Chapter 3

"Although we have built the Gaia, our technology cannot support the survival of the existing 3.6 billion humans in space for 8,000 years, not even counting the growth of the newborn population. Let alone 8,000 years, even 800 years might be impossible."

"So we must let the vast majority of people enter stasis hibernation chambers to be frozen. Not ordinary hibernation chambers, but stasis hibernation chambers. Except for the mothership maintenance personnel, the vast majority of people must spend 8,000 years in stasis hibernation chambers."

"But we all know that even the freezing of stasis hibernation chambers only freezes the body's metabolism; the brain's neurons are still running at a slow speed. This is why all manuals and safety notices regarding stasis hibernation chambers state that one must not be frozen for more than 50 years at a time. This means the most terrifying torture in the world, bar none!"

"When an individual enters a stasis hibernation chamber for more than 50 years, the brain begins to perceive the existence of dreams, and their consciousness will begin to wake up. At this time, their consciousness will be trapped in a void with no perception, no light, and nothing at all. This is a very terrifying torture. After 24 hours, it may cause hallucinations, and after 72 hours, it will cause mental collapse. But with the United Dream World, when their consciousness wakes up, they can enter the United Dream World, and when their consciousness is tired, they can enter their own hibernation dream. In this way, let alone 8,000 years, as long as the system, energy, and Gaia continue to run, they can be safe and sound for 80,000 years!"

"The principle of dreams is that when the human brain is in a dormant state, parts of it are still running. The dream-making brain tissue of 3.6 billion people is actually a very huge amount of computation, its magnitude even exceeding the Gaia master control supercomputer 'Mainframe' by a thousand or ten thousand times. So we need to build a computing link system dedicated to stasis hibernation chambers, utilizing this spare computing power to build a United Dream World."

"The only thing needed is... maintenance personnel, maintenance personnel who are willing to spend at least half their lives in narrow metal corridors, looking at the pitch-black space outside the window, and are willing to sacrifice themselves!"

"And this is actually a violation of the Human Rights Constitution. No one has the right to deprive citizens of their right to life and property, even criminals... So, either make them willing, or make them have no choice. Gentlemen, what I mean is, for those 'Future Ones' who were frozen in the past, or whose bodies were stripped away leaving only their brains, I think it's time for the government to cure them."

Wu Pifu opened his eyes.

It was about six o'clock in the morning. Since he started practicing the Tiger Demon Art a year ago, he would wake up at this time every day.

Wu Pifu stood up and looked around. The mute little nun hadn't returned. Perhaps this wasn't her residence?

Wu Pifu didn't delay. He dissipated the memories of signing the maintenance contract in the dream and started walking out of the room. He didn't enter the square, but stood under the eaves, took a deep breath, and opened his mouth wide to start swallowing.

He seemed to swallow a fist-sized, substantial object. It was difficult from his mouth to his throat; his throat even bulged, and he swallowed this "bead" from his throat into his abdomen, then moved it bit by bit toward his dantian.

At this moment, blood surged. He closed his eyes, his mind filled with distracting thoughts, but his body naturally controlled the circulation of blood, from the dantian to the torso, from the torso to the limbs, circling the whole body and returning to the dantian. This was one cycle of breathing in the Tiger Demon Art.

After three consecutive cycles of breathing, Wu Pifu opened his eyes. By now, the sky was bright; judging by the time, it was about 7:30. Then he saw the mute little nun walking out from a hall in the distance that looked slightly better, then she went to a building at the other end of the square, and then she walked quickly toward the room where Wu Pifu was, holding a large bowl.

Seeing Wu Pifu standing under the eaves at the door, the mute little nun's figure paused for at least three or four seconds before she walked to Wu Pifu with a stiff figure. She lowered her head deeply, then tremblingly handed the coarse pottery bowl in her hand to Wu Pifu.

Wu Pifu didn't show any strangeness. He took the coarse pottery bowl and drank a large mouthful, about one-third of the bowl, and then he said gently to the mute little nun: "This is your daily food, right? You didn't drink a drop of water yesterday. You drink the rest."

The mute little nun raised her head slightly, then shook her head gently.

Wu Pifu directly stuffed the coarse pottery bowl into her hand and said, "Don't worry, I'll leave tomorrow."

The mute little nun's body trembled, and she actually took the coarse pottery bowl and started drinking the porridge in small sips.

Only after the mute little nun finished drinking did Wu Pifu stand on the stake and wave his fist forward with one hand, saying, "I'll find a way to get some money tomorrow. Are you willing to leave this nunnery with me?"

The mute little nun raised her head in surprise. When she saw Wu Pifu's serious eyes, she immediately lowered her head again. After a long while, she first shook her head, then nodded, and then large tears rolled down from her eyes.

Wu Pifu came from the 21st century after all, and he had lived until after 2877, so he had his own judgments about many things.

First of all, the mute little nun was not being forced into prostitution, although she was dressed in rags, lived in a damp and dilapidated place, and only ate thin porridge.

But this was ancient times, and this was a nunnery.

Unless it was a large Buddhist temple, a famous religious site, a religious place favored by high officials and nobles, or a time when religion was rampant, the bottom-level monks, Daoist priests, and nuns actually lived very poorly.

That she could have a place to live, clothes to keep warm, and a meal to survive on was already better than countless people in ancient times.

Who would treat someone like that if they were forcing them into prostitution?

A "Masked Nunnery."

It was actually just poor ancient women who couldn't survive and became nuns, but even after becoming nuns, they couldn't survive, so they had to become secret prostitutes. This was the "Masked Nunnery" of ancient times.

Wu Pifu could see that the little nun's complexion was not good, and her figure was thin and small. He estimated her age to be only fifteen or sixteen.

Either she was a girl who couldn't survive after fleeing from disaster, or she was an abandoned baby taken in by the nunnery out of kindness.

"You don't have to answer now."

Wu Pifu focused on practicing, saying, "I'm penniless now, but I have a way to make money. Everything can wait until I make money. Don't worry, the grace of saving my life is greater than heaven. As long as I have a bite to eat, I will absolutely not let you go hungry. I'll find a way to get some money tomorrow."

The mute little nun couldn't speak, only tears flowed down. Then she sat on the threshold and watched Wu Pifu practice. Neither of them spoke. Gradually, the sun reached the middle of the sky, and suddenly, chirping sounds came.

Wu Pifu continued to practice without moving, while the mute little nun suddenly stood up from the threshold, walked outside the eaves, and held out one hand to the sky. At this moment, a palm-sized emerald-green bird landed, directly in the mute little nun's palm, and began to peck at her palm.

Those were a few dried beans of some kind, which the bird pecked clean. Then the bird didn't fly away, but flew to the mute little nun's shoulder and chirped at her.

The mute little nun smiled for the first time, looking at the bird and laughing gently.

Nothing happened that day. Wu Pifu was fully recovering his physical condition, and the mute little nun couldn't speak.

Gradually, the sunset faded, and when the residual sun was dragging, there was the sound of drums in the nunnery.

The mute little nun looked at Wu Pifu, took out a string of wooden Buddhist beads from the room, and went straight to the main hall in the square.

Calling it a main hall, it was actually just a slightly larger pillar hall, also dilapidated. Wu Pifu saw ten or so nuns gathered inside. Some of them looked at him and pointed, but apart from that, they didn't do anything else. The mute little nun lowered her head and mixed in among them.

Wu Pifu didn't practice anymore, just lay down in the room and forced himself to fall asleep.

But halfway through his sleep, a noisy sound arose. Wu Pifu's eyes opened abruptly, and he strode out of the room and ran toward a row of wooden houses next to the square.

Outside one of the wooden houses, a dark-skinned man was pulling at the mute little nun's waist clothes. He first slapped the mute little nun in the face, then scolded, "Calling you 'Reverend' on weekdays is enough; do you really think you are a Reverend? Only places like the Chaoyin Nunnery have real Reverends. You little bitch, how dare you climb on top of your grandfather?"

As he spoke, he slapped the mute little nun again, knocking her to the ground.

Four or five nuns stood around, all trembling like quails, but they didn't dare to speak, didn't dare to step forward, and didn't even dare to offer the slightest obstruction.

The dark-skinned man was still not satisfied. He walked a few steps to the mute little nun's side, raised his foot, and was about to kick her in the stomach.

The mute little nun just closed her eyes, bit her lip until it bled, and her whole body tightened.

But the expected excruciating pain didn't come. When she opened her eyes, she saw that the dark-skinned man's kick had been blocked by someone. That person was standing between her and the dark-skinned man, with broad shoulders and a tall figure. The mute little nun, who hadn't shed tears just now, suddenly had large tears falling down. She immediately made anxious "ah-ah" sounds.

The dark-skinned man was also surprised. He kicked, but it was blocked by a man with one hand. No, this was a one-armed man. He immediately clamored, "Where did this rascal come from, daring to block your Grandpa Niu? Grandpa, I... ah ah, let go, let go!"

In terms of figure, Wu Pifu was 1.8 meters tall, at least a head and a half taller than this dark-skinned man. In terms of physique, the two were similar, but Wu Pifu looked thinner, as the Tiger Demon Art he had stimulated to escape had consumed too much of his blood.

But Wu Pifu had National Art after all. His palm tightened suddenly, like steel pliers, gripping the dark-skinned man's foot. With a little force, it seemed as if even the bones were about to be crushed.

Although the dark-skinned man looked big and burly, at this moment he immediately began to beg for mercy, shouting for the hero to spare his life.

Wu Pifu looked at the nuns around him, let go of the dark-skinned man, and just said in a low voice, "Get lost!"

The dark-skinned man took back his foot, not daring to say another word, not even daring to leave behind the usual "I'll be back" threats of a rascal. He lowered his head and scurried out of the nunnery.

After the rascal ran far away, the few nuns dared to help the mute little nun up. At this time, they began to talk all at once. One nun said to Wu Pifu, "You told the little mute you would take her away, right?"

Wu Pifu nodded seriously.

Another nun said, "How will you take her away? Look at your injury, look at you, you're a fugitive. How can she go with you?"

Another nun also said at the same time, "She's starting to save herself for you, but what else can we do if we don't do this? Can we only starve to death?"

Wu Pifu didn't say a word. He didn't even have the thought of answering. He just said to the few nuns, "Take good care of her, I will have my own rewards later."

After saying that, he actually walked straight out of the nunnery, striding in the direction the dark-skinned man had left.

Why didn't the dark-skinned man dare to say even a few words?

Because the rascals in this village had truly seen some things. He recognized a type of person he couldn't afford to provoke. It wasn't just that he couldn't afford to provoke them; he didn't even want to say a word to such people. Just having such people in front of him made his legs tremble.

It was the kind of person who had killed people and seen blood.

Wu Pifu had not only killed people, but he had killed more than one or two.

At this moment, his eyes were full of killing intent, and the night was dark and the wind was high.

It was a night for killing!

(End of chapter)