Seized by the System

System Space, the following day.

The System watched the golden book that had flown back to them in a rush and said in jealousy, “D*mn, I’m it’s actual dad, yet why is it closer to you instead? You’re able to actually to command it come and go at your will. This guy obviously did not inherit a shred of my dignity.”

“You’ve asked this question lots of times, and I’ve answered it just as many. I’ve always been a person that’s wanted to win treasures over by virtue, so naturally a just cause would enjoy abundant support. However, you’re more prone to subduing others by force, so naturally it would welcome resistance. A wise sage once said that the sturdiness of rivers and mountains comes from morality and not from danger. You’ve always wielded power instead of morality, so don’t blame the treasures for leaving you,” scoffed Fang Ning proudly, the game book in his grasp.

“All that nonsense about being moral or immoral. I’m a heroic System, I’m practically made of morality… I can’t blame them for having eyes but no sight, for not being able to make a distinction between good and evil, between loyal and disloyal,” retorted the System, “stop spouting nonsense already. Quickly get the ratty book to hand over all its experience points already.”

Just as Fang Ning opened his mouth to say something, his precious game book suddenly started flapping its pages rapidly, as if trying to convey something.

A while later, he suddenly realized something and said, “Wait, I actually have such a large number of treasures, yet I’ve never known about it all this while. You definitely knew, Sir System, yet you’ve never bothered to remind me. You must be trying to cheat me out of a large sum of money again.”

“You’re accusing someone without grounds again… You’re obviously just too lazy for your own good. Zheng Dao’s financial statements and Anderson’s daily reports, tell me how many times do you read them? You only care about playing games every day, so you don’t even know how much money, or how many wives, or how many soldiers that you have… I’ve always asked you to read Zheng Dao’s reports, yet you’re always too lazy to but now you’re trying to pin the blame on me. If you had actively read the reports daily, would you still be in the dark now? Where is the logic in all this? This is all so unfair to me!” complained the System, hurt and insulted.

“Ugh…” Fang Ning was rendered speechless, so he could only admit embarrassedly, “I think I’ve really blamed you wrongly.”

“That’s the truth,” replied the System confidently, “in order to make up for the emotional damage you’ve put my young soul through, all that money, as well as all those experience points are mine now. Hurry up and cough it out.”

Once Fang Ning heard this, he quickly said, “Hey, we’re two hearts in a single body. An ancient sage once said that unity is strength, so we can’t contend with each other overtly and covertly over a little profit. It would be detrimental to efficiency. Besides, I gain nothing from keeping the money and experience points all to myself, since it’ll still be used to improve your strength in the end. However, I’m looking at the bigger picture right now, unlike you, who is short-sighted and always eager to succeed. I have set proper arrangements for the money and experience points, so calm yourself.”

“Ugh… You’re speaking quite logically, but I still feel like you’re bluffing me. Are you coming up with some plan again?” questioned the System.

“The world is in danger and yet almost everyone has no idea. We’re in critical times right now, so why would I want to bother with setting you up? However, it’s just that you’re always using experience points to boost your strength at the moment, so you’re always ignoring the long-term overall situation when in fact, the quality to price ratio isn’t all that high. When I try to talk to you, you don’t listen. So all I can do is putting aside some of it for the future,” said Fang Ning assuredly.

“Oh, is that so? Then tell me, what exactly are you plans?” the System finally relented.

It was a martial hero system born out of a kimchi online game, which meant that despite slightly lacking intelligence-wise, it would still be able to reach the peaks of battle micro-operations that even divine beings could not.

However, just as Fang Ning had said, it had one fatal flaw when faced with the grand scheme of things—it could not see the direction of strategic development clearly.

The System was like a peasant soldier wandering around, running at the first gun shot and slipping away at the first chance. It did not have a complete strategy or clear strategic goals.

With an imposing look, Fang Ning said, “Sir System, before I set up any of your future plans, there’s one thing on my mind that I’ve decided to tell you about. After thinking about it yesterday, I didn’t manage to tell you. Before that, can you guarantee that all conversations that happen from now within the System Space are never made known to the outside world no matter what?”

“Of course. Look at you being all mysterious, what are you up to?” asked the System.

Yesterday, Fang Ning did not intend to tell the System about the extremely shocking discovery he had made. He was afraid that it would make a mess of things by revealing the secret, since the System has never been subtle…

However, the reason why he contradicted himself today was simple. After being chided by the System just now, he suddenly realized that he just might forget the discovery he made yesterday entirely…

He had even forgotten the amount of money he had. Although the discovery he had made was a big deal, it was still possible for him to forget it or lose his memory about it because of some kind of curse or something.

Therefore, he had no choice but to tell the System, who would never forget things. Having it help him remember the discovery was far better…

“Very well. You are to close off the System Space completely so that no information will be allowed to leave or enter,” ordered Fang Ning.”

Alright.” As long as Fang Ning was getting down to proper business, the System would always follow his orders obediently.

[The System has sealed off the System Space. All external information exchange is now prohibited.]

Once Fang Ning heard the announcement, he immediately felt relieved.

Then, he solemnly said, “The secret is Axiom Daddy might have met with some misfortune.”

“What?!” Upon hearing Fang Ning’s words, the System was as shocked as he expected.

“Lower your voice!” Fang Ning then exasperatedly said, “You better not announce it to the whole world with your big mouth.”

“Ugh, I almost did…” admitted the System in embarrassment.

“There you go with your acting. You don’t have a hint of human emotions, don’t you?” sneered Fang Ning.

“I may not have all those messy emotions you humans have to deal with, but I’m afraid of death too…” The System continued confidently, “Although that idiot of a Heavenly Axiom wasn’t very reliable, it still stood on our side. If it’s really dead and someone else from the Upper Realm were to take it’s place, then I, I might have to leave Earth as soon as possible…Besides, we have the Draconic Arcane Realm that we carry around with us, and I have enough rations enough a few hundred years in the System Preservation Area. We’ll just need to find a deserted planet somewhere to lay low for a while.”

“Don’t be so panicked just yet,” chided Fang Ning in a serious tone, “It’s just a guess of mine, nothing’s confirmed.”

“Oh, then you better come up with a way to confirm it…” urged the System.

“Oh, I know.” A light bulb went off in Fang Ning’s head and he immediately said, “Don’t you have another skill that’s related to the Heavenly Axiom? That ‘Heavenly Fortune’ skill that’s able to boost one’s luck. If Daddy Axiom really is dead, no other person of the Upper Realm would be able to do the same as what it did, since they wouldn’t even think of someone using a method like this to be assisted by the heavens and the earth.”

“That makes sense. I’ll use it now,” replied the System.

Then, Fang Ning heard a jarring and terrifying reality…

[The System activated skill “Heavenly Fortune”. “Heavenly Fortune” skill activation failed, 1/3 number of activations remaining.]

“Hiss… Just as I expected,” the System uttered in shock. “Mr. Rich Boss, your brain is still in tip-top shape, you’ve guessed it right once again.”

“Yes,” Fang Ning’s brain was muddled, so he started muttering under his breath, “this Heavenly Fortune skill can only be used for free 3 times. You used it once when you want to subdue Ling Yunzi and that Yun Ze from the Upper Realm, and the effects were astounding. However, you failed this time. It goes without saying that the Heavenly Axiom of Earth did in fact meet with misfortune and can hardly fend for itself right now, so it doesn’t have the power to buff us. This complete suppression from above is just like what happened during the Qing Dynasty when the Earth first entered the Era of Vitality. During that time, many skills started from 0, so once the opposing side acted, it was a complete suppression…”

“You’re brilliant,” complimented the System out of uncharacteristic genuineness. “But, what do we do now?”

“Ah, for now, it seems that nobody knows we’ve discovered this secret, so this is putting us at an advantage. Currently, we must use Earth’s resources to the best of our ability, we must strengthen ourselves, and then launch a counterattack to support the just,” proclaimed Fang Ning unflinchingly.

“Ugh, I think escaping as soon as possible is still the better option,” said the System decisively.

“…” Fang Ning was speechless; the choice befitted the System’s personality to a T.

After a brief pause, Fang Ning replied, “Running away when the going gets tough is no way a hero should act, so be careful of your principles crumbling. The state of affairs between the light and the dark has flipped, so the enemy would’ve never imagined that we’ve already discovered that the simple exchange was merely a farce, so we can use this to our advantage. If my calculations are correct, even if the other party has Earth’s Heavenly Axiom in its grasp, we will still be able to turn the tables around.”

“You lost me.” The System was completely befuddled.

“What I mean is, there’s a lot of people who despise us in the Upper Realm, but I hope you haven’t forgotten that we’re merely pretending to be a True Dragon from the Upper Realm…which means that a lot of people see us as being a part of the Upper Realm, so there are many who support us as well. There’s Bodhisattva Spirit King and his people, the Celestial Clan that the great green insect is from, as well as the clan where we’re from, the True Dragon Clan… These are all big supporters,” huffed Fang Ning proudly.

“Huh, you really are a brilliant mind,” said the System in wholehearted acceptance as it finally acknowledged the real gap between itself and its host.