Seized by the System

Upon hearing that, the grey sparrow turned to look, and saw an extraordinarily attractive person not far away from it.

Based on its memory, according to humans’ evaluation standard, this person’s appearance was undoubtedly number one.

He had extremely fair skin, regular features, brows as sharp as a sword, and eyes as dazzling as stars…these were all the adjectives it could think of. All in all, he was good-looking, and was probably a good person.

Therefore, it did not fly away but instead, flew straight towards that person.

If he was a good person and an adult, it meant that he would possibly feed it. If he was just a handsome child, it would be better for it to avoid it… This was its experience from living among humans.

Fang Ning was flustered. Earlier on, he had casually said something to fool it but it seemed like this sparrow understood him as it was flying towards him without fear.

‘What a brave sparrow, don’t people always say that sparrows are naturally timid? Looks like this one is out of the ordinary, it’s very likely that it has become a sprite’

Before he could figure it out, he saw that the sparrow had already arrived in front of it, and began calling out to him.

“Ji ji ji, zha zha zha, ji ji zha zha…”

Fang Ning was instantly speechless, he quickly sought help. “Sir, can you translate it?”

“Oh, it’s saying, it has legs but not hands, it can’t plant fruits. Only by stealing readymade ones, it was able to sustain its life. It’s asking us to pity it, and to give it some food…” The System actually translated it for him.

“Uh, you actually understood it? This isn’t one of those Morse codes, is it?” Fang Ning was shocked.

“It’s not a code, I don’t understand it too but I can learn from you.” The System replied firmly.

“What can you learn from me?” Fang Ning was very puzzled.

“Throwing off responsibilities. The sinners in Draconic Penitentiary possess all kinds of talents, and various superpowers. I asked Anderson to look for one who understands bird language, and there’s actually one…” The System explained proudly.

“You’ve become smarter indeed.” When Fang Ning heard what it said, it instantly felt a heavy pressure being loaded on him.

Now, the System had even learned his best ability, would he really need to… Remain idle for the rest of his days?

Fang Ning put his worry aside, then turned to say to the sparrow kindly, “A wise man once said that everybody is born to be good at something, don’t belittle yourself. Although you have no hands, and you can’t plant seeds, you can still exchange your labor for food.”

Upon hearing him, the big grey sparrow kept turning its eyes, and expressed a confused expression. Followed by that, it chirped again, “Ji ji zha, ji zha zha, ji ji zha zha…”

“It is saying, what’s the fruit of ‘labor’?” The System automatically translated it for him.

Fang Ning was not surprised at all. For these living beings that had just gained sapience, the concept of “labor” did not exist. This used to be an exclusive thing for humans.

Nonetheless, he was right that this grey sparrow had gained sapience, and could understand human language even though it could not speak it. One thing for sure, it did not live in the wild, and was probably living around humans.

At once, Fang Ning responded seriously, “Labor is not a fruit but labor can bring you fruits. For example, though you’re a bird with legs but not hands, you have a beak…”

He could not be bothered to listen to the sparrow’s exotic replies, thus he began giving a long speech.

“Just like your own species, the woodpecker. It relies on its beak to capture insects as its food. On one hand, it can help trees with pest issues, and on the other hand, it acquires food for itself. This is “labor”. Only by labor, you can achieve a win-win situation.” Fang Ning expressed.

After the sparrow listened, it instantly flew up and down, and looked extremely agitated. “Ji ji zha, ji zha ji, ji ji zha zha…” It kept going on and on.

“What is it saying again?” Fang Ning felt helpless, he really could not understand this real “bird language”.

“It is saying, if that’s the case, we’ve labored too. Although we’ve eaten herb seeds, we often capture insects for those herbs…especially me, I’m the best at catching insects, and I can find even the tiniest insects that hide very well. The only thing is that my beak is not long enough, so if the insects hide into the poles for the herbs, I can’t get them out. That’s why I’m saying, quickly make these people remove those annoying sheds and nets, we want to exchange our labor for fruits…”

‘Best at catching insects?’ Fang Ning did not care much about what the big grey sparrow said after that, as a bolt of lightning flashed past his mind.

He wondered, ‘All things in the world reinforce and restrain one another.’

As he stared at this big grey sparrow that had an ordinary appearance but was exceptionally fat, an idea sparked in his mind.

He said slowly to the System, “I have an instinct that the key to solving that detestable Brain-Devouring Insect is with…”

“This fat sparrow?” The System continued his sentence calmly.

“Not so simple!” Fang Ning was at a loss for words. “It’s the woodpecker that I was talking about. Actually, Chong Daqing is that parasite’s nemesis. However, since it used to be a human, it won’t eat that dirty thing that drilled through humans’ brains, which gave that parasite a chance of survival, and it continues to commit evil deeds. We have to look for a woodpecker demon with overbearing talents to restrain this Brain-Devouring Parasite.

“Oh, I see. What should we do? I don’t know of any woodpeckers. The System Map shows them but it can’t identify which ones have talents, and which ones don’t.”

“Even if you don’t know any, somebody will.” Fang Ning rejoined pretentiously.

“Can you make it clearer for me to understand? It’s just the both of us now, do you have to act like that?” The System was dissatisfied.

“I must pretend. If I don’t, how can I let you know who’s the boss here? Authority must be set up all the time.” Fang Ning uttered proudly.

“…” The System was dumbstruck.

Nevertheless, before looking for that person, they must settle this trivial matter now. The System would not just leave its industry under nobody’s care.

Therefore, Fang Ning brought this big grey sparrow to meet Mountain Rat King.

“Greetings, master.” The grey mountain rat bowed and held a fist salute.

Fang Ning nodded to signal it that there was no need for the politeness.

The grey sparrow was envious as it looked at the scene. Right away, it lifted its wings up to see, and felt discontented as the mountain rat had hands, which meant that it would certainly be easier for it to steal food…

“Mmm, this is the leader of that group of sparrows. I’ve made a promise with it, they won’t eat the herb seed from now on, instead, they’ll capture insects, and look after the herbs. When the herbs are harvested, we’ll give them some as the fruits of their labors.” Fang Ning instructed.

“I understand, master.” The grey Mountain Rat King glanced at the big grey sparrow, and noticed that they had similar colors. In that case, if they were to transform in the future, they would probably be the same kind of demon…

All of a sudden, it no longer rejected this grey sparrow that had tired its whole family out for many days, it began looking at it with friendly looks.

After resolving this small incident, Fang Ning brought the System somewhere else.

…

The Underground Greater Rat Kingdom.

In Bai Shixin’s office, an uninvited guest showed up.

This subconsciously made him feel a little tense but he was not feeling too fearful.

That was because he had found bigger support before this, or else, there was only one path for him to flee now, and whether he could escape or not, it would be another issue.

“Venerable Dragon God, long time no see, how have you been?” He straightened his body from the pile of documents he was in, and he quickly greeted. It was just like he had met an old friend, not a former assassination target.

“Everything is well. I’m here today as I need help from the Demon Alliance to look for somebody, of course, I won’t make you help for nothing in return.” Fang Ning stated his purpose of visit.

“Venerable One, look what you’re saying. You’ve always placed justice before everything, you must be looking for someone to eradicate evil, how can we ask for any reward?”

“That’ll be the best.” The System seized the body all of a sudden, then added, “I need a woodpecker demon that’s very good at catching insects, quickly find one for me.”

“Mmm, that’s possible.”

As expected, Fang Ning looked for the right person, Bai Shixin agreed right away after hearing their request.

Ever since the Demon Alliance was established, they had been working on calculating and registering all demons in the world.

Comparing the brain’s degree of evolution of birds and of mammals, they were approximately the same. Although they were still far from being on par with humans which were beings that existed in defiance of nature, their possibilities of transforming into demons allowed them to crush most of the ordinary living creatures.

Hence, among the myriad of demons, bird transformers could be found everywhere. For example, the group of eagles was the leader of all birds…

Bai Shixin had another thought.

‘If he’s looking for a woodpecker demon, his best shot is not me, it’s the Divine Eagle Clan.

‘The Sky Eagle who is the disciple of the River God of the Sky River, isn’t that his capable follower?

‘Looks like he’s purposely paying me a visit.

‘He’s trying to irritate me, and I must serve him carefully. Or else, if I follow after Zheng Tu’s ¹ footsteps, I’ll suffer misfortune.

‘If that happens, I’ll have to surrender my throne which I have acquired after all the hard work.

‘This is how the cultivation world works. Whether you’re a king or an emperor, if you don’t serve the unequaled powerhouse well, you’ll have to step down any time.

‘Of course, there are pros and cons. If you provide good service to an unequaled powerhouse, even if the dynasty were to encounter a huge calamity, you’ll be able to gain help to solve the problem easily.’

Once Bai Shixin was done with his thoughts, he immediately made a call through the intercom to make arrangements.

Upon seeing that, Vigilante A nodded. He did not leave, and he just waited on the couch.

“This is an urgent matter, I’ll just meditate here while waiting.” The System was not ashamed at all, it shut its eyes right after that, and began conducting its powers.

When Bai Shixin saw that, he worked even quicker as he dared not slow down, it was as if an image of Officer Lu ² appeared in front of him.

Subsequently, he gave strict orders to his followers to send the related intelligence over, and instructed that it must be accurate information.

“Eh, this fellow is quite credible. If he dares to reject this, I even planned to ask you to give him a good lecture. Know that he used to launch a surprise attack on us, though you can’t farm him now since he has turned good, you can still cheat, Mr. Rich Boss.” The System had a complicated tone when it said this, and there was a hint of regret in its voice.

On the other hand, Fang Ning had truly forgotten about this. After all, he was not the one who suffered losses, thus he did not remember it.

He thought about looking for Bai Shixin purely because previously, the System had followed the little grey ant here to steal the odd book…

Oh no, it was when they were picking up the odd book, it was also when he ascended the throne as king.

Needless to say, a king could naturally transfer many resources. Besides, he also happened to be the person in charge of the Demon Alliance.

If he wanted to look for a bird demon, who else should he look for if not him?

Therefore, he had no intentions of seeking trouble, it was the System who had that thought.

A wise man was a wise man. If one thought too much, one could still hit a few targets.