Eternal Night

Chapter 863 Meetings and Joining

"Since the upheaval three months ago, the entire Dream World has suddenly become lively. Although our Night Watchers are still circling the upper levels of the Dream World, there are already sporadic reports indicating that past civilizations are beginning to emerge... It's really too strange. Where were they hiding before all this?"

Inside the human government building, officials of the unified human government, including Gao Changgong, family members like the Xu family, representatives of the Night Watch, and others were sitting together for a meeting.

They were discussing Xu Shilan's application to the United Human Government to establish a highly mobile security company.

Similar organizations exist, such as unified human governments, but they are not private armies.

Since Chu Minghao took office as president, he has almost completely disbanded the private armies on the surface, leaving only a small number of core security personnel from various families. The current human government's high mobility force is the same force that Yao Meng belongs to, which is dedicated to rescuing the Night Watchers of the Dream World, or investigating the remaining forces of the company, forces that the Human Revolutionary Alliance has not yet pledged allegiance to, and so on.

In her application report, Xu Shilan claimed that the Gaia human civilization is currently very weak due to the time it took to enter the dream world. To this day, there are still Night Watchers who have suffered casualties in the 0.9 Dream World. Although some Night Watcher teams have begun to advance into the 0.6 Dream World, they are more focused on exploration than on occupation or conquest.

In her report, Xu Shilan emphasized to the Unified Human Government that the Gaia civilization is now a formidable force in the Dream World, capable of contending with many established Dream World powers. This is not because the Gaia civilization is powerful, but because the three pillars of humanity are powerful, because the superbrain is powerful, because Chu Minghao can oversee the Land of Redemption, Liang Min can move freely among the Dream World's upper echelons, and Wu Pifu can penetrate deep into the Dream World and wreak havoc. This is what makes the Gaia civilization appear so powerful now.

But... what if all of this were gone?

What would Gaia's fate be if it lost its three pillars?

"...I know that many people in the government are extremely wary of other civilizations in the Dream World. This stems from their wariness of the Dream World's dangers, as well as their wariness of other intelligent beings outside of themselves. But wake up, everyone, we have no right to maintain this arrogance. The Dream World is not a single-player game, and human civilization is not alone. In fact, you should have seen a lot of information about the Dream World. Human civilization is not just Gaia. The closer we get to our era, the more humans there are, and the more similar they are... By the way, I have a medical report that proves that whether it's the two people from the Lost Lands or the True Martial lineage that I plan to recruit as security members, their genes are exactly the same as ours!"

"We should absorb friendly, orderly, human beings and life forms from civilizations or small organizations. While we have the three pillars of humanity to suppress everything, while we still have the leisure, while we still have the Absolute Truth layer behind us and a massive amount of truth, your self-isolation and isolationism at this time... do you want to wipe out our human race?"

Xu Shilan's report left her opponents—those in the government, the Night Watch, and within her family—speechless.

Of course, when it comes to sophistry, they can certainly argue to the bitter end, but when the opponent is Xu Shilan, and behind Xu Shilan stands one of the three pillars of humanity, and most importantly, this one of the three pillars is the least skilled at debating but the most fond of using knives, all sophistry and sophistry are meaningless...

Logically speaking, Xu Shilan is right, and absolutely right.

This is the general trend. The Gaia humans cannot stand in the absolute reality layer forever, nor can they remain inactive with other civilizations of different eras forever. It's only a matter of time. So why not take advantage of the fact that the three pillars of humanity are still in existence and that humanity has a lot of reality to communicate with?
The answer is actually very simple...

It's all about profit!

The Night's Watch has its interests, families like the Xu family have their interests, and the government has its interests.

In the simplest case, when the Gaia Human Unified Government begins to make contact with and gradually accepts the benevolent civilizations, should the 0.7 to 0.9 Dream World allow them to enter the strategy?

The mastermind certainly wouldn't work for them, so the worlds they could enter must be those where the Night Watch has established sanctuaries. If they were dream worlds that the Night Watch hadn't yet conquered, that would be fine, as these alien civilizations could help conquer them after joining. But what if the Night Watch had already established sanctuaries and used them as their sphere of influence or logistical bases?
Should we let other civilizations get a share of the pie?
This is in the interest of the Night's Watch.

The interests of a unified human government lie in its jurisdiction over, communication with, and acceptance of individuals and organizations from other civilizations. Whoever is the first to bring in individuals and organizations from other civilizations, the first to take the plunge, will have the initial dominant power.

These powers are not explicitly stipulated constitutional powers, but rather invisible authoritative authority. If Xu Shilan takes the lead in this matter, she will become an expert in this field, and the alien civilization will also spread information about the Gaia humans. At that time, will Xu Shilan represent the unified human government?
It's important to understand that Xu Shilan is not some easily manipulated commoner or businessperson. She is the head of the Xu family, the legitimate and orthodox one. Her status determines that she is a piece of the political map of the unified human government, a large piece of it. Furthermore, she has gained the right to communicate and interact with other races and civilizations... Where does that leave the officials and bureaucrats within the unified human government?
This is the right of a unified human government.

As for the family aspect, it's even simpler.

The Chu family, the Xu family, the Zhu family, the Li family, the Thompson family, the Donald family...

There are eleven founding families in total. They were the original power holders who defeated the Enders and ended the Azure Government. Even after the Corporate era and the Fourth War, these eleven families still have enormous power. Many officials in the government have intricate relationships with them, and many members of the Night's Watch are also subordinates of these families.

However... the eleven families are now considered to have declined, because Chu Minghao became the president of the unified human government. His existence suppressed all dissent, and the eleven families no longer have their own family armed forces. Their authority has been greatly weakened. Now, the goal of the eleven families is to shift from gathering the masses to individual excellence. The large-scale appearance of alien races and civilizations has led them to consider recruiting them into their family armed forces.

But before they had the means or the ability to implement it, Xu Shilan took the first step by establishing a security company. This allowed her to win over alien races and civilizations, operate on a large scale and in a cluster, and register with the unified human government. In some cases, this security company could even receive money from the unified human government to support the Xu family's power...

That's killing multiple birds with one stone! So Xu Shilan's application report received neither approval nor opposition, and the meeting began the day after the report was submitted, but it didn't end until the fourth day after the report was submitted.

While one cannot agree due to conflicting interests, one also cannot oppose it for the sake of interests. This has turned into a delaying tactic. Now everyone is waiting, waiting for someone who can't hold back to stand up, and then...

"So...this is what you think?"

The appearance of a voice startled everyone present, and they then realized that Wu Pifu had somehow appeared at the edge of the meeting room. More than half of the people stood up, trembling.

Fuck it!
When did Butcher Wu arrive?

"...I've been here all day. Don't mind me. If I don't want you to see me, you'll subconsciously avoid me. But that's how I can truly hear your thoughts."

Wu Pifu, however, showed no signs of anger.

He turned to Xu Shilan, who was hiding behind him, and said, "This is not just about interests. To be honest, I think they are right. Why should other alien races and civilizations easily enter the Night Watchers' sanctuary world?"

Xu Shilan opened her mouth to speak, but Wu Pifu waved his hand and said, "Don't talk to me about your grand principles. I may not be able to win an argument with you, but I'm stubborn about this... Let me put it this way, I originally came from the 21st century. In the 21st century, my motherland liked to treat foreign races and civilizations with preferential treatment, and it was a huge preferential treatment. They would always bring up diplomatic disputes. There are no small matters in diplomacy. They don't talk about grand principles. I can't stand this."

Xu Shilan nodded silently, keeping this in mind. She smiled sweetly, wanting to explain, but Wu Pifu continued, "Then there's the matter of the other families. To be honest, I'm not familiar with any of you. However, in terms of closeness, the Chu family and the Xu family are closer to me. But there's more to this than meets the eye. You all know that different races and civilizations can bring huge benefits. I understand that you're unwilling to withdraw. So let's sit down and talk. Whether it's investing or cooperating, it's all fine. Of course, as I said before, the Chu family and the Xu family are closer to me. There's a difference in priorities. If you have no objections, then send someone to discuss it with Xu Shilan."

The family representatives present were all taken aback. Some were overjoyed, some smiled and nodded, and some seemed thoughtful. But overall, Wu Pifu felt a sense of joy. At least he didn't sense any resentment or ulterior motives in the representatives' emotions, which meant that these families didn't want to divide humanity or join forces with other races.

Wu Pifu then looked at the government representative, Gao Changgong, who had a bitter face. He was both a government representative and a partial representative of the Night Watch.

Wu Pifu smiled at Gao Changgong and said, "Old Gao, we're acquaintances, so I'll be frank. You said the Night Watch's interests concern individuals and small teams, and I absolutely support that. At least, alien races and civilizations should not be allowed to enter their sanctuary world unless the Night Watch allows it. But the government's actions are really underhanded... To put it bluntly, you're not thinking about the government, but about your own official positions, right?"

Gao Changgong opened his mouth, then suddenly remembered that Wu Pifu was a superbrain. He lowered his head dejectedly and said, "Yes, but isn't this normal? Even if it's for the sake of official positions, the government should control the overall situation. How can such core military force be allocated to individuals or families? The President just abolished family armed forces. Aren't you creating an even larger family armed force? I also have something to say frankly. If things don't go smoothly, this will immediately lead to division and warlordism. Brother Wu, the government will absolutely not accept this."

Wu Pifu surprisingly nodded in agreement. He looked at Xu Shilan, who smiled sweetly at Gao Changgong and said, "Uncle Gao, you're going too far. This security company is a legitimate government company, not to mention that. But there's a premise... Without Wu Pifu, do you think I could recruit alien races and civilizations? Or would I really trust them?"

Seeing Gao Changgong deep in thought, Xu Shilan immediately said, "So the simplest way is still to form a joint venture, with the government also investing and becoming the largest shareholder. The government can send branch committee members down to establish a company committee, which will be completely open to the government in terms of personnel and financial statements. The government will be the first to know about any developments, and it will also have the power to mobilize security personnel. Wouldn't that be acceptable?"

Gao Changgong nodded slightly. He glanced at the officials around him; some were composed, some bowed their heads, and some were dissatisfied. Gao Changgong then said, "Let's discuss this further..."

“That won’t do.” Wu Pifu said directly, “I’m already here. The three elders of Chan Nian Temple are waiting outside. Just say whether it’s okay or not. Don’t try to fob me off. Or… do you want me to use my power as the vice president to veto or approve?”

Everyone fell silent, but Wu Pifu laughed heartily, turned around, and walked out of the conference room.

Outside the conference room, in the square, the three elders stood silently with solemn expressions. When they saw Wu Pifu come out, their faces showed fear and unease.

Wu Pifu then said to them gently, "Well then... welcome to the land of salvation for humankind in Gaia!"

The three elders were overjoyed, with one of them exclaiming, "Then we've become vassals of humanity!?"

"No, not a vassal..."

Wu Pifu smiled again: "We are allies."

"From now on, we are allies."

(End of this chapter)