Shekh stood within the array that awakened the soul, and after a long while spoke, "What makes you feel that I still can't control my desire to drink blood?"

"Maybe... love makes people stupid."

Shi Jinzhe released his grip and looked at the spot where her tail had been pressing down. "Did the system confess?"

"No, but I've taken control of the system. Do you want to come with me to see what's going on with this damn game?"

“Go.” Shi Jinzhe said decisively, but then added, “However, we need to send those people back first.”

The trio huddled together, Linlang lying unconscious on the ground, and his father, who had sensed Bai Weishuang's whereabouts from hundreds of miles away and had long since disappeared—all of these people had to be sent away first. Otherwise, without the formation to maintain it, the place would collapse as soon as they left.

"Send them all back to Mu Bai's world first, otherwise that world will be lost." Sheh raised his hand and drew a circle in the air, teleporting these people away.

She loved that giant world and remembered the little butterfly, not wanting it to disappear.

After finding temporary accommodations for these people, Sheikh took one last look at the world that gave birth to her, and left without looking back.

A small white light guided their way as they walked side by side, the path they had come from disappearing behind them.

After walking through a long corridor, the two finally entered a huge enclosed space.

Shi Jinzhe had expected to see a rather sci-fi scene, but it didn't.

This place is no different from the transit space; it's pure white and empty, only much larger, with no ceiling and boundless expanse.

Aside from its size, the only unique feature is the luminous pentahedron suspended in the air.

The white guiding light returned to the pyramid-shaped pentagonal structure, and then the system asked in a barely audible voice, "What else do you want to do?"

Shi Jinzhe: "You're still alive?"

[...]

Shekh: "Behave yourself."

[...] It clearly did nothing.

"Confess and we'll get leniency. Tell us the truth about the game." Shekh had a stack of skill cards in his hand, which he spun around like a deck of cards. They were all cards he had scavenged from the system when he was beating it up.

"You don't want to get beaten up again, do you?"

The system sighed resignedly and told them to back off.

The white, luminous pyramid in the air instantly changed size, expanding from the size of a palm to fill the entire white space.

Like a mosaic, when magnified up close, the two realized that the pyramid was composed of countless small cubes.

Each cube is movable, and if you get closer, you can see that each face has small cubes, just like a Rubik's Cube.

Schech gently touched it, and the cube rotated, revealing a different scene.

Some squares had people moving around, some were completely dark, and some were just gray. Moreover, the lower the cube was, the more squares it had. She had seen a 17x17 Rubik's Cube before, but compared to the number of squares at the bottom, it was nothing.

[It can be enlarged.]

The system honestly gave a reminder.

Shech lightly tapped one of the cubes, and like the glowing pyramid, it immediately spread and split into more specific cubes.

This time she saw it clearly; the image above was a paused instance, because there were still player remains on the ground, making it look like a post-apocalyptic survival instance.

“Each cube is a world, and the more squares it has, the more copies of that world there are, right?”

【yes. 】

I opened one of them, and it felt similar to unlocking a compressed file.

He deliberately clicked on the cube that was positioned higher up and then compared it with Shech's.

"The scenes above are mostly limited to a single location, while those below are mostly post-apocalyptic wastelands, where the disaster covers the entire planet."

“The world up there is better.” Shekh looked up at the spire. “Is there no disaster in the world at the top of the tower?”

【No. 】

"Whether there's a disaster or not is related to our regional tournament victory points, right?" Shi Jinzhe understood pretty well and asked the system, "What are your judgment criteria?"

[The top 10% of worlds in each region are absolutely safe. I will provide these worlds with the best protection, shielding them from otherworldly intrusions, such as external forces, ghosts and demons, or newly emerging bosses of unknown origin.]

If there is a planetary survival issue in this world, such as a planetary collision or invasion by civilizations of different classes, I will also take protective measures to ensure the existence of this planet, including intervening appropriately in man-made disasters.

Under my protection, the top 10% of the world will continue to develop peacefully and without worry.

Shekh: "These worlds don't have dungeons because the players you choose are highly skilled and always win. As for the last 90% of the worlds, you set up dungeons for the players to solve."

Yes, the lower the level of the world dungeon, the harder it is, and the more points it gives. Especially worlds set up as regional ranking competitions, these worlds are not far from destruction. If they can be saved, I will give them another chance; if they cannot be saved, I will completely abandon them.

The system affirmed Sheh's conclusion, but slightly corrected her error: "[Also, I didn't specifically select players; all greeting cards were sent randomly. Luck is also a part of skill.]"

"What's with the system vulnerability? Should cheaters be blamed for their existence?"

The system hesitated, as if it wanted to say something but then stopped.

"say."

The system vulnerability was created by you.

The atmosphere froze for a second.

Shi Jinzhe coughed lightly, then asked with a blatant attempt to cover his tracks, "Is it because of the time I attacked the World Passage?"

[...]

Otherwise, why would it need to be born?

"If you're so omnipotent, you can't even fix a world portal?"

Shekh remained unmoved, his face showing no emotion.

[...because of the black fog.]

The system displayed a small cube. [If the black mist hadn't slipped in, it would have been fine, but I can't do anything about it. As long as that passage exists, it can use the east wind and the greeting card to enter other worlds. That's why I sent you out immediately after Shi Jinzhe awakened you, including in the subsequent dungeons, all to prevent it from finding you.]

Shekh sneered: "This doesn't count as me hitting it. It's your misjudgment, all because you think I'm a threat."

"You wanted to run an antivirus scan but ended up uninstalling the antivirus software, so it can't really be considered a bug you discovered." After saying that, Shi Jinzhe changed the subject: "Anyway, it's all your doing. If you're so afraid that the Black Mist will find Shekh, you might as well have sent me a normal invitation card."

[I can't send it. My deal with Bai Weishuang included a promise not to let you into the game, so I have to resort to unconventional methods.]

The system didn't want to recall the past. It deceived Bai Weishuang, but who knew that all of Bai Weishuang's subsequent plans were based on the identity of Shi Jinzhe, the cheating player. Neither of them trusted the other. Strictly speaking, Bai Weishuang actually saved her life because of the deal with it.

Otherwise, if the black mist had simply devoured her, it wouldn't have rushed to move her away. It was only because the deal was for her to help monitor the Queen that it had to go and rescue her.

That damned "Word of Power" card, I'll lock it up tomorrow and never use it again.

Shi Jinzhe interrupted its resentment, "There's another question: where in the world am I now?"

A small square with six sections fell from the top of the tower. The instance was paused; it would have been in progress if the system hadn't been attacked.

[Approximately seven percent.] Realizing this contradicted the previously stated absolute protection, the system explained, [This is why I was in a hurry to return Shekh to its original position. The black mist is gradually invading, and it will induce the creation of a large number of abnormal copies, which I cannot eliminate.]