Seized by the System

A cloud of black shadow was happily flying through the universe.

Its very first goal was to fly to Earth.

In his mind, there should be dead bodies everywhere on Earth right now, so it should be full of Death Energy.

When he thought of the abundant food resources that had been accumulated on Earth, he became very excited and increased his traveling speed.

Sometime later, he had reached the Solar System.

Underneath the blazing light of the enormous sun, there was a shadow hovering about, although it was barely visible.

‘I wonder which Upper Realm being can manage to occupy this sun, which has gathered a trillion years’ worth of faith and incense. If this person succeeded in occupying, he might be able to become a sun god right away,’ the cloud of black shadow thought enviously.

Then, using the sun as a point of reference, it began to search for the whereabouts of Earth.

‘So here’s the eight planets. This one is Mercury, this one is Venus, this one is Mars, this one is Jupiter… Wait, where did Earth go?’

The black shadow stood in the Solar System for a long time, its gaze filled with confusion.

No matter how it looked, it could not find Earth anywhere. As for the Death Energy it had spoken of, none of it could be detected at all.

‘How is this possible? Could it be that Earth has been hidden by that mysterious entity?’

As a former god, he was able to immediately guess the truth. However, he could not understand what kind of a method the other party had used to make an entire planet disappear.

If he were at full power, he would have a few ways of his own as well to hide such a huge natural planet.

However, right now, no matter how he tried to sense its presence, he kept coming back to the conclusion that the other party was nowhere in this universe. In fact, he also knew for sure that it had not hidden itself within some other space.

‘Wait, could it have hidden in that place I was at just now?’ When the black shadow thought of this, it could only leave in frustration.

‘What a foolish guy. What’s the use of saving so many people? His power has already surpassed that of a god, but his heart and mind are still like a mortal’s. Instead of taking advantage of this opportunity to save up more power and find a chance for advancement, he’s wasting his power to save all those ignorant morons.’

While the black shadow was thinking of this, it started to fly toward the next inhabited planet it could recall.

…

In the meantime, inside the System Space, Fang Ning was examining an Earth that had been digitized…

It was now an azure-blue sphere with the size of a walnut with countless black-colored digits flashing over it.

“This a most mysterious mystery that’s too wonderful for words. Sir System, the functions you have now are starting to become too complex for my understanding. Tell me, what kind of principles does this follow?” Fang Ning asked curiously as he spun the walnut-sized Earth.

“Honestly speaking, I don’t understand it either,” Sir System admitted.

“Useless. You don’t even understand your own abilities?” Fang Ning scorned.

“Before driving, do you have to know how a car works?” Sir System retorted.

“Well, I know. There’s the internal combustion engine with a four-stroke cycle and transmission mechanism. Isn’t that how it works?” Fang Ning said confidently.

“This isn’t a good example. You can think, but do you know how the brain works?” Sir System asked again.

“This, I’m not quite sure,” Fang Ning yielded.

“Well, that’s it. I only know how to use the functions. As for the underlying programming principles, it’s all Greek to me,” Sir System said.

Fang Ning ignored this fool, and suddenly sighed, full of emotions.

“Indeed, once your power has reached a certain level, all the various problems you’ve faced before are but a passing cloud. You used to fuss over a few hundred thousand to a few billion worth of money. What’s the point of having all that money now? It’s really just a bunch of numbers.”

“You’re trying to trick me into giving you my money again…” Sir System keenly saw through its host’s intentions.

“This is the truth. After becoming digitized, Earth can have as much food as it wants, and as much gold as it wants. What use will you have for that money?” Fang Ning argued stubbornly.

“Humph, there’s one thing you can never create,” Sir System said obnoxiously.

“What’s this thing?”

“Human labor.”

Fang Ning was dumbfounded. “Uh, what you said sounds rather unreliable. That thing can neither be touched nor be seen. What’s the use of that?”

“I don’t know what use it’s supposed to have, but that’s what your human scholars of the past said,” Sir System justified.

“Ugh, I knew it,” Fang Ning said detest, but these words from Sir System reminded him of something. “Let me think. Human labor? Basically, it refers to the spiritual power produced by humans when they’re working, which blends itself into physical matter. If we were in a purely material world, then this naturally wouldn’t have much of a significance. However, in the Mysterious World, it can produce an incredible impact.”

“So what? Frankly speaking, isn’t it just something similar to faith and incense, which will eventually be harvested by the gods and deities? That’s useless to me. I’ll be better off saving my money instead,” Sir System said indifferently.

This interruption by Sir System gave Fang Ning a sudden inspiration. He had something special in mind, and his instincts told him that this thing seemed to be very important.

Thus, he decided to go to sleep, and then ponder over it properly after waking up.

After entering the lounge and lying on his bed, he had just shut his eyes when Sir System spoke up, “What are you doing? Your days and nights are all mixed up. Do you know what time it is right now, and you’re already going to sleep?”

“I have to reflect on an important issue in my dreams, so don’t disturb me.”

“How unusual. You can reflect on issues even while dreaming?” Sir System said with disbelief. “Your laziness has really reached a whole new level.”

Fang Ning did not say anything before he went straight to bed.

“Damn it. Do you think I have no way of dealing with you? When your dragon body is reverted to its original state, I’ll make sure you can never sleep again,” Sir System grumbled.

Three days later, Fang Ning woke up.

“What’s this important issue you’ve been reflecting on?” Sir System asked curiously.

Fang Ning opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling, not speaking.

“Are you too dazed with sleep?”

“No, I remember it now. Previously, we’ve been thinking of becoming the Master of the Universe. Now, our opportunity has arrived!” Fang Ning said excitedly.

“What do you mean? Right now, the universe is almost being driven to its death by you. What opportunity can there be?” Sir System muttered.

“Stop making groundless accusations. That wasn’t my fault. It’s because the gods and deities were too stupid. Instead of staying at home and waiting to be farmed, they insisted on coming out and revolting. Did they really believe that revolting could have saved them from their deaths?” Fang Ning argued stubbornly.

“Then tell me, what kind of opportunity is this?”

Fang Ning spared the nonsense and explained straight away, “Didn’t we create a three-step plan some time ago? Now that the Upper Realm is being projected onto this realm, isn’t that the same as having the New World and the Old World combine into one? Thus, the material resources of the universe will instantly become bountiful. With that, the first step of our previous three-step plan is already completed.”

“Oh, that sounds about right, but how are we to proceed with the next two steps?” Sir System said with sudden realization.

“Right, the second step is to reduce our internal losses, and the three steps are to find a way to become self-sufficient and realize a self-proliferating world,” Fang Ning continued explaining. “For the second step, the Great Devil Saint has already given us an example of it, and it isn’t hard to execute at all. The crucial point lies in the third step, and earlier, you’ve reminded me about human labor, which is the key element to achieving a self-proliferating world! The gods and deities can create everything, and the only thing they can’t create is spiritual power. Only human labor can produce a spiritual form of power, be it through prayer or work, and when this spiritual power is blended into material things, a special form of proliferation will occur.”

“So that’s how it is. However, I’m just a warrior system, so this has nothing to do with me. You came up with this whole idea anyway, and you’re a member of humankind, so from now on, you should think carefully about how to increase the fruit of human labor,” Sir System said, immediately passing the responsibility to him.

“Look at what you’re saying. A great warrior should serve his country and his people, and a warrior god should serve the Heavens and Earth. You’re already a God-level warrior system, so of course you should commit the rest of your life to extending the life of the Heavens and Earth,” Fang Ning argued.

“…” Sir System fell silent. After a long time, it managed to say, “Now, I see why I can never f*cking win an argument with you.”