Seized by the System

The morning of the second day, Fang Ning rubbed his eyes. He had not slept for the whole night, instead, he stayed up thinking of a countermeasure to capture that detestable parasite.

It could not happen more than three times, he could not just let it stir up trouble again.

Unfortunately, for vicious mysterious methods from the upper realm, even after Fang Ning racked his brain, it was to no avail. He failed to think of a way.

Just as Fang Ning was about to get some sleep as he was getting sleepy, the System called for him. It told him that Zheng Dao sent a document to him through QQ, and it was extremely important, so it was best for him to take a look at it right away.

“The Response and Judgement Regarding the New Trend of the New Era – Notice forwarded to all associates”.

‘Did the Truth Department send this?’

Fang Ning wondered as he opened the document to look at its content.

“The Era of Vitality has entered its third year. In order to remodel public views, and increase the people’s acknowledgment in the particularity of the Era of Vitality, a ‘change in the era’s name’ is imminent, and it’ll be changed to ‘Shenyuan’. The year the flame meteors came to Earth, A.D. 2017, will be ‘the first year of Shenyuan’, and this year will be ‘the third year of Shenyuan’.

…

The core problem of the Era of Vitality is the safety requirements of the people that are rising day by day, and the violent conflicts between external environments that are getting more dangerous every day.

…

The development plan of productivity due to the new trend must place elevating security and defense capability as its core target.

We must rapidly develop the vitality herb industry, the alchemy industry, the artifact creation industry…

We must reinforce research in basic abilities. By using the power standards of the Dragon Clan’s authority, we’ll develop a brand new cultivation system, which will be convenient for us to guide the cultivation of all the people.

…”

Since the notice was not a novel, it was extremely dull but the meanings between those lines carried extreme importance.

After reading the document, Fang Ning recalled that he still had the title of general manager of Harmony Powers Ltd. Of course, it was with the name of the Venerable Dragon God, so it was no wonder that they sent this document to him.

In fact, this was rather useful to him. From a certain perspective, this was a benefit given by Truth Department to its associates.

As the associates were notified in advance of plans made by the upper management, any qualified businessman would know the meaning behind this, and those who were unclear of it were naturally unqualified.

Evidently, the Truth Department knew very well. In the new era, by bridling cultivation powerhouses with kindness and affection, the effects would be far better than various rules and regulations. By the time the latter was used, it would probably be the time when the real intention was revealed.

“Sir, what do you think?” Fang Ning asked seriously.

“I can’t understand.” The System answered honestly.

“Very well, you have self-knowledge.” Fang Ning was not surprised at its response.

Instead, he would be surprised if the System could understand, oh no, that must be an accident…

“In simple words, the series of events that happened lately finally caused the upper management to completely admit the core problem and the main contradiction of the current stage. They’ll officially begin to revise a big plan.” Fang Ning explained.

“I still can’t understand, what does this have to do with us?” The System was still confused.

“In short, we’re going to make a fortune.” Fang Ning was speechless.

“Eh, how do you know that we’re going to make a fortune?” The System became excited.

Fang Ning pointed at the few sentences stated in the report, then put into words, “This is the opening! China wants to focus on full development in these industries, which means that the country will make lead investments. When that happens, all kinds of resources, massive amounts of manpower and material resources will be invested in it. The vitality herb industry, the alchemy industry, the artifact creation industry… In the past, I’ve already advocated for rapid development in those industries as I had great foresight, and was taking early precautions…”

“Uh, clearly, it’s a skill that I unlocked after I level up, why did it become your great foresight, Mr. Rich Boss?” Puzzled, the System replied.

“Let us not talk about the others, let us just look at the vitality herb industry. The herbs planted in the Draconic Arcane Realm, in the Land of Heritage, in the mysterious ravine outside by the king of mountain rats, and the vitality herb company managed by Old Man Zhao, which one of them is not a plan set by me two years ago..” Fang Ning listed everything out, and was very confident.

“You have quite a memory when it comes to these stale topics.” The System had nothing else to say in reply, it could only say that angrily.

Fang Ning could not be bothered, he continued, “In this way, huge amounts of resources will be transferred from other industries to related cultivation industries. When the pool becomes bigger, manufacturers like us who are at the top will be able to make unlimited demands. If we want to earn money, it’ll be achievable with just a few words. By then, you won’t have to worry about the difficulties in finding materials, as long as you issue orders that come with rewards, we’ll have resources that’ll take the initiative to do it for us.”

“That’ll be very nice. Eh, I suddenly remembered, earlier on, you asked your Scientific Academy for Vitality to research the productivity issue of the Era of Vitality. Is that the same as this?” The System came to a sudden realization.

“Uh, you’re finally smart for once. That’s right, they’re different routes but they lead to the same destination, both cases aim to increase the productivity of the Era of Vitality. How is it? Now, you’re probably convinced about my vision for the bigger picture? Know that I was a step ahead of these fellows from the upper management in raising this issue.” Fang Ning mentioned proudly.

“How do I when they suggested it? Whatever you say.” The System mumbled.

“I didn’t hear you well, louder.”

“Mr. Rich Boss, you’re very wise.”

“That’s more like it.” Fang Ning nodded satisfyingly. All along, he had few chances to compel the System into things, so only when it involved a bigger picture, the System could be ordered about by him.

Although he was certain that he did not do a great job as he was not as great as those intelligent powerhouses who were good at arrangements, it was still easy for him to crush the System. After all, it only knew how to farm spots brainlessly.

Right then, Vigilante A who was patrolling in the sky above turned around abruptly, and flew towards Qi City in China.

As soon as Fang Ning noticed it, he instantly became confused. “It’s still so early, instead of farming spots, why are you returning home?”

“I want to take a look at my industries.”

“Mmm, this is a good reason.”

Fang Ning was very clear that the System was never a true vigilante. Everything it did, it did to elevate its strength, to satisfy its host’s security requirements that grew day by day, and to increase its resistance to the external environment that was becoming more dangerous every day.

…

A couple of minutes later, Vigilante A stopped above the mysterious ravine.

He saw that the place was surrounded by cloud and fog, which enveloped half of the ravine. Occasionally, rays of sunlight shone into the place, which gave some light to the plants below.

In the ravine, “twittering” sounds were constantly heard, and there were waves of “creaking” sounds.

When Fang Ning looked carefully, he immediately knew what was going on.

It turned out that a bunch of wild sparrows fancied the growing herbs below, and they flew to take bites of them from time to time.

As for the growth situation of these herbs, it was related to the performance of the mountain rat family…

Although it was just a drop in a bucket, these big and small mountain rats still climbed up and down to call for their friends, and took the initiative to chase these wild sparrows away.

In actual fact, some workers had already set up nets and sheds nearby, and had covered the herb fruits with plastic bags… This was to prevent these sparrows from causing trouble.

It was out of the question for them to kill them with guns, or to captures them with nets. Who knew if these sparrows had gained sapience?

If they had gained sapience, the consequence would be quite serious.

As a matter of course, the capturing of sparrows in the past had been forbidden but at most, one would just undergo humans’ punishment system.

Currently, everything was different. If animals with sapience were to avenge for themselves, they would have all sorts of methods, and it would be impossible for one to guard against them.

Just like how humans trapped and killed animals with all kinds of tricks, animals with sapience would have the same amount of methods to counter humans.

As businessmen, they were particular about wealth through amiability. Without any conflict of interests, they must not act rashly, and must not agitate these birds, hence they mainly used defensive measures.

At this moment, a grey sparrow with the biggest size leaped back an forth the cliff, and it kept turning its eyes.

This was the sparrow that first discovered this place, and had eaten quite a number of herb seeds. Sure enough, it had gained a lot of nutrients as it was obviously faster when it flew.

Therefore, it brought more companions along to enjoy the herbs together.

Who knew, the movement was too big that it alerted the humans in no time, and a group of rats that came to help as well.

Thus, it was confused. All the while, humans had always wiped out rats, why would they work with them?

It was still possible for sparrows to get along peacefully with humans but it was surely impossible for the rats.

Instinctively, it felt that the group of humans below were different from the ones it had mt before. Nonetheless, it could not figure out what was different.

Whatever it was, it knew that if it wanted to taste more delicious herb seeds, it needed to put in more effort.

Just as it was pondering, a voice sounded at its ear. “Only by planting them yourselves, you’ll have endless fruits.