Werewolves were usually brown, but the ones Shen found on the seventh row were gray. They were bigger than average too, and every single one of them was at the E rank.
| Enhanced Gray Werewolf (E) | 200 / 200
A hundred E-ranks meant ten thousand AP, and more than anything, that served as a big warning sign to Shen.
The tutorial had been good to him, but he had had to work for most of his gains. He had almost died while fighting ten E-rank Techmages before, and he certainly didn't feel ready for ninety E-ranks.
Yet, he was also not ready to retreat.
Shen decided he would at least check those werewolves' prowess. Cautiously and slowly, he approached the seventh row until all one hundred—not only ninety—enemies acted at once.
He prepared to run, but there was no need for it.
The Shadows' movements were slow and unnatural, as if they were defective golems. Their arms and legs repeatedly moved slightly then froze in place, and their eyes seemed to have no focus.
And suddenly, they all turned into motes of light.
Shen got no AP for that, but he did get three system messages in quick succession.
SYSTEM BREACH DETECTED
Experimented-on Shadows and malfunctioning data feeds found.
Primary suspect: Prisoner #ASDD-242-3299-AK-7799-MNB.
You're the closest Guardian System user available.
Accept the automatically generated Bounty or leave the premises at once.
Staying in the area without an active related Bounty might lead to you being considered an accomplice.
The first message was yellow-titled and revealed multiple things to Shen.
First and foremost, there was a way to limit the system's power and influence; it was not omniscient or omnipotent. He was glad he found out about that.
He was thankful for everything the Multiverse Alliance had done for him, enough that here he was, turning himself into one of their soldiers. They had healed him, and he was growing strong very fast thanks to the Guardian System. Yet, to be constantly monitored by them didn't sit right with him.
It might be less troublesome if he knew and trusted the ones doing the watching. The Feng Clan had people who watched out for traitors, and they were all upstanding clan members. The Eternal Empire also had spies everywhere searching for traitors and invaders. But those were organizations he knew, understood, and trusted to a certain extent. What they could do to him was also limited. He knew nothing of the Multiverse Alliance except that they fought the Void and had a Guardian System.
Who were the members of the Alliance? What rights did humans have? What rights did Shen have? Who controlled the system? Were they honorable people? Could he trust them?
Shen had no answer to any of those questions, and that troubled him.
The message also revealed that despite it being possible to trick the system, it was always looking for inconsistencies. If he understood the issue well, it had thought the Shadows were working just fine until it became obvious they weren't. Then it immediately determined the possible source and a way to deal with it.
The most intriguing part of that message was the prisoner part.
Actual living beings were being used in the tutorial? That was news. Had Shen killed any already? Were their deaths final? If so, he would want to know.
In fact, it should've been his right to know better about these things. Yet, as he had already determined, he didn't know his status in the Alliance or what came with it.
PERMISSION ERROR
You've been told to either accept a Bounty or leave, yet the Bounty Subsystem is currently locked for you.
Situational override engaged.
The Bounty Subsystem will be temporarily unlocked for you until you either accept and complete the proposed Bounty or leave the area.
The Bounty will be automatically displayed to you as per regulations.
The second message had an upper-case title too, but it was white-colored.
It revealed the Guardian System wasn't a single mind dealing with everything. It delegated some things to specific parts of it, which might conflict with each other. However, it did have a clear set of rules on how to solve such conflicts. In this case, he had been given temporary access to the Bounty Subsystem.
He didn't like the sound of that subsystem one bit.
Bounty - Investigate Possible System Breach
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Type: Arrest/Execution
Primary Target #1: Prisoner #ASDD-242-3299-AK-7799-MNB (E)
Primary Target #2: Situational
Secondary Targets: Any accomplice
Location: Primordial Universe - Primordial Supercluster - Primordial Cluster - Milky Way Galaxy - Etharius Star System - Etharius IV Mega World - Zone 873 - Sector 33 - Underground Maze Scenario - Middle Boss Room
Time limit: 5.7 local hours
Assistance: Monitoring Priority temporarily raised to D-tier
Description:
Primary Target #1 is suspected of breaching the system. Investigate it and determine if that's the case.
If Primary Target #1 did not breach the system, find the true culprit. They will become Primary Target #2.
Primary Target #1 has been condemned for a similar offense two times before. Doing it again is punishable by death. If they're the culprit, you can execute or arrest them at your discretion.
Primary Target #2 cannot be executed and must be arrested.
Secondary Targets are to be arrested if possible, but you may let them go. They are not a priority. Identifying them is desirable but also optional.
You can protect yourself in any circumstance.
The use of lethal force will be investigated and judged by the Multiverse Alliance's Bounty Commission and Integrated Judicial System. Your trainee status, and consequent lack of Civil Affairs Training, will be taken into account in both instances.
As the location has malfunctioning data feeds, your monitoring priority will be temporarily raised to D-tier. Connection status to the Surveillance Subsystem will be added to your overlay.
Success Condition: Arresting or executing a Target
Reward: 1,000 to 5,000 AP, depending on performance
The last message had a common title, yet it was the one that troubled Shen the most for two reasons.
First, the Bounty had been automatically generated, and he had been given permission to kill a living being. Now, he still had to find out whether they would die a final death or get revived, but if it was the former...
The Eternal Empire had used automated systems in some places, but all important things had been decided by actual living beings. Letting a cold system determine whether to take a sapient life was wrong and unethical.
It didn't even matter if Shen would be judged later; the deed would be done by then, and a life would've been taken. Unless the Alliance could revive anyone whenever they felt like it? Shen doubted it. He couldn't even explain how the trainees were brought back to life, but it had to have costs and limitations.
Then again, it was possible that the Alliance had means and resources beyond his wildest imagination and could revive everyone forever.
For now, Shen would postpone his judgment on it until he had further information.
The second thing that troubled him was how strange the whole Bounty concept was.
The system had detected a breach, but it told Shen to do it instead of directly solving it. Why? Wasn't it the same system that could revive people and claimed to be able to generate infinite Shadows?
To Shen, that meant the system was either much more limited than he had expected or had objectives he didn't understand. He liked the former and hated the latter.
Now, should he take the Bounty?
The answer came to him immediately: no. If the system couldn't get precise information about that area—its data feeds were malfunctioning—it might affect its ability to revive him. He was ready to die in the war against the Void but not while investigating a prisoner. As far as he was concerned, it was the Alliance's job to deal with their own prisoners. As the Bounty itself said, he didn't even have any training in that, and he was not an investigator.
Actually, it wasn't even his job to die fighting the Void yet. That was supposed to come only later. He would not sacrifice himself to investigate some technicality.
His Boundless self was also adamant in refusing the Bounty. Shen didn't want to be bossed around by the Alliance in minor matters. He might take Bounties later, when he felt ready and willing, but not now. He also definitely didn't want to take a sapient life before he knew whether it would be final.
And finally, it was his duty to continue the Feng line, and he couldn't do that if he wasn't careful about his actions.
Shen was turning when he suddenly stopped.
For the first time in his life, duty and self-understanding opposed each other.
It wasn't an opposition on what to do but on how he reached the same conclusion. Duty, Shen suddenly realized, was limiting. It could be seen as a Path of its own that he had no choice but to tread. To stray from it would bring him shame and dishonor.
The fear of shame and dishonor limited him just as his pursuit of honor did. He knew it was the right thing to do, but never letting himself do the wrong thing was a limitation too.
Shen had never, ever, considered betraying his Clan before. Now that he did it for the first time, he found himself in shock.
'Betrayal is not an option,' he told himself. 'Being Boundless is the foundation of my Path, but it isn't the entire Path. I also seek other things. Like honor.'
Yet wouldn't that limit his Boundlessness by definition?
'No, it will not,' he thought. 'Boundlessness is a Concept, not a Law. It's part of greater things, not an absolute. It's infinite where it's allowed to be, no more, no less.'
He felt the weakness of his argument as soon as he made it. However, now was not the time for it. He would come back to that after he left the area and was sure he wouldn't be considered an accomplice to whatever was going on. He finished turning and headed for the exit.
Suddenly, the wolves on the back howled.
It became pitch black, and Shen heard the sound of something big and heavy falling somewhere in the distance ahead. He took a few instants to recall the Pit Viper's Sight technique and was glad for having taken the time to use all general skills previously.
He circulated the qi in his body according to the skill's pattern, and in a couple of seconds, he gained thermal vision.
The world became colored in shades from blue to red, from cold to hot. It wasn't a perfect ability though; it had trouble dealing with reflected heat on cold surfaces. Shen couldn't determine the shape of whatever had fallen in front of him because it was cold, but his way out had been blocked.
Then he turned to see two wolves running at him.
"Inspect," he said, but the tooltip was nothing like what he had expected.
| Unidentified Incarnation (E) | ??? / ???
Was it because of the system breach? Or had those beings been successfully experimented on, unlike the Grey Werewolves?
Shen threw his backpack sideways, filled his body with qi, and clenched his spear.
Two of the ten wolves had been white, and Shen believed them to be the ones running toward him. They weren't cold, but they definitely were not as hot as he was. They were also not as tall as he, but it was close.
The two approached together, and Shen felt coldness emanating from dozens of yards away. It wasn't a typical cold either, as it seeped into his flesh and bones, and when he lowered his stance, he found himself a little slower than usual. His Boundless Qi did its best to oppose the feeling, but it wasn't much.
They finally arrived, one leaping on him, the other running at him, both jaws open wide. Shen swung his spear at the one on the ground while sidestepping.
His weapon bounced harmlessly from the beast's pelt that was definitely more resistant than an E- resistance should be. The wolf fixed its movement to adjust to Shen's sidestep, and its jaw kept coming for him. He tried to Backstep, but the coldness was making him slower by the second, and he noticed it too later.
Sharp teeth surrounded his head.
Sharp pain and darkness followed.
----------------------------------------
The darkness was replaced by light. Shen looked around to find himself in a small white room. It had no door or windows and was empty save for himself and an enormous wolf.
It was one of the most mesmerizing beings he had ever seen.
Its pelt was like a moving rainbow, and its eyes seemed to be filled with galaxies. It was lying on the floor, looking straight at him.
"Inspect," Shen tried to say but found out he had no mouth.
Looking down, he noticed his body was transparent and floating as if a ghost's.
"You moved, didn't you?" the huge wolf said with an ancient, deep, male voice. "Seeing souls is hard. Could you make wider movements if you're awake? We have little time."
Shen definitely would not move. In fact, he froze in place, utterly afraid. If this was his soul, he was very vulnerable right now.
"You can hear me, can't you?" the wolf insisted. "Talking to souls is also not easy."
Shen didn't move.
Then the wolf spoke words that he definitely hadn't expected hearing.
"Boy, don't you dare ignore me. I have a message from your Immortal Emperor."