Seized by the System

At the countryside of Kiev, there was a mansion with a courtyard full of Dahurian larch trees.

In the dark basement, an altar, featuring a wolf head and human body, was erected.

A white woman with white dress sat beside the altar with a black cat on her lap and scrolled on her phone for news.

“The Eastern Hero. The new era’s Pharos. Vigilante A was such a hardworking man. He dominated the news for a straight 24 hours, there are even bards singing praises about him.” Maggie put down her phone with a tinge of jealousy and envy flashing through her face. She asked, “Tom, are you sure you no longer need me to go with you?”

The black cat stretched and nuzzled in Maggie’s lap as it readjusted into a more comfortable posture.

It said, “Yes Maggie, Lord Death was happy with the sacrifices we provided. Vigilante A killed the Russian totem Spirit Bear twice alongside with more than two thousand Extraordinaires with power levels of at least Bucket-level, bringing it an ample amount of Death Energy to fortify its Divine Power with.

“It gifted me with a skill that only exists in myths, Death’s Shadow Disguise. Vigilante A will never be able to detect me with that. Too bad he’s moving around too quickly, sometimes here, sometimes there. If we could do it like we did before and determine his destination before he acted on it, we would be able to make the necessary preparation to utilize his massacre. If we could make it so that I would be wherever he appears, he could be Death’s prime hunter.”

Maggie nodded in agreement and soon asked in puzzlement, “Death could accrue power through all deaths, the stronger a person is when he dies, the stronger the energy Death will receive. Similarly, Vigilante A had been accruing his power with battles. I don’t believe he was the kind who was completely impartial to anything, or he wouldn’t have fought power with more power. Many powerhouses were guessing he was cultivating some sort of Killing-Intent- or Death-based martial arts. What do you think, Tom?”

Tom smirked. “Those are idiots. When talking about the nature of powers, I can see through it because I converse with Death. What Vigilante A is cultivating is not Death-based or Killing-Intent-based. He was cultivating the Path of Heavenly Punishment. His source of power is called Heavenly Axiom in the East, and the Will of Nature here in the West.

“So long as he punishes sinning and eradicates injustice, the new Heavenly Axiom, or the awakening of the Will of Nature, will grant him power appropriately. It was why he was so obsessed with upholding justice and increasing power. He will soon arrive at the top of the current world’s power cap. Isn’t he already at the peak of the Lake-level now according to his Dragon Clan’s rating system?”

Maggie was enlightened and said with even more envy in her voice, “No wonder no evil could escape his sight. The Will of Nature is helping him. Doesn’t that mean that he’s the incarnation of Justice, an agent of God? This is more valuable than Death that we worship.

“What’s more is that he could enjoy the worship and respect of other people without having to hide. Unlike us, we need to wear a layer of deception and call ourselves the keeper of balance in the world’s powers but spread chaos and death in reality. I’m a little tired pretending that to be the case, to be honest. There are plenty of smart people who could see through our intention, it’s just that no one pointed it out yet.”

Tom frowned. Things had never turned out for the best for it.

Many organizations had changed their objectives again and again as time went by. Even someone as wise as it could feel the inner instability of the Power Balance Association from the change of this president’s heart.

Maggie was a strong woman with tendencies to be vain, ungenuine, and materialistic enough to want all things classy and flamboyant, which was why it had let her take the presidency of the organization.

The words she had uttered just a moment before was her true personality. She had always wanted to stand on the stage so people could cheer for her, much like Joan of Arc or Queen Elizabeth II.

It had realized this problem much earlier, however it did not have a solid plan to solve it. It managed to come up with a new idea recently, but it was just a rough draft.

It comforted her. “Maggie, the things we do are greater than that, it’s just that people didn’t know. We are the ones who carried the burdens that people don’t know about, we are the unsung hero, like Yu Wentuo from a certain Chinese game ¹ … Only by helping the lawful Lord Death grow can he maintain the balance of the world’s order and prevent the world from being destroyed by the chaotic demons because they feel like it.”

Maggie nodded, her face glowing with a saintly radiance.

Seeing that, Tom continued, “Like the snake demon in Japan that spreads fear. It had gone ballistic ever since it was born, eating the men of an entire nation, forcing people to worship it in fear. Its followers, the Snake-worshiping Brigade, looked for us and tried to collaborate, but we refused them, didn’t we? We are not chaotic, evil beings like them.

Hearing the name, disgust briefly appeared on Maggie’s face. “Those filthy things only knew to spread fear and make people die in extreme terror. That is such a desecration of the Divine Death…”

Following that, her face showed a hint of total immersion. “Only by fighting to the death on the battlefield can the males show their most noble, shiny masculinity, that their lives are not wasted. The entire existence of males is to culminate into the moment they died on the battlefield!”

Black cat Tom shuddered. It was a male cat as well, but it would not want to show off the nobleness and shininess of its masculinity…

…

Japan.

“I’m hungry, so hungry, so, so hungry,

roast chicken and roast duck,

Ramen and huge prawns.

All the good food in the world,

present to me now,

present to me.”

The great green insect sang as it flew, chasing enthusiastically at the head bobbing in and out of the fog. Three women followed behind it, seemingly helpless to the situation.

With someone who liked changing other people’s lyrics, the mysterious fog did not seem scary at all…

The three could even see the head that appeared from time to time in front of them. Every time it turned back, its face was twitching, as if saying ‘Where did this weirdo come from?’

The creatures were whispering in the fog yet again.

“Is this insect an idiot? Other people would only shudder in horror! It was still in the mood to sing?”

“Hmph, it must be an idiot. Wait till the Snake God appear, it will be scared shitless!”

The four ran for a long time until a cone-shaped mountain appeared before them that the head disappeared.

Seeing that, Ma Da yelped. “Isn’t this the famous Japanese volcano? We ran all the way here!”

Lu Er took a glance and felt it was familiar. Even though it was covered in fog, it was easily recognizable.

She asked curiously, “Ma Da, how did you know this place so well?”

Ma Da looked at Zhu Hongying and shot Lu Er a glance. “I heard it from a friend, he’d been here for holidays before.”

“Your shady friends?” Zhu Hongying glared at Ma Da, who just smiled.

After a while, they saw the volcano shake while fire and smoke rose from its peak.

Ma Da said immediately, “Lord Insect Prime, I think it’s dangerous here, it must be a trap. It’s too obvious, that mysterious head led us here with a purpose.”

The great green insect scanned around and nodded. “Oh, you’re right, Ma Da. It really is a huge pitfall trap. But don’t worry, I won’t fall.”

Ma Da was relieved hearing that. “That’s good.”

The great green insect cackled as it put its hands on its waist. “I can fly! I can fly high and fast!”

Poof. Ma Da immediately spat blood. She should have thought about it. Elder Gui Er had warned them time after time that Lord Insect Prime was not very tactful. Before sending it to the battlefield, proper planning must be arranged.

“Hey, Ma Da, why are you spitting blood? Elder Gui Er said that if a fight was breaking out, I shall listen to Guardian Zhu first, you second, and ask Lu Er to lure the enemy away if needed as he could run fast…” asked the great green insect with concern.

Lu Er spat blood. ‘Why is it like this?

‘I was confident in my speed last year and had been very pretentious about it before Vigilante A gave me a mouthful and four months of re-education.

‘I’ve been much more humble since then, but why would I be targeted by Elder Gui Er once more?’

The great green insect was not that slow. It soon realized. “Oh right, Lu Er and you can’t fly, and Guardian Zhu couldn’t fly fast. You three can stay far away to avoid falling in. I will scout out the place.”

Ma Da was really moved by the offer. ‘Lord Insect Prime is not one of those heartless CEOs, after all.’ He said, “Lord Insect Prime, what I meant by ‘trap’ is not the usual kind. It’s a manner of speech meaning the enemies might be hiding around here preparing an ambush. There might be some really scary things.”

The great green insect laughed and said, “Oh, that’s what you mean. Don’t worry then. In my eyes, there is nothing scary in this world. All things fall under two categories for me.”

Ma Da was completely reassured by then. Lord Insect Prime was born of the Celestial Clan with immeasurable power, even Bodhisattva was impressed by it.

He asked, “Which two?”

The great green insect said, “Edible and inedible.”

At that instant, a weird and horror-inducing voice rang. “Is that so? Tell me, am I edible?”

An extremely long snake torso appeared on the peak of the volcano. It looked to be about several thousand meters long with its head as large as the largest truck, its gaze as cold as ice.

In the next moment, it dangled in front of the three women and an insect, staring at them.

Both Ma Da’s and Lu Er’s legs wobbled in weakness. They had never seen terrifying creatures like that in their lives!

They had seen the green dragon, but the green dragon was so saintly and powerful that the sight of him invoked respect. Unlike this snake, who only exuded a sense of a picky eater.

Zhu Hongying could still hold herself. After all, she had seen plenty of hair-raising scenes herself.

She stepped in front of the other two and aimed her spear at the snake head.

The great green insect was not scared at all. It flew in front of the snake and sized it up before its eyes sparkled and followed by confusion. It asked, “You speak! I have to ask someone if I can eat you.”

As it spoke, it took its phone out as if no one was watching and opened up the Wechat thread to Vigilante A. It started typing with five of its limbs.

…

Vigilante A was vanquishing demons in a country southwest to China as a group of paparazzi with guts of steel took pictures.

Fang Ning, on the other hand, was sneakily browsing the internet in the System Cyber Cafe…

He received a Wechat message from Chong Daqing.

Eating While Singing wrote, “Great Green Dragon, I saw a huge snake several thousand meters long, it speaks, can I eat it?”

Fang Ning gave it a thought, ‘Sir System did that a lot too, right?

‘There was the King Cobra Shaz, and then there’s the four-headed snake monster…

So he began typing, “As long as it’s not humanoid and is a confirmed bad guy, you can eat it after taking off its head and tail.”

He was about to hit “enter” when the System Notification popped up. [You have been disconnected to the internet.]

Fang Ning rolled his eyes and immediately knew who was behind that. He said, “What are you doing? I’m doing proper work…”

The System said, “You were browsing the internet… I don’t care. Tell it that it’s hard to determine… Make it wait a few minutes, I will be there myself.”

Vigilante A had already turned around and flew toward a darkened area on the System Map. A large green spot was in the midst of black, indicating that was the location of the great green insect…

Fang Ning understood its intention immediately. “You’re too shameless. It is just a ten-year-old kid, and you want to take its food away?”

The System said, “I’m younger than it. Technically I’m less than one year old.”

Fang Ning was speechless.

After a while, he said helplessly, “Let’s compromise. Sir, what you need the most was still the experience. You can kill it, but leave the food for Daqing. It has a huge appetite, and it eats very often, unlike us. It’s one of our strong allies, so you should maintain this relationship. If you wouldn’t give even a little incentive like that, you’d have no friends.”

The System said, “If that’s the case, alright. If it doesn’t work, I’ll buy the snake off of Daqing.”

…

Under the volcano, a crowd of creepy men gathered beside the ice-cold snake head in the fog. Their silhouettes were ethereal, sometimes human-like, sometimes not. It was as if they were wraiths with distorted faces.

“You want to eat our Snake God? Know your place!”

“You shall know the meaning of fear soon… tsk tsk.”

“Hmph, if you weren’t girls, Snake God would have already swallowed you!”

The great green insect kept its three underlings behind it and glared at them with a pair of its eyes. “You inedible creatures, who are you trying to scare! If it weren’t for me waiting for Great Green Dragon’s reply, I’d have swallowed your snake god all at once! Hmph, this long worm is not scary to me, I am a master of disguise!”