Chapitre 9: Chapter no.10 Dreamland Array

[ POV Change ]

[ Boiling Bay Prison - Audience Hall ]

The audience hall of Boiling Bay Prison was filled with rows of masked individuals, each one sitting in silence as they gazed upon the Warden standing in the center of the room. The air was thick with tension and anticipation as the Warden, Wong Fei, began to speak.

"Welcome, most respected guests, to the justice against the devils. These demonic bastards have committed crimes against us and they deserve to be punished. Wouldn't you agree?" His words were met with roars of agreement from the crowd, the echoes of their voices filling the hall.

Fei smiled a cold, calculated expression that sent shivers down the spines of those in attendance. "Well, seeing as we are all in agreement, it warms my heart. But as I stand here, I feel like King Henry's fifth wife, not knowing what I am supposed to do."

The crowd fell silent at his words, unsure of what the Warden meant by this comparison. Fei simply chuckled, the sound sending a chill down the spine of the room.

"Quite the tough crowd, but let us not get bored here. Let us cherish this moment with a new announcement. The 2nd round will begin shortly. Seeing your excitement makes my day and for that, I bring you."

With that, the Warden snapped his fingers, causing the blank white masks of the audience to suddenly glow with runic patterns. Many of the audience members were alarmed by the inscription arrays, but the powerful ones in the crowd saw through the array and deduced that they were mere projection arrays.

Fei stood in the center of the room, a cruel smile on his face as he watched the reactions of his guests. He reveled in their fear, relished in their confusion, and reveled in the power he held over them.

The Warden's announcement was met with mixed reactions from the crowd, some of them excited for the 2nd round, while others were filled with dread and uncertainty about what was to come.

" My dear guests, don't be alarmed. These arrays are here to project the image of the Dreamworld to you. With a little help from the Morning Star Sect, we have had all those bastard prisoners marked into the Dreamworld array where the next round will occur."

Wong Fei's words left many in the audience baffled, their minds struggling to comprehend the implications of what he had just said. The Dreamworld array was an extremely complex network of inscriptions that were designed to augment an individual's mind into a dream created by the controller of the array. These arrays were normally used by sects to train disciples to battle one another to the death without the actual fear of dying since their battle would take place in a dream.

The audience began to whisper amongst themselves, trying to make sense of the Warden's words. Some members of the audience wondered why the warden was doing this, their minds racing with the possibilities. Others concluded that the warden didn't want to kill off his golden egg-laying goose, but the majority of the audience was excited to see the battles between the prisoners.

Fei continued, "You, my beautiful audience, however, have some say in this game. If you want to, you can exchange coins with Chrysotiles and gift them to prisoners so that they gain an advantage." His words caused a stir in the audience, some of them were excited at the prospect of being able to influence the outcome of the battles, while others were hesitant, unsure if they wanted to spend it.

The audience sat in silence, contemplating the Warden's words as he stood before them.

[ Boiling Bay Prison Cells ]

The prison cells of Boiling Bay prison began to glow with a complex network of arrays that connected in such a way that an eye could be seen in the center of the cell. The symbols on the array were intricate and mysterious, and it was clear that this was not a technology that was commonly used in the prison.

For Zhongli, the prisoner in this specific cell, the sudden appearance of the array was alarming. He had no time to react as the eye-like array of symbols shot a beam of pure spiritual Qi directly at his head.

As the beam hit him, a sense of vertigo filled Zhongli, and he couldn't help but clench his fist as mind-numbing pain erupted throughout his mind. He felt as though his head was being torn apart, and he could do nothing but scream in agony.

Normally, the Dreamworld array was a painless process, but the Warden had specifically modified this one to be as painful as possible. The Warden intended to break the prisoners mentally before they even entered the Dreamworld. Zhongli's screams filled the cell, echoing through the prison, a reminder to the other prisoners of what awaited them in the next round.

....

[ Zhongli's POV ]

As my eyes opened, I found myself waking up in a classroom of sorts. The room was dimly lit, and I could see the outlines of oak-made desks in front of me. I couldn't help but gulp as a sense of dread filled my heart.

I noticed a coldness on my neck, and I touched it, only to find a metallic ring collar. I felt a chill run down my spine as I realized that I was now a prisoner, trapped in this strange and twisted reality. "Is this a collar?" I thought to myself, feeling a sense of hopelessness wash over me.

As I looked around the room, I saw others in a similar situation. Some of them were looking around in confusion, while others had their heads hung low, defeated. The atmosphere in the room was tense and filled with fear.

Suddenly, the door of the classroom opened with a loud clang. My attention was immediately drawn to the small humanoid-like creature that walked in. It had a purple undertone covering its fur, and it had a strange, otherworldly aura about it.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, can I have your attention please?" The creature said with a smile as it walked up to the board. "Let me first welcome you to the competition. You may call me 'Sir'. I will be your new teacher."

I could see the confusion and fear in the eyes of the other prisoners as they tried to make sense of what was happening. The creature continued, "You are all here because you have been chosen to participate in a special competition. The rules are simple, survive and be the last one standing."

I felt a sense of dread wash over me as I realized that this was a fight to the death.

As I tried to get up, I found that I had no control over my body. The creature, our supposed teacher, walked through the rows of desks, a look of sadistic pleasure on its face. Its words left us confused and terrified.

"I think you'll find the next few days ... very interesting to say the least. Some among you might even "get off on it", to use the vernacular," it exclaimed, its voice filled with malice.

The creature continued, "It's all a matter of preference actually, some of you might opt for a solo battle while others might opt for alliances. I would advise against such fragile things." The confusion and fear in the room were palpable as the creature declared, "Forty-two classes will compete with only one surviving. Survival of the fittest or whatever you want to call it. The game "Kill or be killed" has begun."

The creature looked upon the dazed expressions of the prisoners and sighed. "Oh! We can't have you daze on me now can we, maybe a little visual will help you a little." With that, the creature snapped its fingers, and the reality seemed to contort, revealing a floating corpse in the middle of the class.

As I gazed upon the corpse, I couldn't help but feel my breath leave me. This was the corpse of my wife. But how was this possible? I saw her headless corpse before this nightmare began. My thoughts were interrupted as the self-proclaimed teacher of the class had a look of sadistic pleasure on its face as it exclaimed, "Ah, my apologies I remember this .... delicacy."

The creature motioned to the corpse, and dread filled the class. "You see I smile when I remember the subversive ones. Ah, the tears that flowed through that face along with those cries. Such music to my eyes." The teacher's words caused a thought to arise in my mind. 'Did this thing defile my wife?'

My thoughts were broken as someone from the back stood up and charged towards the creature, roaring, "You bloodied bastard, I'll rip your head off, you son of bitch!" The man channeled every bit of spiritual Qi towards his fist as he attacked the creature, who simply snapped its fingers.

Seeing the man's reaction and the looks of fury across the others in the class, I figured it out. That corpse wasn't my wife's, if it was then why did strangers have such reactions to it? No, that corpse was just an illusion. This is a trial set up by the prison.

My thoughts were interrupted as spiked chains riddled the man's body. "Ah, did I tell you to stand up?" The creature said as it stared at the man's corpse with a look of pleasure on its face.

"Excuse me, Sir." Someone from the front said while raising his hand. The creature turned its attention toward the speaker with a curious look on its face. "Ah, you got me at 'sir'. What do you want?" it asked, its voice filled with malice.

The man hesitated for a moment before speaking, "This is a Dreamland array, isn't it? So that man shouldn't be dead." His words caused the tension that had built up in the class to immediately seize as everyone realized just what was going on.

The creature let out a cruel laugh. "Haha; smart one, aren't you but that's where you are wrong, this may be the Dreamland but those that die here, die in real life." With a snap of its fingers, an image of a prison cell formed from the chest of the floating corpse, showing the man dead in his cell.

The reality of the situation hit the class like a ton of bricks. The creature had been playing with their lives, using the Dreamland array to control their bodies and manipulate their minds. It was a twisted and inhumane game, and the stakes were nothing less than life and death.

The creature's words left the class in a state of shock, as they struggled to come to terms with what they had just witnessed. The creature's sadistic smile was a cruel reminder of the terrible fate that awaited them if they failed to survive the competition.

The room was filled with a sense of hopelessness and despair, as the prisoners realized that they were trapped in this hell for the entertainment of others.

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