Chapter 47: Lost

After Chu Minghao finished all this, he acted as if nothing had happened. Without explaining, he remained smiling, led the three to a restaurant, threw out two strings of copper coins, and was led to a private room by the waiter.

Xu Shilan observed all this silently. She sat down and said, "Very skilled. How many level shelters have you set up in this dream world?"

"None."

Chu Minghao smiled and poured tea for the three, then ordered dishes from the waiter before saying, "I came to find you. I only arrived a day earlier than you, yesterday."

The three were confused. Xu Shilan had a history with Chu Minghao, so she naturally asked, "What do you mean? Long time no see, when did you become such a charlatan?"

"No, no, I just haven't started explaining yet."

Chu Minghao took a mirror from his bosom. "I used this to find the three of you. This is a magic mirror, a fantasy object with incredible power. The power of this magic mirror is threefold: prediction, searching, and positioning."

Su Xing’s heart stirred, thinking of his magic conch...

People are truly incomparable; goods are incomparable. Look at his cool, radiant sword light, look at his awesome magic mirror, then think of his amateur skills and that long-winded magic conch...

Chu Minghao placed the magic mirror on the table. "Miss Xu, I didn't come specifically for you. I didn't even know you had woken up. I’m just looking for all the maintenance staff who are still alive, in every major district and every sub-district."

Xu Shilan immediately said, "Don't give me that. You’re a Level 7 citizen with authority second only to the President. You even have a share of the main brain. Since you’ve woken up, you can activate Gaia’s internal defense system at any time, or open any isolation wall. Can't you just find us in reality? Or are you worried about the grotesqueries outside the isolation walls? Sending a public announcement wouldn't be difficult, right?"

"I can't." Chu Minghao smiled bitterly. He weighed his words. "The main brain rejected my authorization request. It’s not that it doesn't recognize me as a Level 7 citizen, but... the main brain has a problem."

Su Xing, Amadai, and Xu Shilan were all suspicious. They looked at each other, and Xu Shilan asked, "What’s wrong with the main brain? Don't tell me about intelligent awakening or a machine crisis. You and I both know what the main brain is; such a thing is impossible! And if it really happened, we would have died long ago. How could the main brain still be taking us through the dream world?"

"It’s not that." Chu Minghao seemed very conflicted. He weighed his words for a long time before shaking his head. "No, I really can't tell you... Let’s put it this way: with the upheaval of the dream network caused by the 'Weekend', and the birth of the dream world, knowledge, information, and secrets all possess pollution. Although the information about the main brain’s problem is just my speculation, with your strength, I’m afraid you can't bear it."

Xu Shilan’s expression changed immediately. She said hurriedly, "Memes!? Did the Ninth Company do it!?"

"No, no, it’s not memes."

Chu Minghao’s expression was extremely conflicted. He sighed. "It’s pollution, pollution caused by the 'Weekend'."

Xu Shilan didn't ask about this anymore, because she knew Chu Minghao very well. He was sincere, but his principles were very strong—if it worked, it worked; if it didn't, it didn't. Since he wouldn't say, he definitely wouldn't.

Xu Shilan asked something else. "So, you’re also trapped on Gaia?"

Chu Minghao shook his head. "Not exactly, but for some reason, I can't stay on Gaia—that is, the 1.0 baseline reality world—for long, so I can't contribute to liberating Gaia’s isolated areas. That has to depend on you, on all the maintenance staff."

At this time, the waiter began to serve dishes, so Chu Minghao stopped talking. After the waiters left, Chu Minghao said directly, "Aside from some taboo information, I can say other things... for example, the remnants of the Thirteen Singularity Group and the remnants of the Human Revolutionary Alliance are hunting me down."

Xu Shilan was full of disbelief. "Impossible! The core of the Human Revolutionary Alliance and the Thirteen Singularity Group perished together! I witnessed it all with my own eyes!"

"I witnessed it too, and I thought they were gone, but..."

Chu Minghao patted the sword box behind him, and a ball of white light emerged, forming a spherical object above the dining table. As the object zoomed in, the crowd finally saw what it was... Gaia, the Gaia ship carrying humans for interstellar migration.

Chu Minghao pointed at the white light, and the image changed to a small area beside the Gaia ship. As the view zoomed in, several spheres were actually following Gaia in space.

"According to my investigation, the remnants of the Singularity Group built a miniature Gaia and hid it in Gaia’s quantum overlap zone, following it all the way. I haven't found the whereabouts of the Human Revolutionary Alliance remnants, but they are either hiding in the dream world or in the core area of the main brain."

Xu Shilan looked at the image formed by the white light and clicked her tongue. "They didn't fight?"

Chu Minghao laughed. "How could they not fight? Both sides fought until their brains were splattered. While tracking the remnants of the two major forces, I found at least a dozen corpses of core figures from both sides."

Xu Shilan hesitated. "Then... what about 'his' corpse?" Chu Minghao’s expression darkened. He shook his head. "Not found. The people from the Singularity Group are also desperately tracking 'him', but you know, 'he' couldn't be killed so easily."

Xu Shilan just gritted her teeth, pain and hatred appearing on her face.

Chu Minghao was silent.

At this time, Su Xing suddenly extended his chopsticks and picked up a piece of meat. He chewed it a few times and swallowed it before saying, "So, Chu Minghao, is there something important you came to find us maintenance staff for?"

Chu Minghao smiled brightly. "I’m here to help you. All maintenance staff are the objects of my help. If you haven't set up a shelter, I will lead you to set up your first shelter in a relatively safe 0.8 or 0.7 baseline reality world. If you have already set up your first shelter, I will provide you with important intelligence support, or help you eliminate danger when I arrive."

"The reason?"

Su Xing continued to question. "Pie in the sky? Helping us without any benefit? I don't believe it."

Chu Minghao was frank. He admitted directly, "It’s definitely not completely free. I need you to stay alive, or to be more blunt, I need enough living people on Gaia!"

Amadai, like Su Xing, began to eat and drink without restraint. He also spoke without restraint. "I don't believe it either. To put it bluntly, we are maintenance staff. To the main brain, to you citizens, we are consumables. Don't tell me about your selfless love. Maybe you are a good person, an idealistic fool, but these are still not reasons."

Chu Minghao didn't get angry; instead, he looked at Su Xing and Amadai with appreciative eyes.

"Because this is also saving myself. If you have viewed the Gaia map through the main brain, you should have discovered that some areas are already devoid of people. The maintenance staff there have been wiped out. According to my investigation, as the Gaia of the real world is gradually cleared, we humans will be doomed." Chu Minghao said sternly.

!

The three of them looked at each other, and Xu Shilan asked, "Specifically? In what way doomed?"

Chu Minghao weighed his words. "The 'Weekend's', human civilization's, and every individual human's."

Xu Shilan said immediately, "I haven't experienced the 'Weekend' or anything, I don't know what that is, but human civilization's... Chu Minghao, haven't you given up on your unrealistic dreams yet? Saying you want to correct all humans, saying you want to stop all disputes in the world, saying you want to bridge the pain and hatred in everyone’s heart. And the result?"

"So I gave up."

Chu Minghao smiled brightly, his white teeth even reflecting light. He even gave a thumbs up.

Seeing this, Su Xing and Amadai’s favor for Chu Minghao rose straight up, but Xu Shilan seemed to be stimulated. She slammed the table, and the food on the table trembled. She roared from her throat, "It’s like this again, it’s like this again, it’s like this again... You are like this, 'he' is also like this. Why can you two be so carefree and obsessed with your own dream pursuits, completely ignoring those ordinary people who are attracted by your light when they see you, like moths to a flame, and finally end up burning themselves to death? You, you, you... go to hell!"

Xu Shilan became more and more excited. She grabbed a plate from the table and threw it at Chu Minghao, and the soup and water splashed toward him.

The three saw Chu Minghao reach out and tap on these plates, and then a shocking scene occurred. These plates, food, soup, and water seemed to bounce back to their original places as if flowing backward, without a drop of oil or water spilling.

After finishing all this, Chu Minghao bowed slightly to Xu Shilan. "I’m very sorry about your brother."

Xu Shilan just roared hysterically, "What’s the use of being sorry!? My brother is already dead! Carrying the most beautiful expectations for the future of humanity, he was first deceived by 'him' and then abandoned by you. Do you know how desperate he was when he died!?"

Chu Minghao sighed. "He came back to find you? I can't defend this. I really didn't save your brother back then... but there might still be hope."

"What hope!?" Xu Shilan’s eyes were full of bloodshot veins, staring at Chu Minghao. "People are dead, what hope can there be?"

Chu Minghao’s expression remained unchanged. "The afterlife, not just the afterlife, all kinds of indescribable chaos, pure emotions and thoughts, distorted concepts and definitions, everything is down there..."

"This is why I started searching for all surviving humans and helping you. As long as the number of living people on Gaia falls below a critical point, then we humans..."

"Will be lost in the unknown!"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 48 =====