Wu Piwu felt somewhat bewildered, as everything before him seemed like a dream, where the people in dreams lacked conscious awareness.
However, upon seeing Xu Shilan, the brilliance of his Unresting Spirit Awareness surged forth, jolting Wu Piwu awake.
He immediately became alert, scanning his surroundings, and instinctively reached for the Huanglian Fragment around his neck, only to discover that he was wearing a bowtie instead.
This left him utterly astonished.
"Will you walk with me for a while?" Xu Shilan smiled, naturally linking her arm with Wu Piwu's.
Although Wu Piwu found everything strange, his Unresting Spirit Awareness showed no signs of disturbance, and he instinctively recognized that the person before him was indeed Xu Shilan.
Xu Shilan led Wu Piwu out of the bedroom and into a long corridor outside, which was imbued with an ancient charm, adorned with various paintings, vases, decorative items, and artworks, with several servants tidying up.
These servants seemed oblivious to Wu Piwu and Xu Shilan, allowing the two to pass through the corridor and into the hall below.
Inside the hall, dozens of people raised their wine glasses, some engaged in conversation, others eating, and some simply relaxing; it appeared to be a banquet.
"What about my coming-of-age ceremony?" Xu Shilan asked with a smile, guiding Wu Piwu through the crowd, while others seemed unable to see them.
They reached the center of the hall, where a handsome middle-aged man stood, his arm slightly bent as if supporting someone.
"My father, a Level Seven Citizen and one of the presidential candidates," Xu Shilan said, looking at the middle-aged man and introducing him to Wu Piwu with a smile.
All Wu Piwu felt was sadness; he silently stood beside Xu Shilan.
Xu Shilan gazed around, her eyes filled with nostalgia.
After a long while, she sighed, "I can't show you my younger brother. He was a Supermind. After he died, he told me he was afraid I would be sad when I remembered him, so he deleted all memories of him from my mind... Silly brother, if I could remember what he looked like, I wouldn't be this sad."
Wu Piwu quietly listened as Xu Shilan spoke, recounting stories of her father, mother, brother, the family maid from her childhood, and classmates from school...
After a long time, as the edges of the hall began to grow hazy, Wu Piwu hoarsely asked, "Why...?"
He himself did not know why he asked "why," nor what he wanted to express.
Xu Shilan smiled gently at Wu Piwu and said, "There’s no reason, I just died. Everyone dies, don’t they?"
Wu Piwu felt a sound in his throat, but he could not voice it.
Xu Shilan smiled, but suddenly tears began to roll down her cheeks.
She looked at the encroaching haze and said, "Death Reversion... the masterpiece of the Sixth Singularity Corporation."
"You know, the greatest nightmare for humanity from ancient times to now has always been death. The fear of death surpasses everything; it is something deeply rooted in the essence of the human race. The Singularity Technology of the Sixth Singularity Corporation involves death."
"They, those old men, those powerful elites, are so afraid of death. They yearn for life so desperately. After proving that biochemical bodies and mechanical bodies cannot carry the consciousness of 'I,' they turned to support the Sixth Singularity Corporation in researching the afterlife and returning from it."
"Although I disdain these death-escapers, ironically, I am also a beneficiary of this research. For example, right now, I am dead, yet I can return for a moment..."
The haze had already engulfed one-third of the hall and was advancing toward the remaining two-thirds.
Xu Shilan looked around and suddenly asked, "Wu Xiaoge, do you think there really is an afterlife? Chu Minghao said that the reward for the Level Six Sanctuary is the ability to communicate with the deceased, which means there really is a world of death?"
Wu Piwu nodded vigorously but could not utter a single word.
Xu Shilan, however, laughed happily, clapping her hands, "Then I won't be lonely! My mom and dad, my brother, and many good friends are waiting for me over there..."
The haze had now consumed half of the hall, and it seemed to be accelerating.
Xu Shilan suddenly said, "Can you... hug me?"
Wu Piwu silently embraced Xu Shilan.
Xu Shilan rested her head on Wu Piwu's chest, and he felt a dampness spreading across his chest.
"I'm so scared, I'm really so scared. I can feel it; it's terrifying over there. I don't want to die, I really..."
Xu Shilan whispered, crying softly.
Wu Piwu could do nothing but hold Xu Shilan quietly.
The haze had now reached their sides.
Xu Shilan suddenly pushed Wu Piwu away, wiped her face, and a golden sphere appeared in her hand, its form unclear.
She suddenly threw the sphere toward Wu Piwu, and it fell into his chest, merging with him.
Then she revealed a radiant smile and said, "I didn't expect that after I died, the only one I could find was you... Wu Xiaoge, live on, don’t come to find me too soon, okay?"
Xu Shilan was enveloped by the haze, and then she completely vanished.
Wu Piwu abruptly opened his eyes, liquid flooding into them, but it was not blinding; he could still see everything outside with ease.
He realized he was still lying in the medical pod, breathing in the liquid.
He also noticed a bird lying on his chest, chirping as it breathed in the same liquid.
The hibernation treatment solution could be converted by carbon-based nanounits; life could breathe within it, and all metabolic waste could interact with the liquid, eliminating the need for food.
This liquid completely replaced all food, ensuring all life’s needs were met.
This was how the medical pod functioned when someone had been in a coma for over two days, and there were no other personnel nearby; the pod would consume carbon-based nanodevices to maintain the coma for the life inside.
As Wu Piwu awakened, the liquid began to recede, and the bird's eyes slowly opened, appearing dazed for a moment.
Wu Piwu was stunned for several seconds before he immediately flipped out of the medical pod and ran straight to the medical pods of Yamada and Xu Shilan.
However, upon seeing them, his heart sank, a wave of immense sorrow causing his entire body to tremble.
In the medical pods of Yamada and Xu Shilan, there was no hibernation treatment solution; they were in a frozen state.
The medical pod could not treat those who were completely dead, especially if most of their brain tissue was entirely gone.
If there were no personnel outside the pod, the bodies would be frozen in a cryogenic state.
They... were dead.
Wu Piwu stood silently for a long time, until the bird flew to his shoulder, gently nudging his face with its head.
Only then did Wu Piwu press the button on the medical pod, causing the two bodies to thaw.
A solution surged out, and the two bodies dissipated within it.
To be dead is to be truly dead; everything is gone.
Preserving their bodies serves no purpose...
Yamada, Xu Shilan...
Wu Piwu's feelings for them were different from those for the seniors.
Although the seniors had looked after him, they never regarded him as a partner or comrade.
This was not just a few seniors; it was all of them.
Indifference, distance, and a desire not to be burdened or implicated.
If it were merely to inform him of a situation or provide some food or a small amount of money from the dream world, the seniors would be willing to help.
But to fight side by side, facing the strange, the monsters, the nightmares... none of the seniors would be willing.
But Yamada and Xu Shilan were his true companions and comrades.
Yet now they were gone, leaving him all alone.
Wu Piwu trudged away from the medical base, with the bird quietly accompanying him.
After a moment, Wu Piwu arrived at the hibernation chamber, which was in disarray.
Only one hibernation pod remained intact; everything else was completely destroyed.
Upon reaching this place, Wu Piwu recalled everything from the Peace Hotel dream world: the paper people, the half-paper people, Xu Rongyu, Lin Heier, and his two companions...
Until the last time he entered the Peace Hotel, the three had a conversation.
In this conversation, they listed all possible abilities of the Wusheng Laomu, especially since Wu Piwu was well-versed in the history and information before the Third War.
He spoke of many extraordinary powers found in Buddhism.
After completing this, the three discussed in detail all the difficulties they would face, including the fact that the entire Peace Hotel had been surrounded, and they could not step outside the bounds of peace.
Moreover, there were no anomalies they could use to destroy the Peace Hotel Sanctuary, and Wusheng Laomu was a high-level existence, impossible to be without wisdom or power.
When facing such a high-level existence, all the most difficult assumptions were not excessive.
In this discussion, Xu Shilan analyzed several key points for Wu Piwu and Yamada.
First, Wusheng Laomu could erode the environment; this erosion could either change the fundamental rules of the world or drag the dream world down to a lower level.
Second, Wusheng Laomu possessed the ability of Mind Reading; whatever you think, it is likely that he knows it all.
However, it was still unclear whether this Mind Reading extended outside the Peace Hotel Sanctuary or encompassed everything within it.
Third, Wusheng Laomu had likely encountered sanctuaries before, so he knew some details about them.
Fourth, Wusheng Laomu could create and control puppets, but whether these puppets belonged to anomalies or nightmares was unknown to the three.
Fifth, it was impossible to defeat Wusheng Laomu with power, as the gap between them was too vast.
Sixth, it was impossible to deceive Wusheng Laomu with intelligence, because according to the previous points, Wusheng Laomu only needed to wait for time to win.
In this situation, there was only one way to make Wusheng Laomu take a risk: to wager Wu Piwu's own life.
However, the wager was definitely not to make Wusheng Laomu spare the three; he absolutely would not do that.
At worst, he would kill the three and wait for the next opportunity.
Thus, the wager could only be to make Wusheng Laomu give up delaying time and then find a way to control Wu Piwu.
This was the core of the plan: to let Wusheng Laomu control Wu Piwu, but it absolutely could not be through remote mental manipulation.
Instead, it had to be through creating paper people to control Wu Piwu.
Then...
Instantly return to Gaia, bringing back the part of Wusheng Laomu that controlled Wu Piwu!
The most challenging aspect of this plan lay in the Mind Reading.
If Wusheng Laomu truly was a powerful being in Buddhism, he would undoubtedly possess this divine ability.
To conceal it from his Mind Reading, Wu Piwu had to erase that memory and not think about that information.
Thus, after the discussion, the three used the anomaly removal device of the medical base to alter their cerebral cortex at the atomic level, embedding that memory into their subconscious.
They would absolutely not remember it, similar to deep-level suggestions; only by meeting certain key conditions would this memory immediately resurface.
And that key condition was... the moment Wu Piwu was controlled physically!
The plan succeeded; they truly ended the destruction of the Peace Hotel Sanctuary, defeating the powerful being of the dream world at the baseline reality of Zero Point Two.
However...
Only Wu Piwu survived, while Yamada and Xu Shilan perished.
Wu Piwu stood in the hibernation chamber, increasingly sorrowful, and his anger and murderous intent toward Wusheng Laomu grew stronger.
He silently stood in place for a long time before suddenly throwing his head back and roaring in fury.
"I will definitely, definitely..."
After a long time, Wu Piwu finally stopped his roar, breathing heavily for a moment before saying, "Mainframe, display the 'Week' end time."
"There are sixty-five days, eight hours, twenty-one minutes, and six seconds until the 'Week' end."
Wu Piwu nodded, "There's still plenty of time... wait, sixty-five days!?"
Something was off.
Wu Piwu immediately realized that he had awakened Yamada and Xu Shilan after the weekend last time.
During that time, they first went to guard the Peace Hotel, then spent several days in the Nifutu Yasha world, and then returned to the Peace Hotel again... no matter how he calculated, it was impossible for there to be sixty-five days!
Wu Piwu immediately asked, "Mainframe, how long have I been in the treatment pod!?"
"Wu Piwu, determining... determination complete. You have been in the treatment pod for one hundred fifty-two days, eleven hours, fifty-seven minutes, and six seconds."
"Huh!?"
Wu Piwu was utterly shocked; he had been in a coma for one hundred fifty-two days!? What a joke, he...
"Wait, one hundred fifty-two days!?"
Wu Piwu suddenly remembered the countdown of his mind's dark backlash.
He immediately shouted, "Mainframe, open my personalized information panel!"
"Wu Piwu, human, pureblood."
"Level Two Maintenance Personnel, Low-Level Employee."
"Physical Body Stage Three Initial (Potential +1) (Muscle Strength 2.1, Genetic Strength 1.4, Neural Reaction Speed 2.0, Hematopoietic Immune Function 2.8, Self-Healing Ability 2.8), Soul Stage Two (can be expanded), Inspiration Stage Two (Anomaly Perception 2.2 + 0.2 = 2.4, Barrier Perception 1.4 + 0.1 = 1.5)."
"National Martial Arts: Transformation (11.27%) → Transformation (72.8%), Tiger Demon Technique: Pinnacle (2.74%) → Pinnacle (97.61%)."
"Human Immortal Martial Path: Mastery of Skin (93.7%), Mastery of Flesh (4.42%), Green Python Shedding Technique: Transcendence (62.8%)."
"Virtual Persona, can absorb self-fragments to solidify into reality, negative backlash rate of consciousness sea seven percent, total negative amount of consciousness sea ???."
"Imprint: Buddha Realm Attraction Rate Four Percent (from Buddha Mud), Vacuum Hometown Attraction Rate Eleven Percent (from Wusheng Laomu's gaze)."
Wu Piwu silently reviewed all the attributes.
His gaze lingered on the negative backlash rate of consciousness sea at seven percent for a long time, then he looked at the Soul Stage Two and said, "Mainframe, expand Soul Stage Two."
"Soul Stage Two (Death Reversion)."
The entire Soul Stage Two had only this one illuminated item; everything else was a question mark.
Wu Piwu trembled as he spoke, "Mainframe, display Death Reversion."
"Death Reversion."
"Can significantly resist or bear all negatives, weakening one's own madness, confusion, consciousness corruption, soul distortion, and other effects."
Wu Piwu thought of that dreamlike scene, where Xu Shilan had given him that sphere at the end.
He stood there, tears streaming down uncontrollably.
"Wusheng Laomu!!!"
(End of Chapter)