Seized by the System

After the black steam-powered train had zoomed past everyone, a mysterious conversation was carried out in its empty cab.

“Lock, was that guy stupid? Did he think we would stop for him just by waiting there?”

“Danny, he’s not stupid. On the contrary, he’s strong, so much stronger than the three groups of people before. Seeing how the others look at him, he must be an important person among the humans. Perhaps he’s so used to having people take care of him, he thought we would too.”

“Lock, in that case, he’s a laughable and pompous man. He knew nothing about the horrors of the Spectral Train. Powerful people among the regulars, important men among the humans, none of these mean anything to us. He’s just an arrogant man. Hilarious.”

“Danny, maybe he didn’t know how to purchase tickets? We made the two we just sent into the arcane realm purchase their tickets by burying three thousand bodies beneath the tracks. They were idiots though, spending three whole months to bury the bodies one by one. I think they’re the weaker humans, what do they call them now? A ‘loser’ or something?”

“Oh, that’s right, that’s the term, Lock. Since the one we had just passed is a bigshot, we should give him a VIP treatment… Also, let’s tell him that as long as he could pay the fees, this arcane realm that allows users to become immortal would open up to him, and he will be granted priority.”

“Haha, that’s right, Danny. Let’s do that. He would definitely agree to this. He’s strong, but I can see his lifespan is only 670 years. Immortality must still be attractive to him.”

“Naturally. No man can resist the temptation of immortality. Too bad we’re born a little late. If we had been born a few hundred years earlier, we could have all the freshly-dead bodies we want and someone would still send it to us.”

…

Vigilante A had just begun to chase after the ghostly train before he stopped.

The old steam train had stopped in its tracks disobeying the laws of physics and slowly backing up.

Qiao Zishan and the others exchanged a curious glance and immediately shared a sigh of relief.

‘That’s more like it. The train was obviously from the mysterious arcane realm. From our information, it was most likely a vehicle to transport the future master of the Realm.’

The Eastern Pharos’s light shone brilliantly in every corner of Earth. With his strength and talent, he should be a priority guest.

It was why they had subconsciously held the opinion that the train had come for Vigilante A.

Qiao Zijiang said, impressed, “Venerable One was so mighty, even the creepy ghostly train came back for him.”

Everyone nodded.

The System said, “Hey, Mr. Billionaire, you got it right once again, it did come back… since it returned to amend its mistake, I’ll hold off on taking it apart.”

Fang Ning frowned. He was not as immature as the System, and he knew all about Vigilante A, so he would never overestimate himself.

‘Is Sir System strong? Yes, it is.’

‘Is it weak? Extremely, in some ways.’

Vigilante A was strongly limited, it was just no one had noticed, or if they had, no one had targeted him specifically for it.

His thoughts were completely opposite of Qiao Zishan and the others.

To him, the train’s overshot and return was weird…

So he decided to be even more cowardly…

He withdrew into the blacksmith’s forge, where it was still producing items for Vigilante A’s webshop, and hugged the golden sword tightly.

If Black Cat Tom had seen Fang Ning, it would be so impressed that it would prostrate. Compared to Fang Ning, it was still not cowardly enough.

Everyone from the Special Investigations Unit, the Qiao siblings, and Ding Xiang were not stupid.

They surmised that the train’s return was to invite the Venerable Dragon God to get in.

However, they still clustered around him and remained alerted.

They were not trying to protect Vigilante A.

They actually only wanted to seek protection from Vigilante A, the defensive formation was just for show…

Vigilante A’s cultivation of Morality was unique in the world. Even Qiao Zishan who specialized in Morality cultivation had admitted several times that Vigilante A’s cultivation was far beyond his own. The last few breakthroughs were all because of him.

Since that was the case, the eerie train reeking of Death Energy would not be able to hurt them if they stood beside the Venerable Dragon God.

While they were deep in thoughts, the train approached them in reverse.

This time, it did not zoom past them, slowing to a halt right in front of Vigilante A.

Immediately after, an old, rusty, metallic door swung open from the inside of the locomotive.

A white man wearing a white clergy robe appeared at the door. He looked at the people with a smile.

His illusory body was evident against the dense ivy bushes on the train tracks, showing his etherealness.

‘A ghost!’

That was the first conclusion everyone had deduced.

“Let the clever Danny guess, you all are here because you would like to get on the train toward the Land of Eternity and find the Eternal Fountain, am I right?”

Sharing glances, no one was able to give a concrete answer.

The pastor-looking man who called himself Danny did not mind. He continued, “It must be so. But you know, the price to get on the train is expensive. The one you all are surrounding looks like an important man, he’s much stronger than the last few batches of people, I believe the price wouldn’t be a problem to him.”

“But you have to be quick, it seems they had already found the Eternal Fountain.”

“How much was the ticket?” Qiao Zijiang was impatient and asked.

Seeing that, a proud smile appeared on Danny’s ethereal face.

As expected, as a former fellow human, the short-lived, immortality had always been a source of great allure.

“Well, it’s not expensive, considering the power of the mister you were surrounding, it should be easy to achieve our price.”

Everyone was audibly relieved. He was right, if anyone in this world could pay the price for the ticket, it would have been Vigilante A, for if he could not pay the ticket, few in this world would be able to achieve it!

“Ten thousand fresh bodies, all dead for not more than five minutes. Bury them under this train track in the valley with each body separated by one stride. Of course, do not stack on those that were buried before, so you best be choosing another segment to bury them, this track is long…”

Danny said casually and gave them some tips.

Having heard that, everyone’s face darkened.

‘No wonder there are so many bodies beneath the tracks, they were the price of boarding the train!’

Qiao Zishan steeled his face in burning hatred.

He thought all the buried bodies were killed and put in there for that reason!

‘There is something as evil as this out there!’

‘Pharos of the East, his light shines all over the world, but he was still limited by his reach. There are plenty of unavoidable areas of shadow, so I must work harder to assist him!’

Qiao Zijiang frowned for a different reason.

She had seen those bodies, they were obviously collected from different unnatural causes of death, like death by car accident, death by falling, and there were those who died of sickness and old age.

However, it sounded like he wanted only sacrifices!

“Huh? You seem surprised?” Danny’s eyes widened as he opened his arms in feigned bewilderment. “Isn’t this a very simple thing? There are so many people out there, and you are strong. We only asked for ten thousand people. You do know this is an access to the Eternal Fountain? The Eternal Fountain!”

“Didn’t you humans want immortality for the past thousands of years?”

He kept emphasizing.

Everyone else stared in various stage of rage. Other people might be intrigued by it, but they were not ‘other people’.

The Venerable Dragon God was, undoubtedly, ageless. As a dragon, it was just a normal condition for him.

As for them, as the core members of the Truth Department, their ethical integrity and will were all tested intensely. Their lives after death were all well-arranged so they would not be seduced by immortality.

At this point, a new voice appeared as a black-robed white man emerged. He looked much more solid than Danny.

“Mm, Danny, they must be hesitating,” said the black robe slowly. “Let them look at the Eternal Fountain in the Land of Eternity. Once they see it, they would definitely believe us…”

“Heh, Lock, you’re right. I forgot. That’s right, you humans are so distrustful. I’ll show you the fountain as well as the few groups of people who entered. Stop dilly-dallying, our time is precious. If it weren’t for the presence of an important person among you, we wouldn’t have wasted so much of our time.”

The white-robed Danny finished speaking and the two pastors extended their hands and drew something in the air.

Everyone raised their guards, but nothing happened.

A grayish off-white mist appeared and outlined a circular screen.

The screen showed Black Cat Tom, Claude and Claudia, as well as Valery and Alex as they all faced off against each other around the pond.

“The Source of Yin, Master of the arcane realm!”

Qiao Zijiang immediately squealed as she saw the pond.

The others were stunned hearing that, but at the same time, they were glad. It was fortunate that the Venerable Dragon God could ascertain the location of the arcane realm. If they have delayed for a few more days, the mysterious arcane realm might have been claimed by someone!

It would have been a cataclysm to the outside world!

They knew the two ghosts had already lost their humanity just by hearing their conversation!

“Huh, you know about it. If that’s the case, we shouldn’t beat around the bush. That’s right. That’s the Source of Yin. If you can gain its approval, you’ll become the master of that arcane realm. As its master, you’ll have a lifespan that’s shared with the arcane realm, so you’ll be everlasting; With that logic, Danny didn’t lie to you, it is the Eternal Fountain… What are you hesitating about?” Danny flashed a smile at them.

Lock nodded. “Danny’s right. With your status and position, it’s just an easy task. So move it, I think you’ll need at most half a day to complete this, and they won’t get the approval of the Source of Yin in that amount of time.”

He pointed at Vigilante A and said, “This man is strong, talented. He’s a much better candidate than any of the three groups who entered. As long as you have the ticket to board the train and enter the arcane realm, you would definitely become the master of the arcane realm. It’s worth it, I’m not lying.”

Everyone smirked. If there was anyone in the world who would not be seduced by that sales pitch, it could only be the Eastern Pharos!

He would not have exchanged even one innocent life for the Eternal Fountain, let alone ten thousand!

This was why they highly trusted Vigilante A’s integrity.

The System exclaimed excitedly, “I don’t need your help anymore, these two were so red they almost became black!”

Even though Fang Ning regard the two ghosts with disdain, he wanted more information, he reminded the System, “Killing them might be a piece of cake to you, but how do we get in the arcane realm after that?”

“Uh…” The System was stuck. It was a while before it replied, “Don’t ask me, ask the experts.”