Everyone ascended, but I didn't get on board

Chapter 149 Unlocking System Data

Qiu Ci brought the insect to Lan Yuan not really to show it to the old man from Juanshan, who was still soaking in the pool, but mainly to find a safe place to study it, and the base was naturally the best choice.

"Damn system, can you hack into this thing's data?" Qiu Ci examined the insect over and over again. She didn't know if something went wrong when it was shaved off, but apart from the crystal on its back still shining, the rest of the thing was as still as if it were dead. She could only tell that its material was an unfamiliar metal, but it was different from the psionic machine.

"Yes, Master!" The little ball of light didn't hesitate and darted into the insect's body in a flash. Less than half a minute later, its voice came through.

[Huh? Master, master, the information flow of this pirated system is so messed up! It's stuck in many places, and there are signs of overload and short circuits inside. All the programs are completely messed up.]

"What do you mean?" Qiu Ci was taken aback for a moment, then guessed, "You mean this thing is burnt?"

No way, she hasn't done anything yet.

[Yes, Master. It seems the information turbulence originated from its processing core. An error in the calculation caused an internal overload and short circuit, resulting in a complete freeze.]

"Is it possible to find out what it was performing that caused the error?"

[Let me see... It seems the problem was caused by an error in the scanned object, which triggered a low-level protocol and caused the device to overheat. The final scanned object was... wait, it was you, Master. Serves you right.]

What does "..." mean?
[Master, the personal data of Earth's citizens is top secret. Scanning requires authorization from law enforcement, and currently only you possess this privilege. This pirate system's unauthorized scanning is illegal and constitutes an infringement upon Earth's citizens, thus triggering the underlying protocol.] The first fundamental law of Earth's products is that Earth's citizens must not be harmed, directly or indirectly, in any form.

"So, just because this thing scanned me, it became unusable?"

Yes, Master!

"Does pirated systems also need to follow basic rules?" She thought piracy was unrestricted.

[Even pirated copies are products of Earth.] Products of Earth must abide by Earth's laws; whether they're pirated or not makes no difference.

"So it scanned other people before, right?"

But they aren't the great humans from Earth.

"..." That makes so much sense, she was speechless.

"Check it again, see if there's any system repository or anything like that, and how it managed to contaminate the spirit beast's inner core and poison the socially anxious Jing?"

【Good master! 】

The little ball of light moved very quickly, and in no time it had thoroughly investigated the insect's information.

【Master, this pirated system lacks warehouse and storage functions.】

"No?" Qiu Ci was somewhat surprised. "Then where did the mental toxins in the socially anxious Jing come from?" Could she have guessed wrong?

【Master, master, this pirated system has an 'energy synthesis and conversion' program that can convert and synthesize items and materials of any attribute, including mental toxins, as long as there is enough energy.】

"What do you mean?" She didn't quite understand.

The 'energy synthesis and conversion' technology was used by Earth during periods of resource scarcity. It could convert energy into any molecular form and transform it into desired items. This technology was once called "creating things out of thin air," but it was later discovered that the energy required for creation was enormous, and the law of conservation of energy still applied, so it did not actually achieve the goal of increasing resources.

"You mean that the so-called psychoactive toxins were created by this pirated system using the 'energy synthesis and conversion' program?"

"Yes, Master!" the little ball of light answered affirmatively, then added a moment later.

"I also found multiple synthesis records in its logs. Besides mental toxins, there are also: Beast-Attracting Pills, Rank 6 Spirit Swords, Azure Spirit Pills, Demonic Fiend Pills, Five Elements Spirit-Nourishing Arrays, Tribulation-Crossing Talismans, and so on. There are hundreds of different kinds in one log." As the system spoke, a light screen popped up in front of her, displaying a bunch of things.

So, are all these things that Di Zifan exchanged from the system?
Upon closer inspection, she found something inside that could corrupt the inner core of a spirit beast; it was indeed from the system.

and many more.

"Isn't it said that the 'energy synthesis and conversion' process must also abide by the law of conservation of energy? Then what kind of energy does this system use to convert these things?" she asked.

This time, the dog system didn't answer. Instead, it silently dragged the list on the screen to the very end and marked the last column.

The words on it read: Host: Di Zifan (Soul Bound).

What do you mean?
She suddenly remembered the scene when she first saw this system bug, and her eyes widened immediately. "This system is converting Di Zifan's primordial spirit power?"

The primordial spirit is equivalent to a cultivator's soul. Di Zifan used the power of his primordial spirit to exchange with the system. Has he gone mad? Once the primordial spirit collapses, the soul is scattered, and there is no chance of reincarnation. The soul will completely disappear from this world.

No one would choose to do that unless... Di Zifan had no idea what the price would be.

She suddenly thought of the so-called strategy missions issued by the bug system, and the concept of luck value.

"Damn system, check what its purpose is, and where those tasks came from?"

[Yes, Master! Ding! Unlocking the core, unlocking progress: 10%...20%...50%...buzz~]

Bang!
Before the system had fully unlocked, a sudden loud bang occurred, and the bug that had been stuck suddenly exploded, its entire body shattering into countless fragments.

Qiu Ci was startled and instinctively formed a defensive barrier to block the exploding fragments, then turned to look at the spot where she had just been.

"Dog system?"

A moment later, the small system orb, which had turned half gray from the smoke, flew back listlessly.

[Master, that pirate system has no ethics whatsoever; it actually set up a self-destruct mechanism in its core, and I haven't been able to obtain its core data.]

"Never mind." Qiu Ci picked up the little ball of light, patted off the black ash on its body, and breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that it was alright. "Since it's core information, it's normal that it's not so easy to get your hands on."

[But Master, I've tracked its superior system and can pinpoint its exact location.]

"The superior system!" Qiu Ci exclaimed in surprise. "You mean, behind this insect system, besides Di Zifan, there are other manipulators?"

Yes, Master. The user of the higher-level system is the true owner; the pirated system is merely a subprogram.

No wonder this bug system always refers to Di Zifan as "host," instead of calling him "master" like the dog system does.

Who is the user of the higher-level system?

[This pirated system lacks permissions to record information from higher-level systems, but its last location was in the A857 domain 4C18E, with mainland coordinates of E41582, Y25812.]

"What do you mean? The other party isn't on this continent."

[Yes, Master! The 4C18E continent is very far from here. In the pirated system's database, the 4C18E continent is labeled as: Divine Radiance Continent.]

"..."