"Ah..."
After a brief daze.
Sariel regained her senses.
She looked around in confusion.
"What am I?..."
"Ariel? Did you say something just now? I feel like I've forgotten something..."
"Your body is extremely weak, so you need to recuperate in the Starsea Empire for a while. This world is now governed and protected by them."
Ariel answered tentatively.
"Ah... Oh..."
Sariel rubbed her head.
Only a few fragmented memories remained in her mind. She knew that a visitor from another world had freed her from her restraints.
Everything else was somewhat blurry.
"The Starsea... Empire?"
"Where is it? Um..."
"What... am I supposed to do?..."
Instead of immediately refusing again, she gazed at everyone around her in confusion.
"Commander, what did you?..."
Silver Wolf blinked.
"I slightly interfered with and revised her memories. I removed that inexplicable mission she had accepted so that she can live as an independent individual from now on."
Setsuna gestured for Ariel and Shiro to come over.
"That mission to protect the world left too deep an imprint on her and influenced her too profoundly, so she's a little disoriented right now. She'll be fine once she settles down."
"Understood!"
Directly altering someone's memories and personality would ordinarily seem rather sinister, but for someone like Sariel, whose programming had effectively crashed, it was exactly what she needed.
Ariel bowed to Setsuna once more.
"Thank you... I'll take good care of Mother during this time."
"Thank you very much for your help."
"It was nothing."
Setsuna glanced at them. Ariel was Shiro's grandmother, while Ariel herself called Sariel Mother.
Indeed, another perfectly complete family.
...
Elsewhere.
Once the global situation had settled, Sophon began arranging accommodations for the reincarnators captured earlier.
Clunk—
The shuttle landed near an open field in the Kingdom of Analeit.
The entire world had already been completely taken over by the Starsea Empire. Angeloids maintaining order and constructing facilities could be seen everywhere.
"Ugh—"
Schlain, Hugo, and the others tremblingly disembarked from the spacecraft.
"Considering that all of you are still physically quite young, the Commander has generously granted you the status of free citizens."
"You will receive a basic education in this world. An orphanage will raise you until you possess the basic ability to work."
Sophon gave several instructions to the Angeloids overseeing the region, then led the reincarnators on a tour of the residential area.
"Oh—"
The reincarnators secretly rejoiced.
They had originally assumed that their captors would ruthlessly eliminate them to prevent future trouble, but it appeared the Starsea Empire did not care about insignificant small fry like them at all.
"That's great."
"Everyone, settle down for now and follow their instructions."
Hugo once again displayed his leadership qualities, persuading everyone to obediently accept the arrangements.
"First, we'll establish stable lives here. Then we'll find ways to train and improve our abilities."
"Once we grow up, we'll find an opportunity to..."
Schlain and Julius also helped calm everyone down.
They felt extremely fortunate that all the reincarnators had been gathered together, making it easier for them to communicate with one another.
As long as they kept a low profile and slowly accumulated strength, their identities as reincarnators and their cheat abilities would inevitably allow them to accomplish great things in the future.
"Huh?"
Schlain was the first to notice something wrong.
"Why can't I open my System interface?"
He tried connecting to the System, but there was no response.
He could neither view his status screen nor use skills or inspect other information.
[Appraisal!]
Nothing happened.
He focused his mind and stared at Hugo.
[Appraisal!]
Still nothing happened.
"???"
A commotion broke out among the young reincarnators.
Schlain was not the only one. Every reincarnator discovered that the System had stopped functioning overnight.
There was no response whatsoever, and none of them could open any interface.
"What's going on?!"
"Where are my skills?! I'm supposed to be a martial arts prodigy!"
"Wait, are the blessings granted by our skills still active?!"
Schlain fruitlessly jabbed at the air, trying to determine whether his Heaven's Protection still had any effect.
Hugo tried several times, but he could not activate the intimidation ability of his Emperor skill at all.
After reincarnating into another world, their sole and greatest reliance had been the cheat abilities granted by the System.
They had expected to use those abilities to carve out a place for themselves, defeat the evil Demon Lord, and conquer the Starsea Empire that had destroyed their countries and homes.
Now their cheats had silently vanished. None of them could remain calm.
"Julius, what about you? Can you use your abilities?"
Schlain looked toward his older brother, the true Hero.
Whoosh—boom!
Julius held his breath and focused, attempting to invoke his abilities, then shook his head.
"I can't... I used to obtain power from the System, but it's as though the energy of the entire world has been replaced. I can no longer control any of it."
In the past, the reincarnators and Hero had drawn their strength from the System designed by Evil God D, meaning the energy extracted from the planet.
Now that Setsuna had completely replaced the world's magic, naturally none of them could control this new power.
"Ah... How could this happen?!"
Unease instantly spread among the reincarnators.
"Heh."
Sophon watched them tap repeatedly at empty space. Without saying anything, she chuckled.
She contacted Setsuna.
"Commander, these reincarnators appear rather dependent on the System. After losing their external source of power, they have become extremely anxious."
"Oh, just leave them alone."
Setsuna had not paid them much attention at first, but after glancing down and examining the reincarnators, he noticed something unusual.
"Hm? The souls of reincarnators really are different from those of the natives. They can contain more magic and power."
"It would be something of a waste for them to become ordinary people simply because they lost the System."
Compared with the natives, Wakaba Hiiro had probably modified their souls during the reincarnation process, granting them a much stronger affinity for magic.
The System they had relied upon had disappeared after Sariel gained her freedom. Setsuna pondered for a moment, then suddenly came up with a rather amusing idea...
"Give me a moment."
"?"
Schlain and the others could not understand what Setsuna meant. From the sound of it, did he intend to take care of them?
Snap—
Setsuna snapped his fingers and summoned the System created by Evil God D.
After operating it for a while, he established an entirely new network and framework for magic.
"All right. I've replaced it with a new System for you. Work hard from now on."
"Huh?"
Whoosh—
The System interface reappeared before everyone.
Statistics such as attack, defense, HP, and MP were displayed upon it.
"Oh!"
"The System is back!!"
The reincarnators were ecstatic.
Although they did not understand why the mysterious Commander had helped them, regaining their cheats was unquestionably good news.
"Wait?"
However, their excitement did not last long. They soon discovered that the System interface looked somewhat different from before.
All the outrageously powerful skills they had possessed from birth were gone. Even their titles and exclusive cheats had been replaced with entirely different things.
Schlain examined his status screen.
Heaven's Protection, the symbol of his protagonist's halo, had vanished. In its place were several new skills:
Miner LV1: Efficiency increases by 35% while performing mining work.
Rapid Growth: Compared with ordinary humans, you can reach physical adulthood in less time.
Improved Efficiency: You require only three hours of sleep each day to work at 100% efficiency.
"???"
"What is this?"
He stared blankly.
Beside him, Hugo spent a long time staring at his own skills without recovering from the shock.
Farmer LV1: Agricultural production efficiency increases, with an additional bonus when growing cotton.
Racial Diet: Fried chicken and watermelon restore twice as much satiety and stamina.
Gifted Runner: You run faster than an ordinary person, but do not attempt to race an Angeloid.
"What?!"
"Wasn't my original skill Emperor?! Why has it turned into farming?! And what kind of diet is this supposed to be?!"
Hugo paled in horror.
Looking at the others, he saw that their innate skills and professions had also been replaced with jobs such as cleaner, miner, and herder, each with its own unique efficiency bonuses.
Every combat-related skill and talent had been completely erased, and the System no longer included any method of developing such skills.
"What the fuck?!"
The reincarnators were dumbfounded.
They had believed themselves to be overpowered protagonists in another world, blessed by the System. In the blink of an eye, they had become divinely chosen laborers in a foreign realm.
Their System could be modified however a god pleased! It was utterly inhumane.
"And that settles it. This is the new System provided to you by the Starsea Empire, along with exclusive skills individually tailored to each of you."
"Since all of you possess exceptional talents, the System will enable you to work more efficiently."
Sophon clapped her hands.
She found the System remarkably convenient. It even arranged everyone's career path with perfect clarity.
"I hope all of you will work hard to repay the Commander's grace. May you enjoy your lives on the plantation... Oh, pardon me, in this other world."