become experimental subjects?"

Xu Shilan shook her head without speaking.

Wu Pifu, however, said decisively, "I don't know. But I won't test it. My parents froze me and sent me into the future not so I could agonize over philosophical questions like whether this was real, then use my own life to test it. They wanted me to survive. As long as you're alive, there's hope. So I won't wonder whether reality is an illusion, and I won't think about how to prove whether this place is real or false. All I know is..."

"When you're hungry, you eat. When you're tired, you sleep. If someone is an enemy, you fight. If someone is a companion, you protect them... It's that simple!"

Yamadai and Xu Shilan listened quietly. Neither spoke.

After an unknown amount of time, Yamadai's snores sounded out. He had actually fallen asleep.

Wu Pifu was about to sleep as well when Xu Shilan suddenly said, "How nice. Living so purely..."

Wu Pifu was silent for a moment. "Sleep. Tomorrow, we enter the Peace Hotel Dream World."

A minute or two later, Xu Shilan suddenly murmured, "Maybe it isn't that we're in virtual reality, nor that the remnants of the Thirteen Singularity Technology Groups are conducting some large-scale social experiment. Maybe this place..."

"Maybe we are experiencing the universe's dream."

The dream of the universe...?

Wu Pifu gradually drifted into sleep.

Under Lin Heier's guidance, Xu Rongyu was holding a martial arts stance. Though he still limped, he was doing his best to straighten his back and cherish this rare opportunity.

Suddenly, Xu Rongyu and Lin Heier's vision flashed. Wu Pifu, Yamadai, Xu Shilan, and one bird appeared before them out of thin air.

Lin Heier and Xu Rongyu were stunned at first, then smiles appeared on both their faces.

Wu Pifu looked at the two of them, then at the tidied remains of the charity graveyard. He cupped his fists solemnly. "You two truly are people of your word. Today is the third day... greetings!"

Lin Heier and Xu Rongyu looked at each other. Lin Heier naturally returned the gesture with cupped fists, while Xu Rongyu immediately cupped his fists respectfully toward Wu Pifu.

"Greetings!"

It was noon, the sunlight brilliant, and everyone wore sincere smiles on their faces.