From Ze's words, the Death Prison seemed like an extremely dangerous place?
Otherwise, why would Ze immediately consider his account worthless the moment he was selected as a Death Prison slave?
Should he strive to complete this unknown mission? Or deliberately get himself killed to log out?
Li Ban asked the mission assistance system in his mind, "What's the mission content?"
He needed to consider his options.
[Mission content loading failed. No relevant data available.]
What?!
They already had the mission location, but the content failed to load?
Then what was there to consider?
The tree-person apparently had no intention of waiting for Li Ban to react on his own.
A vine appeared before Li Ban's eyes, then looped around his neck and suddenly tightened.
Li Ban's breath caught as his vision instantly blacked out.
Are they killing me now?
Just as this thought emerged, Li Ban suddenly felt overwhelming drowsiness assault his mind again.
He forced his eyes open to find himself lying down, facing the glass cover of the space capsule.
His body was immersed in some unknown liquid, completely immobilized.
Was this a forced logout?
Li Ban felt relieved - at least he wouldn't have to struggle with the decision anymore.
Now he just needed to explain to the outside staff that some tree-person from Death Prison immediately strangled him, resulting in mission failure.
I wonder if I can request a different job after logging out?
But the moment Li Ban opened his eyes, he heard chaos erupt outside.
"Why did he wake up prematurely? Did Subject 444's data force a logout?"
"No logout detected. Data appears normal."
"It's consciousness reflux! The data stream is unstable immediately after login. When he faints or sleeps inside, temporary logout may occur. Hurry, increase the dosage, send him back!"
No...
Li Ban wanted to stop them from sending him back, but all he could manage was twitching his lips.
"Quick, quick! Subject 444 doesn't want to wake up either - he's trying to return! Increase the dosage immediately!"
...Send me back!
Li Ban twitched his lips again.
Someone nearby interpreted, "He's telling us to send him back - must be mission progress! Hurry!"
Damn!
They're definitely doing this on purpose.
Irresistible drowsiness closed Li Ban's eyelids as he plunged back into endless dark abyss.
The drowsiness came and went quickly.
Li Ban's eyes snapped open to find himself hanging midair with arms bound behind his back.
His arms ached and tingled - he had no idea how long he'd been hanging there.
His neck hurt slightly, but he could breathe normally.
So he really had just been strangled unconscious earlier, not killed.
Li Ban wasn't sure whether to feel disappointed.
Having witnessed the lab staff's reactions, they clearly wouldn't let him abandon the mission easily.
Looking down, Li Ban saw it was one of the tree-person's vines suspending him.
The man and girl selected before him followed obediently behind the tree-person, not hanging like him.
Li Ban's treatment made them too terrified to resist.
Just hesitating briefly got you strangled unconscious - outright refusal would mean death.
They had left the main road, standing now on slightly higher ground.
Some low shrubs grew around them.
The cracked earth finally showed patches of green.
Another tree-person now stood facing their captor.
The two tree-people looked nearly identical, differing only in their vertical markings.
Li Ban heard them conversing.
"Why nearly kill a freshly purchased slave?"
"Old Ma said he's tough. I was testing."
The second tree-person raised vertical eyes to examine Li Ban's neck bruises.
"Quite tough indeed. Might survive."
"Heh heh heh."
Entering a sparser section of woods, they walked further before the tree-person finally lowered Li Ban.
As his feet touched ground, Li Ban stumbled forward.
He instinctively tried bracing with his hands but remembered they were still bound, helplessly watching the ground rush up.
Thin arms suddenly caught him.
The girl traveling with them had steadied him.
Young and not particularly strong, they nearly toppled together.
Finally balanced, Li Ban gave her a grateful smile.
"Thanks."
The girl pressed her lips together silently, releasing him the moment he stabilized.
The tree-people observed this but didn't interfere.
The one who'd hung Li Ban addressed all three: "This is Death Prison's entrance. Once inside, you'll be lifetime slaves."
"But don't despair completely. While slave mortality is highest in Death Prison, opportunities to shed slave status exist too. Survive long enough, and you might become jailers - that's your chance at continued life."
Both tree-people stepped aside, revealing a stunted, twisted peach tree bearing unripe fuzzy fruit.
Yet they pointed at a small hole beneath it.
The hole couldn't be larger than a baby's head, resembling a rabbit or gopher burrow with nothing visible inside.
"Enter."
Li Ban glanced at the other slaves, finding equal confusion on their faces about entry methods.
The oldest youth proved boldest. After checking the tree-people's reactions, he approached the hole courageously.
Unsure how to proceed, he crouched and tentatively reached inside.
The moment his hand entered, he vanished instantly - like teleportation.
Judging by the tree-people's lack of reaction, this seemed the correct method.
Li Ban moved forward, but the girl who'd helped him suddenly rushed past into the hole first.
Unsure why she hurried but unfazed, Li Ban waited briefly before entering last.
Darkness then light.
Li Ban found himself standing on stone steps overlooking a sinkhole the size of a sports field, surrounded by hundred-meter-high walls.
Primitive stone structures dotted the basin floor.
The youth and girl already stood below on level ground.
Looking back, Li Ban saw a closed stone door carved with a stunted peach tree design.
The tree-people appeared before it.
"Move."
Li Ban hurried down the steps.
At the basin's center yawned a stone-arched tunnel descending underground.
Surrounding areas held vegetable plots, a well, thatched sheds, and a smoking brick house.
Most conspicuous was a crude wooden gallows beside the stone arch.
A corpse hung from it.
The noose had nearly severed the neck, bending it at a grotesque angle.
A black-purple tongue protruded grotesquely. Tattered clothing revealed skin mottled with dark brown spots.
It had clearly hung there quite some time.
As Li Ban stared horrified, the corpse suddenly rotated without wind, turning halfway.
Its horrifying face now faced Li Ban directly, mouth twitching into a ghastly grin.
"Ah!" The girl to Li Ban's left jumped back, bumping into the descending tree-person behind them.
"Get off!" The tree-person swatted her aside with a vine.
She stumbled toward the youth, who promptly stepped away.
With bound hands, Li Ban could only watch helplessly as she fell.
Fortunately, soft earth prevented injury.
Trembling with fear, she quickly scrambled up.
The tree-person who'd brought them addressed the other: "I'm returning."
After the first tree-person disappeared down the stone tunnel, the remaining one turned to the three: "I'm Tree-Person A. That was Tree-Person B. We're Death Prison jailers - your overseers."
"Remember this well: as Death Prison slaves, obey orders without error. Mistakes mean death."
He reached out, giving the hanging corpse a flick.
It swung slightly in response.
"He was once a jailer too. But after erring, transformed from human to tree. We performed well, so changed from trees to humans."
How did that corpse resemble a tree in any way?