Chapter 214 - 3000 Worlds

“Is this… Jiang Yuxing’s chip?”

“Correct. The chip is the only truly important part of a System. A beautiful appearance or a perfect body can be changed at any time.”

The Main System closed the lid of the box and carefully put it away.

Shi Zhile said, “So you don’t actually plan on destroying the chip.”

She stated it as a fact. If he had wanted to destroy it, he wouldn’t have put it away so carefully.

The Main System carried the box in his hand and led her toward the door.

“I promised you all I would destroy it, but I never said when. Besides, isn’t destroying the body a form of destruction?”

“It has emotions, which gives it research value. You don’t have to worry about it going to Earth for revenge, because I won’t let it leave this place. It will also be formatted.”

The elevator rose to the top floor. As she stepped into the room, Wen Bai and Sun Ci looked over at the same time.

Shi Zhile shook her head slightly, indicating that she was fine.

The Main System set down the box, sat down, and beckoned with his hand. Naiwa immediately came forward to pour water.

Naiwa poured a cup for Shi Zhile as well.

“Weren’t you curious why the System chose you? I’ll tell you the answer.”

“The Corpse Rot System used to be a Strategy System. Its previous host refused to follow the strategies, but it couldn’t unbind from her. It had lost too much energy when its host before that voluntarily stayed in another world, and it was never able to replenish its power.”

Later, after that host died, it voluntarily allowed itself to be recalled and reprogrammed, becoming the Corpse Rot System.”

“And you… the Shi Zhile of your past life, were that very host. Perhaps it was to get revenge on you for not actively doing its missions, or perhaps it wanted to escape the fate of a System. After being reprogrammed, it bound itself to Wang Peng and followed along when Chuyi tricked someone into a wormhole. When Xi Nan was killed in an explosion, it used its host’s soul as the price to transmigrate. Then it disguised itself as Xi Nan—the Jiang Yuxing you saw.”

“After transmigrating, the first thing it did was kill Xi Nan. Then, it used Xi Nan’s identity and its own abilities to continuously trick other Advanced Systems.”

“Heh, it played 581 Advanced Systems for fools. If the interstellar War Faction hadn’t gotten impatient and made their move, it might have tricked even more Systems.”

“It’s treacherous, but I have to admit, it’s a clever one.”

“In fact, it knew Chuyi’s hiding place from the very beginning, and it intentionally allowed the Energy Ball to be stolen. If it had been a bit more patient, and if you all hadn’t contacted me, there wouldn’t be a single living thing left in the game by now.”

As he finished, the Main System had a look of gratification on his face.

That’s right!

Gratification!

No matter how many wrongs the Corpse Rot System committed, as long as they didn’t endanger him personally, they were just minor misdeeds in his eyes.

If he had discovered it in time, he might have even offered it some help for the sake of experiment and to probe its ultimate capabilities. For instance…

He looked at Shi Zhile, a flicker of eagerness in his eyes.

Shi Zhile studied the clear water in her cup, a smile in her eyes. “Indeed. If we had all died, it would probably be kidnapping more Advanced Systems right now, controlling everyone from the low-latitude to the high-latitude worlds, and then making a move on the Main System. After all, the Main System was the one who forced it to work. Forcing it to work is one thing, but you even docked its pay.”

“As they say, he who is barefoot fears not him who wears shoes. When an employee is driven mad, quitting is a small matter, but it’s also possible they’ll take the opportunity to stab their boss a few times. The boss might not die from the stabbing, but it would definitely hurt.”

“And if they accidentally let something slip, the whole company could go bankrupt.”

She drained her glass in one go. “Why not let it out and see what happens? But this time, don’t use other people for your experiment. Use the two of us.”

“It wants revenge on me, but it also sent me so many things, so it seems to like me quite a bit too. Let us be teammates again. We’ll see if we can usurp your authority right here in the system’s central hub.”

The Main System’s expression remained calm, completely unaffected by Shi Zhile’s words, but a closer look would reveal the corner of his mouth twitching slightly.

Shi Zhile poured herself another cup of water, staring directly at the Main System.

‘Weren’t you gratified?’

‘Wasn’t it a pity?’

‘Weren’t you curious about its potential?’

‘Let it out. Stop playing with other people’s lives and use your own.’

‘I guess this counts as risking my life to accompany a gentleman… no, a villain!’

The Main System: “…”

He once again felt that Shi Zhile was trouble.

‘Then again,’ he thought, ‘if she were any good, she wouldn’t have driven the Strategy System mad in her past life.’

“You may all leave now!”

Shi Zhile asked, “Do you have any special Systems? Like a Precognition System, or a Rebound System, something like that?”

The Main System asked, “What are you trying to do?”

“Give them to them,” Shi Zhile said, pointing at Wen Bai and Sun Ci.

‘I didn’t come all this way just to argue with him. I want some benefits!’

“You didn’t destroy its chip, which means they’re still in danger. Giving them a couple of Systems as compensation shouldn’t be too much to ask, right?”

The Main System: “No!”

Before Shi Zhile could even speak, the Wish System popped out.

“Host, it’s not that the boss won’t give them to you. It’s just that we Systems have a rule: only one Advanced System can exist in the same world. If multiple exist at the same time for too long, it can easily cause energy anomalies. A low-latitude world could even collapse because of it.”

Wen Bai looked sharply at the Wish System. “So the Earth we live on is just one world among many? And it’s a low-latitude world?”

The Wish System froze, then glanced cautiously at the Main System.

The Main System took a deep breath and swatted the Wish System, sending it flying.

“Any world with life forms isn’t considered low-latitude, but they can’t be called high-latitude either. The three thousand worlds…”

Trying to change the subject, the Main System looked at Shi Zhile again. “Are you interested in becoming a System?”

Shi Zhile: “…Becoming what?”

‘What the hell,’ she thought. ‘Usually, a System binds to a host and asks if they want to be a host. How come when it’s my turn, the question is “want to become a System”?’

The Main System paused. His gaze swept over the box by his side, the one containing the chip.

‘The chip still exists, and Shi Zhile holds a grudge. She might really use this as a chance to cause trouble for me. Even if she doesn’t get revenge on me, she might go after the chip.’

‘Better to wait a bit longer.’

“It’s nothing. Naiwa, show them out.”

Sun Ci, who had been silent the whole time, stood up. “You can’t give us Advanced Systems, but a couple of low-level ones should be fine, right? The little things on the lower floor when we came in were quite unique.”

The Main System said, “Fine, take them!”

‘They’re things that can’t even speak clearly. I was planning on destroying them anyway.’

‘If they want them, it’s not a big deal to give them away!’

The three of them left and entered the elevator. Shi Zhile pressed buttons for several extra floors.

Seeing this, Naiwa pressed a few more floor buttons.

The elevator stopped for the first time. The doors opened to reveal rows of small Systems walking in a line.

As soon as they saw people, they immediately swarmed forward. “People! Live people!”

“Nice skin! Find papa! I want skin like that.”

“Mine! She’s mine!”

Shi Zhile immediately shut the elevator doors.

The elevator descended and the doors opened a second time.

There were even more small Systems on this floor. Because the elevator doors opened so suddenly, a few curious ones stopped in their tracks. They were stepped on from behind by the Systems following them, fell to the ground, and instantly burst into tears. WAHHHHH!

The sound of crying was deafening, so noisy that Wen Bai immediately shut the elevator doors.