Time passed, and the third day arrived.
5:00 AM.
The coastline was pitch black.
The searchlight beam from the tower pierced through the fog, illuminating the seawater that had turned an inexplicable shade of crimson.
Global audiences held their breaths as they stared at the live broadcast.
Comments scrolled frantically at the edges of the screen:
[That water is definitely mutated from nuclear pollution!]
[That sea creature we saw earlier is even more horrifying than zombies!]
[Look! It’s Miss Su! But where’s Qin Luo?]
As per Qin Luo’s request, the great battle between the Sea Clan and humanity was being broadcast live worldwide.
As for why it had to be a global live broadcast—no one knew.
Since it concerned the survival of humanity, all industries worldwide had ground to a halt.
All TV programs were replaced with the live feed.
The streets were lined with broadcast vans looping the footage.
During this time, students were on break, and office workers were on paid leave.
Everything had one singular purpose:
To make sure everyone watched the broadcast.
Tianhai City.
Su Muwan stood calmly atop a crystalline ice wall, surrounded by countless martial artists.
This ice wall was something she had casually conjured.
However...
[Miss Su, your only task is to defend Tianhai City.]
[The Sea Clan’s Second Prince, Lan Ming, will launch a surprise attack on Tianhai City at 5:00 AM. His rule is simple...]
"Anyone who feels killing intent toward him... will be immobilized on the spot."
Su Muwan murmured to herself, recalling Qin Luo’s smug grin from last night.
She rolled her eyes inwardly.
Damn Qin Luo, leaving her alone here while he ran off to who-knows-where doing who-knows-what.
At that moment.
The entire sea suddenly glowed with an eerie luminescence.
"They’re here!!!"
A lookout’s tense scream shattered the silence.
BOOM!!!
The next second.
BANG! BANG! BANG!!
Hundreds of rotting whale carcasses surfaced, their bloated bellies bursting open to reveal countless fleshy tumors.
From each tumor crawled grotesque, mucus-covered Sea Clan creatures.
Lan Ming emerged atop a crimson wave, his broken dragon horns now regrown into twisted bone spikes.
The dragon-faced visage embedded in his chest let out a layered roar: "The feast begins!!!"
Lan Ming raised his trident and sneered, "Humans, are you ready to become nourishment for my father?"
He gestured to his army and laughed. "Kill them all!"
ROAR!!
The Sea Clan horde unleashed inhuman shrieks.
Yet.
"Annoying."
Su Muwan scoffed, flicking her finger lightly.
WHOOSH!
An icy-blue ring expanded from her, instantly freezing the sea for three kilometers.
In an instant, the leading Sea Clan warriors were petrified mid-snarl, their waves frozen into crimson cliffs.
She soared into the air, summoning an ice spear with a wave of her hand.
Gazing down at Lan Ming, she said coolly, "Come at me, trash."
The comment section exploded:
[HOLY CRAP! Miss Su just unleashed her ultimate move!]
[This CGI must’ve cost a billion dollars!]
[Mom asked why I’m kneeling in front of my phone!]
[Ugh, I used to think Miss Su was mean for talking like that, but now... I kinda want her to scold me too~~!]
......
Meanwhile.
Martial Arts Alliance, underground prison.
[Access granted.]
A mechanical female voice echoed from above as heavy doors slid open one by one.
When Qin Luo stepped into the prison’s core area, he took a rare moment to observe his surroundings.
Hmm. Very modern.
Good.
His purpose here was to meet a special individual—a former member of the Alliance whom he had stripped of her system powers and imprisoned long ago.
After walking for a while, he stopped before a pastel-pink metal door.
With a snap of his fingers, the door opened, revealing the room inside.
A 20-square-meter space with warm-toned carpets, a holographic starry sky projected on the ceiling, and a beanbag chair buried under plush toys.
Zixuan, her hair in twin braids, was curled up in a gaming chair, her white-stockinged legs swinging idly.
The tablet in her hands played a scene with a voice cooing, "Big brother~~"
"Hehe... so good..."
Dark circles under her eyes, drool at the corner of her mouth—Zixuan was utterly engrossed in the drama.
"Brotherly love plots are the best..."
"Romance... bonds... bromance... hehehe..."
"After all these years... finally binge-watching to my heart’s content."
Qin Luo shook his head. The first time he met her, she’d at least seemed somewhat normal.
But now, without her system, it was like she’d shed all restraints and embraced her true nature.
Hmm?
Could it be...
Qin Luo blinked. Was the system actually another form of shackle imposed by the Heavenly Dao?
What do you think, little puppy?
[Master, your little puppy will always be yours~~]
That’s a bit too intimate.
[Master~~]
Returning to the present, Qin Luo strode forward and snatched the tablet from Zixuan’s hands.
"My—my pretty boys!!"
"It’s not even mealtime yet!!"
Zixuan flailed, then slumped back into her chair when she saw who it was.
She pouted. "What? You locked me up, and now you’re here to mock me?"
"Go ahead, laugh. ‘Oh, look at the mighty wielder of the Fate System, reduced to this pitiful state.’"
Qin Luo cut off her rambling. "I need to know—how much do you understand about traveling to the Great Thousand Worlds?"
He studied her subtly shifting expression as he continued, "I’ve gone through the Martial Arts Alliance’s entire database."
[For details, see: Chapter 440]
"I know you used the Fate System to gather these so-called ‘Chosen Ones,’ protagonists from every era."
"Moreover, you seemed aware that their destinies were tiered."
"Especially those with exceptionally high destinies—you labeled them ‘Pieces of the Great Thousand Worlds.’"
"The Fate System could indeed detect people connected to them, but... how did you know they were called ‘Pieces’?"
Thanks to his system, Qin Luo retained all the information he’d ever encountered—including records about the Great Thousand Worlds.
Zixuan’s eyes flickered, as if wrestling with some internal conflict.
Noticing this, Qin Luo smiled.
[Whispering Wind Technique—activate!]
He said softly, "Miss Zixuan, why cling to these burdens now?"
"Isn’t your current life comfortable enough?"
"You’re no longer the wielder of the Fate System."
"In simpler terms—you’re free from responsibility."
Qin Luo didn’t understand how these people obtained fragments of the Heavenly Dao (i.e., systems). But...
"Think about it. When those higher-dimensional beings chose you and bestowed the Fate System, was it really to let you control fate?"
"Or were you just a tool to gather Chosen Ones for their schemes?"
Zixuan’s resolve wavered slightly, but she remained silent.
She bit her lip, as if wrestling with something deep inside.
Seeing this, Qin Luo pressed further: "You've already been abandoned by them, haven't you?"
"Your Fate System was contained by me, yet they didn’t come to save you—not even a single reaction."
"What does that tell you? It means you’re worthless to them now."
"Keeping their secrets for them is nothing but self-deception."
"Miss Zixuan..."
"You wouldn’t want to leave this comfortable life and get tangled up in troublesome affairs again, would you?"
Zixuan: "......"
After a long silence, Zixuan raised her head and looked at Qin Luo with solemnity. "Actually... I’ve met someone from the Great Thousand Worlds."
"Who?"
"The leader of the Martial Arts Alliance."
"Me?"
"...? The previous one!"
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
ose... to cooperate with the protagonist! Shen Yuan: I have a system! Protagonist: What? System: Holy crap, you're just spilling it out like that? Shen Yuan: Let's team up, we'll split the system rewards! Protagonist: Fifty-fifty split? Shen Yuan: No way! Protagonist: What!? I'm the one getting beaten up, and I don't get half? Shen Yuan: Forty-sixty split, I get forty, you get sixty! Protagonist: Deal! Big brother, come on, hit me! As long as it doesn't kill me, beat me like you mean it! Shen Yuan: Don't worry... I will definitely protect all of you! No one but me can lay a finger on you! Guard our Heaven's Chosen Ones! I'm the only one allowed to bully them!
't think I'm that capable, I'm just trying my best to stay alive. I've been kind all my life, never did anything bad, yet worldly suffering spared me not one bit. The human world is a nice place, but I won't come back in my next life. A kind young man, who wanted to just get by singing, but through repeated deceits and betrayals, has gone down an irredeemable path.
mance] After transmigrating for eighteen years, Lin Qi lived as an utterly ordinary herbalist in the countryside. One day, he kindly brought home a sickly, beautiful girl covered in blood. They married in a flash and began their blissful, intimate life together. Right then, his long-delayed system finally activated. [Warning! Host detected in contact with the "Crimson Calamity," the world-ending witch!] Lin Qi looked at the adorable wife currently curled in his arms, who couldn't even open a jar lid and trembled at the sight of a mouse. Lin Qi: "System, are you insane? This is clearly just a weak and delicate sickly girl!" Thus, Lin Qi treated the system as a "Contrast System," where taking care of his wife made him stronger. Combing his wife's hair rewarded him with [Free Attribute Points]. Taking his wife out for sunshine rewarded him with [Forbidden Spell: Arcane Explosion]. Lin Qi: "This soft life tastes so good!" ... Yet, in the eyes of outsiders: The strongest Beastkin Assassin: "That man dissected a Beast King with a common skinning knife! That was a show of force towards the powerful!" The Holy Son of the Radiant Church: "I infiltrated his home as a tutor, but he had me babysit the children... He must have seen through my disguise!" The World-Ending Witch, Felucia: "I hid all the way in the countryside. How is it that the husband I married on a whim is stronger than I was at my peak?"
