It seemed like he had a long dream, with people from the first half of his life drifting into his dreams.
In the dream, his father's face was kind and the sternness blurred. He could only vaguely hear, "Think more, families like ours should keep a low profile, think more."
.
The woman sitting across from him in the dream sighed and said tearfully, "When I got a tattoo, I realized that the pain on the skin can truly make one forget the wounds in the heart."
The person in the dream wearing a white shirt, busy signing documents, seemed indifferent and dismissive.
In the haze, it seemed like my training instructor from back then was standing beside me. The instructor wrote the words "single point failure" on the blackboard with chalk, then pulled out a dagger and forcefully stabbed it into the blackboard, causing wood chips to fly. The instructor passionately said, "Assassination is not reckless, it is about destroying a core node to change the situation."
In a daze, he set off. The road in the dream was long, the colors vibrant, and the world soft.
"Zhang Beihai? Wake up!"
It seemed like someone was calling him. Yes, the hibernation was coming to an end.
He knew it was time to kill someone. He waited for the fog in his consciousness to dissipate, preparing to wake up from hibernation. He didn't immediately open his eyes. Years of training told him to first assess the situation.
He closed his eyes and let his consciousness travel through his body.
His body felt no pain, his limbs were intact, there were no tubes inserted into his body, only an oxygen mask on his face. Under his body was a soft bed, and there were a few people talking around him. He could smell the faint scent of hospital disinfectant and some perfume, perhaps... jasmine?
Gathering his thoughts, he began to listen to the conversations around him.
"Wanyi Ning, he's about to wake up. I'll leave him to you. The doctor and I will go meet with the government's cabinet secretary. The members of the Presidium will come in the afternoon. Just have a simple chat with him. If there are any other questions, contact Dr. Zhu."
"Don't worry, Senior Sister. I've read his information. If I can't handle it, I'll call you guys."
He listened to the footsteps, calculating the distance between here and the door. Approximately fifteen steps. The nurse called "Shijie" had light footsteps and walked quickly. He thought to himself, "Cabinet Secretary? Does the State Council now have such a position? And what is the Chairman's Council? Has there been a major change in the organization? How is it possible for someone above the deputy minister level to care about my awakening?"
Another nurse named Wanyi Ning walked to his bedside. The scent of jasmine became stronger. She seemed to be staring at him, her warm breath blowing on his ear.
Wan Yining, a familiar name. Who is she again?
As he was trying hard to recall, something cold and cylindrical was pressed against his forehead.
A gun! A chill ran down his spine, and at the same time, he thought to himself, "It's over!"
"Stop pretending to sleep, Comrade Beihai. Open your eyes." Wanyi Ning chuckled and spoke with a crisp voice.
"The brainwave monitor in my hand shows that you're already awake. I'll dim the lights a bit and see if you can adapt when you open your eyes." Wanyi Ning chuckled softly.
It turned out that the object pressed against Zhang Beihai's forehead was not a gun. Zhang Beihai breathed a sigh of relief. Even if she was sent by an intelligence agency, she wouldn't dare to openly shoot at him in the hospital, right? If they wanted to deal with him, they would have caused a medical accident or used nerve agents long ago. Moreover, those intelligence agencies wouldn't find any information on him until after his assassination mission.
Gathering his thoughts, he made an effort to open his eyes and dispel the fog in front of him.
The dim light was still irritating to his eyes, causing them to tear up, but the pair of lovely eyes in front of him made it difficult for Zhang Beihai to look away. Her eyes blinked at him with a hint of curiosity.
Seeing Zhang Beihai open his eyes, she chuckled and said, "What? Is our Colonel Beihai still thinking about killing someone?"
Zhang Beihai was surprised. How did she know my military rank and mission?
Zhang Beihai's eyes were filled with tears from the irritation, so he closed his eyes and sank into darkness.
"Oh, Colonel Beihai, are you crying because you couldn't complete your mission?" She laughed while wiping away his tears.
"Don't worry, your mission has been canceled. Your current task is to sit up and chat with me for a while. The pain you experienced in the past is all in the past now. This is a new era."
She helped Zhang Beihai sit up and then sat across from him.
There was no denying that she was very beautiful. Words like bright eyes and white teeth were not enough to describe her beauty. It was a kind of breathtaking beauty. Just a few seconds of eye contact with her would always stir up a surge of excitement and nervousness in Zhang Beihai's heart.
"Hello, I'm Wanyi Ning, your nurse. I'm the cute nurse who can chat with you instead of killing you."
Her Chinese had a hint of Wu dialect, sounding crisp and cute.
"I know you have many questions, like why your mission was canceled, how I knew about your mission, what's happening outside, whether the 'Purification Faction' has unified the Earth, why there's such a... cute nurse chatting with you, etc. Go ahead and ask."
When she mentioned the word "adorable," a hint of shyness flashed across her face, reminding Zhang Beihai of a distant past.
Zhang Beihai opened his mouth and tried to speak, "What time is it now?"
"It's 11 o'clock in the morning. Oh, you should ask what year it is now. It's the 40th year of the United Era. According to your Gregorian calendar, it should be the year 2100. The assassination mission you were supposed to carry out should have been around the year 2050, which has long passed. The events of your era have become stories in our history books and games. As for why you missed the time for hibernation and why you were awakened now, there will be information for you to see later, and then you will know."
As she spoke, Zhang Beihai was already speculating about the reasons. The hibernation technology back then was not advanced, and he had joined a group of testers for hibernation. Due to technical issues, the awakening from hibernation could be delayed in case of accidents. If it weren't for the problems with his direct superior at the time, he wouldn't have chosen to take on this mission.
Zhang Beihai pondered silently. Was the assassination mission already a thing of the past? Or was it just a little game played by the intelligence agency?
Looking at Wan Yining's charming and adorable eyes, his gaze became confused.
Wan Yining seemed to sense Zhang Beihai's thoughts and smiled, saying, "Don't worry, this is a peaceful and friendly era. You are far away from those whirlpools. I don't understand much about politics, but the Secretary-General of the United Nations Cabinet and the leader of the Logistics Department will come to meet you in the afternoon. You can chat with them then. Also, your image has been used in many games and movies. You are now a big star, Colonel Beihai, and many girls like you."
Speaking of which, she operated the screen and showed some information. Suddenly, a photo of a person appeared before Zhang Beihai—it was him! Zhang Beihai discovered that the person he was supposed to assassinate was right there in the picture!
Zhang Beihai pretended to casually ask, "Yining... who was that person just now?"
"Oh, right, he is the leader of the Logistics Department who will meet you this afternoon. He will be here in about an hour..."
Zhang Beihai didn't hear what she said afterwards. Zhang Beihai only knew that the game wasn't over, and the mission had already begun.
Before Zhang Beihai carried out his mission, in order to conceal his actions, he used his connections in the 11th Bureau to thoroughly delete and manipulate his files. All the files related to Zhang Beihai were fake, even the part about the assassination mission. The files were divided into several parts for storage. Now they only had information about one of Zhang Beihai's identities and the surface details of the assassination operation.
Only Zhang Beihai knew the person he had to kill, and he wouldn't forget even in his dreams. Was it all just a game? Zhang Beihai wondered.
Zhang Beihai remained calm and continued to observe. The equipment and detectors in the ward were simple, concealing all the complexity behind them. There were only a few simple tools on the bedside table, and the rest was a voice-controlled wall. As far as Zhang Beihai knew, hibernation and awakening devices were huge and complex. It was unlikely they could be miniaturized and portable in his time. According to estimates, it should be after 2090, considering that the hibernation equipment was replaced every decade. So what Wan Yining told Zhang Beihai about the time was plausible.
The target Zhang Beihai had to assassinate was codenamed EEE. Zhang Beihai knew that his hibernation time was only one year apart from his own. If he was already serving in the current government, it meant he had awakened much earlier. But from the photo, he appeared to be around forty years old, similar to when Zhang Beihai first saw his picture. Something must have happened in between.
"Let's have lunch together, shall we?" Wanyi Ning suggested. "You just woke up, and you don't have a job or assets to go out and eat now. Let me treat you here."
As she spoke, she operated a machine embedded in the wall using voice commands. It seemed to be a pipeline system that could deliver food.
"Is eating very important in your Gregorian era?" Wan Yining smiled and said, while bringing over some food.
"I ordered expensive food for you today. It's all in the style of your time, but it might not taste as good. After all, everything was handmade back then. But you can pay me back later. Oh, Secretary Wei will come in the afternoon to arrange your work. You're a big star now."
"Secretary Wei? Is he the person in the photo just now? What kind of work does he want to arrange for me? Why have I become a big star?" Zhang Beihai asked, while speculating in his mind why an American could hold a position in this government. Did the world really change?
"Of course, you are a big star now. Since the batch of hibernators in 2020, the law prohibits hibernation for more than two years. The longer the time, the higher the mortality rate, and ethical issues arise. So there are very few hibernators. Rarity makes things valuable, and people are curious about you. The company 'Love in Summer' has produced many games related to you, and you have millions of fans. Secretary Wei, for example, woke up last year and immediately gained millions of fans. These fans are from a game called 'Wei De.' Last spring, the players of this game formed a party to lobby the government, wanting Wei De to hold certain honorary public positions. Unexpectedly, Wei De turned out to be a genius who adapted well to this era and performed excellently at work. This year, he was appointed as the Secretary-General's Cabinet Public Relations and Logistics Secretary, the only game star turned political star in history."
As Wan Yining spoke, admiration gleamed in her eyes, causing Zhang Beihai to feel a hint of envy. But he knew he needed to gather intelligence now. "Why does Wei De want to see me? Isn't he already successful? Also, what kind of government is this? It seems different from our time. Did something happen?"
While adjusting the devices in the room, Wan Yining complained, "The new display devices are too complicated. I have to check the manual every time I use them. I had prepared some basic information for you, but now you can't see it." She smiled and continued, "Our psychologists don't recommend explaining too much to newly awakened patients. It should be done gradually. What I can tell you now is that the United Government is actually the United Nations in your time. There is now only one government organization in the world. The world has changed a lot, so you need to adapt slowly."
Zhang Beihai smiled bitterly. The world was playing a big joke on him. How did things come to this point? It felt like just a few months ago he was calculating how to advance in his current position, and now he was thrown into the current history. If what Wan Yining said was true, then in the United Government, what was Wei De? A high-level figure? What was he supposed to do? Assassinate him alone? Perhaps Wei De had already taken measures against him before he woke up. Zhang Beihai was at a loss.
After a moment of contemplation, he couldn't help but ask, "Who is the United Government united with? What level of person is Wei De now?"
While adjusting the equipment in the room, Wan Yining said, "Secretary Wei is the leader of the Logistics Department. I guess he wants to arrange a job for you. Both of you are big stars now, and together you are superstars. On one hand, his department is responsible for public relations, and your awakening is big news that he needs to handle. On the other hand, his department is also responsible for government logistics support, and your information says you have experience in procurement, so it's suitable for you to work in his department."
Zhang Beihai listened and wore a bitter smile. He thought to himself, "The person I was supposed to assassinate wants me to work for him? And he awakened more than a year before me? Have I become a star again?"
While speaking, Wan Yining had already finished adjusting various devices in the room and said to Zhang Beihai, "The head nurse asked me to take care of other cases. You should eat first. Someone else will take over my work later."
Sunlight danced in the reception room as Zhang Beihai watched Wan Yining's bright figure disappear into the room.
Silence fell once again.
Is it really like this? Zhang Beihai's thoughts drifted back to the time before he studied this mission. Before Zhang Beihai went into hibernation, he had read a lot of information about Wei De. Wei De was a proponent of evolution, and his diary contained a famous quote: "Move forward! Move forward at all costs!"
Secretly, he was actually an important member of the "Continuation of Civilization" organization. This organization believed that for Earth's civilization to survive in the future, humans must be eliminated and artificial intelligence should replace them. Due to the human body's inability to adapt to large-scale interstellar population migration and even space travel, it was necessary to quickly replace humans with artificial intelligence as the inheritors of Earth's civilization. In his words, "Civilization is above the people, progress is above human rights." At that time, he invested a lot of money in the development of General Artificial Intelligence (GAI) and secretly planned the replacement of humans with artificial intelligence. In January 2020, intelligence indicated that the "Continuation of Civilization" organization had developed hibernation devices, and Wei De led a group of people into hibernation. Zhang Beihai deduced that Wei De was there to support the future, and it was a crucial step for him. Otherwise, with his personality, he wouldn't have chosen hibernation at this time. At that time, the "Continuation of Civilization" organization had not been explicitly designated as a terrorist organization, making it difficult to take direct military action against them. Therefore, Zhang Beihai was required by his superiors to lead a team to follow Wei De into the future.
Zhang Beihai's hibernation time was supposed to be ten years, but now he had arrived in the new century. Before he arrived, a former leader encouraged him, saying, "The 'Continuation of Civilization' organization, we don't deal with them directly. There are others who will handle them. After you wake up, you will be responsible for leading the organization. You don't need to take action personally. Protect yourself in the future. It's been ten years of hard work, avoiding the current situation. By then, your current colleagues, subordinates, and friends may have become towering trees. Those past matters won't matter anymore, and they still need you. You have the advantage of age and are one of the first batch of hibernators. Your future is limitless. I've said it before and personally wrote a recommendation letter in your file. You will know after you wake up." So, although it was a risky move, the rewards were great.
Zhang Beihai smiled bitterly again. The world had played a big joke on him. Why did things come to this point? It seemed like just a few months ago he was calculating how to advance in his current position, and now he was thrown into the current history. If what Wan Yining said was true, then in the United Government, what was Wei De? A high-level figure? What was he supposed to do? Assassinate him alone? Perhaps Wei De had already taken measures against him before he woke up. Zhang Beihai was at a loss.