I Hate Systems

"So, will you never take action, just like a Genre Representative?" Hazen asked in the end, feeling a crippling sense of defeat.

"No, I'll take action to save Stencil, Gehera, Rhizen, and Rahakh." Compass Carburettor said without batting an eye, "I'm just no longer emotionally invested in them. But I have my objectives geared straight, which is why I am no longer blocking the external influence of Mortality."

"It's fine even if my mind gets polluted. I'll march towards my objectives without issue."

"Thank goodness," Hazen sighed in relief before he asked, "So, what now? What's our first step?"

"Do you have a concept you're representing?" Compass Carburettor asked.

"No, I don't." Hazen shook his head, "All I managed to do is steal the minds of some Systems recently. I haven't come across any means to attain a concept yet."

"We'll deal with it shortly after. But first," Compass Carburettor stared at Hazen, "You said you failed to reach the Serpent Universe on time. So, how did you learn about everything that happened?"

"Oh, that…?" Hazen nodded as he condensed a truck and motioned for Compass Carburettor to take a seat.

The moment Compass Carburettor took a seat, the truck collapsed, unable to bear the load. Hazen stared at him, exasperatedly, saying after a moment of irritation, "Don't flex your foundation, alright? Suppress yourself until you're able to board this."

"I'm only using a memory of Truck-Kun to travel. I'm not Truck-Kun himself to withstand your foundation and still journey through the multiverse."

"Fine," Compass Carburettor took off his clothes and set them aside, watching them hover in the air. He then entered the truck, watching it creak in response but handle having him inside.

The Truck-Kun projection within the truck glanced at Compass Carburettor once before driving forward as they transmigrated, skipping past countless universes before they arrived at the edge of a certain universe.

"This is…the dump yard." Compass Carburettor frowned as he stared at the cluster of irregularities before him. A large enough cluster formed something akin to a world, but in the end, they were just a cluster, one that never fused into a single entity.

The garbage extended in all three dimensions, occupying most of the universe, for there was just that much trash that the reigning powers had dumped into it.

"This place is a trash yard, but in another vein of thought, it can also be considered the multiverse's museum." Hazen pointed at a cluster closest to them, "This universe has one property."

"Immiscibility!"

"Immiscibility?" Compass Carburettor raised an eyebrow at the claim, "Is that true?"

"Yes," Hazen nodded and explained, "No matter what it is, nothing will mix, interact or fuse with each other. Thanks to that, nothing would degrade or decompose over time. Everything is maintained as is."

Hazen made the Truck-Kun projection drive the truck forward slowly as they moved past one heap after another, eventually arriving before a massive serpent that had been clobbered to the limit.

"Are there natives in this universe?" Compass Carburettor asked upon staring at the Serpent Universe's state.

"Yes, but they are tragic lifeforms whose minds have broken long ago." Hazen sighed, "Nothing can mix or interact with each other in this universe. So, a change in matter is impossible. Even if a lifeform were to devour another, the devoured lifeform wouldn't be digested. Moreover, even if chopped into parts, they remain alive, for that's the universe's constant."

"Over time, the chopped pieces would re-join into a whole." Hazen said before giving a word of caution, "Don't leave this truck though. The moment you interact with the laws of this universe, you'll be assimilated and turned into a native. You can never leave this universe after that for the rest of your life."

"That's why this dump yard is also a prison."

The truck entered the Serpent Universe through a hole and stopped at a certain location. There was a marble there, situated almost at the end of the tail, protected by 24 rings that fully covered it.

Compass Carburettor stared at it, muttering, "This is Stencil's world…"

He stopped speaking as he stared at the corpses of four people next to the metre-wide sphere, kneeling against a rock. They were lifeless corpses, stripped of everything.

"Wait, it's dangerous!" Hazen shouted in a fluster when Compass Carburettor exited the truck and walked on the ground within the Serpent Universe.

The laws of the dump yard surged into Compass Carburettor, intending to turn him into a native. But all they did was clash into a mystical barrier, failing to seep into him.

Lore and Tell-Tale worked actively to keep the laws of the dump yard at bay, allowing Compass Carburettor to freely walk within the Serpent Universe.

His focus was on the four individuals as he crouched before the first among them, staring at the corpse of his daughter, Stencil.

He was majorly calm, but that one trillionth part of him wept and raged nonstop like a star. Compass Carburettor extended his hand forth and touched the cheeks of Stencil, muttering after a moment, "This is an empty husk. Nothing's in here."

"Whether it be her memories, experience, or even the genetic information in her DNA, everything has been stripped clean from her body." He spoke calmly, "This body is no different to a sculpture of her now."

Compass Carburettor then touched the bodies of Gehera, Rhizen, and finally, Rahakh, concluding, "It's the same for everyone else too."

"So, that's how Zaira turned them into Systems. A fearsome ability indeed." Compass Carburettor then approached the 24 Rings world and entered it, observing that the world remained unchanged, pretty much the same as in his memories.

After all, the moment it was dumped into the dump yard, time seemed to have paused in the 24 Rings world, whether it be the people or the nature. Even if something changed, over time, they reverted to their original state.

Compass Carburettor arrived at a certain school based on his memory, entering its training hall to see Millie there.

She leaned against a barbell, her eyes vacant, lacking any signs of intelligence. Compass Carburettor approached her and touched her cheek, inspecting her as he sighed.

Rawr!

Millie let out a guttural growl and pounced upon him with the intent to devour him, lacking any semblance of humanity. The friction in the air became the maximum and ignited, resulting in a sea of plasma that surged into him in an effort to burn him.

"Such a pity," Compass Carburettor sighed as he watched Millie bombard him with attacks, none of which even touched him.