Lin Xiaoxiao asked, "Since you can resist the nightmare, why do you still enter? If you endure for five minutes without falling asleep, you naturally would be able to escape the nightmare's call."
"I thought you had something to say, so I came," Qing Chen replied, "What are you testing this time?"
"From today on, it's no longer a test, but the boss wants me to take you on a journey," Lin Xiaoxiao answered.
"Take me on a journey?" Qing Chen puzzled, "What do you mean?"
"To use nightmares to evolve human nature, to let you experience some tribulations," Lin Xiaoxiao said, "But seeing how easily you resisted the nightmare just now, it looks like nightmares will be of no use in the future, the boss himself has to guide you."
Qing Chen pondered thoughtfully.
This kind of nightmare was different from the last one; it was more like a lesson a teacher arranges for their students.
However, Lin Xiaoxiao then said, "Don't think too much, the boss still merely admires you for now. Whether you can become the boss's student in the future is still uncertain."
"You are envious of me," Qing Chen stated.
"Envious," Lin Xiaoxiao candidly admitted, "Not everyone can become the boss's student, at least Ye Wan and I can't."
"Why?" Qing Chen could not understand.
"Because both of us didn't get through the first trial," Lin Xiaoxiao explained, "But the boss feels, you should be able to make it through."
"Make it through?" Qing Chen was momentarily stunned.
Lin Xiaoxiao smiled mysteriously, "It's a path from death to life, where each improvement requires surviving a predicament, experiencing pain once."
"Then why me?"
"Because the boss says you have the courage to be in a desperate situation and yet survive," Lin Xiaoxiao replied.
"Since it's so painful, then why do you still envy it?" Qing Chen inquired.
"Because it is a path of cultivation with limitless potential, while Ye Wan and I already have our limits set," Lin Xiaoxiao said somewhat longingly, "That path might be painful, but you must understand, a life experienced through pain is higher in stature."
Qing Chen decided not to dwell on the issue and asked about other doubts he had, "How old is Mr. Uncle Li Dong?"
"Why ask that?" Lin Xiaoxiao wondered.
"Just asking," Qing Chen said.
He asked this because: If time in the Outer World stood still relative to him when he came to the Inner World, then that meant he would age faster than normal people.
It's not that his bodily functions aged quickly, but rather that he was dividing his life between two worlds.
By the time his contemporaries were only forty years old, he might already have the appearance and bodily functions of someone in their sixties.
Therefore, he wanted to know if Uncle Li Dong's ability that transcended the common could grant longevity.
Lin Xiaoxiao glanced at him, "Take a guess? The boss's age is not easy to guess."
After some thought, Qing Chen said, "40 years old?"
"Too low," Lin Xiaoxiao replied.
"60 years old?"
"That's not right."
"120 years old?"
"Stop, stop, stop, don't guess any more, you'll guess the boss away," Lin Xiaoxiao interrupted, "The boss is 52 years old this year."
Qing Chen was immediately shocked; Uncle Li Dong appeared to be no more than thirty-five or thirty-six years old.
"Look at how inexperienced you are, for someone like the boss, even living to over a hundred years old wouldn't surprise me," Lin Xiaoxiao said, "We followed him when we were very, very little; all these years, I've never seen him change."
"Why are you following him?" Qing Chen asked.
"There's no particular reason. Me, Ye Wan, and many others are orphans," Lin Xiaoxiao lay on the hot sand, using his arm as a pillow under his head while gazing at the sky. Suddenly, it darkened and the air grew less hot, "Being born into Qing's Family, you wouldn't understand how harrowing life can be for people on the outside. Becoming an orphan is very easy."
"Maybe your parents just happened to run into some gang members while walking down the street and got into an argument, maybe you were targeted right after getting paid, maybe there was a chemical leak at the plant that caused contamination, or maybe you were attacked by hackers while connected to the virtual network with a neural link. Anyway, people die just like that."
"Then you can't afford the property taxes, the insurance company refuses to compensate, the bank takes your house away and evicts you to the streets, and nobody cares whether you live or die."
"At that point, your life has already turned bleak and dark. Gangs want to grab you to be a drug mule, or they might torture you viciously and then record it to sell virtual lives for money."
"At such times, someone appears before you and says, 'Come with me, I'll give you a new life'."
"No matter who he is, you would follow him."
Qing Chen silently watched Lin Xiaoxiao, and in that moment, he truly understood that his own tribulations were nothing compared to the other's experiences.
"Why did he adopt you?" Qing Chen asked curiously.
"Because we are useful," Lin Xiaoxiao replied, "He can't do what he needs to do alone."
Qing Chen was stunned for a moment. He still didn't know what the Knight Organization and the Spades Organization's goals were, nor did he know the colossal entity that Spade was trying to contend against. Was it the five major corporations, or something else?
But Uncle Li Dong adopted Lin Xiaoxiao, Ye Wan, and the others with clearly utilitarian intentions, although it seemed as though Lin Xiaoxiao and his companions didn't mind.
At this point, Lin Xiaoxiao got up, "Alright, rest early."
The nightmare dispersed and Qing Chen remained in the dim prison cell, lying on the cold bed board.
Now that he had seen Uncle Li Dong's enigmatic level, would his Canon be enough to trade for an opportunity to open the doors to the New World?
Qing Chen was uncertain whether Canon was sufficient leverage, and he also had no way to explain its origins.
He needed to wait longer.
Waiting and hope, all of mankind's wisdom could be contained within these two words.
...
Countdown 24:00:00.
In a corner of Prison 18.
"Is anyone there? Let me out, why am I locked up here?" A voice fiercely pounded on the Alloy Gate, shouting loudly.
Liu Dezhu, a Los Angeles City transmigrator, was being detained in a solitary cell unlike the common prisoners' cells, equipped with a surveillance camera closely monitoring the detainee.
Ever since he approached Uncle Li Dong for tasks, he had been locked in this hidden corner, neglected ever since.
Devoid of any notion of time and without the sight of sunrise or sunset, Liu Dezhu could only guess the time outside based on the robot's meal delivery schedule.
The sound of him beating on the Alloy Gate dwindled until he had no more strength and his throat was a bit hoarse before he stopped.
The prison seemed as if he was the only one left, with no one responding to his pleas and anger.
Liu Dezhu couldn't understand why others in the Inner World seemed to be thriving, with their mechanical limbs and gang memberships, and yet his situation had turned out like this.
Moreover, he had just bragged to his classmates about being a transmigrator before coming here.
After the 24 hours have passed and he returns to the Outer World, what would he say to his classmates?
When they ask, "What was your status in the Inner World?"
How could he even begin to respond?
Should he say that he had a secure job in an administrative unit of the Inner World where he didn't have to do anything but was guaranteed meals every day?
Should he say that he had successfully changed careers? Turned into a prisoner?