Defeat the system! Kiss my little monster!

The light on the coal lump flickered, and it looked up at Shen Yu, repeatedly hesitating to speak: "Actually, I..."

"What's his name?" Shen Yu suddenly asked, staring intently ahead as if looking at a dissipating black mist.

The coal ball rolled over, closed its data panel, and after a long while said, "I've wiped out all the previous information, and I can't remember it anymore."

Shen Yu gave a cold laugh that was hard to decipher. He ignored the coal briquette and turned to leave from the corner.

Clinging to life behind Shen Yu, it withdrew its energy, thought for a moment, and then turned back to the coal ball: "The yang energy you gave me before has all been used up. Here's the remaining energy back to you. From now on..."

Sighing and barely clinging to life, it looked at the cracks on the coal ball, shook its body, and resolutely left.

The golden book fell next to the coal ball, which trembled at the sound and then stopped moving.

It looked up at the sky, feeling a sense of bewilderment and confusion that seemed almost foreign to the system. Mixed within this bewilderment was an even greater, unnamed pain.

The coal ball continued to crack open, and it painfully grabbed a corner of the golden book next to it, using all its strength to draw a tiny bit of energy from it.

"Danger! Danger! Requesting support from headquarters!"

"Data connection in progress, page restarting... Beep—Warning! Requesting headquarters assistance—Beep—Data connection successful."

The coal briquette lay motionless on the ground. After a few mixed mechanical sounds, another mechanical sound rang out from the golden book.

"Number, Status: Critically Dangerous, meets rescue criteria. Escape procedure has been set, will leave the current world within thirty seconds."

The coal ball stared blankly at the data panel that appeared in front of it, the countdown on it getting faster and faster. It stared blankly for more than ten seconds, then suddenly lifted the ball and pressed the negation button.

"The assigned number refuses to leave the current world. Do you wish to receive rescue energy?"

The coal ball was lifted again and the "OK" button was pressed.

As soon as the page on the panel changed and the data changed, a large amount of pure black energy poured into the coal ball's body.

The cracks on the coal ball healed quickly, the alarm on its body finally stopped, and all the values ​​gradually stabilized.

"Rescue complete. Abnormal energy fluctuations detected around you. Do you need assistance from headquarters...?"

The coal ball flew into the air, severing its connection with headquarters, and monitored the activities of everyone at its current location from the air.

Shen Yu hadn't gone far when Coal Ball glanced at the direction he left in the distance, then flew away in the exact opposite direction.

*

After Wen Yu left, all the palace gates were locked. Except for generals and soldiers who occasionally needed to enter the palace to report on military affairs, Xuan Lin did not allow anyone else to enter or leave.

Shen Yu is still hiding in the palace. Xuan Lin has no intention of opening the palace gates until he catches him.

Shen Yu observed all of this. He retreated to the Cold Palace, occasionally flipping through the Red Book to check on Wen Yu's mental state. As Wen Yu's crab herd grew larger and larger, Shen Yu dared not make any further rash moves.

He simply stayed in the palace with Xuan Lin, hiding and dodging for nearly half a month.

[...No news today. I arranged to meet the king at the lonely pavilion. At first, the king hesitated, but later his attitude changed...]

[I don't know the situation. Some say he's dead and his body was dumped in a mass grave. I searched there but haven't found him yet; perhaps he's already decomposed. ...Who knows?]

Today is the tenth day of the month. Thunder and lightning will flash. Heavy rain is expected; water battles are advisable.

I don't have much silver on me, enough to buy a coffin. But it's still somewhat unsightly, I can't explain it, and I don't know how to put it. Lately, I often look in the mirror; if I see his left profile smiling, it's as if I see him smiling; if I see his left profile crying, it's as if I see him crying.

[Day 17.]

Shen Yu looked at each sheet of paper one by one, his fingertips tracing the small, bright black characters on the paper, his eyelashes lowered and he remained silent.

This period has not been peaceful.

The Sheng Kingdom launched a surprise attack on the Yue Kingdom's border and has now intruded into Yue territory. Xuan Lin ignored this, busy treating his cheek and continuing to cede territory and pay reparations as usual.

This time, however, the Sheng Kingdom showed no signs of restraint. It had been eyeing the Yue Kingdom for years, and this time it seized the opportunity to launch a full-scale attack, relentlessly advancing towards the center of the royal palace.

Shen Yu knew why Xuan Lin was so fearless: with Coal Ball by his side, what did he have to fear? Even if Coal Ball was half-dead, the little energy it had left was enough for Xuan Lin to exploit.

Shen Yu closed the red book in his hand, looked up at the floating creature, and asked, "How is the situation now?"

"I've already drawn a map of the entire palace's secret passages and dense forests, and I've marked the guards on duty," Gouqie said seriously. "Where are we going now?"

Shen Yu wasn't in a hurry. He said, "Let's wait a little longer."

Currently, there are frequent minor skirmishes between the two countries, but no formal war has yet broken out. Shen Yu understands the trajectory of this world's development, and he is waiting for the day when the army of the Sheng Kingdom will press in on the border.

Clinging to Shen Yu's head, it put away its data board and looked up at the sky.

The clear blue sky was cloudless, and the blazing sun beat down, making their bodies ache slightly. The task progress bar on its data panel slowly rose, reaching the top.

Name: Shen Yu.

Current rebirth completion rate: 90%

He glanced at it briefly, then moved the ball away.

*

A month later, the wound on the right side of Xuan Lin's face had finally healed completely. The hideous scar seemed to have never appeared, leaving only a slight scratch on his cheek, almost invisible unless you looked closely.

Xuan Lin tossed the bronze mirror aside, glanced at the coal ball frozen in mid-air, and swung his hand to knock it aside.

The coal briquette had long been tormented and broken, and the cracks in its system were still widening, with mechanical fragments and particles falling off from time to time.

Xuan Lin found it an eyesore and sneered, "I am your host. I told you to go and bring the male lead back. Did you bring him back? Look at you, you're a useless host."

The coal briquettes simply floated in the air, without any mechanical noise emanating from them.

Xuan Lin continued, "You did a pretty good job with the defenses in Sheng Kingdom. Tomorrow, go out again and use your power to kill all those people. Also, raze Sheng Kingdom to the ground. Those people are just an eyesore."

The coal ball didn't move. It looked down at Xuan Lin as if he were a complete stranger: "...No."

"What did you say?" Xuan Lin paused in his swirling of the wine glass, his face instantly darkening. "Are you looking for death?"

The black sheen on the coal ball intensified, and it stared intently at Xuan Lin, repeating, "No."

"You!" Xuan Lin threw down his wine glass, stood up abruptly, and reached out to pull the coal ball down from the air.