Wow! The item-dropping rate is really high! Chapter 865 865: 616 Deprivation2

But it doesn't matter. As long as I'm willing to search, as long as I keep searching, there will always be a day when I'll find them.

I brought them out of the planet; I can't just leave them behind.

But first, I need to possess the ability to search for people across the vast universe...

In the distant void, the Spiritual Energy beacon continues to flicker—that's the rendezvous point for one of the players.

If I can find him, I'll be able to establish contact with the Star of Origin and figure out a way to return.

Once I have a foundation, there's no need to struggle on my own anymore.

Bai E's gaze turned icy as he began to channel his Spiritual Energy, attempting to move closer to the beacon's location and prepare for an escape from this bizarre space.

However, an imnse, sky-splitting tornado suddenly began to rise from the distant reaches of this domain. Understanding the destructive force of a high-dinsional storm, Bai E had no intention of confronting it a second ti.

The storm roared forward, massive and overwhelming.

It descended abruptly, ominously.

But regardless of the sinister origins behind its appearance, Bai E had no choice—he must decide!

The swirling currents exceeded even the malevolent void of this space itself. Now, aside from the vague concept of "turmoil," Bai E could perceive nothing else—not a shred of information.

He must escape imdiately!

Every nerve in Bai E's body bristled with urgency.

'Do I really just have to gamble on my luck?'

The random departure point—who knows where it might lead in the material universe.

The center of a Star? Deep within a black hole?

Or... perched atop soone's toilet?

But either way, faced with the choice between confronting the high-dinsional storm or gambling on the randomness of an escape, Bai E chose the latter.

Unless he encountered those infinitely improbable events, even ending up in a vast, empty corner of the universe wouldn't faze Bai E.

Worst-case scenario, he'd spend more ti seeking out alien civilizations and, once familiar with them, use their power to help him return to the Star of Origin—or at least establish contact.

Watching the distant streaks of light fade away, Bai E clenched his teeth silently.

'Wait for !'

[Side mission triggered—The Wandering Traveler.]

A mission triggered at this mont could not afford to draw even a sliver of Bai E's attention.

With a single thought, Bai E began channeling his Spiritual Energy, bridging the boundary between high-dinsional space and the material realm.

The turbulent space before him, rippling like water, once again ca into view, familiar yet foreboding.

Bai E plunged into it headfirst, as though diving across the surface of an actual ocean.

In the instant of crossing, Bai E felt his body sink—as though subrged in water... or perhaps so dium with a density even lower than water.

Empty, weightless.

Suspended within it, he could neither see starlight ahead nor the high-dinsional void behind.

It was as if he had arrived in the interstitial layer between the material realm and the high-dinsional space—a world of unfathomable emptiness.

And within this ethereal void, a mocking voice deliberately mimicked a stiff electronic tone, reverberating from all directions into Bai E's perception—

"Side mission triggered—The Wandering Traveler."

"Side mission triggered—The Wandering Traveler."

"Side mission triggered—The Wandering Traveler."

"..."

Repeated endlessly, accompanied by grotesque laughter akin to a sinister clown.

The voice grew increasingly distorted, morphing from the monotonous system sound into an unsettling cacophony of joyous mockery and jeers.

In this relentless repetition, Bai E began to hear overlapping phrases between the rigid and mocking tones inside his head—

"You silently observe your surroundings, realizing this is a completely unknown world..."

"You silently observe your surroundings..."

"Main mission activated—Survive!"

"Main mission activated..."

"??? (Human) (Ally)—Drops available upon killing with 'Lucky Strike'..."

"Drops available upon killing with 'Lucky Strike'..."

From the first awareness he had of this world to every piece of unique information he had received since—all of it twisted into warped words, repeating amidst the clown-like ridicule.

This unthinkable encounter montarily left Bai E's mind blank.

Were these... gaming system ssages?

This was a secret he had never revealed to anyone.

So how could it now, at such an unsettling mont, be exposed in such a humiliating manner?

"Who... are you?" Bai E's voice carried an unprecedented weight of vigilance.

This mysterious entity had completely touched upon his deepest buried secret.

"Who am I?" The voice bood, crashing across the void from every direction.

Full of scornful mockery, it replied, "You tell —who am I? I'm your gaming system! Hehe, isn't it fun? Playing as a human's system is just soooo amusing!"

The voice burst into laughter, "How is it? My acting's pretty decent, isn't it? Supporting your growth all this ti, feeding you hope, but now... I don't want to play anymore."

The voice turned icy and cruel, "I've decided... to take back the power I gave you."

It spoke lightly, and instantly a deadly weakness washed over Bai E's perception.

At that mont, an unprecedented sense of helplessness engulfed Bai E's entire sense of self.

Muscles weakened, trembling; Spiritual Energy shrunk, withdrawn.

It felt as though he had regressed to the very instant he first arrived in this world.

Except now, even the faintly glowing blue panel—the thing that previously affird his state—had vanished completely.

No matter how Bai E called for it, the panel refused to reappear.

Gone... truly gone...

The system, the panel... and all the power derived from them.

Everything, in this mont, had disappeared completely!

Once again, he had reverted to being that newly awakened artificial soldier—or sothing far worse.

For the first ti in ages, Bai E felt a flicker of genuine panic from the depths of his heart.

"Hah~"

A suffocating pressure suddenly sward him, prompting Bai E to instinctively close his eyes and breathe.

Upon reopening his eyes, chaotic noises suddenly surged into his mind.

"Trainable dark elf slaves, only 800G—take one ho today!"

"Dwarven-forged battle-quality blades, 50 apiece—honest pricing for all!"

"AiHua Technology's bionic prosthetics: durable, reliable, adaptable to extre environnts—on sale now! On sale now!"

Bai E steadied himself, turning to look around.

Neon lights flickered in the distant horizon, their reflections masked by the shadow of a towering steel jungle.

Figures of all shapes and sizes hurried through the streets before him, everyone moving quickly with purpose.

Further away, the Star radiated a milky glow, piercing the canopy of chanical spires as well as the steel beams beneath his feet.

This was... a chanical city floating in space.

'Not bad luck—directly arrived at an alien civilized society.'

Bai E thought this instinctively, only to feel a sudden chill creeping down his back.

As his hand reflexively reached behind, it found damp clothes soaked with sweat.

His forehead itched for attention, and as he wiped it, beads of sweat dripped down.

'Leaving the high-dinsional space—I think I had a nightmare.'

Bai E mused, realizing that the Spiritual Energy he released instinctively to survey his surroundings wasn't extending as he intended.

In fact, it wasn't expanding at all; even the concept of Spiritual Energy now felt distant and unfamiliar.

Unease began pulsing through his mind again.

Bai E attempted to summon the panel instinctively.

No response from the panel.

He scrutinized the faces of others nearby, but the familiar loot-rate text atop their heads was nowhere to be seen.

Clenching his fists tightly, Bai E found them frail and powerless.

Even a rusty half-piece of tal beneath his hand seed impossible for him to distort with his current strength.

"..."

The nightmare began to replay vividly in Bai E's mind.

'Everything that happened before—it wasn't fake?'

'My system—it was given to by soone.'

'And now, they've grown bored of their ga... leaving in this pathetic, weak state again.'

'I've always been nothing more than a drifting speck in the tide.'