Chapter 136: Upgrade Content and Awakening

(ps: Thanks to Alliance Leader Banli Chaoren for the alliance-level tip. This is an extra chapter, thanks again for the support.)

Wu Pifu returned to Gaia with Jiu Jiu and Daphne.

The moment he returned, Wu Pifu was still lying in the hibernation pod, feeling a bit dazed.

"...Damn, I'm actually a bit unaccustomed to this. The first thing upon returning isn't going to a medical station to save my life."

Wu Pifu muttered to himself, cursed his own "cheap bones" twice, and then immediately said with great interest: "Main Brain, explain the mission system, the custody system, and the points system."

"Judging... Judgment complete."

"Mission System: When maintenance personnel enter a Dream World, the Main Brain will list zero to multiple missions based on the current Dream World. Accepting missions will grant rewards. Rewards are categorized into Dream World physical items, permission upgrades, information interaction, attribute enhancement, points acquisition, and other items."

"Missions are divided into two major categories: optional and mandatory. Maintenance personnel decide for themselves whether to accept optional missions, while mandatory missions must be completed."

"Corresponding to rewards are penalties. Once a mission fails, various penalties will be imposed."

"Custody System: Maintenance personnel can consume points to place a Dream World into custody. The Main Brain will suppress the Dream World for thirty days on their behalf. The lower the baseline reality of the Dream World, the more points are required. This is intended to help maintenance personnel who have established a large number of low-level shelters gain extra time to go to Dream Worlds with lower baseline realities to become stronger."

"Points System: Points can be obtained through missions. Points can be used at the Main Brain for custody services and to upgrade permissions."

"The points system is currently in a trial run. In the future, options such as physical item exchange and reward exchange may be added."

After listening to the Main Brain's introduction, Wu Pifu carefully analyzed all the information regarding these three major items.

The mission system was very simple and clear. It didn't seem any different from the "Main God" systems in the infinite-flow novels he had read before. There were rewards and penalties, side missions and main missions. The specific situation was still unclear, but in any case, this was a good thing... it should be a good thing, right?

Compared to the uncertainty of the mission system, the custody system was truly a good thing.

These ten days of vacation had made Wu Pifu feel very comfortable. He no longer felt the intense, tightly-wound tension he had experienced before.

Before this, the pressure of the Nightmares, the pressure of the time spent guarding the Dream World, and even the simplest problem of eating—all of these had weighed heavily on Wu Pifu's heart, like a spring being pressed tighter and tighter, making it difficult to even catch his breath.

But with the custody system, for Dream Worlds like Castlevania, or even more difficult ones, there was at least a chance to catch one's breath. If one truly couldn't win and entering meant certain death, then one could go to a weaker Dream World to earn more points, have the Main Brain take custody for a while, and then find a way to return for revenge after increasing one's strength. This was by no means a bad strategy.

Finally, there was the points system.

It was currently in a trial phase, with too few items available for exchange and points only obtainable through missions. It was just unclear whether the Main Brain would continue to update it in the future. However, this points system undoubtedly had huge potential; who knew, maybe this Main Brain would really turn into a "Main God" in the future.

"...However, is this Main Brain really something that 29th-century human technology could manufacture?"

This was Wu Pifu's biggest doubt. It was a question he had had ever since he was awakened, especially after learning that the lower the baseline reality of a Dream World, the less powerful—or even ineffective—technological weapons became. So, as a technological creation, how could the Main Brain be so powerful that it could allow them to penetrate into Dream Worlds with lower baseline realities?

"Could it be that the Main Brain is also what they call 'singularity technology'?"

Wu Pifu thought for a long time without finding an answer. He could only skip this topic and see if he could find an intelligence-type teammate later, someone like Xu Shilan, to let them do the thinking.

After confirming the Main Brain's upgrade information, the next thing Wu Pifu had to do was awaken new maintenance personnel. This was something he had wanted to do before the Main Brain's upgrade. What if he hit the jackpot?

For example, if he got three or four people at the level of Chu Minghao, he could just lie back and win, win, win.

"A total of eight people can be awakened. I hope my luck is good."

This time, Wu Pifu didn't bother with the "washing hands" ritual. After all, superstition couldn't change bad luck, and paying to win couldn't change fate. He accepted that he was an "African chief" (unlucky person). He decided to just go for brute force—awakening eight newcomers at once. No matter what, he should get one or two SSRs, right?

They didn't need to be too strong. Even if he didn't dare to hope for someone like Chu Minghao, he should at least get teammates at the level of Yamadai and Xu Shilan, right?

"Main Brain, awaken maintenance personnel... awaken them one by one."

As Wu Pifu began to awaken the maintenance personnel, hibernation pods immediately emerged from the metal deck.

Accompanied by Wu Pifu's expectant gaze, several tentacles stretched out from the hibernation pod, waving wildly, and then these tentacles reached out toward Wu Pifu.

"Don't be angry, don't be angry, there are still seven slots left."

Wu Pifu forced himself not to be angry. He grabbed the tentacles and gave them a hard shake. The entire tentacle immediately turned into a mess. At the same time, this force quickly traveled back. In just a few seconds, all the tentacles turned into rotten flesh and fell to the ground, and then the segmented pieces vanished into smoke, along with the main body hiding in the hibernation pod, which also shattered and disappeared.

The bad start didn't affect Wu Pifu's ambition for "drawing cards." Next, the second hibernation pod rose. In Wu Pifu's expectant gaze, the tentacles enthusiastically greeted him.

"..."

Wu Pifu followed the same procedure and quickly began using the third awakening slot. "Little brother, do you remember me?"

The pink aura had just dissipated when, accompanied by Wu Pifu's punch, a pile of pink rotten flesh exploded all over the ground. Then, this pink rotten flesh also quickly dissipated into ashes.

The fourth hibernation pod, the fifth hibernation pod...

When the sixth cryo-pod emerged, Wu Pifu had already instinctively raised his fist, but then a handsome man in glasses stepped out from inside; the moment he saw Wu Pifu’s fist, he immediately raised both hands in terror.

Although the man with glasses didn't know why he had to raise his hands, the overwhelming aura of death made him make a choice out of fear.

"Liang Min! Male, 25 years old, Star Port University education, no criminal record!!" Liang Min shouted with his hands held high.

Wu Pifu and Liang Min stared at each other for a long time before Wu Pifu lowered his fist and shouted: "I won!"

Liang Min looked confused and said: "Big brother, what do you mean?"

Wu Pifu said seriously: "I am just an African, not an African chief! This is a qualitative difference! At least Africans still have a chance to smuggle themselves into Europe!"

"What, what, what?" Liang Min was even more confused.

Wu Pifu didn't care about this newcomer and just said to him: "Move aside, I'm going to continue showing off!"

!

The seventh hibernation pod also opened successfully. A black-skinned, muscular man covered in scars walked out. He had a fierce face and a cold expression. After coming out, he looked at Wu Pifu and the man with glasses, sneered, and said nothing.

Wu Pifu didn't have any objections. He continued to open the eighth awakening slot. Very quickly, the eighth hibernation pod also opened successfully. A middle-aged, ordinary-looking man walked out. He had an ordinary appearance, ordinary height, and was even a bit bald. He looked like the type you wouldn't be able to find even if you threw him into a crowd.

Looking at the three newly awakened maintenance personnel, Wu Pifu actually felt a heavy weight in his heart.

Setting aside the metaphysics of luck, judging from this situation, the pollution on Gaia was becoming increasingly serious.

More and more Nightmares were penetrating from Dream Worlds through shelters onto Gaia. Although they were blocked by metal isolation doors using purely scientific means—which was completely unscientific—the impact was undoubtedly real: the probability of maintenance personnel undergoing distortion and pollution was becoming higher.

Back when he was awakened, he heard the seniors say that there was only a very small probability of encountering distortion and pollution when awakening sleepers, and the distortion at that time wasn't as exaggerated as it was now, where they turned directly into tentacle monsters. Even his seniors could easily handle it.

Yet by the time he came to awaken newcomers, five out of the eight slots were either distorted, parasitized, or in a state of pollution-induced death.

This could only mean that the Nightmares on Gaia were already so numerous that the Main Brain was almost unable to isolate them.

(Could this be the reason for the Main Brain's upgrade?)

Wu Pifu thought about it for a while but couldn't figure it out. He only knew that he had to become stronger at a faster pace. No matter what happened, strength was the key to facing everything.

At this moment, the black-skinned muscular man sneered at Wu Pifu: "Are you the maintenance captain of our district? Fine, from now on, this captain position is mine. From now on, you all listen to my orders, understand?"

Liang Min and the middle-aged man didn't speak. Wu Pifu didn't even look at him. The black-skinned muscular man scoffed, then looked left and right. Immediately after, he saw the Samoyed, and then saw Jiu Jiu landing on the Samoyed's head. His eyes lit up, and he reached out to grab the Samoyed.

"Good stuff, dog meat! Finally, I don't have to eat that synthetic snot anymore, and there's roast bird..."

His next sentence could no longer be spoken. Wu Pifu had crossed a distance of more than 20 meters and appeared beside him. He grabbed the man's head with one hand and lifted him up. Liang Min and the middle-aged man were both blinking, their heads turning back and forth between the black-skinned muscular man and the position where Wu Pifu had just been standing.

The two of them hadn't seen at all how Wu Pifu had crossed the 20-meter distance in a flash.

Wu Pifu looked at the black-skinned muscular man with calm eyes and said: "You just said, what do you want to eat?"

The black-skinned muscular man was instantly enraged. He hit Wu Pifu in the face with an elbow, and at the same time, his feet kicked toward Wu Pifu's lower body.

Then, when his elbow hit Wu Pifu's face, the joint shattered with a "pop," and the feet he kicked out were also hanging limply, clearly either dislocated or fractured.

Wu Pifu let go of the black-skinned muscular man, and saw him wailing and clutching his elbow and feet, rolling around in agony.

Wu Pifu didn't look at this person again, but turned to look at Liang Min and the middle-aged man. He smiled and said: "Let me introduce myself first. My name is Wu Pifu, barely a senior to you. Please listen carefully to what I say next; it concerns the life and death of all of us."

"Because of the appearance of the 'Weekend,' the Dream Network has undergone a drastic change. Now, there is no more Dream Network. Replacing it are real nightmares, terrifying unknowns, Nightmares that hunt us, and death that can arrive at any time..."

"...The above is the world you and I are about to face!"