Super System

(This chapter is free.)

Early the next morning, Sli brought Chen Rui to the laboratory from yesterday. He had not had time to look closely then, but the laboratory was actually quite spacious, with all kinds of medicines and strange instruments covering the tables.

Before Aldas, Sli's bossy manner toward Chen Rui immediately turned incomparably respectful. With a wave of his hand, Aldas stopped Sli's endless flattery and asked Chen Rui, "Hungry?"

Chen Rui dearly wanted to beat that skinny face into a fat one, but merely nodded silently.

"Perfect. Try this." Aldas smiled maliciously and took out a bottle of thick green liquid that was actually bubbling with white vapor. Chen Rui's hairs stood on end at the sight. He instantly regretted his answer and shook his head desperately.

Sli, quick to read the situation, immediately punched Chen Rui in the head and kicked and beat him.

"Enough! Let him drink half of it first." Aldas's words stopped Sli.

A man had to bow his head under someone else's roof. One day, I'll make you bastards drink my foot-washing water! Left with no choice, Chen Rui endured his nausea and drank the disgusting potion, pouring it straight down his throat without even letting it touch his tongue. Not long after he drank it, his stomach began to grow hot and swell, accompanied by waves of pain. Only then did Chen Rui understand the reason for Aldas's sinister grin.

At that moment, a "ding" sounded in his mind, and the mysterious voice rang out again. "Unknown toxic substance detected. Absorb it and activate the Super System?"

"Yes!" The pain and swelling in Chen Rui's stomach were growing worse, so he had no time to think and shouted the answer aloud. That familiar cool sensation rose up, and the swelling pain gradually faded. His bloated stomach returned to normal.

"Insufficient energy supply. System activation progress: 0.7%. More energy is required for completion."

Chen Rui let out a breath of relief. This time, he had heard it clearly. The absorption effect had been immediate, and he could not help growing excited. Super System? That name sounds awfully familiar.

Aldas obviously could not hear the mysterious voice. His eyes widened as he stared in astonishment at Chen Rui, who had returned to normal in such a short time. "That's not right. Could I have gotten the Ball-Swelling Grass ratio wrong again?"

Aldas glanced at Sli, who was baring his teeth at Chen Rui, and ordered, "Sli, drink the rest!"

Sli's face immediately fell, filled with pleading. "Honored Master..."

Before he could finish, crackling sparks flashed in Aldas's hand—the sign that lightning was about to strike. Seeing that things looked bad, Sli braced himself and drank the potion in his hand. A few minutes later, the Lesser Devil clutched his stomach and rolled around on the floor in pain. His belly gradually swelled until he looked like a woman ten months pregnant. Seeing Sli's miserable state, Chen Rui felt a chill run down his spine. This laboratory and that deadpan master were far too dangerous. He had better slip away as soon as possible.

"That's not right! This potion is clearly effective..." Aldas looked at Sli's miserable state in confusion, then recalled Chen Rui's earlier reaction. There seemed to have been some kind of "incantation." He hurriedly said, "Sli, quickly shout 'yes'!"

"Yes!" Sli shouted while enduring the pain, but it was clearly useless.

"Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!" Sli shouted desperately, but he strained himself too hard and only hurt more and more.

"You idiot, slower! Round out your accent!" Aldas cursed Sli, but even when the Lesser Devil had said "yes" until he could no longer speak, the potion's effects did not lessen in the slightest.

"Stop!" Aldas shouted at Chen Rui, who had started edging away. He crossed the seven- or eight-meter distance in a single leap and blocked Chen Rui's path, another bottle of potion appearing in his hand. "Drink this, now!"

Chen Rui's attempt to escape had been discovered. He cursed the dead pervert inwardly for not drinking that half-bottle of belly-swelling potion himself. Looking at Aldas's terrifying expression, he did not dare say much and took the bottle, draining it in one gulp.

This potion's effect was paralysis. By the time the prompt sounded in his mind again, Chen Rui had already lost all feeling throughout his body and could not even open his mouth to speak. When he agreed in his heart, the wondrous effect happened again. The stiffness vanished, and the activation progress had reached 1.2%.

Another line appeared in the prompt. "Material conversion completed three times consecutively. Activate automatic intelligent absorption?"

Chen Rui confirmed in his mind without hesitation. This was something that could save his life. Otherwise, if he encountered one of those fast-acting poisons that killed at the sight of blood, he would be dead before any prompt even appeared.

Aldas snatched the empty bottle away, checked the label, and confirmed that it was No. 103 "High-Strength Petrification Potion." His expression became utterly shocked. "Damned human, what magic did you use?"

If I knew magic, would I still be standing here letting you force-feed me potions? Chen Rui grumbled inwardly, putting on an innocent expression. Aldas grabbed him and dragged him to the table, pulling out a pile of bottles and jars and forcing him to drink them.

Seeing names like "Deadly Poison Potion" and "High-Strength Heart-Eating Potion" made Chen Rui's scalp tingle. Fortunately, the powerful Super System accepted everything without complaint and absorbed them all. Bottle after bottle emptied, yet Chen Rui remained perfectly unharmed. Aldas's breathing grew heavier and heavier.

The Super System's activation progress had already reached 18%. Chen Rui discovered that more potent potions provided more progress, but drinking the same potion again gave very little additional increase. His expectations for this unknown system rose higher and higher. What would happen once it reached 100% and fully activated?

Suddenly, Chen Rui showed an expression of unbearable discomfort and said, "Master, wait!"

Aldas's eyes lit up. His gaze fell on the empty bottle Chen Rui had just drained. Carefully picking it up as though grasping his last lifeline, he asked hopefully, "Do you feel numbness throughout your body? Difficulty breathing?"

"Not that..." Chen Rui said apologetically. "I didn't eat last night, and I drank too much liquid just now. I really can't hold it anymore. Where's the latrine?"

Bang! The bottle suddenly shattered. Aldas's handsome features twisted together as he gritted his teeth. "Too much 'liquid'? Damned human, how dare you insult the lifelong work of a potion master like this!"

Chen Rui jumped in fright and tightly shut his mouth. He had already been struck by lightning yesterday over "skin-color discrimination." Was he going to repeat the experience today by discriminating against someone's work? Fine, he would hold it in. That was still better than getting shocked until he lost control of his bladder and bowels.

Unfortunately, the Super System could not absorb lightning...

"A human's constitution... has actually reached such a level? My research results, my new poisons... could they all..." Aldas panted rapidly and screamed hysterically, "No! I still have the formula! I'll prepare the highest-difficulty white potion right now and make every bone in your body rot away!"

By then, the effects of that half-bottle of swelling potion were gradually subsiding. Sli's stomachache had eased considerably, and he lay weakly on the floor, gasping for breath. The Lesser Devil had followed Aldas for some time, and upon hearing the words "white potion," his face filled with terror. He shouted, "Master Aldas, don't..."

Unfortunately, Aldas was half-crazed now and could not listen to any advice. What could drive someone madder than watching the work of their entire life go to waste before their eyes? Chen Rui saw that things were going badly and quietly ran toward the laboratory door.

As Aldas tremblingly poured the purple liquid from a test tube into a bubbling vessel, a sudden change occurred. All that could be heard was...

Boom! A deafening explosion erupted. The glass vessels on the table were all shattered by the enormous impact, while various liquids and powders scattered like rain. Aldas, who took the full force of it, was hurled more than ten meters away before crashing to the ground, his fate unknown. The nearby Lesser Devil was also thrown through several rolls and slammed hard into the wall.

Fortunately, Chen Rui had already retreated outside the laboratory and narrowly escaped disaster. The laboratory had been built remarkably sturdy; it did not even have a single crack.

Chen Rui cautiously poked his head out and saw the miserable state of the two men. He secretly rejoiced that he had reacted quickly. Although he was looking forward to the Super System fully activating, Aldas's madness was too terrifying. Who knew what horrifying stunt that maniac might pull next? If he did not leave now, when would he?

Chen Rui casually picked up a tattered cloak from the ground, draped it over himself, and slipped away.

Aldas's laboratory seemed to be inside a large estate. Perhaps because the laboratory was too dangerous, there was not a single person in sight along the way. As the saying went, there were three urgent needs in life. He had drunk so many potions just now that he truly could not hold it any longer. Reaching a garden, he relieved himself all over a plant, calling it fertilizing.

After Chen Rui finished in comfort and fastened his pants, he turned around—and immediately shuddered. A face was staring at him curiously.

It was a girl around twelve or thirteen years old, dressed in a white gown. Her skin was fair and tender, her features exquisite, and her curly golden hair framed a pair of beautiful purple eyes that blinked as though they could speak.

Though Chen Rui was not a lolicon, he was stunned by the girl's beauty. He had seen countless celebrities and beauties online, but even those women enhanced with Photoshop could not compare to this pure young girl, whose temperament and appearance were both near-perfect.

The girl blinked her lovely eyes, her gaze slowly moving to his lower body. She showed a regretful expression. "What a pity. It's a little too small..."

Chen Rui almost thought his hearing was malfunctioning. The perfect statue of a pure little loli in his heart shattered with a crack. It took him a long while to recover, and he replied with difficulty, "It's not bad. It's not that small..."

This concerned a man's most important pride. No matter what, he could not let a woman look down on him—especially such an exquisite little beauty.

The girl sighed and shook her head. "There are ones much bigger than this..."

Could she have seen even more?

Chen Rui believed that Arthur's "assets" in that particular regard were already substantial enough, certainly far better than in his previous life. Were the people of the Demon Realm all dinosaur-level monsters? And why could such a top-tier little beauty say such things so naturally?

Left with no choice, Chen Rui said in grief and indignation, "There's always someone stronger, and there's always a higher mountain. It already tried its best."

"What are you talking about?" The little girl gave him a strange look and pointed at a radish-like plant buried in the soil below and beside him. "I mean this Lala Potato hasn't grown up yet. You can't pull it out to eat."

Lala Potato? Only then did Chen Rui notice the little basket of flowers and plants in her hand. His face instantly turned bright red. For the first time in his life, he felt so utterly embarrassed. He failed to notice the sly glint of triumph that flashed through the little girl's eyes.