Incitement

"I didn't know how long I could live. I didn't want to know either. I would not let fate decide that!" The bearded man continued roaring. "Maybe we have conflicts, maybe we have greed, but that ultimately depends on our own will! But here, our fates are in the hands of those sons of bitches. Tomorrow, I'd bet half of us won't make it! Do you want to gamble on luck? I don't!"

"Listen up, everyone. I've survived six worlds, and the only lesson I've learned is to read the mission prompts carefully! This time, not a single word says we have to stay in this damned place. It only requires us to stay alive. We could complete this mission in a brothel in Rome City, even in a bitch's bed! Why not leave here and look for side plots? Isn't that what we're good at? Bartitas has mortal enemies, and governors jealous of him. We have plenty of ways to reap benefits!"

The bearded man spoke with dazzling eloquence. "Brothers, unite! Tonight, we escape. Maybe some people won't be so lucky, but each of us will have to face our own fate. At worst, we'll be caught, but we won't die immediately! Let's see what that old bitch God thinks! Who's with me?"

Many people were tempted and began whispering among themselves. Contractors had long grown accustomed to freedom, like birds soaring through the sky and fish swimming in the sea. In this training camp filled with danger, their freedom was gone, and even their lives were not guaranteed. Everything was left to luck. How could Contractors endure living like pigs and dogs, waiting to be slaughtered? Quite a few silently joined the escape party.

Even the Muslim Brotherhood was tempted. Uncle stood up and muttered with the American cult leader, the bearded man. Both were bearded, so perhaps they had more in common. Then, with an excited expression, he announced in Arabic that they would join the plan, and that he and the American bearded man would share command. The Muslims were thrilled. Kirk thought that if they had not feared alerting the guards nearby, those fierce bandits would have already pulled out AK47s and fired into the sky in celebration.

Kirk found it amusing as well. Spartacus, that famously defiant rebel, was still obediently enduring whips, dung pits, and pain. Yet these humans from the future world were preparing to revolt against the Roman Empire's slave system first, led by a terror tycoon and a cult leader.

One-Eyed Dragon merely snorted and led his group to sit some distance away, making it clear that they wanted no part in this. The Female Magician and the greatshield MT also sat far away, quietly watching what would happen.

Little Fatty asked Kirk, "Big brother, what do we do?"

Kirk said, "Nothing. Sleep. We should be able to rest safely tonight."

Little Fatty was clearly somewhat intimidated by the suffering in the training camp. "Big brother, why don't we run with them?"

Kirk smiled. "Little Fatty, have you ever seen that GG? The woman says, 'Let's jump,' and the man says, 'Okay,' then the two of them jump right into a tribe of cannibals. The final line was right: make sure you know where you're jumping before you jump."

Little Fatty said, "You mean they'll fail?"

Kirk said coldly, "It'll be worse than failure. We'll see the result tomorrow."

After the terror tycoon and cult leader conspired in the middle of the night, thirteen Contractors climbed over the cattle pen shortly after three in the morning, snapped the necks of the slave guards, and quietly withdrew from the training camp, vanishing into the vast darkness.

Little Fatty looked envious. Kirk simply smiled without speaking.

Early the next morning, Bakar whipped all the Contractors awake. They were ordered to get up at once and head to the training ground.

When they arrived at the training ground, everyone sucked in a cold breath!

Twelve ragged, bloodstained Contractors were lined up on their knees in the training ground. They were unmistakably the ones who had escaped with the American cult leader, including Uncle. Uncle's eyes were wide with fury, his mouth stuffed with something as he let out muffled roars.

Little Fatty said, "What happened? Where's that cult leader?"

"We'll see him soon enough," Kirk guessed. "He's probably with Bartitas right now."

"Huh?" Little Fatty looked over and saw that it was true. Batista came staggering over from the villa where they lived, accompanied by his beautiful, seductive wife Lucretia, a large group of attendants, and the respectfully obedient bearded man behind him.

Betrayal!

Every Contractor clenched their fists. Their hands were all stained with blood, and they treated human lives as worthless. Yet one second ago, this cult leader had been calling them brothers; the next, he had sold the lives of all twelve men. He Turned Hostile faster than one could turn a page! Not everyone could manage such viciousness and such deep calculation.

Little Fatty admired Kirk completely and asked softly, "Big brother, how did you know that cult leader was bad? I almost got fooled by him."

Kirk explained, "When we were injured, he glanced at us more than anyone else. The greed in his eyes couldn't be concealed. How could we trust him? Besides, if you wanted to escape from prison, would you announce it everywhere? Don't talk about splitting up to improve the odds. Escaping alone makes you a smaller target. Contractors are all calculating and ruthless. If he publicly promoted a jailbreak, wasn't he afraid someone would report him to Bartitas and sell him out? The only reasonable explanation was that the kid had planned to sell everyone out from the start."

In truth, Kirk greatly admired the bearded man's grand scheme. With a single betrayal, he had condemned twelve powerful Contractors to death, including five people who had voluntarily joined him! He had obtained an enormous reward all at once: twelve Bloody Keys with a 20% reward bonus, as well as [Soul Crystals].

This man truly had no bottom line, but his despicable methods were undeniably effective.

Bartitas stood before the twelve Contractors and said coldly, "I have always respected Roman law. I do not wish to harm the lives of slaves without cause, because slaves are the source of wealth. But!"

Bartitas suddenly flew into a rage. He kicked one Contractor between the legs, sending him sprawling to the ground in violent convulsions. "I cannot tolerate vile betrayal! You raw materials—I bought you from slave traders, fed you, gave you drink, and was even preparing to provide whores for you to fuck! Is this how you repay the trust and generosity of the great Bartitas?"

What the hell was this? All the Contractors clenched their fists. Every one of them was proud and arrogant, used to roaming the world and killing without blinking. Yet this bastard was saying that even being allowed to live as slaves was his gift! If it were not for the gladiators around them, they would have stomped him to death and complained about the stink on their shoes!

"In any case, though it pains me to lose valuable property, I must obey Roman law. Any slaves who escape must be executed. As a reward for Audi's loyal service, I have agreed to let him execute these criminals. Furthermore, before these slaves were captured last night, they resisted and even killed Mayatis. A gladiator position has become vacant. I have decided to promote him to gladiator. You all heard that?" Bartitas said smugly.

The cult leader Audi hurriedly knelt and kissed Bartitas's big toe. "Master, your words are the standard by which I act. Your will shall be carried out without compromise..."

Kirk was speechless. Look at him, then look at the ones over there, bound hand and foot and about to meet their God. They had all gone out last night, yet the gap in their fortunes was enormous. Uncle really ought to change his name to "Stupid Laden."

Then Audi drew out a pair of Steel Claws with an evil grin and walked toward the kneeling Contractors, as though they were a row of naked, plump buttocks belonging to female cult Believers. The Steel Claws were Deep Blue, gleaming with a ghostly blue radiance. They appeared to possess not only extremely high Attack Power, but also poison.

Facing twelve pairs of bloodshot, furious eyes, he thrust the Steel Claws into the chest of the last Contractor. Laughing wildly, he sliced open the man's pectorals and exposed his pounding heart. With a savage grin, he seized it and tore it out alive, blood and all! Amid the Contractor's horrifying screams as he entered Near Death, Audi presented the heart beneath Bartitas's feet. The Contractor whose heart had been removed was not yet fully dead. He convulsed and rolled wildly on the ground as pools of blood gushed from the bloody hole in his chest.

Bartitas was genuinely startled. He was cruel, but he was not a Pervert. Still, his self-control was strong. He managed not to lose composure, merely smiling and nodding in approval.

Audi grinned viciously, took back the still-throbbing heart, licked the bright red blood that had sprayed out, and revealed an intoxicated expression, as though he had tasted the greatest delicacy in the world. Then he tossed it into his Space Mark.

He strolled to the second victim and repeated the process, cutting open the pectorals, digging out the heart, licking it, and putting it into his Space Mark. Another incomparably bloody tragedy unfolded. The Contractors were shaken by his slaughterous, ruthless methods, and all of them shivered.

Little Fatty felt his ass clench and asked Kirk, "That cult leader is seriously twisted. Why does he keep digging out Contractors' hearts?"

Kirk stared fixedly at Audi's bloody hands clutching the Contractor's heart. A piercing sense of danger filled the space between his brows. He felt that the cult leader's elaborate plan was undoubtedly the result of deep consideration and thorough preparation. Too many questions were difficult to explain. How had these twelve Contractors been captured alive? With the forces Bartitas possessed, killing them would not have been difficult, but preventing all of them from escaping would have been. Capturing every one of them alive without losing a single man was practically impossible. Could this Pervert have done it alone? If so, wasn't his true strength unfathomable? If he was so much stronger than the Contractors, how could the Space possibly allow him into [Arena Mode]? Wasn't that a bug?

Audi continued his journey of carving out hearts. When the third victim fell into a pool of blood, eyes still open in death, a sudden upheaval finally erupted! A Nordic Giant suddenly roared and, at the enormous cost of rapidly consuming his lifespan, activated the hidden talent [Berserk]! The muscles throughout his body swelled at a visible rate, snapping the sturdy cowhide ropes one by one. He then pulled out a dagger and quickly cut the ropes binding the other Contractors. Like a bloodshot bull, the Nordic Giant raised his battle axe high and charged toward Audi with a furious roar!