Asho opened his eyes and found himself outside of the Broken Lake Prison.
He had really left.
Because even his screen popped up with the message, “Notification: You have now left the Special Service Area of Broken Lake Prison. Welcome to Camon Service Area. Reply ‘KM’ to this message to receive the latest tourism information of Camon City.”
But he hadn’t completely left.
After all, the Broken Lake Prison was just ten steps behind him.
It might not sound like much, but as mentioned before, the reason why Broken Lake Prison became a luxurious hotel exclusively for death row inmates was because of its absolute isolation.
And this absolute isolation was built upon the fact that Broken Lake Prison was a water prison suspended in a solitary inner sea.
So when Asho looked down, he could see the blood moon reflecting on the dark lake surface dozens of meters below, beautiful enough to make one question if they were in a dream, and magnificent enough to make one feel insignificant.
This was supposed to be a romantic moment where one couldn’t help but express their thoughts and emotions.
However, all Asho could feel at this moment was his legs trembling.
After all, when a person stood tens of meters above the sea surface with only one square meter of space to stand on, it was natural to tremble.
“Ah! Ahhh!”
Not far away, a death row inmate let out a desperate scream, “Why am I here? Let me go back, let me go back!”
“I just walked out of the restaurant, didn’t I?”
“The location for the Blood Moon Trial isn’t here!”
“I want to file a complaint to the council! You are disregarding the human rights of death row inmates!”
While the death row inmates were shouting and screaming, a familiar and terrifying voice sounded from behind them, “Ladies and gentlemen, death row inmates, it is now 8 PM in Camon. Good evening, everyone. I am tonight’s overseer, Nagu MacMillan.”
The death row inmates turned their heads and realized that it was the Seaside Observation Deck behind them. The deck was brightly lit, and Nagu stood at the edge of the deck, but he didn’t look at the inmates. Instead, he looked at the six eyes floating in the air, which seemed to be burning.
Although it was their first time seeing it, Asho could guess from his intuition that those six eyes were the recording devices of this world.
“As you can see, the Blood Moon Trial has begun. Viewers who want to browse the specific information of the death row inmates can focus on their faces. If you want to change the viewing angle, you can focus on the different camera eyes on the left. Everyone can directly watch this trial by silently reciting ‘Camon Channel One’. The rules and information of this trial are on the right side of the screen.”
Everyone…
With a thought, Asho silently recited ‘Camon Channel One’, and his screen indeed showed the live broadcast.
He could even see a person tilting their head and sneakily looking back, which looked a bit ridiculous – it was himself.
“The mode for this trial is the new mode ‘Repentance on the Steel Wire’. The specific rules and information are as follows.”
Nagu calmly said, “First, it is currently the breeding season of the ‘Finger Sharks’ in the Broken Lake. According to records from previous years, there are thirty-five thousand Finger Sharks gathered in the lake at this time. Any creature that falls into the Broken Lake will turn into blood foam and disappear. The Fishing Association reminds everyone that because of the rampant and accessible nature of the Finger Sharks this month, the fishing competition’s points for catching Finger Sharks have been temporarily suspended. Please pay attention, members.”
As he spoke, Nagu kicked a dead pig into the lake.
When the dead pig fell into the water, hundreds of finger-sized sharks swarmed towards it, causing the water surface to boil.
Two seconds later, the corpse of the pig disappeared.
Not just the flesh and blood, even the bones were gone!
Seeing this scene, Asho’s legs not only trembled, but also weakened.
“Second, the weather sorcerers have announced that tonight is the night of the Storm Artisan’s outbreak. The northeast region of Camon is temporarily a no-fly zone. The Artificer Association reminds the Storm faction sorcerers to take safety precautions tonight and remove all metal items before entering the Virtual Realm.”
Nagu took out a piece of iron and threw it into the sky.
Crack!
A thunderous lightning struck through the night sky, shattering the iron piece!
“Third, when the voting for the trial begins, the ‘Executioner’ will be generated on the platform where the death row inmate is currently located. The ‘Executioner’ in this trial has been enhanced with the ‘Purifying Flame’, which will burn around the Executioner. It doesn’t cause physical damage, but it strongly burns the souls of evildoers, burning away their sins.”
“But rest assured, all death row inmates who are innocent or sincerely repentant can directly ignore the effect of the Purifying Flame.”
Understood, it meant that either he jumped down and became fish food, or he stayed in place and suffered a painful death… Wait a minute!
Asho suddenly realized a loophole.
He wasn’t the real Asho Heath, so what sins did he have?
He almost got too immersed in it. He was an innocent wandering soul from another world!
“Fourth, there is a steel wire in front of each death row inmate, extending to a safe platform in the distance. Various weapons are placed on the large platform.”
When the lights shone, Asho saw that there was indeed a thin steel wire beneath his feet, which looked like it could easily cut a person in half.
And at the end of this hundred-meter steel wire was the large platform with various weapons on the ground, including knives, swords, guns, and even cannons.
“Fifth, it is the well-known rule of the Blood Moon. When the voting ends, the death row inmate with the most votes will have the opportunity for redemption tonight. If someone reaches 50% of the votes in advance, the voting phase will end directly and enter the execution stage.”
“Each vote will become the power of the Executioner. The Executioner, who gathers the sense of justice from countless people, will execute the death row inmate and personally send their soul to the Blood Moon Paradise, where the benevolent Blood Moon Supreme Lord will forgive their sins and faults.”
“These are the rules of this Blood Moon Trial.”
Nagu turned around and looked at the death row inmates, raising his hand and snapping his fingers.
“Now, the Central Chamber will release the restrictions on the eight saved sinners.”
As Nagu’s words fell, multiple messages popped up on Asho’s screen:
“Virtual Realm access allowed”
“Artificing power output allowed”
“Attack restrictions lifted”
Messages like these continuously popped up dozens of times, combined with the feeling of ease flowing through his body, as if he had just relieved himself. This was the only time when death row inmates regained all their freedom: during the Blood Moon Trial, the prison would lift most of the inmates’ restrictions!
“All you sinners, please repent earnestly. Under the illumination of the Blood Moon, repentance is the only path to salvation.”
Nagu smiled faintly, opened his hands, and announced loudly:
“The voting phase begins! Audience, please cast your solemn vote, transforming into the power that upholds justice and the kindness that redeems sinners!”
“At this moment, it is the time for judgment!”
Asho suddenly felt a chill in his body, as if the temperature around him had suddenly dropped by ten degrees.
He lowered his head and saw the brilliance of the Blood Moon on the platform twisting, changing, and shaping like tentacles, gradually gathering into a crimson and ferocious thorn monster appearing behind Asho!
Its body was entwined with indigo flames, illuminating Asho’s terrified face!
Instinctively, Asho took a step back.
But as he stepped back, his heels stepped on the edge!
If he hadn’t adjusted his balance in time, he would have almost fallen and become the night snack of the Finger Sharks!
Why me… When Asho let out a cry of despair that every unlucky person would make, a message popped up in the upper left corner of the live broadcast screen, answering his confusion:
“The current highest vote recipient: Asho Heath, 49 votes.”