Fairness Vote

Seeing the game contents of Prison Cell No. 5 and Prison Cell No. 6, Zhang Peng felt his hands and feet turn cold.

Of these six prison cells, the ones farther down the line really were more dangerous overall.

The target in Prison Cell No. 5 could roughly be seen as an oversized human-shaped silhouette. By visual estimate, its area was about four times that of an ordinary person's frontal profile.

In other words, if the Nail Gun fired randomly within that range, there was nearly a one-in-four chance of hitting a person.

And the Nail Gun's lethality was entirely different from the Iron Maiden in Prison Cell No. 4.

The Iron Maiden's spikes avoided vital areas such as the head and major organs, and the spikes themselves were not especially thick.

Although Gao Zhankui had been stabbed until he was covered in blood, it was clear that he had not actually suffered any severe, life-threatening injuries.

But the Nail Gun was different. If that thing hit vital spots like the heart, arteries, or eyes, it could absolutely kill with a single shot.

As for Prison Cell No. 6, that was purely a matter of leaving it to fate.

Since the mechanism was selected at random, it was possible to draw a relatively simple one, but it was equally possible to draw something extremely dangerous.

If he absolutely had to choose between the two, Prison Cell No. 6 was naturally the better option. But the good news was that Zhang Peng had an even safer choice.

That was Prison Cell No. 3, which had not been used yet.

Thinking of this, he nervously rubbed his hands together and cautiously said, "Uncle Ding, there's no other way. Let me enter Prison Cell No. 3.

"Look at me, Uncle Ding. I don't look like I can afford to burn that much Visa Time. Don't worry. If anyone really gets into danger, I'll definitely smash my fingers without hesitation to save him."

Ding Wenqiang looked him up and down. "Really?"

Zhang Peng nodded frantically. "Of course, Uncle Ding. Of course it's true!

"Besides, there's no other choice. We have to enter one of these three prison cells.

"I may not be a good person, but I don't deserve to die, right..."

Ding Wenqiang hesitated for a moment, then slowly nodded. "That's true."

However, just as he was about to send Zhang Peng into Prison Cell No. 3, the system notification sounded.

[Audience Member No. 1 tipped Ding Wenqiang 8,000 minutes of Visa Time, with the message: Prison Cell No. 4, ten thousand per run.]

Ding Wenqiang froze for a moment, then fell into hesitation.

Zhang Peng's eyes lit up.

Right, they could do it this way too!

Who was this kind-hearted Audience Member No. 1?

He cast a grateful gaze toward Audience Member No. 1, but unfortunately, the one-way glass kept him from seeing who was inside.

The game only required them to complete ten judgments. It never said the judgments had to be evenly distributed among every prisoner.

Theoretically, if one prisoner was tough enough, he could endure all ten judgments by himself and still clear the game.

Who the judgment actually fell upon was entirely up to Ding Wenqiang, the king.

Seeing that Ding Wenqiang was still hesitating, Zhang Peng hurriedly lowered his voice. "Uncle Ding, what's there to hesitate about? Ten thousand for one round!"

Ding Wenqiang looked somewhat resistant. "But wouldn't that be a little unfair?"

Zhang Peng immediately shook his head. "Fair? Uncle Ding, which game in this arcade is absolutely fair? Huh? Is there one?

"Someone in our community earned over a hundred thousand minutes of Visa Time in a single round of Blood Poker, while I only earned a little over thirty thousand. Is that fair?

"In the real world, some people inherit billions the moment they're born and can spend their whole lives eating, drinking, and having fun without ever using it all. Others can get killed by something thrown from a high-rise while walking down the street.

"Is that fair?

"Besides, what's this game called? King's Judgment. You're the king.

"Why should prisoners be allowed to talk about fairness with the king?

"The game rules have already implied it. In this game, you possess supreme authority. You earned this status through your own ability. Since the rules allow it, why can't you do this?"

Seeing that Ding Wenqiang was still wavering, Zhang Peng pressed him. "Uncle Ding, think about it. Why have people like us fallen to the bottom?

"Isn't it because of that meaningless sense of morality?

"Look at those rich people. Would they feel guilty over something this trivial?"

At that moment, the broadcast sounded again.

[Audience Member No. 7 tipped Ding Wenqiang 6,000 minutes of Visa Time, with the message: Prison Cell No. 4, ten thousand.]

Ding Wenqiang finally made up his mind. "You're right. I'm the king. Whoever I want to judge, I can judge!

"Scum like him being judged one more time is perfectly reasonable."

With that thought, he once again came to the door of Prison Cell No. 4 and pressed the game panel.

Gao Zhankui's eyes went wide, his face full of disbelief. Yet he quickly picked up the strips of cloth from the floor and wrapped himself up tightly again, just as before.

Ding Wenqiang turned his face away and stopped looking.

The reason he made this decision was not only because of Zhang Peng's persuasion and the tips from the two audience members. There was another important reason: prisoners were not all equally close to him.

Cai Zhiyuan and Wang Yongxin were, after all, players from Community No. 17. They would see each other constantly.

After this game ended, they would inevitably still have to work together within the community.

If he harmed those two too badly, he would very likely be isolated within the community.

But Gao Zhankui was different. No one here cared about him.

Even if Gao Zhankui died in the game, Cai Zhiyuan and Wang Yongxin would not say anything. They might even be grateful. After all, the two of them would directly benefit as well.

[Please conduct a Fairness Vote on the king's actions.]

The broadcast sounded again, and Lin Sizhi silently pressed "×."

The voting results were coming out faster and faster. That might have been because most audience members had realized that voting did not require much thought. They only needed to choose according to their instincts, because there was a lie-detection mechanism.

Overthinking was not only pointless, but if they voted incorrectly, they might even have Visa Time deducted. It was not worth the risk.

[Vote result: ××××××√×××]

[Final fairness score: -80]

[Thank you for your evaluation!]

Lin Sizhi looked at the evaluation result. Although she did not know who these audience members were, comparing the results of several votes still revealed certain patterns.

For instance, although Audience Member No. 1 had been the chief culprit in urging Ding Wenqiang on, he also considered the act unfair.

That showed Audience Member No. 1's actions had merely been motivated by profit.

He had already placed his bet on the king's side, so having Ding Wenqiang kill prisoners could bring him additional gains.

Audience Member No. 3 was relatively compassionate. Whenever he saw a criminal receive a particularly severe punishment, he tended to vote "×."

As for Audience Member No. 7, he was rather interesting. He chose "√," yet he did not trigger the game mechanism's lie-detection punishment. That meant he sincerely believed Ding Wenqiang had done the right thing, and that someone like Gao Zhankui receiving judgment twice was perfectly reasonable.

He was a bit like the sort of person who passed judgment online and started every sentence at the death penalty.

The Iron Maiden mechanism opened once more, and Gao Zhankui fell out stiffly.

[60,000 minutes of Visa Time have been settled to the player.]

This time, he lay facedown on the floor for a long while before finally managing to catch his breath.

He tried to remove the cloth strips from his head, but his blood-soaked hand soon drooped back down.

According to the game rules, the judgment games inside each prison cell would become increasingly dangerous with each use.

The first settlement had awarded thirty thousand minutes of Visa Time. The second awarded sixty thousand.

That meant the number of needle strikes had doubled as well, from thirty to sixty.

Judging from his current condition, Gao Zhankui's blood loss had already reached a dangerous level.

If he underwent another judgment game and the number of needle strikes doubled again, Gao Zhankui would most likely die inside.

[Audience Member No. 7 tipped Ding Wenqiang 4,000 minutes of Visa Time, with the message: You did the right thing.]

[Audience Member No. 1 tipped Ding Wenqiang 2,000 minutes of Visa Time, with the message: Continue.]

[Audience Member No. 3 tipped Ding Wenqiang 1,000 minutes of Visa Time, with the message: Stop.]

The flood of incoming messages made Ding Wenqiang's already chaotic mind even more confused.

Fortunately, these messages were not only broadcast aloud, but also displayed as text on the large screen for easy confirmation.

The new tips from Audience Members No. 1 and No. 7 were not merely sending messages. They were also paying the remaining balance to fulfill their earlier promises.

The Visa Time they had given before, combined with what they had given this time, came to exactly ten thousand minutes.

Moreover, the audience members on the prisoners' side had now basically realized one thing:

The audience members supporting the king clearly had a stronger desire to tip.

The reason was simple: they could gain more from doing so.