Chapter 88: Qi Fan's Death! The System Devours!
Although Qi Fan now seemed insignificant, a weakling with no combat power tied to a rusted pillar in the middle of nowhere, Shen Anyu knew better. He knew the terrifying potential that lay dormant within this pathetic figure.
Qi Fan possessed the [Licking Dog Gold Cashback System].
It was a cheat of the highest order. As long as he didn't die prematurely, as long as he had a single breath left, he would eventually rise against the odds. He would become a cockroach that couldn't be stomped out, a weed that would regrow stronger after being cut. He would become a major problem for Shen Anyu in the future—a rival with infinite resources who could buy armies, governments, and perhaps even assassins capable of harming a Grandmaster.
Shen Anyu was a villain, not a fool. He wouldn't make the classic mistake of leaving the protagonist alive to cultivate hatred and power in the shadows.
Since Qi Fan's Destiny Value had now dropped below thirty percent—a critical threshold—and his Luck was at a historic low point after the humiliation at the hotel, Shen Anyu had seized the moment.
He didn't rely on mercenaries or local thugs who could be bribed or scared. He directly dispatched the elite guards obtained from the System's lottery to kidnap Qi Fan.
These guards stood in the shadows of the factory, silent as statues. They were absolutely loyal. They obeyed Shen Anyu's will completely, with no other thoughts, no hesitation, and no moral compass. They were perfect tools, extensions of his own will.
If Qi Fan had been at the Peak of his Luck, no one—except Shen Anyu, who possessed the suppressing aura of a [Destined Villain]—would have been able to harm him.
A Child of Destiny was just that overbearing. The laws of causality would bend around them. He would turn misfortunes into blessings, find a martial arts manual after falling off a cliff, or be rescued by a beautiful female police officer just as the kidnappers were about to strike. The gun would jam. The rope would loosen.
However, now that Qi Fan's Luck had fallen to a low point under Shen Anyu's continuous, calculated attacks, his Destiny Value was at most one-fifth of what it was. His "Plot Armor" was cracked, rusted, and falling apart.
Even Shen Anyu's subordinates could deal with him now. The universe had looked away.
Shen Anyu had previously considered finding a beautiful woman to capture Qi Fan, using a honey trap to turn this [Licking Dog Gold Cashback System] user into his personal ATM. It would be efficient. It would be ironic.
However, Shen Anyu later decided that such a risk was unnecessary.
He wasn't short on money now. As the sole heir of the [Yanxia Shen Family] and the [Yanxia An Family], controlling the multi-trillion dollar [Shen Corporation], Shen Anyu could use as much wealth as he wished. He held original shares in the five major banks of Yanxia. He possessed the [Supreme Black Gold Card] with an unlimited limit.
Money was just a number to him.
Leaving Qi Fan, a Child of Destiny with a System, alive was too risky. Systems were unpredictable variables. If he escaped control, if the System evolved, it would be troublesome.
Unless the benefits outweighed the risks by a massive margin, it wasn't worth leaving a powder keg next to his bed for such meager gains.
Thinking of this, Shen Anyu's gaze towards Qi Fan turned cold. The temperature in the factory seemed to drop several degrees.
He walked closer, the sound of his expensive leather shoes echoing on the concrete floor.
"Qi Fan... it's your honor that I personally kill you."
"What? You... you want to kill me?"
Qi Fan's face changed drastically. The blood drained from his cheeks, leaving them a sickly gray. He looked at Shen Anyu in disbelief, his eyes widening with genuine horror.
"This is a society ruled by law! You can't do this! You want to kill someone? There are cameras! There are police!"
Shen Anyu chuckled softly. It was a low, dry sound that carried no humor.
"You also know that I am the Young Master of the [Yanxia Shen Family]. Is it really that hard to cover up a murder?"
"In this world, the law is a spiderweb. It catches the small flies, but the hornets... the hornets tear right through it."
Qi Fan's face turned pale, and his body trembled violently against the ropes. The rough hemp dug into his skin, but he barely felt it over the icy grip of fear on his heart.
That's right. It was the Yanxia Shen Family. They owned the law. They owned the judges. Was it really that hard for them to erase one insignificant student?
"Brother Shen! Brother Shen, we don't have such a deep feud, do we? It was just a girl! Just a woman!"
Qi Fan's voice cracked, turning into a desperate plea.
"I promise I won't bother Liu Mi anymore! I won't have any improper thoughts about her! I swear on my ancestors! Please let me go, okay? I'll leave the country! I'll go to Africa! You'll never see me again!"
Shen Anyu raised his hand, interrupting Qi Fan's frantic babbling.
He looked at the pathetic figure before him—snot running down his nose, eyes red with tears, pants stained with the dust of the floor. This was the so-called Protagonist?
He smiled slightly and said, "Let you go? So you can take revenge on me later?"
"No! No! I wouldn't dare!" Qi Fan shrieked.
As Shen Anyu raised his hand, a small metallic device hovered from his palm. It was the [Nanometer Monitoring Robot] he had retrieved from Qi Fan's collar earlier.
It projected a holographic recording into the dusty air between them.
The audio was crisp and clear, playing back Qi Fan's muttering from the parking lot just hours ago.
"Shen!"
"You took my Liu Mi... and I will take everything from you!"
"Heh heh... so what if you're the Young Master of the [Yanxia Shen Family]?"
"I am a man with... [Static Noise]... I will definitely become the richest man in the world!"
"Rich enough to rival a nation! Just you wait!"
"..."
Qi Fan's face changed drastically. His jaw dropped. He never expected that Shen Anyu had bugged him. He never expected his own inner monologue to be his death warrant.
However, amidst his terror, he noticed something strange.
The seven words 'Licking Dog Gold Cashback System' were distorted in the recording, replaced by a sharp static noise.
This made Qi Fan secretly happy for a split second. A spark of hope ignited in the ashes of his despair.
'As expected of a System! It's protected by higher laws! He doesn't know about my cheat! He doesn't know the source of my power!'
Little did he know, this protection was precisely why Shen Anyu had to kill him. It confirmed the threat level.
At this moment, Qi Fan begged Shen Anyu for mercy again, desperation clawing at his throat. He tried to bargain with the only thing he had left.
"Brother Shen! If you let me go, I'll give you money, okay? I have money! I'll give you ten million every month! Fifty million! I can make you richer than you can imagine!"
Shen Anyu interrupted him with a smile, looking bored. He checked his fingernails.
"Ten million? Are you trying to send a beggar away?"
"Am I someone who cares about this little money? My daily interest is more than your entire net worth."
Qi Fan was speechless. He opened his mouth to raise the price, believing he would have infinite money in the future. "One billion! I can give you one billion a month!"
However, Shen Anyu's next sentence filled Qi Fan with extreme terror, freezing the blood in his veins solid.
"Unless... you can hand over the [Licking Dog Gold Cashback System] bound to your soul... you might still live! Otherwise, the potential danger is too great."
The silence in the factory was absolute. Even the dust seemed to hang suspended in shock.
"You... you know about the [Licking Dog Gold Cashback System]???"
Qi Fan was completely stunned. His eyes bulged, looking at Shen Anyu in disbelief. He felt as if he was looking at a ghost, a demon, something beyond human comprehension.
He had never dreamed that the seven forbidden words 'Licking Dog Gold Cashback System' would come out of Shen Anyu's mouth so casually. Those words were his secret! His god!
At this moment, Qi Fan understood everything.
He understood why he always lost. He understood why his "face-slapping" moments always backfired. He was playing chess against a man who could see the board from above.
His body trembled uncontrollably, his face turning an ashen gray color like a corpse.
With his greatest reliance exposed by Shen Anyu, Qi Fan completely lost his confidence. The foundation of his arrogance crumbled. The pillar of his sanity snapped.
He utterly collapsed!
[Ding! Child of Destiny Qi Fan has completely collapsed! Plundering +29,086 Destiny Points!]
[Ding! Qi Fan's Destiny Value has been cleared to zero!]
[Ding! The Child of Destiny Aura has shattered! He has lost his Child of Destiny status!]
[Ding! The [Licking Dog Gold Cashback System] has detached from the host!]
Shen Anyu watched with satisfaction as a faint, golden light seeped out of Qi Fan's chest. It swirled in the air, formless and seeking a new host, dissipating slowly like smoke in the wind.
Looking at Qi Fan's pale face, now devoid of any protagonist glow, Shen Anyu lost interest. The man was now just a bag of meat and broken dreams.
He stepped forward.
"Goodbye, Protagonist."
He casually struck Qi Fan's chest with a palm strike infused with internal energy. It wasn't a violent, bloody blow. It was precise. Surgical.
Crack!
The sound of the heart meridian shattering was dull and final.
Qi Fan's eyes widened one last time, then glazed over. He slumped against the ropes, dead before his brain could register the end of his story.
Just at this moment, a mechanical prompt from Shen Anyu's own [Destiny Plunder System] rang out in his mind, urgent and loud.
[Ding! Detected a fragmented System Source Code nearby!]
[Ding! Do you wish to spend 1,000,000 Destiny Points to devour the [Licking Dog Gold Cashback System]?]
[Countdown: Ten, nine, eight...]
Shen Anyu quickly pondered. His eyes narrowed.
He hadn't expected such a thing to happen; the [Destiny Plunder System] could actually devour other Systems? This changed everything.
What changes would occur after devouring? Would it unlock new functions? Would it increase his authority?
As for the one million Destiny Points... although precious, Shen Anyu was more focused on the potential evolution. Points could be earned again. Opportunities like this were rare.
"Three... Two..."
Just as the countdown was about to end, Shen Anyu finally made up his mind.
"Spend one million Destiny Points to devour the [Licking Dog Gold Cashback System]!"
[Ding! Consuming 1,000,000 Destiny Points...]
[Devouring in progress...]
As Shen Anyu's thought settled, in an instant, a mysterious nine-colored glow flashed before his eyes—a spectrum of colors not found in the natural world.
An inexplicable change occurred within his mind. It felt like a software update rewriting the code of his soul. A sensation of expansion, of new pathways opening up in the dark.
By the time Shen Anyu reacted and looked at the [Destiny Plunder System] interface again, he found a new message overlaying his vision.
[System Upgrade in Progress. Estimated Time: 24 Hours.]
[System Panel is temporarily inaccessible.]
"I wonder what kind of changes will occur?"
Expectation appeared in Shen Anyu's eyes. He felt a thrill of anticipation he hadn't felt since his rebirth.
Although with his current strength, even without the [Destiny Plunder System], he could still control most Sons of Destiny by relying on his family background, foresight, and the martial arts he had already mastered.
But having the System... that would allow him to see a different kind of scenery. A higher view. The view from the heavens.
Shen Anyu had also considered that if he didn't have the System, he wouldn't have to bear the title of [Destined Villain] and oppose various Sons of Destiny. He could just be a rich playboy, enjoying life.
But where was the fun in that? Where was the challenge?
With his current strength and preparations, even if Ye Yan, the "War God" master, came down from the mountains tomorrow with his army of followers, Shen Anyu could deal with him.
However, Shen Anyu felt that having the [Destiny Plunder System] would allow him to gain more.
For example... Immortality.
A pursuit of countless great figures throughout history, both ancient and modern. Emperors had burned libraries and sent fleets into the unknown for a taste of it. With the System, Shen Anyu felt he might be able to achieve it!
No one is not greedy. Qi Fan was greedy for money and women. Liu Mi was greedy for status and love. And Shen Anyu... Shen Anyu was equally greedy. He wanted everything.
Even the Ancestral Dragon Emperor, who once possessed all the wealth under heaven and encompassed the four seas, could not avoid the desire for more time.
Shen Anyu snapped his fingers.
His guards stepped out of the shadows, carrying jerrycans. They poured gasoline over the area—over the wooden crates, the rusted pillars, and the body of the fallen protagonist. The sharp, chemical smell filled the air.
Shen Anyu took out a gold Zippo lighter. He flicked it open, the flame dancing in the gloom.
He tossed it.
Whoosh!
The fire caught instantly, roaring to life. The heat was intense, pushing back the shadows.
He watched the flames lick at Qi Fan's expensive suit, turning the abandoned factory in the suburbs into a crematorium. All clues, all evidence, turning into ash and smoke.
"A lucky fellow with a System, ending up like this. Pitiful! Tragic!"
"I absolutely cannot become like this. I must become stronger. I must always be the hunter, never the prey."
Shen Anyu looked at the flames indifferently, the orange light reflecting in his dark, abyssal eyes.
Then, he stroked his chin and chuckled, turning his back on the destruction.
"The [Destiny Plunder System] will change in another twenty-four hours. I have some free time. A vacation from destiny."
"Now... who should I spend it with?"
His mind drifted to the women waiting for him in the city.
"Su Hongmian? Her long legs wrapped around me, her tsundere resistance melting into passion... always a delightful challenge."
"Ruan Lingshan? My little maid. Innocent, obedient, wearing that uniform I bought her... listening to her read stories while serving me..."
"Jiang Linlin? The artistic beauty. Perhaps I should visit her studio and see what poses she can hold."
"Or maybe Qin Ningbing and Lin Keqing? A 'business meeting' in the office... powerful women submitting to authority has its own unique flavor."
"Or... should I go back to Dream Bar?"
He thought of the mature, enchanting woman he had just acquired.
"Dragon King Son-in-law Han Qi's honey trap... my new little darling, Situ Yueying. She is hurt, confused, and vulnerable. The perfect time to console her."
"Such a difficult choice..."
He walked out into the sunlight, leaving the fire to burn behind him.
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