Seized by the System

“Reminiscing this ancient land, I am bemused, being sentimental has whitened my hair prematurely …” ¹

Fang Ning stood on the shore of a small town somewhere in Australia, reciting a poem.

Lush greenery lined the shore in a truly serene sight, as if nothing had ever happened there before. Fang Ning was in a poetic mood, so he had wanted to recite a poem but unfortunately could not come up with his own, so all he could was recite a classic from a scholar from the past.

The last time he visited this country, the System was busy showing off its incredible prowess here by beating up all the octopus monsters, no, octopus people, that only knew how to steal jars and snatching toilets, and they had floated in the ocean for a few days.

At the same time, the noises of an argument could be heard coming from somewhere far in the distance as something similar was happening. However, the main characters had changed and the ones committing the snatching had changed too.

“Despicable human beings, leave our land now!”

“All of you took away our land in the past, but now it’s time for you to give it back!”

A group of Aboriginal men with bright feathers on their heads and unique patterns on their faces were attacking a group of Caucasian men in the town with spears and bows.

Although another person might laugh at their weapons, the Caucasian citizens that they were currently confronting did not dare to even crack a smile, despite the fact that they had shotguns in their grasps.

The spears that the Aboriginal men were holding glimmered with florescent light, a truly strange sight.

Swirls of Yin Energy coiled around their arrows as well, the sight capable of causing anyone to shudder.

The patterns adorning the bodies of the Aboriginal men shone with either green or red lights too, as if protecting them.

Countless bullets littered the ground before them, some completely bent out of shape and practically unrecognizable.

Faint white lines could also be seen on the palms of the Aboriginal men. As it turned out, some of them must have committed the miracle of grabbing bullets barehanded!

The Heavenly Axiom’s reincarnation worked in mysterious ways. It was no longer the era where the Caucasians would hunt Aboriginals with their guns like they were prey despite knowing Aboriginals were also humans.

Now, the descendants of those Aboriginals were the ones with the advanced weapons…weapons imbued with demonic energy of the Upper Realm.

As for the descendants of these Caucasian colonizers, they had been reduced to prey.

“If any of you take one more step forward, I’ll call for the guards and have them send jets over! You may be able to withstand bullets, but I doubt any of you will be able to withstand jets!” roared one of the older Caucasian men at the leader of the Aboriginal men.

“Haha, you colonizers only know how to depend on things like that. First you come and seize our land, then you enslave us all, now we’re here to retrieve what was rightfully ours!” A man with patterns running down his entire body raged back, his arrow pointed at the Caucasian man that had first spoken.

“Somme, you weren’t like this before. We used to be such good friends, and you’re also a legal citizen from this country. Even if you get your land back, will you be able to develop it with the amount of people you have?” The old Caucasian man made an attempt of persuasion.

“There’s no need for you worry about that. We have a lot of friends so they’ll help us solve that problem!” exclaimed Somme confidently.

“What benefits did they give you?”

“Haha, they promised that once we get our land back, they’ll give us a large amount of rent money annually. They won’t act like you lot when you first seized our land; not sparing us a single cent of money, or giving us about this much when you did?” Somme then drew a circle with his thumb and forefinger.

“Hahaha!” Everybody behind him immediately erupted into laughter.

“You’re talking about the Americans, but we used to be under the rule of England. Besides, your chiefs signed an agreement that allowed us to govern your land in return for your protection, which is why all of you survived until now,” explained the old Caucasian man.

“Haha, those were all lies that you humans came up with. But, seeing as we used to be close, I won’t kill anyone today. Pack your things and get out!” fumed Somme.

The group of Caucasian men shared looks amongst themselves before they started backing up slowly.

In the beginning, they had stepped forward to stop the Aboriginals from entering the town and hurting their family, but now that they had been offered an opportunity to escape, they would never willingly go against these bulletproof monsters.

“Don’t move, Laco, we can’t believe him so easily. They’re enemies after our homeland, and when have we ever believed in the words of our enemies?” The old Caucasian man was experienced, and he firmly believed in one principle—never ever show one’s back to the enemy!

“Idiots. You’ll definitely believe me if I mention someone.” For reasons unknown, Somme, the leader of the Aboriginal man, suddenly spoke in a serious tone.

“Who?” asked the old Caucasian man.

“Vigilante A…” said Somme in a tone laced with fear, “As long as he’s still alive in this world, we’ll never come after you lot like your ancestors did to our people. Somebody once told us that he sees all of you as innocent men.”

“Who told you?” The old Caucasian man was sharp and immediately picked up a clue.

“No more questions. I’ve already given you my word, so are you lot leaving or not?” urged Somme.

He had just grabbed bullets barehanded, but he had clearly underestimated the determination of his old friends in protecting their homeland.

Pah!

This was their homeland, the land that his ancestors had left behind for him; although everyone used to be friends, scores between brothers still needed to be settled! Besides, they were talking about land worth hundreds of millions right now!

Owning a land like this would guarantee a land of luxury as chief!

He would be able to marry dozens of beautiful women, live a life of luxury in a mansion with a swimming pool, drive a Bugatti Veyron, a Porsche, or a Bentley… It would no longer be like before, where he could only take on menial jobs like being a security officer or a janitor.

That’s right; there were no superior goals nor was there anyone they were specifically targeting, all they wanted was to live good lives where nobody would dedicate themselves to a fruitless cause unless they were brainwashed.

“Let’s go. He even mentioned the Eastern Pharos, then I doubt he would really shoot arrows at us while our backs are turned…” said the old Caucasian men at the rest.

“Very well. We’ll listen to you, Father Starbucks,” agreed the group of Caucasian men.

The Eastern Pharos’ shone on the entire world, and even a small, poor town in the middle of nowhere was still protected by that light.

A massacre that would be the source of endless bloodshed would definitely be deterred by his presence alone as well.

The Eastern Pharos was far more reliable than any international convention!

Fang Ning watched over them from the skies, the golden book still in his hands. He did not make any moves. He wanted to know just what these people were going to do.

He watched as the Caucasian men returned home in a hurry. Soon, they left their small town, their wives and children in tow. The Aboriginal men then rushed towards the small town, which was already as quiet as a ghost town.

“This house is the biggest, so it’s mine!” Somme waved his bow and arrows excitedly as he seized the mansion that used to belong to a rich man in town.

“Then I want this one!” Everybody else started claiming their own mansions, announcing their own spoils loudly as they did so.

These people ran amok in the town, claiming houses with their own symbols.

After they were done, they gathered in a bar to rest their tired feet, enjoying the free alcohol to their heart’s content. The bartender and the owner of the place had long escaped upon hearing the news; they were not locals, so they did not need to protect the town at all.

“How unfortunate, none of the White ladies stayed behind,” said a slightly fatter Aboriginal man perversely.

“Shut up, Hans. If you talk like that again, you might be done away by the Eastern Pharos!” warned Somme.

“Is he really that amazing? Even a secluded place like this is watched over by him?” questioned the fatter Aboriginal man.

“Hmph, I witnessed something personally the last time. A thief was trying to steal a car, but the Eastern Pharos descended from the sky and beat the thief into a pulp. This whole thing happened not too far from here too. If you do anything despicable, you’ll definitely be killed! He hates people that rape and kill the most, so he usually never kills the ones that only steal,” revealed Somme in fear.

“I see.” The group of Aboriginal men had finally come to a realization why this temporary leader of theirs kept reinforcing the fact that all they needed to do was to scare off the Caucasian men.

He was actually worried that if one of them were to kill someone because of conflict, they might not be able to handle the situation after that as bad things might appear, which would be nothing but trouble.

Although they had been gifted with holy powers, Vigilante A possessed a reputation of a global scale, since most media companies have been constantly using his name to grab attention for themselves.

He was the superhero, always the topic of every conversation, the center of everyone’s attention. Nobody cared about the color of his skin, or his race, or which country he was from; the sole reason he was able to gather so many supporters was because his actions were in line with what everyone wanted.

Most people have always wanted to depend on a powerful figure, and have always hoped that this powerful figure would be up to their expectations.

Vigilante A was the very person that fit all their expectations perfectly.

Vigilante A was unlike those powerhouses that were arrogant and uninterested, or those that were not strong enough despite being free from corruption, or even those fake ones that had terrible personalities and were always disliked.

He had his fair share of minor flaws, but under his halo of strength and power, most people subconsciously paid them no attention.

All powerhouses were treated the same; people would always choose to place them on a pedestal so that they would be able to receive spiritual comfort.

Within the bar of the small town, the Aboriginal men continued to drink to their hearts’ content as a book silently flew into the bar without their knowledge.

A loud “thump” resounded throughout the bar as one of the Aboriginal men fell to the floor after swaying precariously, entirely because he had suffered a hit to the back of his head.

“You’re down after a few drinks?! Watch and learn, give me another barrel of rum!” sniggered Somme, before barking his order at one of his men.

With a whiskey in hand, the man sauntered off for some more alcohol.

Right as he lifted one of the barrels, he too was hit in the back of his head, and he crashed into the floor unceremoniously.

He was slightly stronger than the first one, so right before he blacked out, he managed to turn around to check. However, he saw nothing.

Fang Ning watched everything unfold from the side and brooded.

He could not help but ask the System, “When did my beloved learn to be so unpleasant? Sir System, you’ve never been one for sneak attacks, yet it keeps making them unless it can’t, in which case it waits by the side until it can.”

He thought the System would not answer, yet the System had answered immediately.

“I’ve already said this once, he that lies down with dogs must rise up with fleas. It is a treasure that follows in its owner’s footsteps, after all…” mocked the System.

“…” Fang Ning could only remain silent.

A heartbeat later, a lightbulb went off in Fang Ning’s head, which prompted him to mutter sadly, “My treasure’s so pitiful for being forced to this extent.”

The System questioned in exasperation, “That ratty book is always laying around. It doesn’t have to worry about dying of old age or dying of sickness nor does it have to look for a wife, so what’s there to pity”

Fang Ning seized his chance to say, “My precious isn’t like you, Sir System, it doesn’t know any abilities or techniques. It only knows IQ strike, which is useful when it comes down to it, but it’s so straightforward. It must’ve suffered quite a lot in Zhi Nan’s Paradise Realm for it to be able to activate its stealth mode. Sir System, let me ask you a question…”

“No need, I’ve loved it before,” answered the System before Fang Ning could ask.

“That’s not it. What I wanted to ask was whether you’ve ever felt sorry for it?” Fang Ning felt a slight admiration for the System’s intuition, since it did not give an answer that was too ridiculous.

However, the System must not love his precious now, since it always called the book ratty and old…

This was all jealousy, of course.

“Never felt sorry for it. It can’t be torn up into pieces or whatever anyway, so I don’t care what torture it goes through,” quipped the System.

“D*mn you. Forget it, my precious has earned quite a lot of experience points, so I’ll give you 0.5% of it as a handling fee for you to upgrade it with a few new skills,” said Fang Ning in fake generosity.

“50%.”

“10%.”

“55%.”

“Did you just increase it?”

“Of course I did, I’m the sole monopoly…” said the System proudly.

“Haha, is that so. Very well, but let’s not forget that I’m the sole monopoly of all your battle strategies and plans too,” retorted Fang Ning.

“D*mn. I want 30%, nothing lower,” surrendered the System easily.

“That’s more like it. I know you need experience points to level up, but investing in the game book will allow you to receive returns of tenfold. Don’t just keep your eyes focused on what’s in front of you or you’ll miss the big picture and lose a lot of money.” Fang Ning was naturally extremely satisfied at the outcome, but that did not stop him from passing out a bowl of chicken soup.

“Okay, I know. By the way, my System Map is 1% away from completing its upgrade, however, a Mission appeared…” confessed the System.

“I knew the reason behind your quick surrender was because you had something to ask of me. Don’t you have something like a Mission Module? The game book’s Missions were all given by you but once you noticed it wasn’t earning any money, you stopped giving out. Are you the developer of unfinished games?” asked Fang Ning.

“It isn’t a Mission per se? Accurately speaking, it’s something similar to patching my system, no, to completing the contents of my System Map. There’s a minor defect in the principles of my System Map that I need your help with,” said the System meekly.

“Hahaha!” Hearing those words, Fang Ning immediately bloated with pride and spoke proudly, “You see, this ex-programmer with ten years of experience as a senior programmer is finally useful. Tell me, what defect is there in the principles of the System Map?”

“Oh, the system that determines the color of creatures encountered a small problem, but it has a lot to do with you,” answered the System honestly.

“That’s for sure. After all, it’s bind to me, so it depends on my standpoint entirely, nobody else’s. Of course, I just don’t have to do anything bad. Give me an example,” said Fang Ning patiently.

“So, there’s this case. For example, just now the clans were going against each other for land and resources for survival, but the System Map didn’t show their colors, which meant I couldn’t differentiate the good guys from the bad guys.”

“That’s no problem. Survival is the most important, and you can’t define who stands for evil and who stands for justice in the fight for survival. Think of it like trying to label who’s the bad guy and who’s the good guy when an eagle eats a rabbit or when a snake eats a frog. Only those that kill without reason are deemed as truly evil,” explained Fang Ning.

“You’re right, Big Billionaire Host.”

“This defect should be easy to patch. You can just skip evaluating this module for now.” Fang Ning immediately applied the contingency plan that all programmers fell back onto—if the code has a problem, just skip it for later…

After dragging things out for a few days, the problem might even solve itself… This method has worked a few times out of a hundred attempts.

“Ugh, you certainly are a slacker,” said the System exasperatedly.

“Listen to you, didn’t I say so before… No, how could you call me a slacker to my face?” Fang Ning retracted his original statement, otherwise he might have exposed the fact that he was the one acting as his own Dream Incarnation.

“Well, a brother of mine told me that I shouldn’t speak about people behind their backs, so I’m saying it to your face instead,” explained the System straightforwardly.