Seized by the System

After Cang Gongzi had left the two, he hurried to the edge of the huge underground city of the Greater Rat Clan.

Looking back, his eyes were filled with nostalgia even though he had only been there for a few days.

The thing he missed the most was not his relationship with Elder Ancestor Bai nor was his relationship with Bai Shixin, let alone the others.

It was the Greater Rats working hard in the streets. They did not have nobility in them, and they were tiny, almost invisible, but they were the true reflection of their clan’s future.

However, he could feel a sense of exclusion and alienation from everything in this city.

From the lowest of ranks of Greater Rats to the high-ranked Bai Shixin, everyone had treated him with courtesy, but those came from a place of fear and amazement of his strength and bloodline rather than a genuine connection.

He could visualize how the others would treat him like a bug if he had lost those two things, even if he was still the same person.

He took a long sigh at the thought and turn around, ready to leave the city.

At this moment, a silhouette appeared in front of him.

Elder Ancestor Bai was looking at him with an indescribable expression.

“Do you understand now?”

“Understand what?” Cang Gongzi asked even though he already knew the answer.

“The principle of natural selection, that the weak will stand as an easy prey to the strong, that which an existence justifies its own.” ¹

Cang Gongzi stayed silent.

However, Elder Ancestor Bai did not let him off so easily.

“If you don’t have the power, do you think Nie Yuan will avoid a clash with you just because you are my son?

“If you don’t have the power, do you think he would believe Bai Shixin that I will leave the throne to you after my ascension to godhood?

“No, he won’t. Any demon would know that if they left their thrones to a powerless descendant, outside forces will soon highjack the throne by force.”

After the rapid-fire questioning, Cang Gongzi’s face was unreadable. A moment had passed before he said, “You’re saying this was your reasoning for disregarding all the things that happened before?”

“Did you just found out?” Elder Ancestor Bai shook his head in disappointment.

“No, I already knew a long time ago. However, the notion that the weak will never stand a chance against the strong is not the truth, there are many existences that are not justifiable!” Cang Gongzi’s tone sharpened.

“All humans and demons have intelligence, so they should not be fighting. Everyone is born with the ability to rationalize, we can live harmoniously together! I have many human friends, so there’s no reason humans and demons cannot live among each other!”

Elder Ancestor Bai looked at him deeply, and in the end, he chuckled.

“Haha, that’s a good speech, really good. You finally found your own path. Go on, continue with your own path, I will always be watching you.”

Unexpectedly, Elder Ancestor Bai did not reprimand him.

He was puzzled and just stood there as if he was trying to come up with something to say.

Elder Ancestor Bai did not walk away either. He only looked at Cang Gongzi quietly.

In the end, Cang Gongzi muttered, “What Bai Shixin said, are those true?”

“You’re not qualified to know in your current state.” Elder Ancestor Bai shook his head in disappointment as if Cang Gongzi should not have asked the question.

Cang Gongzi’s face reddened in anger. His body convulsed and white aura burst out of his torso once again.

This time, the aura was much stronger than when he was warning Nie Yuan!

He knew who he was up against, so he used his full strength!

The entire underground city immediately bustled as most Greater Rats felt the presence of the strong intimidating aura!

Some were pressured by the suppression they felt through blood connection, but more were stunned by the power belonging to their natural enemy!

From afar, Cang Gongzi looked like he was set ablaze by a pillar of white fire.

He stared at the person in front of him coldly, like he did not mean anything to him.

He roared, “I’m not qualified?”

“Not bad, you’ve learned something that suits you.” Elder Ancestor Bai smiled gently as he stared into the fire pillar, undaunted.

Moving slightly, streams of pale yellow aura surged out from his temple.

Soon, it ballooned up into a pillar of pale yellow fire, almost identical to Cang Gongzi’s, maybe even slightly dominating over the younger person.

“You,” said Cang Gongzi with a strained voice, “you managed to cultivate Clan Energy in such a short time? Impossible…”

“You’re still ignorant about the true power.” Elder Ancestor Bai looked at him and kept his pale yellow aura. Slowly, he turned around and left Cang Gongzi behind.

Cang Gongzi glared at his silhouette but did not attack him.

He was worried. Once Clan Energy was cultivated, the cultivator’s power would skyrocket.

If it was anything like Bai Shixin’s prediction, Elder Ancestor Bai would seize the opportunity of the moon’s imminent crash and execute a plan to let the Heavenly Axiom accept the Greater Rat Clan. By that point, his power would be amplified to an unbelievable level.

Would the Venerable Dragon God still be able to deter him from spreading chaos in the world when it comes to that?

Elder Ancestor Bai’s ambition had always been a grand one.

He knew that.

With a deep concern for the future, Cang Gongzi returned to the ground without looking back.

…

In Vigilante A’s farmhouse.

It was early August. Under the hot summer sun, trees were green, flowers bloomed, and diligent workers worked hard to maintain the workings of the farmhouse.

A white hamster made its way into the living room and immediately heard a passive-aggressive voice.

“Look who’s here, I hear a certain someone who only knows how to chew chestnuts was going to become a city official… that’s incredible.”

The bitter voice came from the fish tank in the living room. Who else could that be aside from Dragon Carp?

Hearing the familiar voice, Cang Gongzi felt a little better. ‘I’m home, finally.’

Only at this place would no one look down upon it, humans or demons alike, irrespective of their power level.

Except for Dragon Carp who only knew how to boast, that is…

However, he was laid-back enough to not take an offense to Dragon Carp’s attitude.

He looked around in wonder and jumped up to the marble table where the fish tank was.

“Brother Dragon Carp, aren’t you at the Land of Heritage with Brother Brett? It’s only been less than two weeks and you’re back? Could it be that Brother Brett had a huge breakthrough?”

The white hamster said as he scanned for Brett’s location unsuccessfully.

The black dog and the koi had recently appeared everywhere together, now that there was only the koi, it felt weird.

“You can stop looking. I’ve asked Brett to look for the ingredients to light the lamp. Before long, my powers will be restored, so I can truly be useful to Master. By then, Master will probably grant me an important role to hold. I don’t really care for being a tiny city official,” Dragon Carp explained.

“Do you mean the wishing lamp Brother Brett and Brother Xue Ba found in the Land of Heritage?” asked the white hamster.

“Mm, that’s right. You knew? Oh wait, you were here before me, it’s normal for you to know about it,” Dragon Carp said.

“I shall wish for success for Brother Brett so both of you can recover your strength,” said the white hamster gently.

Dragon Carp did not feel embarrassed about being buttered up, it accepted the wish completely.

After being wished well, it was happy, so it stopped taunting Cang Gongzi.

Seeing how courteous Cang Gongzi was, it asked, “Thank you for your wishes. Official Cang, since you’ve been to the underground city of the Greater Rats, did you bring back any fabulous items? You’re a prince of the Greater Rat Clan, there should be plenty of people trying to get on your good side, aren’t there?”

Cang Gongzi shook his head, “No one gave me any gifts. I’m only an outsider to them. It would’ve been a luxury if there is even someone there to greet me, how would I expect to receive gifts?”

“That’s fine. When you’re officially starting work in the new city, the gifts would line up to at least a mile away, you’d be annoyed for sure. I guess you’d never had any experiences in receiving gifts?” Dragon Carp asked as if it just thought of something.

The white hamster was puzzled and asked, “Indeed. Could I ask for a few pointers? We’re both serving the Venerable One, so you can just tell me.”

Dragon Carp waved its tail and said happily, “You’re indeed of royal birth, such poise and finesse in your behavior. I have done you wrong before, I apologize, so let’s start over.”

Cang Gongzi nodded, he never took it to heart. For the longest of time, he had always treated Dragon Carp like a much more eloquent parrot. What was so difficult about being insulted by a parrot once in a while?

Dragon Carp said, “I’ve worked for the Dragon Clan’s leader for many years, so I have a rich experience in gifting etiquette.

“After you’ve become the city official, you should ask Master to bring me along so I could help with receiving those gifts. You can focus on the mission Master assigned you and build the Morality City properly.”

Cang Gongzi gave it a thought and agreed.

He said gratefully, “Brother Dragon Carp, I’m grateful for your generosity, I believe the Venerable One would agree to that as well. However, why do you keep calling me ‘City Official’?

He was not stupid, he knew that was not a good nickname. ²

Dragon Carp said sheepishly, “My apologies. I’m used to giving nicknames to other people, aren’t you going to handle the official matters in the city soon enough and become the most important person there? I shortened it, so it became City Official. Do you want something more flashy?”

“No, thank you. Brother Dragon Carp, you’re far more mature than I am, you can just call me Xiao Cang.” The white hamster thought, ‘No flashy nicknames, please.’

Dragon Carp was happy to hear that and made a promise. “Nice, Xiao Cang, you’re such a forthright person. When Brett returned with the lamp oil and if there are leftovers, I’ll let you have a go at it.”

Cang Gongzi was just about to refuse it out of habit, but his heart jumped and he found himself nodding, “Then I shall thank you in advance for being so generous. However, does the Venerable One know about this search for lamp oil?”

“Of course he does. Why wouldn’t I ask for permission before I do anything? That would’ve violated so many rules according to my years of experience. After we’ve collected the oil, we’ll leave half for him and take half for our own.” Dragon Carp said with indignation.

Cang Gongzi nodded. That was new information for him.

‘Even though Dragon Carp had always been arrogant with its ways, it knew how to please and pander to everyone.

‘In comparison, I was too closed up and lacked actual experience. If I wanted to achieve my own goal in the future and walk on my own path, I have to pay attention and learn.’

The hamster and the fish began to talk about things to take note after Cang Gongzi had taken office.

Dragon Carp had seen many people, so it knew how to maneuver around chores. It immediately gave Cang Gongzi a crash course about the different ways to handle different people.

Neither Cang Gongzi nor Bai Ruocang could guess this fish’s real objective.

If Zheng Dao were here, he would have guessed as soon as he had heard it.

The fish had stayed in the house for too long without being able to gain any benefits. It only wanted to make some side income for itself.

Different from the other followers, even though Dragon Carp had sworn its loyalty to Vigilante A, it had more selfish desires.

After all, it had the blood of a true dragon, as it had been constantly reminding people of…

Dragon Carp was not like Brett and Xue Ba, the dog duo.

The two only wanted a few dog girlfriends who connect well with them and the ability to eat to be satisfied. They were not chasing after power, and they did not care if they had money, as they had never asked for their pay.

It was not like Zheng Dao or Cang Gongzi either. These two had very noble goals and objectives. Following Vigilante A was a means to their ends.

Dragon Carp was completely different, it was greedy.

In the past, when it was still a gatekeeper for the Dragon Clan’s leader, if the visitors did not have a high enough status, they would have to contribute some treasures into the lily pond where it lived and pray…

After the two had some time to discuss, Cang Gongzi asked, “If I may ask, how did you came to the conclusion of wanting to use the lamp? I heard the ingredients for the oil are rare.”

“Hah! That’s only for other people. I have collected plenty of rare ingredients myself,” boasted Dragon Carp. “If it weren’t for Long Da and the other dudes, I could’ve contributed the ingredients myself.”

Therefore, Cang Gongzi heard the story behind it.

When Dragon Carp was chatting with Brett in the Land of Heritage, Brett had whined about Xue Ba cheated and obtained new strength using the wishing lamp and broke through to Lake-level preemptively.

It immediately had an idea. The ingredients, like ambergris, millennium rosin, and sacred beeswax among others, seemed hard to find, not even Vigilante A had attempted to collect them.

However, It knew exactly where they were, including where these ingredients could be found, so it made the agile Brett look for them.

Those environments were usually dangerous, so it did not follow…

In the Upper Realm, many clans were trying to get into the gates of the Dragon Clan, so it had collected plenty of precious treasures.

Those were nothing very powerful, but it had seen basically all sorts of rare objects and materials from around the world.

It was a shame that it was not able to bring them along. As it was leaving, Long Da and a few others divided its belongings and gave them away…

Long Da said that they would be wasted if the items stayed with it and that it would be too much of a loss if they were damaged when it passed through the barrier, so they had decided to keep it for the others to prepare for the impending cataclysm. It was not happy, but it could not do anything about it.

In the end, it said with a scornful tone, “No wonder they let me keep the gifts all these while, they were planning to let me do all the dirty work for them…”

Having heard that, Cang Gongzi felt a red flag going off.

He reminded, “If we were to work for the Venerable One, we will need to have integrity and honesty so we don’t spoil his name.”

Dragon Carp silently cursed itself. ‘I’ve said too much and leaked my secrets…’

It covered up its guilt by flapping its tail and expelling some bubbles. “Of course not, those who stay near vermilion get stained red, I’ve been following Master for so long, I’ve changed. Xiao Cang, don’t worry about me.”

Cang Gongzi nodded.