Chapter 251 - The Path of Heavenly Punishment

‘Having given my underlings all the difficult tasks, I shall hole myself up…no, control the entire game so the System would not deviate from its true goal.’

With these thoughts, Fang Ning started surfing the net contentedly.

Vigilante A soared back up into the sky to see the world… No, to farm monsters.

After half a day, Fang Ning noticed that the System Notifications were pretty strange.

[The Black Dog Brett is under fatal threat in XX area; the Thousand-Mile Assistance is activated. ]

[The threat on the Black Dog Brett has been resolved. ]

[The Black Dog Brett is under fatal threat in XXX area; the Thousand-Mile Assistance is activated. ]

…

That poor black pooch had to donate blood as well as help Sir reclaim parts of the map. It was constantly poisoned nearly to death.

The key point was that it was actually enjoying it, with some sort of confused pride.

Fang Ning felt sympathetic towards this poor manipulated boy, and decided to privately give it more rejuvenation.

The golden chain that the dog forged for itself was already long and heavy enough. He would allow it to loosen it a bit…

He regarded himself as a kind boss, not an evil capitalist.

After that he praised, “You are very smart, Sir System. After detecting the activation of the Thousand-Mile Assistance, as soon as the threat is removed, the map will still be active for 24 hours. That Black Dog had been cultivating hard to regain its strength and no one could help you with your map, which is why you’ve never used this setting. Now, that Black Dog is good at burrowing, it’s pretty effective to have it as assistance in creating a world map. I thought you didn’t know.”

The System replied, “Rubbish. How can I not know this? It’s just that Black Dog’s power had not fully recovered earlier, and its slow speed is useless for this task. But you? You’ve been secretly going online, and that double-S qualification of yours is still at Bucket level after cultivating for so long. You must have been lax in your cultivation. Have you started puffing up that ego after seeing me instantly farm monsters?”

Fang Ning said defiantly, “What puffing up? I’m accumulating theoretical knowledge and looking for inspiration. That world modification theory I told you about was found on the net. Else, you probably would finish them off within half a year. They aren’t stupid; if they can’t survive above ground, then they would go under. Then, it would be hard to make a map for that. Only by farming monsters and encouraging them to copulate can we go on a path where we can continuously rise in level.”

The System continued, “Oh, I don’t understand…well, go on finding inspiration online, Big Billionaire. If we ever need you to come out to rescue us, I guess we are already finished.”

Fang Ning felt slightly sheepish at this. “Never mind, since you said it in such a serious way. I’d need to work overtime and cultivate for some time to reach Pond-level quicker. Then, I would have confidence in controlling the Dragon God once I summon it.”

…

The black cat Tom had been very busy these days with something important.

It had just heard about Vigilante A’s work in destroying the Japanese serpent, and it felt very regretful.

“Too bad, too bad. If I’d known he’d be there, I would have hidden out there earlier and set up the Altar of Death. That serpent is large, not good in fighting and evil, but it had its own unique method of cultivation and could absorb the Power of Fear.

“It’s divided into eight heads. When one’s power has accumulated to the limit of this world, it would grow another. Now that two has been slain, how much Power of Fear can be released?”

‘Why don’t I disguise myself and become one of Vigilante A’s followers?

‘I’ve heard that he keeps many animals there. There are dogs, birds, even rodents and insects. Another black cat named Tom would fit in.’

The black cat Tom spent some effort ignoring that surely fatal thought. Even if the Death’s Shadow Disguise was good, it did not want to bet its life on it.

After all, a leopard would not change its spots, and once it showed its cruel character that liked to anticipating-death, the other could spot it immediately. That was hard to disguise.

Black Cat Tom, lost in its thoughts, sighed, and its nimble form suddenly vanished into thin air.

Soon, it appeared before a mysterious face.

Here was an underground castle.

Before it was a young white man in an all-black suit. With his evil eyes and handsome features, he looked very much like a domineering president of a company.

His head was lowered as he read the newspaper. The content was in German, and had a large bold headline as well as a very clear photograph.

Das Hotel Pharos im Osten leuchtet die ganze Welt

(The Pharos of the East Illuminates The World)

The picture contained a Chinese man much more handsome than he was, his body well-built and powerful. His whole being was suffused with a look of righteousness.

“Vigilante A, the Venerable Dragon God. What is his real name? Herr Tom, can you answer my question?”

The evil man asked mildly. He may look human, but he was in fact a demon.

The Eastern Underworld had Greater Rats, and the Western one had demons.

Those Greater Rats, having stolen the food thrown away by humans each day, had always learned from humans and tried to be independent. With help from Greater Rats from the Upper Realm, they had partly achieved this goal and started building their own underground kingdom.

Those demons, however, lived on the lifeblood of human beings.

They infiltrated different associations in many lands, and used their position to take food or even human lives. To them, “being independent” was bulls**t.

In the demons’ opinion, humans were born to be their slaves and sheep, so they should rightly serve them, since demons were at a higher level of the food chain.

They would never do all demeaning and dirty work as long as they had strength.

The Elite Nightmare Demon slain by Vigilante A was one of them, which used human lives as food for its growth.

Black Cat Tom said, “Herr Claude, no one knows his real name, and he’s never mentioned it. His past is unknown, but he is definitely one of the Descended, and a spirit of a True Dragon which has descended into a human host and slowly cultivated the methods of the Dragon Clan before finally reverting to the form of a dragon.”

Claude nodded. “If so, why are you here, Herr Tom?”

Black Cat Tom smiled strangely. “Herr Claude, you and your tribe are in danger, don’t you know?”

Claude nodded. “I know, which is why I am meeting you. What does Herr Tom have to tell me?”

Black Cat Tom did not beat around the bush. “Your Highness now has two ways out; fight or flight. However, where are you planning to flee? You have always hidden among humans, and never did think of building your own underground kingdom.”

Claude shook his head. “I don’t think there are many places to hide. That black dog is too powerful; wherever it goes, it seems to be able to distinguish the smell of any species different from Vigilante A. Pity, we are all different to from rats in the East; we don’t like living underground but prefer the villas and castles of humans. Vigilante A, except for hating to go underground, could go anywhere.”

Black cat Tom tried to manipulate him. “Why don’t you choose a spot, sir, gather manpower and topple this Pharos in one fell swoop?”

Claude rubbed his chin, putting down his newspaper. He had a weird expression on his face. “No need for all that trouble. This Vigilante A calls himself a fighter for justice. Good. So Herr Tom can send out word asking him to commit suicide or watch us massacre a hundred thousand people. If that’s not enough, then one million, even ten million is no problem.

“No matter whether he agrees or not, it will be a large blow on him. It will teach him a lesson on self-control. Ha ha ha! Ha ha ha!”

Black Cat Tom, hearing the laughter of the other, shivered.

It had planned to manipulate him into gathering a strong troop of clan members in a place to fight Vigilante A to the death. Then, it could also gather some of the Power of Death.

However, it had forgotten that this Demon before it had a much lower bottom line than it could ever imagine.

Black Cat Tom, of course, would never allow the other to do so. Murdering ordinary citizens like this was something Death would never allow. It disobeyed Death’s most basic rule which could be developed continuously.

So it shook its head. “It’s useless, Herr Claude. All newspapers hire stupid reporters, who mold Vigilante A into the Pharos of the East and the ambassador of justice. He’s actually cultivating the Path of Heavenly Punishment, and the Heavenly Axiom is merciless, which is why there were initially people who thought he was cultivating the Merciless Path.

“No matter how many people you murder, he will not be affected. He would just come and give you a stab with his sword. The fact you had killed many increases the grievous number of sins you’ve committed; he would actually get rewarded by the Heavenly Aziom and have a vast improvement in terms of strength. So, your highness, that idea is just you thinking highly of yourself which would only bring failure instead of success.”

Claude froze at his words, and a furious embarrassment flashed across his face. His wild laughter stopped.

He pondered for a moment and immediately understood. This cat spoke the truth; rumor had it that Vigilante A would have an enormous increase in power each time he slew a monster. “No wonder it’s been known that the Global Power Balance Association has always been at odds with him, yet you’ve never taken such a step. I’d thought you were a bunch of do-gooders, when you’d all already known it would be ineffective. Those imbecilic short-lived people who kept wrapping him up with that Ambassador of Justice nickname just needed some sort of spiritual support, ” he nodded.

Tom then let out a breath of relief. Dealing with this sort of cruel Dark guys was too complicated. Their line of thought was strange and weird, without any moral bottom line.

“So, it has to be like what Herr Tom mentioned. Gather enough manpower, then topple and crush this Eastern Pharos!” Claude said coldly.

Black Cat Tom then smiled briefly. Mission accomplished.

…..

On the African savanna, on a riverbank where rushes grew, Vigilante A had destroyed an enormous man-eating crocodile which had hidden in the river for a very long time with a single sword stroke, and removed its carcass.

Those black people who had rushed over earlier raised their arms and shouted in celebration. Most of them were settlers on both sides of the river who had long been tormented by it. Many knelt on the floor, prostrating themselves before him. They obviously saw him as some sort of god.

Most of them were elderly and weak. Those who were able enough had long left this area, leaving those people who could not make a living in other places behind.

They breed and catch fish in the river each day, and the thing they worried most about was the sudden appearances of the man-eating crocodiles.

After the place regained Vitality, one of the crocodiles, unique in itself, had been enlightened.

It soon discovered that catching humans was much easier than catching those quick and nimble gazelles…

Those humans react slowly and were easily scared; they could be downed easily with a pounce. Most importantly, there were many of them, much more than gazelles.

Man-eating crocodiles were not exactly news, and after acquiring wisdom, it had made it famous.

Its armor-like scaly skin cannot be pierced by bullets or destroyed by cannonballs, and normal armed regiments could not do anything.

Here, there was no hope of any official intervention. Before the restoration of Vitality, no one intervened in the ordinary feuds, and even more when those monsters wreaked havoc.

However, Vigilante A, expressionless, had just flown away like a true god from the heavens.