Seized by the System

Outside the underground city of the Greater Rats, there was a rail through the main underground passages.

Trains full of supplies sped through the rail periodically.

Lights blared on the sides of the rail, where fully-armed soldiers would patrol.

Different from above-ground, sky, and naval battles, most underground battles were fought in dark and narrow tunnels, which made them dangerous.

In every nook that light could not reach, there was a chance that someone could land a fatal strike to another.

Bai Shifu was taking Chong Daqing on a patrol on this brightly-lit main passage.

Naturally, the main passage was the aorta of the city.

They could give up on everywhere else except for this passage.

The main passage was the connector of several underground farms that were close to the aquifer. Utilizing the cheap geothermal energy, they could soillessly produce a large number of vegetables, grains, and all sorts of fruits.

With enough power, these farms could provide strong lighting and formations that speeds up growth, increasing production. Not only could they satisfy the entire demands of the underground city, they could even export the extras to ground-level cities to exchange foreign currencies…

These underground farms can be said to be the heart of the underground city of the Greater Rats.

Having thought that, Bai Shifu was puzzled. ‘Why didn’t Bai Shixin ask me to send my men to guard the geothermal power stations, instead of letting it fall into the hands of Nie Yuan?

‘Nie Yuan will definitely find a way to cut off the energy source to the underground farms, and the city will fall into disarray…

‘In reality, the farms had already reported that the power supply was not cut short and could only cut down production. The news was suppressed.

‘Without the endless source of provision from the farms, a city wouldn’t be able to hold up for long. A city with millions of Greater Rats like this would consume an astronomical amount of food daily.

‘Didn’t Cao Cao defeat Yuan Shao ¹ by burning his backup food supply?

‘Even if they could actually keep up for some time, as soon as the people were freaking out, the scales of victory had tipped.’

Bai Shifu could not think of a reason, but he did not want to ask Bai Shixin as well, as it would only show his stupidity.

Just as he was thinking, the green insect was getting impatient.

“Hey, didn’t you say they will definitely attack here? Why are they not here yet? I’m hungry…” Chong Daqing said forthrightly.

‘Since the Great Azure Dragon had said it was a just cause, my food should be taken care of.

‘Besides, I’m going on a business trip, they should actually provide meals, shouldn’t they? Everyone was saying that even emperors would not be able to command a troop of hungry soldiers.

“Before we left, my big brother had given me an interspatial ring and said all your provisions are in there…” Bai Shifu said with an indescribable expression on his face before handing over the bronze ring.

Daqing was ecstatic. “Your big brother is such a considerate person, he even knew to prepare food beforehand. Well, I can continue my patrol now.”

After appeasing the irritable Daqing, Bai Shifu sighed in relief before casting his gaze toward a side path where Nie Yuan’s people might hide…

…

It was bleak at the geothermal power station, with only a few operators maintaining the operations of the power generation devices.

“Hmph, how dare they invite a powerhouse from the Upper Realm to suppress me? Since that was the move they take, we’ll see how long you can remain afloat!”

Nie Yuan mumbled angrily after reading the reports. He gave an order, “Immediately attack all the other geothermal power stations, cut their cables, and stop all power supply. I will let them know what the true despair!”

At this point, a worker asked hesitantly, “Leader Nie, if we do that, all the underground farms would be paralyzed and would stop production entirely. Many of our brethren would be starved to death, they’ve already gotten used to earning their keep and not steal from humans anymore.”

“Hmph, are you questioning my decision?” Nie Yuan’s eyes turned cold as a silhouette in the shape of giant rat appeared behind him.

That was the common ancestor of all Greater Rats.

The blood of the Greater Rat royalty came directly from it.

The worker was scared prone. The Upper Realm creature’s intimidation had completely taken over its mind like a domestic dog seeing a tiger. Fear gripped its heart, leaving it without any capability to think.

The rest of the workers no longer oppose the decision. They have already decided at this exact moment.

This Nie Yuan had never thought about the benefit of the Greater Rat Clan. All of his decisions were made to his own benefit.

No matter how powerful they are, people like this would never qualify to contend for the leadership of the Greater Rats!

Everyone was furious, but no one dared to speak out. They endured it and dispersed to carry out their own orders.

He was one who would destroy the infrastructure everyone had built together for a selfish cause. People like this was never to be trusted.

Even though there was a suppression by the secret technique, the Greater Rats who used to be obediently carrying out orders had become actively resisting the suppression.

Unfortunately, their powers were still not strong enough to resist the suppression. They could only endure the pain and execute their commands.

This was the dark side of the Era of Vitality. There were plenty of things that could wrench someone into making choices that they cannot defy.

…

Merely an hour after Nie Yuan gave the order, Bai Shifu who was going to lead the patrol himself had noticed problems.

The lights along the tunnel flickered off one by one as battery-powered emergency lights faded in, lighting up the tunnel.

However, he knew that it would not last.

“Damn him, did he finally want to fight a battle of endurance?” He immediately understood what had happened and said hatefully.

This was the awkward position of a powerful person. They were powerful, but there was a huge target on their backs. Their enemies were usually hiding in the dark and could attack at any time.

On the other hand, trying to locate the enemies would be like searching for a needle in a haystack.

The underground was so twisting and complicated, it was even more difficult to find their enemies than it was on plains and deserts.

The hard stratum could shield electromagnetic waves as well as pose a great obstacle to spiritual sense.

He immediately dialed the emergency number to Bai Shixin and asked what he should do next.

“Our power supply has been cut by that bastard. He did a good number on us. I think, within hours, the train would stop working, the farms would screech to a halt without lighting or power. We would be flung back into primitive society…”

“Retreat for now, but don’t worry. Everything is in my anticipation,” said Bai Shixin casually.

“In that case, I can rest easy. How are you planning to deal with this?”

“It’s difficult to explain on the phone. Come back with Miss Daqing first,” he emphasized.

Several minutes later, Bai Shifu, Chong Daqing, and the rest of the team of elites had returned to the underground city and had sheltered themselves in the city.

…

On the other hand, Vigilante A had arrived at the underground city led by the gray ant.

However, after arriving at the city, Vigilante A stood outside of the entrance to the city but did not enter.

The little ant was lying on top of Vigilante A’s head. Seeing Vigilante A’s hesitation to enter, the ant began to turn on the spot and eventually started to swing on one strand of Vigilante A’s hair…

Fang Ning was curious, so he asked, “Our target is in there, why didn’t you go ahead?”

“Billionaire Host, I can’t. Think about it, if that folio is in the city, it must have a master. The little ant doesn’t know anything about the path of heroism, it only knew to drag home goodies… If it couldn’t drag it, it would drag people to it. As a heroic system, I can’t do it,” said the System despondently.

“Oh, so you really do follow principles. I was so worried that you might go into deviatory psychosis… This question is easy, the Greater Rat Kingdom is undergoing so much change, it’s bordering dangerous. We only need to save the master of the folio, we could ask for the folio as a reward, that sounds reasonable, right? It wouldn’t go against your heroism.” Fang Ning immediately came up with an idea.

“Doesn’t it count as taking advantage of people?” asked the System worriedly.

Fang Ning said out of speechlessness, “Taking advantage? We’re only doing things that we should be doing and taking the rewards we should be taking. You would know, the most expensive things are the free things.”