At nine in the morning, Zuo Lin'an and Xu Youyou arrived early at Training Room One to wait.
Besides them, there were thirty-three other classmates.
Yes, only thirty-three.
The five missing students had left the training base overnight after classes ended yesterday afternoon.
When Xu Youyou found out, he sneered with disdain.
“If they wanted to leave, they should've done it sooner. What a waste of time. Did they just come here for free meals?”
Zuo Lin'an, however, didn't think much of it.
“According to the training base's rules, as long as you haven't entered Sin Hunter City, you can leave at any time.”
Just as he spoke, An Wen walked in from outside.
Behind him, two heavily armed soldiers escorted a man wearing a black hood, his hands and feet bound in heavy chains.
Everyone watched quietly; no one made a sound.
The two soldiers dragged the man to the very front of the classroom and kicked him in the back of his knees, forcing him to his knees.
An Wen stood to the side, watching with a calm expression.
“Look over here.”
“Starting today, you can begin considering your method of execution. This step is just as important as formulating your Death Rule, so you must not take it lightly.”
He then pulled a large stack of red coins from his backpack.
“Everyone, come forward and take three.”
Zuo Lin'an quickly received his three red coins and took a closer look.
The front of the coin bore the number one, while the back featured a skull.
An Wen finished distributing the coins, with over a dozen left in his hand.
These likely belonged to the five people who had left the night before. It seemed Instructor An hadn't received the news in advance and had prepared for forty people.
He casually swept the remaining coins back into his backpack, seemingly unbothered by the five missing students.
“These three coins represent three death row inmates.”
He pointed in a general direction.
“Behind the training base is a relatively small prison holding many convicts. One coin allows you to claim one death row inmate.”
An Wen's meaning was clear: each of them had to kill at least three death row inmates.
Most of the students here had never killed anyone before, and few had even seen a corpse.
Quite a few looked troubled.
Seeing their hesitation, An Wen's expression turned stern. “If you feel you can't bring yourselves to do it, bring your coins up now and leave the training base!”
At this, a few students' expressions shifted slightly, but they quickly composed themselves. None of them returned the coins.
Only then did An Wen's expression soften.
“These are valuable assets provided specifically for you to experiment with and test your methods of execution. Remember to use them wisely.”
“Furthermore, those sent to Sin Hunter City are almost always heinous criminals with at least one life on their hands. There is no need to show them any misplaced mercy!”
“Alright, now look at the death row inmate beside me.”
Everyone's eyes fell upon the hooded convict kneeling on the floor.
Behind him, the two soldiers stood straight as javelins.
Just looking at them made Zuo Lin'an feel a chill run down his spine; these two soldiers had clearly taken many lives.
An Wen said, “Most of you here have probably only heard of it but never seen it. Now, I will demonstrate what a real method of execution looks like.”
Behind An Wen, a figure shrouded in black mist suddenly materialized.
Looking closely, it was a gaunt figure nearly two meters tall, with hollow eye sockets and elongated limbs. Its dried skin clung tightly to its bones.
It looked incredibly eerie and terrifying.
Watching everyone flinch back in fear, An Wen chuckled.
“Don't be afraid. This is my specter.”
Only then did Zuo Lin'an realize that Instructor An was actually a Specter Master!
No, that wasn't right!
It was more accurate to say that all the instructors at the training base were Specter Masters!
An Wen opened his mouth to continue.
But at that moment, a shrill, agonizing shriek echoed from outside.
The scream was so heart-wrenching that even An Wen couldn't help but look toward the door.
Zuo Lin'an and Xu Youyou happened to be standing near the window. They instinctively turned to look outside, just in time to see someone burst out of the adjacent training room, screaming and sprinting down the corridor.
Judging by the person's attire, they were likely one of the students.
Zuo Lin'an frowned. Had something gone wrong?
Probably not. If something serious had happened, he wouldn't be the only one running out.
The person, face pale with terror, was practically crawling and scrambling toward the first-floor exit. At that moment, they reached the outside of their training room.
Everyone in the room saw him through the windows.
But then, disaster struck.
The person's body suddenly fell apart like a stack of building blocks while still in a running posture. Severed limbs of various sizes and internal organs scattered all over the corridor!
Everyone who witnessed this stood frozen in shock.
Soon, the heavy stench of blood wafted in through the open door and windows.
“Ugh...”
A few students couldn't hold it in and turned away, dry-heaving.
Observing this, An Wen remarked casually, “That student must have offended the instructor in charge of his class. Otherwise, he wouldn't have met such an end.”
“Alright, don't worry about it. Someone will be over to clean it up shortly.”
He showed no intention of going out to investigate.
“And as I said before, as long as you don't cross my line, I won't raise a hand against you.”
“Now, quiet down!”
Everyone was terrified. No one dared to speak out against An Wen's words.
An Wen continued, “Although that instructor just demonstrated how a specter executes a Death Rule, the specter he fused with is quite unique and can carry out executions from a distance.”
“What I am about to demonstrate to you now is a method of execution that requires direct contact.”
Zuo Lin'an took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves.
But standing near the window, the thick smell of blood rushed straight up his nose. Forcing down his nausea, he focused his gaze on the front of the classroom.
Right then, the terrifying specter materialized behind An Wen stretched out its hands—which looked like withered tree branches—toward the kneeling convict in front of everyone.
It grabbed the man's neck from behind and slowly lifted him into the air.
The convict clutched at the specter's cold, iron-like arms, his legs kicking wildly in the air. The crisp clanking of chains echoed alongside his agonized, suffocating groans.
Just when everyone thought the convict would be strangled to death, a withered hand suddenly pierced through his chest from behind, clutching a still-beating heart.
It squeezed, crushing it instantly!
Blood sprayed everywhere, splattering onto some of the students' clothes and faces, scaring them half to death.
Rate on N.U.
