Rebels Will Be Killed Without Mercy

A beautiful seashore, with flocks of seabirds.

But on closer inspection, they were pecking at corpses floating on the sea.

At least a dozen people had died in the water, all poor swimmers.

The white beach was also covered with people. Some got up after a brief rest, while most panted heavily and could not rise for a long while. Some did not move at all; it was impossible to tell whether they were dead or unconscious.

Gaoxin was exhausted as well. He was quite a good swimmer, but crossing several hundred meters of sea still required his full effort.

Just as he caught his breath and prepared to stand, a hand suddenly reached toward him.

"Brother, I saw that you swam really fast. What's your name?" The speaker was a bare-chested man with a lean build and beautifully defined muscles. More than a dozen people followed behind him.

"My name is Gaoxin. Gao as in tall, Xin as in hardship." Gaoxin took his hand and used the leverage to rise.

He then added, "I wasn't that fast. It was all right..."

"I grew up by a river. Swimming for a day and night wouldn't be a problem for me. This is my first time crossing the sea, though, so I wasn't used to it and slowed down."

Gaoxin's first instinct had been to be modest, but when he saw that this man had already gathered more than a dozen people around him in such a short time, he realized that this was absolutely not the time for humility.

This was an island. Being a strong swimmer counted as a useful skill, and it might come in handy.

"Oh?" The bare-chested man smiled. "Little brother, my name is Luo Yan. Since you're Han people too, stick with me from now on."

"We were all exiled to this godforsaken place in the same batch. None of us knows the area, so we ought to stick together and help one another."

"Sure!" Gaoxin immediately nodded. It was naturally a good thing for someone to take the lead and organize everyone.

Although these people were all criminals, they were all newcomers here. No one knew what the island was like, so there was no harm in banding together first.

This was probably the easiest group to fit into.

Luo Yan nodded without wasting words. After taking Gaoxin in, he hurried toward his next target.

Everyone hurriedly followed, and they soon brought in several more people.

Gaoxin noticed that Luo Yan did not approach just anyone. He did not actively recruit people of other races, clearly choosing only Han people.

As more and more prisoners swam ashore, Luo Yan's group continued to grow.

A huge crowd followed him, making them highly conspicuous on the beach. Eventually, he no longer needed to recruit people personally; people began joining the group on their own.

Gaoxin roughly counted them. There were around sixty people, and nearly all the Han people had gathered here.

The remaining two hundred or so prisoners were scattered around the beach, still at a loss. They came from different ethnic groups. Although the authorities had popularized a common language and there was no obstacle to communication, none of them stepped forward to organize the others.

There were even more than thirty Radiation Users among them. Even as Radiation Users, they appeared deeply afraid of Sin Prison Island.

They all remained on the beach, shrinking back and not daring to venture farther in.

After all, Sin Prison Island was full of hidden monsters. For the past twenty years, every terrifying criminal who could be captured had been sent here. Who would not be afraid?

"What beautiful scenery. No wonder this is a famous tropical island in the Western Pacific."

Just as everyone hesitated, Luo Yan suddenly began praising the scenery.

This drew everyone's attention. This was supposedly a place as hellish as legend claimed, yet he still had the mood to praise the view?

They watched Luo Yan bend down to pick up shellfish from the beach. He inspected them first, then cracked them open and ate them raw.

As he ate, he said, "The ingredients here don't seem to have suffered much pollution. At the very least, they're far better than the seafood we eat in the city."

"You should try some!"

Hearing that, some people actually gave it a try. Luo Yan asked how it tasted, and everyone who ate some said it was good.

The atmosphere gradually eased. Some people even began foraging along the shore and caught two coconut crabs.

Setting aside Sin Prison Island's reputation, the scenery was pleasant, the climate was warm, the animals seemed fine, and food was abundant. It actually resembled a vacation resort.

"So what?" A blond, blue-eyed Radiation User finally could not hold back and stepped forward to ask Luo Yan.

Luo Yan smiled. "This stretch of coast looks completely undeveloped, which means either the island has a stable food supply, perhaps provided by the authorities."

"Or there simply isn't anyone nearby. The exiles on the island have not gathered in this area."

"No matter what the island is like, and no matter what happens when we encounter them, we should at least be safe for now."

After thinking it over, everyone agreed that it made sense.

The other Radiation Users immediately gathered around as well and asked, "Then what do you think, Brother?"

Seeing everyone focus on him, Luo Yan immediately raised his voice. "I already counted the numbers. There were three hundred and three people in our batch."

"Before we even reached the island, fifteen people were lost to that ordeal. That leaves two hundred and eighty-eight. There seem to be thirty-eight surviving Radiation Users, but without a doubt, everyone who survived is a good swimmer."

Hearing that, Gaoxin felt inclined to count them. He only saw thirty-seven Radiation Users.

Huh? Where was the other one?

Gaoxin looked around, and his gaze finally landed on Luo Yan. It can only be him.

From the moment they met, Luo Yan had been bare-chested, so his prison uniform's nameplate could not be seen—the one showing his name, number, and Radiation Type.

Thinking back, Luo Yan seemed to have been one of the people standing in the front row when they jumped into the sea, the first to leap down.

And at that time, he had already thrown away his clothes.

At first glance, taking off clothes to swim seemed perfectly normal, and no one had paid attention then. But looking at it now, he was the only one who had done so, which made him stand out.

Is he hiding his Radiation Type? Gaoxin pondered silently.

He was a Glass Person and knew very little about Radiation Users. He only knew that Radiation Types were divided into N-Type, R-Type, SR-Class, and SSR, with each type being one in a hundred of the previous one.

But he could not understand why Luo Yan was hiding it. Was it too high, or too low? Was that why he did not want anyone to know?

At the same time, Luo Yan continued speaking, sweeping his hand through the air in a broad arc. "Although we are prisoners, none of us was sentenced to death. Yet the people escorting us treated everyone like this. That shows that from the moment we were exiled to Sin Prison Island, our lives became worthless."

"So I favor the second possibility: no one lives nearby."

Everyone nodded. That officer, Adams, had not even been willing to come close. If he treated transported prisoners like this, why would the authorities steadily deliver food?

So the reason this place appeared undeveloped was most likely because no one lived nearby at all.

Luo Yan continued, "Since that's the case, let's settle down right here and find food locally. Don't go deeper inland, and don't split up. We'll wait until we understand the island's situation."

"We are all castaways in the same world. No matter what crimes we committed before, since we were fortunate enough to be exiled here together, we can be considered fellow inmates."

Everyone thought that made sense. The Han people he had gathered earlier were especially vocal in agreement. Seeing this, the thirty-odd Radiation Users tacitly accepted it as well.

Only Xia Heng among them spoke in a hoarse voice. "All castaways in the same world... Well said. Have you studied?"

Luo Yan replied calmly, "I graduated from vocational school. Jinling Electromechanical Vocational and Technical College."

Quite a few people present were instantly startled. A highly educated intellectual! In this day and age, anyone who could afford vocational school was no small matter.

Tuition was expensive, and jobs were impossible to find. After all, most technical positions had been handed over to AI by the giant corporations.

Under such circumstances, spending a fortune on an education was useless unless one kept studying to reach exceptional heights and earned the favor of one of the twenty giant corporations. But how could poor people like them afford that?

Gaoxin sighed inwardly. He was one of those poor people who could not afford school. The government's community education had only taught him the common script and a little arithmetic, nothing more.

"You went to vocational school? Could you even find a job?" Xia Heng asked in astonishment.

Luo Yan raised his head. "What I really don't understand is this: does going to vocational school have to be about finding work? Isn't vocational school meant to enrich yourself?"

"Holy crap..." Everyone stared at Luo Yan, wondering what kind of family this man came from.

Xia Heng clicked his tongue. "So you're a cultured man. I'll call you Vocational School Brother from now on."

Luo Yan did not mind. "Suit yourself. Then should I call you Hoarse Brother?"

Xia Heng said hoarsely, "No, no, no. I have a nickname. I'm called Chicken Gizzard, because I like eating chicken gizzards."

Luo Yan blinked but said nothing. Listening to this, Gaoxin felt that the man was a little unhinged.

The blond, blue-eyed Radiation User from earlier clearly had a blunt personality and could not hold back any longer. "Vocational School Brother, are you planning to have this many people just eat shellfish and coconuts here?"

Luo Yan spread his hands. "If the food on shore isn't enough, there's food in the sea."

"I know how to twist palm bark into nets for fishing. Plenty of my brothers are excellent swimmers, so I imagine no one will starve."

"What do you think, Gaoxin?"

Suddenly being called on, Gaoxin froze.

But he quickly recovered. "I have no problem with that. As long as there are schools of fish nearby, there will always be a way. But I definitely can't do this alone."

Luo Yan seemed to have expected that answer. He immediately began calling names again. "Sule, Liu Di, Cao Yang, Xu Feng, Chengmen Lixue..."

In one breath, he listed twenty names before finally saying, "You'll work with Gaoxin and be responsible for fishing."

The people whose names were called all stood in the middle and back of the group, where their nameplates could not be seen. Yet Luo Yan spoke their names without hesitation. Had he remembered the name of everyone he had encountered?

The people called on thought that the people at the front were chatting enthusiastically, while Luo Yan clearly held authority.

They were merely Glass People. How could they dare refuse? They could only respond in agreement.

"Gaoxin, the food for more than two hundred people will mostly depend on you. You'll have to work hard." Luo Yan patted Gaoxin on the shoulder.

Gaoxin said, "Vocational School Brother, I'll do my best."

Luo Yan paused. It seemed he would not be able to shake this nickname.

But he did not mind. Instead, he teased, "Then I'll call you Brother Xin Ku from now on."

Gaoxin's mouth twitched. What kind of ridiculous nickname was that?

But the people around him began calling him Brother Xin Ku as well, so he could only accept it.

Seeing that his momentum had taken shape, Luo Yan struck while the iron was hot and assigned more people to fell trees and forage along the shore.

They lacked tools, but many hands made light work, and he could offer technical guidance, so it was not too much of a problem.

The thirty-odd Radiation Users were happy that no work had been assigned to them and tacitly accepted it.

Once they agreed, the Glass People had even less to say. They all gathered into the groups Luo Yan had assigned them to.

Twenty people immediately gathered around Gaoxin, all belonging to his group and waiting for him to assign work.

"We'll be working together from now on, so we need to get familiar with each other. Tell us what each of you is good at."

"Brother Xin Ku, I'm a forest ranger from the Greater Khingan Range. I'm actually not much of a swimmer." The young man named Sule spoke first.

Seeing that Sule really called him Brother, Gaoxin secretly felt a little delighted. The task was arduous, but judging from this, did that mean he had become a minor leader in this team of more than two hundred people?

He had not been able to find work in society and had merely drifted through life, yet here he was managing people instead.

For the time being, though, they had no tools. They had to wait for the other groups to make fishing nets, so Gaoxin began chatting with the twenty members of his group to get to know them.

However, just as he had started getting acquainted with them and before much had happened.

A sudden commotion erupted from the forest, and a group of people responsible for gathering wood came running out in panic.

Judging by the situation, they had encountered enemies.

Gaoxin immediately led his people over to Luo Yan and heard him say, "Everyone, I didn't expect trouble to come so quickly. Radiation Users, come with me and take a look."

Luo Yan's expression was somewhat serious. Based on his earlier judgment, no one should have been living nearby.

Still, he remained calm. Maybe there were only one or two scattered people.

His bare upper body tensed with muscle as he led the way.

The other Radiation Users followed as well.

Clearly, Luo Yan had not assigned labor to these Radiation Users earlier and had kept chatting with them because he intended for them to serve as the team's protectors.

It seemed to be going smoothly, and Gaoxin was deeply impressed. This Luo Yan truly deserved to be called a cultured man. In such a short time, he had already brought nearly three hundred criminals together.

However, after taking only a few steps, these people suddenly froze. They had seen something and stood rooted in place.

The other prisoners were even more terrified. They dropped what they held and retreated toward the shoreline.

They saw people—many people—swaggering out from the forest.

A continuous line stretched from the forest on one end all the way to the high sea cliffs on the other, with burly men holding weapons appearing everywhere.

There were roughly a hundred of them!

They all wore kimonos, had ugly hairstyles, and carried blades as they pressed closer step by step, surrounding them along the coastline!

They were a group of Wa people. Although they were outnumbered, they clearly came with ill intent, and every one of them looked exceptionally vicious.

The burly man at the front was not tall, but his muscles bulged and his eyes were cold.

Even the loose black kimono on his body was stretched tight by his frame, and a terrifyingly large sword hung from his waist.

Beside him crouched a frail, handsome youth. His clothes were thin and brightly colored, and he was the only figure among them who looked utterly lowly.

"Everyone, line up!" the frail youth shouted at the top of his voice, relaying the words of the burly man beside him.

"Rebels will be killed without mercy!"

Luo Yan's brow tightened. The situation had completely exceeded his expectations.

How could so many exiles appear? And how had they formed up to surround them?

Looking again, the Radiation Users who had just agreed to protect the group had all retreated to the back. Only Xia Heng remained beside him.

Luo Yan took a deep breath. He was still quite responsible and stepped forward anyway, his bare torso standing before everyone else.

He said loudly, "My name is Luo Yan. You must be the seniors of Sin Prison Island, correct? There are thirty-eight Radiation Users and two hundred and fifty ordinary people here, all newly delivered exiles sent by the authorities."

"We've only just arrived and don't know the rules. We are all very willing to join you and hope you can take us in..."

He did not spout any polite nonsense. Judging by the performance of his own Radiation Users, fighting was clearly impossible.

Asking the other side to let them go would be even more absurd, since they had already surrounded them. Thus, Luo Yan directly made his position clear: he wanted to join them.

It was an extremely pragmatic choice.

However, one Wa man rushed up and slapped him across the face. "Baka!"

Luo Yan was knocked to the ground on the spot, spitting out a mouthful of teeth and blood.

Luo Yan's head buzzed, his vision went black, and he could not get back up. The blood spraying from his mouth dyed the sand red.

"What kind of baka are you? How dare you act like the Boss!"

P.S. Sorry. The protagonist of this new book does not receive some cheat from the heavens; he only has cheats he makes himself. They will not begin to show until after Chapter 20. Please don't flame it if you don't like that.