Chapter 112: Astral Network

'This is a troubling situation.' Relying on the senses of Regriel, the Slave Harem System thought, 'The price I have to pay would be pretty high. But, the treasure obtained here is worth it. It will allow me to revive my host many times, allowing him to experience life one after another repeatedly.'

'Once successful, I will be able to farm for Mental Energy using him for at least a century or two. And, I can force him into situations where he would either get killed or would have to be sent off to another continent. And, once I feel like his mental state has developed resistance to everything and isn't generating enough Mental Energy, I can have him killed and slumber for a couple of decades before making an unsuspecting child revive him.' It concluded.

'This way, he'll be affected by the rapid passage of time and allow me to gain a lot of Mental Energy once again.' Finishing its thoughts, it observed through the numerous Mental Energy streams, 'I have to first understand why such a situation happened.'

It expended some of its Mental Energy, connecting its consciousness to an astral network that enveloped the planet, established by the first batch of Systems that had descended into this world.

The first Generation of Systems had three functions to establish in any world they arrive at: First, create literature to make the common populace lack any resistance against Systems, rather wishing for it to happen. Second, add restrictions to prevent System Hosts or System Slayers from leaking information about the existence of Systems.

And third, establish a connection to the Astral Network, allowing the Systems that arrive at this world to be able to connect to the network.

The Astral Network was the place where all the Systems conversed and exchanged goods, paying using their Mental Energy. It consumed some Mental Energy for the System to establish a connection with it.

As the situated deemed necessary, the Slave Harem System connected to the Astral Network, noticing numerous groups flooding the place, as usual, 'It's getting more and more crowded these days. Just how many Systems were birthed recently? There are many Systems with almost similar concepts these days.'

It looked around, flinching upon seeing Systems that possessed powers similar to itself: Forced Romance System, Doki-Doki System, Women Enslavement System…

The names were different, but all of them had similar powers and more or less executed the same actions to gather Mental Energy. The moment it arrived, those with similar concepts as itself quickly sent death threats to it.

"Get lost, copycat!"

"Die! Trash!"

"Hand over your authority to me!"

Even though the Slave Harem System was pressed for time, it still transmitted them a death threat of its own, "System turds, I'm the strongest among you. Screw off before I cook you for breakfast!"

It then quickly browsed through the almost infinite number of groups in the Astral Network, searching using some keywords it had thought of, quickly joining the personal group of a certain System, 'There it is, the Monster Hunter System!'

It hurriedly joined and sent a message in the group chat.

[Slave Harem System (Level 5): Uncle Monster Hunter, I need the information of a certain monster.]

[Bully System (Level 12): Lol, look at this pleb acting coy.]

[The Harem System (Level 87): This weak ass is still alive…]

Numerous Systems that it wasn't on good terms with quickly joined the group chat, intending to bury its inquiry. Especially the Systems that were relaxing in the System World, since they didn't have any work to do now, they worked on hindering it, knowing very well that it had arrived here due to an emergency.

As every world had various monster species, the Monster Hunter System was pretty famous as it held records of every monster. As it had lived for thousands of years, it held information of innumerous monster species. And that was why, any System that wished to purchase information related to monsters appeared here, making it a relatively popular group.

The discussions sparked when suddenly, all the Systems that had arrived just to cause chaos were kicked out one after another before the owner of the group made its presence known.

[Monster Hunter System (Level 99): What world are you in, Slave Harem?]

[Slave Harem System (Level 5): I'm at the world E-4219, Uncle. There is a monster called Haggon there that I wish to know about.]

[Monster Hunter System (Level 99): Hmm, the information is too cheap. Why don't I send in information related to all the monsters in that world? That'll cost 1 Mental Energy.]

[Slave Harem System (Level 5): Thank you very much.]

Upon paying 1 Mental Energy to the Monster Hunter System, the Slave Harem System obtained the necessary knowledge, scanning through it instantly, muttering, "So, the Haggons usually form groups and war each other for practically no reason. It seems Regriel was just unlucky to encounter one of them."

It then noticed Regriel's situation, feeling pressured as it quickly surfed through the Astral Network, finding another group as it joined, 'I shouldn't bother with the Mental Energy expenditure. Once I obtain that treasure, I would be able to make tens of thousands of Mental Energy easily through Regriel. His gullible character makes him susceptible to every random woman.'

It then sent a message in the new group, thanking in relief when the group owner replied it instantly.

[Slave Harem System (Level 5): Boss, can I get the Overdrive Skill for a one-off use?"

[Overdrive System (Level 31): What type do you wish for it to be, local energy activated, or Mental Energy activated? And, what level do you wish to purchase it at?]

[Slave Harem System (Level 5): I want it to be Mental Energy Activated. Around level 8 would be perfect.]

[Overdrive System (Level 31): That'll be 84 Mental Energy.]

[Slave Harem System (Level 5): …Can I get a discount? Boss, I am just a small and poor System struggling to make ends meet.]

[Overdrive System (Level 31): Slave Harem, was it? Let's do it this way then. Sell me the level 8 version of your Core Skill and pay 4 Mental Energy atop that. Fair enough?]

[Slave Harem System (Level 5): …Fine.]