A flash of golden light, and the altered System Panel stabilized again.
The evil, dark-red glow had been forcibly suppressed by Su Yu, and a faint gray-gold halo now flickered around the panel's edges.
The vicious task that had originally read "Take a Disciple and Plunder Her Luck" had vanished completely. In its place was a new task, written in letters twice as large and glaringly conspicuous:
[Main Quest Updated: Sneak into the girls' bathhouse and spy!]
The instant the changes took effect, the system's notification in Yu Xiaogang's mind went completely haywire.
The system's voice had originally been cold and mechanical, with even a hint of haughty superiority. Now, it sounded like a broken old phonograph, emitting a shrill, distorted burst of static.
"Beep—zzzt—"
Then, in a flat, emotionless voice that was deafeningly loud, the system mechanically announced the new task inside Yu Xiaogang's mind:
"Ding! Main quest updated. Host, proceed to the girls' bathhouse at Nuoding Primary Soul Master Academy immediately and spy on the occupants."
The announcement exploded in Yu Xiaogang's mind like a bomb.
The hand he had stretched toward Tang Wu's head, still pressing down with all his might, froze in midair.
He stiffened as if struck by lightning. Every muscle in his body locked up in that instant, as though someone had cast a spell to hold him in place.
The fervor and greed on his face froze, replaced by an expression like he had just seen a ghost.
Yu Xiaogang's eyes widened until they looked ready to pop out of their sockets.
His mouth hung open, his jaw seemingly dislocated, his face filled with disbelief.
He howled furiously in his mind, his voice turning shrill and hoarse with shock and rage. "System! Have you gone mad? Did you catch a virus? What the hell is going on?!"
Yu Xiaogang felt as though he was on the verge of a mental breakdown.
He was a transmigrator, with a powerful Luck Plunder System. Just a moment ago, he had been carrying out a god-tier quest to plunder the luck of a woman favored by fortune, and he was about to reach the pinnacle of life.
How had the quest turned into this low, perverted behavior the very next second?
"I'm Grandmaster! I'm the foremost authority on Martial Soul Theory in the Douluo Continent! You want me to sneak into the girls' bathhouse and spy on them? If I get caught, all the fame I've spent my life building will be ruined! They'll break my legs and throw me out of the academy!"
Yu Xiaogang protested hoarsely in his mind, trying to get the system to cancel this utterly absurd quest.
The system, however, paid no attention to his protest.
Under the rules of the Conceptual Eraser, Su Yu had forcibly rewritten the system's underlying logic.
To the system, sneaking into the girls' bathhouse and spying was now the highest-priority main quest. Any action that obstructed its completion would be deemed a violation.
A huge red warning box appeared on the panel, and a massive countdown began ticking mercilessly:
[Warning! Host is displaying signs of shirking the task.] [Host, execute the task immediately! If you do not move within ten seconds, you will be punished with Five Thunders Strike!] [10!] [9!]
Seeing the blood-red countdown, Yu Xiaogang instantly broke out in a cold sweat, droplets as large as beans beading on his forehead.
The sweat trickled down his cheeks and dripped onto the golden-thread nanmu desk.
He knew all too well how terrifying the system's punishments were.
Five Thunders Strike was no joke. With his frail, twenty-ninth-level Soul Grandmaster body, even a single bolt of lightning would turn him into a charred corpse. His soul would be blasted into oblivion, too.
"No! I can't go! I absolutely can't go!"
Yu Xiaogang gritted his teeth and desperately tried to mobilize the Soul Power in his body, hoping to wrest back control by force.
His face flushed red with the effort. The veins in his neck bulged one by one, and he clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug into his palms.
[3!] [2!]
As the countdown neared its end, the system's force of compulsion erupted.
An irresistible surge of power severed the connection between Yu Xiaogang's brain and body, taking control of him completely.
Yu Xiaogang realized in horror that he had completely lost control of his body.
His legs bent stiffly, his knees creaking with the grinding sound of bone against bone.
Then his feet turned around on the redwood floor as if something were dragging them by force.
The arm he had stretched toward Tang Wu dropped mechanically. Like a ridiculous marionette, he turned rigidly to face the office door.
"Thud, thud, thud."
Yu Xiaogang's legs began to move in stiff steps, carrying him toward the door one step at a time.
His head remained twisted as if he were trying to look back. His face contorted with fear and humiliation, and tears of shame even welled at the corners of his eyes, yet his body marched resolutely toward the girls' bathhouse.
As Yu Xiaogang turned and left, the evil pressure that had shrouded the office vanished in an instant.
The air began to flow again, and the stagnant sandalwood incense smoke drifted through the room once more.
Tang Wu felt the mountain pressing down on her disappear all at once, and at last, her stiff body regained its sensation.
Her knees gave way, and she nearly collapsed.
She immediately turned and flung herself into Su Yu's arms like a startled little rabbit.
She wrapped both arms tightly around Su Yu's waist, buried her face against his chest, and trembled uncontrollably.
"Brother Yu..." Tang Wu's voice was thick with tears.
Just a moment ago, she had truly thought she was about to lose everything.
Su Yu casually reached out with his left hand and gently patted Tang Wu's back, soothing her.
Xiao Wu, standing off to the side, was utterly dumbfounded.
She had already been ready to fight for her life, with Soul Power surging through her right leg at full force, prepared to kick Yu Xiaogang's head to pieces at any moment.
But then the buzz-cut man had suddenly acted as if he were possessed. His hand had stopped in midair while he stood dazed for a while. Then, drenched in sweat and twitching all over, he had turned around and walked out of the office with the eerie gait of a zombie.
Xiao Wu slowly lowered her raised right leg and dispelled the Soul Power around it. The rabbit ears atop her head twitched twice in confusion.
She stared at Yu Xiaogang's stiffly departing figure with wide, watery eyes, then complained in bafflement, "Did that old geezer just have a seizure? He looked like he was about to eat someone, so why did he suddenly spaz out and leave? Where's he going?"
Su Yu leisurely withdrew his right hand and dispersed the Conceptual Eraser, turning it into invisible Soul Power.
He slowly brushed the dust from his hands, as if he had just done something completely insignificant.
Hearing Xiao Wu's question, Su Yu raised his brows at the two girls, a playful glint flashing in his deep eyes.
The corner of his mouth curled into an amused smile as he gestured for them to follow.
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