Bloody Public Trial

"Tap, tap..." Heavy combat boots struck the pitch-black corridor, and passersby hurriedly stepped aside at the sight of the newcomers.

The girl in the windbreaker with a cold expression walked at the front, sword in hand, her eyes lowered as though warning strangers to stay away.

Behind her, two armed Soldiers wearing goggles dragged along the weak-kneed Bai Zhou, striding forward in their combat boots.

"..." Bai Zhou had only just awakened from unconsciousness. His brows were tightly furrowed, his gaze deep, as if he were contemplating something.

But in truth, he was merely at a loss over his situation.

The tunnel walls were made of hard black stone, slanting downward all the way, like a one-way corridor leading to hell.

Sure enough, he had become an alien trophy and been brought back to their lair.

Hopefully, these aliens did not have a habit of using human flesh for hotpot.

Fortunately, they seemed to understand Bai Zhou's language.

"Where are we going?" Bai Zhou gathered his courage and asked.

"The public trial site." The Soldier answered sparingly, apparently unwilling to have much to do with Bai Zhou.

"...A public trial?"

Hearing that familiar yet unfamiliar term, Bai Zhou's heart skipped a beat, but he could not think of any way to escape.

—Because that "godlike girl" who had split heaven and earth, seemingly even cleaving the moon apart, was walking right in front of him.

She had only a petite figure a little over one meter sixty, yet she carried an overwhelming pressure as vast as mountains and seas.

What drew attention was the three-legged black bird perched on her shoulder, resembling a Crow.

Yet the passersby in the tunnel did not find the bird strange. They were probably accustomed to the girl's existence and were instead filled with curiosity toward Bai Zhou behind her.

To aliens, a human like him should count as a rare species. If only he could be considered a protected animal, everything would be fine.

"We're here."

A cool female voice suddenly rang out. The sword-wielding girl at the front quietly stopped before a door.

The two Soldiers soon arrived with Bai Zhou in tow.

Sensing their arrival, the Great Door slid open to both sides with a screech, revealing a grand world beyond—

Towering silver-white walls rose on all sides. Gleaming pillars and beams seemed to burn brilliantly in radiance, supporting an immeasurably high and magnificent dome branded with Mysterious Patterns.

This was an enormous underground base. Soldiers moved about in groups, and security was extremely tight.

Lights shone brightly from every direction. The gray flagstone floor stretched toward the high walls like a vast underground prison.

"Brother Zhou, you're here too!"

Uncle Xiang, the Convenience Store owner, called out. At a glance, Bai Zhou saw the central Civic Square packed with people.

The familiar neighbors of Evening City had all gathered here without exception, as though for a grand assembly. The restless crowd shared the same confusion and fear as they surrounded a High Platform.

On the towering High Platform, black-clothed prisoners bound in reverse by iron chains knelt on the ground, facing the people below. Their dirty, disheveled faces could not conceal their terror.

"Black... Black Robes?" Bai Zhou's heartbeat suddenly quickened.

These kneeling prisoners in black were clearly members of the Black Robe Enforcement Team Bai Zhou had admired and respected most. Their faces were both familiar and unfamiliar.

Surrounded by a group of heavily armed Soldiers, five men wearing dark gray camouflage Military Uniforms sat with their legs spread apart on tall thrones, expressionlessly looking down at the Black Robes kneeling all over the floor.

The man seated in the middle was a young man wearing sunglasses and holding a pipe in his mouth.

His slicked-back hair had been meticulously fixed in place with gel. His dark gray Officer uniform fitted his upright body perfectly, while the three medals on his chest deliberately or casually revealed his past glory.

"Deputy Han, is everyone here?" The man in sunglasses glanced aside, his pipe trembling twice. His words were as sparse as ever.

"They are all here." A handsome, delicate-looking man turned around in response, bowed respectfully, and replied in a soft, gentle voice.

Oddly enough, he held a black-and-white Black Cat Detective Doll in his arms. The stuffed Doll was plump and round, with three pairs of white whiskers protruding distinctly from its fabric face, looking exceptionally spirited.

Then Deputy Han wrapped both arms around the detective Doll and looked to the side. "The Major's time is precious. Begin."

"Yes, Major!"

An Officer sprang to his feet with a snap. After saluting the Major on the throne, he strode past the kneeling Black Robes and came before the crowd.

"Eastern Federation time on Blue Star, 2:36 p.m., August 17th, 2030!"

"The temporary tribunal of the Special Black Box Control Agency under the Tinghai City General Bureau, having received approval from the Ordinance Hall, hereby announces its verdict!"

The Officer said things Bai Zhou could not understand at all, then unfolded a document and read aloud—

"Criminal Zhao Qing! Mid-level Cadre of the Blood Worship Cult, Black Robe Grand Elder of Evening City! Guilty of participating in an illegal organization, murder, sacrificing to an Evil God, and organ modification! Given the cumulative crimes, the sentence is death!"

"The remaining accomplices aided and abetted evil, bringing calamity upon Evening City! They are sentenced to death! Execution shall be carried out immediately!"

"—Ha ha! When the Raven sings praises in the hour of silence, the Blood Moon shall return to the earth!"

An Elder who had suffered the worst torture, his entire body covered in blood and his limbs limp, could not hide the fanaticism on his face as he continued shouting an obscure sacrificial chant.

Then he received a hard slap.

His old yellow teeth, mixed with bloody spit, flew out and landed at Bai Zhou's feet.

"...The Black Robe Grand Elder?"

Bai Zhou, standing amid the crowd, recognized the man, and his gaze sharpened.

The crowd became even more agitated.

The mysterious and supreme Black Robe Grand Elder, Zhao Qing, was a name every Evening City resident knew well.

Because a gilded statue of the Grand Elder stood in the middle of the Civic Square.

People regarded him as the sun in the sky. Whenever they mentioned him, they were always filled with gratitude and moved to tears.

In Evening City, even a dog from the Zhao Family would be treated with extra respect and greeted with smiling faces when it went outside!

But now?

"Spare us! We are Evening City residents persecuted by the Blood Worship Cult too!" One Black Robe sobbed bitterly.

"I can cooperate! I love the Federation too!"

Then a slap knocked out his front teeth as well.

The Officer looked at him, his expression growing even colder.

"You were originally victims, yet after joining the Black Robes and learning the truth, you willingly aided evil. You are beyond saving..."

"That's enough." The Major seated in the center seemed impatient. He waved a hand. "Execute them directly."

"Yes!"

Several people in White Coats immediately responded and carefully carried over a large Black Box.

The Officer deliberately kept his distance from the Black Box before taking out another document from his pocket and reading it aloud.

"According to Article Seven of the Special Control Agreement and Article Eleven of the <Eastern Federation Black Box Management Regulations>, Black Box catalogue number 'E-1350' shall be used in this execution of Blood Worship Cultists."

"This application has been approved by the Ordinance Hall!"

The Black Box was opened, revealing a huge, lavish oil portrait within.

It depicted a lion-like man holding a scepter, standing tall with his head raised. His features were extraordinary and imposing, his thick long hair flowing to either side.

Several people in White Coats and Masks then spread out around the portrait. Once they had taken up positions with paper and pens in hand, they nodded to the Officer.

"Black Box catalogue number E-1350, Portrait of Louis XVI, eighteenth experimental record... begin!"

"What... is a Black Box?"

The instant Bai Zhou's gaze met the oil painting, a chill inexplicably ran down his neck.

—Then the Officer gave the order.

"Execute them!"

"..."

The air fell silent. There were no executioners visible on the High Platform, and the kneeling Black Robes looked at one another, unable to understand what trick these people were playing.

Until one Black Robe looked toward the portrait and noticed that the man in it seemed to have curled up the corner of his mouth, offering him a meaningful smile—

The next instant, the Black Robe lost consciousness.

"Gulu Lu..." A head rolled across the ground as blood sprayed from the neck.

"...!"

The Black Robes and the audience below screamed at the same time.

Only the oil painting became increasingly vivid, while the smile of the man named "Louis XVI" grew ever more radiant.

The Black Robes no longer dared to look at the oil painting. They hurriedly turned around in panic, tightly closing their eyes and not daring to open them.

But closing their eyes was useless. An eerie atmosphere enveloped the entire High Platform, and in the next instant, another head flew high into the air.

The cut on the corpse was smooth and clean, as though an invisible giant guillotine had dropped its blade from above his head.

"A perfect experiment!"

The White Coats recorded data on their forms, writing rapidly as they whispered among themselves.

"The Western Federation's Louvre only agreed to lend us the Portrait of Louis XVI on the condition that we conduct eighteen valid experiments. We were just worrying about not having enough test materials..."

Every second, another head hit the ground with a thud.

Great streams of blood shot into the air like wildly dancing snakes, turning into a drizzling rain.

It reminded Bai Zhou of when Evening City had shattered, when people had competed to splash black dog blood and goat blood into the sky.

Foul-smelling blood and lumps of rotten flesh wound across the execution platform, filling it completely with a hint of madness.

Bai Zhou's vision was filled with crimson.

His mind was in a daze. All the clamor of the people around him seemed to have drifted far away, leaving only the nervous pounding of his heart echoing in his chest.

When Evening City met its end, everything had happened too suddenly, and Bai Zhou had not truly felt much of it.

But now, as the Black Robes fell one after another, he truly heard the echo of the world collapsing.

Because the Black Robes were the people Bai Zhou had admired most and wanted most to become. He had even been the top member of the Youth Training Corps, yet now the Black Robes had been branded utterly wicked criminals.

Not even the Black Robes themselves argued back.

Bai Zhou did not know what was right and what was wrong, but he knew his world was truly finished.

Countless scenes flashed through his mind one after another before shattering apart. The past was like a painting drawn in sand; once the wind blew the sand away, the memories became blurred as well.

"Exciting!"

The bloody scene made a nearby Soldier unable to resist lighting a cigarette. He inhaled like a hurricane through a valve, drawing the smoke deep into his lungs.

"That Grand Elder is no ordinary man. There aren't many chances to see a Level 3 Extraordinary resist an E-Class Black Box!"

"Scratch..." The Crow lazily stretched. The girl in the windbreaker flipped through the document in her hands and softly read aloud.

"—More than twenty years ago, on the eve of the turn of the century, the rampant illegal organization known as the Blood Worship Cult proposed a wild and insane idea."

"If humans from the Present World were sent to the World's Back, the [Reflection Ruins Realm] where the Deceased gathered, and allowed to grow and reproduce under the erosion and contamination of the Reflection Ruins Realm, could special people capable of transcending life and death be cultivated?"

"For this purpose, the Blood Worship Cult imprisoned 128 people at the edge of the [Reflection Ruins Realm] and established a Stronghold called 'Evening City.'"

"However, because the experiment produced no results for a long time, the Blood Worship Cult ultimately left behind only a small number of observers to maintain it."

"—The leader of those observers became Evening City's Black Robe Grand Elder."

"And the other observers formed the original Black Robe Enforcement Team, brainwashing and harming Evening City."

"Twenty-six years." The girl in the windbreaker pressed her lips together, her eyes lowered. "Justice came far too late."

"The Reflection Ruins Realm? The Blood Worship Cult?" Bai Zhou's gaze became blank.

"Observers?"

Instinctively, he wanted to hate them. He felt that he should hate these outsiders who had destroyed his world and trampled his dreams beneath their feet, yet the girl's words left him confused again.

Everything from the past had shattered into phantoms. A tidal wave of loneliness completely submerged Bai Zhou, and all the unfamiliar things around him suffocated him, as though the world was vast but he could no longer find a place for himself within it.

"Gulu Lu..." Another head rolled wildly across the ground. The spinning wind blew the Blood Rain sideways, splashing it across Bai Zhou's face and shoulders.

The stench made Bai Zhou shudder. After the confusion passed, overwhelming fear finally struck him with belated force.

Bai Zhou took two quick steps back and bumped into the arm of the Soldier beside him, who was puffing away at his cigarette.

"Scared? Wondering why you were brought here to watch the trial?"

The Soldier's previous listless indifference vanished. He even seemed rather interested in talking.

"Because we all come from the same Blue Star. Ever heard of Blue Star?"

"You were simply abducted somewhere else. The Black Robes are the bad people who imprisoned you."

He took a hard drag from the cigarette butt, and pungent smoke seeped from his nostrils.

He coughed a few times as if he were about to cough out his lungs.

"A false life cannot be flawless. Why had you never seen anyone from outside Evening City? Because outside was a forbidden ruin where living people could not tread!"

"Only today have you truly set foot on normal land... on Blue Star."

"Honestly, you're lucky." The Soldier casually tossed the finished cigarette to the ground and scratched his backside.

"The records say you were a Black Robe reserve. You were only one step away from standing up there too."

"One step away?" Bai Zhou instinctively thought of Li Wang, who had used connections to take his place.

It really had been one step away. He had come one step away from losing his head.

At the time, Li Wang had been basking in triumph, proving to Bai Zhou with his actions that years of hard study could not compare to having a good father.

"—Bai Zhou!!"

Suddenly, a heart-rending cry came from the High Platform, startling Bai Zhou.

Following the voice, Bai Zhou saw a fat face twisted with jealousy and hatred. Among the kneeling Black Robes, he was the youngest.

"Li Wang!" Bai Zhou jolted.

Then, beneath Li Wang's despairing gaze, Bai Zhou swiftly put on a blank and innocent expression.

"You know him?" The Soldier turned to ask Bai Zhou.

Bai Zhou repeatedly waved his hands. "Nothing to do with me. Nothing to do with me."

Li Wang burst into loud sobs, stretching his neck as far as he could. His cries from the High Platform drew much attention—

"Bai Zhou, I'm dying in your place!"

No one paid him any attention. Only Louis XVI wore a fatherly smile.

The next instant, a savage head flew high into the air and rolled across the ground with a gulu lu.

Li Wang's headless body collapsed, spraying blood like a fountain.

"..."

Bai Zhou beneath the viewing platform suddenly felt waves of cold air rising around his neck. He instinctively touched his face, then touched his arm.

Bai Zhou suddenly felt that fate was fickle. Earlier, he had resented Li Wang for taking his spot.

But if not for that, the one standing on the High Platform getting his head cut off right now would have been Bai Zhou.

Thus, the dazed Bai Zhou suddenly came to his senses.

He had thought he ought to hate something, but now all he felt was the immense joy of surviving a disaster.

Bai Zhou looked around and found that everyone else seemed to feel the same way.

People did not seem to care much about Black Robe's death or the origins of Evening City. They cared more about their own futures.

As though as long as they could keep living, where or how they lived did not matter. They would always adapt.

...As he watched, Bai Zhou suddenly held his breath, his mind going blank for an instant.

"What's that?"

Across the High Platform, corpses with their heads cut off lay everywhere. Thick blood carpeted the ground, and in the hollow where it pooled—

Strings of bizarre, glaring crimson characters were clearly twisting and slowly wriggling atop the viscous blood.

Like living maggots, they gathered together and scrambled to crawl off the High Platform.

[I'm not willing! I was only one step away from advancing to Level 4 "Butcher"! Then those scum from the Special Management Department wouldn't have been able to stop me!]

[I'm about to die, but what will happen to my little sister?]

[Ha, no one would ever imagine that the Dead Sea Scroll they wanted was buried beneath the Great Tree in front of the main entrance to Yongning Life Care Center on Dongxing Road... They'll never dig it up in their lives!]

[Will the keyword for advancing to Level 2 "Vassal" be "loss of control" or "blood"?]

[Bai Zhou! Bai Zhou! How could I have let myself be blinded by greed and insisted on taking Bai Zhou's spot?!]

[...]

Some of the words were darker, others lighter. Some were such a vivid crimson that killing intent seemed to spill from them, while others were pale and mottled, nearly faded away.

"Are these... the last words of the Black Robes who were executed?"

Bai Zhou rubbed his eyes, unease rising in his heart.

Was I so shaken that I was hallucinating?

One of them, a dark red last will so deep in color it seemed almost luminous, called to Bai Zhou more strongly than any of the others.

Yet the words were exceptionally simple.

They read—

[Before I go, I really want to smoke a Furong King!]

"..."

Amid the deafening clamor of the crowd, Bai Zhou stood silently in place for a long while.

After a while, he slowly turned his head and looked at Smoker Soldier beside him, who had been puffing away the whole time.

Then, without changing expression, he glanced at the brand on the cigarette pack in the man's hand.

"Brother."

Bai Zhou coughed softly and leaned closer, lowering his voice.

"Got a light?"