Chapter 12: A Realistic Problem

This is a very realistic problem: people die when they are killed, and if people don't eat, they will starve to death all the same.

Gaia Zone Z, Sub-sector 6123 is almost entirely locked down. Ever since Su Xing woke up, all he has faced is this one sleep pod and one maintenance station. Aside from various instruments and tools, there is only the junk that his predecessors obtained through lucky draws. Food has become the primary survival issue for maintenance personnel like them.

To be blunt, they have no fondness for this Human Unified Government.

Although it was the Human Unified Government that revived them from their frozen state, the government did so to make them pay off debts like slaves. Though they are called maintenance personnel, aside from the two hundred, or perhaps two hundred and fifty, people in the initial wake-up batches who have a chance to reach the New Homeland and become citizens, the rest of them will spend their entire lives growing old on this cold spaceship.

As for the maintenance personnel in batches after the two hundredth or two hundred and fiftieth, most are actually there through connections or bribery.

One must know, while the Human Unified Government appears to be a future democratic government, in Su Xing’s view, it is actually a feudal aristocratic utopian government with strict hierarchies.

Even the so-called citizens are divided into levels: first-class citizens, second-class citizens, third-class citizens, and so on. What each level can enjoy, what permissions they have, and how long they can live are all different.

So, how could maintenance personnel possibly risk their lives to maintain such a government entity? Especially when this maintenance contract is akin to a usurious loan.

As long as there is an opportunity, these maintenance personnel could completely choose not to enter the Dream World. Since they are just drifting along waiting to die anyway, why risk the danger of a fate worse than death to save such a government, and those who are called citizens but are actually aristocrats?

But as the saying goes, this is a very realistic problem. Maintenance personnel must eat, and in the small, sealed space, there is no food other than fresh water. Therefore, they must enter the Dream World to struggle for survival, even if it is just to eat.

Once they enter the Dream World, although they can return to Gaia after staying for five days, there is a certain probability of encountering a Nightmare during those five days. Or, even if the Nightmare is sluggish, if they happen to encounter other horrors in the Dream World, they will die without a burial place.

Establishing a shelter not only allows for the awakening of maintenance personnel based on the shelter's level, but also provides rewards from the Main Brain. Furthermore, the first random draw from a shelter can often yield the power system of that Dream World, providing a means of self-preservation.

However, after establishing a shelter, a Level 1 shelter requires entering for ten days every thirty days, while a Level 2 shelter requires seven days every thirty days. During this period, one might encounter a Nightmare. At the same time, if you are determined not to enter the Dream World and let the shelter fall into ruin, there is a high probability of attracting a Level 2 Nightmare, which could then pierce through from the Dream World into reality to kill everyone.

For example, the culprit that caused the annihilation of 6120 to 6122, the Pink Snake, according to some records from predecessors, was a Level 2 Nightmare that pierced through from a Dream World shelter!

"So I have no choice. To eat, to survive, I must go to the Dream World. And to enter the Dream World, you also need power, which means you must establish a shelter. And once you have a shelter, you need to enter the Dream World even more to block Nightmares from piercing through. It’s one link after another. Even if we don't want to work for the Human Unified Government, we have no other way," Su Xing said in a low voice.

Ya Made and Xu Shilan were both silent.

The two of them were naturally not rookies or fools. One was a veteran of the Third World War, and the other was a con artist and arms dealer. They immediately understood what Su Xing meant.

They had no other way, no other choice.

Either starve to death here, or enter the Dream World to struggle for survival and seek that glimmer of life.

Next, Su Xing introduced the situation of the Dream World to the two.

There are two ways to enter the Dream World from the Main Brain; one is downward piercing.

For example, if you have a shelter at Baseline Reality 0.9, you can use this Dream World as an anchor point to pierce downward into the Dream World of Baseline Reality 0.8. Similarly, if you pierce downward from reality, you will go to the Dream World of Baseline Reality 0.9.

The second method is random piercing.

This kind of piercing is truly random. You might go to a world of Baseline Reality 0.9, or you might go to a world of Baseline Reality 0.1, depending entirely on luck.

"Before waking you up, I encountered a Level 2 Nightmare with two predecessors, and both of them died. By chance, I obtained a Level 2 shelter in a Baseline Reality 0.7 Dream World. You see that my strength is so high now; in fact, most of it comes from this Level 2 shelter."

Su Xing did not hide anything from the two. Although he was wary of Xu Shilan, the three of them were actually grasshoppers on the same rope. In such a nightmare world, not cooperating sincerely was seeking death, so he revealed his attribute interface to them.

"Su Xing."

"Level 1 Maintenance Personnel."

"Physical Body Tier 2, Soul Tier 1, Spiritual Sense Tier 2."

"National Arts: Dark Jin, Tiger Demon Art: Perfection."

Su Xing was also looking at his attribute interface for the first time after completing the enhancement.

The harvest was even greater than he had expected. Originally, his physical body was Tier 1 and his spiritual sense was also Tier 1, but now both had become Tier 2. This meant he could run as fast as Bolt, and even without circulating blood and qi, his punching power would not lose to Tyson, and his stamina and endurance were at the standard of an Ironman triathlon. This would greatly increase his ability to survive in the Dream World.

The two newcomers looked at this attribute interface, and then they also summoned their own attribute interfaces and showed them to Su Xing.

"Ya Made."

"Level 1 Maintenance Personnel."

"Physical Body Tier 2, Soul Tier 1, Spiritual Sense Tier 1."

Ya Made was indeed a veteran of the Third World War and had likely undergone a certain degree of genetic tuning. His physical body was actually Tier 2 as well, which surprised Su Xing. However, carefully recalling the scene where Ya Made lifted the tank barrel earlier, his physical body was indeed at the Tier 2 level, though likely just at the edge of Tier 2.

As for the other one, it surprised Su Xing even more.

"Xu Shilan."

"Level 1 Maintenance Personnel."

"Physical Body Tier 1, Soul Tier 2, Spiritual Sense Tier 1."

Soul Tier 2!?

This was the first time Su Xing had seen someone whose soul was not Tier 1!

He had seen the attribute interfaces of the old predecessors before; some had Tier 2 physical bodies, some had various techniques or strange arts, and some had Tier 2 spiritual sense, but never anyone with a soul above Tier 1!

Although he didn't know what Soul Tier 2 meant, Su Xing always felt it seemed very powerful!

Ya Made and Xu Shilan stared closely at the difference between them and Su Xing... techniques, realm!

Both were Tier 2 physical bodies, but Su Xing could easily slaughter the previous aberration monster, while Ya Made would be easily devoured by it.

The gap in combat power between the two was at least tenfold!

Ya Made hesitated for a moment, and just as he was about to speak, Xu Shilan spoke first: "Brother Su, can you teach us this National Art?"

When the words "Brother Su" came out of Xu Shilan's mouth, there was no affectation, but both Su Xing and Ya Made felt a slight shiver.

Su Xing nodded and said: "Naturally, I can, but let me say first, this technique was obtained from a lucky draw after I established a Level 1 shelter. According to the predecessors, when establishing a shelter in the Dream World for the first time, one usually obtains the power system technique of that world during the random draw. The Main Brain might have cheated, and this technique is very suitable for you. This National Art is suitable for me, but it might not be suitable for you. And there is one more thing I must clarify in advance."

"This National Art is actually extremely dangerous to practice. All the information I know about this National Art came directly from the Main Brain, which transmitted it to my brain and forced me to memorize it, so I couldn't forget it even if I wanted to. But language and information are different. I can tell you about it, and I can tell you my cultivation insights, but your understanding might not be the original technique in my head. When practicing, a tiny difference could lead to a thousand-mile error. At that time, blood and qi could reverse, and sudden death is a possible outcome. It's not that I'm being stingy or anything."

Ya Made and Xu Shilan looked at each other, but they didn't mention the National Art technique again.

Next, Su Xing told them a lot about the Dream World, shelters, and the various areas of Gaia he knew about.

"The Dream World originates from the dream network constructed by the Human Unified Government. The worlds inside are endless. I just mentioned baseline reality; the lower the level, the more it deviates from reality. I have only been to Baseline Reality 0.7 at most. I don't know what it's like further down."

"Rewards for each level of shelter..."

"...The above three are methods to establish a shelter. The first is purchasing. The shelter is in the building you purchased. It is considered the easiest shelter to establish, but it is also the most restricted and dangerous, because your shelter cannot move. Once found by a Nightmare, you must either flee back to reality and pray that the Nightmare is not Level 2 and cannot follow you to reality, or fight the Nightmare to the death."

"Faction shelter: your faction's headquarters is the location of the shelter, but this can be migrated. As long as most of your faction members migrate, this shelter can go to other places and avoid Nightmares. But with many people, hearts are also mixed. Once the faction is lost, your shelter will collapse. At the same time, many people are easily parasitized by Nightmares."

"The best is the historical record shelter. Fame, leaving a name in history; where you are is the shelter, so you can roam freely in that Dream World, avoid Nightmares, and return anytime, anywhere. It's just that if you encounter a Level 2 Nightmare face-to-face and you return, that Level 2 Nightmare can still come to the real world."

"...Various sectors have fallen silent. According to the predecessors, there was a prosperous period for maintenance personnel before. Many large zones and sectors had Level 2 and Level 3 shelters. Some sectors even had dozens of maintenance personnel, and they worked together to open several blocked passages, finding good places like canteens, medical stations, and various shopping centers. But gradually, the personnel in these sectors disappeared. For example, the Pink Snake I mentioned was recorded by a predecessor many batches ago."

Su Xing spoke intermittently for at least two hours, his mouth dry. He poured a cup of fresh water and drank it down, then he said: "Basically, I have said everything I should. This is the situation of this world and the Dream World as I know it. There are some things I haven't recalled yet. If you have questions, you can ask me, and then you should prepare..."

Ya Made and Xu Shilan both nodded. Xu Shilan said in a charming voice: "Is Brother Su going to take us into the Dream World?"

Su Xing shook his head and said: "No, you prepare yourselves. There is a lot of junk here, and I don't know what is useful. If you want to take something, take it. If not, just rest, prepare yourselves mentally, and store up some physical strength. Next, I am going to sleep to recover my strength."

"Gather at the sleep pod in twelve hours, and then..."

"We set off, enter the Dream World, and go eat breakfast!"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 13 =====