Chapter 209: The Main System’s Reply

“And this lettuce—wrap a slice of meat dripping with broth in it, and it’s absolutely divine.”

Wei Zhan was wolfing down his food, and with Shi Zhile’s running commentary, XiaoFatty, who was standing to the side, was practically drooling with envy.

“Is it good? Is it really that good?”

Wei Zhan didn’t say a word. He just kept eating without looking up, nodding his head furiously.

“So… how can I join you guys? No! I mean, how can I become your friend?”

Shi Zhile and Wei Zhan exchanged a glance. Wei Zhan silently put down his chopsticks and began, looking troubled, “We don’t lack for food right now, but…”

He sighed, and despite meeting XiaoFatty’s expectant gaze, he didn’t continue.

“But what?”

Shi Zhile sighed too.

XiaoFatty was practically bursting with anxiety.

The hot pot simmered, and mushrooms bobbed in the broth. Every so often, it would bubble violently, revealing beef tendons floating to the surface.

“Come on, you two! My dearest big sis! Please stop sighing. Just tell me what’s wrong. Whatever the trouble is, I’ll definitely help you. Do you not trust me? How about I give you my Light Brain?”

Wei Zhan scooped up another large ladle of beef tendon and mushrooms. He picked up a piece of tendon with his chopsticks, and in the firelight, it jiggled twice.

“A Light Brain? Is that something important? Why don’t you come back to the base with us.”

XiaoFatty was silent for a moment. “I’m not lying to you, my Light Brain is the most precious thing I have right now. If you need me to go back to the base with you, I can, but I don’t want you to take me there. I’m one of the interstellar people. Interstellar technology is far more advanced than yours. Our bodies in the game are just energy constructs, so we could easily be under surveillance or something. Let me tell you, our commander…”

Without Shi Zhile or Wei Zhan having to say a word, XiaoFatty launched into a new round of complaints.

Fifteen minutes later, the system’s excited voice sounded.

[Host, it worked!]

‘You contacted the main system?’

[That’s right! And the main system took me off the blacklist. It said Jiang Yuxing is controlling too many Advanced Systems and that there’s something abnormal about him. The situation is a bit complicated right now, so it will give us an answer later.]

‘When is later?’

It had been raining for three months. People felt like they were about to bloat from all the water.

The wheat planted in the fields had been completely drowned. Thankfully, the base had distributed sweet potato seedlings to the players, which could at least be grown indoors.

[Tonight. The main system says the situation is special, so it can dispatch a Special-Grade System to assist, but you’ll need to complete a mission to earn the reward.]

[However, the Special-Grade System needs to temporarily bind to a host, which requires your consent.]

‘I agree!’

‘I don’t care what ‘Special-Grade’ means. As long as it can deal with the game and the Jiang Yuxing outside of it, I’ll agree to anything.’

[Okay, I will relay the message.]

A moment later, another, colder voice sounded: [Host Shi Zhile, please confirm binding.]

‘Bind!’

[Binding successful! Mission 1: Obtain 1 Treasure Chest. Reward: Fifteen days without rain. Do you accept this mission?]

The excitement Shi Zhile felt was instantly doused with cold water.

‘I have to fish for a treasure chest in the ocean, but it’s pouring rain in the game, so going out to sea is impossible. The only other way is to enter a dungeon instance, but the Teleportation Gate is on Stone Island, and I’m not allowed to go there right now.’

Shi Zhile’s brow furrowed slightly.

XiaoFatty stopped his ranting. “Sis, dearest sis, what’s the ‘but’?”

Shi Zhile said, “We’ve been out for a few months and have no food on us. The food is at the base. If you want to eat right now, we really can’t help you.”

XiaoFatty breathed a sigh of relief. “Pfft, and here I thought it was something serious. Don’t you have a system? Getting back is a simple matter. And if that doesn’t work, I’ve got a few Teleportation Cards we can use.”

Wei Zhan asked, “Teleportation Cards? What are those?”

“They’re like a get-out-of-jail-free card given to interstellar players when they start the game. If you’re being hunted, you can use a Teleportation Card to warp to a specific location. I teamed up with some ‘friends’ before, but all they did was mooch off me and then bad-mouth me. I was so pissed, I took all their Teleportation Cards.”

He pulled out about ten white cards and handed one to Shi Zhile and another to Wei Zhan.

[Teleportation Card: A single-use consumable. Upon use, teleports the user to a designated location.]

Shi Zhile quickly accepted the system mission and shot Wei Zhan a meaningful look.

Wei Zhan spoke up. “My friend, you should come back to the base with us. Nothing else needs to be said; these Teleportation Cards you gave us will save us months of travel.”

XiaoFatty didn’t refuse this time and agreed immediately.

Shi Zhile took the opportunity to send a message to the base leaders, planning to bring XiaoFatty into the secret base the moment they arrived on Stone Island.

The seniors were there. They could both block any outside surveillance and keep XiaoFatty contained.

All the ingredients were packed away, and the three of them used a Teleportation Gate to depart.

As soon as they arrived on Stone Island, Shi Zhile immediately led XiaoFatty into the secret base.

With Wen Changming and a group of senior players looking after XiaoFatty, Shi Zhile headed to the Primitive Forest to prepare to set sail.

After casting her fishing net several times, she finally hauled up a treasure chest.

[Mission complete. Reward will be delivered within an estimated ten minutes.]

Shi Zhile immediately told the three base leaders the news.

Three minutes later, the rain stopped. The edge of the sun peeked out from behind the clouds.

Thanks to the hype from Wei Zhan and the other base players, Shi Zhile was built up into the hero who had endured countless hardships to finally make the rain stop.

The Wish System transferred some of its energy to the Food System, and before long, the Food System awoke.

XiaoFatty was generous. He was a glutton who loved to eat, but whenever he saw the elderly people in the base, he would hand out a chicken leg or two.

As the Food System’s energy levels grew, so did the amount of food he could produce. He eventually followed Shi Zhile’s example and simply handed his system over for the base to manage.

That night, the players fell into a deep sleep amid their celebrations.

The secret base was brightly lit.

On Shi Zhile’s interface, the image of a man in a white lab coat was displayed.

His face was striking, flawless—so perfect that he didn’t look real.

To be precise, he wasn’t a real person. He was a system.

The main system!

“I’ve already investigated your situation. Jiang Yuxing is not the Xi Nan from your past life. The real Xi Nan was killed by Chuyi in a wormhole explosion. His body is being controlled by the Corpse Rot System. Furthermore, it has trapped 581 Advanced Systems. I have already cut off their energy supply, forcing them into a dormant state. As for the game you’re in, once its power source is completely severed, the game will be destroyed, and all of you can return to your original world.”

The three base leaders and the group of seniors sat beside Shi Zhile, all with serious expressions.

Senior Sun snorted. “You’re the main system. One of your subordinates went rogue and brought disaster upon humanity. That’s a failure of your leadership. And you think you can just brush it all aside with ‘you can return to your original world’?”

Shi Zhile said, “We want compensation!”

The system spoke coolly, “What do you want?”

Wen Changming laid out their terms. “Three conditions. First, resurrect our players who died in the game and its instances. Second, destroy the Corpse Rot System. Third, we want a shield for Earth, one that can block surveillance from any life form outside of it.”