"What, you still want to hide things from me?" The middle-aged man's lips curled into a faint, mocking smile.
Gavin Xu gritted his teeth and said, "You keep your word, right? If I manage to break out of this barrier, you won't give me any more trouble?"
The middle-aged man chuckled, "Relax, my word is my bond. If you can't even break out of a simple barrier, then you really aren't worth using!"
"Fine!"
Gavin Xu gave a low shout and threw out a purple card.
With a flash of light, the purple card transformed into a massive purple greatsword, dozens of meters long. The blade trembled, then swung down hard toward the space around them.
This greatsword card was already the strongest attack item Gavin Xu had.
"Vroom! Vroom!"
The barrier shook violently. Seeing this, Gavin Xu couldn't help but feel a surge of hope and shouted, "Greatsword, smash it! Smash it hard!"
"Boom! Boom!"
The purple greatsword rose and slashed down again, making the entire barrier space shake even harder. But seeing this, the middle-aged man’s lips curled in disdain and disappointment—he thought this Host was pathetically weak.
In the end, the purple greatsword struck nine times before its energy was spent and it vanished, but the barrier space remained intact.
Watching the greatsword disappear, Gavin Xu was instantly filled with despair. He looked at the middle-aged man, eyes pleading, "What are you going to do with me?"
"Naturally, I’ll strip your System and take your life!"
The middle-aged man replied playfully.
"My System’s already been taken. Even if you kill me, you won’t get it!" Gavin Xu suddenly laughed, a touch of satisfaction in his voice.
The middle-aged man froze, then angrily demanded, "Who took your System?"
"Heh, why should I tell you?" Gavin Xu sneered.
"You think you can threaten me with that? Idiot, I already said—I can measure fate!" As he spoke, an invisible star chart above the middle-aged man’s head spun rapidly.
After a moment, a look of surprise and shock appeared on the middle-aged man's face. He thought to himself: How is this possible? Why can't I calculate that person's whereabouts or information? My Star-Fate Divination Art can only fail against those with overwhelming destiny. Could that Host have great fortune?
If Ian Song could hear his thoughts, he’d probably want to tell him: not only am I blessed with great fortune, I once carried all the luck of the Human Race. Even though that power has left me, the fantasy world has already become my Subordinate World, and the luck has gone to my blood-related son. So, if you try to divine my fate, it really won’t work.
"Speak! Who exactly took your System?"
The middle-aged man reached out and grabbed Gavin Xu by the throat, squeezing just hard enough to make Gavin's face flush red.
"You... forget it!"
Gavin Xu grinned savagely. He knew he’d die either way, so why let his enemy get what he wanted?
"Since you want to die, I’ll oblige you!" the middle-aged man snarled.
But just then, a sword light flew in from the horizon and, with a wet slicing sound, split the barrier cleanly in two.
The middle-aged man looked up in shock and saw that, at some point, a breathtakingly handsome young man had appeared in the sky. Their surroundings had also changed to a vast, boundless grassland.
"Let him go!"
The handsome young man in the sky walked down step by step, as if invisible stairs supported him. His graceful movements made him look like a god descending from the heavens.
When Gavin Xu saw the handsome young man, his face lit up with surprise and delight. He hadn’t expected the guy who took his System to actually come save him.
"You’re a System Host too, aren’t you?"
The middle-aged man smiled as he spoke.
"I said, let him go. You defied my command, so..."
A sword light appeared out of nowhere and, faster than lightning, slashed down on the middle-aged man's arm that was gripping Gavin Xu's neck. With a wet slicing sound, the arm was severed instantly.
The middle-aged man staggered back, horror in his eyes. He wasn’t a combat-type Host, but his strength was far from weak. Still, in front of this man, he was utterly helpless. Even so, compared to the person he served, this guy was still far inferior.
If he could just escape this formation, he could flee quickly and report this to his master.
The star chart above his head spun wildly as he searched for a flaw in the formation.
Suddenly, his eyes lit up and he shot toward a certain direction. When he arrived, he struck at the void with his one remaining arm.
But to his surprise, the void he struck didn’t break.
"It's pretty impressive that you can find weak points, but I can just move them somewhere else. I'll give you three minutes—if you can escape, I won't kill you!"
Ian Song walked over through the air, landed beside him, and smiled.
The middle-aged man said nothing, frantically calculating and then darting off in one direction. Gavin Xu watched with great satisfaction—this scene was poetic justice after being forced just moments ago.
After a frantic struggle, the middle-aged man still couldn’t break out of the formation.
After all, finding weak points took time, while Ian could shift them with a single thought. No matter how fast he searched, he could never really break free.
"Spare me! I'm willing to serve you!" The middle-aged man collapsed to his knees.
"No need!"
Now that he knew fusing other Systems could upgrade his own, Ian naturally wouldn’t accept a Host’s loyalty. With a wave of his hand, he stripped the man's System, caught it, and fused it into his own body.
"I don't have a System anymore, so you can spare me, right?" The middle-aged man kowtowed and begged.
"That depends on whether you have any value!" Ian said with a light laugh, sending a Puppet Mastery Divine Art brand into the man's body before starting his interrogation.
After the interrogation, Ian felt a bit heavy-hearted, but at least he learned something: Ethan Jiang, the Eighth Prince, was powerful but hadn’t discovered the secret that fusing Systems could upgrade their tier. Instead, he just used Hosts as slaves.
If he killed Jiang Two, Ethan Jiang might come to this planet himself. So for now, Jiang Two couldn’t be killed—he’d have to keep him around to distract Ethan Jiang.
As for Gavin Xu, Ian was just keeping him as bait—Jiang Two took the hook, didn’t he?
There was still a black-robed young Host lurking near Plumridge City; it was just a matter of time before he went after Gavin Xu, the bait.
The next morning, Ian arrived at the Special Police base, only to find Amber Liu looking wronged and upset.
"Amber, what’s wrong?" Ian asked.
"I'm fine, just feeling a bit off!" Amber shook her head and walked away. Ian watched her back, a thoughtful look on his face.
PS: Saw everyone's comments in the reviews—thanks for your concern!