Chapter 691: The System Chooses
The moment Shen Ying and the others entered the River of Forgetfulness, they saw white cracks appearing all around the system in front of them. It looked like it was breaking through the system. Chef's chest tightened. Suddenly, all the source power gathered around the system, blocking its way.
Yi Qing waved his hand and caused a huge nomological force to surge toward the system, engulfing it. It became tighter and tighter, and threatened to control the system. The green codes around the system's body began to swirl. The light became dimmer as the system looked to be more unstable. A clear electronic voice was heard.
[Di di, emergency situation. Identity exposed. Heavenly Dao attacking! Heavenly Dao attacking…] [
[Di di, activating self-protection. Back-up energy in use.]
[Activating back-up energy…] "Ah!" An ear-piercing scream was emitted from inside the system. The black primary soul which had been covered by the green light from the system was now struggling. "001, what are you doing? It hurts! Let me go, let me go…"
Before "Shu Yi" could finish speaking, the entire black soul disappeared. The system began to glow green once again, as if it had re-activated its energy. Immediately, it broke through the suppressive nomological force. There was a loud crack. The system escaped through the hole in the River of Forgetfulness.
"Chef, what are you doing? Lonemoon asked, shocked. "Why didn't you block it?"
Yi Qing frowned, not saying anything. Instead, he turned to Shen Ying questioningly. "Master, why did you…" The system had swallowed the ghost and increased its own energy by ten times, but its power was still nothing compared to Yi Qing's. Shen Ying was the one who pulled Yi Qing back.
"Mm," Shen Ying responded. She did not say more. Instead,she retrieved a familiar blue box and patted it. It was the parenting system from before. "Hey, stop playing Tenant Tycoon for a second. Direct me." [Arlight, Boss!] The blue box flew up. The pack of poker cards on the screen immediately switched to a familiar cartoon eye.
{Signal confirmed. The target is heading toward Plane Coordinate SBSBSB155.24 - a wasteland.]
Shen Ying caught the parenting system in her hand once again and raised her hand to open the plane gate. She turned to the two of them and said, "Hurry, let's go to its old cave!"
The two of them: "…." They exchanged a puzzled look.
( ̄△̄;)
It was then that they remembered. The 001 was only a supplementary system. There was something behind it, but they did not know yet what it was. Was Shen Ying trying to capture both of them at once? But when did this parenting system become so powerful? 001 had already escaped the plane, yet this parenting system was still able to track it down. It did not seem like the same system as before, which got stuck every time it tried to do something But Shen Ying was already going through the plane passage. The two of them exchanged one more look. Then, they fixed the hole in the plane and followed Shen Ying's lead. In a blink of an eye, everything around them became dark. They found themselves in absolute nothingness. There was nothing around them at all. Even the ground beneath their feet had disappeared.
"This is… the Chaos Void?" Lonemoon stared into space. This was the first time he was seeing the legendary Chaos Void. In the past, even when he left his own plane, he would only pass through the space between the planes. The Chaos Void was entirely outside any plane. It had no boundaries. No one knew just how big the void was. What's more, there was nothing inside. Even the concepts of space and time meant nothing in this void. It was not just an empty land.
Lonemoon instinctively looked down at his own palm. Was he dreaming? Logically, their powers came from their own planes. Why did he feel like he was even more powerful in this void?
Before he could give it any further thought, the parenting system's light flashed. It gave a reminder, "Reporting to Boss! An invader has been spotted 500m in front." They focused their gazes and found a white light flashing in front of them. A ball of green from a familiar system was rushing out of that white light It seemed to have just arrived here after breaking out of the plane. It was a surprise that the system was even slower than them.
Yi Qing moved quickly. He conjured a seal to hide the three people and one system.
The moment that system emerged, it headed toward its right. The three of them exchanged looks, then followed its lead very quietly. The parenting system led the entire group confidently.
[The "bad system" in front has taken a right turn 200m ahead… The "bad system" in front has knocked into some stones 300m ahead, please avoid… The "bad system" in front has sped up…]
Lonemoon: "…"
Yi Qing: "…" "Shen Ying…" Lonemoon could not help but ask, "Since when did the parenting system have a GPS installed? Did you intend to let 001 out of the plane from the beginning?" It was no wonder that she did not seem anxious at all.
"That's right," Shen Ying took a bite out of her fruit and nodded. "Installing the GPS into the parenting system just makes everything easier. Otherwise, that system might take our plane as some rabbit's hole." Rather than allowing the system to create holes all over the plane, it would make much more sense to let it go once and for all."
"Well…" Lonemoon wanted to ask more questions.
"It's gone!" Yi Qing suddenly halted. He looked in front, confused.
Lonemoon paused and looked up. Indeed, the 001 system that had been in front of them the entire time had disappeared. All that was left was darkness.
"What happened?" How did it disappear? They were following it so closely. They weren't even 500m away from it - it's not possible that they lost it!
"I don't know either. It disappeared all of a sudden." Chef shook his head.
Even the parenting system was beginning to sound anxious.
[Boss, target disappeared! Target disappeared!]
"It didn't disappear!" Shen Ying responded, frowning. She took one step forward and raised her right hand. She lightly moved her hand, as if touching something. The blackness gave way like a current on hitting a stone. The scene in front of them changed completely.
The other two watched closely, sucking in a deep breath.
What… is this? After the ripples faded, they saw something huge floating in front of them. Green beams of light were shooting out of it in all directions, forming a cage around it. There were talismans with codes on them all around the cage. The thing had several hands waving around, each one wriggling in one direction. Faintly, they could see souls of various colours in each hand. They were gathering toward the palms.
That thing was incredibly huge. In fact, it was so huge that they could not exactly tell its size. They could not tell the parts of the body from one another. On the one hand, it looks like a plane tree, yet it did not have the aura of any source. A couple of systems that resembled 001 were leaning against the thing, not far away from where the hands were wriggling. After releasing the primary souls that they captured into the thing's palms, the systems would turn and leave.
Looking around, Lonemoon realised there were countless little systems. They almost looked like a colony of ants, working in an anthill.
Chapter 692: Fighting the Boss
[Reporting to Boss - the main system has been detected.]
Lonemoon took a closer look at the huge thing. Faintly, he could sense that its power was comparable to that of managers. The only difference was that this thing contained a mess of powers - the power it had was not as pure as managers'. It was a combination of power from all different sources. And the strongest point was in the centre of the thing.
"There are so many systems. What do we do now?" Lonemoon asked. He instinctively suggested, "Why not we look for an entrance to this thing? We can make our way quietly inside of it." This main system had to have a main power switch, right?
"Why do you want to go inside?" Shen Ying tilted her head, asking in a very serious tone.
"nonsense - what else can we do?" The core of this huge thing was located right in the middle f it. "Why can't we just kill it?"
"Ah?"" Lonemoon paused. Before he could react, Shen Ying had already appeared by one of the hands of the huge thing. She reached out and caught the hand, making sure that she got a tight grip on it.
"Wait, what are you doing?!" Holy shit, are you really just going to kill it like that?
In a flash, the countless busy systems stopped working. It was almost like Shen Ying had hit a pause button on the entire system. They all turned to face her.. The patch of green lights turned red at once. They looked almost like little red eyes, glaring in Shen Ying's direction.
Indeed, one by one, their in-built alarm bells began to ring.
"Shen Ying!" Lonemon's heart stopped. He reached out to pull her back. Before he could even reach her, she gave a sharp tug on the arm that she was holding. There was a solid crack. A blinding white light flashed past them. Shen Ying had plucked the huge arm right off the thing's body.
The huge primary system began to twist and turn. It waved its arms around, trying to attack the three invaders. Even the countless ant-like systems began to head toward the three of them.
Despite this, Shen Ying continued to look lay. She used the coarse arm in her own hands like a rope. She turned around and waved it at the little systems. With a loud crash, something exploded. A flurry of colours appeared in front of them. The many systems and hands on the primary system began to explode one by one, scattering all over the place.
Still, Shen Ying did not stop waving the arm in her hands around. Instead, she turned around and headed straight for the huge primary system's body. There was another loud crash. The impact caused the huge pile of waste to stumble backward. There was a series of cracking sounds as huge cracks began to appear on the huge system's body. From top to bottom, the entire body became covered in cracks. Huge amounts of its energy turned into remnant souls which escaped from within. Faintly, they could see the score on the inside of the system. "Alright, we don't have to enter now!" Shen Ying said.
Lonemoon: "…"
Yi Qing: "…"
o(╯□╰)o
Shit! What a violent cheat! Indeed, everything seemed like paper tigers in front of the cheat.
With just a few moves, Shen Ying seemed to destroy something important. The primary system twisted and turned around, making strange electronic noises. Even the countless little systems were scattering in all directions.
Lonemoon's heart sank before he finally reacted. He turned to Yi Qing and said, "Chef, quick, stop these systems!" They could not allow them to invade yet another plane, otherwise the consequences would be dire. Yi Qing took no time at all to react. With a flash, he retreated to the end of the space. He created a huge fire wall which headed toward the countless little systems. There were loud roars. Every system that came into contact with the fire wall was reduced to ash.
The fire wall became taller and taller. Suddenly, it looked like the ground had become lava. Since the place was so huge, Chef had to turn into a phoenix in order to seal off all the exits. Only by turning into a phoenix could he create a fire wall big enough to control the primary system and all the little systems.
Lonemoon summoned his immortal sword and waved it around as well. Each time he waved his sword, he killed off more than ten systems. The army of little systems was being reduced in size by the second.
Shen Ying, however, stood rooted to the ground. She looked up at the cracks on the main system's body, then scanned the chaos all around her. Narrowing her eyes, she tapped on the parenting system that was floating beside her.
"My personal system." [Yes, Boss! What instructions do you have!]
"Scan the energy levels of all the systems over here…"
[Yes, Boss! No problem, Boss! Scan in progress… Discovered
50 billion plus… Energy is about a B standard… Discovered strange powers… Data grades surpass SSS…. Reporting to Boss - there seems to be a problem here…"
"Display it."
[Yes, Boss!]
The parenting system let out a soft beep. A white line appeared on the blue screen. It pointed toward a dark area on tShen Ying's right. On the forehead area of a little ball that looked just about as green as every other little system around it, there was a red warning light.
Lonemoon, who had been fighting the countless little systems, suddenly realised what Shen Ying was up to. He paused and asked, "What is this?"
"Its true form," Shen Ying responded. "The main system's!"
"What!" Lonemoon stared blankly at the huge thing in the centre of the entire space. He turned back to the little system that had been singled out and said, "He can move to any system in here!"
"Mm." Shen Ying nodded.
"Holy shit!" Lonemoon cursed under his breath. He raised up his sword once again and flew toward the singled out little system. The system did not have a body, therefore they had no choice but to capture its soul. He should have known that the so-called main system would not have a physical body. That was why it could transfer to any little system that it wanted to.
It was no wonder that Shen Ying took action without any further thought. If they had entered the system's body secretly, they might not have been able to catch the main system. Much worse - it could have changed bodies and escaped. From the beginning, they had to get rid of every single system. That was why it made more sense to immediately trap all of them.
The amount of power that the main system had was frightening. It was comparable to that of an ordinary manager. However, after what Shen Ying did, the main system seemed to be on the verge of falling apart. Even the supplementary systems were trying to escape from the space. Now, on further thought, it seemed like the main system was doing this on purpose. It knew that it was no match for Shen Ying. That was why it was creating so much chaos - it was supposed to be a distraction so that it could get away.
Indeed, the moment Lonemoon headed for that one supplementary system, the others seemed to receive some sort of orders. All of them turned and headed toward Lonemoon instead. Suddenly, they formed a green wall that attempted to stop him from advancing.
Lonemoon conjured a sword array and caused hundreds of thousands of immortal swords to fly toward the wall of green systems. He headed straight for the body of the main system. His sword landed right in the middle of it. But before he could heave a sigh of relief, the supplementary systems began to multiply before his eyes. [Ding! Target moved once again!]
The parenting system's screen went dark. Suddenly, it pointed to another little green ball just a few metres away from them.
It moved again!
The parenting system was good! Lonemoon's heart leaped. He suddenly felt the urge to pay its allowance. Suppressing the urge, he turned and headed for the new target.
Chapter 693: Destroying the Core
With the parenting system's assistance, no matter where the main system moved, a red warning side would appear on the machine it was in. What's more, Chef's fire wall was closing in on all the systems and Lonemoon had set up multiple sword arrays within in. All around, the supplementary systems were being taken down. They were being constantly reduced in number until there were only a few of them left.
The main system seemed to have realised this. The red warning light above one of the supplementary systems suddenly disappeared. The coarse arms of the huge thing in the middle began to move once again.
[Ding! Reporting to Boss - the target has reverted to its original position.]
The huge plane-tree-looking main system suddenly shot out beams of eye-blinking green light. They resembled lasers, which swept toward the three of them. Everything that the beams of light touched seemed to explode. The beams also seemed to carry with them the aura from the source. "It's collecting all the source powers to attack us!" Lonemoon exclaimed. He turned and ran toward Yi Qing, who was still controlling the fire wall. "Chef, quick, avoid these-"
"There's no need!" Shen Ying interjected. In a flash, she jumped in front of the laser beams. The beams were so close to touching her. Shen Ying stretched out her hand. Immediately, the beams reflected off her hand, as if she was holding a mirror. There were a series of cracks. The smell of something burning filled the air.
Then, they heard a loud crash. The main system, which had been covered in huge cracks, had been hit. A big hole had been blown into its huge body by its own green light.
"We can enter now!" Shen Ying pointed toward a huge crack
Lonemoon: "…"
Yi Qing: "…" You're unbelievable!
凸(艹皿艹)
Was this what she called entering the body? She freaking ripped the system apart! It was the worst method of ripping the machine apart, at that!
Shen Ying took one huge step into the center of the system. Lonemoon and Yi Qing exchanged a meaningful look before following her into the machine.
The moment they entered the crack, everything around them changed. The darkness was gone. Instead, they found themselves in pure white territory. There was nothing but light in that place. Faintly, they could feel thick energy from the plane's source floating in front of them.
Indeed, the next thing they knew, a figure appeared before their eyes. The aura was condensing to form a human figure. The person floated in mid-air. The man was of average height and dressed in black robes. His gaze was cool, yet his face showed no expression. Without opening his mouth, an electronic voice echoed throughout the surroundings. .
"Invaders from a low-grade plan - how dare you challenge the main god. You must give over your souls as the price!"
"Invaders?" Lonemoon looked at the man in mid-air, amused. "Aren't you the one going around and invading other planes?"
The man frowned, as if very angry. The electronic voice sounded once again, but did not say anything in response to Lonemoon. "You've entered my main god's space. Nobody will be able to defend themselves against me."
Main god's space?!
Lonemoon hesitated. Did it lure them here on purpose? He instinctively tried to check his connection with his own plane. Where he could freely form the connection before, he found that he could not now. It was almost as if someone had torn the connection apart. His chest tightened. Before he could think of another solution, the electronic voice sounded again.
[Successfully adjusted the source's power. Get ready to redeem the souls. Beginning redemption…]
A huge wind blew past them. There was a series of crashes. Then, they felt a huge suppressive force press down on them Lonemoon's heart sank. He tightened his grip on the immortal sword in his hands. The force was getting closer and closer… Closer and closer…
Then, it brushed past them…
-_-|||
Lonemoon, Chef, Shen Ying and the parenting system were still standing steadily at their original positions. The force could not even push them out of place, much less steal their souls.
The three of them: "…" What a scary soul-redemption machine…
╮(╯_╰)╭
[Redemption failed! Increasing power to 70% for second attempt. Beginning redemption…]
There was again the series of crashes, then a suppressive force. Then…
The force brushed past them once again!
The three people stood exactly where they were.
[Redemption failed1 Increasing power to 90% for third attempt…]
Once again, the force came toward them and… Once again, it brushed past them!
The three of them were standing so still that they resembled dead dogs.
[Redemption failed. Increasing power to 100% for fourth attempt…]
"Are you just about done!" Lonemoon pursed his lips. He could not keep silent any longer. "Blow, blow, blow… What are you blowing at! Do you think you're an electronic fan?!"
He must have been mistaken to think that this main system was that powerful. He forgot that the system was not even a manager. It was only a machine that stole the source powers from various planes, before donating them all into this central machine. WIth so many different types of powers, it was good enough that the machine could maintain its outer appearance of power. Of course it would not be able to succeed in stealing the souls of actual managers.
This thing probably had not even discovered their identities! [Detected an unknown life! Unable to analyse its data! Unable to analyse…]
The main system let out several booms. It was the sound of it getting stuck..
"Lives that cannot be matched to any one plane. What… are you?"
Lonemoon: "…"
Yi Qing: "…"
Shen Ying: "…"
It really did not know who they were?
o(╯□╰)o It was no wonder that the invader's system 001 kept talking about being discovered by the Heavenly Dao before, but never the Manager. It had no idea about managers, did it? Then everything this man was saying about being in the main god's space was just empty threats?
THe parenting system was right - this really was a low-grade system. It deserved to be eliminated!
Lonemoon frowned as a gust of sword Qi shot out of him and toward the figure in mid-air. The figure seemed to flicker before dropping down onto the floor.
"A hologram?" Yi Qing frowned. He conjured a wind seal and caused a strong wind to blow past them. It was even stronger than the three gusts of wind that the main system blew at them earlier. The white clouds dissipated and everything turned dark once again.
A green light appeared in front of them. It was surrounded by countless codes. The source was a mess of all different colours. Its energy felt extremely thick. It was almost comparable to the source of ordinary planes. It looked like that was the core of the main system. . Shen Ying narrowed her eyes and started heading toward the core.
[Wait! Don't touch the core!]
An electronic voice filled the surroundings. It sounded much more panicked than the emotionless voice they heard earlier.
[I'm going to complete my physical body soon. I'm going to become the strongest eternally living thing! Don't destroy my core!]
A physical body?
Lonemoon frowned. The eternally living thing aside - was this thing drilling holes in all the different planes just to create a physical body? He turned around and stared at the little square floating beside Shen Ying obediently. Speaking of this… Was it so difficult to get a physical body?
( ̄△̄;) [Stop! Stop that now!}
The main system was getting panicky now.
Shen Ying got closer and closer. She reached out to grab the mess that was the source. Suddenly, she felt a weight pulling her hand down. It was almost like something had grabbed her by the hand and pulled her arm down. An amused male voice spoke beside her ear.
"This is such an interesting thing. Don't you think it would be a pity to ruin it?"
"…"
Chapter 694: Mysterious Man
"Master!" Yi Qing's chest tightened as he flew to Shen Ying's side immediately.
Lonemoon was shocked too. "Who are you?" The man had appeared out of nowhere. How could they not have sensed that there was someone else present? Even Shen Ying was shocked.
The man turned to glance at the two of them, his gaze cool. Where he was smiling warmly before, he now looked at the two of them as if they were nothing but dirt beneath his shoe. "You brought two oil tanks here as well." He grinned as he lowered his gaze. Something shot out of his body and charged toward the two men. "How troublesome!"
Shen Ying narrowed her eyes and moved. She appeared beside Yi Qing and Lonemoon in a flash. before the two of them could react, they felt a defensive shield come up around them. There was a swoosh by their ear. They knew that something terrifying had almost landed on both of them, but Shen Ying had protected them at the last possible moment.
Their expressions changed at once. This was the first time they felt completely defenceless and powerless against someone other than Shen Ying. If Shen Ying had not rushed over to save them earlier, they could have been dead.
They sensed danger like never before. This man… Who was he?
"Master…" Yi Qing's heart sank. He instinctively moved in front of her.
Before he could ask anything, Shen Ying turned, put her hand on his chest and pushed him back. "Go back!"
Yi Qing was not prepared. One push from Shen Ying caused him to stumble backward and knock into Lonemoon. Both of them fell over. There was a bright flash in front of them as something seemed to open up. It looked extremely familiar. This was… the light from the plane gate!
"Master!" "Foodie!"
The two of them screamed out in a panic, but they both could not stop themselves from falling through the plane gate. As Shen Ying disappeared behind the gate, they saw her looking extremely strict for the first time.
Then, they were on the ground in the divine realm.
Chef climbed to his feet immediately. He was really panicking now. Raising his hand, he tried to re-open the plane gate. but no matter how hard he tried, he could not cause the plane gate to open again.
Lonemoon tried to help him as well, but to no avail. He turned around to look at Yi Qing, who was almost out of his mind with worry. "It's no se. Shen Ying must have blocked off the plane passage. Everything is locked. We can't go back."
"Master…" Yi Qing was looking worse and worse by the second. He could not get that man - and the attack that he did not even sense - out of his mind. "No way! She's in danger! We have to go back!"
"Chef, you have to calm down!" Lonemoon pulled him back. "Shen Ying didn't even tell us before sending us back here. She must have known what he was. She must have known that the situation was not something we would be able to handle. She sent us back here so that we would not be a burden to her."
Yi Qing let out a long, shaky breath. He was calming back down, but he still looked extremely worried. Yi Qing clenched his fists tightly by his sides. "But Master is a human… If I can't help her, who can… Elder Jing!" His eyes brightened at once. He turned around to face Lonemoon. "Let's look for Elder Jing! That man is not simple. He's not an ordinary manager. Elder will definitely know how to handle this!"
Lonemoon became excited as well. "That's right! There's Older Sister Jing as well!" He quickly retrieved his wristband and connected to Shen Jing. The light in his eyes suddenly disappeared as he began to tremble. In a disbelieving tone, he said, "Shen Ying… Even locked our connection to Shen Jing."
"…" Their faces drained of all colour. Shen Ying locked the plane passage because they would not be the man's match. Then there could only be one reason why Shen Ying would block off their connection to Shen Jing as well - even Shen Jing was not the man's match…
—————
At the Chaos Void.
"That's a wise choice." The man kept his eyes on the spot where Lonemoon and Yi Qing both disappeared. Then, he turned to face Shen Ying, a warm smile on his face. "Given your identity, it is not right for you to always be ragging those two oil tanks around. Yet, you bring them wherever you go."
Shen Ying narrowed her eyes and scanned the man from head to toe. A moment later, she retrieved another fruit from her bag and bit into it. "Are you jealous?"
"What?!" The man paused, as if he had not expected her to ask something like this. Shen Ying tilted her head and continued, "I've seen many single men just like you. I understand!"
"…" What do you understand?! Why are you looking at me so contemptuously?! The man pursed his lips, then let out a long sigh. He shook his head and said, "There's no point talking about all of these things now."
"What do you mean by that!" Shen Ying kept her expression straight. "After all, you're a single, wandering man. You're different from a group like us, sophisticated tourists. It's understandable that you would have an inferiority complex!"
"…" Understandable my ass! Why did he feel the sudden urge to rush forward and strangle this woman? Why didn't he find out that she was like that when he was conducting his research earlier? The man pressed his forehead, trying to keep his cool. "Do you know who I am?"
Shen Ying took another bite of her fruit. A moment later, through gritted teeth, she said, "You're the man who managed to avoid the monitors' investigations into the Heavenly Dao Organisation, helped Mu Xiang back to her original plane and allowed this system to invade Chef's plane." "Oh?" The man narrowed his eyes. He looked surprised. "So you knew who I was all along. You are quite smart after all."
"It's not that I have good eyesight - you've just been too obvious." Shen Ying glanced at him and added, "I'm not blind."
"Heh heh heh…" The man did not get worked up. Instead, he continued smiling. "Then do you know why I'm doing all of this?"
Shen Ying studied the fruit in her hand. She turned it so that it would be easier for her to take another bite. Then, she said, "You're bored out of your mind!"
"…"
The man's smile faltered. Suddenly, his lips twisted. He no longer bothered about acting kind. His gaze turned cool and he said in a very serious tone, "It's my test for you. A test to see whether you meet my standards." "O," Shen Ying answered nonchalantly. She looked completely uninterested in whatever this man had to say. Tossing the core of the fruit aside, she looked up at the main system. It was acting half-dead, but she noticed it inching backward every chance that it got. All it wanted to do was to escape. She raised her chin to look at the man. "You want to fight me on its behalf?"
"Mm?" The man stared blankly back at her, then glanced at the system. He shook his head. "Don't misunderstand me. I have no liking toward this plane's insects. Of course I'm not going to help it. It's just that…"
"Oh, that's alright then!" Shen Ying cut him off mid-sentence.
She began to walk toward the trembling main system.
The man: "…" Was she going to deal with him this impatiently?
Chapter 695: Judgment of the Plane
The main system began to panic. He let out continuous beeps.
"Don't… D-D-Don't…. Don't come over!"
The green codes which were surrounded by a mess of various different colours began to shake violently from side to side. In a panic, it tried to block Shen Ying from stepping any closer, but nothing that it tried worked. Shen Ying continued to walk steadily toward it. she reached out and grabbed the messy source in front of her.
"Have you thought about this!" The man suddenly shouted. He could not help but remind her, "This thing has the ability to enter any plane that it wants. Although it's a piece of trash, it is pretty useful. As for me… Or the future you, perhaps it would be beneficial. If you destroy it now, you won't be able to use it again."
Shen Ying turned to face the man. Then,she lowered her gaze. In a serious tone, she responded, "Oh." The moment she finished speaking, a huge force engulfed the messy source. Shen Ying clenched her fists. There was a loud cracking sound. The entire source seemed to explode in all directions. The remaining codes seemed to darken significantly.
The source that had been trying to gather together power from all types of places immediately dissipated after the main system was destroyed. At once, everything disappeared into the Chaos Void. These powers were all obtained from people's primary souls.As long as this plane remained in tact, the souls will be attracted back to wherever they came from one day.
The man frowned, as if angered by the fact that Shen Ying did not even hesitate before she killed off the main system. He looked at her unsatisfactorily and said, "You really destroyed it. Actually, if you had just caused it to submit to you, it would be at your beck and call in the future."
"I don't need it!" Shen Ying flicked her hand.
"You…." The man started to speak, but he seemed to recall something else. He sighed once again and said, "I picked this thing out after much thought. I knew it would be useful to you. Do you know at all what kind of people we are?" "Judges!" Shen Ying turned to face him.
The man jumped, eyes widening. He was shocked now. "You know?!"
"Mm, I guessed it." Shen Ying nodded. "Someone who was able to prevent two monitors from finding out what would happen to the Great Dao for that many years - only a judge, who's higher than a monitor - would be able to do that." It was a single-choice question. Easy.
"Oh?" The man scanned her from head to toe, surprised. "Then how did you know that judges exist?" Even monitors did not know that judges exist. Yet, she seemed to have the word at the back of her mind.
"I found out on my own." Shen Ying had no intention to hide these things from him. She continued, "I once entered a deep sleep. At first, I thought that it was because I had consumed too much energy and my body needed rest. But when I regained consciousness, I discovered that my powers were over the limit. Even I couldn't feel where my powers ended. From that day on, the word "judge" had been floating in my head. If I'm not wrong, I'm like you. I'm a judge." "It's too early to tell!" The man lowered his gaze to look her right in the eyes. A grin formed slowly on his face, making him look as warm as he did before. Except, there was a hint of iciness in his gaze. "Do you know that judges can judge any manager or monitor in any plane? If managers have the ability to control everything that takes place in their plane, then judges are the only people who can control everything that happens under the Great Dao in the entire Chaos Void.
An unexplainable expression flickered across his face. He continued, "There are countless planes in this Chaos Void, and every plane has its own Heavenly Dao. That means there are also countless managers. But there is only one Great Dao in the Chaos Void. That means that there can only be one judge."
"…" Shen Ying frowned.
"You're the chosen one, who's going to take over me." He looked at her sombrely. "But I don't know if you'll make a good judge. That's why be it the Big Dao Organization or the invader systems - they were all different tests that I set for you. You would only meet my standards if you pass those tests. Only then would I be able to hand the Chaos Void over to you with no worries…" "I don't want it!" Before he could finish speaking, Shen Ying rejected him.
"Huh? Ah!" The man paused.
Σ(°△°|||)
What did she mean? Was he imagining things?
Did she just give up this position so easily?
"If you want to stay, you can stay on!" Shen Ying waved her hand lazily. She took another bite of her fruit and turned around, prepared to leave. "If there's nothing else, I'm going to make a move." I'm hungry!
"Wait!" The man finally regained his composure and stopped her. He rushed in front of her to block her way. "You can't go!" "Why not?!" I don't want the promotion - am I not even allowed to quit?
"Well…" The man hesitated. His eyes darted around. A moment later, he said, "Your powers have already grown to match that of a judge. There can only be one judge in this entire universe. So even if you have passed my tests, there must be some sort of hierarchy between us."
"Oh." Shen Ying nodded. Very willingly, she said, "I admit defeat!" This should do it, right?
it's time to go home, time to go home. Time to eat, time to eat!
o(╯□╰)o
"You…" The man was really getting angry now. He blocked Shen Ying's way once again and said, "Do you know what hierarchy means?"
"How many meanings are there?" He lowered his gaze. In a heavy tone, he said, "There can only be one of us in this world."
"…" Shen Ying's hand stopped on the way to her mouth.
The man sighed, and smiled warmly once again. "The only thing is our powers are quite equal now. If we really engage in battle, the entire Chaos Void might be destroyed, along with every single plane within it. That's why I've created a series of tests. I want to objectively solve this problem. If you pass the tests, I am going to disappear willingly."
Shen Ying tilted her head. "You mean to say… One of us has to disappear?"
"That's right." He nodded.
"What if we neither of us disappear…" Shen Ying asked seriously. "Would my pocket money be deducted?"
"Eh?" The man stared blankly at her. He answered without certainty, "I don't… think so?"
"Oh, then that's alright!" She heaved a sigh of relief.
"…"
Wait a moment!
What did that have to do with pocket money? Why did she suddenly bringt hat up?
"You don't understand what I'm saying. I mean that there can only be one ju-"
"Who said that? Is it against the law to have two judges?" Before he could finish speaking, Shen Ying interjected. "From really early on, you have been the judge. And it's been a long time since I regained consciousness from my coma. In other words… It's not like both of us haven't co-existed all this time. Why can't we continue this way?" "…." The man had nothing to say in response.
"Alright, I'm off now." Shen Ying turned to walk around him.
"Wait!" He blocked her way once again, refusing to give up. "Although I don't know what would happen if we have two judges in one Chaos Void, I'm sure it would not have a good impact on the place. So we have to-"
"Then let's just wait till that actually happens!"
Chapter 696: Truth Behind Judgment
"What did you say?!" The man frowned, looking at Shen Ying, shocked. He chided her disbelievingly, "As a judge, how could you allow such a thing to happen? What if it affects all the planes? You might not be able to pay a price like that. I might not have been very pleased with your test results, but I never expected that you would not even have the slightest bit of consciousness as a judge. You're not fit at all to be a judge in this void. I can't believe I thought about-"
"Thought about taking over all of my powers as a judge?" Shen Ying narrowed her eyes and finished his sentence. "Or did you mean to say… You have a stronger inclination to kill me off right here and now in the name of justice?"
"…" The man stared blankly at her, eyes widening in shock. "What did you say?"
"I'm talking about your motive for coming here from the beginning." Shen Ying smiled, still looking quite nonchalant. Yet, everything she says seemed very purposeful. "When I said I was a judge, you did not deny my identity. You just kept emphasising that there could only be one judge. Yet, you could not even tell me why." "Let me guess…" She scanned the man from head to toe and continued, "You can't tell me why because of one of two reasons. First, you really have no idea. Or second, you cannot tell me why. If you don't know, then everything that you said before was true. But if you're somebody who has to intentionally set so many stages of tests just to pass on the role to the next person, you can't also be someone who would jump to conclusions so easily. But you refused to let me leave… so it can only be the second reason: You can't tell me the reason!"
"…" His face began to turn green.
"Let me guess. Why can't you tell me?" Shen Ying continued to narrate her thoughts. "If you can't tell me the reason, you must be trying to hide something. But we're both judges. If all the managers in the void colluded together to fight us, they still would not be our match. Of course… we would only be each other's math! So that something you're hiding must relate to me! But before today, we have never met. We don't have anything personal against each other. You have no other reason to kill me, other than our common identity."
"…" The man lowered his gaze. "That's why I'm bold enough to continue making my guess." Shen Ying's expression turned extremely serious. In a low voice, she said, "Whatever you said about there only being one judge might be real! But only you can sense that - I certainly cannot. I suddenly fell into a deep coma and realised that I was a judge. Then did you also realise that you were no longer a judge? Perhaps - and more likely - your powers all disappeared!"
"Shut up!" He glared at her all of a sudden. Panic flickered across his face.
But Shen Ying kept going. She emphasised on each word as she continued, "I'm afraid there was no test to begin with.From the beginning, you set your mind on killing me!" Then he would be the only judge left.
"Hmph!" He tutted, as if realising that there was no longer any need to pretend any further. Slowly, his expression turned hateful. "I really did belittle you! When did you begin to suspect me?"
Shen Ying lowered her gaze. "From the moment you tried to kill my men!" He really did hide his motives well. His only mistake was not hiding his killing intent toward Lonemoon and Chef. After that, it was difficult for Shen Ying's supicions not to be raised.
The man stared blankly at her, visibly shocked. "So you knew from the very beginning!" He closed his eyes. When he reopened them, he could no longer hide the murderous intent that filled his entire body. "Then now… How about we battle? Come, fight one round with me." At the cost of all the planes.
"No!" Shen Ying looked at him like he was an idiot. "Why should I fight you?"
"Don't you want to be the only judge?" He spat. "If you don't fight to win right now, wouldn't you fear that I would come back and kill you one day?"
"Your powers are deteriorating day by day. Why should I be afraid of you?" If this drags on, she would not be the one at the losing end. He was no match for her from very early on!
"You…" The man was getting angrier, but he had nothing to say in response. "You keep trying to make me fight you. Would you only be able to stop me from replacing you if I agree?" Shen Ying laughed mirthlessly, seeing through him at once. "I'm sorry - I really cannot cooperate with you!""
Once she finished speaking, she turned to leave. She was way overtime today. She began to wonder if Chef had already started cooking - she was famished.
"Stop right there!" The man was enraged now. He reached out and tried to pull Shen Ying back. Shen Ying had guessed correctly. His powers were deteriorating. In other words, if he failed to kill her today, he would lose his chances of winning forever. There were so many planes in the void as well. If she really did not want to see him again, perhaps he would not be able to find her again before his powers completely dissipated. That was why this was his only chance. This was his only chance to reclaim the title of being the judge!
His expression hardened. Since he could not successfully persuade Shen Ying into giving up the position, he thought of some other way to threaten her.
"I could tolerate the Big Dao Organization's existence. If you leave, aren't you afraid that I would attack the other planes?"
"…" Who cares? Shen Ying did not even bother to turn back. It was more important to her that she got her food.
"Don't forget - you still have those two beloved assistants of yours. It might be easy for you to walk away, but it would not be as easy for either of them to protect their planes."
"…" Shen Ying slowed down.
"Oh, that's right." Seeing that his ploy was working, the man's heart leapt. He continued to threaten her, "You seem to have another older sister as a manager on a higher plane. Perhaps I should start from her."
Shen Ying stopped walking altogether, but she did not turn around. Her fist tightened around the fruit in her hand, reducing it to dust immediately. All the juices flowed down her fingers as she said in a cool voice, "Say that again?" Who do you want to attack? The man's smile looked even more evil. "I remember that her plane isn't too far from here, right? I wonder how long that manager would be able to survive under my palm?"
Swoosh…
Before he could finish speaking, several beams of red light flashed all around him. Immediately, four translucent red walls came up around them, forming a huge red box that trapped them within.
The man looked at the walls with caution. "An encapsulation seal?" But he had never seen a seal like this before.
Shen Ying slowly turned around. Her nonchalant face was now hardened. Her gaze was so icy that it chilled him to his bones. It was almost as if he could freeze to death just by looking at her. There was a frightening aura that surrounded her, and which surged toward him continuously. Suddenly, it filled the entire box. Rage and murderous intent threatened to kill all forms of life within the box. Even the man who was supposed to be a judge, became frightened. He instinctively took a step back. At the same time, he heard Shen Ying shout.
"I dare you to touch even one strand of hair on my sister's head!"
"…"
The man jumped. A moment later, excitement overcame him. He began to laugh aloud, "Hahaha… That's right. You have no other choice now. Fight me." He summoned all the powers he had as a judge. "Otherwise, I will kill your sister… Pu!'
Before he could finish speaking, he felt a sharp pain in his chest. Shen Ying, who had been at least ten steps away from him, suddenly appeared right in front of his face. She punched him squarely in the chest.
He felt immense pain shooting through his entire body. Her frightening powers threatened to crush all of his bones. Even his own powers stirred and seemed to flow out of his body after just one blow from Shen Ying.
Chapter 697: Try If You Dare
The man's chest tightened. He barely managed to stabilise himself and stop himself from turning anymore rounds in the air. Wiping off the blood from his lips, he turned to face Shen Ying and said, "You really are quite capable." He had been negligent. "But…" His face split into a grin once again. As long as she took action, she was bound to lose. Then, his body swayed and he disappeared into thin air.
A moment later.
A power that did not lose to Shen Ying's charged at her. It brought with it a sense of destruction. The surroundings turned dark It was almost as if the chaos in the air sensed danger and knew to retreat. The man's voice sounded all around her. "I'll let you see what it means to be a true judge."
The moment he finished speaking, the power engulfed Shen Ying and spun around her, closing in by the second. With each round, the power in Shen Ying's body lessened by a fraction.
He was absorbing all her powers! "Hahaha… Your powers are mine now! I'm the only judge here!" The man's voice sounded increasingly arrogant. The invisible force tightened around her. There was not much power left in Shen Ying's body. Even the light walls around them began to flicker. They looked like they were about to fall apart at any second. Once the power had finished sucking up all her powers, it headed straight for her.
Swoosh. It brushed past her face and left behind a wound.
Fresh blood began to flow out of the cut on her cheek.
Shen Ying stared blankly at the man. She subconsciously touched the scar on her face, then looked at the strange red of her fingers. Her eyes narrowed. Her black pupils seemed to have been dyed by the blood on her face - there was a tinge of red in them.
The man's attacks were getting increasingly vicious. Shen Ying felt the power around her intensify. She was wiped out of all her powers. She was like an empty oil lamp now. The final layer of defence around her body gave way and shattered to pieces. A crazy energy rushed toward her, threatening to kill her right there and then. Suddenly, red light burst forth from her body. They resembled thousands of sharp blades, attacking the energy that the man had released against her. The light shone through the energy, looking almost like it was going to pierce through the entire Chaos Void.
"Ah…" The man screamed out in pain. All the energy that he had released began to stir, as if they had been attacked by something. "What is this?!" That's impossible. He had already absorbed all of her powers. How could she still have powers? Even then, how could she be powerful enough to defeat someone like him - the essence of power!
Before he could figure it out, Shen Ying reached out and grabbed something from the top. There was nothing in her hands, but he felt like he was being restricted. Huge gusts of wind blew past his ear. The sky and earth began to spin. With a loud smash, he was thrown against the light wall.
"Ah!" The man shouted in pain once again. The power that he had released against Shen Ying seemed to be held back and torn apart by something. "This is impossible! How can you subdue me… Ah!" Shen Ying grabbed the ball of gases and threw it around in all directions. There was a series of crashes. With each crash, the power that the man just absorbed reduced by a fraction. In just a minute, Shen Ying managed to empty out the man's powers with pure brute force.
The man did not even have time to react. He only felt the power draining ot of his body. But this was what snapped him out of his daze and got him to start defending himself again. Suddenly, the ball of gases dissipated and retreated, forming a human figure once again. But he no longer looked as arrogant as he did before. Instead, he looked especially pitiful.
He glared at Shen Ying intently. There was an uncontrollable fear in his eyes. "I've belittled you. I didn't think that you would have advanced to this stage." He was not even able to absorb her powers at this stage.
He continued looking fearfully at Shen Ying, before turning to scan the light walls around them. Something flicked across his eyes. "But there is plenty of time. One day, all the powers in your body will belong to me."
He turned to fly upward. He had miscalculated this time. He did not dare to do anything else. It was best that he retreated first.
"Can you run?" Shen Ying lowered her gaze. The light walls lit up once again, suddenly blocking the man's way.
The man laughed mirthlessly. He raised his hand and shot a beam of energy toward her. "Hmph, how dare you try and stop-" Before he could finish speaking, there was a loud crash. The beam of energy he just released was swallowed by the light wall at once. "How… How can this be?"
His eyes widened in disbelief. Didn't Shen Ying set up these light walls in order to protect all the other planes from getting destroyed in the course of their battle? How could they fend against a blow that took all of his power?"
Before he could give this any further thought, Shen Ying raised her hand. On top of the light walls, a hundred thousand beams of red light appeared. They were very densely packed together, and all headed toward the man. He was not prepared. The beams of light pierced right through his body. He instinctively tried to turn into a formless energy once again, but he was stuck. Something had sealed all the powers in his body. He could not change forms anymore. All he could do was watch as the red beams of light pierced through his body and drew blood. What's more, he was helpless as he felt his powers flow right out of his wounds. He felt like a deflating balloon - there was nothing he could do to stop the power from leaking out.
"This… This is impossible! Why is this happening? My powers… No, No!" He was beginning to panic now. His eyes widened in terror as he tried desperately to close up the holes in his body. But he found he could not move at all. Something was locking him in place. There was really nothing he could do to stop this from happening.
"What kind of light is this?!" His face drained of all colour as he glared at Shen Ying, refusing to take his eyes off her. He seemed to think of something. Eyes widening even more, he exclaimed, "This isn't a judge's power… Judges can't do this! Who are you? What kind of person are you?!"
Shen Ying did not answer him. All she did was walk slowly toward him, her expression icy and unflinching. Her red eyes were especially frightening. They alone threatened to destroy everything around her.
The man tried to defend himself, but now that he was unable to move, all he could do was watch her inch closer to him until she was standing right beside him. She reached out and grabbed his neck, then lifted him up.
She had her hands around his neck, but he felt somehow like his entire body was being squeezed by her. The pressure was increasing by the second. Suddenly, he felt a god-like force squeeze his innards. An unthinkable pain shot across his entire body.
THe man's eyes grew wider and wider. There was absolute fear in his eyes as he began to twist and turn in pain. He flickered back and forth between a formless ball of energy and a man. "No… No, don't kill me! I was wrong… Please… I beg you!"
But Shen Ying did not let go. She just tightened her grip around his neck and narrowed her eyes. Emphasising each word, she muttered, "I don't care what you do to me. But my older sister… I won't let you touch even a strand of her hair!" The moment she finished speaking, she clenched her fist and crushed the man's soul. With a loud bang, the man exploded into a myriad of energies.
Chapter 698: Just Want to Eat
Once the man died, a huge force shot throughout the surroundings, causing the entire Chaos Void to tremble. The good thing was a huge portion of the force was contained within the light walls, so that the planes around the Chaos Void remained relatively unaffected.
Shen Ying raised her hand and caused the light walls around to reduce back into a small red box. The red box contained a white energy.
She glanced at it, frowned, and then tossed the box in her storage bag without bothering to take another look. It was not until then that the red in her eyes slowly faded.
[B-B-Boss?]
The parenting system called out. It had been left outside the light walls, so it remained unharmed. The Boss it caught a glimpse of earlier was so… scary! She looked so much scarier than she did before. Shen Ying looked up and glanced at it. "Did you swallow up the entire main system?"
[I… I did!] The parenting system's cartoon eye blinked rapidly. Boss had commanded it to do so. Once it got a physical body, Boss promoted it and instructed it to swallow the entire main system once she took it down. This way, the parenting system would be made new again Even if there were still other supplementary systems in the various planes, at least the parenting system would be able to control them.
[Reporting to Boss - I searched and found that there are a total of 1568 supplementary systems still scattered in the various planes! Do you want me to recall them?]
"Oh." Shen Ying tilted her head, clearly uninterested. She raised her hand to open the plane passage. "Let's go home to have some food first."
I'm so hungry…
[Yes, Boss! No problem, Boss!] Indeed, Boss was still Boss. As long as it could hang on to her thighs, there was nothing that it had to be afraid of. Mm… it wasn't even scared earlier!
(づ̄3 ̄)づ╭❤~
—————
"Chef, slow down. Ahya… It hurts, it hurts, it hurts… Can you freaking slow down?"
"What time is it… How can I slow down!"
"I… I can't hang on any longer."
"Hang on!"
"How can I hang on when it comes to this? Why don't you go under me and give it a shot!" "I know, just give it to me."
"That's what you said an hour ago. Oh…. it hurts, it hurts, it hurts…"
Shen Ying, who just returned: "…"
She rubbed her eyes and looked again at the two people who seemed to be huddled close together. They did not seem to have any tops on. Speaking of this… Did she come back at an inappropriate time?
o(╯□╰)o
"What are you doing?" Why did she suddenly feel like she was being cuckolded?
The two of them finally turned around to face her. "Shen Ying!" Lonemoon looked shocked.
In a flash, the person beside him appeared right in front of Shen Ying. She felt something tightened around her waist and pull her into an embrace. The person was hugging her so tightly. It was making her empty stomach hurt even more than it already did. But the arms around her seemed to be trembling a bit as well, as if they were checking something. A head was buried in her hair. After a long time, a hoarse and weak voice said, "Master…"
"…" Shen Ying wanted to pry his arms away, but on further thought, stroked Chef's back gently instead. "Mm."
"Are you alright?" Lonemoon asked worriedly as he walked over to Shen Ying as well. Without any regard for Chef's feelings, he pulled Shen Ying from his embrace and began to scan her from head to toe. He pulled at her arm and pinched her cheeks. "Your muscles are all here and none of your limbs are broken. You're alive!" He heaved a sigh of relief. He felt like a tightened guitar string finally let loose. He gave her a sideways glance and said, "Holy shit, what kind of cheat are you? How can you escape something like that unscathed?" The man they saw earlier was the scariest opponent that either of them had ever met. He must have been extremely dangerous, or Shen Ying would not have sent them back here without any warning. This proved that she herself was not sure that she would win the battle. But now she was back, and unharmed.
"You're not faking this, are you?" Lonemoon thought of something and his expression changed.
Chef became nervous and started to inspect her body as well. "Master?"
"I'm fine!" Shen Ying pursed her lips and stepped backward. It's fine if you want to pinch my cheeks, but do you have to bite me? Are you trying to test if I'm made out of pure 24K diamond?
"Master, that's what you said the last time." Chef frowned, getting increasingly worried. When they opened the new plane before, she faked it for a long time as well. In the end, nobody knew that there was something wrong with her until she went into the coma. "That's right," Lonemoon said. He was thinking about that too. "Your credibility is in the negatives now. If you're really hurt… No, I have to ask Older Sister Jing to come and take a look."
Chef nodded and said, "It'll take too long if we ask her to come. Let's go over there!"
"Alright, let's head over there now." As they spoke, Lonemoon opened the plane passage that led them to Older Sister Jing's plane. This time, there was no trouble with opening the plane passage.
Chef nervously turned to face Shen Ying. "Master, you're very weak now. I'll carry you over."
"Be careful - take care to help her lie flat. I'll take her legs!"
Once they finished speaking, Chef carried Shen Ying by the waist. Lonemoon lifted Shen Ying's legs. Before Shen Ying could say anything, both of them carried her right through the plane gate. Thus, the person who finally had a chance to take a rest day and who was at home sipping her coffee, looked up to see two men dressed improperly, and her very own younger sister.
Shen Ying: "…"
Shen Jing: "…"
Eh, are you 110?
( ̄△̄;)
——————
Ten minutes later.
Shen Jing reached out to take off the inspection equipment from Shen Ying's head. She glanced at the screen beside her, then looked at the nervous Lonemoon and Yi Qing somewhat curiously. It was then that she said, "Apart from the fact that her cholesterol seem a lot higher than before, all her data looks normal." She reached out and touched Shen Ying's stomach, then pinched it. It was all fats.
Lonemoon heaved a sigh of relief once again. Chef, however, did not seem to understand what Shen Jing had just said. He jumped to his feet and asked in an even more worried tone, "Elder Shen, may I ask whether the increase in this so-called "cordless troll" value is serious? How do we treat it?" He turned to look grudgingly at Shen Ying. "Master, you're really sick!" How could she try to lie to them!
Lonemoon: "…"
Shen Ying: "…"
Shen Jing: "…"
"Elder Shen!" Chef was getting worried that no reply was coming from Shen Jing. "She's alright - she won't die!" Shen Ying answered, pursing her lips. Then, she added, "She just needs to eat less!"
Chef paused. He finally understood what Shen Jing was saying. His cheeks began to turn red.
"What happened?" Shen Jing frowned, scanning the group. "What happened that made you so daring as to barge into my home on such a pleasant day? Why did you rush Little Ying… here for an inspection?"
Lonemoon and Chef exchanged a meaningful look. Then, together with Shen Jing, they turned to face Shen Ying.
Shen Ying was just about to reach for the bag of potato chips beside her. But her hand stopped in mid-air. "Why not… Why not we have dinner first?" I'm really hungry!
"No!" The three of them responded in unison.
Her cholesterol was already so high - how dare she still talk about having dinner!
"…." Are the three of you demons?
"Then… Why not the two of you put your clothes on first?" Shen Ying let out a long sigh. "While I'm already starving, it's extremely tortuous to make me say what happened while facing two half-naked men."
"…"
Chapter 699: Untitled
"A judge?" Shen Jing hesitated, frowning.
"Older Sister Jing, you haven't heard of them either?" Lonemoon asked suspiciously.
"Mm." Shen Jing shook her head. "I really haven't heard of such people. There are countless planes in the Chaos Void. I only know of two monitors - Mi Le and myself." She turned to Shen Ying. "Little Ying, your powers are extraordinary - far greater than that of monitors. Are you a judge, just like the person who tried to attack you?"
Shen Ying, who was still holding on to the bag of chips, looks up. As she chewed, she said, "I thought I was at the beginning, but after he tried to attack me, I realised I might not be."
"What do you mean?" The three of them stared blankly at her.
He was too weak. Shen Ying pondered for a moment, then retrieved the parenting system from her pocket. She turned it in her hands and said, "The one from my home - play the recording."
[Yes, Boss! No problem, Boss!]
The parenting system's cartoon eye blinked. The square flashed with a white glow. Suddenly, the scene in the house changed. They saw Shen Ying and the so-called judge, fighting in the Chaos Void.
A moment later, they heard a terrified male voice asking what kind of person Shen Ying was. Then, immediately after, Shen Ying crushed his body into pieces. The battle ended just like that, within ten minutes. Compared to the other people that Shen Ying had defeated, this was not that different. The only difference was she looked much more serious this time.
"I've already destroyed his body. This is all that's left of him," Shen Ying said, placing the translucent box on the table. The white ball of energy still remained inside. "This ball of energy was his judge's power. Part of it is still spread out across the Chaos Void - there's no way of retrieving it. I tried to take this energy apart, but it seems to be… rejecting me." She thought it would be quite a pity to just throw it away as well, so she took it back with her.
"The energy rejected you?" Shen Jing frowned. She turned to face Shen Ying. "The energy has no sentience. If the judge's consciousness has already been destroyed, how can the energy still reject you?"
Lonemoon and Yi QIng reacted at the same time. What Shen JIng said made sense. To put things simply, energy was like bread. Although there are many different flavours, they are all still meant to be eaten. It made sense that certain people prefer not to eat particular flavours of bread - but not that the bread would reject the person eating it.
" I don't understand it either," Shen Ying reached out and placed her hand atop the box. Indeed, a second later, the white energy let out piercing sounds. Streaks of lightning-like lines appeared within the box - the energy was trying to strike at her hand. It seemed to be rejecting her presence.
"It really is rejecting you!" Lonemoon looked curiously at the box. He studied it very closely before passing it to Yi Qing for him to study it. Neither of them could see anything strange about the energy. Then, they thought of something. In a low voice, Lonemoon said, "Could the judge's remnant soul still be hidden within?" After all, it was a judge - much more terrifying than a monitor. It was possible that his after-life would be something they have never witnessed before.
The moment Lonemoon finished speaking, everyone's - except Shen Ying's - expression changed.
"That's not completely impossible. Let me take a looK!" Shen Jing's expression hardened. She summoned a screen and scanned the data of the energy inside the box. Compared to Shen Ying's data from before, this set of numbers looked particularly pitiful. Only the "energy" section did not reflect a reading.
Shen Jing took another closer look at the box as her expression darkened. "There is nothing wrong with the data. There are also no signs of any remnant souls there. Logically, the energy should not be rejecting Shen Ying. I have to conduct more research into this. I can't tell…" As she spoke, she reached out for the box and tried to bring it back into the room. The moment she touched it, the entire box exploded with white light. "Older Sister!" Shen Ying exclaimed. She reached out to pull Shen JIng aside, but it was too late. The energy that had been trapped inside the box suddenly charged at Shen Jing at top speed, entering her body.
The next moment, Shen Jing's entire body glowed white. The entire house was covered in this light. Then, the light started to flow out of Shen Jing's body in crazy volumes.
Shen Ying was pushed back by the impact. Lonemoon and Yi Qing rushed forward as the sofa, the coffee table, tables and chairs turned to ash, along with everything else in the house. The walls and ground started to disappear as well, threatening to take the entire plane down with it.
Shen Ying waved her hand and created a space outside of the plane. She pushed the few of them in, pulling Lonemoona and Yi Qing along before they could fly out.
"Older Sister!" Shen Ying's expression darkened. She tried to find Shen Jing amidst the blinding light. Lonemoon pulled her back. "Wait, Shen Ying! The light is dissipating…"
Shen Ying paused. Indeed, the light was disappearing as quickly as it came. It followed the huge gust of energy that swept past them earlier. Nothing stayed in Shen Jing's body. Even the white glow around her had dissipated. Everything lasted less than two seconds. If the box had not been floating right in front of her eyes, she would have thought that the frightening energy never even appeared.
"Older Sister?" Shen Ying took one step toward Shen Jing. "Are you alright?"
"Mm." Shen Jing looked to her hands, as a look of confusion flashed across her face. "I think…"
She thinks?
Shen Ying was just about to get even closer to Shen Jing when both Lonemoon's and Yi Qing's expression changed.Their eyes widened in shock as they stared at Shen Jing. "Shen Ying! Her aura…"
"What?" Shen Ying paused.
"Holy shit, can't you see?" Lonemoon was getting increasingly shocked. "Her… Her energy…" Is suddenly so frightening! She was already frightening before, but that was nothing compared to the way she was now. It caused them to be… afraid to even get anywhere near her."
"Her energy?" Shen Ying tilted her head. "What's wrong?" Is there a difference?
"Master, Elder Shen's aura…" Yi Qing responded. "It feels the same as that of the judge from before."
Shen Ying lowered her gaze. On closer inspection, she realised that her older sister really did feel different. Although the difference was not that obvious to her, her older sister did seem a bit more like the judge from before. Could it be that…
"Older Sister…"
"Mm." Shen Jing nodded. She processed the sudden flood of information in her head regarding her energy. "The energy that you kept in that box has merged with mine."
Merged?
"Then now you are…?" Lonemoon could not help but ask.
Shen Jing let her hands drop by her side as she turned to address the three of them in a low voice.
"Mm, I am now the judge!"
Shen Ying: "…" Lonemoon: "…"
Yi Qing: "…"
Σ(°△°|||)
Huh?
Chapter 700: The Reason for Judgment
"Older Sister Jing, you really are… a judge now?" Lonemoon looked at her disbelievingly. Her entire body was emanating this frightening aura. The fear that they felt now was very different from before. Now, she seemed to them like an unreachable mountain peak. Just one look at her threatened to overwhelm them.
"If the information I received while the energy was merging with mine was right, then yes, I really am!" Shen Jing clenched her fists by her side and frowned. "And… In that moment, I gained information about all the planes in the Chaos Void." This feeling was very similar to what she felt when she became a manager earlier. She felt like she could control all the living things with just one word. But where she could only control the living things in her plane before, she could now control all the living things in the Void.
"…"
Wasn't the energy rejecting people? Both Lonemoon and Chef had touched that box earlier, but the energy did not merge with theirs. Why did it merge with Shen Jing's the moment she touched it? Did the energy have the ability to choose who it wanted to enter? It seemed to only favour those who were already formidable.
o( ヘ̄ ̄o#)
Wait, that was not right!
Even if it wanted to choose, shouldn't it have chosen Shen Ying? She was the strongest cheat around.
"Why did that energy merge with Older Sister Jing's?" Lonemoon instinctively asked.
Shen Ying searched her brain for all the information she had regarding the energy. Then, she explained, "it's not just me. The energy would enter any manager that would be able to take it."
"Then earlier…" He and Chef both touched the box. Shen Jing glanced at him and changed the topic. "To be more accurate… anyone apart from Shen Ying would be able to take in this energy. The only difference lies in whether their bodies would be able to withstand it."
The three of them stared blankly at her. What did she mean? It was not that the energy liked Shen Jing, but that it disliked Shen Ying?
"This energy really does reject Little Ying," Shen Jing continued. "As her assistants, your powers belong to her. Naturally, the energy would not want to merge with yours."
"Why?" Shen Ying frowned. "The energy does not have a consciousness." From the beginning, she felt the judge's consciousness disappear from the ball of energy. It was not possible that this ball of energy would still reject her then, was it?
"What's rejecting you is not the consciousness of the previous judge," Shen Ying said as she turned to face her. "It's the entire Chaos Void." Lonemoon: "…"
Yi Qing: "…"
Shen Ying: "…"
What?
Were there not already enough people who hated her? Did the entire population as a whole have to hate her too?
(o )ノ
"Little Ying, you must have already felt this - your powers are extraordinary," Shen Jing sighed. She looked at Shen Ying uncertainly. "Even I - as a judge now - can't tell where the boundaries of your powers are. In the entire Chaos Void, no other person is stronger than a judge except you!" "Then…" Lonemoon turned to face Shen Jing, before glancing at Shen Ying. "What exactly… is Shen Ying?"
"She…" Shen Jing frowned, as if looking for the right adjective to use. A moment later she said, "I think she was an accident!"
(⊙_⊙)
What the hell?
"If I'm understanding the information correctly, her powers and her existence is an accident." A look of confusion flashed across Shen Jing's face once again. She thought of something, then let out a deep sigh. "She should not even be here on this earth. I was the one who summoned her by force. That was why she's considered an accident. She started off as a normal human being, but after going through my training, she accidentally became my assistant. Then, she transmigrated to another plane and gained powers that were different from everything she knew. She became a manager there by accident as well."
Shen JIng stepped forward and scanned Shen Ying from head to toe. She continued, "Everything that happened to her should not have happened, but they have. Ordinarily, these little things would mean nothing on their own. But the people who have directly or indirectly caused all these to happen are her assistants - you two managers - and me - a monitor. That was why everything that happened was not under the control of rules nor predictions, nor even the judge at the time."
Lonemoon hesitated. it took him a long time to process what Shen Jing was saying. In other words, Shen Ying was nothing - she was really just a cheat?!
( ̄△̄;)
"What happened to the judge earlier then?" Shen Ying asked. She was holding onto another bag of chips, which she seemed to have gotten from out of nowhere.
Lonemoon and Yi Qing stared at her for a long time before they finally reacted. That's right! Even Shen Jing, who had become a judge, knew about these things. Why did the judge who attacked Shen Ying earlier come courting death then? Shen Jing pondered for a moment and guessed, "I think he was blind!"
"…"
"Judges and managers are quite the same, and there is only one of them. Little Ying's appearance could have affected his powers. He might have sensed that danger was near. This was the Chaos Void alerting him. But he must have misunderstood that the Chaos Void had chosen a second judge. That was probably why he was trying to take Little Ying out."
"…" He even got that wrong. He must have been blind indeed.
"Or perhaps he had snatched this judge title for himself as well. That was probably why he thought that he had to defeat Little Ying in order to gain her powers."
He snatched them!
Lonemoon and Yi Qing recalled something and exchanged a meaningful glance. "The main system!"
That's right. They had been chasing the invader supplementary system the entire time. It was only then that they realised that there was a judge. What's more, the judge had stopped Shen Ying from destroying the main system earlier. On hindsight, be it the main system's standards or how well the man managed to hide the Big Dao Organisation, the one thing in common between these two things was that he was stealing power from other planes. The only difference was the scale of these operations.
When Shen Ying was battling him, he allowed Shen Ying to make the first move as well. He even kept threatening to harm Shen Jing just to get Shen Ying to take action. Wasn't this style of forcing the other party into action exactly the same as what the supplementary system did to steal the original master's primary soul.
"Holy shit!" Lonemoon cursed under his breath. From the looks of it, things were really as Shen Jing was describing. The judge from before probably snatched power from so many places in order to get where he was. They had no idea how many planes he had to destroy in order to get there. It was no wonder that he had his eye on Shen Ying, the cheat. "If that's the case…" Yi Qing thought about something and turned to face Shen Jing. "Since the energy just merged with Elder Shen, then you…" Can't be, right?
"There's no need for you to worry about this matter," Shen Jing said to Lonemoon and Yi Qing. "You don't just need power to become the judge of the Chaos Void. The important thing is that the Chaos Void recognises you as the judge. If the previous judge had snatched people's powers in order to get to his position, then he probably did not attain the full affirmation of the Chaos Void. That was probably also why he lost his powers."
"Then you-"
"Me?" Shen Jing suddenly grinned. But she did not sound too excited. Instead, she gave Shen Ying a strange look and pursed her lips. A moment later, she said, "We have to see what Little Ying thinks."
"Shen Ying?" Lonemoon and Yi Qing turned to exchange a look again. What does this have to do with her? "The judge's responsibility is to maintain the entire Chaos Void, and ensure a balance among all the planes. An accident like Little Ying must have caused some kind of imbalance in the elements. Yet, even the judge can't do anything about it."
"So?"
"So the Chaos Void chose the only person who can do something to control her." Shen JIng pointed to herself and emphasised each word as she said, "It chose me."
Lonemoon: "…"
Yi Qing: "…"
This… was the reason that Shen Jing had become the judge? In order to keep Shen Ying under control? This sounded almost childish, but for some reason it sounded very logical as well.
Shen Ying: "…" Son of a b*tch!