I Don't Like It, Change It

I Don't Like It, Change It

After a moment of darkness, Xu Zhi's consciousness returned to her body.

She regretted not being able to see how the people outside had reacted or what measures they had taken after watching her Spirit Vessel dissipate, but it didn't matter. She would find out the next time she went out.

Xu Zhi had done that deliberately, intending to leave a deep impression on the people from the Special Investigations Office and make them more wary of and attentive to her. Ideally, they would suspect her connection to "Xu Zhi," considering how much the Spirit Vessel resembled her.

Once Cloud City was involved, Xu Zhi believed they would definitely take it seriously.

That way, she would no longer have to start from scratch every time she appeared outside, searching for a way to make contact with supernatural forces.

They would come looking for her themselves.

It wasn't as though Xu Zhi hadn't considered the risks. For example, once her Spirit Vessel appeared outside, the Federation might capture and imprison it, leaving her unable to do anything.

That was far from impossible. In fact, it was highly likely.

Given the Federation's current tense attitude toward Cloud City, once they learned she might be someone from within the city, they would pay special attention to her and try their utmost to extract intelligence about the city from her. However, after seeing her Spirit Vessel dissipate and then seeing her appear again, they were unlikely to use death as a threat.

Next time, she could simply invest the minimum number of Crystal Cores. The instant they discovered her and prepared to capture her, she could disappear. That way, the Federation would be unlikely to keep threatening her with imprisonment in order to make her reveal information.

After seeing her "leave" once more, the Federation's attitude toward her should change. More likely than not, they would try to negotiate with her—whether through threats, inducements, or supernatural abilities that forced her to speak. In any case, they would make contact and deal with her.

The second problem was that future Spirit Vessels randomly sent outside might lose their freedom. And if Federation personnel saw her Spirit Vessel, knocked it out immediately, took it away, and used extreme methods to extract information from her, that was something she needed to guard against as well.

With that, a very bold idea emerged in Xu Zhi's mind.

The first thing she did after returning to her body was record this random location.

[Recording this random location costs: 10 Cores]

". . . Hiss."

Xu Zhi sucked in a sharp breath.

"That's way too expensive!"

It cost even more than the Cores she had spent on this random teleportation!

And what a coincidence—ten was exactly the number of Cores left in her inventory.

"Did you check my inventory?"

[The number of Cores required varies depending on the recorded location. The farther away and more mysterious the location, the higher the Core cost. Ten is not considered many.]

The narrator replied calmly.

Xu Zhi clicked confirm despite the ache in her heart. A pixelated photo then appeared on the records page, showing the entrance of that office building.

Afterward, Xu Zhi opened a new feature added after the game's update: the suggestion box.

[Having only one fixed appearance for a Spirit Vessel and being unable to change it is far too restrictive. I don't like it. Change it.]

That was what Xu Zhi wrote.

She had even deliberately phrased it unfriendly, with a faintly lofty, bossy tone. She wanted to see what kind of response the game would give her.

And that was Xu Zhi's bold idea.

If the Federation failed to treat the Spirit Vessel with the caution she expected, couldn't she simply change its appearance?

The moment she clicked confirm, a line of text appeared on the screen.

[Suggestion sent. A response will be provided within five minutes.]

"So efficient?"

Xu Zhi had thought the response might be either a rejection or acceptance, but she hadn't expected to receive the game's reply in less than three minutes.

[Spirit Vessel function added: On the Spirit Vessel interface, players may spend 1 Core to create a Spirit Vessel with an entirely new appearance.]

". . ."

Xu Zhi fell silent.

Although the game's past attitude toward her had made her suspect that her wish would probably be granted this time as well, she hadn't expected it to go so smoothly.

It was practically granting her every request!

Even if she were the game's biological daughter, this would be going too far!

But this was good. Now she had no lingering worries. She could send Spirit Vessels to their deaths however she pleased.

After thinking for a moment, Xu Zhi tentatively wrote another suggestion.

[I have too few retainers right now. Can you just open a few more slots?]

The reply came quickly, but this time it did not go as she wished.

[Please strengthen your retainers to unlock more retainer slots.]

"Looks like it doesn't have no bottom line after all."

Xu Zhi continued testing it with several more suggestions, finally confirming that the game would not make changes when it came to increasing strength. She still had to steadily improve step by step on her own.

But for certain functions unrelated to that, it would provide conveniences to make using it more comfortable.

Why did it somehow feel like indulgent pampering—but not entirely indulgent pampering? Like it would also urge her to work hard and take things seriously.

And from the crude system at the beginning to her now having to improve the game system herself, everything about it carried the air of something with very little experience.

"What exactly are you?"

Xu Zhi asked the game console.

But the game gave no response. It merely continued carrying out her arrangements in an orderly manner.

"Fine."

Xu Zhi gave up investigating. The most important matter now was that she did not have a single Core left.

Poverty surrounded her. Xu Zhi had no choice but to urge her retainers to work harder. If her retainers didn't work hard, how was she supposed to live a good life?

After several days of accumulation, Gyrfalcon Xiao Zhen was now level 14, only one step away from reaching level 15. That was because Xu Zhi had fed it that black fruit.

Little One and Doggie were temporarily sufficient for ground combat, but Xiao Zhen, the only one capable of flight, had to catch up as soon as possible. That was why Xu Zhi had given it the fruit.

Doggie and Xiao Zhen were both on the verge of level 15 now, while Little One had only just reached level 21.

After reaching level 20, Little One's leveling speed slowed once again. What troubled Xu Zhi even more was that after feeding it so many [Blade] Attribute Cores, Little One's [Evolution] level still had not increased.

Neither had her own.

How could [Evolution] be such an inconvenient thing!

Xu Zhi grumbled inwardly as she watched Little One head toward the deep mountains on the screen.

Before it reached level 20, although Xu Zhi had been curious about the mutated animals in the deep mountains, she had not allowed Little One to enter. She understood that there was always someone stronger, and amid deep forests filled with all kinds of animals, who knew whether there might be mutated beasts with extraordinary gifts?

Now that Little One's ability to protect itself had improved further, Xu Zhi finally dared to let it enter and explore with peace of mind.

There were far more mutated animals in the deep mountains than in the city, and finding Cores would be much more convenient.

But when Little One set its sights on a troop of monkeys near the edge of the mountain range and prepared to attack, the terrified monkeys sensed its presence and did something Xu Zhi had never expected.

One monkey that seemed to hold a leadership position threw a handful of Cores toward Little One. There looked to be more than a dozen of them. Rather than fleeing or attacking, it led the other monkeys to stand there trembling, as though they were surrendering?