Seized by the System

The team member called Xiao Ding heaved a great sigh of relief as soon as he heard this.

Even though everyone knew that whoever entered the Truth Department had to put the question of life and death aside.

Of course, anyone would want to live on. Anyone would want to see who emerged victorious at the end…

Hence, he did not argue but nodded his head with gratitude.

He knew very well that even if he were to leave the team, he would just be slaughtering senselessly. It was not like he could bring any benefit to his team.

Vigilante A lifted a finger and a light gate appeared.

This was the first way to enter the Draconic Arcane Realm; by using the Space Ring. However, it was only restricted for use by Vigilante A.

The second way was to enter through the large gate which could be placed anywhere.

There was only one fellow who could find it according to her whims and fancies, and that was the gluttonous great green insect. She had already remembered the aura of this portal, and she knew that there was good food inside.

Red-eyed and repressing an urge to kill, team member Xiao Ding quickly walked through the light gate.

Everyone immediately looked over with bright eyes. At that instance, that was the gate of life within their red eyes.

Later, Qiao Zijiang asked contemplatively, “Venerable One, what happens to Xiao Ding now that he has entered the Draconic Arcane Realm?”

“He’s fine. He’s now helping out at the Herb Garden.” Vigilante A replied wanly.

No doubt the Master might have been a meticulous individual. Wasting resources was not a concept he would uphold.

Since he was already in, he could not just laze around…

“That’s good.” Everyone was relieved. If Xiao Ding had the attention to tend to the herbs, that meant that he was completely stripped of his killing urges.

No doubt, having a God among them was like having a safe zone around!

He lived up to his role as an advisor, much to everyone’s respect and adoration. Although he was not present, he managed to plan everything down to the last detail, and this led to success.

“Yes, really, we thank you very much, Venerable One, for helping us. I am forever grateful and will always remember your kind deed.” Qiao Anping expressed with cupped fists.

“Mmhmm, that’s good then.” Vigilante A replied seriously.

No one thought this was out of the ordinary. Such a great God would never be obliging.

Qiao Anping had already been making plans secretly. When the time was right, he would assist Vigilante A with seizing this realm.

After all, the baseline given by Ren Ruofeng was to let him in for training and to become the Truth Department’s very own Inland-Sea level expert, and not to seize this land.

Firstly, China had already occupied the next realm; secondly, if it were taken over by the Truth Department, that would mean sabotaging the nation’s relationship with America, which would be disastrous for the entire situation.

Currently, technological power was still an effective tool, and the USA was the leading nation in this aspect. Its arsenal of nuclear weapons was indeed intimidating.

However, if it were seized by individual powerhouses, then the USA could not do anything about it.

The reason was simple; how were they supposed to face a powerhouse?

They had countermeasures against China. Both sides were intent on attacking the strong and defending the weak, with the abundant plots of land and numerous populaces were the weakest spots.

However, no such problem existed for a powerhouse. If a conflict were to really occur, then billions of citizens were to face total annihilation…

…

Time was running out, and now there was another team member who could not persevere.

With the gate of light appearing, the Draconic Arcane Realm gained one more temporary laborer.

Fang Ning was speechless after witnessing this.

“Sir, you are unbelievable. After all, they are still our guests, and you have the audacity to let them start working right after entering?”

“Of course I have the audacity to do so. I did save their lives, didn’t I? It’s good enough that I didn’t demand money from them. What, am I supposed to treat them to a meal too?” Sir said defiantly.

“Hmm, you have a point. It’s just that you are the only one who could do this sort of thing. I can’t do it.” Fang Ning admired.

After all, if he were in the same situation, he would be more willing to give face. He was unable to be as vicious as Sir…

This one really had no sense of shame.

All powerhouses had some form of eccentricity, but Vigilante A’s was easily accepted by others.

This was because everyone regarded him as an elder, and he was trying to educate people to embrace the concept of “repaying kindness with kindness” again.

For no one knew when “repaying evil with kindness” had become a noble sentiment, which was an insult to righteousness…

In reality, doing so was just a deception unto oneself and others, for the evil-doers would never show gratitude towards kind deeds. On the contrary, they would only become worse. Such acts had been proven by history time and again.

…

Meanwhile, a carnage was taking place not far away from the Truth Department.

That was where the cries of agony were coming from.

A group of half-mech and half-human creatures were battling each other, with each punch landing on flesh and each blow proving fatal.

It was as if at this moment, they were no longer brothers in arms, but sworn enemies with a deep hatred for each other.

A large tree stood tall near them, and on it were a pair of great, big eyes above the branches. It watched the group below in a sorrowful manner.

The entire tree trunk was stuck between the fight and the tree could hardly protect itself.

Nevertheless, it continued to emit rays of green light that shielded the heads of the mechs. At least, this would soothe the intense battle between them from time to time.

“Please stop it, Master Abraham. This is all just a waste of effort. If you continue to exhaust your magical energy, you might even fail to protect yourself. Unfortunately, we have only mastered the technique of entering and exiting, but we are still unable to obtain permission from this place. I wonder how many more lives will be sacrificed.”

A middle-aged white man, who was wearing a green straw hat, was standing under the tree and shaking his head as he spoke.

It was Hugh. He seemed to not be heavily affected by the bloodshed around him.

Previously, he summoned the toughest powerhouse in the USA; the Druid Master Abraham, who had already achieved the peak of all levels – the Lake-level.

After that, he lit the gates of raging flames, and together with his team entered this place of carnage. He wanted him to acknowledge his master, but little did he know that he would suffer a huge loss instead, with no progress whatsoever.

Whereas, reports showed that there were other people who had used the same entrance used by them to enter this area.

This worried him even more. He knew, too, that the enemy was slowly gaining on them.

The painstaking research done by the Americans on the ways to enter this realm had been recorded in the so-called Heaven. Those mighty beings could then figure it all out…

Such trickery made one feel helpless. No amount of security measures could help prevent this, unless that method of entering and exiting was held by an equally powerful person, and he was the only who knew about it.

The USA did not have this kind of powerhouse in the new era, hence it was difficult to secure the portal.

Master Abraham was a reliable fellow. He trusted in this man’s character, and also his ability as the most skillful in the country. However, even Master Abraham could not deflect this sort of spell.

“I will still try my utmost to save more lives. It’s just that in the next peaceful period, we had better retreat first… At least we would not make these unnecessary sacrifices before finding the appropriate measures to tackle this problem.” The tree said as it shook its branches.

“No.” Hugh opposed at once. “The rest have already entered. If we were to retreat, we would only benefit others instead of ourselves. Our previous efforts and sacrifices will be all for naught then. Let’s focus on the present situation. It’s only by continuously sending people in that we can thoroughly screen all changes within this area. Robocops are still useful, at least they are able to withstand for a far longer time than the usual superpowered individuals. We still have millions of robocops, so we can afford to make this sacrifice.”

Upon hearing this, the tree heaved a great sigh. This was truly the idea of a leader. They would never care about the number of sacrifices made, only the results.

Unless the sacrifice had gone out of control, they would continue with this strategy.

The various wars throughout history had always been like that. If the ones from the lower ranks did not show any sign of succumbing, the ones at the top would not actively put a stop to the war. After all, they were not the ones who were going to die, but there could be a chance to make a mark for themselves within the pages of history.

“Alright then, I will try my best to sense this area and find a way for him to acknowledge his master.” The tree said at the end.

“Erm, absolutely not. I can order the group of evil alchemists to enter. Perhaps they have some sort of method to refine this place…” Hugh argued.

“No, no, no!” The tree cried in horror. “Those fellows are outside, and with the suppression by the Eastern Pharos, they wouldn’t dare to cause harm publicly. If they were to actually occupy this realm, they would be able to move in and out easily and have nothing more to fear. Even one as mighty as the Dragon God would not be able to infiltrate the realm to stop them. By then, the USA, and even the whole world, would be in grave danger.”

“Relax. I do have my plans. They are just a bunch of cannon fodder, how could they become masters? Now, we are between two fires, therefore we need to have enough cannon fodder to divide the burden.” Hugh said confidently.

Master Abraham realized he was unable to dissuade him and decided not to speak anymore. Perhaps Hugh did have a plan. He was an inscrutable man after all, and he probably could control this bunch of thugs.

He was reluctant to hand this realm over on a silver platter, of course, for this involved America’s position in the new era.

To put it bluntly, whether one could monopolize a part of the realm was akin to whether one owned nuclear weapons in the past era… perhaps this was even more important than the latter.

This was the factor that determined a nation’s position.

No matter how many disasters happened in the outside world, there was a realm where civilization could sprout its wings again.

On the flipside, it could also signify the total destruction of mankind, reducing all civilizations to a pile of dust.