I Hate Systems

When the bomb exploded, the body of the Secret Society member too vaporised. But, it wasn't his true body. The true body was the Invoked Spirit seated within the Dreamland, one housed within the soul-mind combo of their body, almost akin to being in a different dimension.

And hence, even when the body was destroyed, the member wasn't dead. Once the effects of the explosion vanished, the member appeared in his Invoked Spirit form and then expended some Mental Fragments to create a new body.

Compass Carburettor was huddled in the Dreamland where the rest of his group was residing, braving the attack.

Following that, he retracted the member—with the power of the Bomb—into his body and then transformed into the truck that slammed into the Waning Essence System, reverse transmigrating it to the System World.

Normally, the rules of the System World would have begun rejecting him by now, since he wasn't related to a System—neither a System Host, System Slayer, or the Main Character.

But Zaira was abysmally weak at the moment, almost killed as a result of Immortal's attacks and the final bomb unleashed by Compass Carburettor.

So, the System World was in a weakened state.

The truck moved through the System World, taking the chance to target the abundant Hatchling Systems at the place. A gaze from him transformed them into Mental Fragments, leaving behind the core foundation of their bodies—the Coordinates.

He stored the Coordinates in the Dreamland of the member whose foundation allowed other living beings to live there.

"Keuk!" Compass Carburettor felt a searing strain in his mind all of a sudden, noticing that his power was being expended rapidly. Without the infinite supply of power from Immortal, his state was returning to the original exhausted condition.

Honk!

The truck sped through the System World, stopping upon coming across a sealed location, barring entry for even the Systems.

Compass Carburettor glanced inside, observing a System resembling an altar in which a sword was stabbed. But currently, blood leaked out of the altar as rashes spread across its entire body, akin to a living being.

The System screamed in pain, laughing maniacally from time to time before soon, it pulled the sword out of the altar, losing all signs of activity.

Thud!

The System collapsed to the ground as slowly, Mental Energy gushed into its body from the ground. The pulled-out sword dissipated while a new sword formed on the altar, causing it to get up after a few seconds had spanned past.

The System gasped in exhaustion, staring at itself, "My condition has gotten worse. This shouldn't be happening as long as the System World is wholly functional…"

"Who's there?" It shouted in alarm, turning around to stare at the figure of the truck nearby, for a moment stupefied, "Something, not a System…is here…? In the System World?"

"You…" It wished to deal with the invader when suddenly, it collapsed to the ground, noticing the rash spread around on its body once again that began to bleed profusely, "Not again…!"

"I see…" Compass Carburettor nodded upon staring at the condition of the System, also observing many other Systems further away in similar states. He even noticed many Grade 2 Systems, each akin to a hill and even a couple of Grade 3 Systems at the very back, resembling a mountain each, all suffering from something.

"So, these are the Systems that have been infected by Mystique."

He initially wished to use Spirit Morph on these weakened Systems and gain their strength. But upon realising that they had been affected by Mystique, he refrained from doing so. Even courting death had its limits.

The Systems noticed his presence one after another, but before they could move through their suffering, the truck sped away, leaving the place.

During the journey, Compass Carburettor rearranged the Mental Fragments in his Dreamland, focusing on those obtained from the Tell-Tale System as he tapped into the Astral Network, sensing a cobweb that extended from the System World and headed into millions upon millions of universes.

They were like tributaries branching out from the primary river, stretching out without an end in sight.

Compass Carburettor thought through his priorities, 'Currently, I need to treat Stencil and Hazen in a safe location without any disturbances. I already have the Tell-Tale System's power, so I need to select a world that I can influence and use it as a device to heal Stencil.'

With that, he decided upon his target, focusing on one of the thinnest tributaries to arrive at a world that the Tell-Tale System had just chanced upon and was in the process of laying down the basic laws for the world.

As the war sparked after that, it had to leave its work behind and arrive at the battlefield next to the Fantasy World.

The Tell-Tale System had laid down some groundwork but hadn't finished anything, making this world the perfect cost-effective world for Compass Carburettor to target. After all, the Astral Network only touched the world, but the laws regarding the descent and ascent of Systems hadn't been installed yet, so no Systems would be able to visit that world.

Moreover, with the death of the Tell-Tale System, the Systems would be somewhat conservative in their actions, unlike before when they had nothing to fear.

With that, Compass Carburettor focused on the coordinates of this world before activating the power of Truck-Kun as the truck vanished and appeared in the targeted world.

"Ugh!" Compass Carburettor grunted and collapsed to the ground, quickly reverting to his human form, having used up the last of his strength.

He then closed his eyes, assuming a meditative posture, and turned immobile, healing his body and mind. Moreover, the sun cast a gentle ray of light onto the area, slowly generating Mental Energy in his body.

And as he rested, his Mental Strength began to recover, albeit slowly. It would be a while before he recovers completely.

Upon his initial observation, Compass Carburettor found that this world was a technological world, similar to early twenty-first century Earth. 'Finally, a familiar setting.'

Currently, he had appeared at the peak of a hill in the wilds, away from any human footprint. He wished to spend some time here, recuperating from the after-effects of the war.

Unfortunately for him, fate seemed to have other plans as Compass Carburettor stared at the sky with a strained expression, observing massive streams of fate converge upon him, "Why…now?"

Blood began to drip out of his body as suddenly, one of the members slammed out of him, collapsing to the ground as he writhed around in pain as the entrance to his Dreamland opened; the figure of Hazen and Stencil rushed out, both oozing killing intent as they stared at him.