Chapter 192: Puppet Appears

The next morning, as the first rays of sunlight touched the earth, two more corpses appeared on the grassland, their throats slit with a single stroke.

Whether it was intentional or not, the bodies didn’t rot, nor did they disappear like the other corpses had.

Deep in the mountains, Shi Zhile and her companions were once again besieged by players.

Shi Zhiyi had been severely injured while saving Wen Bai and was now being protected in the center of their group of five.

Though their attackers numbered only a dozen or so, each one was incredibly agile and possessed superb martial arts skills, unlike ordinary players.

The two sides were locked in a standoff. One party was calm and collected, the other stood motionless. Both were quietly waiting for the other to make the first move.

Shi Zhiyi’s wound was on the back of her head. Although they had given her Healing Spring Water and applied a simple bandage, she had yet to regain consciousness.

Shi Zhile was worried the Healing Spring Water wasn’t working. Though she was burning with anxiety, her face remained as calm as ever.

Just as she was preparing to burn her bridges and fight to the death, her System spoke up.

“Host, look closely at their ankles. When they move, their exposed skin has a grayish-green tint. They aren’t human—or rather, they’re dead men.”

Shi Zhile followed its instructions and looked. Sure enough, just as the System had said, their exposed ankles were shriveled and had a grayish-green hue.

She suddenly recalled the fight from just moments ago; her Level 5 Axe had only managed to break their skin.

Most importantly, they didn’t bleed!

‘Grayish-green skin… they can be wounded, but they feel no pain and don’t bleed…’

‘Robots?’

‘No!’

‘They’re puppets!’

This made her even more wary.

The alpaca stood guard in front of Shi Zhile. When she took a step forward, the puppets also took a step forward.

Shi Zhile immediately retreated. She nudged the alpaca with her foot, and it looked back at her as if asking what to do.

Shi Zhile gave it a look, signaling for it to spit at the puppets. The alpaca paused, then turned and strode forward. It walked right up to one of the puppets, then spun around and took a dump on the puppet’s foot.

Though Shi Zhile was speechless, she kept a close eye on the puppets.

Its brown pupils remained placid, its expression unchanged, as if it didn’t have a pile of crap on its foot.

At that, Shi Zhile became even more certain of her guess.

She glanced back at Jiang Jing and motioned for him to take two steps forward. He stepped forward tentatively, but the puppets didn’t stir.

Shi Zhile pointed to a gap the puppets had left open and whispered, “Try to walk away. If they don’t attack you, just leave.”

Following Shi Zhile’s instructions, Jiang Jing walked right through the middle of the puppets.

Next came Wen Bai, carrying Shi Zhiyi on his back, followed by Sun Ci and Tang Yan. One by one, they all left the encirclement.

Shi Zhile took a step forward, and the puppets advanced in unison.

Seeing this, Shi Zhile let out a laugh of pure exasperation. “You all go on ahead. Find a place to treat my sister.”

Jiang Jing asked, “What about you? It’s dangerous for you to be here alone.”

Shi Zhile shrugged. “It’s obvious I’m the one they’re after. Surrounding me without attacking means they want to capture me alive. The person behind all this wouldn’t do it this way if they just wanted to kill me.”

“Now go.”

Jiang Jing looked like he wanted to say more, but Sun Ci pulled him away. At the same time, Shi Zhile had the alpaca go with them.

Once their figures vanished, Shi Zhile took out a lounge chair and lay down. She then sent ten coconuts to Wen Bai to stabilize Shi Zhiyi’s Life Value.

After finishing all that, she took off her jacket and pulled out some golden sore medicine to treat a wound on her shoulder.

The moment the white powder made contact with the wound, the bleeding stopped instantly. After bandaging it simply, she opened a coconut, stuck a straw in it, and lay back to drink it slowly.

As she drank, she studied the puppets standing ten paces away. The more she looked at one of them, the more familiar it seemed. She had the feeling she’d seen it somewhere before.

She asked her System in her mind, ‘Is there a type of system that can control corpses? Or one that can control someone’s consciousness and take over their body?’

“Yes! In the System World, there was a senior who used to be a strategy system. Later, after its host failed a mission and was obliterated, it requested to be changed into a Corpse Rot System, one that specializes in binding to hosts like ancient corpse burners, corpse carriers, and corpse collectors.”

“To better assist its hosts, its primary function is controlling corpses.”

“I heard from the main system that this senior once wanted to upgrade a certain function, but the main system deemed it too dangerous and refused. It disappeared after that. It’s been missing for thousands of years; not even the main system can find it.”

‘Usually, when something can’t even be found by the main system, it means it’s right under your nose.’

Shi Zhile lowered her gaze. “You’re an Advanced System. You can converse freely and have your own consciousness. The last time you vanished, was it just your consciousness, or was it your core program?”

“I… I’m not sure! After my energy was drained, I can’t even tell if I’m just a consciousness or the core program right now.”

“Is the energy the same for all systems?”

“Of course not. Low-level systems have very little energy and are usually called moron systems. They can only issue missions and obliterate their hosts. Mid-level systems are a bit stronger than low-level ones and have a bit more energy, which can be earned by completing missions.”

“Advanced Systems have the most energy; you could call them the main system’s golden children. Their energy is transmitted by the main system at regular intervals. Unless the system is destroyed beyond repair, its energy will never be depleted.”

It paused for a moment, its once-proud voice suddenly deflating.

“Never depleted… No wonder… No wonder the game can just keep going…”

“The game’s energy comes from me. As long as I’m not destroyed, the game will never stop.”

‘But…’

‘my energy alone isn’t nearly enough to support this entire game!’

‘Could it be… that other systems have been captured too?’

It was on the verge of a breakdown as images of hosts who had died in the game flooded its mind.

Gradually, it felt as if it were being locked away in a dark cage once more.

Shi Zhile asked, “Can systems absorb each other’s energy? And what level is the Corpse Rot System?”

“I don’t know.”

“Are you suspecting that the system bound to Jiang Yuxing is the Corpse Rot System?”

Shi Zhile didn’t say anything more. She casually took out a Level Three Axe and started tossing it at the puppets for fun.

A dull thud echoed as a skull cracked and the axe fell to the ground.

But the puppet remained standing ramrod straight, not even blinking.

On a nearby hillside, Jiang Yuxing’s closed eyes slowly opened.

He looked at Shi Zhile, who was relentlessly hacking at the puppets with her axe, and the corners of his mouth couldn’t help but lift into a smile.

‘What a clever little thing. So perceptive. Where did I even slip up compared to that idiot System? I only said a couple of things and she figured it out again.’

‘But being too perceptive makes things less fun. If you were to find Jiang Yu’s corpse, would you still be so calm and collected?’

‘Actually, you probably could be. After all, Jiang Yu is merely one of your own to you. The feelings I deliberately cultivated in the early stages were a waste. Seduction failed, and now you’re wary of everything.’

‘But… what if Shi Zhiyi were to die? Could you still remain so rational?’

‘If I were to turn Shi Zhiyi into a puppet and order her to kill you, what would win out? My Corpse Control Technique, or her own consciousness?’

The more he thought about it, the wider his smile grew, until his gentle facade finally vanished, his entire face contorting into a twisted sneer.

‘Shi Zhile, since you’re unwilling to be a conqueror, you can be my toy instead!’

‘You will be my most satisfying creation!’