Seized by the System

After releasing the mission, Fang Ning browsed through the comment section of the follow-up post.

There were people of all colors and races. Following the integration process of all humankind and the residential centralization of all populations, the forums had also become international in nature.

An English reply caught Fang Ning’s attention, and allowed him to understand how this incident could happen under such a strict management system.

“In the past, back in our place, as long as we had the money to afford a lawyer, we’d be able to get them back when our personal rights were infringed on. Now, however, this incident has told us that you must be a member of the cultivators for your legal rights to be guaranteed…” The reply came from a person with the username “Max”.

“So that’s how it is,” he said in realization. “It seems like these top cultivators are hoping to use this incident to alert the public that only by cultivating diligently can they have a way out in the future.”

As Fang Ning reached this point, he paused for a moment before shaking his head and saying, “However, they’re wrong. The correct development direction of human civilization is to move toward justice and fairness in order to allow the world to be filled with justice and love, and not to let the world return to the age of savagery. If they’re aiming to stimulate motivation among the people to practice cultivation by using such unfair methods, they may bring harm to the foundation of the development of civilization, causing civilization to stray off the right course.”

“Too long. I’m not listening…” Sir System suddenly said.

“I’m not talking to you,” Fang Ning scoffed.

He spoke while looking at the mission module on the Heavenly Book.

“The Alliance of Justice and Order serial number AB33443 has accepted the mission. According to preliminary judgment, the mission acceptor only has a 13% probability of completing the mission, and has failed the examination. The person is not allowed to execute the mission. Serial number AB23434 chose to accept the mission…”

When Fang Ning saw this, he asked curiously, “Heavenly Book baby, how is your judgment mechanism carried out?”

“Oh, Master, it’s like this,” his Heavenly Book baby replied without missing a beat. “I’ll firstly judge the danger level of the mission. For example, for this mission, the place of execution is in a human region, so its danger level is low. Then, I’ll determine the executor’s power level as well as the person’s past mission completion rate and quality evaluation in all aspects. Afterward, I’ll use a complex set of algorithms to give a probability estimation.”

Fang Ning, as an experienced programmer, could perfectly understand all of this. Thus, he listened with keen interest, and was able to quickly identify some of the potential issues with it.

“Do you allow multiple individuals to accept the mission at the same time? If it’s allowed, then how do you judge who completed the mission in the end? If it’s not allowed, won’t it lead to a lower efficiency in completing the mission?” he kept on asking.

“Of course I allowed multiple individuals to accept the mission at the same time. I will create a chatroom for them to allow these people to negotiate among themselves, and then form an ad hoc team to complete the mission. It’ll be somewhat difficult to explain this, so let me give Master a demonstration instead,” his Heavenly Book baby said considerately.

“What are you two discussing? Can you speak in a language I can understand? What algorithm and probability? Do they mean anything?” Sir System said grumpily.

“A simpler language for this doesn’t exist. If you don’t understand, you should learn more about it.”

Then, Fang Ning saw an image appear on a page of the Heavenly Book.

The image showed a room with many avatars in it, seeming just like a small-scale meeting room.

“The person with the highest probability of completing the mission will automatically become the host of the meeting, and will be in charge of making all coordinations and arrangements for this mission. If the mission is completed, this person will receive additional Justice Points. In this room, the avatar with a crown will be the host for this mission.”

Fang Ning nodded, and saw the crowned avatar starting to speak. Its name was “Maxwell”.

It might have been a real name, but Fang Ning was leaning toward the possibility of it being a codename. After all, this was the real name of a renowned physicist. However, he did not feel like asking his baby to determine its authenticity.

“Maxwell”: “My mission completion probability is estimated to be at 92%. For those within a 10 percentage-point difference to mine, please raise your hand.”

In the room, there was a total of more than a hundred people who had all passed the examination, and had higher probabilities of completing the mission.

Nonetheless, in terms of those who could come close to “Maxwell”, there were only three people who had their hands raised in the end.

“Archangel Gabriel”: “My mission completion probability is at 87%. That should be okay, right?”

When Fang Ning saw this name, he immediately knew for sure that the names of the people in this room were all codenames instead of their real names.

“Einstein”: “Mine is at 89%.”

“Li Daoyuan”: “82%.”

“Maxwell”: “Very well, then the four of us will form a temporary leadership team. I’d like to ask, is there any lone rangers in this room? Please raise your hand.”

An avatar raised its hand.

“Robin Hood”: “I’d like to complete the mission on my own. I have my own ways. Mission completion probability 77%.”

“Maxwell”: “Following our usual rules, since your probability isn’t above ours, then you can only complete it after our team fails the mission for the first time. Do you accept this rule? If you don’t, then you’ll have to challenge our team. The losing party will pay one hundred Justice Points. If you win, you can go ahead and complete the mission first.”

“I choose to challenge.” Robin Hood seemed very confident of himself.

At this point, Fang Ning had understood the entire process, and instantly felt relieved.

“As expected, there’s no end to the creativity and adaptability of humans. By just giving them a platform, they’ll be able to figure out among themselves how to make up for its imperfections as long as the person managing the platform can maintain a fair baseline system.”

“Yes, Master, these rules were laid down by them while I’m just providing them with the corresponding services. Of course, these services have to be redeemed using Justice Points, thereby forming a currency cycle within the platform,” the Heavenly Book baby said, sounding proud of itself.

“Hmm, not bad. Baby, you’ve improved a lot. You have a brilliant future ahead of you.”

“Thank you, Master, for your compliment.”

Sir System, who was watching from aside, was filled with jealousy. “How hateful. All these resources are obviously mine. Why am I the one to be sidelined?”

“If I let you take over, will you understand what’s going on?” Fang Ning scorned.

“No,” Sir System admitted.

Fang Ning proceeded to watch the process of the challenge.

The whole challenge was divided into two simple parts —”Power Challenge” and “Wisdom Challenge”.

For “Power Challenge”, “Robin Hood” would challenge the whole team.

For “Wisdom Challenge”, the entire team would challenge “Robin Hood”…

Was it unfair?

This was reality.

Fang Ning understood this very well. When Robin Hood decided to independently complete the mission, he already had to accept this type of unfairness.

The content of the first challenge was to have both parties compare the difference in their power levels.

The content of the second challenge was to have both parties each submit a proposed solution to the matter at hand, and the platform would decide which party had the higher completion probability.

Sure enough, the lone ranger “Robin Hood” lost both challenges.

‘It appears you have failed. Would you like to join our team, or choose to withdraw?” Maxwell said amiably.

Fang Ning nodded repeatedly as he observed this. All kinds of communication should start on a friendly note, and this was the type of attitude the Alliance of Justice and Order should possess.

Of course, he also knew that friendliness had to be supported with wisdom. If not, one would easily be used by the wicked, and would face unnecessary losses.

“I’m sorry. It seems like my wisdom and courage are still very much lacking. I’ve decided to continue honing my skills first,” Robin Hood said tactfully.

Maxwell: “Alright. I look forward to working with you next time.”

The total number of people in the room decreased by 1.

“Okay, now let’s discuss our specific method of completion. The simulated challenge just now is only to be taken as a reference,” Maxwell said in the same friendly manner.

The people were discussing the matter earnestly, and while there were occasionally some intense disagreements, they were nothing personal. The overall atmosphere was indeed harmonious.

The early stages of the preparation process for the entire mission had turned out very much to Fang Ning’s satisfaction. With this platform that was operating on a Justice Points exchange system, it seemed like he was on the right track.

He believed that, even if he did not intervene personally, this mission could certainly be accomplished.

These members represented the brightest few among all of humankind. They were the true backbone of humanity.

As for those who frequently said that “humans are foolish, greedy, shameless, and cruel”, it would be acceptable if these descriptions were only used with regard to a certain group of people, but if these words were used to describe humanity as a whole, that should be considered slanderous.

It had been mentioned in the “Song of Integrity” that “during the State of Qi it was the official historian’s bamboo slats, during the State of Jin it was Dong Hu’s pen, during the Qin Dynasty it was Zhang Liang’s hammer, during the Han Dynasty it was Su Wu’s ambassadorial staff, it was General Yan’s head, it was Imperial Attendant Ji’s blood, it was Zhang’s teeth at Sui Yang, it was Yan’s tongue at Chang Shan…” ¹

These words referred to these members.

Meanwhile, he and Sir System were the strong backing behind them.