Chapter 124: Repent, Even if You’re Already Dead!Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Fang Ning hesitated before answering, “Oh, I didn’t understand your functions enough previously…”
The System deadpanned, “You were lazy.”
Fang Ning retorted, “Cut me some slack… Although this function will serve us well, there’s still the possibility of two problems happening.”
“There’s no need for you to say it. The first problem is that those of Feng Gensheng’s grade are all well-hidden; they never appear to cause trouble so we can’t catch them without reason. We can’t catch those weaker than him either cause that’ll be pointless since they’ll probably run out of spiritual sense very fast once they’re locked up here. Once their spirit is separated from their body, n.o.body will last long enough.
“Secondly, we’re now in the System s.p.a.ce, so there’s no external source of vitality for Feng Gensheng to absorb for cultivation. He’s weaker than Anderson, so he won’t last long.”
Fang Ning continued, “I can solve the first problem, but do you have any ideas on solving the second one?”
The System answered, “I can feed them medicine. I can alchemize some pills that can replenish vitality so they can consume it. However, I suggest you think twice. These pills will need to be made with vitality and we haven’t gotten our return on investment for those Vitality Crops either. We can only buy vitality from the Truth Department’s internal market, which will be quite costly.”
Fang Ning responded, “Oh, you don’t have to worry about that, they have to pull their own weight of course. Have you forgotten that I can play video games for a living now? I’ll just recruit them into the guild I want to found and then they can just farm money for me.”
“You’ve really thought of everything, Host… No, did you think of this after your previous guild in the game disbanded? There just wasn’t a chance for you to carry it out.”
“Am I someone like that? I merely felt that these heinous criminals were let off easy from just dying with a single attack from you. Now, after killing them, we can force their spirits to contribute Aggro and money to us. One, we will be able to continue punis.h.i.+ng them for their sins. Two, by having them help us acc.u.mulate resources, we can defeat even more evildoers. Isn’t this killing two birds with one stone?”
The System praised, “You’re brilliant, Host.”
“I don’t want to hear your fake praises sourced online. Since the initial experiment of the first step in the System Advancement Plan was a success, I’m in a good mood, so I’ll let my brain take a break while I read some novels. Go treat your wounds, stop using my body to play around. I’ll be carrying out the second step of the plan after I rest.”
A System Notification read, [Host has been released from “Kenja Mode”, mood has returned to normal.]
The System said, “Hmm, I can now completely confirm that Host is still the Host…”
…
The next day, Fang Ning completed some menial tasks and transferred Robert and the middle-aged woman to the Truth Department.
While the transfer took place, he took the opportunity to finish the second part of the Advancement Plan by helping the recently revived Long Fan redeem itself from the false credit it had taken from Fang Ning…
After he was done, he proudly looked at Brother Long Fan’s green ally indicator on the System Map; it seemed that its Friendliness Attribute had reached the cap. With an immortal fellow by his side, things would be way easier now.
The System spoke up, “Eh, you’ve actually thought out more things than me when it comes to matters of battle? I was just about to use ‘Thousand-mile a.s.sistance’ to farm some monsters.
“When we were fighting Anderson the last time, if Long Fan had been green while he was close to that coffin, I would have been able to ignore Anderson’s s.h.i.+eld and teleport directly into the coffin once Anderson killed him, allowing me to attack Anderson’s actual body directly.”
Fang Ning taunted, “Haha, as long as I put my brains to it, even you will lose to me…”
“I think I should let you enter “Kenja Mode” more so that you’ll be able to think more.”
“…With Long Fan as an ally, we won’t have to worry about not knowing where to catch criminals like Elder Feng.”
“You’re brilliant, Host.”
“Get a different one.”
“I don’t know a different one.”
At the same time, Long Fan, who had returned to Ji City, never thought that he would be on someone’s mind. He was just cultivating an advanced technique with shame in his heart.
It wasn’t something as advanced as the “Dragonization Ability” of course; this technique was but a shape-s.h.i.+fting ability that triggered morphological changes. However, even a technique like this was extremely valuable.
‘Not being able to repay the Venerable Ones despite knowing them really is a shameful thing.’
He thought this to himself as he cultivated the technique.
…
After he was done dealing with the Long Fan’s matters, Fang Ning suddenly thought of something that had previously slipped his mind completely.
“Eh, aren’t we supposed to look for Butler Zheng? Where did that fellow go?”
While he pondered on that thought, a QQ message came in.
Zheng Dao’s message carried a happy tone, “Venerable One, this humble servant has been greatly successful in cultivation this time and will return tomorrow.”
Seeing the message made three crows fly over his brain while cawing 1 . What? Was this fellow alright all along?
Fang Ning immediately typed a reply, “Where have you been these past few days?”
Zheng Dao answered. “Eh, why are you asking this, Venerable One? After I took my leave, I was going to meet a friend but fell into a Soul Labyrinth instead. Someone did save me after, though. The same person wanted to teach what they knew to me but I needed to cultivate in isolation for a few days, and I did notify both Venerable Ones through QQ. You both did agree to letting me cultivate in isolation almost immediately.”
Fang Ning vomited blood, “Was your savior a male or a female? They must have cast an illusion spell on you. I don’t remember any message from you whatsoever. I already… No, the Truth Department checked your QQ chat history and told me you didn’t send any message to me at all. Why would we go around looking for you otherwise?”
Zheng Dao was shocked, “They were dressed in black from head to toe, so I couldn’t tell if it was a male or female. Didn’t you receive any message from me? Had I been trapped in the Soul Labyrinth this whole time?”
“Now that you’re able to contact me, I reckon that person has let you go.”
“Have you both been looking for me these past few days to no result? This humble servant is ashamed beyond words. Are you both alright?”
“We’re fine, but I know that you’re about to be in deep trouble soon.”
“…”
Under the blue sky, a white dragon and two dogs were leaning against the barrier atop a farm villa’s roof as they watched the Chinese opera play out below.
“Being a bachelor for 250 years doesn’t seem all that bad now,” quipped the yellow dog.
The black dog responded, “I suddenly feel like the consequences of being hit by that bullet isn’t all that scary either…”
At the courtyard below, Zheng Dao faced two cla.s.sy-looking women who looked exactly the same, clearly at his wits’ end.
“Ding Xiang, the Venerable White Dragon is watching from above, so this isn’t exactly appropriate, right? Besides, the imposter is probably someone on the Truth Department’s wanted list, right? You’ve brought her out into the open; aren’t you afraid she’ll run away?”
Both the Ding Xiangs stayed mute as they typed away on their phones. They then raised their phones, their faces expressionless.
The phones faced the direction of the roof; using the System’s exceptional vision, Fang Ning could clearly see the small letters displayed on the screens.
“Hmph, using such a cheap trick to get me to talk is useless. She has decided to turn over a new leaf and has voluntarily accepted to sever her Bloodline Connection. She’ll be joining the Truth Department to atone for her crimes, you don’t have to worry.”
“However, the Venerable White Dragon is quite worried about the fact that you can’t see through the imposter; so he has given me permission to do this. Quickly, I’ll give you twenty minutes. If you can’t tell the difference, you’ll be getting it…”
Zheng Dao was incredibly helpless, “Ding Xiang, cut me some slack, will you? First I was captured, then I was saved; I’ve never did anything that displeased you at all.”
A moment later, both Ding Xiangs held up their phones once again.
“Hmph, if you had seen through her ruse, you wouldn’t have been captured so easily. She had confessed that she was under the orders of Elder Feng; she had used my appearance to send you a video message, which helped her lure you right into the trap that allowed Elder Feng and Lei Juedong to capture you with no resistance. Tell me, should I train you properly so that you’ll gain a sliver of the ability to distinguish between real and fake so that something like this won’t happen again?”
Zheng Dao didn’t dare answer.
…
After watching the scene unfold before his eyes, even Fang Ning couldn’t predict the outcome of it all. All he knew was that after Zheng Dao had returned from following both Ding Xiangs out, he had been in “Kenja Mode” ever since. He was lethargic and he did all his tasks with no motivation.
“Old Man Zheng, you haven’t changed at all. Are you still a d*uchebag?” Fang Ning immediately questioned after flying right in front of Zheng Dao.
Zheng Dao retorted, “Venerable White Dragon, when was I ever a d*uchebag? I’ve merely overused my Psionic Ability. I was helping Ding Xiang with psychotherapy just now.”
Fang Ning was no longer worried about his subordinate’s long-distance run of love; once their cultivation was complete, their lifespan would greatly increase, so they had plenty of time to get to the finish line anyway.
He immediately spoke of serious matters, “Go and ask the Truth Department what are the rewards this time. Also, isn’t their internal market open to us already? Here’s a list of medicinal ingredients and a budget; get everything on the list. Don’t worry about overspending as long as you get the ingredients of highest quality.”
The System was still spitting blood from time to time; it kept saying that they needed to get the vitality herbs before they could alchemize anything but nothing could be bought from the usual places.
On the other hand, Qi’s Pharmaceutical Group of Qi City had long started experimenting with planting vitality herbs. However, only a few months had pa.s.sed and they were still quite far from success. From what President Zhao had said on QQ, they’ve been hitting quite a few walls. President Qi Ye had been running around looking for experts to help.
Hearing that it was a serious errand, Zheng Dao’s face pulled into one of strictness, “I was just about to report on this matter, Venerable One. The Truth Department mentioned that they’re avoiding the leak of some extremely important technical information on the ma.s.sacre of Anderson’s party. They’re still in the initial stages of calculating the overall rewards.”
Fang Ning’s interest perked upon hearing this; what exactly was that extremely important technical information? Could it be useful for his System Advancement Plan?
Now that they had Anderson locked up, not asking would be a waste. If he didn’t answer, they could just farm some Aggro instead.
Fang Ning pa.s.sed the medicinal ingredients list to Zheng Dao and had the System transfer some funds to him as well before sending him on his way.
He then entered the System s.p.a.ce.
…
The System Jail area.
Fang Ning grasped his game book as he walked slowly along the pristine marble floor.
Except for the dark jail cells, the System s.p.a.ce’s four corners were lit brightly. The only place with lighting here was the walkway.
Two jail cells stood side by side here; the numbers 1 and 2 hung high above the respective jail cells.
Anderson was locked in cell 1, which previously imprisoned an Elite Nightmare Demon. The demon was now used as material for the Legendary s.p.a.ce Equipment that the System was currently crafting. This place should be renamed soon…
Anderson spoke first, “Someone’s coming. Elder Feng, stop sleeping.”
Elder Feng answered, “I won’t last more than a few weeks. Let me take a nap before my spirit is destroyed completely. I’m already dead anyway.”
Fang Ning flung his game book and it landed on Elder Feng’s jail cell with a loud bang, which shook the person inside to his core.
After the game book automatically returned to Fang Ning, he started reprimanding, “Wake up, Feng Gensheng! This isn’t some place for you to kick back and relax. Don’t you have any shame for all the crimes you’ve committed? Your sins are so grave and you want to take a nap? Repent, even if you’re already dead!”
A System Notification popped up, [Feng Gensheng’s Aggro towards the Host is increasing rapidly.]
Fang Ning nodded his head, ‘That’s good.’