Bai Feng had always been fighting alone. She never mentioned her husband. In her world, only her two kids existed. Finding them was the meaning of her life. Her inability to find suitable aid caused her to hesitate to enter Level Five Labs. She suspected her children’s disappearance had something to do with Immortal Pharma. Once the brain implant was injected into her body, she feared she’d be controlled by Immortal Pharma.
Gao Ming’s appearance brought her hope. He not only provided her with information about her missing children but also hated Immortal Pharma. The key thing was she witnessed his courage and cunning in the last nightmare. In the brain test games, cunning was a positive thing.
“Are you going to accept Immortal Pharma’s brain surgery?” Gao Ming was shocked by Bai Feng’s courage. Being a mother was really impressive.
“I have no other choice. I’ve searched all the other labs.” Bai Feng walked to Gao Ming, “You are about Bai Xiao’s age and have the same personality. In the nightmare, I even felt like I saw him in you. It was very strange.”
Gao Ming felt uneasy. His hand went to his heart. When the pattern of the God of Flesh and Blood appeared on the dresser, he heard the howling of ghosts from his chest. His chest appeared to hold many ghosts, and they wanted to escape.
“We can cooperate, but what is your plan?”
“I will request to raise my access level to five. For that, I need to pass a deep-level nightmare test. That test will be conducted in a level five lab. This is the only chance for me to interact with a level five lab before I accept the brain surgery. I hope you’ll come with me.” Bai Feng admitted to Gao Ming, “I need someone to be with me so that I won’t lose myself.”
“Are you scared?” Gao Ming heard the uncertainty in her voice for the first time.
“Yes.” Bai Feng nodded. “Each entry into the nightmare is a risk. Instead of strength, luck is more important.”
“How many people manage to wake up from the nightmare on their own?”
Bai Feng and Gao Ming decided on a time. Then, Bai Feng settled down to meditate. Gao Ming didn’t stay. He had many part-time jobs.
“The ninth-sense experience centre hasn’t reached out to me for a long time already. Other than Wang Pingan, no one uses the walkie-talkie. I can move them to the back burner for now. I need to focus on helping Bai Feng gain level five access.” Laying on the couch, Gao Ming touched the watch Old Cao gave him. Eventually, he sent the other party a message. He asked if Molten Fire had the ability to help Bai Feng destroy Immortal Pharma’s brain surgery. Soon, he received a reply.
“There are thirteen different methods for Immortal Pharma to modify one’s brain. Every method leads to different effects. They can turn the players into Immortal Pharma’s loyal dogs and give them different powers so they can deal with the nightmare better.”
After the first message, Brother Chong appended a few modifications. They looked scary.
“Organ Insertion. In the past, there would be the organ insertion ritual as one created a divine figurine. The purpose is to enable the divine to channel their spiritual energy into the figurine so the figurine could be a real divine vessel. Normal organ insertion includes books that represent wisdom, a mirror that represents clarity, five grains that represent a good blessing of harvest, and things like cinnabar that can repel evil. Immortal Pharma’s organ insertion turns living humans into figurines. They insert alien objects into human bodies. These alien objects often contain divinity. This is perfect for players who have strong physique.
“Name Replacement. Changing names is a taboo in the nightmare because players can easily lose themselves without their names. This method is to change a player’s name into a dead person’s name. They will assume the dead person’s identity to explore the nightmare. As the player assumes the dead people’s names, they will gain their powers. The downside is the player can easily lose their actual identity.
“Tragedy Admiration. The players will continually sacrifice their bodies in exchange for divine protection. This is extremely harmful to one’s mind and body. These kinds of player normally wouldn’t use their power easily.
“Temple Construction. Players use their blood, essence, organs and bodies as the foundation and collect the necessary ingredients in the nightmare to build a temple to resist the tragedy. This kind of player can identify the anomalies in the nightmares, not realising they have already been modified by Immortal Pharma into anomalies ingredients. They are often welcomed by the nightmare. The downside is once the temple is constructed, they can’t move anymore.”
Brother Chong provided a lot of explanation. Immortal Pharma had already abandoned humanity to explore the brain realm and the nightmare. They had a full modification system. In the end, Brother Chong warned Gao Ming from accepting the modification because they came with a price.
The thing that intrigued Gao Ming more was whether he had met people who had been modified in the nightmare and what kind of modification they had accepted.
“Wan Jie…” Gao Ming remembered this name. He had seen the man in real life. “There should be more than one level five lab. I hope I can meet him this time.”
Eventually, the sun dropped.
Gao Ming went to answer the door. There was Liu Yi carrying a basket of ingredients on her left hand and a giant paper box on her right.
“My present for you. Take it quick. It’s heavy.” Liu Yi handed the box to Goa Ming and entered the room.
For Gao Ming, Liu Yi was like a switch. Her appearance could help him forget most despair and feel the warmth of the real world. After she left, Gao Ming was drawn to the urge to explore the truth. After he woke up from the nightmare, Liu Yi played the role of a safety line that helped him from falling back into the eerie nightmare. However, Gao Ming didn’t know if this was a good or a bad thing because he really wanted to return to the nightmare.
The longer he stayed, the harder it would be for him to leave.
“The food is almost ready. We can eat after you rest.” Gao Ming opened the box curiously. Inside the box was a rather new gaming helmet.