Chapter 292: Chapter 292: Bottled Prisoner (Sixteen)_1
“I want to play a game with you?”
On the hidden platform, Fu Qian’s words instantly drew everyone’s attention.
“What are you doing?”
Just as the alliance had barely held together and a glimmer of hope for survival had emerged, no one had anticipated this sudden complication.
All eyes fixated on Fu Qian as Lin En and the others immediately brimmed with a murderous intent.
Even Ailina, who had been in the middle of an action, found herself forced to stop and look at Fu Qian with an incomprehensible gaze.
...
Through their journey, she knew this temporary ally was mysterious and unpredictable.
However, no matter what, she still could not understand why Fu Qian would interject at this moment.
After all, from any perspective, purifying the Sinflame from oneself to strengthen the Sin Seekers should be a benefit to everyone present.
“You all have been infatuated with the superiority that Transcendent powers granted to yourselves, considering yourselves entirely different from those mortals.”
Nevertheless, Fu Qian did not pay attention to her, showing no concern for the encirclement he was in and continuing to speak in a husky, deep tone.
“It provided you with the audacity to take lives at will and the composure to reap them, further believing steadfastly in the iron law of the survival of the fittest.”
“Unfortunately, one day you encountered a force much stronger than yours and became prisoners beneath them.”
“Now you’re like a group of crickets trapped in a pot, forced to fight until only the last one remains.”
“What’s most sad is that you’ve discovered that in this game, there exists an almost unbeatable entity.”
“Hence, under the shadow of death, you gave up your worship of power and learned to deceive yourselves—and each other—from the mortals.”
“Establishing fragile alliances, obeying commands from your adversaries, trying to rely on powers you fundamentally don’t understand, in pursuit of that ephemeral hope.”
“In truth, you’re well aware that all of that is nothing but futile struggling.”
“At this very moment, your lives have entered the countdown.”
“Now, I’ll give you a chance,”
Fu Qian said, sweeping his gaze over the crowd like someone looking at the dead.
The sudden evocation of a ‘Saw’ movie script was not because he’d suddenly been possessed by the urge to play the role of Jigsaw.
Fu Qian had no interest in passing judgment on others.
The chance he spoke of was real, one that might ever so slightly push death further away from oneself.
As for the definition of a “Sinner” in the previous task, he now had several guesses.
The simplest definition referred to everyone competing in this battle.
No matter what William’s true purpose was, if there was to be a trial of redemption seen by outsiders, it was highly probable that this group of prisoners were guilty of numerous blood crimes, so being labeled as Sinners was not an issue.
At the same time, Sinners could also refer to anyone tainted by the Sinflame.
That is, all those who have committed acts of killing in the contest, allowing Sinflame to alight upon them, which clearly has a more significant association with the Goddess of Sin and Punishment.
The last possibility is those who had been tainted by the Sinflame and also accepted purification from the Goddess, which was exactly what Ailina had just been doing.
These possibilities include one after the other, and regardless of which one, anyone who stepped forward for purification was undoubtedly within scope.
So, if one more person received redemption, it almost meant that another name would have to be added to his own list.
Of course, simply killing everyone on the spot was the simplest method, but considering that there was obviously something wrong with the Goddess of Sin and Punishment, Fu Qian did not want to be hasty in getting tainted by the Sinflame.
Even if tainted, it couldn’t be too much.
Besides, one of his own tasks was still to prevent the activation of the Goddess of Sin and Punishment.
Clarifying exactly what the activation of the goddess meant was essential, because if the definition of a Sinner was not limited to within this murderous game and all the people were already killed, it would be quite troublesome afterward.
Therefore, Fu Qian’s first reaction was to prevent these people from seeking redemption, naturally to reduce the potential number of Sinners.
Most importantly, he wanted to disrupt this game and let things go as out of control as possible.
The more chaotic things became, the more would be revealed.
“Don’t blame me for not warning you, but the Goddess Statue is indestructible,”
Ailina said to Fu Qian with a stern expression.
“That kind of crazy idea has been tried by others before, but sadly, no method has been successful,”
“Thank you for the reminder!”
Fu Qian nodded. He had seen things like this indestructible object before, so it wasn’t too strange for him.
He had carefully observed the statue earlier and noted it appeared to be just regular stone, presumably a simple projection by the Goddess of Sin and Punishment.
Therefore, he had not planned to smash it with a slap to complete the mission.
“No need for such violence, it just means that none of you can communicate with the goddess anymore.”
Fu Qian let out a series of deep chuckles.
“You’re faced with two choices, one is to rush me together and see if you can kill this nuisance.”
“The other is to pick up your pride and no longer try to rely on such elusive hopes.”
“I’m looking forward to seeing your performance.”
…
This is some crazy motherfucker!
After Fu Qian finished speaking, the prisoners looked at each other, completely unprepared for such a turn of events.
Besides the completely insane Butcher, now there was someone mixed in who didn’t care about his own life.
“Then you can go die!”
The man in black who had just confronted Lin En was the first to jump out, his face revealing a cruel smile.
“I think now’s a good time to turn you into Sinflame, your companions probably won’t have any objections, right?”
…
All eyes turned to Ailina and her companion, who averted the gaze of the man in black and remained silent.
“Very well—”
The burly man snarled again.
He strode forward, cutting through the crowd, and threw a punch.
The punch whistled through the air, fierce as thunder.
Smack!
The next moment, with a muffled sound, his rushing figure toppled over, spinning through the air before landing on the ground.
The silence in the air was terrifying, everyone staring at the man in black’s leg.
It had been cleanly severed into two pieces.
Whoosh!
Fu Qian blew on his fingertips nonchalantly, as if blowing smoke from a gun barrel.
“Next.”
…
In the throes of excruciating pain, the man in black glared at Fu Qian, his expression almost frozen.
Who the hell was this guy? He wasn’t even certain what Fu Qian had used to break his leg!
“What are you doing, get up there and finish him off!”
After slightly coming to his senses, the man in black turned to the others and screamed at the top of his lungs.
Unfortunately, he met nothing but evasive looks.
You… A fear that had been suppressed in the man’s heart exploded uncontrollably, turning into shrill curses.
“Don’t make a sound… you’ll draw the Butcher’s attention.”
The next moment, Lin En was the first in the crowd to move.
He took two steps forward and squatted down beside the man in black.
“You—”
The pupils of the man in black contracted sharply, but his words were cut off halfway as his head rolled onto the ground.