Chapter 212: System Center

“If I go to the System Center, can you give me a 100% guarantee of my safety?”

The Main System: “Yes. You won’t get a chance to sit down and speak with it face-to-face. I guarantee it. You will be perfectly safe, and it is certain to die.”

‘Shi Zhile’s absolute composure made her a perfect fit to be a system. Bringing her to the System Center served two purposes. First, the Corpse Rot System wanted to see her. Second, he wanted someone to see the System Center firsthand, hoping they might stay and take over for him.’

Wen Changming tugged on Shi Zhile’s sleeve cuff, gently shaking his head.

Shi Zhile was silent for a moment. “It should be fine for me to bring a few people for personal protection, right?”

‘The authority of the systems is greater than that of the interstellar civilization. The technology at the System Center must be far more advanced than anything the interstellar has.’

‘If the interstellar civilization is a higher-dimensional world, then the systems—these intangible, untouchable entities—are of the highest dimension, beings that transcend all known realms.’

‘They’re too mysterious, and their power is too wondrous. So wondrous that anyone would want to possess it.’

‘If Huaxia could master this energy, could we leap straight into a Cultivation Period?’

The Main System: “What use would bringing people be? I can destroy an Advanced System with a wave of my hand, and a single low-level system is all it would take to obliterate all of you.”

His meaning was simple: he had countless systems under his command. If he wanted her dead, any one of them could do it. There was no need to lure her to his base just to kill her.

As for Shi Zhile, she didn’t want to bring people for protection, but to steal… no! To *learn from* them!

Shi Zhile glanced at Wen Changming, who said, “Of course we trust the Main System, but XiaoShixiao is young and has never traveled far. We’re the ones who are worried. If she happens to cause any trouble out there, we’ll be there to watch over her and make amends.”

‘If we could just manage to poach a system or two from the System Center, Huaxia’s odds against the interstellar civilization would be much better in the future.’

The Main System let out an exasperated laugh.

‘Fine, just fine!’

‘Every last one of them is shameless, all coveting my subordinates.’

“You may bring one person! Tomorrow at 7:00 AM, a system will take you away.”

Fearing they would continue to haggle, he left immediately.

The panel closed, and a base chief was the first to speak. “XiaoShixiao, who are you planning to take?”

In Shi Zhile’s mind, the most suitable candidate was Wen Changming. But Earth had only just merged with the game, and conflicts were constantly breaking out between the resurrected and surviving players.

The three base chiefs were at their busiest; none of them could afford to leave.

Wei Zhan stood up. “I’ll go with you.”

“No,” the three base chiefs said in unison.

Wei Zhan: “…”

Wen Changming turned on the large screen in the conference room, displaying a world map.

“Although the Main System didn’t resurrect the foreign players who died, they must have some survivors. We’ve discussed it. We want you to take a team and go while their societies are still in chaos and order hasn’t been restored. These are the priority targets. Here, and here.”

He pointed to Little Day Island and the Beautiful Country in succession.

Base Chief Ye took a sip of tea, his demeanor that of a seasoned veteran. “You will personally lead the team to these two locations. And take plenty of people. The aircraft carriers are ready, and we’ve stocked up on all sorts of weapons.

“Remember, we are going to provide ‘humanitarian aid.’ We’re ‘helping’ them restore order. If anyone is ungrateful, we must demonstrate the poise of a great power and ‘educate’ them properly. We absolutely must make them see the error of their ways and mend them.”

Shi Zhile looked at the island on the map and took a packet of powder, which she had made at a pharmacy station, out of her backpack.

“Take this with you. It’s a system product—something that will make them listen obediently.”

Wei Zhan opened the packet of powder and was about to take a sniff when Shi Zhile clamped a hand over his mouth and nose. “Uncle Wei, that’s poison. You don’t want to smell it. What I mean is, if they don’t behave, we just poison them. They’ll be very obedient once they’re dead.

“Those who are not our people are bound to have different intentions. This is the perfect time to wipe them out, while they’re still reeling. Don’t give me any of that ‘be merciful whenever possible’ nonsense.”

Base Chief Ye choked on his tea and started coughing violently.

‘This darn kid! How can she be so blunt!’

‘Taking action is one thing, you just do it. You don’t say it out loud.’

‘If word gets out, they’ll be on their guard.’

Wei Zhan pushed the poison back to her. “You keep this for your own protection at the System Center. You don’t really believe the equipment on the carriers and our troops are for ‘educating’ them, do you? Rest assured.”

Wen Changming took the poison and put it away.

“Poison is useless against systems. It’s too risky for Wei Zhan to carry it; if it’s not handled carefully and someone accidentally ingests it, that’s no laughing matter. I’ll keep it.”

‘He had to confiscate it. He was worried Shi Zhile had gotten too used to killing in the game. If someone provoked her and she just casually offed them, it would create a huge mess to clean up.’

‘The new zone policies are just being implemented, and things are chaotic enough. She can’t be the one to start killing people.’

Seeing they had a plan, Shi Zhile said no more and went back to considering who would be the best person to take with her.

After a long discussion, they decided to wait for Wen Bai and Sun Ci to return. If the two of them got back in time, one of them would go with Shi Zhile. If they were late, Senior Sun would accompany her instead.

Around midnight, Wen Bai and Sun Ci were sent back to Huaxia Base. As it was very late, the base chief simply sent a message to Shi Zhile and Wen Changming before letting the two new arrivals get some rest.

Along with their return came a message from a Special-Grade System.

[The system controlling them has run out of energy, but its control over them has not been fully released. Have them accompany you tomorrow. Consider them your bodyguards.]

Early the next morning, before leaving for the System Center, Wen Bai and Sun Ci sent messages to the base chief and Shi Zhile. Afterward, Shi Zhile led them from Stone Island into the secret base.

“The Main System said that the control over those two hasn’t been fully removed, so it wants Wen Bai and Sun Ci to go to the System Center as well.”

Wen Changming briefly explained recent events, finishing with the news about the Main System and the System Center.

Half an hour later, the two of them had a grasp of the general situation.

Wen Bai looked around and noticed that many familiar faces were gone. “Where’s Zhiyi? And where are Jiang Jing and Luo Chuan?”

The air instantly fell silent.

A sense of panic gripped Sun Ci. “Tang Yan is gone too. Where are they?”

Shi Zhile replied, “Their consciousnesses were erased by a system, and their bodies were taken over. They weren’t eligible for resurrection. Now, they’re bound to Advanced Systems and have been sent to other worlds to complete missions.”

She explained the sequence of events again. Before the two could fully process everything, the Special-Grade System opened its panel.

“It’s time. Let’s go!”

Shi Zhile quickly opened a Teleportation Gate and sent the two base chiefs and the players selected for the away mission out of the secret base.

The Teleportation Gate closed, and Shi Zhile and the other two vanished from the spot.

「 」

They were surrounded by a thick, white fog, through which the faint outlines of tall buildings could be seen.

Following the direction of an arrow, the three of them walked for a short while before arriving at the foot of a towering white skyscraper.

The main doors opened, and a small, big-eyed robot emerged from within.

The little robot spoke in a stuttering, mechanical voice. “Ma… Ma…”

“Idiot! It’s ‘guests’!”

Another figure, a little Naiwa wearing a traditional-style halter top, walked out of the building. She had her hands behind her back and a stern expression on her face.

“Guests, please come with me.”