Chapter 602 - Real Distance (1/2)

While Fang Ning was busy entertaining his fans and making friends, the System protested secretly. “Rich guy, you’re rejecting good things again. I’ll take notes of those for you so that I can deduct them from your little treasure chest in the future.”

“You’re unscrupulous at the sight of these minor gains. How can I accept these gifts? Repaying debts and favors is the hardest to do. Who knows if they will turn against me tomorrow? Once I accept their gifts, won’t they affect my sense of justice then?” Fang Ning justified himself.

“Um, I still think you’re just embarrassed. I’ll just keep on imprisoning you. I won’t mind. Like you said before, I’ve lost my dignity a long time ago,” said the System, taking Fang Ning’s words with a hint of salt.

Hearing that, Fang Ning panicked. How could he still keep up with his appearance if he accepted the gifts in public right now?

He quickly bluffed, “Look at you, always so short-sighted. Accepting their gifts only gives you a small profit. Meanwhile, you’ll lose Vigilante A’s hard-earned reputation. I’ve told you before, a good reputation earns you more money.”

“Really now? But they seem to have known that Vigilante A is very avaricious. Didn’t see me lose a finger. Those who wanted to give me gifts are still rushing to present them to me…” The System was not easily bluffed anymore.

It was dumb alright, but it had a good memory. Once it accumulated enough experience, it would never forget.

“Anyway, we shouldn’t accept gifts easily, understand?” said Fang Ning through gritted teeth.

“I don’t understand. Anyway, I see the pattern here. As long as I’m strong enough, then I’ll accept whatever I want. If they do anything bad, I’ll cut them down in the name of justice. Then those gifts will be considered wasted then. That’s even better because then I don’t have to trouble myself with their problems,” said the System frankly.

Fang Ning finally realized the biggest difference between him and the System–Fang Ning still cared about his reputation.

After all, he was a human. He had mental needs.

However, the System was different– It followed the dictum, “safety first, strength foremost”.

All the talk of dignity, satisfaction, recognition, or pride were meaningless to the System.

As Fang Ning had mentioned earlier, with its temperament, if the System was not restricted by rules of justice, it would transform into an evil God at any moment.

Fang Ning could not dissuade the System, so he gave in and said, “I’m the one who attended the meeting today, so I’m the one in charge. After this, I won’t be restricting you anymore. If you want to accept their gifts, go ahead. I won’t accept their gifts when I’m in charge.”

“Works for me.” The System was rather satisfied that part of its wish came true.

Fang Ning felt depressed. He could no longer bluff his way out with the System.

After all, the System was almost two years old. It saw through the workings and rules of a functional human society.

How insignificant was dignity compared to the unpredictability of the world? As long as you were powerful, you had the final say. Other people could only tolerate you and compromise.

As long as they did not aggressively trigger others, the weaknesses of the powerful were often glamorized.

He could only console himself with the knowledge that under the restriction of the rules, the System would not be corrupted and remain a pure and near-flawless Hero no matter how much it struggled against it.

After all, no one was perfect in the world.

Fang Ning gave up on the debate with the System and continued to bask in the compliments from the crowd.

“Venerable One, you finally came.” Soon, a friendly voice sounded.

The crowd shifted their gaze toward the direction of the voice and saw a middle-aged man strutting to their direction with a smile on his face.

His followers behind him. Most of them were strong, above Pond-level.

Judging from that, he must be an ostentatious person, as the expenses of hiring a Pond-level master was tremendous.

It was none other than Yun Hui, the Duke of Cloud Fog City. Rumors had it that excessive temporal affairs obstructed the man from cultivation, therefore he remained a Pond-level beginner.

Many of his followers had long surpassed him, yet no one dared to go against him or even talk back to him because they coveted his massive inheritance.

The situation was different for others. It was the host who had to take precaution to serve some of the powerful experts once they were accepted as aides. The hosts were often ordered around and they had to pretend that they enjoyed it.