Everyone's usernames were visible at the top, letting him realize who was who. He ignored everyone's messages introducing themselves and focused first on Tess and Frank. As for Jake, he didn't care.

He just noted everyone's mission, and that was it. Soon, he found Tess and Frank's messages introducing themselves and their mission in the groups.

Tess: "My host is Don, that silver-haired young man."

Shane looked at the screen and nodded. That person was still busy eating the fruits. His entire body seemed a little exhausted and too injured to the point that he could barely stand on his feet.

Then it was Frank's turn. The latter silently pointed toward the blond-haired girl with round specks.

Shane frowned. Wasn't that girl the same who had been blushing since meeting his host? He pursed his lips and introduced his host.

At this time, even Frank went silent for a while.

While they were all discussing in the chat group, something strange was happening outside the system world. A group of hooded people gathered around the institute, right outside the territory of Ed, making sure they won't be noticed.

The leader of this group was very familiar. This person had been involved in several things and had even gone against Shane in the dungeon, watching his underling die at the hands of a young man.

"Boss, Dark, they're all still in the portal. "

This leader called himself 'Dark' in front of his underlings and others. This name was his identity that he took on whenever he needed to perform any evil work. What he was going to do was no less than evil.

"It doesn't matter." The corners of his mouth curved up to form a smirk. "Our mission is to retrieve Shane. After analyzing his powers, I realized that letting him wander freely isn't a good choice. So the sooner we pluck his life, the better. It's useless to allow him to grow further."

It was true that he would wait and see what happened to Shane. But ever since he purchased that power-sucking tool, he discovered how ruthless the weapon was against the demons! If this was what Shane could do, he didn't want to keep that person around to endanger himself and his goals.

Dark silently gazed at the institute gates for a while without any expression. No one could tell what he was thinking, but a specific unknown emotion flashed in his eyes for a moment. Then before anyone could see through his expressions, his face was again covered with coldness.

The corners of his lips carried a hint of a sneer as he spoke: "I had planned to ignore his little disciple, but the latter's destructive powers are too much to ignore."

"What should we do?" one of the subordinates was worried and said, "We can't just kill him, ah? This is a system world, and the law clearly states-"

"When have we ever followed the law?" Dark turned around sharply and smiled. "But yes, I can't kill him yet, but I can turn him away from his master. Ed's presence is a headache. I can't deal with that b*stard just yet, but I can let his disciple handle him. I can sow a seed of hatred between them, leading them to their deaths like puppets."

"Won't Ed know what you're going to do?" the subordinate was again worried at this, knowing full well what the relationship was between Ed and Dark.

The latter smiled again. This time, the smile turned terrifying as he said, "Of course, he would, but he still can't do anything about his disciple when the little system decides to hide. Ed is as cold as I am, but Shane was the only exception."

His subordinates didn't raise their doubts anymore. Dark let out a satisfying smile and looked around.

"Let's get to work. We have to infiltrate this place and escape Dirt's eyes." After thinking of a particular robot, Dark grimaced. "That piece of metal is a pain in the a**. I still can't deal with him. If Ed and Dirt fight together, we might not even place a foot inside this place."

"What should we do????" the closest subordinate was anxious.

"Don't worry." Dark had a plan as he opened his interface. "Let's hack it, as we had done previously."

After trying for a while, he suddenly let out a laugh. "Good, good. That piece of metal unexpectedly created a new anti-virus system! Hah, but he still doesn't know who he's dealing with!"

Dark worked for a while and finally managed to crack the anti-virus system code, hacking into the virtual portal while hiding in the shadows. He quickly pulled up the live stream and found Shane's host. His lips pulled up to form a smile.

"We have found our target."

Of course, what he didn't know was that Dirt had managed to find that something had gone wrong with the anti-virus system again. Someone had hacked into the virtual portal once again.

Their target was also Shane this time.

He quickly reported to Ed, who was silent. He waved his hand and said, "I know who's doing this. Ignore it."

Dirt was surprised. "Why? Don't you want to save Shane?"

"At the cost of this entire world?" Ed sneered. "That's impossible. If we kill Dark, the entire system world will crumble to dust."

"Then what should we do?"

"Protect Shane." Ed paused as if he realized something and said, "Even if you have to go against me, do it."

"Why do you want to protect Shane?" Dirt still couldn't understand why his master was so hell-bent on saving his disciple. From what he knew of Ed's past, this certain master had never been involved with other people and emotions. He had even wondered once if his master could even feel emotions at one time.

Ed knew what Dirt was talking about. He leaned against a tree and narrowed his eyes.

"Don't get me wrong. I don't care for Shane or this stupid system world." He crossed his arms on his chest. "It's Shane's power that's unique. I don't want that destructive power. It can destroy this entire universe under the hands of the wrong person, and Dark is precisely that person.

"I don't want this universe destroyed even though I don't care about anything. I don't believe I'm righteous with whatever I have done in the past. I don't have any right to be a righteous person either... It's just Shane reminds me too much of my younger days when I was also a little naive righteous young man, filled with the vitality of youth."

Dirt listened to everything, and with his analysis, he believed the last sentence should be the real reason why Ed was hell-bent on saving Shane. This man had been alive for decades, and Dirt knew everything Ed had to endure to receive a moment of quiet all these years.historical

Even though he couldn't feel any emotions, he could still tell that this was the time to feel sympathy if he were a human. He silently nodded and asked his last question:

"What about your powers?"

Ed smiled. He knew what Dirt was talking about. His body had too much power, and he knew that he might die this time for real. He didn't fear death, nor did he have any desire to live.

He just wanted to do one last good deed before closing his eyes. He had been a villain before entering this institute. To be honest, he didn't even have the right to hate his brother in the first place. The System God was stupid and naive, but he was the one who had led that person astray. He was the reason behind Dark's emergence.

He was behind all the bad things happening in this system world, but he couldn't do anything about it. He couldn't turn back the time without that high level of karmic reaction. He also knew that if he managed to die, he might end up in hell. And the only person capable of killing him was his disciple.

He could already tell what Dark was up to, but he still didn't do anything to stop that person. Not because he was exhausted but because he didn't have any right to do anything righteous. The only good deed he wanted to do was do a good deed before ending his life.

Ah, he had already wanted to die for a long time, and that time was finally here. He couldn't help but feel gleeful at heart.

Ed leisurely leaned against the tree leisurely and said, "And my attribute to Shane. He shouldn't suffer because of his powers. If he gets my power, he might have a chance to survive against all odds."

Dirt said nothing and nodded. He was a robot who couldn't feel anything, but he was reluctant to let go of the master he had followed for years. He stared at Ed's face and asked:

"Should I reveal your past to Shane?"

"No need." Ed waved his hand. "It'll be only a burden to him."

"What if he finds out on his own?"

"Then that's his fate."