[Warning] This chapter contains graphic and gory scenes that may be unsettling for some readers. Please proceed with caution and take care of yourself while reading.
Chapter 7 – There is No Way to Consume The Power
“Ding dong—”
After the chime, a childish, mechanical voice echoed through the air: “Main Mission One has officially ended.”
Yu Zhi’s eyelids twitched. The system wouldn’t say something like that for no reason.
Sure enough, the next second, the system panel displayed images of other people.
In a warmly decorated children’s room, a young couple tightly embraced a babbling baby, who seemed to think her parents were playing with her, laughing as she grabbed their fingers.
[Main Mission One failed.]
Suddenly, the heads of the two adults and the child exploded simultaneously, red and white matter splattering onto the family portrait frame on the wall.
The scene shifted outdoors. Yu Zhi immediately recognized H City’s Lakeside Walking Street.
Someone knelt on the ground, praying: “Lord, please grant us strength at this moment, so we can have unwavering faith and move forward—”
Before he could finish, a headless corpse fell to the ground with a thud.
“Ah ah ah!”
“Ah ah ah ah—”
“Ah ah ah ah ah ah—”
Horrific screams filled the air.
The trapped people, realizing the restricted area had been lifted, rushed outside.
But less than five meters out, heads in the crowd began to disappear, exploding like gruesome fireworks.
A middle-aged man, covered in blood, frantically pounced on a passerby, choking them and murmuring, “I, I’ll kill right now, I don’t want—”
His words were cut short as his headless corpse collapsed onto another.
The screen went dark.
The childish voice echoed again: “All Earth residents, please take action and complete the main mission to protect the Earth!” The message was repeated three times, each repetition more urgent than the last.
Then, silence.
The displayed scenes were so bloody and real that Yu Zhi could practically smell the blood, the metallic scent lingering in his nostrils, making him nauseous.
He splashed cold water on his face and took a moment to calm down before heading to the living room to find Lu Liming.
To his surprise, Lu Liming was mopping the floor.
The young master clearly had never done housework before. The mop was sopping wet, leaving streaks across the floor, and each time he moved it, he bumped into the furniture, creating a jarring cacophony.
Yu Zhi stared at the increasingly dirty floor and hesitantly asked, “Xiao Ming, do you have a cleanliness obsession?”
“No,” Lu Liming said, slowly turning around.
In the moonlight, his face was paler than a ghost, his voice weak and trembling. He looked utterly terrified. “I’m listening to the system and actively completing the task,” he explained.
“By mopping the floor?” Yu Zhi asked, incredulous.
Lu Liming nodded. “Didn’t you teach me that?”
Yu Zhi: “?”
Had he ever taught such a thing?
While mopping, Lu Liming explained, “The first phrase, ‘do your utmost’—I’ve never done housework in my life, and now I’m trying my best. Second, ‘carry out a personal action to protect the Earth.’ Protecting, protecting… isn’t cleaning just protecting the Earth’s hygiene?”
Yu Zhi blinked. He had to admit, it made a strange kind of sense.
Lu Liming was also convinced by his own logic.
He sighed and said softly, “But the system hasn’t indicated the task is complete. I think my method is quite reasonable. Brother Yu, what do you think? Is it because I didn’t clean well enough?”
“I think…” Yu Zhi pondered for a moment and said decisively, “It must be a problem with the system’s judgment!”
Lu Liming was momentarily taken aback, doubting he had heard correctly.
The next second, Yu Zhi pointed at the void and questioned the system with conviction: “System, why hasn’t our Xiao Ming completed the main mission? Xiao Ming has been trying his best! Why can everyone else complete this main mission, but our Xiao Ming cannot? Do you not like our Xiao Ming?”
Each word was powerful, each sentence resonated.
Lu Liming was so startled he dropped the mop and rushed to Yu Zhi’s side. “Brother!” he exclaimed. “You, you just didn’t see those people who didn’t complete the task…”
“I saw,” Yu Zhi said calmly.
“Then why are you still, still…” being so reckless?!
Lu Liming couldn’t find the right words to describe Yu Zhi’s audacity.
Yu Zhi understood what he wanted to say. “Don’t be afraid,” he comforted. “The system didn’t say you can’t ask.”
Lu Liming was at a loss. Did saying he wasn’t afraid mean he wouldn’t be afraid? Because of the earlier scenes, he now felt a chill at the back of his neck when he saw the system panel, as if a bomb was lodged in his brain, ready to explode at any moment.
“But, but Brother Yu, just because it didn’t say you can’t ask, does that mean you can ask anything?”
Yu Zhi looked at him as if it were obvious. “No prohibition means permission,” he declared. “Permission means support. If it supports us, then we don’t need to be polite.”
Lu Liming was stunned. Well, that didn’t seem unreasonable?
Yu Zhi thought for a moment and said methodically, “The system said from the beginning that the task is to let everyone protect the Earth. Protecting the Earth is our responsibility; even without the system, we should do it. This means we and the system are on the same side. So, we and the system are teammates and comrades in protecting the Earth, right?”
Lu Liming replied blankly, “Right…”
The number of online viewers in the live stream had unknowingly risen to over a hundred, and the bullet comments were flying:
[User “I Love Earth” agrees with your statement.]
[User “Rebirth in a Different Universe” appreciates your nonsense.]
[User “Cute Little Ghost” praises your slick tongue.]
[User “Mr. Rabbit” marvels at your nonsense.]
“So,” Yu Zhi said, smiling at the system panel, “how could the system randomly kill innocents just because I asked a few more questions? On the contrary, it will definitely actively and proactively answer our questions, explaining why you couldn’t complete Main Mission Two. Right? System?”
The system had no response.
Yu Zhi glanced at the live stream, knowing that this group of viewers was just enjoying the spectacle.
He changed tactics. “Besides,” he continued, “the action to protect the Earth is not just something we should do; it’s also what the viewers in the live stream are looking forward to. How could the system remain silent, making us and all the viewers doubt its fairness in judgment?”
Yu Zhi smiled at the system. “System, you wouldn’t want to be questioned by the viewers, would you?”
As soon as he finished speaking, the system, which had been playing dead, finally reacted.
A line of text popped up on the panel: [Please wait, analyzing…]
After a moment, the system replied: [After detection, Lu Liming’s housework behavior is not within the scope of Main Mission Two.]
[Please actively take action to complete the main mission!]
Yu Zhi relayed the system’s exact words to Lu Liming and sank into thought on the sofa.
The fact that Lu Ming’s housework wasn’t considered part of Main Mission Two indicated that there were hidden requirements for the mission.
Yu Zhi stared at the words “do your utmost” on the mission objective.
If the system could detect whether one was trying their best… Personal status. Abilities and items…
Yu Zhi lifted his eyelids and said to Lu Liming, “For ability users, the point of ‘doing your utmost’ might be judged based on their abilities.”
Lu Liming snapped back to reality and slapped his forehead. “Right, right, Brother Yu, what you said makes sense! When I was in the hospital, the system could tell I had a headache from overusing my abilities. I’ll give it a try.”
He looked down at his unscathed self, then at the still-visible bruise on Yu Zhi’s neck. “How about I cut myself first?” he asked hesitantly.
“This mission lasts for twenty-four hours,” Yu Zhi reminded him.
Lu Liming pondered the implication of this statement. “Then I’ll cut slowly?” he said tentatively.
Yu Zhi: “…”
“What I mean is, this mission has a longer duration, so it shouldn’t be that simple. Cutting yourself and then healing might not necessarily complete the task.”
Lu Liming understood. His gaze shifted from his right leg to Yu Zhi.
Yu Zhi looked at his puppy-dog eyes and said expressionlessly, “Don’t even think about cutting me.”
Lu Liming’s gaze flickered. Had he been seen through?
“I just thought about it a little,” he said awkwardly. “Brother? Is your ability mind-reading?”
Yu Zhi shot him a glance. “No.”
Lu Liming immediately gave a thumbs up. “As expected of Brother Yu, you can tell what I’m thinking without needing abilities.”
“…”
Yu Zhi opened his mouth, glanced at his ability panel, and swallowed his words back. He actually didn’t want to hide his abilities from Lu Liming; it was just that the awakened ability was too embarrassing to mention.
What kind of decent person awakens an ability related to excrement and urine?!
After hesitating for a moment, he vaguely said, “My ability is similar to spatial storage abilities. But it can’t hold much.”
Lu Liming wasn’t stupid; he keenly caught the keyword “similar.”
Similar to spatial abilities… This meant that Brother Yu’s awakening was definitely a more powerful ability than just spatial storage!
He didn’t pursue the matter further and looked at Yu Zhi eagerly. “So what should we do now?”
Yu Zhi, noticing the dust and stains on Lu Liming, said, “It’s dark outside, and it’s not convenient to go out. You should take a shower first. The clothes and towels are in the wardrobe; pick for yourself.”
Since the car accident a few days ago, Lu Liming hadn’t had a proper shower. Hearing this, he immediately ran to the bathroom.
Yu Zhi casually grabbed the remaining two slices of toast and stuffed them into his mouth.
He opened JJ Literature City and looked at the collection list.
[My Items]
[Total: 2. (The current version allows a maximum of 5 collections in this category.)]
In addition to the contract and stainless steel rod, there were currently three empty slots.
Yu Zhi casually collected three items from the coffee table, filling the slots, but there was no prompt for task completion. He then tried to exchange the five small items he’d collected for the largest furniture and appliances in the room, but still received no prompt.
Yu Zhi closed his eyes and focused on his body.
He felt none of the overuse symptoms Lu Liming had mentioned. Repeatedly collecting and taking out items yielded the same result. No discomfort, no headache, just a bit hungry.
Did he need to collect something larger?
Yu Zhi frowned and opened a bag of cookies.
After finishing the cookies, Lu Liming emerged from the bathroom, hurriedly putting on clothes. “The water pipe just shook,” he exclaimed. “It scared me to death; I thought Brother Qiang (a.k.a cockroach) had come.”
“Brother Qiang?” Yu Zhi asked.
“Little Qiang,” Lu Liming clarified.
Yu Zhi fell silent. Everyone is now recognized as his brother, huh?
Lu Liming plopped down on the sofa and returned to the topic. “Brother Yu, have you completed Mission Two?”
“Not yet,” Yu Zhi answered honestly. “Let’s rest for a bit and wait until it’s morning to go out and take a look.”
*
H University First Affiliated Hospital
Building Nine had completely collapsed. Beams were broken, steel bars exposed, bricks and dust scattered everywhere. On the ruins lay a dense pile of contaminated corpses.
Cockroach corpses of various sizes were stacked on top of each other; some bodies were clearly cut into several pieces, yet their antennae still twitched, yellow-green liquid dripping down and staining the brick walls.
In the distance, some surviving contaminated cockroaches instinctively sensed danger and turned to flee.
Fu Suxi withdrew his gaze, not pursuing them. The source of the cockroach contamination wasn’t in the hospital. Killing more contaminated beings was useless.
He casually tossed a burning cigarette butt towards the pile of cockroach corpses.
“Whoosh—”
A golden-red flame erupted, swiftly engulfing the entire pile of corpses.
Fu Suxi left through the hospital’s main entrance and walked onto the lawn, where he saw a half-human-sized cockroach crouched on a headless corpse.
The sound of crunching and chewing began.
It was eating a person.
Fu Suxi ignored it and walked straight towards his motorcycle.
Seeing the cockroach in the light meant it could no longer hide in the dark. What he needed to find now was the source of contamination.
Fu Suxi picked up the helmet from the motorcycle, half-closing his eyes, and casually tapped the helmet with his fingertip.
*
At four in the afternoon, he had been temporarily assigned to a small surgery for a foreign object in the chest. The patient, Guo Pengyi, had a puncture wound in the chest and residual foreign objects in the thoracic cavity.
Halfway through the surgery, the so-called system suddenly appeared, and at the same time, he discovered the patient had been contaminated.
The foreign object in the thoracic cavity was a contaminant—cockroach egg cases.
Guo Pengyi had two addresses in H City. One was in the southern Biyuan Garden community, the other in the northern Meteor Apartment.
The bullet comments in the live stream were flying:
[User “Supplement Vitamin E” is curious about your abilities and rewarded you with 50 universal coins.]
[User “Lord of Fire” appreciates your flames and rewarded you with 50 universal coins.]
[User “Scarecrow’s Cattle” admires your combat and rewarded you with 100 universal coins.]
[User “Green Oil” hopes you can continue fighting and rewarded you with 10 universal coins.]
[User “Strongest King” reminds you to turn right after leaving the hospital.]
Fu Suxi opened the car navigation, entered the address, and casually answered a few questions.
“Many abilities.”
“Now going to visit the patient at home.”
“Because I’m a good doctor.”
*
Meteor Apartment
Yu Zhi and Lu Liming took turns napping for a short while in the living room. As dawn broke, two figures wearing electric scooter helmets walked out of room 305.
At first, Lu Liming didn’t want to wear a helmet, thinking it affected his vision, hearing, and hairstyle. But upon learning that cockroaches could cling to people’s heads, he put it on faster than anyone else, almost wanting to shave his dreadlocks to wear two helmets.
As they reached the second floor, Yu Zhi slipped two notes under the doors of rooms 203 and 205.
[Do you need help? – Yu Zhi.]
Rooms 203 and 205 were occupied by two senior brothers from the computer science department who had already graduated. Yu Zhi had a casual relationship with them, but they all knew each other’s names and room numbers. If they were still alive, they would know how to contact him.
When they reached the lobby on the first floor, Lu Liming suddenly remembered something and turned to Yu Zhi. “Wait, Brother,” he said, “don’t you have that title? Why do we still need to wear helmets?”
“Turn it off,” Yu Zhi said.
Lu Liming was confused. “Why turn it off?”
“We need to see if there are any cockroaches nearby,” Yu Zhi explained.
Lu Liming was even more puzzled. “What’s the point of that?” Shouldn’t they keep the title active to make the cockroach contaminants stay as far away as possible?
Yu Zhi tilted his head, meeting Lu Liming’s bewildered eyes. It was likely that the young master’s closest encounter with cockroaches in his life was when he dealt with the cockroach egg cases yesterday. He was completely unaware of the true nature of cockroaches.
Yu Zhi paused and slowly said, “Yesterday, I encountered a cockroach that laid two egg cases. Each egg case can hatch around two hundred small cockroaches.”
“Cockroaches can reproduce parthenogenetically,” Yu Zhi explained, “meaning one contaminated cockroach can give birth to about four hundred small cockroaches. May I ask, classmate Xiao Ming, how many small cockroaches can four hundred cockroaches produce?”
His tone was calm, his voice clear and pleasant, but Lu Liming felt a chill run down his spine. Goosebumps erupted all over his body. They had encountered more than one cockroach yesterday; he couldn’t even imagine that astronomical number.
Lu Liming swallowed hard and nervously said, “So if we encounter cockroaches here…”
“This place is over thirty kilometers from the hospital,” Yu Zhi said, pausing and lifting his eyelids. “If contaminants appear here, it means their hatching and growth speed far exceeds our imagination. They could even destroy an entire city in just a few days.”
Fortunately, there were no signs of cockroaches outside the apartment.
The continuous rain that had lasted for half a month had stopped, and under the clear sky lay an indescribable desolation. Dilapidated old buildings lined the deserted streets; even the sounds of birds and cicadas had vanished. The once bustling city had fallen silent in just half a day, and the breeze carried a bone-chilling cold.
Yu Zhi zipped up his windbreaker and walked along the residential building.
Passing by a two-story standalone shop, he paused, surveyed it for a moment, and placed his hand on the wall, silently reciting: [This shop is my item, collect.]
The next second, a prompt popped up: [There are living beings inside, unable to collect.]
Yu Zhi frowned. If living beings couldn’t be collected, then the path of collecting large items to consume his ability was blocked. He was sure that even in the buildings Fu Suxi had blown up, there were ants alive.
If items wouldn’t work, then the only path left was through his ability.
He only had one ability—[I’m just a passerby.]
Which meant no excrement or urine.
The system couldn’t possibly expect me to do my utmost to produce feces or urine, right?!
The more he thought, the worse Yu Zhi’s expression became.
This was a dire situation. He had no way to consume his ability.
Oof that’s rough one bud