"Nooo… let go of me, this wasn't supposed to happen!"
"Patient is erratic, administering the sedative…"
"Y-you c-can't do t-this m-me…"
"Patient is calm, good, send him away…"
A woman dressed in a nurse's uniform seized the trolley the previously screaming person was on and began to push it out of the hospital room. Once outside, she continued on her way, following identical women who were rolling out other patients. Soon, the location began to change, and so did the walls. The nurses appeared to be moving in the same direction, but this particular one veered slightly off course.
Her pace gradually slowed, allowing other nurses to pass her by. When no one was looking, she made a sharp turn to the left. Soon, she was swiftly navigating through the empty corridors, zigzagging through various passages until reaching a dead end. However, in a flash of light, a rectangular indentation appeared and began pushing into the wall. Before long, a new pathway was created through which the nurse continued to travel.
"The worst part about this gig is walking with these high heels on… whoever created this must have been quite the pervy bastard…"
Zhang Dong clone number two released a heavy sigh as he carefully moved the unconscious system-holder to safety. While the other clones were in the process of leaving the first station, he had been occupied rescuing potential allied system holders. To facilitate this, he had established a secret room and devised his own method to set them free. Upon swiftly retrieving the unconscious person before they could undergo processing, he transported them to a concealed laboratory where a device altered their existing systems.
By assuming control of the administrative system on this station, Bob the AI was able to extend his influence through it. Some of the chambers, like the one described, were now fully under Zhang Dong's control. The old systems contained a protocol known as the devouring seed, which needed to be disabled. It served as a pacifier for the system holders, capable of stripping away all that they had gained throughout their journey. After its removal and a few adjustments, an altered version would be provided to set them free.
Zhang Dong faced a decision that he carefully considered. He had the option of either granting the system holders full autonomy over their bodies or locking them into his own altered system. The facility provided him with all the necessary equipment and knowledge for either choice. Even absorbing their essence and making it his own was a possibility, but he decided against it. Devouring others wasn't his style, and he was confident it would be detrimental to his chosen Dao of light.
Becoming akin to a demonic cultivator would only hinder his future progress. While he could potentially gain large amounts of power in a short span of time, it might impede him from progressing beyond a certain threshold. The adversary he was facing had been absorbing these essences for an unknown duration, and even if he started doing the same now, catching up seemed unlikely. Zhang Dong needed to find a different way to progress - one that didn't betray his own path and values.
"Let's get you fixed then…"
After bringing the system-holder into the room, Zhang Dong began to remove the bindings. His form shifted into his own, and he swiftly placed the unconscious woman onto a special bed. It resembled a medical bed, with a few floating spheres around it that emitted light.
As the sedated system holder lay on a medical bed, the clone activated the device. A holographic interface appeared, displaying intricate charts and graphs. Zhang Dong meticulously adjusted the parameters, ensuring that the process remained undetectable by the overseeing entities. He could feel the connection being severed and a new being formed as the tiny orbs hovered around the woman's body producing bursts of light.
The process took around ten minutes, and when complete, the person was free from the system's clutches. After ensuring that everything was normal, Zhang Dong moved her back onto the hospital bed and into another location. The operation had been ongoing for some time and was still in the process of development. The room he appeared in was quite empty, with one large mirror at the end. Without stopping, he moved through it to arrive at another world - the place where all the system holders he rescued were being hidden.
"It's the Chief! He has returned with another one!"
"Could you stop calling me that?"
"How about bossman then?"
While exploring the station, Zhang Dong discovered many rooms with mirrors; some were broken, while others were still operational. One of the worlds he found was used as the secret hideout. Devoid of intelligent life after its system holder had failed their quest to defeat the demon king, everything had been wiped away, and the world entered a restorative phase. The climate was rather sunny, and thanks to it being abandoned, Zhang Dong could populate it with things of his choosing.
"Oh? Who is the new girl?"
"Hey, keep your distance, you're going to scare her with that ugly face of yours!"
Zhang Dong was greeted by around ten people that he had previously saved. The most troublesome part was always the explanation after a system-holder had woken up. All these people were on the good spectrum and lacked the most violent tendencies. Such individuals were on the more limited spectrum within this whole system, as it was mostly populated by people with anger issues and chips on their shoulders. There were also more male subjects than females, but for the type that he was searching for, the ratio seemed to be more balanced.
"That's harsh, I'm hurt!"
All of them were system holders and now inhabited new bodies. There weren't any truly unattractive individuals present, as all of them had been able to choose their avatars before being called to their world of adventures. The man referred to as "ugly" was more on the larger, muscular side, with a well-defined jaw, making him more of a rugged, manly figure than unattractive. The woman who was shouting at him was rather small and slim in comparison.
"W-where am I? Who are you people? W-where did those nurses go?"
"Ah, she is awake, let me talk to her, you guys just take a hike!"
Zhang Dong was pleased that the people here were taking things so well. When he began the rescue effort, it wasn't as easy. Initially, people didn't trust him or his explanation, and it took a few months for them to start opening up and acting more at ease. He understood the sentiment, as the whole predicament was quite an unusual one. The woman on the bed looked around, confusion and fear evident in her eyes. Zhang Dong stepped forward, his expression calm and reassuring.
"Please calm down, I know that this will be hard to understand but I assure you, we won't hurt you, we are just like you, people who were given a system once."
"A system, like me?"
The woman looked around the room to see a myriad of people. Some were young, others were old but each one had a gentle smile on their face.
"Yes, like you. You were chosen to be a system holder, just like everyone here. We were all part of a larger system that manipulated and controlled us, but I managed to break free, and I've been rescuing other system-holders like you. You remember that strange hospital right? That is the place you get sent after completing the scenario given by the system."
The woman on the bed absorbed this information with a mix of disbelief and curiosity. It was a lot to take in, especially since her memories were still a bit hazy. The other people in the room were nodding at the story that Zhang Dong had become proficient in recounting.
"The scenario? Was that what it was?"
"My name is Zhang Dong, and I've been trying to help people like you regain control over their lives. You were trapped in a system that used you for its own purposes, but now you're free. This is a safe place, and these people here have been through the same thing."
As Zhang Dong spoke, he could see a flicker of realization in the woman's eyes. She began to recall the events that led her to this point. However, before he could continue the smaller woman that was arguing with the larger man spoke up.
"Wait, that's a lot to take in for her, leave it to me Chief!"
She started trying to shoo people away from this initial room and everyone just shrugged and began to leave. Zhang Dong just nodded and took his leave as it was better for someone in the same situation to explain everything. This place was a safe heaven for them all and they had access to everything. Everyone was free to wander this world but they wouldn't find much besides strange animals and plants to keep them company.
Even if they wandered around, he could keep his eyes on them, as this world was already under his supervision. He didn't hide this fact from them, as he needed real allies who wouldn't fear him for what he was becoming. Even after attaining immense power, his humanity was still intact. It was thanks to people who weren't afraid of him that he could remain grounded in reality. He did not want to become a godlike being out of touch with the world around him. All he desired was for his family and friends to live long, happy lives.
He soon left along with the others and after a few words, he removed himself from the situation as this process wouldn't end anytime soon. There were countless numbers of these system holders and while he was removing limited numbers of them, there was a possibility that this would be eventually found out.
Zhang Dong was aware of the soul-recycling process, indicating that the resources weren't endless. If he kept removing souls from within this process, his enemies would eventually realize that something was amiss. System-holder souls had a distinct quality and couldn't be replaced by those created in other worlds. Once a certain limit was reached, they might need to halt the rescuing process and focus on other endeavors.
'Even if it's only a hundred or even ten, I need more help…'
He thought to himself while leaving to continue his job. It would take a bit before his self-imposed limit was reached. Afterward, everyone needed to be trained and prepared for potential future conflicts.