I Hate Systems

Chapter 131: Bargain

In Compass Carburettor’s mind, two entities had appeared all of a sudden. The first was him, of course, while the second was the Slave Harem System, present in its original appearance, the one he observed while in the System World.

He looked at the faces of the women chained to it, noticing the faces of General Artica, Rikune, Princess Raecha, Wakuta, and Kerriel. He was then surprised, sweating upon seeing the face of his feminine version too on it.

Though, it was only partly finished, lacking any facial features. If his feminine form hadn’t been promptly killed, he would have completely fallen under the influence of Slave Harem. Though, once he returned to being a man, the ability was automatically cancelled, hence the unfinished state of his face on the Slave Harem System.

“A System Slayer…” The Slave Harem System frowned, speaking as it gazed at Compass Carburettor. Moreover, once it focused further, his figure vanished. And remaining in place was a gun and a symbol, causing it to become shocked, “T-Two Personal Fragments? How’s this possible?”

“Thanks to you, actually.” He grinned in response, “If not for the abilities I took from you at the start, I wouldn’t have been able to achieve all this.”

“At the start…?” The Slave Harem System recalled the time when Regriel’s hands were severed, “That was…you?”

“Guess?” Compass Carburettor laughed as two planets slowly appeared behind him. Among them, Earth moved forward, aiming at the Slave Harem System as its skies became a bit clouded, turning darker and darker as numerous projectiles exited it, forming a stream as they impacted the opponent.

“Aargh!” The Slave Harem System grunted, trying to move around when it noticed its body was chained down by an energy blade shaped into thousands of chains. The cause was the Darble World.

Due to this, the Slave Harem System was unable to run away, being bombarded by thousands of bullets every second as its body was being damaged little by little. Even though it screamed in pain every single time, it never panicked.

Rather, it was awaiting an opportunity all along, ‘All these attacks consume Mental Energy. He’s not a true System Slayer yet, so his Mental Energy reserves should be limited. Once he runs out of Mental Energy, I’ll be able to gobble up his spirit and become the owner of his body.’

Soon after, as it had expected, the hail of bullets reduced in number, now a tenth of what it had at the start. Upon seeing it, the Slave Harem System became excited, sensing the bindings on its body beginning to wane in strength, ‘Soon, I’ll be the victor.’

But, no matter how long it waited after that, there were no signs of the hail of bullets stopping. Rather, the constant stream continued nonstop, damaging it further and further.

As it was getting perplexed, Compass Carburettor laughed, “Did you think I would run out of Mental Energy?”

“W-What?” The Slave Harem System was shocked, muttering, “Impossible! How do you have so much Mental Energy?”

“Aren’t the criteria to obtain Mental Energy the same for both of us?” He laughed, “So, I’ve been working on it all along. I have a steady influx of Mental Energy. The entire Mohart Dungeon is under my control.”

“Dammit!” The Slave Harem System struggled, trying its best to break free. But, Compass Carburettor constantly kept it on the receiving end, having already destroyed all the attachments to the pillar. Soon, he started to destroy it too when the Slave Harem System shouted, “Wait! Don’t kill me! We can trade!”

“Trade?” Compass Carburettor looked at it, smirking as he didn’t reduce the intensity of his attacks even in the least, “Continue talking.”

‘Damn him!’ The Slave Harem System cursed, hurriedly speaking, “You aren’t a true System Slayer yet, right?”

“A True System Slayer?” Compass Carburettor frowned.

“Yes!” The Slave Harem System hurriedly nodded, “Only if you destroy and absorb your source System would you become a True System Slayer. Once you become that, you’ll be able to grow, just like Systems. Even though Grade 1 is your limit, you’ll still become incomparably strong. After all, the current you have already hit your limit. You cannot level up!”

“I see, that makes sense.” Compass Carburettor nodded, gazing at the Slave Harem System as he tilted his head, “And then? What are you willing to offer regarding this?”

“It won’t be easy to target your source System or any other Systems. And, if the System has a large reserve of Mental Energy unlike me, it would be able to counter any plan that you make.” The Slave Harem System shrilled, noticing a part of its corner shatter, “It’s all because of the Astral Network. We can buy and sell all sorts of abilities there. That’s the reason Systems cannot be killed easily!”

“Only a System can access the Astral Network. Even True System Slayers cannot access it.” It then shouted, “But I can buy on your behalf. I’ll just reside in one corner of your body. And I’ll buy you anything that you need through the Astral Network. We can cooperate this way. There are endless benefits for you once this happens.”

“Well, you are right about that.” Compass Carburettor nodded after some thought, suddenly frowning as he said, “But, that would make me a System Host once again, right? And, unless you decide to not kill me after returning to the System World, my life and death would be in your hands.”

“Wait! Wait!” It shouted upon noticing the attacks increasing in intensity, “I can make a vow. There are Systems with the ability to allow this. As long as I buy this Skill from the Astral Network, we’ll be able to form a contract. With that, I won’t be able to kill you. And once we return to the System World, I’ll have no other choice but to exit your body and leave on my own.”

“Hahaha!” Compass Carburettor laughed, “That’s an interesting proposal you have there.”

“Right?” The Slave Harem System nodded in excitement, thinking, ‘This way, I’ll still live and would also be able to obtain all his secrets while taking advantage of his ignorance. The System I know would be able to modify the terms of the contract subtly to give me more leeway in things…’

But, its thoughts stopped at that point when the pillar forming the core of its body shattered into fragments. Following a pitched wail, it died as Compass Carburettor sighed, “It does sound lucrative, but there is too much that I don’t know about. Maybe in the future, I might give it a shot. But definitely not now.”

“It’s too risky.”