Wu Pifu brought the little mute girl to the hillside.
Here, there was a wild peach forest, but unfortunately, it was already late autumn, and no peach blossoms could be seen.
However, when spring came next year, this place would surely be filled with dazzling peach blossoms.
If the little mute girl could be buried here, she would surely be very happy.
"I said I would take you away. I couldn't do it while you were alive, but even if you are already dead, I will definitely take you away," Wu Pifu murmured, staggering.
His strength had been completely exhausted, and he had set up an event-type shelter.
He could leave this dream world at any time, but he still had unfinished business.
By the edge of the peach forest, Wu Pifu tied a piece of wood with his arm and began to dig a pit with his hands and feet.
Blood splattered across the muddy ground, and the little bird occasionally flew up, sometimes landing on his shoulder, and at other times, it would settle on the ground, snuggling beside the little mute girl.
This little bird indeed had some spirit, as if it understood life and death, understood sorrow.
Wu Pifu dug very slowly.
He had only one arm, with no wrist, and his body was riddled with fractures and bruises, with significant internal injuries as well.
He dug from morning until afternoon, and many passersby saw him along the way.
However, he was covered in blood, and with the aura of the Tiger Demon Technique having reached a certain level, the onlookers did not dare to linger, quickly moving away after glancing at him.
When the large pit was finally dug, Wu Pifu carefully placed the little mute girl inside and covered her with dirt.
There was no coffin, no tombstone; in the end, he could only move a large stone to place at the grave.
"Little mute girl, just wait for me... This place is too shabby. I will definitely give you a grand burial later, but I don't know if you will like it..."
Wu Pifu coughed up blood, speaking with a smile as he looked at the little bird, which tilted its head to look at him.
"Will you follow me from now on?" Wu Pifu asked after a moment of silence.
The little bird chirped twice, and Wu Pifu nodded, saying, "Then I need to give you a name..."
"Jiujiao..." the little bird continued to call softly.
Wu Pifu thought for a long time and seriously said to the little bird, "Then let's call you Dog Egg, easy to raise."
"Jiujiao! Jiujiao!!" The little bird angrily bumped into Wu Pifu's face, pecking at his cheeks incessantly.
Wu Pifu helplessly said, "You mean you don't want to be called Dog Egg, you just want to be called Jiujiao? But Dog Egg... or Wangcai? Laifu?"
The little bird screeched, "Jiujiao! Jiujiao!!"
"Jiujiao? Not bad..."
Wu Pifu settled on the little bird's name and took it with him up the hillside.
Some passersby who had been watching him from a distance saw this one-armed man with a little bird on his shoulder slowly disappearing into the mist of the setting sun...
"You have established a Level Two Shelter."
"You can carry life (non-human, non-nightmare) back and forth between this shelter and the real world."
"You have received a random draw reward (Level One Shelter)."
"You have received a personal attribute enhancement opportunity (non-limit-breaking)."
"You have obtained the opportunity to awaken five sleepers (non-citizens)."
"You must return to the world where this shelter is located every thirty days and stay for seven days."
"You need to achieve A%#,*... to upgrade this shelter to Level Three. The Level Three reward is a personal information data interface for this world and another designated world."
"Do you wish to return? Do you wish to carry the Kingfisher (异) back? Do you wish to draw rewards, use enhancement rewards? Do you wish to immediately awaken the sleepers?"
"Confirm."
Wu Pifu closed his eyes and opened them again.
When his vision was restored, he had returned to the high-tech cabin of the spaceship.
This was the real world; this was the baseline reality 1.0. Unfortunately, due to ?, this place had long since become a nightmare-ridden area, possibly even more terrifying than the dream world.
Gaia, Z District, 6123 Area.
Wu Pifu was the maintenance personnel who awakened in the 117th shift of this area, while the previous 116 shifts had all perished or fallen into fates worse than death, such as becoming derivatives or parasites of nightmares, or transforming into "异怪" and so on.
Now, there was only him left alive in the entire 6123 Area.
The last two survivors of the previous shift, Wang Xiuting and Li An, his predecessors, had already died at the hands of Level Two Nightmares.
The entire 6123 Area was very large.
According to the blueprints, it included three blocks, two main maintenance stations, six medical unit systems, twelve internal security systems, and eighteen entertainment centers for maintenance personnel to rest, play, maintain health, and sleep.
However, now Wu Pifu could only access one maintenance base and the cold sleep chamber in front of him.
All other areas had been completely sealed off by the main brain because those areas were filled with nightmares,异怪, terror, and the bizarre.
Once the seal was lifted, Wu Pifu would have to rely entirely on luck to see if he would die in the next second or be trapped in a situation where he could neither live nor die.
Of course, he also could not open these areas due to insufficient permissions.
He was not a citizen, and to open them, multiple maintenance personnel had to simultaneously initiate the opening command...
Moreover, each area required different permission levels; some core areas, such as the passage to the main brain, required hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of citizens to vote to decide whether to open.
Wu Pifu could awaken five maintenance personnel, but he did not do so immediately.
Instead, he walked toward the only open passage from the cold sleep chamber.
Jiujiao was very curious about everything after arriving in this world, flying and pecking around, but it did not stray more than three meters from Wu Pifu.
When Wu Pifu walked toward the only passage, Jiujiao once again perched on his shoulder.
As Wu Pifu walked, his steps became increasingly unsteady, and he kept coughing up blood.
He was severely injured, to the point that even using traditional martial arts to circulate his qi and blood could not suppress his injuries.
He was walking toward death.
In a twenty-first-century environment, his best outcome would be to be admitted to the ICU, with some chance of survival, or to live on as a vegetable.
Fortunately, it was now the year 2877. Humanity had experienced the Fourth World War, and technology had developed to the point of being able to span distances of five hundred light-years.
In terms of medical means, as long as there was a head remaining, and brain damage did not exceed thirty percent, with death occurring no more than half an hour ago, the technology of this era could bring someone back to life.
Wu Pifu passed through the passage, which was not long, only about twenty meters.
At the end of the passage was a room filled with clutter and a few machines... the maintenance base, which was the most commonly used location for maintenance personnel, unless a distortion in the dream world had occurred.
In the center of this maintenance base was a transparent chamber with multiple mechanical arms, which was precisely Wu Pifu's destination, the universal medical chamber.
"Wu Pifu, Level One Maintenance Personnel, work ID number... confirmed, can be used."
A synthetic voice sounded, and the medical chamber opened.
Wu Pifu said to Jiujiao, "You stay outside and wait for me."
Jiujiao flew to a nearby shelf and tilted its head to watch.
Wu Pifu then entered the medical chamber.
After a scan of light, a series of damage reports and repair suggestions immediately appeared.
Wu Pifu did not pay attention to these data; he immediately looked at the last segment of numbers.
"Main brain, how many carbon-based nano units are left?" Wu Pifu asked.
The information appeared directly in Wu Pifu's mind: "Currently, this base has 2.6 carbon-based nano units remaining."
Wu Pifu frowned as he looked at the last number on the treatment report, which showed 2.1.
This 2.1 was for his complete treatment, including his severed arm, the palm of his other severed arm, internal injuries, external injuries, and numerous neuronal damages, even including the hidden injuries accumulated from practicing traditional martial arts.
After treatment, there would be 0.5 units of carbon-based nano units remaining...
Wu Pifu looked at some of the options and then, with a thought, began to cancel those options, and the remaining number kept changing.
He discovered that the most consumption was for one arm, which consumed a full 0.8 carbon-based nano units, while the palm only required 0.2 carbon-based nano units.
For a moment, Wu Pifu fell into deep thought.
Suddenly, he said, "Main brain, display the attributes of that black ball."
"佛泥."
"It is said that in the world where the Buddha resides, there is a marvelous soil called the Eight Treasures of Merit Soil, which can be shaped into all living beings in the world. This soil is a lower-level imitation of the Eight Treasures of Merit Soil, possessing the ability to enhance life potential, transform imaginary organs and limbs, and grant life 'extraordinary' power."
"The defect is that it will greatly enhance life inspiration."
Wu Pifu carefully observed the attributes of this 佛泥, especially its negative effects.
Greatly enhancing life inspiration...
This inspiration was not the kind of inspiration found in research, art, or learning, nor was it the so-called sixth sense.
This inspiration was actually a very terrifying negative state.
The horrors and nightmares in the dream world included some that possessed the ability to pollute on an informational level.
According to what Wu Pifu had learned from his predecessors, some terrifying existences could cause life to become twisted and polluted just by knowing or reciting their names.
The inspiration described here was a perception ability targeted at these higher-level terrors; the higher the inspiration, the faster one would die!
"But enhancing life potential, transforming imaginary organs and limbs, granting life 'extraordinary' power... If I integrate this 佛泥, I can reshape my arm while greatly enhancing my strength. As for the negative effects of the inspiration enhancement, my Tiger Demon Technique just happens to be able to counteract it. Perhaps this negative effect could even be a positive one for me?"
Wu Pifu pondered for a moment and finally made up his mind.
His Tiger Demon Technique had actually advanced to a certain level during this life-and-death struggle, and he had established a Level Two Shelter.
He also had an opportunity for attribute enhancement, which could completely elevate his Tiger Demon Technique from a certain level to the next stage of transcending the ordinary.
Entering the threshold, reaching a certain level, transcending the ordinary, reaching the peak, achieving the ultimate manifestation—these were the five stages of the Tiger Demon Technique.
He could immediately reach the stage of transcending the ordinary, which would significantly enhance his resistance to demonic thoughts, distractions, or external alien thoughts.
Moreover, the Tiger Demon Technique itself was uniquely peculiar; the more demonic thoughts and distractions there were, the more intense the negative consciousness, and the stronger the feedback after suppression.
At that moment, Wu Pifu initiated a comprehensive deep treatment for himself.
Besides the severed arm, he would undergo full-body repair, consuming a total of 1.3 carbon-based nano units, leaving him with 1.3 carbon-based nano units remaining.
This would be his lifeline for the future.
Unless he could open a passage to another maintenance base, or even the main maintenance station or medical unit, once he exhausted this supply, he would completely lose this miraculous treatment.
Once the repairs were completed, Wu Pifu finally had time to sort through the gains from the Level Two Shelter!
One random draw from this dream world, one non-limit-breaking attribute enhancement, and...
The awakening of five newcomers!!
(End of Chapter)