The sudden mechanical sound startled Xu Ling, but why did this routine seem so familiar?
[Oh my god, I can finally talk!]
Xu Ling: ...Why do you have a Northeastern accent?
Seemingly sensing her complaint, the voice spoke again, only this time in a mechanical, electronic tone.
[Hello, host. I am the reliable system, at your service.]
[Host, don't be afraid. I'm speaking directly to you in your mind. You can ask me any questions you may have.]
To be honest, Xu Ling wasn't afraid at all. She always felt that the system was a bit silly, but she still had to ask.
Xu Ling: [Why did you bind me? What's your scheme?]
Under normal circumstances, she doesn't trust her character; such a seemingly miraculous stroke of luck might be hiding a huge trap.
The reliable system, in a serious tone, says: "Host, I am a legitimate system, certified by AI, and dedicated to helping humanity avoid danger."
Then, a dazzling array of certificates flashed through Xu Ling's mind, like a slideshow, making her feel a little dizzy.
The reliable and serious voice stated, "We are dedicated to serving humanity. Anything that poses a threat to humanity will be destroyed. Please refrain from making malicious speculations."
Xu Ling looked troubled. "But I'm a god, not a human anymore."
Reliable? [Huh?]
Xu Ling could feel the voice in her mind pause for a moment, as if it couldn't believe it.
After a while, a blinding flash appeared before her eyes, causing her to close them involuntarily. The flash disappeared in just a few seconds, and when she opened her eyes, she found a cloud floating in front of her, a cloud with beady eyes.
Noticing Xu Ling's gaze, the cloud spoke up: "Little sister, what's going on? Why aren't you human?"
You could tell it was the reliable system from before just by listening to it speak.
Who are you calling inhuman?
That sounds really strange.
The reliable drone circled around Xu Lingfei, and after scanning, her basic information was revealed one by one.
Name: Xu Ling
Age: 120 years old
Race: God (becomes a god later in life)
Health: Sub-healthy (eating junk food, not exercising)
Occupation: Goddess of Fertility, Earth Goddess
Divine Power: 50
Wealth: 0
Faith value: 0
System points: 0
Looking at the data in front of him, and then at the person in front of him, he seemed quite respectable, so why were the data so bad?
A reliable but speechless comment: "Hey sis, what's wrong with you? You're a god, with two divine positions, how come you're still in poor health? You eat junk food? You don't like to exercise? And how come you have nothing? You're so poor!"
Hearing this, Xu Ling's face turned red with anger: "What? Who says gods can't eat junk food? Besides, what I did is none of your business!" As she spoke, she glared hatefully at the white cloud in front of her.
It's not like she wanted to eat it. She was under a lot of pressure in the West and needed to relieve stress, and her way of relieving stress was to eat snacks, and then she accidentally ate too much.
The reliable system initially wanted to complain, but then it thought, isn't this an opportunity for it to reach an agreement with the host and complete the task?
Thinking this, DouDouYun in front of Xu Ling put on a fawning smile. Two thin hands stretched out from either side of the white cloud, rubbed them together, and switched back to the previous mechanical electronic voice: "It's okay, little sister, I'm here for you! Even though you're not human, I'll still help you. Do you want to know where you are now?"
Xu Ling stared blankly at Bai Yun, who had suddenly become so obsequious. After a while, Bai Yun's smile froze. He slowly couldn't take it anymore and guiltily avoided Xu Ling's gaze, stammering, "Wh-what's wrong, host?"
However, Xu Ling still didn't speak, and kept staring straight at it. After a while, she suddenly asked, "Where did you learn your Northeastern accent?"
Bai Yun laughed awkwardly: "Ha...ha, I learned it from my previous host."
Xu Ling: "Where is your former host?"
Baiyun: ······
"Why are you asking this? Host, don't you want to know what your mission is?" The reliable system's voice turned into an emotionless electronic tone. It was clearly starting to panic, changing the subject and refusing to answer the question.
"Where is the former host?"
Xu Ling asked again, determined to know the answer.
Seeing her unyielding expression, Baiyun pondered for a moment, sighed, and exhaled a small cloud of mist: "If I tell you, you have to promise me you'll complete the mission."
Before Xu Ling could answer, Kaopu took it as a yes and began to recount its origins.
A reliable system is a newly developed system in a high-dimensional AI society.
In an AI society, the supreme ruler is the mainframe, which controls everything. There, systems need to grow, and the most outstanding systems can ultimately serve the mainframe directly—a supreme honor for any system. Growth is achieved by accumulating points and gradually advancing, essentially completing system updates.
The way to accumulate points is by binding a host to complete tasks distributed by the main brain. Tasks are divided into many categories, varying depending on the protagonist's identity, such as female lead, male lead, female supporting character, male supporting character, cannon fodder, and heartthrob. Therefore, to ensure the main brain can allocate points reasonably, corresponding protagonist departments, supporting character departments, and other strange and unusual departments were established.
Each system is assigned to a different department by the mastermind from birth.
Reliable was assigned to the protagonist's department from birth. Back then, it wasn't called Reliable; it was called the Male Protagonist Omnipotent System. As the name suggests, it could fulfill whatever the male protagonist wanted.
The protagonist's department is considered the best department to earn points, not only because the system itself is powerful, but also because the protagonist usually has a halo, making the success rate very high.
At that time, it thought it could easily gain points and perhaps advance quickly, but the reality was quite the opposite.
This all-powerful system for the male protagonist ultimately caused his biggest setback in history, nearly leading to his demise. He was only saved by other systems. And the most important reason wasn't that the male protagonist wasn't powerful enough or had enough of a halo; it was because the system itself was unreliable.
After that, it was recycled, renamed Reliable System, and due to major errors in its work, it was removed from the advancement list and transferred to the cannon fodder department.
Actually, from the system's perspective, it doesn't matter if they are transferred to other departments; where they work is not the same as their job.
However, removing it from the advanced list means it will remain a baby forever, unable to grow or develop. In an AI society, systems can fall in love and work together, serving two hosts. This not only reduces task difficulty but also doubles points, accelerating growth.
How can it not advance any further? Such a punishment is too heavy for it.
Therefore, Kaopu appealed every day, hoping to be given a chance to reform. Perhaps the mastermind also felt that such punishment was too severe, so it promised that as long as Kaopu helped eight hosts complete their target tasks, it could be reinstated to the advancement list.
Xu Ling was the first host after Kao Pu made a mistake.
"So I'm cannon fodder?" Xu Ling pointed at herself. From the reliable description, she didn't understand anything else, but she realized that she was a huge victim.
When Baiyun hesitated, Xu Ling gestured for it to answer. It cautiously shook its head twice, as if nodding, and then reassured her, "Don't worry, host, with me here, you'll be fine!"
Xu Ling thought to herself: With you around, things are even more complicated! Just from what it said, you can tell how unreliable it is. The male lead's halo has been broken. Is she, this little cannon fodder, sure won't get killed?
Baiyun muttered softly, "Host, don't be like this. I can hear what you're saying in your mind."
It means that it heard clearly what she said about disliking it.
Xu Ling: ······
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