Chapter Sixteen: Excruciating Pain!

The screen lit up with a cold, harsh blue glow. The nursery rhyme that had played upon entering the Penal Paradise echoed once again. After a few brief seconds, a dialogue window appeared.

"Confirm system activation?"

"Confirm."

"Please cover your thumb in blood and press it onto the touch screen."

Mu You considered for a moment, bit open the thumb of his right hand out of habit, and pressed it to the screen.

"System recognizing, please wait... Recognition complete. Loading personal data... Loading complete. Hello, Dangerous Convict Mu You. Thank you for using the system. Redirecting you to your personal homepage."

As soon as it switched to the personal page, the entire screen abruptly turned warning red, a glaring "WARNING" dominating the display, and a shrill alarm blared through the room.

"Warning, warning, Dangerous Convict Mu You. Twelve hours remain until the next 'Final Sentence' awakening (poison injection). Please take your candy before midnight, or you will be executed."

Startled, Mu You hurriedly lowered the volume, but the periodic flashing of vivid red across the screen remained just as alarming.

Poison injection...

Suddenly, Mu You remembered that after the prison matron had nearly strangled him and Dongguan had affixed this so-called 'Final Sentence,' he had indeed felt a sharp pain at his neck, as if something had been injected into him in his daze.

So it was poison. No wonder... No wonder the convicts here, though barely guarded, all obeyed the rules. Even when their lives were threatened, they dared not rebel. Their very lifelines were seized by the Penal Paradise from the very first moment.

How ruthless!

Mu You instinctively touched the spot where he remembered the injection. The skin was smooth as ever, but perhaps it was just psychological—he seemed to feel a faint, lingering pain.

Entering "candy," Mu You clicked "search."

Ding—

"Item: 'Candy,' Final Sentence 'antidote.' The Penal Paradise distributes it every three days. If a convict loses it or is punished and forfeits their 'candy,' they may purchase it themselves. Price: 100,000 points."

One hundred thousand points—my god.

Mu You could only click his tongue. So expensive—losing it is as good as a death sentence. Fortunately, he had discovered it in time.

Now Mu You finally understood why He Jing's eyes had burned so hotly upon seeing the candy. An item worth 100,000 points—it was virtually a second life.

He grabbed his backpack, ready to take the candy, but as he opened it, he froze.

The candy was gone.

His mind went blank, stunned on the spot. The relief from earlier vanished, replaced by a wave of panic.

It had just been there—how could it have vanished so suddenly? Unless...

A flash of murderous intent glimmered in Mu You’s eyes. He slammed a fist into the bed, the spring mattress caving deeply beneath the blow.

Zuo Canglang had demanded that other convict hand something over—that was his candy!

Damn it, that bastard dared to risk everything just to screw him over!

Too careless. These convicts really weren’t to be underestimated.

What now? Convicts had no right to leave their floor; even if he saw the thief, if the other denied it, there was no proof, and nothing could be done.

Why hadn't Zuo Canglang just killed him outright?

A hundred thousand points, and only an afternoon to get them—how was that even possible?

Mu You immediately checked the fastest ways to earn points. Aside from winning games, the quickest method was human experimentation—tonight’s “Humans Hunt Ghosts” game was the soonest, but even if he won, it would be too late. Human testing, on the other hand, was almost indistinguishable from suicide.

He checked the consequences of poisoning—the system popped up gruesome images of the dead: faces ashen, blood seeping from every orifice, bodies twisted in agony, curled up in despair. It wasn’t hard to imagine the torment they endured in their last moments.

Mu You couldn’t bear another look. He jumped off the bed, pacing swiftly across the room, biting his thumb.

Should he rob an ordinary convict? No—if caught, he’d be done for.

What was in this poison, anyway? His body had already transformed; perhaps what was deadly to ordinary convicts might not be so for him.

With that hope, Mu You bounced back onto the bed and started searching again.

"Poison injection ingredients?"

"Sorry, your clearance is insufficient."

"Is the poison lethal to Dangerous Convicts?"

"Sorry, your clearance is insufficient."

"What exactly is the Meridian Soul-Devouring Worm?"

"Sorry, your level is too low to answer these questions."

"Damn! Damn! Damn!"

Mu You wanted to rip the mechanical bracelet off, but it was clamped tightly to his wrist.

He collapsed onto the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Going to die...

But strangely, he wasn’t as afraid as he’d expected. That surprised him. Half a month ago, he might have been scared out of his wits.

It’s true—being ruthless is forced by circumstance.

No.

With a sudden motion, Mu You sat up on the edge of the bed, straightened his prison uniform, and set his bare feet on the cold metal floor. The chill underfoot helped calm his mind.

He pressed his palms together before his nose, feeling the air flow from his nostrils over his hands. His gaze grew deeper, more resolute.

Here, he could trust no one.

His greatest asset, aside from his sealed special ability, was Mou You.

He entered the bathroom, splashed water on his face, and stared at his reflection. His prison uniform was streaked with fresh blood, and even his neck and chin bore crimson stains. The effect was not grotesque, but rather fierce.

He glanced at his long hair, now lacking bangs, and frowned. Taking up the clippers, he shaved his head bald.

The new self in the mirror looked markedly more roguish, a wicked smirk curling his lips. Mu You nodded in satisfaction.

He dabbed water on a cloth to wipe the blood from his chin, but as he leaned closer to the mirror, he frowned.

The blood on the ‘Final Sentence’ had vanished without a trace.

It made sense to him that Mou You could absorb souls through the Final Sentence, but the blood? Could that benefit her as well?

With a surge of hope, Mu You bit open the other four fingers, clenched his hand around the ‘Final Sentence,’ and let his blood flow onto it. Watching with delight, he saw the blood gradually disappear.

It was working! Quickly, he bit open his other hand and pressed it down too, letting the blood flow. The ‘Final Sentence’ now drew harder, even growing warm to the touch.

"Big brother, what are you doing? Stop—it’s going to burst from overeating!" Mou You’s voice rang out again, and Mu You was overjoyed. But her next words startled him: was there also a Meridian Soul-Devouring Worm inside the Final Sentence?

"Mou You, you can talk now?" Mu You noticed her voice was much clearer than before.

"Yes, big brother, your blood’s soul power is much stronger than ordinary souls. I can speak now, but to use my abilities or escape will still be unimaginably difficult. I need a vast number of souls."

"No problem. Just rest and recover—I’ll take care of it. The death rate here is so much higher than the outside," Mu You replied, doting.

"But it’s also much more dangerous!" Mou You replied earnestly. "I don’t want you to tire yourself out. I want to help you, too. Even though I’m sealed, my senses still work. If I hadn’t failed to detect that woman’s murderous intent before, I would have killed her even if I was half asleep!"

Her childish words were already laced with killing intent, so much so that even the ‘Final Sentence’ seemed to emit a chill.

"Alright, alright," Mu You patted the ‘Final Sentence’ lightly, and the coldness instantly faded.

"Oh, right, big brother! Do you want to know what was injected into your body?" Mou You suddenly said with a mischievous lilt.

"You can laugh? That’s poison! I might not even make it through the night," Mu You teased, noting her lack of concern and feeling hopeful once more.

"It’s the urine of the big worm inside the ‘Final Sentence!’ You fed it so much blood just now, it’s holding it in..."

Mu You’s smile froze. He felt like vomiting, but couldn’t, and ended up swallowing a mouthful of air.

"And losing your candy is actually a good thing! That’s a nerve suppressant. Every worm in the ‘Final Sentence’ periodically discharges its secretions into the convicts’ bodies, gradually transforming them. Ordinary people can’t withstand the agony, so the drug shuts off their pain receptors. That way, they’re unaware as their bodies are changed, until they’re fully transformed. The two convicts I devoured—by the time they lost access to the drug, their nerves were already dying. Stopping the drug means certain death."

"So, every convict is being transformed to some extent. Failures are eliminated, and the successful ones... like me, become Dangerous Convicts?"

"Yes, but don’t worry—even ordinary Dangerous Convicts don’t have the Meridian Soul-Devouring Worm inside them. They’ve just temporarily adapted to the secretions. But you, big brother, have not only the adult worm, but a very high-ranking one—much higher than the prison matron’s or Dongguan’s. Your body is just too weak, so you need to evolve step by step, not be forcibly transformed. And the worm’s urine is the best supplement for your evolution. It’ll hurt like hell, but your constitution even surpasses most Dangerous Convicts. You should be fine."

Hearing Mou You’s cheerful words, Mu You felt like crying.

Pain that could kill—just how painful would that be!