Seized by the System

After a brief moment, the System finally understood, ‘This extremely lazy host doesn’t want to waste time coming up with a plan at all. All he wanted to do was to use those two rats’ corpses as bait so he can throw the responsibility of solving that problem to someone else.’ However, the hero that had been thrown that responsibility was so happy after seeing the pictures of the giant rats; the System had a hard time believing his reaction.

They had repeatedly said that they would come up with a proposal very soon, and after it was carried out, an accident akin to the destruction to the underground networks caused by monsters would never again happen in Qi City. It would be disruption free.

Fang Ning of course didn’t believe them completely. He mentioned that he would have to check the feasibility of the whole thing after seeing the proposal before paying the deposit. He continued saying that after carrying out the proposal, he would pay the rest of the money after no problems arose within three years. This was also why he had asked for the corpses of those giant rats.

Although using half a corpse as a deposit didn’t make the offer all that appealing, and there was no guarantee that the problem would be settled perfectly, but Fang Ning had no use for the rats’ carcasses otherwise, so he of course wouldn’t let something like that affect his Internet surfing.

However, Vigilante A’s excellent reputation was no joke, so the other hero agreed to the whole thing quickly.

The System asked, “That’s it?”

Fang Ning answered, “Yeah. I’m not some genius, so I’ll have to hand it to the professionals.”

“So I won’t have to do any work?”

“What are you talking about? You have to go supervise them when the time comes, so you have to go and check it out. If they dare to cheat me, you’ll have to help me take them out…”

This was the main reason why Fang Ning wasn’t all that worried about the other party cheating them out of their deposit; anybody would have to think twice about their own capabilities before displeasing a man that could summon a heavenly dragon…

After a brief moment, the System spoke up, “I feel like there’s something wrong? Why does it seem like I’m at a disadvantage in this? Although I can’t understand it, it feels like I’m just throwing away two hard-earned trophies. Besides, although it is technically your reward and you’re using them to fix your Internet problem, I still feel weird about it.”

Fang Ning rolled his eyes, and immediately voiced his admiration for the System’s calculative spirit, “That’s great, you felt it before I had to said it. Relax, we won’t be suffering any loss. They’re getting benefits from this whole thing, so we’ll definitely be getting our benefits back too.”

“Alright, if they don’t give those benefits, I’ll help for free. This doesn’t count into the Mission Rewards anyways…”

Finally done with this whole thing, Fang Ning felt comfortable and relaxed. He glanced at the time – it was almost midnight, and he realized that if it were before, he would’ve been asleep by now. It seemed that after cultivating the Dragonization Ability, his stamina had greatly increased, and his need to sleep had decreased by a lot. It was like he was back to his 9-5 working days, where he could only play after work, but he had plenty more time to play now.

Fang Ning hastily returned to the System Cyber Café and started playing again. He immediately downloaded a few complete novels and the newest standalone video game, just in case the Internet disconnected again…

While he was busy playing, Fang Ning thought the System would take the chance to farm gophers for experience. However, when Fang Ning glanced at the notifications, he saw something else.

[ The System is processing… ]

[ The System is processing… ]

[ The System has decided to get a late- night snack. ]

Fang Ning rolled his eyes, even Sir System had learned to slack.

Fang Ning immediately changed his mind afterwards, though. Fighting three giant monsters had cause the System to overuse its power to change into a dragon; the System needed to replenish its nutrients terribly and didn’t want to waste time cooking.

Vigilante A rushed towards the old “Fang’s Delicious Food”. Although it was quite late, the place was still buzzing with people as customers came and go like waves on a shore, all the while maintaining an uncanny form of order. Under the direction of Manager Zhao Ying, the restaurant had not only expanded their storefront, it also became a 24-hour open restaurant.

Seeing her hero appear, Zhao Ying immediately rushed over to greet him. She didn’t purposely take all the night shifts for nothing. She couldn’t help it, her hero was still her hero, but that 38 thousand bill that she swiped onto her card from before was almost at its deadline. Although she’d gotten a raise a few times, the restaurant has only been open for three months, so even paying the bill on installment would still be too much.

Vigilante A saw Zhao Ying at his first glance. The System was the System for a reason, so it never forgot anything.

Before fighting that spider last time, Fang Ning and it had run off in a hurry before paying the bill. Being the homebody that he was, Fang Ning had long since forgotten about this incident; he wasn’t the one that ate the food, anyways.

Vigilante A went forward and said, “Oh, something came up the last time and I forgot to settle my bill. Count this time’s bill into it too.”

Zhao Ying didn’t know what came over her that compelled her to continue with, “No need for that, I helped you pay the last time.”

Vigilante A joined his hands together to salute Zhao Ying, “Then I sincerely thank you. This may be a simple land with simple folk and I may have done a few things for this place, but I never expected this in return. Thank you for remembering.”

‘What? I didn’t understand anything he said. Does he not know that I was just being nice and that he should have said something like “That just won’t do.” before thanking me by giving me a present and settling his bill?’

The dumbfounded Manager Zhao Ying repeatedly made sure that her hero wasn’t kidding and that he was serious. After realizing so, she only felt agony in her heart.

Fang Ning, who was playing games in the System Cyber Café, had overheard the entire conversation and immediately spat blood, ‘Zhao Ying, you have no idea what the System’s personality is like. He’s as stingy as stingy can get. Besides, that whole matter doesn’t go against its heroic attribute, either. He destroyed that giant spider that threatened the safety of the entire city, which meant he also saved your life. From the way it sees the whole thing, you helping to pay for his meal isn’t something that goes against his heroic code of conduct.’

However, Zhao Ying felt his heart waver. After all, Zhao Ying had no idea that her life was spared.

He knew just how much the System ate; a single bill would probably take up Zhao Ying’s pay for the entire year. He was still the boss of the restaurant, so he knew how much he was paying people.

He immediately told the System to stop taking over for a moment and said, “I was just joking. Why would I let a lady pay my bill for me? Count it together with the next bill.”

Zhao Ying learned her lesson and didn’t say anything unnecessary this time around. She smiled tightly and lead Vigilante A to a single booth.

The System wasn’t too bothered with Fang Ning using its money, Fang Ning’s position was steadily increasing anyways. Especially in the previous battles, if Fang Ning hadn’t been quick with his thinking, that precious jade that would have dropped from killing that monster would have been lost to the wind.

…

While Vigilante A dug into his meal, teams of trained soldiers were performing inspections on giant rats, within the areas and regions of Qi City’s jurisdiction.

They held a specially-made life detection equipment in their hands that could detect the presence of giant rats within a 10-meter-sphere underground. Such technology would have been unimaginable before this.

Mo Xing stood in the Special Affairs Department’s Information Command Centre, as he solemnly gazed at the screen in front of him. The leaders of various organizations in Qi City stood by him, their faces mirroring his.

As red indicators representing the giant rats appeared gradually throughout Qi City’s sections, the digital map that represented Qi City was slowly dyed red.

Everybody that watched felt their hearts grow heavier.

Finally, a leader voiced out his concern, “What are there so many of them? What do they eat to survive? We didn’t hear any reports of food being stolen in bulk.”

Mo Xing faintly said, “These giant rats eat anything and everything. Their digestive system is extremely strong. The sewer systems have been dug through by them because they wanted access to the slop and food waste from restaurants. Holes leading to the underground have been found near not only major waste management sites and small rubbish collection spots, but even near rubbish bins by the side of roads. Tons of organic waste have been stolen daily.

Our city has a population of eight million, from this, the daily food waste produced would be enough to feed a city of two million, so I’m sure feeding eight million giant rats wouldn’t be a problem. You could actually say that they’re the best janitors.”

Hearing these figures, the leaders’ faces paled; they knew clearly that if these giant rats were to escape one day, the eight million citizens of Qi City wouldn’t be able to cope unless they armed the entire city. What would happen to the city’s productivity? The economy?

Somebody then asked, “Then how do we deal with them? We’ve asked the higher-ups and they said that the other cities have the same problem. They had no choice but to rely on their own Special Affairs Department and the local organizations. The higher-ups haven’t come up with a good method to deal with them yet, so they can only temporarily command the local garrison for support. I’ve also heard good news however. Apparently there aren’t as much of them in the rural farms, at least not enough to seriously affect the farming industry.”

Mo Xing coldly said, “That isn’t good news at all. That means they’re as smart as a human. Why do you think they’re only appearing underneath cities? It’s simple, really. Because they’re appearing in places with a concentrated human population, who would dare use militarized ways against them? Be it chemical weapons or a biological virus, who would dare take responsibility for the possible spreading to countless citizens? As to why they’re ignoring the farming industry, the reason could be far worse.”

Mo Xing didn’t want to speak anymore and so he glanced at the Deputy Director Liu to continue in his stead.

“That’s probably because they’re thinking of expanding their colonies. Since they are in need of expansion, they cannot look away from stable food sources. On this earth, only us humans can produce mass amounts of food. However, a lot of cities produce tons of food wastage, which to them, is delicacy.”

A leader spoke up, “It’s no wonder why we haven’t heard of reports where these giant rats attacked humans. Turns out they’re depending on us for food. That’s at least some fortune during unfortunate times.”

“However, what if the day where they learn how to plant food arrives? When that time comes, what reason do they have to keep us on this planet?”