Chu Minghao had many things he could not tell the three of them, just as Wu Pifu could not explain what "Zhou" meant to Yamada and Xu Shilan.
Many secrets related to the Dream World and the fundamental reasons behind all these changes could not be conveyed to others unless one experienced them personally.
Otherwise, not only would one face danger, but those who overheard would also encounter great peril.
Moreover, even if one had personally experienced it, if their strength, temperament, or willpower were insufficient, they could still face death, distortion, pollution, or even disappear without a trace.
Thus, Chu Minghao could only briefly explain one matter.
As the number of living beings in Gaia dwindled, all remaining survivors would face increasing danger when confronted with "Zhou."
According to Chu Minghao, there were several critical points; when the next critical point was reached, the "Zhou" time would extend to forty-eight hours or seventy-two hours, and it would definitely not revert to twenty-four hours.
With the continuous breakthroughs of critical points, the duration of "Zhou" would grow longer, while the deeper regions would gradually reveal the truth, ultimately surpassing human comprehension and plunging into indescribable chaos and disorder.
Wu Pifu recalled what he had seen during the last "Zhou."
The outermost reality was a meat processing factory, surrounded by workers, but at a deeper level of "truth," these workers were all monsters, and the livestock being processed were all humans.
If one were to delve even deeper into the "truth," then these monsters were all various cyberpunk robots, and the factory had transformed into some ultra-high-tech mechanical base, and this was still not the final "truth."
"For certain reasons, I can only appear in Gaia for less than thirty minutes every thirty days, and during those thirty minutes, I must avoid using extraordinary powers as much as possible. Otherwise, time will be rapidly shortened, and I might only appear for a few seconds. Thus, I cannot help you liberate Gaia in the real world; all I can do is assist you maintenance personnel in the Dream World," Chu Minghao said frankly.
Xu Shilan was still in a daze, seemingly pondering the so-called afterlife, while Yamada was not good at conversing or thinking.
Wu Pifu could only ask, "Then why are you appearing now? As far as I know, the changes in the Dream World have been ongoing for at least a hundred years, or even longer. Why didn't you appear before?"
Chu Minghao extended a finger and said, "First, I have only awakened for one year and three months. Second, I initially could not track you in the Dream World. Third, I was being hunted by the remnants of the Thirteen Singularities Group and the Human Revolutionary Alliance. It was only during the last 'Zhou' that I managed to counterattack and eliminate the two teams pursuing me, finally freeing up my hands. Fourth, I only acquired the Magic Mirror less than a month ago. Fifth..."
"There's a fifth?" Wu Pifu and Yamada asked simultaneously.
Chu Minghao seemed to enjoy Wu Pifu and Yamada's straightforwardness.
He laughed heartily and said, "Yes, there is definitely a fifth... I have only learned many 'realities' in the past two months, including the truth of the main brain, the truth of the changes in the Dream World, and the truth of our human future."
Wu Pifu fell silent for a moment and suddenly asked, "What level of truth?"
Chu Minghao was slightly taken aback.
He carefully looked at Wu Pifu and said, "Indeed, you just saw my sword light, right? Your strength is quite impressive, and you have a talent for 'truth' in terms of inspiration... If I had to say, I have seen the truth at the baseline reality level of 0.3. I am still powerless to see deeper truths, but even just the truth at baseline reality level 0.3 has already revealed many things to me."
Wu Pifu silently calculated in his heart.
According to what he had seen at the meat processing factory during "Zhou," the "employees" were at baseline reality level 0.9, the monsters were at 0.8, and the machines were at 0.7. He could not see beyond that.
If calculated this way, Chu Minghao... was terrifying!
Wu Pifu composed himself and asked in a deep voice, "What do you need us to do?"
Chu Minghao replied, "Survive, just try to stay alive; that is the only goal."
Before Wu Pifu could respond, Yamada shook her head and said, "You can't be impressive in Gaia. In the Dream World alone, how many people can you save? The entire Gaia is in chaos. I don't know about other regions, but in our Z District, Community 6123, there is currently one sleep chamber, one maintenance base, and one medical base. All other areas are in isolation. This is only because Wu Pifu fought desperately to activate them. Most other regions are now eerily silent. Do you know this?"
"I know."
Chu Minghao lowered his head slightly, his voice a bit hoarse as he said, "I am very sorry, but I hope you can hold on, survive for yourselves. I can only provide some assistance in this Dream World, but I will recover as soon as possible and return to Gaia. Until then... please try to stay alive."
Yamada wanted to say something more, but Wu Pifu stopped her and then looked at Chu Minghao, asking, "What kind of help can you provide us?"
Chu Minghao immediately replied, "First, I will help you establish at least a level two shelter in this world. Secondly, if you have any clearly defined enemies, anomalies, or nightmares in this world, I can help you eliminate them all. Third, I will also share some information from the Dream World that can be disclosed... I am sorry; this is all I can do for now."
Wu Pifu and Yamada exchanged glances, then looked at Xu Shilan.
At that moment, Xu Shilan was feeling irritated.
She waved her hand and said, "Let's listen to him. This guy is mostly reliable, except for his inability to read people accurately. He seems unreliable but is actually a sincere person..."
Wu Pifu nodded and said, "I already have a level two event-type shelter in this world. They both do not have one, so I will establish shelters for them."
Chu Minghao looked at Wu Pifu with admiration and said with a smile, "Very impressive! You have already established a level two shelter in the baseline reality level 0.7 Dream World."
Wu Pifu shrugged nonchalantly and replied, "This shelter was purely a matter of luck. What about you? With your strength, you must have reached level 0.4 or even 0.3, right?"
Chu Minghao, however, replied seriously, "No, although I have three shelters, the strongest one is a level five shelter in the baseline reality level 0.7 Dream World. I have not established shelters at deeper levels."
Both Wu Pifu and Yamada were somewhat skeptical, while Xu Shilan had an expression of 'as expected.'
Wu Pifu immediately said, "Impossible! You struck the sword box, and the world came to a standstill. Such ability is already legendary! I don't believe that the baseline reality level 0.7 Dream World can achieve this!"
Chu Minghao realized, "Oh, you mean that? That is a set of techniques from baseline reality level 0.7, the Sword Condensation Technique. When practiced to the extreme, it can release a sword strike, leaving behind sword light for about 0.03 seconds, which can be seen by an ordinary person's retina."
"Unbelievable!"
Wu Pifu said directly, "Come on, I'm not blind. That was a vast expanse of sword light shining like stars! And the world came to a standstill. You tell me that is the Sword Condensation Technique from baseline reality level 0.7??"
Chu Minghao sincerely patted the sword box and said, "This sword box is also a fantasy item. Its effect is to preserve various energies, techniques, and extraordinary powers in a state of stasis. When I practice swordsmanship, I place the sword light from the Sword Condensation Technique inside it. Over time, I have accumulated hundreds of thousands of sword lights. As for the effect of the world coming to a standstill, that is..."
"Super Brain Time and Space, right?" Xu Shilan suddenly interjected.
Chu Minghao smiled but did not speak.
Xu Shilan turned to Wu Pifu and said, "This is a unique ability of his, called Super Brain Time and Space. Didn't I mention it before? During the Fourth World War, three superhumans emerged.
They possessed a super ability called Super Brain, recognized by the scientific community at the time as the next evolutionary trait of humanity. Thus, these three individuals were referred to as New Humans. They can experience the time perception of ordinary people for three to five seconds in a moment, approximately one picosecond.
Although their physical bodies remain nearly motionless like ordinary people, their thoughts can still operate. Therefore, scientists created Super Brain Assistants for them, allowing them to control weapons through thought."
"Moreover, in a Super Brain state, their thought control is entirely different from that of ordinary people. They can, like supercomputers, differentiate their thoughts into thousands and simultaneously control tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of thought threads!"
Chu Minghao continued, "Exactly. Although my Super Brain Assistant was destroyed after the Fourth War, my Super Brain Time and Space ability is innate. The sword light from the Sword Condensation Technique can be influenced by my thoughts.
While it appears to last only about 0.3 seconds, for me, it is an incredibly long time. I can control it to take a person's head from a hundred miles away, and I can also perform various abilities such as drawing, shaping, levitating, and creating protective shields. This is the reality you saw in that moment...
I believe that besides having strong inspiration, you might also have the potential for Super Brain Time and Space."
Wu Pifu and Yamada had no immediate reaction, but Xu Shilan's response was astonishing.
She suddenly sat up straight, staring intently at Chu Minghao, and asked seriously, "Is it really possible for him to have Super Brain abilities!?"
Chu Minghao replied earnestly, "You know I never joke about these matters. If it were merely strong perception or inspiration, that would only allow one to detect anomalies, but not to see my sword light in that moment when the world seemed to be at a standstill. This is a certain passive manifestation of Super Brain ability, which is what you refer to as the mutual attraction between New Humans."
Xu Shilan bit her lower lip, momentarily lost in thought, then smiled wryly and said, "Unfortunately, it's just potential. It's different from you and 'him.' It's not naturally triggered. To activate it, one needs to go to the main control room of the main brain and simulate the Super Brain Time and Space sensation through the main brain. Only then can it be fully activated..."
Chu Minghao smiled and said, "That's why you need to stay alive. When I can return to Gaia, I will naturally help you, Brother Wu, activate your Super Brain Time and Space ability. I have control permissions over the main brain."
Wu Pifu, however, was not concerned about these matters.
He asked again, "By the way, Xu Shilan, you mentioned earlier that there are three people with this ability—one is him, and the other... is probably a high-ranking member of the Human Revolutionary Alliance? The 'him' you keep mentioning, what about the third person? Someone with such powerful abilities surely has a name, right?"
Xu Shilan lowered her head slightly and remained silent.
Chu Minghao sighed, looking at Xu Shilan for a few seconds before saying to Wu Pifu, "The third person... is Miss Xu's younger brother, a latent Super Brain ability user. If you also have Super Brain abilities, then it is of the same nature."
Wu Pifu no longer asked about Super Brain abilities.
Although he was a straightforward man, he was not foolish and would not rub salt in Xu Shilan's wounds.
The entire dining table fell silent for several seconds, with only the sound of Yamada eating heartily.
Wu Pifu then asked, "Alright, not to dwell on this, you just mentioned intelligence, right? Then I do have some information I want to inquire about."
Chu Minghao naturally nodded and said, "Feel free to ask. As long as it does not involve harmful pollution, I will answer truthfully."
"Then, the first question."
"Why is it called a shelter? What exactly does this shelter..."
"Protect?"
(End of Chapter)