Chapter 15

[Beep—Alarm—]

When the cub on the back of the gray wolf warrior Wolber uttered an innocent question, the first to react were not only Wolber and the golden lion warrior Bellerman—two elite beast warriors—but also the warrior system 098, bound to the half-orc warrior Salvador, which immediately emitted an alarm!

[Warning! Abnormal energy fluctuations detected within range! Abnormal energy fluctuations detected within range!]

System 098 monitored the suddenly frenzied spatial energy fluctuations around it, continuously scanning for the core point of this anomaly. To its shock, it discovered that the source of the abnormal energy was the cub labeled 001 on the back of a wild predator not far off!

What was going on?!

Before System 098 could process this, it felt a threatening gaze—this gaze also came from the seemingly innocent and naive cub on Wolber’s back.

At that moment, Su You, the cub atop Wolber, was still rubbing its small belly in distress, looking around with big teal eyes that soon locked onto the exact location of System 098 suspended in the void.

“Yoyo is so hungry…”

System 098: [!]

As a warrior system, 098 had never before experienced the fear of being directly locked onto by a living being’s eyes. Even more terrifying was that the cub now stared at it as if it could snatch it out of the void and devour it as food any second…

Not only System 098 but also System 001 was stunned by this moment.

It suddenly recalled that ever since it had bonded with Su You, the cub often searched for it with its gaze during their conversations, and each time seemed to accidentally pinpoint its location.

System 001 had initially dismissed this, knowing that systems existed in unique spatial realms invisible to ordinary life forms. It had thought it was mere coincidence.

But now, with System 098—which was not bound to Su You—being precisely located by the cub, 001 finally realized that its host was not as harmless as it appeared on the surface.

Despite this, when the cub called out softly, “Tongtong,” System 001 paused briefly before responding in a gentle voice: [Yoyo, I am here.]

The tiny cub sitting on gray wolf Wolber’s back rubbed its hungry belly hesitantly and asked its good friend Tongtong, “Tongtong, is that ball your good friend?”

System 001: [...]

001 glanced at System 098, still maintaining its spherical, original system form in the void, and confirmed that Su You truly could see them—or rather, when hunger stirred within Su You, it seemed able to perceive them.

---

Su You’s big eyes looked longingly at System 098 suspended in the void and said, “That ball looks like a piece of chocolate!”

System 098: [!!!]

[Beep beep beep! Beep beep beep!]

The warrior system’s danger detection alarm had been escalating since the start. Were it not bound to a host, System 098 would have already activated escape mode and fled this dimension numbered 12768!

Chocolate? Who’s chocolate?!

System 098, nearly exasperated, directed its gaze toward System 001’s position: [001! Control your host!!]

As rival warrior systems competing in the Warrior Elimination Tournament, the 100 systems numbered 001 to 100 were forbidden from sharing information and remained silent toward each other.

But with the alarm blaring through the skies, System 098 had finally lost patience and issued a warning to System 001.

System 001, observing the agitated System 098, paid no heed and, after a moment’s thought, rolled a small orb of energy from its vast, god-level energy pool and tentatively presented it before Su You.

In its consistently gentle and magnetic voice, System 001 asked: [Yoyo, can you eat this?]

Unexpectedly, the cub shook its head vigorously upon sensing the energy orb: “Yoyo won’t eat! Yoyo won’t eat Tongtong! Won’t eat Tongtong!”

The energy orb delivered personally by System 001 seemed to trigger some emotional switch in the cub. Su You leapt onto Wolber’s back, burying its head into the thick fur on Wolber’s neck, as if to show its firm refusal to consume Tongtong’s energy.

Seeing Su You’s sudden emotional outburst, System 001 decisively retracted its energy orb back into its pool and spoke soothingly: [Yoyo, it’s okay now.]

Only then did the small cub cautiously tilt its head from Wolber’s back, secretly open its big teal eyes, and, after confirming that Tongtong had truly withdrawn the energy, seemed to relax.

Feeling reassured, the little cub straightened its body on the gray wolf’s back and ‘lectured’ the system in midair: “Tongtong gets hungry too. Yoyo can’t eat Tongtong! Otherwise, Tongtong will disappear!”

The tiny cub squirmed atop the gray wolf warrior and gestured earnestly with its short little hands. System 001 was silent for a moment, watching Su You’s serious expression, and even its cold, hard system heart softened and warmed involuntarily.

The gentle system looked at the cub earnestly and praised: [Yoyo is right. Yoyo is wonderful!]

Receiving the compliment, the cub immediately beamed with an adorable smile, clearly delighted.

---

While the heartwarming exchange between Su You and System 001 unfolded, not far away, System 098 and the gray wolf warrior Wolber, along with the golden lion Bellerman, had been on edge for quite some time.

System 098 was furious—after all, not long ago, it had been mistaken for a chocolate ball by the cub, and now that same cub was cozying up with its ‘colleague.’

This alone was enough to enrage the system, but what infuriated it even more was its host, the foolish half-orc Salvador, who was still looking at the cub with concern.

“098, have you noticed? Little Lord seems hungry,” Salvador said.

System 098: [...]

It had long given up on reasoning with its idiotic host. The cub was indeed hungry, but how did Salvador intend to feed it? By sacrificing himself? Or by sacrificing System 098?

As for the gray wolf warrior Wolber and his old rival Bellerman—the two elite beast warriors considered dangerous S-class contenders in dimension 12768—they had already bristled at the first sign of danger. Yet before they could make a move to flee, an indescribable force bound them in place.

These two formidable warriors, feared by Warrior candidates in their dimension, were now like lambs awaiting slaughter.

They could wag their tails anxiously but could not move an inch.

Just as everything seemed at a stalemate, half-orc warrior Salvador knelt devoutly before the small cub and began chanting a string of incomprehensible incantations. At the end of the chant, System 098 only understood the final line—

“Your most devoted follower offers you all their faith!”

System 098: [...]

The materialist system silently watched its host, tempted to pry open the half-orc’s skull to see what was inside.

But in the next moment, the cub, who had been rubbing its belly moments before, slowly let out a… burp? right before everyone’s eyes.