Chapter 51: Start Farming!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
It might be that the two giant rats were too at ease, that they were entirely unperturbed about the structural integrity of the tunnels dug by other underground rats. They did not split up, and instead ran past twists and turns in their tunnel. As a result, Fang Ning and the System had to follow the two rats through mountains and rivers before the two red circles in the map finally stopped.
Vigilante A halted his steps, and Fang Ning studied his surroundings using the System View. They were now below a cliff.
“There’s an abandoned valley right in front that is surrounded by cliffs. There’s no way out, and they could only enter the place underground. This could prevent people from laying siege in the area, and it’s also very difficult for others to locate this place from above.” The System explained.
Fang Ning studied the System Map closely. Just as what the System has said, the place before them was an abandoned valley, circled with thick veils of mist. It was indeed difficult for someone to spot it from the sky, and if it weren’t for how detailed the System Map was, it would’ve been very difficult for Fang Ning to point it out.
“Cunning things indeed. They had prepared a hiding spot beforehand! Why, could we get up?” Fang Ning asked.
The System answered, “Of course. Why are there numerous yellow spots popping up around them, though?”
Fang Ning guessed, “They’re probably the rats’ subordinates who guard their base and avoid detection by the mountain hunters and backpackers. They probably had blood on their hands as well.”
The System pointed out, “Look at their color on the map. All of them had a tinge of red in them, so you’re probably right. If that’s the case, I shall go and farm them all now.”
The hero leaped off the ground, and with no support from the air current, leaped up the cliff using minimal contact with the stone surface. Fang Ning felt an odd sort of serenity when he witnessed this, and he soon found himself to be standing on top of the valley. Just like what was shown on the map, the entire valley was shrouded in layers of mist, and since the place was not very spacious in the first place, it would have been extremely easy to miss it.
The System controlled Fang Ning’s body as it flew down into the Valley, quietly approaching where the red dots were. Fang Ning’s eyes were clear, and he was quietly astonished.
On the steep surface of the cliff, caves of all sizes opened into the mountain. The small ones could only fit an ordinary rat, but the largest could fit an elephant. Now, those two red dots were in the biggest cave.
Using the aura-masking talisman that he looted off a monster the System killed, Vigilante A merged the buff with the System’s own martial arts skill that hides his presence as he went closer to the target. No one realized his presence, and the System gradually shifted Fang Ning’s body to sneak into the biggest cave to quietly observed the activities within.
Soon, they captured the conversation between the Bai couples, and Fang Ning immediately held the System back for some eavesdropping.
Madam Bai said, “Shi Ping, take note of the surroundings. I’ve exhaust too much of my magical energy just now.”
Bai Shiping replied, “I understand. It was such a close call today, and thankfully we had prepared ourselves for this. Through the years, we’ve established a complex tunneling system that connects almost all of the key locations, and that has helped us to escape today. A Humans’ Morality Chassis is one of the biggest threats to our kind, and we, the gigantic rats, could only stand on our own two feet after we’ve established our own status. We could only fight back when we also have the Mind Power from our own kind.”
“This isn’t much,” Madam Bai commented, “I was curious, though; how did those folks from the Special Investigations Unit find us this easily? Our decision to go over was only made after something happened to Shuang-er and the girls, and it was impossible for them to ambush us when our decisions are all made on the spot. The only ones who would know about our immediate movements were our kind who made contact with us along the way, and also that electronic positioning map of all our kind that is with the Elder Ancestor.”
Bai Shiping asked, “Madam, are you suspecting that we have a traitor among us?”
Madam Bai was grim. “I’m not suspecting. I’m sure about it.”
Bai Shiping gritted, “D*mn it, I risked my life to run about tirelessly, working for our kind, and now you say that there’s someone who is betraying us? What benefits could the humans possibly give?”
Madam Bai answered, “What else? They could give out just one green card 1 and some would go running for it already. Quite a number of the demons were so mesmerized by the colors of this world, and they very much wish to live here for the rest of their lives. Although it’s difficult to admit, what Qiao Zishan said just now could very much make a big impact on the grand scale of things. Besides, it is very easy for them to follow through their promises; the human world is so big, and they’re rich enough to just give the traitor some cash on top of a new identity. The traitor would live a relatively good life then, and it’s much more comfortable than digging through dirt like we have been doing underground.”
Bai Shiping spat, “Godd*mn it, when did this traitor start doing dirty work for the humans? How long has our information been leaked out to the humans?”
Madam Bai sighed, “I have no idea now, but I do have an approximate guess when. Still, we need to think of a way to weed out that person.”
Bai Shiping replied, “The Elder Ancestor hated having internal conflicts like this. We don’t have enough of us in the first place, and it will be difficult for us to take action against our own without any proof. Now all we have is suspicion and no proof, so how could we do that?”
Madam Bai’s eyes flashed icy cold. “We kill with a borrowed knife.” 2
Bai Shiping looked confused. “Who will be the knife?”
Madam Bai said, “Vigilante A.”
Bai Shiping was stunned momentarily. Fang Ning, who was hiding outside of the cave, froze at the mention of Vigilante A. He never even met Madam Bai before, why and how would he be used to do their dirty work? The knife that she was dealing with was quick, but not gullible.
Bai Shiping asked, “How?”
Madam Bai gave a cursory glance at her surrounding to make sure that there’s no one else around. Then, she whispered, “I recall the information I’ve read, and one of Qiao Zhishan’s words have reminded me that eating humans is the hard line that demons are not allowed to cross. I bet that Shuang-er and the girls’ habit of eating humans must have been one of the reasons that contributed to Vigilante A’s discovery of their identity. They must’ve been killed after that. Apparently, that hero will never get his hands onto even a drip of an innocent’s blood, and I believe that rule applies to demons as well.”
Bai Shiping quickly caught up to the thought process. “I understand what you’re trying to say now. Since that traitor would want to live its life with the humans in the future, it would definitely control its actions and not cross that line in an attempt to gain the trust from the top. Otherwise, humans will never believe it, and it will be killed off after it has completed its mission. As long as we intentionally send a few suspects to Qi City and arrange for them to meet Vigilante A, we can see the hero spared. Then, we’ll have our traitor. For the visions of our Elder Ancestor, those who are on our side would choose to eat humans to quickly increase our magic energy. The huge problem of manpower is dragging our development down when the vitality is slowly recovering, after all.”
Madam Bai reaffirmed that idea. “Exactly. Then, we can spread the news from the backseat, and Vigilante A would definitely think that it was his fault that an innocent has died. The situation in China will surely be affected, and following his modus operandi, he would definitely be plagued by his failure and be trapped in a spiritual desolation that would greatly harm his Morality Chassis. Then, we could kill two birds with one stone, as we made our revenge while also completing Shuang-er’s mission.”
Bai Shiping praised, “Madam, your intelligence is unrivaled.”
A chill shot down Fang Ning’s spine when he heard that. It was unavoidable and natural for Vigilante A’s behavior to be analyzed by those who paid attention; after all, he had no way of hiding it, and it was really too obvious. However, he never expected it to be used this way. He really shouldn’t underestimate this bunch.
The System Map will paint some red over those who have sinned, and that applies even if the name itself was yellow. They couldn’t understand the rule behind that, but they could use Vigilante A’s principle of not harming the innocent to play into their agenda. No wonder these demons could not stand living in the shadows of humans anymore; their intelligence was on par with the humans’.
Though, the last part of their deduction wouldn’t apply. As the idiotic, non-human System with no common sense, it would probably miss the fact that it was lied to, much less getting itself trapped in spiritual desolation. Fang Ning, on the other hand, would definitely feel guilty for quite some time.
Fang Ning wanted to listen longer so that he would not be tricked as easily in the future, but the achievement and EXP oriented System was once again urging him to start farming.
The System shouted, “Move!”
Fang Ning barked, “Wait!”
Madam Bai continued, “Sadly, we’ve been exposed now, and soon the Truth Department would come up to sweep the Bai Family out of the picture. The only meaning left in removing the traitor is to affect Vigilante A, and indirectly delay the maturity of the Celestial Dragon. However, since all of our chess pieces are already in place, getting rid of the Bai Family would do nothing much.” She scoffed, “We must be thankful that the humans love to fight amongst themselves. We grew stronger when they were busy having conflicts with each other, or otherwise, we would have been found out when we first started to eat humans. Thankfully, there’s a mysterious external human influence from outside of China that helped us hide our tracks. We would’ve never been able to set everything up without them.”
Bai Shiping agreed. “You’re right, madam. Before this, they had no competitors on this planet, and no matter how much they killed each other, they wouldn’t need to worry about extinction. That conniving and mysterious influence outside of China wasn’t altruistic, either; they thought they could sit and watch the war from afar, and only show up for the cleanup. Didn’t we order our people to intentionally break the underground communication channels? Their stocks plummeted when the internet was disconnected. This is just the beginning, and as we take advantage of their critical pressure points, we no longer need to worry that we would go without their support. Then, humans will finally give us the underground!”
The two rats exchanged a look before they cackled together. “Hahahahahaha….”
Fang Ning was boiling in rage when he heard that. These two gigantic rats were discussing something that deeply offended his game-playing hermit soul. He just wanted to safely play his games, was that so hard to achieve? Where did all these troublemakers come from?
These people refused to live their good lives, and instead thought of weird ways to mess up the society. Aside from causing a wide disconnection for two days, they even caused peace-loving citizens like him to live in fear that they’re going to be disconnected again! They could no longer play their games without worries!
There’re so many novels and games waiting for him back in the System Space, and Fang Ning had no time to worry over plots and plans like this. One word rules all: Farm!
Once he farmed all of these half-witted ambitious leaders, the others would definitely learn their lesson and finally be a law-abiding citizen of the society. Then, he could go back to his hermit life.
The System had no intentions of dominating the world. Since there was no level cap for the System and it only wanted to survive and increase its abilities, the ambitious bunch that appeared became the best boss monster for it to farm. All of them must be neck deep in blood and sin as their red spot was almost black!
“Sir System, let’s start farming!” Fang Ning shouted in fury.
The System rejoiced, “Great! It’s rare for you to once again be Enraged! I’ll get the most suitable song to put it on loop for you, and you must maintain your status! I have no intention to let even one of them escape my hunt! Aggro is of utmost importance!”
Then, Fang Ning recognized the System’s choice of music. Within the eerie misted valley, a song of mighty rhythm echoed excitedly. Fang Ning sighed, “Oh, Sir System, you’re really the star of the show…”
It was the anthem of the People’s Volunteer Army.
