"Although we have already built the Gaia, our technology cannot support the survival of the existing 3.6 billion humans in space for 8,000 years. This does not even account for the growth of the newborn population. Forget about 8,000 years; even 800 years may not be feasible."
"So we must place the vast majority of people into Stasis Sleep Chambers to freeze them, rather than ordinary Sleep Chambers. Except for the maintenance personnel of the mothership, the vast majority must remain in the Stasis Sleep Chambers for 8,000 years."
"But we all know that even the freezing in the Stasis Sleep Chambers only halts the metabolic processes of the body; the neurons in the brain continue to operate at a slow pace. This is also why all manuals and safety notices regarding Stasis Sleep Chambers state that one cannot freeze for more than fifty years at a time. This means the most terrifying torture in the world, bar none!"
"When an individual remains in a Stasis Sleep Chamber for over fifty years, the brain begins to perceive the existence of dreams, and their consciousness will start to awaken. At this point, they may find their consciousness trapped in a void devoid of perception, light, or anything else.
This is an incredibly terrifying torment; exceeding twenty-four hours may induce hallucinations, and exceeding seventy-two hours can lead to a breakdown of thought. With a Collective Dream, when their consciousness awakens, they can enter the Collective Dream, and when their consciousness is fatigued, they can return to their own dream state.
Thus, forget about 8,000 years; as long as the system, energy, and Gaia continue to operate, they can remain safe for 80,000 years!"
"The principle of dreams is that even in a dormant state, parts of the human brain are still active. The dreaming brain tissue of 3.6 billion people represents an enormous computational capacity, far exceeding that of the Gaia's main control supercomputer, the 'Main Brain,' by thousands or even tens of thousands of times. Therefore, we need to construct a dedicated computational link system for the Stasis Sleep Chambers to utilize this surplus computational capacity and build the Collective Dream."
"The only requirement is... maintenance personnel, who must spend at least half their lives in the cramped metal corridors, gazing at the pitch-black expanse of space outside, willing to sacrifice themselves as maintenance personnel!"
"Moreover, this actually violates human rights laws; no one has the right to deprive citizens of their life and property rights, not even criminals... So, we must either make them willing or force them to comply. What I mean is that it is time for the government to heal those who have been frozen in the past or have had their bodies stripped away, leaving only their brains—the 'Future Ones.'"
Wu Piwu opened his eyes.
At this time, it was around six in the morning.
Ever since he began cultivating the Tiger Demon Technique a year ago, he had been waking up at this time every day.
Wu Piwu stood up and looked around; the mute little nun had not returned.
Perhaps this was not her residence?
Wu Piwu did not linger.
He dispelled the memories of signing the maintenance personnel contract in his dream and began to walk outside.
He did not enter the square but stood under the eaves of the building, took a deep breath, and then opened his mouth to begin swallowing.
It was as if he swallowed a fist-sized substantial object, struggling to move it from his mouth to his throat.
His throat even bulged as he swallowed this 'pearl' into his abdomen, gradually moving it closer to his Dantian.
At this moment, qi and blood surged forth.
He closed his eyes, his mind filled with distractions, but his body naturally controlled the circulation of qi and blood, moving from the Dantian to his body, from his body to his limbs, circulating around his entire body before returning to the Dantian.
This was one cycle of breath regulation in the Tiger Demon Technique.
After three consecutive cycles, Wu Piwu finally opened his eyes.
The sky was already bright, and it was approximately seven-thirty.
Then he saw the mute little nun walking out from a somewhat intact hall in the distance, heading towards another building at the other end of the square.
She was holding a large bowl and quickly walked towards the house where Wu Piwu stood.
Upon seeing Wu Piwu standing at the door under the eaves, the mute little nun paused, freezing for at least three or four seconds, before stiffly approaching him.
She lowered her head deeply and tremblingly extended the rough ceramic bowl in her hands to Wu Piwu.
Wu Piwu showed no signs of surprise.
He took the rough ceramic bowl and drank a large mouthful, approximately one-third of the bowl, then gently said to the mute little nun, "This is your daily food, right? You didn't have a drop to drink yesterday; you should finish the rest."
The mute little nun slightly raised her head and then gently shook it.
Wu Piwu directly pressed the rough ceramic bowl into her hands and said, "Don't worry, I will leave tomorrow."
The mute little nun's body trembled, but she accepted the rough ceramic bowl and began to sip it slowly.
It was not until the mute little nun finished drinking that Wu Piwu stood in a stance and slowly swung his fist forward with one hand, saying at the same time, "Tomorrow, I will find a way to get some money. Do you wish to leave this nunnery with me?"
The mute little nun looked up in surprise.
Upon seeing Wu Piwu's serious gaze, she immediately lowered her head again.
After a moment, she first shook her head and then nodded, and large tears began to roll down her cheeks.
Wu Piwu, after all, came from the twenty-first century and had survived until 2877. He had his own judgments about many things.
First of all, the mute little nun was not forced into prostitution.
Although she wore tattered clothes and lived in a damp and dilapidated place, even her meals consisted only of thin porridge.
But this was ancient times; this was a nunnery.
Unless it was a large Buddhist temple, a famous religious site, or a place appreciated by high-ranking officials, or during times of rampant religious fervor, the lower-tier monks, Taoists, and nuns lived in extreme poverty.
She had a place to stay, clothing to keep warm, and enough food to survive.
In ancient times, this was already better than countless others.
Who would treat someone like this if they were forcing them into prostitution?
A hidden door nunnery.
It was essentially a place where impoverished women from ancient times sought refuge as nuns but could not survive even after becoming nuns, thus being forced into secret prostitution.
This was the reality of the hidden door nunnery in ancient times.
Wu Piwu could see that the little nun's complexion was not good, and her figure was small; she was probably only around fifteen or sixteen years old.
She was either a girl who could not survive after fleeing from disaster or an abandoned infant taken in by this nunnery.
"You don't have to answer now."
Wu Piwu focused on his cultivation while saying, "I am currently penniless, but I have ways to earn money. Let's wait until I make some money to discuss everything. Rest assured, the debt of saving a life is greater than the heavens. As long as I have a meal, I will never let you go hungry. Tomorrow, I will find a way to get some money."
The mute little nun could not speak; she could only let her tears flow, and she sat on the threshold watching Wu Piwu practice, both of them silent.
Gradually, the sun rose to its zenith, and suddenly, a series of chirping sounds came from outside.
Wu Piwu continued his practice without moving, while the mute little nun suddenly stood up from the threshold and went outside, raising one hand to the sky.
At that moment, a palm-sized green bird landed directly in the palm of her hand, pecking at the beans that were dried and unknown to her.
The little bird pecked all the beans clean and did not fly away, instead perching on the mute little nun's shoulder, chirping at her.
For the first time, the mute little nun smiled, looking at the little bird and gently laughing.
There was nothing more to say that day.
Wu Piwu focused entirely on restoring his physical condition, while the mute little nun remained unable to speak.
As the sun gradually set, casting long shadows, the nunnery began to sound drums.
The mute little nun glanced at Wu Piwu, then took out a string of wooden prayer beads from her room and headed straight towards the main hall in the square.
Though it was called a main hall, it was merely a slightly larger columned room, also in disrepair.
Wu Piwu saw about ten nuns gathered inside, some of whom looked at him and pointed, but they did not do anything else.
The mute little nun lowered her head and blended in among them.
At this point, Wu Piwu stopped practicing and lay down in the room, forcing himself to sleep.
However, halfway through his sleep, a commotion arose, and Wu Piwu's eyes snapped open.
He strode out of the room towards a row of wooden houses beside the square.
Outside one of the wooden houses, a dark-skinned man was tugging at the mute little nun's waist garment.
He first slapped her face and then shouted, "I usually call you Shitai, but do you really think you are a Shitai? Only places like the Tide Sound Nunnery have real Shitais. You little wench, you dare to put on airs with me?"
As he spoke, he slapped the mute little nun's face again, knocking her to the ground.
Around them stood four or five nuns, trembling like quails, yet they did not dare to speak or step forward, not even to slightly intervene.
The dark-skinned man was not satisfied; he took a few steps towards the mute little nun and raised his foot to kick her in the abdomen.
The mute little nun merely closed her eyes, biting her lip to suppress the blood, her entire body tensed.
But the expected excruciating pain did not come.
When she opened her eyes, she saw that the dark-skinned man's kick had been blocked by someone—a man standing between her and the dark-skinned man, with broad shoulders and a tall figure.
The mute little nun, who had just stopped crying, suddenly let large tears fall down her cheeks, and she immediately cried out in panic.
The dark-skinned man was also surprised.
His kick had been blocked by a man with one hand.
No, this was a man with a severed arm.
He immediately shouted, "Who dares to block me, the bull-headed lord? I... ah, let go, let go!"
In terms of stature, Wu Piwu was at least 1.8 meters tall, towering over the dark-skinned man by at least a head and a half.
In terms of build, the two were quite different; Wu Piwu appeared somewhat leaner.
The Tiger Demon Technique he had activated to escape had drained too much of his qi and blood.
However, Wu Piwu had martial arts skills.
He tightened his palm, gripping the dark-skinned man's foot like a steel clamp, squeezing with such force that it felt as if he could crush the bones.
Though the dark-skinned man appeared robust, he immediately began to plead for mercy, loudly calling for the hero to spare him.
Wu Piwu glanced at the surrounding nuns and then released the dark-skinned man, only saying in a low voice, "Get lost!"
The dark-skinned man withdrew his foot, not daring to say another word, not even the usual bravado of a rogue.
He lowered his head and scurried away from the nunnery.
Once the rogue had fled, several nuns dared to help the mute little nun up.
They began to chatter among themselves, and one nun said to Wu Piwu, "You told the little mute that you would take her away, right?"
Wu Piwu nodded seriously.
Another nun asked, "How will you take her away? Look at your injuries, look at you; you are a fugitive. How can she go with you?"
Yet another nun chimed in, "She is already guarding her body for you, but what can we do? Are we just to starve to death?"
Wu Piwu remained silent, not even considering a response.
He simply said to the nuns, "Take good care of her; I will repay you later."
After saying this, he walked straight out of the nunnery, following the direction the dark-skinned man had taken.
Why did the dark-skinned man not dare to utter even a few words?
Because the rogues in this village had indeed seen some things; they recognized that there were certain people they could not provoke.
Not only could they not provoke them, but they also did not want to say a word to such people.
Just their presence made them tremble.
These were the types who had killed and seen blood.
Wu Piwu had not only killed but had taken more than one or two lives.
At this moment, his eyes were filled with killing intent.
The night was dark, and the wind was high.
It was the night for killing!
(End of Chapter)