Chapter 148: Confluence (Two Chapters Combined)

(PS: This is a large chapter at noon, nearly 7,000 words, counting as two chapters combined.)

Yu Rui was not seriously injured; most of his wounds were sustained in the intestinal tract at the weak point of the curtain, and they were basically corrosive injuries.

Compared to that, jumping off a hovercar traveling at over 300 kilometers per hour was terrifying not just in terms of speed, but also height, yet he only suffered slight dislocations in a few joints.

This was simply incredible!

You have to know that at a speed of over 300 kilometers per hour, falling from a height of several dozen meters would leave an ordinary person unable to even react; hitting anything would result in a *splat* and turning into a pulp of flesh. Never mind putting yourself back together—even if you used tweezers to piece it together bit by bit, you wouldn't be able to form a complete human shape.

Yet after this whole ordeal, he only had dislocated joints. Such a situation would have been impossible even before the outbreak of the Fourth War in the 29th century!

You have to know that carbon-based nano-unit human body repair also requires ensuring a certain percentage of brain tissue integrity!

Yu Rui stared blankly at Wu Pifu, while Wu Pifu had already stopped circulating his internal energy at this moment. The mist erupting from his body dissipated. In Yu Rui's eyes, Wu Pifu was completely unscathed, his skin so smooth that pores were seemingly invisible, carrying a hint of peculiar jade-like color, not like human skin.

"... You, have you become Nightmare-ized? But why do you still have your own consciousness and thoughts?" Yu Rui asked in a deep voice.

Wu Pifu was silently feeling the various mysteries of "Holding the Dan and Sitting on the Crotch." Hearing this, he was stunned and said, "What do you mean? Nightmare-ized what?"

Yu Rui stared closely at Wu Pifu's expression. A few seconds later, he exhaled and pointed at his skin, saying, "You took that gunfire head-on, as well as Gao Si-level long-range sniper rifles. I saw with my own eyes that they hit your flesh. This isn't something that can be solved by extraordinary power, yet you are completely unscathed. And now, looking at your body, it has a jade-like or glazed quality, and even the pores are invisible. This is definitely no longer a human body!"

Wu Pifu said "Oh," and directly displayed his title: "The reason long-range attacks couldn't break my defense is because of the effect of my title..."

Yu Rui exclaimed, "What? You actually have a title? Why didn't you tell us before? You actually have a title!?"

Wu Pifu, on the contrary, was full of surprise. He wondered if this Yu Rui was making too much of a fuss.

Not to mention others, Chu Minghao had three titles. And there was also Hao Cheng, whom he met in the Demon Castle; although the meaning was unclear, it was an extremely powerful title in every sense. Wasn't this thing standard equipment for senior maintenance personnel?

Wu Pifu ignored Yu Rui's fussing. He continued to point to his own skin and flesh and said, "This is caused by my cultivation technique. This is National Martial Arts. I have already practiced to the realm of 'Holding the Dan and Sitting on the Crotch,' crossing from external techniques into the level of internal energy. If we are talking about the field of National Martial Arts, I have actually started to transform from human to immortal. After the first marrow-cleansing and tendon-changing, my body is gradually approaching perfection. It looks like it has a jade luster, but it is still skin and muscle."

However, Wu Pifu left something unsaid: besides National Martial Arts, he also practiced Human Immortal Martial Dao. If National Martial Arts were still the skills of ordinary mortals, then Human Immortal Martial Dao was truly an extraordinary realm that transcended mortal limits. Even though he had only practiced to the perfection of skin and flesh, and his tendons and membranes had just begun, his whole body's blood energy was already unlike that of a human, far beyond what the simple National Martial Arts system could imagine. This was the source of his greatest foundation.

Yu Rui just remained silent, but after hearing Wu Pifu's words, he still breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't expect Wu Pifu to ask again, "I'm asking you, why did you say I was Nightmare-ized? What does that mean?"

Yu Rui could only briefly introduce the issue of the corruptive nature of Dream World cultivation techniques.

The stronger the technique, the greater the corruption; the deeper the practice, the greater the corruption. Maintenance personnel with excessive corruption either collapse and die or mutate and die. Only a small portion of maintenance personnel transform into Nightmare-ized existences, but they are not completely Nightmares; they belong to the kind of monsters whose bodies and consciousnesses have been twisted, but they won't self-annihilate in a short time, making them even more dangerous and terrifying.

Wu Pifu knew absolutely nothing about this information, which left him in a state of astonishment.

Because he had practiced the three major techniques—National Martial Arts, Human Immortal Martial Dao, and the Iron Refining Record—and had succeeded in all of them. Even the National Martial Arts had been practiced to an extremely high realm, yet he hadn't felt any so-called corruption...

However, thinking and thinking, Wu Pifu fell into silence.

No, there was corruption, but he had subconsciously not thought in that direction!

At the beginning, when he obtained the Tiger Demon Technique, he would feel irritable and have all kinds of auditory and visual hallucinations as soon as he practiced. But it just so happened that the introduction to the Tiger Demon Technique mentioned distracting thoughts and demonic thoughts, so he thought this was the negative effect of the Tiger Demon Technique. But thinking about it carefully, mere distracting thoughts and demonic thoughts wouldn't be so exaggerated. So... did he stumble into practicing the Tiger Demon Technique directly and cultivate the "Sleepless Spiritual Light," which is why he was immune to the negative effects?

It might not just be that; there was also "Death Return." This effect was likely extremely powerful, causing his soul to directly become Rank Two.

Wu Pifu was silent for a long time before saying, "Regardless, I am undoubtedly human."

Yu Rui smiled bitterly, "No, you can't be considered human anymore, okay?"

Wu Pifu was speechless. He looked at the large number of searchlight beams in the distance and said, "What do we do next? Looking at the situation, the rebels have completely imposed martial law. Those maintenance personnel from the New Human Revolutionary Army must also be hiding. Is there any way to find them?"

Yu Rui had also collected his emotions by this time. He simply snapped all his dislocated joints back into place before standing beside Wu Pifu and saying, "It's a bit troublesome. Originally, according to the plan, we were to arrive secretly and then find a way to contact some figures among the rebels, while simultaneously finding the lurking personnel or locations of the government army, so we could quickly locate the King. But after this mess, many of the original plans have been disrupted."

"Hey, don't blame me for this." Wu Pifu immediately complained, "We crashed directly into the weak point of the curtain. If I hadn't fought, you would have been dead for sure. And when we landed, I was forced to start fighting; it's not like I wanted it to be like this!"

"No, I'm not blaming you."

Yu Rui said seriously, "On the contrary, I want to thank you for saving my life. And this information is very important. It's likely not that our car crashed into the weak point of the curtain—after all, the probability of that is too small—the greatest possibility is that our car itself became a weak point of the curtain... We must tell everyone this information immediately!"

Wu Pifu looked at Yu Rui. Yu Rui thought for a moment and said, "Let's find a safe and hidden spot first. When it's white, there will be a lot of things to do..."

The two of them disappeared into the small alley.

On the other side, the various maintenance squads, maintenance teams, and individual maintenance personnel who had arrived in this capital basically all knew about this sudden battle. Unlike what the people of this world guessed—that it was an ultra-small humanoid mecha—they naturally knew that the technological level of this world couldn't produce such mechas or robots, so the direction they guessed was basically all the same... Nightmare!

A Nightmare had penetrated the weak point of the curtain and arrived in the real world!

"... Based on the currently known information, the Nightmare has the following characteristics."

"First, the Nightmare possesses a physical body and belongs to the humanoid monster category. Its corruption, corrosiveness, and mutation properties are unknown."

"Second, the Nightmare possesses extremely exaggerated speed and strength and is suspected of having spatial characteristics. See the screenshot at the third second of the video: it crashed into a building wall from a high-speed falling state, but the building wall was not pierced; instead, it underwent an angular deflection. It is suspected to have spatial characteristics."

"Third, the Nightmare possesses defensive strength beyond the limit. From the video and screenshots, it can be seen that conventional weapons and Gao Si-level sniper weapons cause no damage to it, failing to break its defense. They didn't even break the skin; they just grazed the skin. It is currently unclear whether this defense is targeted at technological weapons or if it also targets extraordinary power."

"Fourth, the Nightmare is suspected of possessing deformation, parasitism, corruption, or similar special attributes. From the human it was carrying in its hand, it can be seen that this is likely the Nightmare's bait."

"Synthesizing the above characteristics, this Nightmare should be a Level Three Nightmare, possessing intelligence characteristics, derivative attributes, and is extremely powerful!"

Gao Zhanggong held a conference call with other teams and squad maintenance personnel who could be contacted. They reported the situation and made some agreements, but regarding how to solve this Nightmare, everyone was at a loss.

After discussing for a long time, everyone had only one choice... temporarily remain silent and wait for the New Human Revolutionary Army maintenance personnel to make a move. In this way, not only could they let the Nightmare and the New Human Revolutionary Army clash head-on, but regardless of who won or lost, it would be beneficial to them.

And the goal of all teams and squads collectively shifted from investigating the traces of the New Human Revolutionary Army to searching for the whereabouts of the King, the Prince, and the Princess, as well as searching for individual maintenance personnel in the capital, telling them the situation, and gathering them, which could also be considered a force.

"... This is our current plan." Gao Zhanggong said to the four maintenance squads under him.

These four maintenance squads came from four districts. Gao Zhanggong's squad was in District A, Sector 666. Then he opened an isolation wall on Gaia, eliminated some monsters in the surrounding area, and liberated the three sectors of 667, 668, and 669. Currently, he was the commander-in-chief of these four squads.

Gao Zhanggong instructed: "Squad 666 has the strongest overall strength and experience, so they are responsible for investigating the whereabouts of the King, the Prince, and the Princess. Sector 668 will be the base camp, and Hao Yunfeng will be the deputy commander... Hao Yunfeng! I seriously warn you, don't drink anymore. It was fine before, but you understand the situation now. One slip-up and we all die. A Level Three Nightmare! Are you going to fight a Level Three Nightmare with a sword!?"

Hao Yunfeng also had a serious expression. He nodded solemnly and said, "Okay, in this sudden incident, I guarantee I won't drink, and I also guarantee the safety of this base camp!"

Gao Zhanggong stared at Hao Yunfeng for several seconds before nodding with satisfaction, then continued: "Squads 668 and 669 will execute patrol missions, using the entire capital circle as the patrol point. First, observe the rebel troops; second, pay attention to all individual maintenance personnel. After making contact, guide them to the camouflage point, and I will personally contact them to confirm their faction affiliation and whether they are qualified. That is all!"

"Everyone, move out!"

The mission was very clear, and the four teams began their actions separately.

Among them, Squad 669 was a team that had just been liberated by Gao Zhanggong. The maintenance team in its original area had long been wiped out, and the area was occupied by Nightmare-like creatures. It wasn't until Gao Zhanggong liberated it that the maintenance personnel in this sector were awakened, so their strength was very weak, and there were many newcomers. Among the six people, two were entering the Dream World for the first time.

The six people acted together, disguising themselves as three couples, consisting of one man and one woman, two men, and two women...

It wasn't that they wanted to divide themselves like this on purpose; it was really because the two newcomers were hard to lead, so they could only have the two oldest veterans in the team lead the two newcomers. As a result, such a bizarre combination appeared.

Among them, the combination of one man and one woman looked the most natural, so their street patrol points were closer to the city center, and more than half of their attention was focused on the rebels. At the same time, both of them carried pinhole spy camera devices, which could record the movements of the rebels and other things that might be needed at any time.

Then, at noon, they encountered a sudden incident.

Two men were targeted by a rebel patrol squad, but they themselves seemed unaware and just walked into a small alley, while three rebel secret agents followed them into the alley.

This kind of thing was happening all the time throughout the capital. The rebel secret agents were acting like crazy, searching everywhere for any information about the royal family. And these two men were wandering aimlessly without any disguise like tourists or couples, so it was only natural that they were targeted.

The two people from Squad 669 were sitting on the side, affectionately feeding each other sweets. Both of them saw this scene, and the man said: "Use your peripheral vision, don't stare directly, be careful. There is a secret agent at seven o'clock."

The woman was clearly a newcomer. She immediately lowered her eyebrows and said "Mm."

The man said: "This kind of thing often happens during wartime... I have seen the Fourth War with my own eyes. Everyone went crazy, and human life was the least valuable thing. We can't do anything about it, so don't look or think about it. Just focus on completing our mission."

The woman still said "Mm."

Then...

Those two men walked out of the alley in a swaggering manner, while the three secret agents seemed to have disappeared.

The man and woman of Squad 669 were stunned for several seconds. Then they saw secret agents around reporting something, and then they walked toward the two people. And the two people entered the alley again... When the two people came out of the alley for the fifth time, there were no more secret agents around, but instead, the sound of rebel patrol whistles rang out in the distance.

"Maintenance personnel!"

The man immediately said: "These two are maintenance personnel. They are probably trying to find the whereabouts of the New Human Revolutionary Army. Stupid! Won't they be easily surrounded and killed like this? Let's go, find a way to notify them and guide them to a safe point!"

The man and woman immediately took action. They quickly left the square and secretly followed the two people from a distance. And those two people also left the vicinity of the square, avoiding the encirclement of the patrol squad, and then they found another alley and began to perform their clumsy, sneaky act.

The man and woman looked at each other. Taking advantage of the fact that no secret agents had arrived in this street block, they quickly entered the alley. As soon as they entered, they saw one of the two unknown maintenance personnel lightly wave his arm and walk toward them.

The man from Squad 669 immediately said: "Gaia!"

The two people in front were clearly stunned for a moment. The man from Squad 669 didn't care and said directly: "I have a car. Get in the car. We'll talk later!"

Very quickly, the man drove a small car to a nearby street block, and the two people didn't hesitate and quickly got into the small car. Then, before the secret agents could discover them, the man drove the small car away quickly.

The man and woman of Squad 669 both breathed a sigh of relief. The woman immediately said to the two people in the back seat: "You're also from Gaia, right? We are too."

The two men looked at each other. One said: "Let's introduce ourselves. Wu Pifu, and this one beside me is Yu Rui."

The man said: "Aslan."

!

The woman said: "Xiao Tianbaihe."

Wu Pifu looked at the two with a very speechless gaze, and Yu Rui beside him immediately asked: "Do you have any progress on your side? Have you found the traces of the New Human Revolutionary Army maintenance personnel? What about the royal family of this country?"

Upon hearing this, Aslan immediately said with some resentment: "Not much progress, but... there's no one like you guys, running directly to the street to do performance art? You actually attacked secret agents directly. What were you thinking, buddy?"

Yu Rui looked at Wu Pifu with an inexplicable gaze. Wu Pifu laughed and said: "We were just anxious. The damage to the curtain has already reached one percent. Heaven knows if it was caused by this coup. I just thought that if we could solve it quickly, we should solve this turmoil as quickly as possible."

Upon hearing this, Aslan had a slight change of opinion about the two maintenance personnel behind him. He sighed and said: "It's a good thing to have a sense of responsibility, but you also have to cherish your lives. Do what you are capable of... However, the commander-in-chief will definitely like young people like you."

"Commander-in-chief?"

Wu Pifu and Yu Rui asked curiously.

Xiao Tianbaihe smiled and said: "The sector we are in was liberated by the commander-in-chief leading people. Otherwise, we probably would never be able to wake up, or if we did, we would be in a state of mutation, corrosion, or parasitism."

Wu Pifu immediately thought of his terrible card-drawing... no, awakening result. Eight spots, and in the end, only three people survived. He asked urgently: "Do you mean to say that in a situation where there are a large number of monster Nightmares blocked in the surrounding area, awakening newcomers will lead to mutation, corrosion, or parasitism?"

Xiao Tianbaihe and Aslan looked at each other and saw confusion in each other's eyes. Aslan said: "Isn't this common sense? And there aren't that many awakening spots to try."

Wu Pifu immediately sighed and beat his legs with his hands, looking like he regretted not doing it sooner.

Xiao Tianbaihe seemed to have misunderstood something and comforted him: "Don't be sad. The dead cannot return. We still have to look to the future."

Aslan also said: "I will take you to our commander-in-chief's temporary base now. The commander-in-chief will meet you personally... He likes people with a sense of responsibility. Don't talk too much about your reckless behavior before. The situation is very special now. Individual maintenance personnel are prone to accidents. It's best to stay in our main team. Do you understand?"

Wu Pifu naturally nodded repeatedly, while Yu Rui had a look of wanting to say something but stopping.

Regardless, they followed the two to a building in a slum on the edge of the city. After driving into the underground parking garage, the two took them to a room on the second floor and told them to wait there, then the two left quickly.

Wu Pifu smiled and said to Yu Rui: "They are not bad people; they can be considered good people."

Yu Rui said angrily: "They just don't know you're planning to do something big!"

At this time, a handsome and tall middle-aged man walked in. He was slightly stunned when he saw the two and said immediately: "Yu Rui, are you Yu Rui?"

Yu Rui was stunned. He looked at the middle-aged man carefully and then said happily: "Is it Director Gao? How did you wake up too?"

Gao Zhanggong immediately came to the two enthusiastically. He pulled over a chair, sat on one himself, and let Yu Rui and Wu Pifu sit on one each, then said: "I am also a maintenance personnel, so shouldn't I wake up now?"

Yu Rui was stunned again. He immediately asked urgently: "Director Gao, that shouldn't be. How did you become a maintenance personnel?"

Gao Zhanggong sighed and said: "During the Valentine's Day incident of the Fourth War, I was responsible for the scheduling of the 16th Star Port. Because the Valentine's Day incident broke out, in order to save more people, I distributed Earth Star Port visas as much as possible within my authority. This matter was exposed after the war, and then I was sentenced to the deprivation of citizenship and became a maintenance personnel. However, I am a Level Three maintenance personnel, which is some face left for me by some old friends."

Yu Rui nodded. Seeing Wu Pifu's ignorant look beside him, he explained: "The promotion of titles is very difficult, at least before the Dream World appeared. Level One maintenance personnel, Level Two maintenance personnel, Level Three maintenance personnel, and then Level One citizen. In theory, if we complete our maintenance work and our lifespan is coming to an end, we can be promoted to Level Two maintenance personnel. If there is a major contribution, we might be promoted to Level Three maintenance personnel. This is a very difficult thing."

Gao Zhanggong also discovered that Wu Pifu seemed to be a newcomer. He also explained gently: "So although I was also sentenced to be a maintenance personnel, I am a Level Three maintenance personnel. If I am lucky and Gaia arrives at the new home after thousands of years of sailing, I can return as a Level One citizen."

Speaking of this, Wu Pifu naturally understood. This person could be considered a relation-based hire, but he seemed to be a good person.

Gao Zhanggong asked Yu Rui at this time: "So, where is Special Agent Yu working now?"

Yu Rui smiled bitterly and said: "I am in District C, Sector 1611, living with two other teammates... also struggling to survive."

Gao Zhanggong hesitated for a moment and said: "I am in District A, Sector 666, two districts away from you... It's troublesome..."

Yu Rui smiled and said: "It's okay. I get along well with my two new teammates. They are also capable people, so there's no problem surviving for the time being."

Gao Zhanggong nodded and then said seriously: "Since it's you, then there's definitely no problem. I happen to be lacking an expert familiar with this kind of experience here."

Yu Rui immediately asked: "How is the situation now?"

Gao Zhanggong said: "Very bad. All information about the New Human Revolutionary Army is still unknown. How many specific personnel there are, where they are, and what they actually want to do are currently completely unknown. At the same time, there is no news from the royal family. This is exactly when I need you to take action. I have four squads and twenty-something people here. I can allocate ten people to you, and you can lead the team yourself to find news about the royal family as soon as possible. How about it?"

Yu Rui naturally nodded and agreed, but he still asked strangely: "Only news about the royal family? What about the rebels?"

Gao Zhanggong's face immediately became serious. He looked left and right, then whispered: "You and this newcomer are probably individual maintenance personnel and don't know the situation... Don't be scared after I tell you."

Yu Rui glanced at Wu Pifu, thinking, what else could scare me?

Gao Zhanggong didn't notice this and said: "A Level Three Nightmare has appeared in the capital circle!"

"Level Three Nightmare!?"

Yu Rui and Wu Pifu exclaimed at the same time.

Gao Zhanggong nodded seriously: "Yes, that's right! A Level Three Nightmare, and its destructiveness might even be above that of a Level Three Nightmare! I won't go into details. Time is urgent now. We must find the royal family before the New Human Revolutionary Army does anything and before that Level Three Nightmare erupts!"

Yu Rui and Wu Pifu were both extremely solemn. Yu Rui looked at Wu Pifu and said: "Can you beat a Level Three Nightmare?"

Wu Pifu immediately shouted: "Don't joke. A Level Two Nightmare can kill me, okay? What do you think extraordinary power is? Divine power, or invincible power?"

Wu Pifu immediately thought of the Level Two Nightmare in the 0.8 baseline reality world where all the old seniors died. He had almost been killed by it several times in a row, and in the end, it was only because the mute girl saved him twice that he survived.

A Level Three Nightmare. Even though his strength had increased by so much, he would absolutely not think he could rival a Level Three Nightmare.

Gao Zhanggong listened to their conversation and looked at Wu Pifu with surprise and appreciation: "You are also someone who has practiced cultivation techniques? Your corruption resistance is good. This is also a kind of aptitude. And this young man is right. Extraordinary power is extraordinary power, and Nightmares are Nightmares. Don't think that because we have practiced cultivation techniques, we can fight Nightmares. That Nightmare can even ignore Gao Si-level sniper weapons!"

Upon hearing this, Yu Rui and Wu Pifu felt even heavier in their hearts.

A Level Three Nightmare that can ignore Gao Si-level sniper weapons within the curtain...

"Okay!"

Yu Rui said: "We will join your team together!"

"We must resolve this crisis before this Level Three Nightmare erupts, otherwise we will definitely die!"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 149 =====