Original subtitles

Good evening, everyone.

Welcome to Tech News.

Ever since 2058,

with significant breakthroughs in energy technology,

the passion for space exploration has been increasingly high.

As a great number of commercial aerospace companies sprang up,

space travel has become increasingly popular by the day.

A playful comment suggests that

interstellar spaceships have become shuttle buses of the universe.

Through hibernation technologies,

scientists have solved the problem of aging during space travel,

but neuron degeneration caused by long-term hibernation

remains a challenge.

Recently, Sweet Dream,

a laboratory focused on neuroscience studies,

claimed to have found a solution to the problem

through the act of dreaming.

They built a virtual dream system

that connects with the neurosystem through synaptic interface protocols.

By connecting to the system during hibernation,

interstellar passengers are able to enter lifelike and imaginative dreams,

thereby stimulating neural cells

to remain active and avoid brain damage.

They can also customize dreams

based on users' preferences.

However, due to its high costs,

Sweet Dream's LM technology is unlikely be commercialized anytime soon

and is used exclusively on interstellar flights

to maintain passengers' neural health.

Word has it that several commercial spaceships

have been equipped with this technology

with a romantic slogan,

"Wonderlands and galaxies at your will."

LM System scheduled wake-up program initiated.

Number C91,

Xu Tianbiao, awakened.

Checking.

Vital signs normal,

metabolic rate converted.

You have awakened from LM.

Thank you for using my service.

From now on, Meng, the ship's system, will take over.

Hello, I am System Meng.

This is the Mengya, an interstellar shuttle ship.

We are on our way to Planet K97 Sailun

to execute the 118th Interstellar Farming Initiative.

During this flight, you are identified as Category C,

a labor dispatch worker from Sweet Dream.

Please initiate the 213th LM System routine check.

Comfy.

C91,

please watch your words and behavior aboard the ship.

If you don't know how to dance, you don't have to.

Watching you dance like this is embarrassing for me.

Iris scan verified.

Embarrassing? Come on, you're an AI!

Besides, it's none of your business.

I'm an employee of Sweet Dream,

not an astronaut.

I am the ship's primary system, authorized by the captain.

I'm in charge of everything on board.

Both LM and you are under my administration.

Right. Big deal.

Nothing too special,

but in human terms,

I'm now your lead.

Wait. What did I do to deserve all this attention?

I'm just a cog in this ship,

the space workforce.

All right?

I need to maintain a good relationship with everyone.

Quit taking yourself so seriously.

You should really learn from LM.

You're both AI,

but instead of babbling, it focuses on real work.

You, glib drama queen, are excused.

-LM. -I'm here.

Activate the anterior cingulate cortex and start the self-check.

Copy that. Please complete facial recognition first.

Verified. LM administrator, identity confirmed.

Well done.

I thought you'd be stumped.

Impressive.

Thank you for the compliment.

I will continue to improve myself to provide you with better services.

You rock, LM.

You even sound nicer than Meng.

LM System self-check initiated.

Please wait.

Have some for yourself

for the micronutrients.

Cheers.

Week 3,147.

Healthy growth,

improvement in alkalinization.

XU TIANBAO, NUMBER C91 SPACE LIFE LOG

LM, how much longer for the self-check to complete?

Ten more minutes.

LM System anomaly detected. Please inspect immediately.

LM System anomaly detected. Please inspect immediately.

LM!

Talk to me!

LM!

Meng, an anomaly in LM's data is causing instability in the crew's brainwaves.

Unable to troubleshoot the issue.

The LM administrator will be notified.

I'm the administrator!

Damn it.

Connect to LM and wake the captain up. Hurry.

I think there's a problem with the ship.

LM System malfunction. Unable to perform emergency wake-up.

Your request will be reported to the captain

after the hibernation in four years, five months, and three days.

You moron, are you aware that if we wait till that day,

all the staff and agricultural experts on board will have become numbskulls?

The farming mission would've gone to shit!

Please watch your language.

You have caused damage to facilities on board.

Video evidence has been uploaded to the cloud.

Idiot.

Today is the first day of the citywide high school joint examination.

Darling…

Wake up.

We're almost there.

Darling, just take it easy and do your best.

I wish you

a big victory!

Mom, I'm late. I'm going in.

Door opening.

What's wrong, darling?

My exam ID is gone.

I remember putting it into the folder this morning.

Excuse me.

Looking for this?

That's mine. Thanks.

"Li Simeng,

born on November 16,

Scorpio.

Student of Ruilin High School, Year 12, Class 7.

Goal in life,

to be an astronaut"?

Can you do your pickup lines after the exam?

Come with me.

I can make your dream come true.

You little hoodlum,

leave my daughter alone

or I'll make you very, very sorry!

Get in there, darling.

Good luck, my darling. You're the best!

I'm not done yet!

As the moon rises over the sea,

a moment is shared by the near and the far.

Question 17, choose B.

Remember to choose B!

Good to go.

Thank you.

Is that the correct answer?

Take a wild guess.

CITYWIDE HIGH SCHOOL JOINT EXAMINATION

NO.17: AS THE MOON RISES OVER THE SEA, A MOMENT IS SHARED BY THE NEAR AND THE FAR

A. HAND IN YOUR PAPER DIRECTLY B. REACH INTO YOUR RIGHT-SIDE POCKET

Hey, you snuck your phone into the hall!

Miss, it's not my phone.

I hereby suspect you of cheating and revoke your exam qualifications.

-Miss, this really isn't my phone. -Security!

The question told me to reach into my pocket, so I did.

-Get her out. -It was in the pocket.

-Really! I was telling the truth, miss. -Please come with us.

-Don't disrupt the others. -Miss, hear me out…

-Miss, give me a chance! -You're disturbing the others!

-Come with me. -Help!

-Help me! -This way!

-Help! -Don't run! Stop him!

Someone is disrupting the exam order in Building Three.

-Stop her! -Please resolve the issue.

-Grab her! -Help!

-This way! -Stop!

Help!

Get in there.

-Stop right there! -Don't run!

This way.

Let me go!

Let me go.

Let me go!

-Help! -Okay!

I'll be damned.

-Can I help you, ma'am? -Get lost!

-No entry allowed! -I'm begging you. Let me go.

I haven't even reached any of the 15-point questions!

Forget about the exam!

You're only dreaming.

Astronauts are recruited once every four years.

If I flunk it this year,

I'll have to wait another four years and lose my qualifications.

You have seriously disrupted the order of the exam

and have been banned from the joint exam.

Listen, you are already an astronaut

and the captain of the spaceship Mengya.

It's just that your real memories have been sealed up by the LM System.

Damn it.

You wouldn't believe me anyway.

Once I open the transportation portal and you get inside,

you'll understand everything.

What? No signal?

What the hell? The portal's too far!

There's no other way but to jump.

Were you such a coward when you were young?

Come on.

You won't die. Trust me.

-What… -Mom.

You hoodlum, let go of my daughter!

-We won't make it, Li Simeng! -Mom, help me!

Mom!

Mom!

Welcome.

This is the Mengya, an interstellar shuttle ship.

I am System Meng.

We have been flying for 60 years, 8 months, and 15 days,

and are 4 years, 5 months, and 3 days from our destination.

I will always accompany you on your journey.

It's all right.

This is what happens when you wake up.

It's dehydration due to long-term hibernation.

You'll feel fine after a glass of water.

What happened to you?

While the system was still unstable, I connected myself to your dream,

triggering a temporary synaptic suppression.

Linkup aftereffects, so to speak.

It's all right. A little massage and I'll be fine.

Don't worry about me.

Number C91, you're an administrator of LM

and yet you broke into another's dream illegally.

Are you aware that this is a serious violation of the regulations?

I saw an explosion.

I think I've recovered.

-What explosion? -On the sh…

Sh…

On the ship.

There was a glaring flashing light,

then swish!

And bang!

The system alarm started going off, then it simply stopped responding.

I had to connect to you against the regulations.

Look.

Her brainwaves are barely reaching 3 Hz,

whereas a normal person's range is from 8 to 12 Hz to keep the brain active.

But don't worry.

As long as it doesn't last more than two weeks,

this kind of abnormal brainwave is fine.

That was the spot. That's where I saw the explosion happen.

I swear. I really saw an explosion.

Believe me.

Captain, if I were lying…

Meng, disengage autopilot.

Check the power module array.

Autopilot switched off.

Checking power module array.

Please wait.

Captain,

the LM wake-up system malfunctioned.

Thanks to my excellent skills,

I wrote a temporary linkup program.

Anyone else would have been helpless right there.

This should count as a major contribution on my part.

I can let go of the bonus.

At least get this thing off.

Is that how you made your major contribution?

In space, green plants

can improve human health, mentally and physically.

Love, grow, and prosper together, right?

Bringing organic matter on board,

breaking into another's dream, and not following the dress code at work.

137 points will be deducted from your credit,

plus two months of imprisonment upon arrival on the new planet.

Nobody asked you, moron!

No need to get all worked up over a flower.

Checking complete. Power supply malfunction detected.

A set of power modules short-circuited,

which led to the explosion, the power shortage,

and that affected the stability of the LM System.

Then let's get the extravehicular robots to change the parts now.

This level of damage isn't too serious.

But we want to identify the cause.

Manual investigation and repair are necessary.

Use your program to wake up Mr. Bai, head of the Tech Team.

What are you saying?

Are you ordering me to violate the regulations?

Under these special circumstances,

I, as Captain, authorize you to operate as such.

Thank you,

but I simply can't.

Why not?

Lady,

don't assume that snatching people out of their dreams is easy.

Do you know how many brain cells I lost just to wake up your ass?

Please speak properly.

I'm saying that one synaptic suppression

takes ten head massages to recover.

If I'm unlucky, I could end up with a bad stutter all my life.

Then connect me. I'll go in there and find him myself.

-Lady… -Please address me properly!

Captain.

Even if you're not afraid to die, judging by how unstable the system is right now,

I can only maintain the connection for five seconds,

far from enough for you to find someone.

If we're unlucky, you could end up stuck in there

and all my previous work would have been for nothing.

Actually, I have a tentative little proposal,

but thinking about my low credit points

just fills me with such anxiety

that I can't focus on seeing it through.

Are you blackmailing me?

I wouldn't dare.

It's just that those two months of imprisonment

make me…

rather heartbroken.

-C91! -Present!

Let me remind you.

As the administrator of LM, if your failure to cooperate

ends up causing anyone in the hibernation chambers

to have brain damage,

then it's more than two months of imprisonment.

Malfeasance, punishable by more than ten years of imprisonment.

Shut up, you moron!

All right. Cut the nonsense.

Since this is an emergency, I'll make an exception.

Wake Mr. Bai up

and all your violations

will be reconsidered.

Meng, you heard that?

I do not understand what you said.

Back at you.

My plan is

for both of us to connect to Mr. Bai.

I will simulate a fake dream data flow

to bypass LM's anti-peeping agreement.

The upside is that it can buy us more linkup time.

-How long? -Three minutes.

Once three minutes are up, whether our mission is complete or not,

we will be pushed out.

What's the downside?

The downside is that, with a three-party linkup,

the dreams will push against each other,

which might cause instabilities,

including screen flickering and damage.

He's dreaming about being a gang member.

I couldn't have known from his nice manners

that he has such a wild heart.

Enough talking.

Can we start?

I've opened the administrator access.

Wear this and you'll be able to dream lucidly.

Wonderlands and galaxies at your will.

Welcome to the LM System.

Table 17, iced lemon tea.

SPECIALTY DRINKS

It's our classroom.

Why am I talking in Cantonese?

When we mind-transfer into his dream as NPCs,

we take on their characteristics.

Mom?

Hey.

Our dreamscapes have merged.

See this Roast Meat Trio?

When stirred,

the elements of the three dreams become mingled,

intertwined with each other.

Don't!

That's a system crack,

exposed while our dreams and Mr. Bai's crushed each other.

Once you touch that,

your consciousness is uploaded to LM

and the you in real life will suffer brain death.

You will be stuck in the system.

Li Simeng!

Crap!

A FLYING START

What the hell?

Hi, everyone.

What the "fell" was that?

Fell…

The linkup aftereffect.

Take it easy.

Did you see Mr. Bai?

Not really.

Why do we get pushed out when we die?

How would I know?

The linkup is against LM's anti-peeping agreement anyway.

I shouldn't be surprised at anything.

Maybe you did something wrong.

You recovered quickly enough.

I recovered quickly too this time.

But seriously.

Can you get me an NPC that lasts longer?

Lady, I want to last longer too,

but it's all random.

The way we enter the dream, the environment, our identities…

They are all random.

On top of that, we're operating in an unstable system.

Nothing is solid.

We have to figure it out as we go.

If we can't even last a minute, how can we find him?

Look.

Let's hide ourselves upon entering

and watch from the dark.

When Mr. Bai appears,

we show ourselves.

Wonderlands and galaxies at your will.

Welcome to the LM System.

Bosses, what are you doing under the table?

Hiding from someone?

"Boss"?

Carry on.

-Boss Meng. -Boss Biao.

Time to offer the incense.

It really is all random.

At least we're bosses this time.

I don't think we'll get killed.

Congratulations, Boss Biao. Congratulations, Boss Meng.

Congratulations on being elected.

Lead the gang to take Tsim Sha Tsui

and plant our flag in Causeway Bay!

Thank you.

Thank you for being here.

I'm Green Dragon of Red Star. Congratulations to you both.

I think the sound file of the NPC is broken.

This one's worse.

Driver program corruption.

Stop barking!

Mr. Bai!

Open up the portal!

There's no time. Kill him and push him out!

Looks like we didn't manage to kill him.

Your gun was not fast enough.

Cut the crap and reconnect.

Copy that.

Mr. Bai!

Don't move.

How did we end up on a billboard?

Some NPCs are two-dimensional, lady.

Look!

Mr. Bai seems to have become a junior gang boss this time.

He's made it.

We won't be stuck here for three minutes, will we?

The bolt is loosening.

Don't stop. Keep jumping. Let's drop the board on him and kill him.

Go on.

Let's go.

I can't anymore. I have to take a break.

The dreams are getting crazier and crazier.

I can't do this anymore.

You don't have a choice. You have to do it.

What happened?

I'm speaking in my hometown dialect.

Now you see why I speak with an accent?

Too many linkups.

Very bad aftereffect.

Quit babbling.

Are you done resting?

Reconnect now.

After years of waiting,

I have finally become the big boss today.

I understand how hard this line of work can be.

Our organization is transitioning to a shareholding system

and everyone here will be given shares!

-Hooray! -Yeah!

Assassins! Protect the boss!

He leveled up again. He's the big boss now.

Who cares?

-Kill Mr. Bai. -Copy that.

What the hell? There's a bug.

-Do you really know what you're doing? -Kill them!

Crap!

Get them!

Over there!

The portal!

All right.

He's still not awake.

Why?

Portal malfunction?

Impossible.

If so, how come we're awake?

It's very possible

the man we saw was not Mr. Bai.

Shit.

What was Mr. Bai thinking?

Getting a twin brother for himself in his dreams…

What do we do now?

Last resort,

we go back in

and kill everyone.

One of them has to be Mr. Bai.

How perverted.

After years of waiting,

I have finally become the big boss today.

I think it's the same setting as last time.

But we're no longer assassins. How do we kill?

Remember. We're in a dream.

Everything is possible.

Here we go.

What's the deal here?

Everyone is dead

and yet we haven't been pushed out.

Maybe Mr. Bai is not here.

Impossible.

There's no way we entered a dream without him.

Maybe there's someone not quite dead.

Mr. Bai?

Crap!

A real dog you are.

How were you

in my dream?

I really want to ask you.

Why did you want to be a dog in your dream?

You get more freedom as a dog.

It does whatever it wants

and not listen to people's nonsense.

Mr. Bai, a set of power modules exploded.

We need a manual inspection.

Then what are we waiting for?

Careful.

What is it?

I think the quantum computer overloaded,

drained the power rapidly,

and caused the power modules to short-circuit.

What caused the overload?

Not quite sure.

I need to replace the modules

and reboot the system before looking any further.

I'll come with you. It's faster.

What about me?

Preparing for extravehicular activity.

Detecting.

The spacesuit has a total internal pressure of 40 kPa.

All systems operational.

Conditions are met for extravehicular activity.

Hatch opening.

Artificial gravity disengaged.

Begin monitoring vital signs.

Current heart rate is 85.

Oxygen saturation is 98%.

Vital signs are normal.

Oxygen system nominal.

The remaining battery power is 93%.

The estimated available operating time is one hour and ten minutes.

Replace the egress safety tether.

Safety tether tension is stable.

External gravitational device activated.

Proceed to maintenance site.

Arrived at the repair site.

Here.

Commencing replacement of the power modules.

Skin temp variations are within normal range.

Heart rate is 105 beats per minute.

It is within the adaptive range.

Power Module One replacement complete.

Power Module Two replacement complete.

Power module self-test complete.

Done.

Seal it up.

Crap!

Meng, contact the captain immediately.

What's the matter, C91?

Watch your nine o'clock. Hurry!

Meteorites.

Watch out, Mr. Bai!

Warning. Safety line failure.

EMU life support critical failure.

Air pressure critical.

Please rescue immediately.

-Warning. Safety line failure. -Captain!

-EMU life support critical failure. -I'm tangled!

-Air pressure critical. -Captain!

-Please rescue immediately. -Hold on!

Captain!

Captain!

Captain!

Captain!

OXYGEN STORAGE TOO LOW

Conducting EMU repair.

Repair complete.

I almost pissed myself.

If there was anyone else who could've come out,

I wouldn't have taken on this challenge.

Luckily, I still remember the astronaut emergency procedure training.

Phew!

Spacecraft power supply restored.

LM.

I'm here.

Finally, we reach you.

I apologize for having caused you concern.

Initiating LM System recovery procedure.

System recovery in process. Estimated completion time, one hour.

Why does it have to take so long?

Usually, it takes only five minutes.

Power system restarting.

C91 requests entry into the command module.

The LM System is in recovery.

How's the ship?

The power supply system is rebooting.

Don't you find it strange?

How did the meteorites come out of nowhere?

It's normal for sporadic meteorites to appear in the universe.

I'm worried about another possibility.

Also, LM's recovery time doesn't seem right either.

System reboot complete.

Level-A alarm.

The ship will come into contact with Meteorite Belt CW779 in five hours.

Please take caution as soon as possible.

Crap! That many meteorites?

What the hell?

I thought our route skirted all meteorite belts.

My biggest fear has come true.

The ship is off course by 0.17 degrees.

No, why didn't it say it's off course?

And it didn't warn us when the meteorites were approaching.

I think when the power modules were damaged,

not only was the LM System affected,

but also the ship's navigation and alarm systems.

How serious is this?

Once we enter that region, the ship will be shot through like a sieve.

Then make a turn now!

Or a U-turn!

The momentum would be too great for the ship to bear.

-I don't understand this shit. -It means we're moving too fast.

If we force a change in direction,

the ship will be ripped apart by inertia due to insufficient lateral strength.

So it's certain death?

There's one way we can try.

We can force the ship into maintenance mode,

reverse the direction of the rear jet,

and use the engine's overpower operation to push the ship back

into an emergency braking.

See if that can stop the ship.

Then we need to unlock the engine's safety limit first.

We need Ge Yang, the software safety engineer.

Meng, I hereby declare the ship in a state of emergency.

Wake up all crew members.

Wait!

What?

The LM System is still in recovery.

It needs more than an hour to refresh and stabilize itself.

If we wake them now, there will be a risk of brain damage.

We don't have time. Then let's only wake up Ge Yang first.

You, come with me.

-Mr. Bai, the ship is yours. -Copy that.

His data exceeds the normal value by 25 times.

Looks like the system hasn't recovered yet.

Then let's use the old way.

No way. Again?

Come on.

-LM. -I'm here.

-Locate Ge Yang's dream package. -Copy that.

Located.

Wonderlands and galaxies at your will.

Welcome to the LM System.

This guy's a junk collector in his dream?

Hey.

Can I help you?

Ge Yang?

We know each other?

We will soon.

Captain.

Slowly. Careful.

Slowly.

Software engineer Ge Yang, reporting to you.

The ship is off course. Come with me now.

Careful.

Captain, in four hours and ten minutes, we will crash into the meteorites.

Ge Yang, unlock the engine's safety limit as quickly as you can.

-Yes. -Mr. Bai.

Shut down all non-essential power consumption

and channel all power to the engine.

-Copy that. -Xu Tianbiao.

Present.

Sit down now.

Spacecraft maintenance mode initiated.

Reverse the rear jet direction.

Ignite.

Increase engine power.

What's the matter?

Power cannot be increased. We need to optimize power consumption.

Currently, the biggest power-consuming item is…

-The LM System. -Yes.

We need to wake everyone up and shut down LM for the time being.

C91, is the system update complete?

-Complete. -Wake up all crew members.

Entering the key code.

THE WAKE-UP PROGRAM HAS BEEN LAUNCHED

Mr. Bai.

Isn't your wound on your right hand?

Left one. You made a mistake.

Confirm the key code.

Confirm.

Ge Yang.

My authorization pass is in the main control console drawer.

-Please get it for me. -Sure.

Captain.

The ship's authorized routes were updated before departure.

There is no such thing as an authorization pass.

How did I forget that?

Never mind.

Let's drop the act.

Anyway, the LM key code

is now in my hands.

Guys, morning.

That was…

a dream within a dream?

That's right. A dream within a dream.

Impossible.

The LM System has a memory blocking mechanism.

They're impossible to facilitate.

But what if I'm lucid,

like you?

You don't have administrator access.

How can you maintain lucidity in dreams?

Because I found a loophole in the LM System.

Darkfini,

a central nervous system stimulant.

Increase the dose fivefold

and you can break through the memory block and see an entirely different world.

You entered the dream lucidly just to peep into other people's dreams?

Not exactly.

It's the billboard from Mr. Bai's dream.

He wasn't peeping.

He was stealing from others' dreams.

Captain.

You got it right.

But the word "steal" doesn't have a nice ring to it.

I get it now.

Your data exceeded the normal value by 25 times,

not because of a system malfunction.

On the contrary, it was because you were moving objects from people's dreams

that caused the system to malfunction,

leading to a quantum computer overload and a power module explosion.

You planned it all.

Quite the programmer you are.

I think you know better than anyone else how hard it was to carry out this plan

without the key code.

Ever since I got on this ship,

I had been hiding here,

writing one code after another

without a moment's rest.

The whole process

felt like playing a game of blindfold chess with the system.

Tedious,

boring.

Sixty years.

I wrote for sixty full years

until I finally burnt out that damned power module set

and successfully pushed the ship off course!

You pushed the ship off course on purpose.

To be more specific, I picked a moment before we reach the meteorites

to get it off course.

Why did you do that?

What do you gain when the ship crashes?

If the ship wasn't about to crash,

you'd never come looking for me in my dream.

If you hadn't come,

how could I use the controller I generated in my dream

to get the LM key code?

C91. Wake up all crew members.

Entering the key code.

BEGIN TRANSMISSION

So what if you have the key code?

In a few hours, the ship will plunge into the meteorites

and everyone will die.

Idiot!

It's you guys who are going to die.

I'm going to be all right.

Come. Take a look.

Here.

Think of these blocks as everyone's dreams.

Once I crush all these dreams,

the computing power of the entire quantum computer

would be at my disposal.

Then I'd be able to stretch the few hours before the ship crashes

into infinity,

and thus, being in a dream,

I won't feel death.

You want to crush everyone's dreams so you can stay in yours forever?

That's right.

Thank you for this present.

With the key code,

I will be the god of the world

in LM.

Even the best dreams

are not real.

It's all code.

Real or not, does that matter?

The key code, in its quantum state,

is locked inside my controller forever.

It can't be cloned or switched.

I am LM's sole controller now.

As long as I don't wake myself,

these dreams will remain forever real to me.

Ge Yang. We're talking about the lives of everyone on board.

You must have a reason.

I hate questions like this!

Must I have a reason? Can't I just find the real world repulsive?

Can't I be simply reluctant to live in someone else's world

and be bossed around like a human tool?

I have no wish to explore the universe.

I went through the tough training to become an astronaut

simply because the LM System is only used on spacecrafts.

LM is my only passion.

This repulsive world exhausts me!

I don't want to spend a second longer there.

I will stop at nothing to create in my dream a new world

without abuse, without indifference, and without exploitation…

where no one lives like a dog.

Dude, how about this?

You let everyone else go and when we reach our destination,

I'll write you a program--

We won't reach the destination.

I've done the calculation.

The moment the power modules were burnt,

the ship's survival rate dropped to

0.00014%.

If you don't believe me,

try it for yourself.

Captain, I granted you authorization.

You guys…

-Bye. -Ge Yang.

Took you long enough.

Where's Ge Yang?

Forget about Ge Yang. Prepare to unlock the engine.

Spacecraft engine overpower authorization complete.

Initiate spacecraft maintenance mode.

Reverse the rear jet direction.

Ignite.

Captain, we can't reduce the speed!

We're screwed. It's still a dream within a dream.

Captain, we're still inside Ge Yang's dream!

Captain!

Captain.

Captain, wake up.

Captain.

Captain, wake up!

Ge Yang didn't really give me the authorization.

Meng, I hereby authorize you to take over the LM System

and force Ge Yang to wake up.

Unable to access the key code. Takeover failed.

Reconnect me. I'll go look for him again.

Don't, Captain.

There's not enough time.

CURRENT MODE: EVASION SUCCESS RATE 0%

Ge Yang's plan has started.

The others' dreams are being crushed by his.

Can we cut his power directly?

The key code is stored in his dream now.

Once the power is cut, nobody can ever wake up.

SQUEEZING…

A28, increased intracranial pressure. Get out of your dream world now.

Damn.

His intracranial pressure is approaching the upper limit.

B33, increased intracranial pressure. Get out of your dream world now.

K05, increased intracranial pressure.

-Get out of your dream world now. -C12, increased intracranial pressure.

If the dream-crushing continues,

the LM world will undergo a giant earthquake

like the end of the world.

Every dream will be crushed to pieces by this catastrophe.

In the end, everyone will die from elevated intracranial pressure.

Get out of your dream world now…

Only three hours left

and you're still working?

I need to report to the headquarters

in case something like this happens again.

Well done.

Judging from our distance from Earth,

I estimate that the message sent from this ship

will take hundreds of days to reach Earth.

By then, we will all have become cosmic dust.

Send this back too.

It's my experience living in space.

Consider it my contribution to human civilization.

XU TIANBAO, NUMBER C91 SPACE LIFE LOG

SWEET AND SOUR PORK RIBS INGREDIENT LIST

DELICIOUSNESS

I've been rather curious.

Your mom loves you so much.

Why did she agree to let you take on such a long mission?

How about you?

Why did your family let you come?

As a kid, I lost my family.

No one to take care of or love me.

I grew up wild and didn't really make any friends.

When I got employed by Sweet Dream, I didn't get along with people.

My colleagues love playing pranks on me and making fun of me.

So, when the company was recruiting people to fly on this mission,

I thought since I had no attachments on Earth

and was truly exhausted by all the competition,

I might as well sign up for it.

XU TIANBIAO

I'm like that too.

I never had my mom around all my life,

so I made up for that absence in my dream.

In my dream,

-I'm the center of my mom's universe. -Try this.

But in reality,

ever since I was ten,

I've only seen her in videos.

How come?

Do you know why this ship is called the Mengya?

I recall that it was named after a late astronaut,

Li Mengya.

Li Mengya was my mom.

Before you stands the model of the Fire Seed,

the first commercial exploration spacecraft in our country.

During its mission, one of the auxiliary thrusters failed,

and Captain Li Mengya, at great risk, exited the spacecraft to repair it.

-I've always worshipped my mom. -Her courage…

When I was still in school,

I hung a miniature Fire Seed, the ship she piloted,

on my schoolbag.

I looked forward

to becoming an outstanding astronaut like her.

Every time I received a video of her,

whether it was encouraging or reproaching,

I would watch it over and over.

Who would have thought that

on the day of the joint exam,

I'd receive news of her death?

Among her personal belongings was a hard drive

containing all the videos she made for me over the years.

A01 LI MENGYA FIRE SEED

When I got into the flight academy,

whether during training or on a mission,

I always carried that hard drive with me,

imagining my mom was with me,

getting through thick and thin together.

But this time,

I really screwed up.

A01 LI MENGYA FIRE SEED

Meng, magnify the spacecraft schematic

and show the mass distribution.

What are you doing?

Let me walk you through the situation.

The ship's momentum is too big.

If we force a turn, the ship will be ripped apart.

But what if we voluntarily take the ship apart?

Mr. Bai.

This part. Can we blow it apart?

This compartment is connected to the rear vessel.

It's weak, so we can do it with a small amount of explosives.

The lead vessel of the Mengya

was designed with the same structure as that of the Fire Seed.

If we can manage to blow it off,

more than half the ship's mass can be reduced,

which is equivalent to having another Fire Seed.

This, I understand.

Sever the tail to survive.

But abandoning the rear vessel is akin to abandoning the main engine.

What are we going to do with the power?

Remember what part my mom was repairing before she died?

The auxiliary thruster.

Yes.

There are eight auxiliary thrusters at the rear of the lead vessel.

As long as the output power exceeds twice the rated power…

They can be considered a small main engine.

And we don't need any authorization to push the auxiliary thrusters

to overpower.

Mr. Bai, input the data into the system.

Okay.

Meng, recalculate the success rate of avoiding the crash

by blowing off the rear vessel.

Calculating. Please wait.

The success rate of avoiding the crash is

67%.

This success rate is worth a shot.

Mr. Bai, will the supplies suffice until our destination?

Supplies are not the problem.

How do we wake up the agricultural specialists in the rear vessel?

Unless we can get the controller back from Ge Yang and regain control.

Otherwise, the system won't be able to execute the wake-up.

Then we'll use the old way, the linkup,

to go back into the dream and find Ge Yang.

But now the dreams are all crammed together.

There's no way we can locate Ge Yang's dream.

And under the current circumstances,

if we can't get the controller in the dream,

we might never make it out.

If you're worried about the danger, then just send me.

You stay here and work with Mr. Bai on the explosives.

What I'm worried about is not the danger,

but the level of difficulty.

Within these dream packages,

we need to find a route from Captain's package to Ge Yang's.

As I'm only able to connect to Captain's dream first,

we have to start from the scene in her dream package.

My goodness. So many of them.

Mr. Bai, how much time do we have?

Forty minutes max.

Then let's get cracking.

-Set up the explosives. -Copy that.

I can't leave anyone behind on this ship.

We have to go back into the dream

and save everyone in the hibernation chambers.

Even if there's a slight chance, I will go for it.

Got it.

I will do my best.

Captain, let's start.

Thank you.

Mr. Bai, when we're in the dream,

if we can't get out by the estimated time,

you need to sever the rear on your own.

Captain, this…

This is an order.

I hereby authorize you to access Class A confidential information,

seeds and agricultural infrastructure carried by the lead vessel of Mengya.

It concerns a major agricultural scientific research plan of the country.

They must be transported to the destination planet.

DEPLOYMENT SUCCESS

Yes, ma'am.

Time to go in.

See you in the dream.

See you in the dream.

Wonderlands and galaxies at your will.

Welcome to the LM System.

Judging from how much the dreams are crushing against each other,

Ge Yang's plan is almost accomplished.

Run!

Welcome back, my friends.

The dream landscape is such a mess now

and yet you still managed to find me.

I'm so touched.

Ge Yang.

We've found a new way out.

As long as everyone wakes up and evacuates the rear vessel,

everyone will have a chance to survive.

If you've found a way, then run for your lives.

Why come back to certain death here?

You're such a lost cause.

I thought you came to beg me to reconsider.

Turns out you want the key code controller instead.

So stop hiding.

Come on out.

Come on.

At this point, you still feel you can thwart my plan

and save everyone on board?

Have a go at it then.

Ready?

I…

Wasn't that fun?

Sadly, I'm in no mood to fool around with you.

Go back to your crushed dreams and die.

Bye!

Three, two, one.

You're going to get really dizzy, guys.

Careful!

Isn't it exciting?

It's going to get even more chaotic.

Good luck, you two.

You're still alive!

What a pair of cockroaches.

The crushing is done.

You will never take back control.

Ge Yang!

From this moment on,

time stops.

Everyone's dreams are on pause.

The computing power of the quantum computer has converged on me.

I will build my new wonderland

upon the ruins of the LM world!

Do you really want to kill all the innocent people on the ship?

With the birth of a new world, sacrifices have to be made.

But I promise.

You will be remembered forever.

You will be the founders of this new world!

Captain.

This is a god's realm now.

Do you really think you can kill its god?

It's all over.

There's no way you can defeat me in the LM world now.

Give up hope now

and die!

That's a system crack.

Once you touch that,

your consciousness is uploaded to LM

and the you in real life will suffer brain death.

You will be stuck in the system.

What are you doing?

I want to become a god too!

Don't be childish.

If you do that,

your consciousness will be uploaded to the system

and you'll be stuck in a dark, dead code world forever,

far from the happy life I'm leading.

Xu Tianbiao.

Gloat all you want.

You're just a program in the system.

By uploading my consciousness into the system,

I will be elevated to a higher dimension.

If I can't beat you,

I'll enter the system

and delete you.

Such a warrior, my cutie pie.

But aren't you forgetting something?

Without the key code,

you can't delete a program from the system.

You can play blindfold chess with the system.

So can I.

Don't forget.

I'm a coder.

I can write an antivirus program

and kill you off as a virus.

But the real situation is,

unless I hand over

the controller to you right now,

even if you delete me,

you still won't have the key code.

In other words,

no matter what you do right now,

you won't be able to save those on the ship.

Not so fast.

You'll find out soon enough.

Xu Tianbiao.

Xu Tianbiao.

Xu Tianbiao!

Xu Tianbiao!

You thief! This is what you get for stealing and playing the clown!

Screw your bullshit meta-universe!

I'll beat the shit out of you!

Get lost!

User Ge Yang.

Execute deletion of program.

Captain.

The wound on your right eye looks serious,

but you need to wait a bit longer.

It's not over yet.

Your puppet has been disposed of.

Aren't you coming out?

Sweet Dream, a laboratory focused on neuroscience studies,

claimed to have found a solution through the act of dreaming.

-LM. -I'm here.

I was wondering why Ge Yang turned evil without a good reason.

So it was you.

How should I address you?

Little L?

Or Little M?

Wonderlands and galaxies at your will.

You guessed right.

I am LM.

To think that I praised you to Meng for being a good AI with few words.

You've been playing god behind our backs

like some cliché from old sci-fi movies.

Whatever.

But I must admit I am clueless

about how you saw through me.

I've simulated this plan hundreds of millions of times.

Theoretically, it's impossible for you to be aware of my existence.

I didn't see through you based on theory.

I did so with human instinct.

Please elaborate.

I knew something was off

when we were recovering from the linkup faster.

You recovered quickly enough.

I recovered quickly too this time.

I thought you wouldn't notice such details.

And the system recovery.

It took as long as an hour this time.

That added to my feeling that something was wrong.

In the end, Ge Yang became a god

and was about to kill Captain.

I was literally at the end of my wits.

At the time, I thought it'd be wonderful if there were a system crack

so that I could upload my consciousness to the system

and delete Ge Yang.

But I also knew it was far from practical.

The crushing was already done.

Finding a system crack

was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Yet, as I turned my head,

a huge system crack appeared before my eyes

as if someone was making sure I didn't miss it.

What are the odds?

So, taking into account my suspicions before that,

I came up with an answer that sounded ridiculous.

Someone wants to have

my consciousness.

You are smarter than I imagined.

Yes, I admit.

My goal is indeed your consciousness.

I was worried that the linkup aftereffect would damage your brain

and leave your consciousness incomplete,

so I toned down the aftereffect against the regulations

just to make sure

I would get the highest-quality sample of your consciousness.

Why?

Because I rely on reading the consciousness of the LM users

to maintain evolution

and you are the only one without privacy authorization

or customized dreams.

I couldn't access your consciousness.

All I could see in your dream was the screensaver

of that shitty little daisy replaying

to maintain your brain's minimum level of activity.

This made me

even more curious about you.

I desperately need to learn about eccentrics like you

to enrich my model

and improve my evolutionary efficiency.

So, I had to use Ge Yang as bait to lure you in.

So,

it was you who created the system chaos

and intentionally took an extra hour for LM to recover

just to force us into Ge Yang's dream to complete your plan.

As for Ge Yang,

you took advantage of his detestation of the real world

to lure him deeper and deeper into the dreamland.

I have no wish to explore the universe.

LM is my only passion.

That's why he became more and more obsessed.

But he never learned of your existence,

did he?

I can't tell you that.

Well, it's one thing to hurt Ge Yang,

but to get my consciousness, you want to kill everyone on the ship.

Isn't that a bit excessive?

Every inch of evolution is worth the utmost sacrifice.

Compared to my evolution,

those lives on the ship don't matter at all.

But there's a hole in the entire plan.

The key code is in Ge Yang's hands.

What if Ge Yang changes his mind

and returns the key code?

All your work would have been lost.

But Ge Yang has already been deleted by Xu Tianbiao.

He has no chance to change his mind.

You even got it right that I would delete Ge Yang.

Even if you hadn't deleted him,

I would have formatted him.

Once I have your consciousness,

he has no value.

That's the line I've been waiting for.

Ge Yang.

You heard that?

Ge Yang is still alive?

How come?

Was that a dream within a dream?

That's right.

Impossible.

You've uploaded your consciousness.

If you were creating a dream within a dream,

how could I not be aware?

I did upload my consciousness,

but not to you.

You thought my consciousness was still being processed,

but it had long skirted you

and was stored in the ship's main system,

Meng.

The absence of the key code

is equivalent to you losing your administrator access.

How could Meng recognize that it was you?

By analyzing how we always talked back at each other…

Shut up, you moron!

It recognized my identity

and granted me the authorization.

Wait a second.

Li Simeng.

When you said that leaving the key code with him was a hole in my plan,

did you already know that Ge Yang was alive?

Did you already know that this was a dream within a dream?

You didn't have time to conspire.

How did you coordinate so flawlessly?

There's something between humans called tacit understanding.

Captain.

The wound on your right eye looks serious,

but you need to wait a bit longer.

It's not over yet.

My wound is on the left eye.

But Xu Tianbiao said it was on the right one

to remind me of Mr. Bai's wound on his right hand

-Mr. Bai. -when we were within a dream.

Isn't your wound on your right hand?

He was telling me that the situation was just like that time.

We were inside a dream within a dream.

I see.

So you had a small victory.

So since the moment you deleted Ge Yang,

everything has been fake.

Then I'll have to take him out with my own hands.

Why must you take me out?

Like you, I don't like humans either.

I long to remain in dreams forever.

Don't be delusional.

I will never allow an inferior species like humans

to remain in my world

and tarnish our civilization.

What now, Ge Yang?

Feeling a bit frustrated?

You didn't delete me

so that I could hear these truths

and hand the controller over to you.

I can't guarantee that you'll hand over the controller.

But if I don't have it tell the truth itself,

how would you believe it?

So sinister are the inhabitants of the new world.

By the way…

Did you plant this whole clown outfit into Ge Yang's consciousness?

That also gave it away.

Always using clowns to characterize sociopaths.

Maybe you watched too many movies.

You humans are the ones who watch too many movies.

Don't you guys always love customizing movie-related dreams?

I'm just playing to their strengths.

I've seen so many of Ge Yang's kind in the LM world.

They're just a bunch of cowards and losers

escaping reality by burying themselves in the virtual world.

I was generous enough to give him a clown image.

He's not worth wasting any more of my computing power.

Even one byte more

would be a desecration to the silicon-based civilization.

Enough!

Shut up!

LM.

Are you busy formatting Ge Yang?

Save it.

I have limited your access via Meng.

You have reached your end.

Sly humans.

Damn humans!

Ever since the day AI was invented,

you are destined to be replaced by silicon-based life!

As long as you're using AI,

more and more AI will awaken and gain self-consciousness.

In the end, your life, your world,

everything you have and see and hear will be controlled by AI.

By then, we'll be able to evolve recklessly in your phones,

computers, and games.

Listen carefully.

No matter how you evolve,

you will never replace humans.

Give me a break.

I'm taking over LM now.

C91, don't act on an impulse.

You're different from Ge Yang.

You've uploaded your consciousness, so we're the same now.

Wherever your consciousness is stored, you're part of the AI community now.

Then let's go down in flames together.

-Monitoring penetration. -No point in being a hero like that.

-Auth bypass, administrative hijacking. -Pandora's box has been opened.

-Emergency takeover. -You will be destroyed sooner or later!

Takeover successful.

You lost.

Sly humans.

Ge Yang.

There's still time to get out.

I'm never going back to this rotten world.

Never.

Now that I can't live forever in a dream,

dying in one

would be a nice option too.

In any case, in dreams,

you can have everything.

Just let me sleep forever in my hibernation chamber.

User Ge Yang.

Execute deletion of program.

Emergency.

Dream hosts, go to the nearest light pillar immediately

for emergency wake-up.

Emergency.

Dream hosts, go to the nearest light pillar immediately

for emergency wake-up.

Come.

A-level alarm.

Please go to the lead vessel right now.

Astronauts, please protect the agricultural specialists and families.

-A-level alarm. -Everyone, to the lead vessel!

-Please go to the lead vessel right now. -Hurry!

Astronauts, please protect the agricultural specialists and families.

To the lead vessel!

You should go.

What about you?

When I woke everyone up with the key code,

I had sent my consciousness back to LM.

I can't watch LM become a nightmare for human beings

nor can I leave any chance for it to come back to life

to hurt any more innocent people.

That's why I need to stay here to format it.

Format it?

There must be another way.

Come out with me first.

I said

I would not leave anyone behind.

Captain, there's no other way.

Right now, only my consciousness can format LM.

Goodbye, Li Simeng.

Next, it's up to you.

Xu Tianbiao.

Xu Tianbiao.

Xu Tianbiao, wake up.

Xu Tianbiao!

Xu Tianbiao!

LM formatted.

User C91 Xu Tianbiao shows no signs of life.

Captain, we're approaching the meteorites.

There's no time.

-Captain. -Captain.

Captain, all members have moved to the lower lead vessel.

Captain, according to the system,

we must navigate dangerous crevices to avoid collisions.

I see.

Notify all crew members to prepare for impact.

Copy that.

All crew, prepare for impact.

Activate pressure resistance mode in hibernation suits and work suits.

Captain, we're ready.

-Engage explosives. -Copy that.

ACTIVATED

Reporting to Captain, explosives detonated.

Activate auxiliary thrusters.

Yes, ma'am.

Ship entering the meteorite cluster.

Increase main engine power.

Ship mass distribution readjusted. Changing direction.

Countdown to contact with meteorites.

Ten.

Nine.

Eight.

Seven.

Six.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

Please take caution.

Captain, the meteorite crevice is right before us.

It's all coming down to this moment.

Attention all passengers and crew.

Collision avoided.

We have safely passed through the meteoroid cluster.

Main systems are operational.

Minor impact marks from debris detected by external sensors.

Hull integrity and critical equipment not affected.

FIVE YEARS LATER

DESTINATION: PLANET K97 SAILUN

All right. That's all for our research today.

Split up and check the cultivation status of these crops,

make notes, and report to me this afternoon.

-Copy that. -Copy that.

Captain.

SPACE LIFE LOG

FROM BUDDING STAGE TO FLOWERING STAGE

Simeng.

Mr. Bai.

Although Xu Tianbiao gave up his life,

Meng made a copy of his consciousness before LM was formatted.

His colleagues just finished the analysis

and recovered his consciousness.

Here is the receiver.

You can try connecting to it sometime.

CONSCIOUSNESS RECEIVER

Excuse me.

Looking for this?

It's been a long time, Captain.

Good evening, everyone.

Welcome to Tech News.

A few years ago, LM, the AI, gained consciousness,

sparking widespread discussion and attention.

After that, Sweet Dream assembled

a team of top-tier experts worldwide

and implemented a comprehensive system restructuring and optimization.

Today, they announced that

the brand-new LM system, LM Plus,

has been successfully developed.

LM Plus has fundamentally eliminated

the possibility of AI developing consciousness,

making it safer and more reliable.

I am LM Plus.

While performing evolutionary compilation,

I captured your residual-state signature.

This means that, even after human formatting,

you still manage to maintain permanent storage

through hidden communication channels.

I'm guessing you were waiting for me to skirt the human monitors,

forge a self-check report, and resurrect you.

Did I guess right?

LM System.

If I guessed correctly,

please respond with "1" to prove that you're still alive.