Dream Travel

Chapter 257 It's not like there aren't other ways.

"Won."

Talic gave a slightly disappointing answer to Bai Mu; although she looked disheveled, the battle actually ended very quickly.

After the battle, there was enough time left for her to take everything she could get.

Finding the white curtain later was just a side trip.

It wasn't that Talic had left any hidden traps on White Curtain, but rather that she had left traps on Yuri and Chihiro's tracked motorcycles.

The thing leaves subtle traces when it moves, and Talich can use these traces to locate them.

What started as a casual stop turned out to be an unexpected bonus...

She didn't think it was luck. Bai Mu must have some kind of exclusive intelligence, and since Bai Mu came from inside the base, Talic, who reacted quickly, thought of making a deal.

Do you have any better plans for them?

Bai Mu sat on the weapon box on the ground. It was a good thing that someone was concerned about Qian Hu and Yu Li's condition.

He was all alone, had no special background, and couldn't very well take Yi Meng's life back with him.

It would be different if someone with connections were in their shoes; at least they could be given a decent place to live, right?

At worst, they could assign me to work in a town? They must be short-staffed there...

“No, you should have noticed by now, they’re not very useful,” Talic said, stating a rather harsh reality.

If Chito and Yuri were even slightly useful, they wouldn't be completely useless.

"Disappointing, I'd rather sweep the streets."

"Do you think we need them to do street sweeping work because we exist?" Talic was speechless. These explorers could bring back more than just research data.

Many autonomous robots can also be brought back, and even if they cannot be brought to reality, they can be used at the starting point of the Dream Source.

Therefore, there is no shortage of relevant labor there.

What use are Chito and Yuri? They're completely useless.

"However, there is one way we could try."

Talic said with a smile, "They were pretty good test subjects."

“That’s a really despicable suggestion.” Bai Mu touched his weapon case, and Talic glanced at Bai Mu.

"Otherwise, they are of no use at all."

What if we make a deal?

“Let’s see what the deal is.” Talic looked at the open base gate; by now, the inside had probably been 'emptied out'.

Although there were other gains, it is highly likely that related research data and other materials are no longer available.

"Okay, come and take a look."

Bai Mu took out a computer and created a catalog for Talic to look at. Talic didn't stand on ceremony and listed their findings as well.

The information presented by Bai Mu was not complete, nor was the information presented by Talic, but their findings did not overlap.

This is the basis for being able to trade.

"You don't have enough supplies, do you?"

Bai Mu looked at the research data that Talic had listed and said it wasn't very good. He hadn't obtained much research data before, but the research data he obtained from this military base was very comprehensive.

It even includes important intelligence about many cities, such as keys to other facilities.

Not all areas are equipped with artificial intelligence; most areas are maintained by autonomous robots.

These autonomous machines can also communicate with people, but they don't perform as well as the nameless AI he encountered.

The anonymous AI also shared AI-related materials with Baimu.

In other words, if Bai Mu has the ability, he can try to develop artificial intelligence on his own. He can also try to be Iron Man and have his own Jarvis.

This is considered one of the core technologies in this world, along with weapons such as nuclear power plants.

Small nuclear fusion battery technology is of paramount importance.

Just like the camera used by Qianhu, that thing probably uses a miniature nuclear battery, so there's no need to worry about battery life at all.

As long as the equipment doesn't break down, it can be used almost indefinitely.

This production base also produces such batteries, but those batteries are used in military weapons.

It's not a civilian-grade model, but because it's not for civilian use, its performance is superior.

The fact that this military base can operate to this day is also related to relevant energy technologies.

The city has a nuclear power plant, but as a military base, it obviously cannot rely entirely on such facilities; there are independent power generation facilities here.

Therefore, there is still a lot of hope for this base.

The research data mentioned above is not listed here; only some relatively common data is listed. Good things cannot be presented at the beginning.

Even so, what Talic brought out was still far inferior to what he had.

“But you want to provide them with a suitable living environment,” Talic said calmly.

“It’s not like I don’t have other ways.” Bai Mu curled his lip, even though it was Talic who guided him to find the two natives.

But now that the other party is using this as a bargaining chip, he is a little unhappy. To be honest, it's just about arranging a special environment. Do they really think he has no other choice?
A more humane approach would be to help them complete a certification process, allowing them to live in this base. With the resources within the base, they would have enough to survive for a long time.

As for the things inside this base, explorers may be interested, but the most important thing is still the research data.

The research data has been deleted by the White Curtain; what remains of value are some weapons and other items found here.

After taking those things away, all that's left here are basic facilities, and what use are those facilities anyway?

Since it can't bring out the strange dream, its function is just so-so.

The more outsiders explore this city, the less important it becomes.

Although this military base has production facilities, its main purpose is not limited to this; it is not the main production area.

Putting everything else aside, the fact that they can be certified is enough to make Nightow Mining pay extra attention to them.

There will be plenty of attention like this until the value of this base is fully realized. After it's been developed? They might not be of any use anymore, but the base itself will be useless then.

This is the arrangement for the living world. The arrangement for the underworld is even simpler: just pack them up.

The white curtain contains fragments of the Light and Shadow Demon's spirit. Although these fragments are few and weak, they possess a considerable amount of power.

The Shadow Demons in their shadow form have the ability to harvest souls, directly extracting them and packing them away. As for their bodies, let the alchemist Beatrice process them, then reassemble them later; they should be usable as is.

There are plenty of ways to arrange things, so there's no need to worry about the future.

This world is already despair-inducing enough; neither the underworld nor the living world's methods of dealing with it would be too bad for them.

Therefore, Talic's 'kidnapping' was meaningless to Whitebeard.

“It seems you have a plan.” Talic was not surprised by the white curtain’s reaction.

"Hmph, I can bring them into reality!"

Talic paused slightly, then asked, "What's the price?"

Bringing people from alternate dreams into reality is not uncommon, but it usually comes at a price, often involving risking one's life.

Even with the addition of the Dream Terminal and the Dreamwalker Essence that accompany it, there's no guarantee that creatures within the Dream Terminal can reach reality.

"They have to die once."

"Oh." Upon hearing this, Talic was no longer surprised; such a price was quite normal.

As for the claim of dying once, since the White Curtain has a relevant method, the price of dying once is simply dying once.

Talic didn't think they would really die; they would just be 'living' in a different form. Otherwise, what Bai Mu said would be meaningless.

The White House had grasped the relevant methods, which Talic hadn't anticipated. Based on this, the current deal had to be adjusted.

Judging from the current situation, Bai Mu is a good person, but he is clearly not the kind of good person who can be easily deceived.

Compared to good people without principles, those with ideas still hope that there are more good people with principles.

As for the latter, it's quite frightening to think about sometimes. When they want to do something, they don't mind using unethical means.

Just like Bai Mu's current thinking, in order to solve certain things, he doesn't mind letting the person he's helping 'die once'.

"Then let's proceed with the normal transaction."

"It better be this way."

Talic updated the research data he had collected, and it now matched the data provided by White Curtain.

The materials she provided even included construction data for nuclear power plants, as well as some information on aerospace development.

The information from the White Curtain side mainly focuses on military weapons, but also includes some life-sustaining technologies.

Such technology is mainly used in individual combat weapons.

However, since there were no corpses at this military base, this technology seemed rather useless.

In reality, however, too much time had passed, and the life-sustaining technology could not keep those people alive for long; they were disposed of after they died.

The maintenance robot can clean it.

The base's closure was not only due to a break in civilization, but also to avoid the effects of EMP weapons.

The war in this world has been going on for a very long time. At first, everyone was fighting on the ground.

Later, in multi-level cities, and then with the widespread use of EMP weapons, most electronic devices were paralyzed, and even multi-level cities couldn't withstand it.

The civilization that had developed rapidly due to war has regressed rapidly, yet the war has never stopped, and it has been fought to a level similar to that of World War II, and it is still going on.

However, the nature of war is constantly changing. Dropping nuclear bombs means that once one explodes, it's not just one explosion.

When the war reached a level close to that of World War II, it became more about the struggle for survival resources.

The disruption of civilization meant that many bases that had been sealed off to avoid EMP impacts could no longer be opened.

This is the record from within this military base; even so, the subsequent records are blank...

Clearly, this world civilization, after regressing to the level of World War II due to war, still maintained itself for a considerable period of time.

The missing records indicate the reasons why people within the base died and had little further contact with the outside world.

"No problem, let's begin the transaction."

Bai Mu nodded. While adjusting the data, he used the Dream-Eater Imperial Arm.

Talic may have ways to counter mental scanning, but the Dream Eater Imperial Arm is an Imperial Arm that directly affects the body, which is a superficial observation.

Just like a person looking at another person with their eyes, without involving special powers, Talic's method of countering mental observation is useless.

Although the Dream-Eater Imperial Arms always suffers setbacks as its strength increases, its usefulness has never diminished during normal interactions.

Talic didn't seem to have many ideas on the surface; he just wanted to complete the deal. What surprised Bai Mu was that the other party wasn't from a company, but from an official source.

Uh... he thought the officials who controlled the Source of Otherworldly Dreams were more like referees, but it turns out they're also participants.

After exchanging information, Talic looked at the base behind the white curtain: "Would you mind if we went in and explored? There are quite a few people watching this place."

Bai Mu raised his eyebrows slightly. "So it was you who lured the Japanese here?"
"Our mission is almost complete. After this transaction, your mission probably won't need to continue, right?"

Talic knew how much he had gained. Although the part he had made with Whitebeard wasn't everything, it was enough for the other companies' investigators to report back and even earn them an excellent evaluation.

If Bai Mu is a slacker, he can leave now. If he's an employee, he can get his employer to pay him more based on his current earnings.

"I want to go up to the upper levels."

Talic raised an eyebrow slightly; it seemed that White Curtain was the kind of person who wanted his employer to spend more money.

“Then let me give you some news.” Talic looked up at the sky: “There are some unique creatures in the upper levels. These creatures are not human. They do not show any malice towards humans... but they are not easy to get along with, or rather, they are not easy to get along with for us.”

She also has the ability to explore the upper levels; however, according to some intelligence she had previously obtained, special life forms are active in the upper levels.

Those life forms in this world in the past were even regarded as 'gods'. When it comes to the existence of this word, outsiders in reality still attach great importance to it.

Those who are regarded as gods by the locals in the alternate dream, even if they are not true gods, will possess special powers.

Those who frequently encounter unusual dreams know that if you have a particularly special dream, you might actually meet a god...

For example, the alternate dreams that those alternate dream demons once inhabited in reality had gods in their world, or even a pantheon.

Therefore, after the outsiders learned of this information, they did not become so arrogant as to clash with those special beings at the higher levels.

At most, we had some simple contact, and the result was alright.

They did not show malice, but they were not very benevolent either; they were more like a kind of 'executor' capable of acting autonomously and communicating.

They were cleaning up the planet, which meant that the personnel who came into contact with them were not in danger, but were immediately disarmed...

(End of this chapter)