Seized by the System

In June, the weather warmed up significantly. Fang Ning did not feel it, but habitually, he was a little impatient.

On that day, he cultivated for a while before he was bored out of his mind, so he snuck into the Draconic Arcane Realm.

Naturally, he arrived at the completed third floor, the remaining two floors were still in construction as faint sounds of machines clinked and clanged from below.

The first meeting of the Alliance had been held on the third floor where Fang Ning stood.

At this point, the area was filled with an entire plain of green grass and rows of trees. Seeing it filled Fang Ning’s heart with tranquility.

Something was missing. There were no inhabitants. The whole land was full of nothingness, and a certain black aura surrounded some trees. Fang Ning made a note to ask Anderson about that.

A few spirits swooped in and out of the woods, seeming watering the trees.

To look more badass than he was, Fang Ning had made the inmates build a hill and replanted a plethora of fruit trees. They even dug a temporary river.

Because of that, the construction on the other floors was put on hold, allowing all the inmates in the Draconic Penitentiary a well-earned rest…

The spirits all have their own work to do. Some were in charge of playing games and were assigned to earn money for Fang Ning in the game Battle of the Beasts. Those who cannot play the game were tasked to build the floors below.

There were only two who did not have work—the two square-necked spirits in the isolation cells.

One of them was a loyal believer of the three gods of India, Maram, the other was the seventh envoy of Brahma, the four-headed snake monster.

However, they were not spared from being exploited. They were shouldering the heavy duty of refilling the Aggro Bar…

Whenever a battle happens, that was the time they were put to work.

Anderson was coordinating the construction work when they felt the warden’s arrival. They approached him immediately.

“Sir, the construction progress was good. According to my estimation, we would be finished by the end of the year.”

Fang Ning nodded in satisfaction. He looked around and said regretfully, “Good. It’s just that the entire land was so empty and no one was planting anything. Looks like it’s going to be empty for at least half a year.”

Anderson was slightly wearied at the sound of that. “Most spirits are now tasked with their own jobs so I could only pick out three spirits to do some daily maintenance. Asking them to fill this large area with crops would be a tall order, as it’s one whole square kilometer wide, about 1,500 mus of land in total.

“Besides, it’s different from the ones working below. Spirits, on their own, carry too much Yin ¹ Energy. If we employ them in the planting of vitality crops, it’s advised to plant some of the Yin-type crops, or they may affect those crops. Some of the fruit trees had already started to be corrupted.”

Fang Ning only understood then the appearance of the black aura on certain trees.

If that was the case, spirits were, in fact, not the best choice to handle crops due to the immense amount of Yin Energy they carry.

However, as Anderson had said, Yin-type plants would benefit greatly from them.

However, this third level was planned to be a residential area, so how could it be made into a gloomy place? Fang Ning would not have been happy about that.

He was in deep thoughts for a little while. “Looks like I have to hire some living beings to do work in here. Alright then, make yourself busy, I shall think of a solution myself.:

Anderson returned to their work.

Fang Ning could not have appointed Anderson to handle that. They could not appear outside the System Prison, after all.

He returned to the System Space.

The System called out, “Mr. Billionaire, you are being lazy again…”

Fang Ning retorted indignantly, “How could you call this being lazy? Didn’t you see that I was brainstorming? Let me ask you, mold has started to grow on the Ginseng Sprite you stole from the Land of Heritage, isn’t it?”

The System said, “It’s impossible that it would mold, not now, not in a lifetime. My Preservation Area is so good that it still looked as fresh as it was when it was stored.”

Fang Ning was unsatisfied. “How could you talk back like that? The third floor of the Draconic Arcane Realm is finished, so it should be taken out to be planted. Isn’t it a shame to just leave the place empty?”

The System quipped, “I heard your conversation with Anderson. Who do you want to hire to plant it? Do you want to ask your father-in-law to plant it? They are allies and run a plantation farm, so it’s safe and professional.”

Fang Ning rolled his eyes and said, “You always give ideas that would never work. He’s a big boss who earned several hundred thousand per minute, I can’t hire him to plant for me…”

An idea popped into his brain just as he said that.

“Oh right, how could I forget those Whitestone people? I should’ve thought of hiring them in the first place. They are a bunch of honest people who like to plant things.”

The System said, “You mean those squareheads? Indeed, they are perfect for this. They can work hard, are honest, trustworthy, and are basically perfect employees.”

Fang Ning nodded this time. “You’re right this time. That’s set, I want them, I’ll ask Zheng Dao to recruit them immediately.”

…

Returning to the farmhouse, Fang Ning looked for Zheng Dao to tell him the plan. However, Zheng Dao seemed really hesitant about agreeing to the idea.

He explained, “Venerable One, I should tell you this. I have been paying close attention to the Whitestone people.”

Fang Ning nodded. ‘He’s really a good butler. He knew I value them based on my attention on them the last time, so he had been following them closely…

‘Looks like I can play hard. If those Whitestone people are problematic, he would be the first one to report to me.

‘Speaking of which, I’ve not read the reports for two weeks. Ah, I’ll do it next week.’

Zheng Dao followed, “Two major forces had already approached them, including Ren Ruofeng from the Truth Department and Elder Ancestor Bai, none of them had gotten any result.”

The System interrupted and commented, “That’s too bad. That rat’s stealth skills have improved, I see. The map was already revealed, but I did not see any big red dots on it.”

Fang Ning suppressed himself, “Shush, Sir System, I’m busy with work.”

Zheng Dao did not know what the Venerable Dragon God was thinking, so he continued reporting. “I’ve asked around for a bit and found out that the Whitestone people asked for three things before anyone could recruit them.”

“Which three?” Fang Ning’s interest was piqued. Just because other people could not fulfill the conditions, it does not mean that he could not.

“It had to do with leading by example and be honest to their friends, partners, and the society,” stated Zheng Dao slowly.

Fang Ning gave it a thought and immediately became dispirited. Based on the many disguises he had donned to trick others, he could not say sincerely that he had been honest even though he had no malicious intent and only used those lies to protect himself.

Following that, he became interested again and asked, “Hey, if that’s the case, you should have no problem, do you?”

Zheng Dao smiled bitterly and said, “I could be honest with friends, and I can manage to be honest and faithful to my partner, but being honest to the society is hard. I am holding your many information as well as managing a number of tasks for you. Many a time, I would need to lie in order to cover up key information, so I can’t be completely honest with the society.”

Fang Ning understood immediately. Isn’t it so? Even the words ‘made by the Dragon Clan’ on the webshop Zheng Dao was managing was a serious violation of that.

Of course, Zheng Dao did not know this.

Fang Ning almost said, “Looks like we can only pass this opportunity,” but he could not. That was too out-of-character for Vigilante A.

He struck a pose that expressed his understanding and said, “Hm, looks like only I can handle this.”

Zheng Dao slandered up to him, saying, “You have always been honorable and sincere, you would definitely succeed.”

He was also very fond of the Whitestone people. Befriending them would prove to be very easy, as he did not have to worry about backstabbing.

Fang Ning waved his hand, signaling Zheng Dao to continue his work and began to feel sorry for himself.

‘I’ve definitely dug a hole for myself…’

In the System Space, Fang Ning sighed. “I’m finished, what can I do now? If I couldn’t recruit the Whitestone people, everyone else would think that Vigilante A was also a fameseeker and not an honest person.”

The System said as if it felt being slighted, “This is easy. As long as I am the one talking, we would succeed.”

Fang Ning did not believe it. “You’ve lied to me plenty of times. If I didn’t expose your lies, you wouldn’t have admitted to it. How are you honest?”

The System said, “You’re accusing me falsely again… I’m not like you, I have always been an honest system, those are only my instinctual behavior, not lying.”

Hearing that, a memory flashed into Fang Ning’s mind as he had an epiphany. “That’s right, remember Xie Dong? As long as you were the one speaking, he would never suspect the legitimacy of Vigilante A’s words. Then you shall be responsible to recruit those Whitestone people.”

The System was excited, “If that’s the case, the income generated by their labor would be entirely mine after giving them their salary, you can’t touch any of it.”

Fang Ning was speechless to that, “I was wondering why you were so enthusiastic about it. Go ahead, take the share. You aren’t good at managing people anyway, I’d still be the one calling the shots. Besides, I’m not short of money.”

The System asked immediately, “Lend me some money then. I’ve spent all of my money.”

Fang Ning was shocked and asked, “What did you do behind my back? Didn’t you have like, 1.1 billion USD in total? How is that not enough?”

The System said, “Richie, richie, that’s why I said you were being lazy. Zheng Dao’s report had detailed it, but you probably didn’t read it. The webshop was garnering a lot of interest. Someone is offering a huge sum of money to buy pills that could help them breakthrough to Pond-level and gave us a rare recipe. Zheng Dao said we should collect these herbs long-term, as its price would definitely rise in the future.

“He said these limit-breaking pills will always be in demand. I didn’t understand what he was spouting, so I transferred the money to him and let him do the necessary collection himself while I store them in the Preservation Area.”

Fang Ning could not muster any comeback to that. After arranging the reports during the two-day break, he did not have time to look at the weekly reports that Zheng Dao and Anderson had been submitting.

Zheng Dao was not wrong. Being a Pond-level was a milestone signifying the becoming of a powerhouse among the cultivators, that they already have an understanding of their own path of cultivation on which they are walking.

In the novels, there are frequent mentions of the ordeals people had to go through to achieve the Foundation Establishment period. It seemed that pills that allowed a breakthrough to Pond-level enjoyed the same status.

There were about seven billion people on Earth and plenty more sapient creatures.

Diffidently, he nodded. “Sure, I’ll lend you the money, you can transfer the money yourself anyway.”

System Notification: [$1,860,000,000 was transferred out of the Host’s account.]

Within a month, his account was credited with six hundred million yuan. The inmates of the Draconic Penitentiary did not let down their former glory, after all.

…

Vigilante A immediately flew toward the Whitestone people’s encampment. That was immediately noticed by other people who were interested.

After all, as the Eastern Pharos, his actions and behaviors were always in the center of attention.

In the Truth Department, Ren Ruofeng was deep in thought as he listened to his employee’s report.

‘Can the Venerable Dragon God persuaded those stone people?

‘It should be pretty smooth sailing. At least they wouldn’t be working with a villain. His recruitment of the Whitestone people must be for the construction of that new arcane realm.’

Underground somewhere, Elder Ancestor Bai smirked as he heard the news. He told Nie Yuan, “Do you see it now? If you waste the opportunity, you’ll be punished. If you can’t complete a task, other people will take it away from you, and you will never have a chance to restart. As soon as Vigilante A makes his move, it will go as smooth as silk for him. Ren Ruofeng from the Truth Department will also think the same.”

It was as if Vigilante A’s action was the trigger for the Whitestone people to pledge their loyalty.

Nie Yuan agreed, but he was thinking, ‘I don’t believe this. Can anyone in the world really fulfill the third condition?

‘It was impossible. These old farts were tricked by Vigilante A’s fame.

‘Don’t they understand that the greater the fame, the harder it is to live up to it?

‘When Vigilante A was rejected, they will understand that Vigilante A was also just a fameseeker!

‘My failure to recruit the Whitestone people was not because of my incapability, but because of their rigidity…’

In the far West, a couple of demons were also paying attention to Vigilante A.

Claude smiled as he said, “Good, Vigilante A is going to recruit them. That way, as long as we utilize our bloodline connection to hide inside the Whitestone people’s body, he will never discover us. We will be hiding in plain sight…”

Claudia was impressed. “Dear brother, you are a genius. However, I hear a few of the demon lords were already preparing to send someone to eliminate him. It seems like we don’t need to torture ourselves for the greater evil.”

Claude nodded. “Mm, our clansmen have sent us a message. They say they wanted to send the War Demon, Lei Tian to descend from the Upper Realm. Lei Tian was proficient in combat tactics, and he was extremely obsessed with the act of combat itself. At the same time, he was wise and clever who specializes in research, so he was not just a normal combat maniac.

“With him battling Vigilante A, Vigilante A have about eighty percent chance of dying in his hands. However there is still twenty percent, so we need to take precautions.”

Claudia stood up, her face steeled. “Yes, my dear brother. I will now collect the Heliotrope marks from our clansmen to prepare for the bloodline fusion with the Whitestone people.”

“Alright. Even if Vigilante A has Heaven’s Eye, he would never find us. Whitestone people’s ancestor is one of us Heliotropes. Their Whitestone mark can fuse flawlessly with us through a secret technique. Furthermore, it ignores all spatial barriers. He would not have expected this ability.” Claude claimed boldly.

“However, we should pick two scouts to try him out. After all, he had performed many incredible feats,” Claude continued immediately after.

“My brother, you’re smart.” Claudia ignored his bold claim and instead praised him.