Three days later, at the Jinling Social Security Bureau.

In fact, Huai Shi had no clue about the location of this damn place. He had been brought in with a hood over his head. By the time he opened his eyes, he was sitting in an empty room.

A ghastly white lamp hung overhead. There was a table in front of him. Under the harsh incandescent light, the person sitting behind the table was expressionless.

"Did I commit an offense again?"

Huai Shi looked around blankly and, without waiting for Mo San, who sat opposite him, to speak, he recited in a practiced manner, "Huai Shi, male, seventeen years old, student..."

"..."

Mo San stared at him dumbfounded, then looked back at her colleague beside her, wondering what on earth he was doing.

"Hm? Aren't you interrogating me?" Huai Shi was overjoyed. "Does that mean I didn't do anything wrong?"

"Pfft, like an idiot." In the corner, Yuan Zhao folded his arms, looking disdainful as if itching for a fight. Mo San promptly slapped him on the back of the head.

"What are you doing here? Get out, get out..."

Yuan Zhao looked innocent. "Older Cousin told me to come."

"Call him Director! Is 'Older Cousin' what you call him? So disrespectful." Mo San raised her hand for another slap, but this time Yuan Zhao ducked, evading it.

"So, can someone explain what's going on?" Huai Shi raised his hand to ask.

Mo San's expression grew complicated. She studied Huai Shi for a long moment, confirming his cluelessness, before finally speaking, "This is the Prison Department of the Jinling Social Security Bureau. For various reasons, and for the sake of confidentiality, we can't let you know the specific location or how you got here."

"Yeah, I noticed." Huai Shi glanced around at the oppressively dark walls and nodded. "What next?"

"That's it. There is no next." Mo San spread her hands. "Honestly, I just came to have tea with you. You can relax a bit. After all, you are now a Member of the Astronomical Society. Since you haven't violated the Twelve Bronze Statutes or the Border regulations, we won't do anything to you. Moreover, I wasn't the one who brought you here."

Hearing this, Huai Shi grew angry.

That muscle-bound old bastard, Wang Ba, had suddenly jumped out of the car, grabbed him, and brought him here. Huai Shi hadn't even had time to understand what was happening.

Then, heavy footsteps sounded from outside the door.

"All right, I've already arranged everything with them." The old man, wearing a rare coat, swaggered in from outside. He pulled up a stool, sat down as if in his own home, and told Huai Shi, "Take a rest; you're up soon."

"What's this all about?" Huai Shi was dumbfounded. "What have you arranged for me now?"

He was scared of this old man by now.

For the past few days, the old man had kept coming up with ways to torment him. All the fitness training was nothing compared to what followed. First, he had used a Drummer to repeatedly send Huai Shi flying, making him experience the transformation of power. Then, he tied Huai Shi's hands, made him carry a Gatling gun while the old man chased him, forcing him to practice Yu Step to save his life... It was a relentless parade of torment, making Huai Shi consider bribing his way out again.

But determined not to bow to those who would exploit him, Huai Shi gritted his teeth and persevered.

Yet that Old Turtle turned out to be even more outrageous, literally pushing him into prison.

"Real combat training." The old man casually explained, leisurely squeezing a hand grip, "Daily training isn't very useful. Once you've learned enough, you should practice real combat, so you don't spend three years boxing only to get knocked senseless the moment you step outside."

Huai Shi, enraged, flipped the table. "What kind of real combat training takes place in a prison?!"

"Of course, the kind where you fight to the death, relentless until the end." Luo Lao retorted seriously, "Otherwise, what would you call real combat?"

"..."

Huai Shi was bewildered for a long moment before he finally processed it, asking with some difficulty, "This can't be legal, can it?"

"Hahaha, you're funny." Luo Lao scoffed. "Next time you say that, please go outside and shoot yourself first. You've killed quite a few people... I remember you weren't such a wimp when you were killing and committing arson. What was that guy's name again? Qi Wen?"

"That's different!"

"It's all the same." Luo Lao slammed a thick stack of documents on the table. "Here's your opponent for today, a Soul Eating Cultist who should have been executed... When he was caught, he was sitting at the dining table of a family of three, and the soup in the pot was still warm. Any guesses what was cooking?"

Huai Shi remained silent, looking down at the trial documents on the table. After a long time, he shook his head.

"I came here for training, not to do this."

"Then what did you come for? To get fit?" Luo Lao retorted. "You learn the skills of killing but don't kill; what's it for, then?"

"At least it's not for killing that I learn such things." Huai Shi looked up at him, his expression turning resolute. "And I'm not standing here for that either."

"Then what are you standing here for?"

"I don't know."

Huai Shi shook his head decisively, causing the old man's brows to furrow.

"If you can't figure out what you've chosen for yourself, then just go home and drink your Happy Water, kid. There's no such gentleness in the world of Sublimators."

Huai Shi's expression was calm as he simply looked at him and countered, "Just because the world isn't good, doesn't mean one should naturally let themselves become bad, right?"

"Naive," Luo Lao said coldly.

"Long ago, someone asked me why I wanted to become a Sublimator and told me that no matter what I chose, in the end, it would all be like playing a game of idiomatic 'solitaire.' In the beginning, it's about doing whatever one desires, doing whatever one desires, doing whatever one desires..."

Huai Shi pondered for a long time before speaking earnestly, "I've always been thinking about what her words truly meant. Only now do I vaguely understand a bit of it—sometimes the point isn't doing whatever one desires, but rather what one refrains from doing."

In the silence, the young man lifted his eyes to look at him. "Perhaps I chose to become stronger so that I could do whatever I desired, but it should be based on having more options, not on having no other way to solve problems except through killing, right?"

In the corner, Yuan Zhao pursed his lips, about to speak, but Mo San slapped him on the back of his head again.

"Children shouldn't interrupt when adults are speaking."

With that, the coldly beautiful woman pinched his ear and dragged him out.

In the quiet, Luo Lao silently watched Huai Shi, appearing displeased, yet it was as if he had finally glimpsed something behind that calm facade, a slow understanding dawning on him.

"That self-righteous face of yours, spouting big words like a child, is really annoying, Huai Shi."

Though he said this, he finally stopped calling the young man 'Little Brag,' his earlier disdain gradually fading. His expression also became serene.

"So, are you going to refuse this competition? Are you conceding without even stepping onto the field?"

"No, I will win."

Huai Shi looked at him calmly. "If this is a lesson, I'll complete it. If this is a test you've set, I'll pass it. But no matter what plans and educational agenda you have, or what you want me to become, I'm afraid I'll have a hard time meeting your expectations."

"That really sounds like something a bad student would say." Luo Lao laughed happily. "As an educator, I'm already looking forward to the day you 'mend your ways.'"

"That day will never come."

Huai Shi stood up, picked up the verdict on the table, and walked towards the door.

Just as Huai Shi was about to leave, the old man called out to him. With his back turned, the old man suddenly asked, "Hey, do you know what the consequences of showing mercy to an enemy are?"

"Don't worry."

Huai Shi waved his hand at the old man. "That kind of thing, I've long since run out of."

The door closed.

Under the silent light, the old man smiled noiselessly.

The pressure of countless muscles twisted his anticipatory smile into something particularly grim.

For the first time in his life, he actually felt a flicker of that nonsensical passion of an educator. Indeed, students are no fun if they're too obedient, are they?

In the deep, impenetrable darkness where not even light could pierce, a hunched, emaciated figure sat in shackles, his eyes downcast, as if lost in a dream.

Yet the darkness danced around him. It was formed of innumerable mists, so thin as to be nearly indiscernible. These mists spread out with the whispers, only to recoil under flashes of lightning, trapped within the cage.

In the prolonged silence, where the passage of time was irrelevant, heavy footsteps slowly approached.

The cell window slid open, revealing a pair of iron-grey, slitted pupils.

"Walker Carroll," the Guard known as Chen Qingyang said coldly, "It's time."

"Finally..."

The prisoner named Walker slowly lifted his head. His face was as gaunt as a skeleton, and his pitch-black eyes were frighteningly large. A wide, chilling grin spread across his face as he said, "To be honest, I thought you would execute me directly."

"I would," Chen Qingyang said calmly. "Even if you win, it's just prolonging your pathetic existence. There's no need to be so happy."

"Survival, sir, survival is the most delightful thing." Walker narrowed his eyes, inhaling deeply. "The scent of countless inverted dreams and shattered illusions intoxicates me every moment... Honestly, I truly love this place."

"As rare as that sentiment is, please remember to give us a good review after you die." Chen Qingyang extended his hand, flinging open the cage door. An invisible power released Walker's shackles, allowing the myriad shadows confined within his body to burst forth.

As he closed his eyes, countless pupils, large and small, opened in the darkness in an instant—some mocking, some angry, others joyful or bewildered. The multitude of eyes flowed, finally turning to look at Chen Qingyang.

"Where is my opponent?"

Chen Qingyang said, "Right behind you."

BOOM!

In that instant, the walls of the cage began to slowly open amidst a thunderous noise.

Blinding, icy light shone down from the dome above, illuminating countless vast hubs and mechanisms, like a steel jungle rapidly reconfiguring itself. Walls, floors... everything shifted and moved, appearing and retracting.

Until at last, it formed a massive plaza.

And as Walker Carroll turned his head, behind the opening gate, the figure of the young man slowly rose.

"Ah, such intoxicating Source Substance!"

Around Walker, in the darkness, countless large eyes trembled excitedly, as if they had caught the scent of some exquisite delicacy.

Third Stage Stigma·Nightmare, awakened here!

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