Seized by the System

Inside a white villa in the USA, former residence of the Great Devil Saint.

After Black Robe had taught Vigilante A how to use quantum communication, he had returned to the villa immediately at the orders of his master and began recruiting the top talents and elites among humans, whilst continuing his research…

He was not concerned about recruitment. To these mortals, there were countless things on the mysterious side that could entice them.

Promises of longevity, safety, and wealth… all these meant nothing to him.

After several weeks of hard work, he had recruited dozens of gifted talents and had begun training them.

Without noticing, it was already the fourth year, fourth month of Shenyuan.

One day in the Fourth Month, he was suddenly called into the study by Zhi Nan.

“Master, may I ask for what purpose have you summoned me with such urgency?” He said humbly, treading carefully with his words.

Compared to before, his respect for the Great Devil Saint had increased tenfold.

On the other hand, however, Zhi Nan’s expression gave away no signs of complacency.

Instead, he spoke impassively, “The ones going down the mountain to pick the peaches  ¹ will be here soon, go and prepare yourself.”

A sense of unease briskly aroused in Black Robe, but was quickly dismissed as he assured himself that none were wiser than his master.

“Sometimes, there are those that even the most intelligent ones may not be able to do anything about.” Zhi Nan, who had seen through his subordinates’ thoughts, said imperturbably.

Only then did Black Robe turned vigilant, if even Master had spoken of them as such, then they must definitely be inconceivable in their own way.

He spoke there and then, “I will transfer the personnel and resources into Vitality City.”

“No need,” Zhi Nan waved a hand in dismissal as he spoke nonchalantly, “A few days ago, I discovered a self-generating dimension space within this realm, although it may not be comparable to the grotto-heavens left by the Upper Realm, it has assimilated perfectly with this realm, that in itself has its advantages. This is the way of entering and leaving the dimension space, you may transfer the resources inside it.”

As he spoke, a black sphere with a faint swirl in its center appeared in Zhi Nan’s hand.

Black Robe received it respectfully with both hands, thoughts of its application formed in his mind.

He kept them in mind carefully, his heart thrilling with excitement.

Sure enough, when his Master accomplished his grand scheme, everything else, too, was coming along smoothly.

In the past, he had had to fight tooth and nail with others, jump through hoops, and other grueling efforts before he was even able to obtain the rights of use to a realm.

Now, within less than a month, his Master had managed to get his hands on an even better place, a base where they were able to have complete, total control over.

Such was the difference between people, just like those mortals, whilst some were still slaving away working overtime for a few ten-thousand bucks, others were able to spend hundreds of thousands, even millions on a game.

“That is all, you may be excused now.” Black Robe waved his hands, in his eyes, silver swirls could be seen…

…

In the System Space.

“Sigh, we’ve lost another source of income since that Black Robe fella left.” Sir System suddenly said.

Meanwhile, Fang Ning was currently surfing the web inside the System Cyber Cafe.

Hearing this, he bolted and said, “Could it be that he’s found an even better place?”

“Must be so, isn’t it? He’s latched himself onto one of the most powerful forces out there, it’s bound to have a place for him to stay, whereas I still have to suffer along with you in destitute, and every now and then, even be bullied by that stupid Heavenly Axiom.” Sir System said wistfully.

Fang Ning flipped through the piles of asset reports stacked high, at a loss for words.

“You’re getting good at lying now aren’t you… Be careful that you don’t lose your chivalrous virtue.” He said benignly.

“You’re casting aspersions on my honesty again… how could I possibly lie?” Sir System said loftily. “Being poor is relative, compared to that Great Devil Saint, I am poor. I’m here on Earth, trying to make a living out of this tiny little crop field, while the other’s already gotten his hands on the entire universe, and can easily snag a good place…”

“Ugh… you think you sound so right don’t you, well, what do you want to do, go out there and exploit the universe too? There’s no need for that, isn’t there, all the other places are just wastelands. It’s better to just wait for the Elder River God to come back from his exploitation first, speaking of which, he mentioned he’d be back in another half a year or so last time, so he should be back any day now.” Fang Ning reckoned.

“Oh, that’s true, then I’ll wait.” Sir System said patiently.

What came after, however, was not the news of the return of the Sky River’s River God, but a cry of help from Black Robe…

In the living room of the Xiajia Farm Villa, the black robe is actually lying on the ground.

Inside the living room of Vigilante A’s farm villa, Black Robe was actually kneeling on the ground.

Fang Ning was too stunned to even tell him to get up.

“What? The guy that was just thundering around, the guy who, with a wave of his hands, sent two Sky Deities’ incarnations running with their tails between their legs, that bald ass Zhi Nan, is currently hanging by the thread?”

Fang Ning yelled inside the System Space.

The Vigilante A outside, however, bore an expressionless face.

Black Robe could see that he was obviously planning to just sit on the mountain, waiting to watch the fight ensue between two lions. ²

He could totally understand, seeing as how the two parties had already been at odds with each other previously, seeing as how when his Master had chased away the other Gods, he was not doing it just to help the other, but was also doing it for his own sake.

He could only find consolation in his Master’s wise foresight, that they had yet fallen out with the other party, otherwise, he would not have even had the chance to be kneeling here!

Reality was harsh. He was well-versed in the history of humankind, the fate of the messengers sent out by the losing party was often unkind, their pleads for help either led to rejection, or worse, death.

To have been let in and even had their pleads heard, was already indicative of the listeners’ generosity and nobleness.

“I am willing to relinquish a dimension space that was discovered by my Master, as repayment for help.” Black Robe said with gritted teeth as he took out the black sphere he had received earlier, and raised it above his head with both hands. ”

Fang Ning was speechless, “Sir System, your luck is incredible…just a few days ago you were complaining about how poor you were, and today someone has knocked on your doorstep to deliver you money, I have serious suspicions if you turn out to actually be the Heavenly Axiom’s son after all…”

“Nonsense, this is the reward of all my good deeds!” Sir System gloated, “It’s true that one should never be too proud of themselves, otherwise they’d definitely be dogged with misfortune, your human history may be short, but it’s certainly abundant with philosophies.”

For once, Fang Ning had not rebuked Sir System’s words, as he felt a little conscience-stricken. He had originally thought after Zhi Nan had obtained approval from the Origin of Time and Space, he would be able to have the forces at his beck and call, and his luck overflowing.

He had not expected him to fall from the pinnacle of power, fate was truly unpredictable.

“Alright, I don’t have time to waste with you any longer, I have to go clear up what’s going on, my instincts tell me that this isn’t going to be an easy favor.” Sir System said in a tone of seriousness.

Then, Vigilante A spoke composedly, “There is no need to fret, do get up first. Tell me everything.”

Only then did Black Robe lifted himself up from the ground and began to explain.

After he had finished, Fang Ning was suddenly hit with a realization that everything that had happened today was already destined from the start, it may all sound surprising, but everything made perfect sense.

The current Zhi Nan was originally a wisdom incarnation of a devil lord, his current predicament and encounters were exactly what it would have been like if Wu Mu was magical…

Now that he had completed the hard parts, someone had come to pick the peaches, and those who came, came with plausible justifications.

He may have been powerful, just like Wu Mu, but as he had no justifiable reason to resist, he could only resign himself to fate.

He was originally an incarnation of a great devil lord from the Upper Realm, and secretly possessed virtuous side.

This time, several other incarnations had appeared.

Their objective was simple, that was to repossess everything that Zhi Nan had, and carry it over to the main body…

It was not supposed to be this troublesome, as everything in an incarnation came from the main body itself, and the main body would be able to control them with just a single thought.

However, the isolation between the Upper Realm and Earth had created a peculiar relationship between the main body and its incarnations.

They were one of the same, yet not the same; just like how dukes and princes who lived apart and far away, yearned for independence.

After listening, Fang Ning let out a heavy sigh as he lamented, “No wonder everyone says that it’s impossible to not want to start a rebellion if they’ve traversed through time ³ . This is what they were talking about. It’s a given, without being free and independent, they were doomed to end up at the mercy of others, the greater their contributions and merits, the sooner they meet their end, especially when you were different.”

“I knew this all along, that’s why I never told you to rely on anyone else, self-reliance is always king.” Sir System stated smugly.