Is This System Legitimate?

Zhou Lu returned to his room and spent about three minutes getting a grasp on this so-called system he now possessed.

He had to admit, the "Demon God" the system spoke of, destined to destroy the world, was very likely him.

The same name, the same background, and the same social circle all made Zhou Lu realize this.

Of course, all the evil deeds mentioned were definitely slander.

Who the hell has the time to destroy the world? What grudge do I have against this world?

After confirming that the system was here to kill him, Zhou Lu's initial excitement vanished.

Did this mean he would provoke a super powerful enemy in the future, an enemy capable of crossing the river of time to kill him in the past?

This is messed up.

Who did I even offend? To have such a formidable enemy in the future?

Zhou Lu instinctively wanted to escape. Since he had no desires and no ambitions, hiding away in a secluded corner to live out a 평범한 life might be a good option.

However, he was unwilling.

Looking at the system interface before him, a sense of unwillingness lingered in Zhou Lu's heart.

No one is born a couch potato. People become couch potatoes when they can't see any opportunities in life.

And now, an opportunity lay before Zhou Lu. If he continued to be a couch potato, he wouldn't be able to live with himself.

This future system that wanted to kill him appearing before him not only indicated that his future self had provoked a powerful enemy capable of time travel but also showed that his future self had already become so powerful that such an enemy had to resort to this method to have a chance at killing him.

With this thought, Zhou Lu clicked on the system interface.

His first priority was to confirm the scope of the system's tasks.

If the system's goal was to kill him, then if he harmed himself, could he somehow extract some task rewards from the system?

But unfortunately, this system didn't have any task rewards for that.

This wasn't because the system was worried about the host colluding with the legendary Demon God to farm rewards and thus cut off this questline. It was because Zhou Lu's fate had been shielded by the Endless Rose, preventing the system from tracking him. Consequently, it couldn't determine if the task of killing Zhou Lu had been completed. It could only disrupt Zhou Lu's growth by having the host intervene in events related to Zhou Lu and prevent him from obtaining fortuitous encounters, thus nipping the future Demon God in the bud.

The strategy was sound: if I ruin all your opportunities for growth, you won't have a chance to develop. Whether I can kill you in the process becomes irrelevant.

Of course, it wouldn't mind if you found Zhou Lu and killed him, it just wouldn't offer any corresponding rewards. The subsequent tasks would still be triggered according to the established procedures when the host met the trigger conditions.

However...

Endless Rose. I think I just saw that name.

Judging by the name, it should be a plant-type spirit beast. I wonder when I'll get to encounter it.

Snap!

A sound from the side interrupted Zhou Lu's thoughts.

Huohuo happily flapped its leaves, engaging with a few bees near the window.

Although Xin'an Beast Taming Academy had a combat department, its most famous one was the breeding department. These bees were likely the graduation projects of some seniors from the academy.

Even though Huohuo had entered its metamorphosis stage and become a true spirit beast when his father gifted it to him, as a plant-type spirit beast, it was still unable to detach itself from the soil, limiting its combat power. It was struggling to keep up with a few bees.

Speaking of which, this guy seemed to eat meat.

Zhou Lu suddenly remembered that ever since he had contracted Huohuo, the number of insects in his home had significantly decreased.

Huohuo's ability to decimate young insects was quite formidable. In a short while, it had killed all the bees.

It carefully collected the bees' corpses and held them on its leaves.

This little guy is quite smart, even composting on its own.

Zhou Lu thought to himself.

Then, he saw Huohuo dump all the insects into an open cup of water nearby.

That was Zhou Lu's cup.

"..." Zhou Lu stared at the scene, silent.

Huohuo hadn't noticed its owner's increasingly displeased gaze behind it. It leaned closer, mimicking its owner, observing the situation in the cup with its non-existent eyes.

Seemingly unsatisfied with the way the bees' corpses floated on the water's surface, Huohuo extended a branch and stirred the contents of the cup.

"Huohuo!!!!" Zhou Lu yelled in anger.

Huohuo was clearly startled by Zhou Lu's outburst, its entire body trembling, nearly shaking off its leaves.

It turned its "head" around, only to realize that its owner was calling its name.

Huohuo happily flapped its leaves: "Master, hello!"

Zhou Lu's expression was grim: "What are you doing?"

The branch still in the cup stirred a few more times, and Huohuo proudly tilted its head up: "To supplement Master's health!"

Zhou Lu couldn't understand what Huohuo was trying to express, but it seemed very proud.

He felt like he was about to break down.

Mainly because he didn't know how many times Huohuo had done this before.

Recalling the image of himself drinking water from this cup before, and thinking about the decreasing number of insects in the house recently…

The water seeped into the soil. Bee corpses lay scattered on the soil of the flowerpot, and Huohuo listlessly used its leaves to fiddle with the insects.

Master doesn't seem to like eating these anymore.

It seems he wants me to eat them…

Huohuo was a little confused. How was it supposed to eat these insects…

It lowered its head and looked at its white jade-like roots protruding from the soil.

No, eating like this is too ungraceful!

Evolve! I must evolve! At least I need to grow a mouth.

Huohuo silently made up its mind in its heart.

Meanwhile, Zhou Lu finally remembered where he had seen the name Endless Rose before. It was in the description of the currently available mission given by the system.

[Current Optional Mission Two: Obtain information related to the special evolution of Endless Rose in advance]

[Mission Description: In the year 996 of the New Calendar, Zhou Lu obtained a tattered ancient book from the Xin'an Beast Taming Academy's internal forum. From it, he obtained the special evolution route for Dream Rain Flower, causing his initial spirit beast, Dream Rain Flower, to specially evolve into Endless Rose, which defied fate and subsequently became a Demon God that destroyed the world. Please obtain this information one step ahead to prevent the birth of Endless Rose.]

[Mission Reward: Choose any spirit beast evolution material * 5]

Dream Rain Flower… special evolution into Endless Rose…

Zhou Lu snapped his fingers, and a card appeared in his hand. This was his bonded beast card. As a beginner beast tamer, he only had one slot for a spirit beast card.

And this card was undoubtedly Huohuo's spirit beast card.

****** Name: [Dream Rain Flower] Attribute: Grass Level: 10 Rank: Tier 1 (Metamorphosis Stage) Skills: [Absorb], [Carry] ******

[Carry]? When did it learn that?

But even with two skills, it was simple and weak. A weak plant spirit beast card that might not even be noticed if sold for a dollar in a shop.

Looking at Huohuo, who was fiddling with the bee corpses, not yet having bloomed, it was searching for parts other than its roots that could absorb nutrients from the insects.

For the first time, Zhou Lu felt doubt about the system's authenticity:

You're telling me this will evolve into Endless Rose, which defies fate, in the future?

New author, new book, please follow! This is really important!