The Bloody Public Trial

*Clack, clack...* Heavy combat boots echoed down the pitch-black corridor. Passersby hastily parted at the sight of the newcomers. Walking at the head of the group was a girl in a black trench coat with a blade in hand and a cold expression. Her eyes were lowered, radiating an unapproachable aura. Behind her, two fully armed soldiers in goggles dragged the limp-legged Bai Zhou along, their combat boots striding forward in broad steps. "..." Having just awakened from unconsciousness, Bai Zhou furrowed his brow, his gaze profound as though lost in deep contemplation. In truth, he was merely utterly bewildered by his situation. The tunnel walls were made of hard black rock, sloping downward all the way like a point-of-no-return corridor leading straight into hell. Sure enough, he had become a trophy of the aliens and brought back to their lair. He could only hope these aliens didn't have a habit of using human meat for plain-broth hot pot. Fortunately, they seemed to speak his language. "Where are we going?" Bai Zhou gathered his courage to ask. "The public trial." The soldier's reply was sparing with words, showing no desire for further interaction with Bai Zhou. "...Public trial?" Hearing this familiar yet foreign term, Bai Zhou's heart gave a thump, yet he couldn't think of any way to escape. —Because that "godlike girl" who had cleaved the heavens, shattered the earth, and seemed to have sliced the moon itself to pieces was walking right in front of him. Despite her petite stature of just over 1.6 meters, she carried an overwhelming pressure as vast as the sea and heavy as a mountain. Conspicuously perched upon her shoulder was a three-legged, crow-like black bird. Yet the passersby in the tunnel found nothing strange about the bird; they were likely accustomed to the girl's presence. Instead, they were filled with curiosity about Bai Zhou trailing behind her. To aliens, a human like him was probably a rare species; if he could qualify as a protected animal, that would be ideal. "We're here." A cool female voice rang out abruptly. The blade-bearing girl leading the way came to a quiet halt before a set of doors. The two soldiers caught up a moment later, hauling Bai Zhou. Sensing their arrival, the massive doors slid open automatically to both sides with a hiss, revealing the grand world beyond— Towering silver-white walls rose on all four sides. Gleaming pillars and crossbeams seemed to blaze with brilliant light, supporting a magnificent dome soaring to an infinite height, branded with mysterious patterns. This was an immense underground base. Heavily guarded, soldiers came and went in squads. Bright lights shone in all directions. The ground, paved with gray stone slabs, stretched toward the high walls, resembling a colossal subterranean cage. "Little Zhou, you're here too!" The voice of Uncle Xiang, the convenience store owner, reached his ears. Bai Zhou immediately spotted the central plaza packed with a sea of people. Every single familiar neighbor from Wancheng had been gathered here without exception, as if attending a grand assembly. The restless crowd, sharing the same confusion and dread, encircled a high platform. Aloft the towering platform, prisoners in black, hands bound behind them with iron chains, knelt on the floor facing the crowd below. Disheveled and begrimed, they could not conceal the terror on their faces. "B-Black Robes?" Bai Zhou's heart jumped into his throat. These kneeling black-clad prisoners were clearly the very members of the Black Robe Law Enforcement Team Bai Zhou had admired and respected most, their faces familiar yet distant. Surrounded by heavily armed soldiers, five men clad in dark gray camouflage military uniforms sat with their legs parted on tall, throne-like seats, emotionlessly looking down upon the Black Robes kneeling all across the floor. Sitting in the center was a young man wearing sunglasses with a pipe in his mouth. His slicked-back hair was meticulously styled with pomade. The dark gray officer's uniform fitted his upright frame neatly, and the three medals pinned to his chest nonchalantly hinted at past glories. "Adjutant Han, is everyone here?" The pipe bobbed twice as the sunglasses-wearing man glanced aside, sparing with words. "Everyone is present," a delicate-featured man replied, turning around and bowing respectfully, his voice gentle and melodious. Unusually, cradled in his arms was a black-and-white Black Cat Sheriff plush toy. Stuffed plump with cotton, three distinct pairs of white whiskers protruded from the plush fabric, brimming with spirited swagger. Then, clasping the Sheriff plushie with both hands, Adjutant Han looked to the side. "The Major's time is precious. Let us begin." "Yes, Major!" An officer snapped to his feet, saluted the Major on the high seat, and strode past the kneeling Black Robes to stand before the crowd. "Blue Star Eastern Federation time: August 17, 2030, 2:36 PM!" "The Provisional Tribunal of the Black Box Special Control Bureau under the Tinghai General Administration, ratified by the Statute Hall, hereby announces the verdict!" The officer spoke words that made no sense to Bai Zhou, unfolding a document to read aloud: "The criminal Zhao Qing! Mid-level cadre of the Blood Worship Cult, Grand Elder of the Wancheng Black Robes. Found guilty of participating in an illegal association, murder, sacrificing to an evil god, and organ modification. For multiple concurrent offenses, sentenced to death! "All remaining accomplices, who aided the wicked and brought calamity upon Wancheng, are sentenced to death! To be executed immediately!" "—Haha! The raven sings of the hour of stillness, the day the blood moon returns to the earth!" An old man—the most brutally tortured among them, covered in blood with limp limbs—could not suppress his fanaticism, still crying out mysterious sacrificial incantations. Then he caught a hard slap across the face. Yellowed old teeth flew out mixed with bloody foam, landing right beside Bai Zhou's feet. "...The Black Robe Grand Elder?" Bai Zhou, mingled in the crowd, recognized the man, his eyes narrowing. A commotion broke out among the crowd. The mysterious and supreme Black Robe Grand Elder, Zhao Qing, was a household name to everyone in Wancheng. For right in the center of Civic Plaza stood a gilded statue of the Grand Elder. People viewed him as the sun in the sky, welling up with tears of gratitude whenever his name was mentioned. In Wancheng, even a dog belonging to the Zhao household would be looked up to and greeted with beaming smiles in the streets! Yet now? "Spare us! We are also Wancheng citizens persecuted by the Blood Worship Cult!" one Black Robe wept bitterly. "I can cooperate! I love the Federation too!" He, too, had his front teeth knocked out with a slap. The officer looked down at him, his expression even colder: "You were originally victims, yet once you joined the Black Robes and learned the truth, you willingly aided the wicked. That makes you even more beyond redemption..." "Enough," the Major seated in the center said with a hint of impatience, waving a broad hand. "Proceed straight to execution!" "Yes, sir!" Several people in white uniforms immediately answered, gingerly carrying over a large black box. The officer deliberately kept his distance from the black box before pulling another document from his coat to recite: "Pursuant to Article 7 of the *Special Control Protocol* and Article 11 of the *Eastern Federation Black Box Management Regulations*, Black Box Catalog No. E-1350 will be deployed to execute the Blood Worship cultists. "This application has been approved by the Statute Hall!" The black box was opened, revealing a magnificent, enormous oil painting inside. Depicted upon it was a lion-like man holding a scepter, head held high and chest out, his features imposing and majestic, with thick, flowing hair cascading down both sides. Next, several individuals in white lab coats and face masks fanned out around the painting. Paper and pens in hand, they took their positions and nodded to the officer. "Black Box Catalog No. E-1350, *Portrait of Louis XVI*. Experiment Record No. 18... begins!" *A Black Box... what is that?* The moment Bai Zhou's gaze brushed the painting, an inexplicable chill crept down his neck. —Just then, the officer barked the order. "Execute!" "..." The air went dead silent. No executioner could be seen on the platform. The kneeling Black Robes exchanged bewildered glances, unable to fathom what trick these people were playing. Until one of the Black Robes looked toward the portrait and noticed that the corners of the painted man's mouth seemed to curve upward, flashing him a meaningful smile— In the very next instant, the Black Robe lost all consciousness. *Thud, roll, roll...* A head tumbled onto the floor, blood gushing forth from the neck. "...!" The Black Robes and the audience below screamed in unison. Only the oil painting grew increasingly vivid, and the smile on the man named "Louis XVI" grew even more radiant. Terrified to look at the painting any longer, the Black Robes frantically spun around, squeezing their eyes shut, not daring to peek. Yet closing their eyes was futile. An eerie dread engulfed the entire platform. The next moment, another head flew high into the air. The cut on the corpse was clean and smooth, as though an invisible, colossal guillotine had dropped its blade right above his head. "A flawless experiment!" The lab-coated observers recorded data on clipboards, their pens flying as they whispered among themselves. "The Western Federation's Louvre lent the *Portrait of Louis XVI* on the condition that eighteen valid trials be conducted. We were just worrying about lacking enough consumables..." Every second, another head rolled onto the floor with a thud. Gouts of blood shot through the air like wild dancing vipers, turning into a light, drizzling rain. It reminded Bai Zhou of the black dog blood and goat blood people had scrambled to fling toward the sky when Wancheng shattered. Foul, reeking blood and lumps of mangled flesh wound across the execution platform, filled with a touch of madness. Bai Zhou's vision filled with crimson. Dazed, he felt as if the surrounding din of the crowd had drifted far away; all he could hear was the tense, thumping echo of his own heartbeat. When the end came for Wancheng, everything had happened so abruptly that Bai Zhou hadn't really felt it. Yet now, as the Black Robes fell, he truly heard the echoes of his world collapsing. Because the Black Robes were the very people Bai Zhou had admired most and aspired to become. He had been the top trainee of the Youth Training Corps, yet now the Black Robes were declared heinous criminals. Even the Black Robes themselves didn't refute it. Bai Zhou didn't know what was right or wrong, but he knew his world was truly finished. Many scenes flashed through his mind scene by scene, only to shatter in the end. The past was like a drawing in the sand—the wind blew the sand away, and memory faded along with it. "Intense!" The bloody spectacle prompted the soldier beside him to light a cigarette, inhaling like an exhaust fan to pull the smoke deep into his lungs. "That Grand Elder is something else. An experiment pitting a Rank 3 Beyonder against an E-Class Black Box isn't something you see every day!" *Rustle...* The raven stretched lazily. The girl in the trench coat flipped through the documents in her hand, softly reading aloud: "—Over twenty years ago, on the eve of the turn of the century, the rampant illegal cult known as the 'Blood Worship Cult' proposed a bizarre, lunatic concept. "'If living humans from the mortal realm were sent to the reverse side of the world, to the Reflected Ruin Realm where the dead congregate, and allowed to grow and multiply amidst its erosion and corruption, could a special breed of human capable of transcending life and death be cultivated?' "'To this end, the Blood Worship Cult imprisoned 128 people on the fringes of the Reflected Ruin Realm, constructing a stronghold named Wancheng.' "'However, because the experiment yielded no results after so long, the Blood Worship Cult ultimately left only a handful of observers behind to maintain it.' "'—The leader of these observers became Wancheng's Black Robe Grand Elder.' "'The remaining observers formed the original Black Robe Law Enforcement Team, brainwashing and tormenting Wancheng.'" "Twenty-six years." The girl in the trench coat pressed her lips together, her eyes half-closed. "Justice has been delayed for far too long." "Reflected Ruin Realm? Blood Worship Cult?" Bai Zhou's eyes turned vacant. "Observers?" By instinct, he had wanted to hate. He felt he should hate these outsiders who had destroyed his world and trampled his dreams underfoot, yet the girl's words left him completely lost. Everything from his past had shattered into an illusion. A tidal wave of loneliness submerged Bai Zhou completely. The unfamiliarity of it all suffocated him, as if the world were vast, yet he could no longer find a place to belong. *Roll, roll...* Another severed head tumbled across the floor. Swirling gusts tilted the raining blood, splattering across Bai Zhou's face and shoulder. The foul stench sent a shiver through him. After the initial daze, a wave of profound terror belatedly washed over his heart. Bai Zhou stumbled two steps back, bumping into the arm of the soldier puffing smoke beside him. "Scared? Wondering why you were brought here to watch the trial?" The soldier discarded his previous cold, lethargic demeanor, appearing quite inclined to talk. "Because we all come from the same Blue Star. Ever heard of Blue Star? "You folks were just abducted to another place, and the Black Robes are the villains who kept you imprisoned." Taking a deep drag on his cigarette butt, pungent smoke leaked from his nostrils. He coughed a few times, sounding as if he were about to cough up a lung. "A false life is never airtight. Why did you never see anyone from outside Wancheng? Because out there is a forbidden ruin where the living cannot tread! "Only today are you finally standing on normal ground... standing on Blue Star. "Honestly, you got lucky." Tossing the finished cigarette butt onto the ground, the soldier scratched his rear. "The files say you were a reserve for the Black Robes. One step closer, and you'd be kneeling up there too." "One step closer?" Bai Zhou instinctively thought of Li Wang, who had pulled strings to steal his spot. One step closer, indeed—he came within an inch of having no head left to scratch. Back then, Li Wang had been riding high, proving to Bai Zhou firsthand that years of hard studying couldn't beat having a well-connected father. "—Bai Zhou!!" Suddenly, a heart-wrenching shriek from the platform gave Bai Zhou a fright. Following the sound, Bai Zhou saw a chubby face contorted with jealousy and hatred. Among all the kneeling Black Robes, he was the youngest. "Li Wang!" Bai Zhou shuddered. Then, under Li Wang's despairing gaze, Bai Zhou swiftly adopted an expression of utter bewilderment and innocence. "You know him?" the soldier asked, turning to Bai Zhou. Bai Zhou waved his hands repeatedly. "Nothing to do with me, nothing at all." Li Wang wailed at the top of his lungs, craning his neck forward. His screams atop the platform drew plenty of attention— "Bai Zhou! I'm dying in your place!" No one paid him any mind. Only Louis XVI flashed a benevolent, fatherly smile. The next instant, a grotesque head flew high into the air, tumbling across the floor. Li Wang's headless corpse collapsed as a fountain of blood sprayed outward. "..." Below the platform, Bai Zhou suddenly felt waves of icy air chilling his neck. He subconsciously touched his face, then felt his arms. Bai Zhou suddenly marveled at the fickleness of fate. Earlier, he had resented Li Wang for taking his slot. Yet if not for that, the one standing on that platform getting decapitated right now would have been Bai Zhou. At that, the dazed Bai Zhou abruptly snapped awake. He had felt he ought to hate something, but right now, all he felt was the tremendous joy of surviving a catastrophe. Looking around, Bai Zhou noticed that everyone else seemed to be the same. The people didn't seem particularly concerned about the deaths of the Black Robes or the truth behind Wancheng; they cared far more about their own futures. As long as they could stay alive, where they lived or how they lived didn't seem to matter—they would always adapt. ...As he watched, Bai Zhou suddenly held his breath, his mind going blank for a fraction of a second. *What is that?* On the platform littered with headless corpses, sticky blood coated the entire surface. And in a depression at the center where the blood pooled— Strings of grotesque, glaringly crimson characters were unmistakably twisting and slowly squirming atop the thick blood. Clustered together like living little insects, they scrambled over each other, crawling toward the edge of the platform. [I refuse to accept this! I was just one step away from advancing to Rank 4 'Butcher'—then these bastards from the Special Control Bureau wouldn't have been able to stop me!] [I'm about to die, but what will happen to my little sister?] [Ha! No one would ever guess that beneath the big tree in front of the main entrance of the Yongning Life Care Center on Dongxing Road lies the *Dead Sea Secret Scroll* they've been searching for... They'll never dig it up in this lifetime!] [The keyword for advancing to Rank 2 'Kin'—is it 'Loss of Control' or 'Blood'?] [Bai Zhou! Bai Zhou! What was I thinking, blinding myself with greed just to steal Bai Zhou's spot?!] [...] The colors of these lines varied in intensity; some were glaring crimson oozing with murderous intent, while others were pale, mottled, and on the verge of fading. "Are these... the dying words of the executed Black Robes?" Bai Zhou rubbed his eyes, muttering internally. —*Did I take too much shock? Am I hallucinating?* Among them, one dying message was the darkest in shade—so deep red it almost glowed—and exerted the strongest pull on Bai Zhou. Yet the words were extraordinarily simple. It read: [Before I go, I really want to smoke a Furongwang!] "..." Amidst the boiling clamor of the crowd, Bai Zhou stood frozen in silence for a long time. After a while, he slowly turned his head to look at the chain-smoking soldier beside him. In the process, he calmly eyed the brand on the cigarette pack in the man's hand. "Brother." Bai Zhou gave a light cough, lowered his voice, and leaned in. "Got a light?"