Chapter Thirty: The Old Lady’s Taste

As expected, this kid is extraordinary.

Mu You, so young, had just arrived here only to be classified as a dangerous death row inmate. To pass through such a threshold, there must be quite a story behind him. Hearing the pockmarked man’s furious outburst and his talk of killing Mu You, it was clear the boy was still alive. Could it be that he had survived the “Final Sentence” execution? Just what kind of background did this kid have?

And then there was the mermaid who had saved him earlier. She should be a death row inmate as well, but her abilities were on a whole different level from his own. It seemed that in this death row paradise, apart from the twelve blocks from A to L, there were certainly some otherworldly death row prisoners with immense power being held somewhere.

Ever since her sister had been taken to this death row paradise, she had vanished without a trace. She firmly believed her sister was still alive, sent by those beasts to some secret base inside the prison for deep transformation. Given Mu You’s potential, it wouldn’t be long before those in charge noticed him and sent him there as well. As long as she kept a close eye on him, she would surely find clues about her sister.

Therefore, Mu You absolutely could not die.

At this moment, the pink spider was slowly ascending back to its original position, but the pockmarked man paid it no mind, instead tearing at his shirt in agony. With every calculation of his losses, his sobs grew louder.

“My heart aches! To find the right host for that worm, I spent nearly three hundred million. It took so much to win the old master’s approval and seize the heir’s position for Bai Zai, and now he’s dead! Damn it, I haven’t even recovered my investment yet! I’m furious, absolutely furious! GPS location, now! I want that death row inmate named Mu You found, and I’ll make him taste true despair!”

He roared into his Bluetooth headset, his pockmarks splitting under the strain of his twisted expression.

“And immediately start cultivating all the merchandise we bought this year! They’re all boys around twelve. I want results within a year, then I’ll pick my son from the survivors for the final transformation!”

With that, the pockmarked man shed his grief, quickly maneuvered the purple spider back the way he came, cursing as he went. “What a mess. With this happening, it looks like I won’t be able to relax on Sky Island this year. But since I get to dissect my most perfect creation, Mu You should be quite a surprise.”

He was already looking forward to catching Mu You, eager to dissect him—if his Meridian Soul-Shattering Worm was even better, then he’d have struck gold.

“Notify all the bodyguards in Death Row Paradise to move to the Rock Garden Park. Meet in five minutes. We’ve got a big catch this time!”

The pockmarked man had already left Bai Zai’s death behind, his eyes alight with predatory anticipation, ready to begin a new hunt.

Seeing him go, the small-eyed prisoner finally breathed a sigh of relief. “Boss, let’s get out of here, quick.”

But he saw An Ruxiang swap out the card for her own, then nimbly leap out of the driver’s seat onto the cable above, rising to her feet.

“Now you drive. Head straight back to the Dead Man’s Bend and rally the death row inmates from the first floor to meet me. There will be a bloody battle tonight. Tell everyone to prepare themselves—those afraid of dying don’t need to come. I won’t be counting heads. Pass those words on exactly.”

With that, An Ruxiang dashed along the thumb-thick cable in pursuit of the purple mechanical spider, the distance closing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The small-eyed prisoner now understood that if the boss didn’t have to look out for him, there’d be no need to escape in this shabby car.

Moved, he suddenly thought of something and called out, “Boss, where should we meet?”

“Rock Garden Park.”

“Oh.” He replied obediently, but then realized something was off and blurted out, “Wait! Boss, you’re risking your life for that kid again!”

He immediately set the mechanical spider racing toward the other side of the valley. He was determined to see just what kind of person this Mu You was; he had never seen the boss care so much about any other man.

…

After leaving Bai Zai behind, Mu You ran for his life. There was less than an hour left before the game ended. The shrill alarms and the desperate cries of death row inmates echoed in his ears, filling him with a growing sense of dread. So much time had passed—how many of the Thirteenth Floor’s inmates had already been caught?

He could already see the outline of Rock Garden Park in the distance, but Mu You’s brows furrowed.

Outside the park, there was a surging crowd, a cacophony of voices. At least two floors’ worth of death row inmates were gathered at the entrance, blocking those inside from getting out and those outside from getting in.

Such a crowd had also attracted many freemen, who watched with mutual understanding, waiting for their chance to strike.

They didn’t charge in immediately. Unlike the chaotic brawls before, the death row inmates were now lined up in meticulous order. If any freeman tried to catch someone, the inmates would fight back as a group. The “Final Sentence” system could only detect the first inmate who made a move, allowing the rest to take their revenge.

This was a loophole in the rules, paid for in blood over the years, and though many freemen had reported it to the authorities, it had never been fixed.

Of course, the greater the challenge, the more fun—the freemen were just waiting for enough of their own to arrive. Once their numbers surpassed the inmates, the real hunt would begin.

Mu You didn’t rush forward but halted his steps.

“Who’s there? Come out!”

He called coldly toward the back of a signpost.

The answer was a crackling electric net, its current glaring in the darkness. Mu You instinctively leaped back, but the net suddenly expanded, forcing him to vault to the side. Even so, a small iron hook at the net’s edge snagged his calf.

Instantly, the current surged through his body via that tiny hook, sending every muscle into violent spasm. Mu You’s jaw chattered uncontrollably; just as he tried to rise, his body jerked and collapsed again.

The shock was brutally strong.

Gritting his teeth against the pain, Mu You ripped out the hook along with a chunk of flesh and hurled it aside, eyeing the still-sparking net with lingering fear.

That hurt.

“No wonder you’re marked as dangerous. Your physique’s nothing like an ordinary person’s. Most prisoners would be lucky to just get knocked out by that—some would die on the spot.”

A hoarse voice sounded, slow and measured. An old woman, stooped and withered, shuffled out from behind the sign, tottering as though she might collapse at any moment.

That such a decrepit old crone would play this game disgusted Mu You.

Despite her age, her eyes were unnaturally bright, not at all the muddied gaze of the elderly. She was clearly someone who’d spent her life scheming and surviving storms.

She was now grinning tremulously, a metal-shining launcher in her hand, current arcing across it, another net poised and aimed straight at Mu You.

She wasn’t the least bit anxious, her beady eyes gleaming with cunning as she sized Mu You up, nodding in satisfaction.

“This young man looks good, fit too—just my type. A dangerous death row inmate at that. He should last a while before I break him.”

At her words, Mu You felt another wave of nausea, his fists clenching.

This old hag wanted to amuse herself with him? She was dreaming. With one punch, he could end her.