Chapter 76.1 – Sin City (10)
◎ You, are, dead. ◎
The octagonal iron gate of the cage closed with a clang, and the three on the arena became true beasts in a fight.
Facing Song Ke were two prisoners. Though their muscular build didn’t look as intimidating as Orson’s, judging from their stances, they were clearly skilled fighters.
The surrounding prisoners dared not cheer recklessly, and the whole arena fell silent.
White grasped his goblet again, taking a sip with an enraptured expression. “Two former Alliance champions, Mayweather, with an arm length of 1.85 meters, a genius offensive boxer, and Parry, a defensive counterattack master, skilled at wearing down the opponent’s patience. Let me see how long you can last.”
The fight began. Mayweather moved his feet at a high frequency, constantly advancing and squeezing Song Ke’s living space, while Parry moved like an elusive slippery eel, effortlessly deflecting any attacks that came his way, making it difficult for anyone to strike.
Song Ke kicked in the air, and Mayweather raised his arms to block. The powerful counterforce pushed him back two steps. Song Ke landed gracefully like a swallow and began to think calmly. To deal with such an aggressive opponent, she needed to amplify his fighting spirit and then destroy his psyche, causing him to lose judgment completely on the stage.
Suddenly, Song Ke lifted her head, raised her right thumb, and then turned it down, making a provocative gesture.
The prisoners hissed, and Mayweather became furious. He launched a fierce onslaught, but Song Ke effortlessly defused each punch.
“Is that all?” Song Ke tilted her head and smiled disdainfully.
After spending a long time with Zhuang Qingyan, even her subtle expressions were becoming more like his. When mocking someone now, the curve at the corner of Song Ke’s mouth carried a certain malicious and indifferent charm, with “three parts mockery, three parts coldness, and four parts indifference.”
Mayweather’s fighting spirit engulfed his rationality. His punches became even more relentless, rapidly depleting his own stamina. Song Ke agilely dodged, making him run all over the place, unable to land a hit, and at the same time, disturbing Parry hiding in his turtle-like shell.
With the rhythm disrupted, the actions of the two boxers became disjointed, stumbling and colliding with each other several times, missing Song Ke.
Mayweather and Parry exchanged glances and adjusted their strategy, joining forces to seize the outer perimeter where Song Ke was. Mayweather threw a straight punch with his right hand, and Parry turned defense into offense, launching a jab to block Song Ke’s retreat.
Just when everyone thought she had nowhere to escape, Song Ke hung her hand on the side of the octagonal cage and jumped up, grabbing onto it, like a gecko that can stick to surfaces. Her feet gripped the iron mesh, seeming to walk on level ground. In a few movements, she climbed to the top of the platform.
The legendary “flying on eaves and walls,” a perfect evasion!
The two belt holders suddenly felt something was wrong and looked up, alert.
In the glaring spotlight, a figure leaped high and descended swiftly—wasn’t that boxing? She knew it too. Song Ke clenched her fists and threw a punch at a slightly upward left angle. The punch hit Mayweather’s solar plexus; this was a boxer’s deadly point. Mayweather suffered a massive blow and perished on the spot! As she landed, Song Ke’s right leg spun and kicked, landing squarely on Parry’s left jaw. The rich vagus nerve in that area instantly went haywire, the brainstem ceased its function, and Parry’s pupils dilated, losing consciousness and collapsing.
In this dazzling counterattack that lasted less than ten seconds, one dead and one injured, Song Ke effortlessly KO’d the two renowned belt holders!
The entire audience of prisoners first gaped in astonishment, then fell into complete silence. This was perhaps the quietest “morning exercise” in the 7th floor’s history.
Someone nervously swallowed, cautiously glancing at White, fearing another sudden outburst.
At this time, someone dared to pour oil on the fire.
“Warden, will you fulfill the reward you promised in person?” Zhuang Qingyan asked with a cheerful smile.
He had to make White admit it out loud. Nearly a thousand inmates and prison guards witnessed it. As long as White still cared about his face and wanted to maintain his reputation, the probability of him reneging was relatively low.
White’s sharp eyes fixed on Zhuang Qingyan, and he pulled the corners of his mouth with a smile, neither sincere nor insincere.
“Of course, I, as the warden, promise to ‘reward’ the three of you by moving you to the 8th floor.”
The cruel “morning exercise” continued, but Song Ke had lost interest in watching. “Let’s look for him.”
Each of the three was responsible for a different direction. After a while, Song Ke withdrew her gaze and saw the same disappointment on the faces of the other two.
“Not here.”
“I didn’t find anyone either.”
Lu Xiaoyu wasn’t on the 7th floor.
“Warden, do you really want to send them to the 8th floor?” White’s deputy asked anxiously, “I always feel that they have a different purpose for coming to the Death Prison. They caused trouble before under Warden She’s lead, and their intentions were not good…”
White dismissed it, smirking, “Send them, send them tonight. This way, they can catch the ‘morning exercise’ on the 8th floor tomorrow.”
As long as he sent them down layer by layer, it wouldn’t take long before he could witness their lifeless bodies. White was very certain of this.
Wishes were beautiful, but reality was incredibly cruel.
On the second day, Su Cha and Song Ke broke through the 8th floor…
On the third day, White amended the rules, requiring Song Ke to take on three opponents alone. The result was the deaths of the three, and the 9th floor was cleared…
On the fourth day, the elite inmates on the 10th floor were defeated, and White smashed all the vases in his office and broke his beloved whip collection.
As the warden, his dignity was trampled and ground into the ground.
There was only one floor left… These damned bastards dared to run wild in his territory and urinate on his head so brazenly!
White’s eyes turned red with anger, his chest heaving violently.
The shrewd deputy took the opportunity to remind, “Warden, actually, the three of them have weaknesses in their combination. The handicapped person in the wheelchair is a good breakthrough point…”
White was taken aback, his eyes shifted, and he quickly thought of something. An evil smile crept onto his face. “Is that disgusting thing on the 11th floor still here?”
“It is,” the deputy confirmed and gave an affirmative reply.
…
During the “morning exercise” time, Song Ke, Zhuang Qingyan, and Su Cha arrived on the octagonal cage arena on the 11th floor.
The number of inmates on this floor was less than 200. When Song Ke looked over, the inmates on the other side were silently appraising them.
Song Ke furrowed her brows and quickly noticed something unusual. The inmates here seemed… somewhat deformed in appearance. Some had exceptionally long heads but very thin arms; some had asymmetric eyes and terrifyingly wide-open mouths. In short, there was a kind of indescribable strangeness about their appearances.
Zhuang Qingyan said, “The 11th floor is the ultra-abyss zone. They probably haven’t seen light for a very long time.”
Just like deep-sea creatures often appeared bizarre to adapt to environmental and pressure changes, these prisoners trapped in the Death Prison for a long time had undergone subtle genetic changes within their bodies. Judging from their outward appearances, they could no longer be called “normal.”
A few minutes later, White and the prison guards arrived.
Song Ke moved her shoulders a bit. Yesterday was one against three, and given White’s vengeful nature, it should be one against four today, right?
“Wait,” White suddenly reached out to stop her. “There’s a change in the rules.”
The blood whip in his hand pointed confidently at Zhuang Qingyan. “Today, he must go up.”
Song Ke was displeased. White was changing the rules as he pleased, which was too arbitrary.
White’s condescending tone seemed to bestow favor upon them. “Here’s the deal: as long as he wins, neither of you has to fight. I’ll declare you the winners.”
Song Ke shook her head and refused, “No need. I’ll do it for him, with however many of you.”
“I said he must go up today. No one can lie down and win all the time. What’s wrong, addicted to freeload off women?” White said, annoyed.
Zhuang Qingyan, of course, wouldn’t be provoked by a few words from him. However, it would be better to resolve the issue quickly.
The wheelchair he was using now was the basic model assigned after entering the Death Prison. However, after two activity days, Song Ke had secretly modified it for him, hiding various lethal weapons throughout.
He might not necessarily lose if he went up to the arena to face these deformed inmates. Zhuang Qingyan held Song Ke’s hand and quietly shared his thoughts.
Song Ke still disagreed with him taking the risk.
Zhuang Qingyan patiently explained, “At times like this, try not to confront him directly. It will only waste time. Don’t forget our goal.”
All 200 people here could be seen at a glance, and since they hadn’t found the person they were looking for, their current objective was to descend to the 12th floor as soon as possible. This was also the last region under White’s rule.
Song Ke was reluctantly persuaded and nodded slightly, “Fine, if you can’t handle it, call for me, and I’ll help you.”
Zhuang Qingyan smiled helplessly, “Alright, I’ll definitely call for you.”
