Chapter 79: Prelude

Chapter 79: Chapter 79: Prelude

「B City.」

The once-tranquil atmosphere was now wrapped in an unnatural, deathly stillness.

As a team of heavily armed military police stormed into the company, everyone knew what was about to happen.

At this moment, those with outstanding performance were calm, while the corporate drones with long-term unsatisfactory performance gritted their teeth in fear, trembling uncontrollably.

Led by the military police, a government official in a sharp suit walked to the front. He smiled as he opened a roster in his hands and asked, "Is Mr. Zhang San here?"

The moment he spoke, everyone’s gaze snapped toward the back rows of the office. A man sitting there instantly turned deathly pale.

"Given that your performance this year ranks last in the company, and that you have repeatedly left early and clocked in late, you have been selected for the Carnival Day list."

As the government official spoke, Zhang San felt as if a hand had tightly gripped his heart.

He wanted to argue, to resist, to run...

But all of it was silenced by a burst of machine-gun fire from the next room.

"It seems Mr. Li Si next door doesn’t agree with our proposal," the government official said with a cold smile.

That was right. According to the law, those selected for the Carnival Day list were stripped of their basic human rights.

Until Carnival Day ended, they would be held under centralized supervision, confined like livestock in an area even more cramped and crowded than a college dorm.

Just like slaves about to enter an arena for a fight to the death—it was victory or death!

He didn’t dare to resist, didn’t dare to argue, didn’t dare to run.

Zhang San obediently held out his hands, letting the military police cuff him before leading him out of the school gates.

As he passed the neighboring cubicle, Zhang San glanced to the side and saw the body of Li Si lying in a pool of blood.

’It’s fine. At least my family will get enough money now,’ Zhang San reasoned with himself.

He had deliberately chosen to break the rules and leave early.

After all, if every company had to have a worst-performing corporate drone, why couldn’t it be him?

As long as the money was enough to live on, there were plenty of people willing to give their lives. A great many people were even willing to pay to be the worst-performing one.

And who paid for this life? The "bad" corporate drones ranked in the bottom one hundred of the company, of course.

Their families were naturally willing to spend a little money to prevent the pride of their family from dying prematurely.

’So I have to survive,’ Zhang San thought, his eyes filled with determination.

He had to survive Carnival Day, then take the several million in cash and live out the rest of his life in comfort.

And the source of his confidence was his own martial prowess.

Knowing long ago that he would be entering Carnival Day, he had a full year to prepare patiently.

He had studied pre-Cataclysm hand-to-hand combat, armed combat, explosives-making, and the use of firearms.

He was even a top-100 player on the national server of *Firefight Elite*, so he wouldn’t be completely clueless when he got his hands on a gun.

’Quick kills or drawn-out slaughters, I can handle either! Anyone who stands in my way will be eliminated!’ Zhang San thought, his hands in shackles.

However, half an hour later, after being taken to a prison for centralized detention, his earlier confidence was replaced by fear as he looked at the bald, tattooed men around him, their bodies corded with muscle.

’So terrifying...’

His so-called experience and knowledge seemed so feeble when faced with thugs who treated human life as if it were nothing.

Before Zhang San, in the small, 15-square-meter concrete cell, squatted several sinister-looking men, staring at him like he was prey.

If the rules didn’t forbid them from killing each other beforehand—all to make Carnival Day a bit more lively—he suspected these thugs would have devoured him alive in the next second.

While Zhang San’s mind was racing, a hand gently tapped him on the back, making him jump in fright.

He turned to see a scruffy, middle-aged man, also in handcuffs, walking in.

"Young man, from the looks of it, you were chosen for poor performance?" the middle-aged man asked with a smile.

"Yeah. You too, uncle?" Zhang San asked curiously, feeling the man didn’t look like a criminal.

"Sigh. I took the most days off in the whole company, and a month ago I messed up a project. By the time I realized there was a problem, it was too late," the middle-aged man said helplessly.

’So he was chosen to fill a quota from one of the big corporations,’ Zhang San thought to himself.

As he was thinking, a military police officer walked in from outside, scanned the crowd, and announced, "Carnival Day is in three days. When the time comes, you will have two choices."

"The first is to choose slaughter. We will give a weapon to those who choose this path and require you to harvest at least one life."

"If you fail, the collars on your necks will detonate at the end of Carnival Day."

"The second is to hole up and pray you survive the day. This choice has no kill requirement, but the collar on your neck will light up whenever it detects another identical collar within a ten-meter radius."

"Oh, right. Killing another prisoner also counts toward your quota."

The officer announced with a smile, "Whether you choose to kill or to hide is up to you."

"And now, to ensure Carnival Day proceeds smoothly, I’m going to arrange a training session for you. All of you better pay attention and learn, or don’t blame me for not warning you when you die without knowing why."

After speaking, the officer clapped his hands lightly, and his subordinates immediately wheeled in a large screen, which began playing the required learning material.

Seeing the content on the screen, the prisoners’ faces showed their surprise. They never expected they would be learning something like this.

"Struggle well, you dregs of human society. See you on Carnival Day."

The officer laughed heartily as he walked out, slamming the door shut with a BANG, leaving the prisoners with the screen.

The perspective shifted, and the group of prisoners began to study the information on the screen with serious expressions.

It was a detailed explanation on how to use a parachute!

...

Atop a villa, Fang Can stood shirtless with his arms spread wide, allowing his body to bask in the maximum amount of light.

Because he practiced a Martial Dao of the Mind, there was theoretically little difference between absorbing sunlight, ultraviolet rays, or the light from a fluorescent lamp.

But sunlight was just richer in nourishment. It had a natural beauty, as if it were full of vitamins the body needed, making his body more willing to absorb it.

As his body completed one cosmic cycle, Fang Can’s eyes snapped open, a sharp glint of light flashing within them before vanishing.

"The Profound Gate... I’ve reached the Ninth Layer," he said, satisfied, as he draped his clothes back on, marveling at his progress over the past few days.

"I’ve now barely reached the foundation for the next pass. It’s time to take my training to the next level."

Fang Can clenched his fist and said, "Therefore, I need women. I need a great many women to aid my cultivation."

"Huh?" Behind Fang Can, Jiang Ning’an tilted her head in confusion. "What are you talking about?"