The System Teaches You How to Be Human

Si Yisi was attempting to cut open the outer layer of the mecha’s metal shell.

Using only that dull dagger was far from enough, but now that he could control the mental power within his brain, the task became effortless. He skillfully peeled back the metal along the edges to examine its structure, yet he didn’t harm Ah Tu’s “core” in the slightest.

Ah Tu’s real body should still be within the system’s space. This time, by some strange twist of fate, his mental form had invaded the mecha.

Speaking of mental power–Si Yisi understood that what he exhibited wasn’t truly mental power; it was the data stream he carried within him.

The system itself couldn’t possess mental power. What he projected externally was, in fact, an overwhelming surge of data.

Si’an’s natural aptitude was nowhere near that level. At best, he was just slightly better than the attacker in Si Yisi’s grasp. But the system possessing him? Si Yisi’s so-called “mental power” was like a towering tree with flourishing branches and leaves; or an unreachable, radiant moon.

Ah Tu shrieked miserably, his rabbit-like legs kicking wildly.

The commotion startled Lisa awake. She propped herself up and, at a glance, noticed Chen Han lying in the corner.

“T-This…” Lisa’s voice trembled. “Who is he? Did you bringing him back and offend someone we can’t afford to provoke? And who’s screaming?”

“I’m killing a rabbit, Mother.” Si Yisi met her gaze directly. Something about him had changed, making Lisa realize that her son was no longer the same as before.

“As for that man; don’t worry. He’ll be dealt with soon.”

Lisa murmured softly, “As long as everything’s fine… In this place, you have to be extremely cautious to survive.”

“Mother, we’ll be leaving here very soon.” Si Yisi’s voice was firm and resolute.

Lisa’s eyes widened in shock. She wanted to ask more, but Si Yisi gently pushed her back into her room.

Chen Han was already dead. He hadn’t suffocated, nor were there any visible signs of poisoning on his body. However, when Si Yisi probed him with his mental power, he discovered that his living cells were still active at an abnormally rapid rate, while another portion of his cells had already ruptured. This method was far more advanced than any known venom; it killed silently, without a trace.

Fortunately, Si Yisi had never intended to extract information from Chen Han. He had already acquired enough valuable intelligence.

Si Yisi glanced at Chen Han’s corpse. Under the cover of night, he strung it up in the most conspicuous place possible.

The cross of the slums’ only chapel.

In the interstellar era, faith had long faded into nothingness. Crosses and churches existed merely as relics of the past.

The cross stood high above, visible to anyone in the slums who so much as lifted their gaze. Si Yisi bound Chen Han’s corpse into the shape of a crucified Jesus.

A blatant act of provocation.

When Tru received the informant’s report, his face twisted with rage, as if it had been smashed flat. The freshly replaced furniture in his room suffered yet another round of utter destruction. He gritted his teeth, wishing he could skin Q alive and strip him to the bone!

Tru knew perfectly well that this was the brat’s way of taunting him, yet he couldn’t afford to blatantly retaliate with a massacre in the slums. Si Yisi’s actions had already drawn the attention of the slum’s ruling elite. Even Tru, at this moment, had no way of removing the shameful corpse from the cross.

He seethed with fury, but there was nothing he could do!

For as long as the compatibility test remained pending, the corpse would stay bound to the cross.

As the days dragged on, Tru’s temper became increasingly volatile; he had already smashed at least ten sets of furniture.

***

The Day of the compatibility test.

This was the only chance for a slum resident to change their fate. However, the age limit was set at under 20 years old, eliminating the vast majority of the slum’s population.

The few who remained understood what a rare opportunity this was. On this day, even the warring factions called a temporary ceasefire.

Of course, that truce was only temporary. The main theme of slum life would always be endless fighting, plundering, and conquest. Strip away the surface, and the people here were nothing but demons; feared and despised by the outside world.

Si Yisi walked into the compatibility test queue.

Just as he took his place, his gaze suddenly flickered toward a certain spot!

That overwhelming hostility vanished in an instant, dissipating as quickly as a fleeting shadow.

Is the person lurking in the dark trying to stop me from taking the compatibility test?

Si Yisi placed his hand on a test stone designed to verify a candidate’s age. If someone was overage, a red line would immediately appear on the stone’s surface. This method had exposed many who had tried to slip through unnoticed.

His fingers touched the cold stone. That prying gaze returned, clinging to him like a shadow!

Yet, from beginning to end, the test stone showed no red markings at all!

So… Is there a trick waiting for me in the later stages? Si Yisi was curious to see what kind of game they were playing.

In the second round, individual test stones were no longer distributed. Instead, the candidates had to line up and place their hands on a mental power-testing device; a jade-white instrument.

“Nothing! Next!”

The person in charge shouted with a voice full of disdain and impatience. Who would want such a thankless job? Just look at those slum rats who failed to display any mental power; each one glaring coldly, as if they’re going to pounce at any moment!

If not for the Empire’s so-called mercy, tsk… they would’ve all been slaughtered long ago. What kind of mental power talent could these lowborn scum possibly have? Reaching D-rank was already the absolute limit for them!

“Next, next, next! Hurry up and get lost! What are you staring at?!” A burly soldier shoved a boy aside.

Ahead of Si Yisi, a frail-looking girl stepped forward with trembling hands and touched the mental power-testing device.

Suddenly, a thin wisp of mist appeared inside the instrument. It was faint and fleeting; rising for just a brief moment before vanishing completely.

The examiner sneered impatiently, “E-rank mental power… pa—”

But before he could finish the word “pass,” something seemed to click in his mind—realizing that everyone here was a lowborn.

He abruptly cut himself off and declared, with absolute finality, “Fail!”

The girl’s pale, sickly face had just shown a trace of color, but this sudden reversal was no different from casting her from heaven straight into hell! Her face turned paper-white as she swayed unsteadily.

The examiner didn’t bother hiding his malice. He glanced at the lowborns before him with cold arrogance and contempt.

The Empire might preach equality, but everyone knew that in this interstellar era, there were clear and rigid class divisions. Lowborns from the slums had no human rights. Anyone could scorn, insult, and trample them at will.

The girl had no choice but to swallow her humiliation in silence; because here, the examiner’s word was law.

Si Yisi clenched his fists, his knuckles cracking. He could feel Si’an’s fury, the anger of someone who believed that even those from the slums deserved to be recognized as human. Si’an didn’t pity the girl personally; his rage stemmed from the merciless and oppressive caste system that governed their world.

The other slum dwellers in line were growing restless too. Their wolf-like eyes locked onto the examiner, as if they were ready to tear the flesh straight from his bones.

The tension in the air tightened like a stretched wire.

“Get out of here!” The examiner, sensing the shift in atmosphere, ordered the soldiers to shove the girl aside, his expression dark and foul.

For now, the threat of violence forced the slum boys to suppress their anger. But that didn’t mean that, when their own turn came; if the examiner sentenced them to “death” just as he had done to the girl, they would sit still, obediently bowing to his tyranny.

Si Yisi remained calm from beginning to end. He cast a glance at the girl’s trembling, swaying figure.

What good would it do to stand up for her? She was only E-rank at best. Even if she passed, she would still face endless discrimination, living a life no different from the slums. If he was going to act; then he would make it something big!

Si Yisi pressed his palm against the mental power-testing device.

The moment he touched it, his brows furrowed.

A powerful sense of rejection surged from the instrument, violently resisting his mental power.

So that was the trick!

No… it isn’t just rejection…

Si Yisi suddenly sensed something “emerging” from the device; something with a sinister presence. It was trying to invade his body!

Si Yisi wanted to test what this thing was, so he temporarily withdrew his mental power; only to discover that his consciousness was being devoured, bit by bit!

Once touched, this thing was uncontrollable. If he hadn’t used his mental power to shield himself, he would have been corroded within moments, reduced to a mindless idiot! And if he became a fool, he would be left completely defenseless. There wouldn’t even be a need to fabricate a reason for his disappearance; After all, could anyone expect a simpleton to behave normally?

After isolating and even consuming the invading force, the mental power-testing device suddenly changed. A dense mist of blood erupted from its core! The fog was blackish-red, resembling dried bloodstains, carrying an indescribable aura of evil.

“Blood Moon Mist!!”

The examiner leaped to his feet, his previous arrogance instantly replaced by sheer terror!

He didn’t even dare to look Si Yisi in the eye, as if he were facing some monstrous calamity. Stumbling, he nearly fell but managed to steady himself by grabbing the edge of the table. His first reaction was to command the soldiers.

“Seize him! He’s a heretic!”

The moment the word “heretic” was spoken, even the slum boys instinctively took a step back in unison.

Lisa, who had been standing in the back, still recovering from her illness, nearly collapsed on the spot!

A heretic; such an accusation was both severe and terrifying. Even the slightest association with that word; whether through curiosity, research, or mere suspicion, meant a lifetime sentence in the depths of a prison cell.

Because everything related to heretics was strictly forbidden in the Kaz Empire.

Si Yisi’s pupils constricted. A heretic?

Si’an’s memories contained only a tiny, grain-sized fragment of information on the subject; coming from a nursery rhyme Lisa had once sung to scare him as a child. But one thing was certain, Si’an could never have any connection to heretics.

This is a setup!

And quite an elaborate one at that.

At that very moment, the mental power-testing device exploded in Si Yisi’s hand!

Shards of jade-white crystal flew in all directions.

The unexpected event made the examiner scream again, “Mental power exceeding A-rank?!”

***

A middle-aged man, who had been quietly observing from the sidelines, suddenly changed his expression. He had never anticipated such an accident!

While Blood Moon Mist was indeed an unforgivable taboo, the explosion of the mental power-testing device was something the man had never foreseen.

What did it mean for a device capable of withstanding A-rank mental power to explode?

It meant that the person Prince Tru had ordered to be executed had mental power beyond A-rank! That was an S-level, or perhaps even an ‘undiscovered rank higher than S’, a rarity in the entire history of the Empire!

The middle-aged man had believed he had perfectly executed Prince Tru’s orders. But now, this unpredictable anomaly had thrown everything into disarray!

Because no matter how dreaded the Blood Moon Mist was, mental power beyond A-rank was enough to grant Si Yisi immunity!

Si Yisi blinked.

Just a moment ago, he had been prepared to carve his way out through sheer bloodshed. But now, the mental power of that hostile presence had undergone a strange shift.

Disbelief. Rage. It felt like the frustration of failing to complete an evil scheme.

So?

Si Yisi cast a glance toward Lisa, standing at the edge of the crowd.

He decided to wait and see. With a calm smile, he allowed the equally frightened soldiers to snap handcuffs onto his wrists.

Feeling the soldiers’ trembling bodies, Si Yisi’s emotions became complicated.

Who was really the “prisoner” here? Them, or me?

Before being taken away, Si Yisi gave Lisa a glance. The meaning was clear; ‘Don’t worry, I will come back safe.’

Lisa, standing against the cold gray wall, suddenly burst into tears.

Then, all at once, she lunged forward, fiercely grabbing at the soldiers. She was still weak from illness, so her grip should have been feeble and powerless. But at this moment, Lisa was like an enraged lioness, wildly clawing at the men trying to take Si Yisi away.

The soldiers attempted to push her aside. But before they could move, a gust of forceful wind struck them squarely in the stomachs!

Si Yisi withdrew his foot, watching as an entire row of soldiers collapsed to the ground.

He was small and thin, no different from a bamboo stick. Yet his voice was terrifyingly steady. And most of all; His gaze was like a frigid, piercing star, making their blood run cold.

In his pupils, a flash of killing intent flickered; so sharp, so real, that it left no room for doubt.

“You dare… try laying a hand on her?”

Si Yisi spoke each word with quiet menace, his tone brimming with lethal intent.