HBWnovel Chapter 225 Another system user
Chapter 225 Another system user
Michael trembled, but blinked twice.
Tristan nodded in satisfaction.
"You really aren't as smug anymore, asshole. Bullets really do things with the person's sense of self-importance," Tristan said.
He slowly untied the knot holding Michael's gag in place and put it out. His mind and body were on alert, ready to give Cutout the real signal in case Michael decided to be dangerous. Read new chapters at empire
At first, Michael just coughed. Tristan moved a bottle of water to his mouth and helped him to drink—not out of mercy, but because he wouldn't be able to talk with sandpaper-dry throat and a case of dehydration.
After Michael drank some and spilled some of that water, Tristan put the bottle away and looked at the man in silence.
Michael opened his mouth, then glanced at Cutout and closed it again, biting his lip. A soft whimper left his throat.
The tension was mounting up by a moment. Tristan was sorting the questions in his head by the order of priority.
"Do you really can appear in people's dreams?"
"Yes! I can, and nothing you can do can take away that power from me!"
As soon as he said that, fear flashed in Michael's eyes. Clearly, he wanted to say something else—but the truth serum was merciless.
"Interesting. Before you panic and try something stupid—I also have some... powers. Right now, my power makes you speak truth, only truth, and nothing but the truth. It also makes you speak. Don't fight it, and this entire interrogation will be more painless to you than you deserve."
Michael nodded shakily, making Tristan grin.
He really enjoyed the man's fear. No, it was true dread at this point—he must've realized that Tristan could be someone more than just a crime boss.
"What does your system do besides let you appear in people's dreams?" Tristan asked Michael, pulling himself out of his thoughts.
Michael had no choice but to explain.
It was pretty straightforward, and really similar to Tristan's system in some ways—and very different in others.
The God Word's System had attributes, skills and talents just like the Second Identity System, but they were all different. Michael's skill-set was mostly focused on being convincing and charismatic, reading people's intentions and desires, and being a good leader.
He didn't put a lot of points into the latter part.
The God Word's System gave Michael system points for spreading his 'word'.
Michael was convinced that it gave points for spreading the word of Christianity and Noidolism specifically, but after making Michael read aloud the God Word's System FAQ, Tristan was sure it just meant 'convincing others in whatever faith the user wanted to organize'.
It wasn't very clearly explained, and Michael was a fanatic of his own beliefs, though and through.
Appearing in dreams was a talent Michael bought relatively recently, and one that had the most use.
Another talent let him really turn mass hatred into something tangible enough to make people sick. It was the talent that affected Tristan, Nelson and half the showbiz industry earlier. However, it really required hundreds of thousands of people to feel hateful toward someone. Less if they REALLY hated that person, but either way, this sort of hatred was hard to evoke.
And the "psychic nuke" from earlier was the pinnacle of what Michael could do. A simple post cost him a lot of time working with his best skills to make it as contagious as it was—it was no wonder that after Tristan countered it once, Michael didn't make another one. He didn't have the time.
'That system... it really could've been incredible in the hands of someone smarter and less religious. Paradoxically,' Tristan thought. 'Or at least someone braver. Lottery is really random...'
Someone braver wouldn't have hid behind anonymity all this time, and would've certainly got more followers by now. Instead, Michael hid so well that people just followed his ideas. That clearly wasn't doing all that much for him.
"And as you said, you just got your system on an ordinary day, Michael?" Tristan asked.