Chapter 27 - The Voice Inside the System
Eli dropped the phone.
It hit the stone floor.
Maya stared.
“Did your phone just talk?”
“No.”
“Eli.”
“Yes.”
The voice spoke again.
“My name was Elias Ren.”
The surname caught Eli’s attention.
“Ren?”
“Different spelling. No relation. Probably.”
The voice had humor.
Which was alarming because Eli’s system had humor too.
Elias explained that the black jade token contained a fragment of an ancient cultivation intelligence.
Not a computer exactly.
Not a soul exactly.
Something between technique, spirit, and machine.
The Black Lotus had tried to modernize cultivation before modern technology existed.
They failed.
Mostly because rival sects murdered them.
“Comforting,” Eli said.
The system interface had bonded to Eli because the cracked jade coin carried the fragment.
“Why me?”
“Compatibility.”
“That sounds suspiciously like luck.”
“Also desperation.”
“Better.”
Elias could not fully control the system.
He had access to old functions.
Quests.
Analysis.
Progression pathways.
But the system was evolving from Eli’s behavior.
Especially Defiance.
“Your path is becoming something new,” Elias said.
Maya crossed her arms.
“Can it be removed?”
“No.”
Eli sighed.
“Great.”
“Also,” Elias added, “Victor Vane knows what it is.”
Eli stopped.
“How?”
“Because he has another fragment.”
The system displayed a map.
Seven fragments.
One with Eli.
One with Victor.
Five unknown.
Then the map zoomed out.
Across the United States.
Across the world.
May you like
Eli whispered, “This got international way too fast.”
