“Please don’t kill me, I’ll tell you everything I know!”

“You better, otherwise I’ll poke your eyes out.”

“No p-please”

Zhang Dong licked one of the sharp knives, attempting to portray the demeanor of a home invader. The person he had subdued appeared not quite normal, as if he believed he was in a regular home being robbed by an ordinary thief, not someone who had traversed through worlds - a phenomenon that should not be possible and something this administrator should be aware of.

“Who are you and why are you doing all of this?”

“W-what do you mean, I'm nobody… I just sit here the whole day and play games… I don’t have any m-money!”

“What are you even talking about? Stop pretending, out with it, I know that you are the administrator for this whole place! Tell me about those puppets outside, did you make them?”

“Puppets? W-what puppets … I don’t understand…”

Being a bit fed up with the man’s question dodging, Zhang Dong decided to give him a firm smack on the cheek. Despite holding back his strength, the man's face started swelling once again in response.

“I r-really don’t understand…”

“What do you mean? What are those things there?”

To speed things up, he yanked the administrator back towards the gaming computer. On it were various monitors showing what was happening outside. The puppets were there working as always, dragging the other system-holders to take their essence. The moment the lanky man got a look at what Zhang Dong was pointing out, he replied with something unexpected.

“T-the game? It’s just a game… l-like a strategy game, y-you know, life simulation and stuff?”

The man trembled in fear as he replied in a fashion that made Zhang Dong’s mind go blank for a moment. It seemed that he had perhaps made a mistake in assuming that this administrator knew something. From the way he was acting, it didn’t look like he was faking his fear. His heart was racing, and Zhang Dong couldn’t sense any lies being told.

‘Was he brainwashed or is there more to it?’

He was not sure what was going on, but it somewhat went in line with the puppets outside. Even though this person was a living being, perhaps he was still affected by the environment around him. It was possible that whoever created this had some trust issues, as they left everything up to automatons. It wouldn’t be strange that this person here was some type of higher living automaton or had been altered in some way.

‘His soul is strange, I assumed it was because of him being an immortal but perhaps something else happened.’

“Fine, if this is a game, why are you playing it?”

“Why I-im playing it? Uh, it’s my job? I guess?”

“Oh? Your job, now we are getting somewhere, tell me who hired you!”

“You want to know about the boss?”

“Yeah, start talking, don’t leave anything out.”

Zhang Dong grabbed the man up from the ground and placed him on a nearby couch. From this spot, they had a good view of one of the large monitors on which the puppets were depicted working as per usual. It seemed that this person had been hired by someone, and this person might be the one that he was looking for. While brandishing the kitchen knife he waited for the answer but instead, something else occurred.

“The boss… yeah… what did he look like… no was it a she? I don’t seem to remember, that’s odd… oh right, I need to get back to work… Oh? Wait, who are you? W-what’s with that knife?”

“...”

Zhang Dong somewhat knew that this was actually not a trick. The moment this person brought up the memory of this ‘Boss,’ it had activated something inside of his soul. It was like a factory reset inside of his mind; he was pushed to forget everything that happened around him and focus back on the work. It was probably some type of brainwashing feature that was initiated whenever this person started questioning his existence. It was similar to some techniques he actually knew but far stronger than all of them combined.

‘I guess this guy won’t help me much but at least I know that there is someone there, this ‘Boss’ person.’

“W-wait… please sto…GUH…”

“Be quiet for now.”

With a firm smack to the man’s neck, he decided to knock him out. Zhang Dong sighed, contemplating his next move. It was clear that he couldn't get any useful information out of the administrator in his current state. The brainwashing effect seemed to be a giant obstacle to extracting valuable details about the mysterious boss. Even this new person could be just an agent of the one responsible for it all. His only clue was the gaming PC setup that was before him, perhaps he could use it for something.

‘Bob, try hacking into the systems and don’t do anything that could get us discovered.’

‘Affirmative.’

As he thought, the puppets outside were still going about their tasks, seemingly unaware of the commotion inside. Before him was the main console of this administrative chamber that looked like a glowing gaming PC setup. There were six main monitors before him that showed different things, but if he had to describe it, it looked like one of those life simulation games.

Zhang Dong had already pushed through the limits of humanity. His mind was now more akin to a supercomputer, and with the help of Bob, he could quickly go through all of what this console had to offer. From the outside, it depicted the puppets as interactive game characters that he could actually order around and manage. It didn’t take him long to realize that he could control them to some degree.

It was possible for him to see the entire place as it really was - a circular space station floating inside a void. This administrative chamber was directly in the middle, with all the other facilities stretching outward like the inside of a tree trunk. The size was tremendous, and he could access some cameras through this place, thanks to Bob and his hacking capabilities. Slowly, he was taking over the entire facility without interfering with the processes that were happening inside.

“DSP stands for Devouring Seed Protocol and it’s an integral part of the system…”

One secret had come out as he was able to identify what the DSP number stood for. This wasn’t much of a discovery at this point, as he had seen what the other system holders were being put through. However, through this protocol, they were being farmed for their energy, and it was something that was removable. The Devouring Seed Protocol had been removed from within his system, and it was probably something that he could do through this administrator console.

There was one big issue, though: this place he entered was not the only existing farm. There were multiple other ones flying around in the void of space. Through the console, he was able to identify thousands of huge space stations just like this one. After investigating them further, he realized that they were all doing the same thing and sending it all into one area that seemed to be the center of this universe. There perhaps was the location of his adversary or perhaps just another getaway to a grander realm.

‘So let me reorganize my thoughts… Something created these worlds, sends people with boobytrapped systems there to later absorb their essence. Instead of killing the system holders it transforms them back to infant souls and sends them back to their home world… which is this… Prime Earth…’

He was able to follow through the whole cycle and ended up discovering a lone inhabited planet that he himself probably originated from. It was possible for him to travel back if he so desired, as it existed within a special region within this universe. It was the closest realm to the center and perhaps something that everything originated from.

‘My access to this Prime Earth is limited even with the administrative privileges that this room gives me. I could find some answers there but perhaps not quite yet…’

After going through everything that he could, Zhang Dong let out a sigh. He leaned back in the chair that the previous administrator used and started weighing his options. Considering that nothing bad had happened since his appearance here, it was clear that he was either being underestimated or that it was a trap. Perhaps he was dancing in the palm of this godlike being, but his instincts were telling him that it was the former.

‘Everything here seems to be abandoned or automated, it’s as if whoever made this had already forgotten that it was there…’

Back in his world, everything was left up to the Overseers. Even after one of them died and the other one was taken over, not much had happened. Zhang Dong even checked for his old friend Beatrice whom he had an adventure with. It was possible to search everyone by their name through this system here and it seemed that she was fine. Her world was given a replacement Overseer that was apparently dormant for now, waiting for the appearance of a new hero.

When he investigated it became clear that these worlds would be affected by time manipulation but only right before a new system holder was chosen for the specific setting. Just like him before, when he was interacting with his e-mail the cultivation world was being prepared to allow his descent. There were exemptions like the ones with Wang Long but these were usually just seen as tiny unimportant bugs.

Everything was quite lax, badly managed, and forgotten. Even if one world was generating bugs this administrator was not very thorough in his decisions. Judging by his soul, the age was quite advanced, and it seemed he had lost interest in the affairs of the created worlds.

This realization brought both relief and concern to Zhang Dong. On one hand, it meant that he might have more freedom to navigate and explore without constant interference. On the other hand, it raised questions about how long these worlds would be able to function. The energy that was being gathered had to serve some type of purpose and perhaps whatever plan was in the works here, was coming to a close.

‘Now then, should I break all of them out or take it from another angle…’

Zhang Dong pondered his options. The vastness of the administrative console before him allowed him to manipulate the systems of multiple worlds simultaneously. He could release the system holders from the Devouring Seed Protocol, granting them freedom. However, trusting them was an iffy subject, the only people he trusted were the ones back at his world,the ones that he called family.

‘Wait… could it be possible… there might be a way… ’