Lin Sanjiu only heard the term "sponsors" on the fourth day of the tournament. After the end of day three, the capsule containment area had 29 fewer capsules. Among the 29 women, there were those with outstanding abilities, some who were quick-witted, and others who worked together... but in the end, they all ended up dying in the most meaningless and banal way without a shred of dignity. Their remnants of blood and flesh dyed the arena red while the groups of duoluozhongs walked around, making squishy sounds as they trampled over their bodies.
Out of the dead women, one of them had an ability that seemed related to her vision. Even after her body had been minced, one of her eyeballs remained intact. No matter how hard the duoluozhong tried to step on it, it didn't burst. It simply rolled about in the bloody mixture on the ground with the sclera facing the ceiling.
After the end of each match, the number of duoluozhongs in the arena increased like the piling corpses. The duoluozhongs that were not killed in the match were not taken away. Instead, they were allowed to roam the arena, waiting for the next batch of duoluozhongs to arrive. Perhaps due to the strengthening experimentations done to them in the Garden of Eden Laboratories, the duoluozhongs from the first three days seemed to be lacking in the intelligence department, and their combat styles were also nothing unusual.
After the fourth day, Lin Sanjiu started to feel that those 29 women were lucky.
At that moment, the cameras were sweeping across the cheering crowd that was surging into the arena. Whenever a camera flew close to the crowd, it would cause the audience to shriek happily. Some people even took off their hoods and jumped up and down, waving at the cameras. By this time, the seats had all been filled. The vendors who were strolling through the rows of seats were all beaming. They sold all sorts of odd, colorful tidbits and souvenirs and easily cleared their stock in just a few minutes.
After the segment, which showed the audience ended, a large closeup view of a contestant appeared on the screen while a tsunami of cheers erupted from the audience.
From the angle, the image on the screen was a direct feed from a camera in a capsule. The young girl who appeared on the screen was leaning against the wall of her capsule. She had a withered look as her eyelids drooped. It was as if she had already lost the will to fight. Even when she saw her face blown up on the screen in the center of the arena, her eyes only shifted a little.
She was only eighteen or nineteen. Even though she couldn't be considered beautiful, her age gave her an edge, giving her a certain appeal.
"This is Contestant 14; she is only 18, and her name is Nathalia. She has the lucky privilege of being the first female mutate with a sponsor. Please give her a round of applause!" Once the host said this, a beam was cast at the audience, and an animated projection of blooming flowers appeared midair. After that, the words "The CEO of the Garden of Eden Crop Sticky Cloning Technique Pte Ltd., Carl Lorraine, wishes everyone a Happy Lunar New Year" were shown, and there was a small line of words that seemed to be the company's address.
It was only then that Nathalia glanced at the projection in midair with a slightly confused face.
"The future fate of Contestant 14 is in the hands of Carl Lorraine, the CEO of the Garden of Eden Crop Sticky Cloning Technique Pte Ltd. He chooses—" the host intentionally dragged his words to draw the attention of the audience. Then, he announced loudly, "Before she dies under the hands of the duoluozhongs who have been fed aphrodisiac, Contestant 14 would be beheaded!"
Through the large screen, everyone could see Nathalia's facial features freezing up. Her previously apathetic expression fell off her face like a shattered mask.
For a second, the audience was absolutely silent.
Suddenly, from a corner, someone started clapping. The sound spread like a contagion among the audience, and soon, the arena was assaulted by the sound of applause. Lin Sanjiu thought that she might have misheard something as she looked in a daze at the screen.
Nathalia covered her mouth and suddenly vomited. Light yellow gastric fluid seeped through her fingers, and then the screen cut over to another contestant.
This was a fair woman whose age was around 35. She had a mature elegance and was well-endowed. She would have looked more alluring if the camera hadn't been shaking so much due to her pounding insanely on the walls of the capsule.
"The famous gourmet and host of the popular food show Gentle Eats, the author, Woden, wishes everyone a happy festive season. The fate he has chosen for Contestant 70 is..."
The woman stopped pounding. She looked up with vacant eyes, revealing her snow-white neck.
"...for both her breasts and her tender inner thighs to be cut off while she is still alive. Using these parts, Woden would personally create a dish called Milky Mounds. This will be shown later in the program... Anyone who is interested in collecting the taxidermy model of Contestant 70, please note that those parts will be modeled..."
Lin Sanjiu confirmed that what she heard was true. Lin Sanjiu clenched her fists. She could feel her temples pulsing as if a wild beast would climb out from her head any moment and eat up those people. She didn't know which of her emotions made her react so strongly that her body began to tremble, and her teeth began to chatter. She tried her best to control her muscles, but they wouldn't stop convulsing.
For today's match, only two out of the five women had the 'lucky privilege' of being sponsored. The host paused for a moment before he introduced the next segment, "There are three predictions for the amount of time that Contestant 14 would last under the hands of those duoluozhongs; they are 3-5 minutes; 6-9 minutes; and over 10 minutes. The experts tentatively classified her ability as a type of increased agility."
The capsule Nathalia was in started sliding toward the battle arena. Lin Sanjiu couldn't even imagine the expression on that girl's face.
When the chosen capsules stopped in the middle of the battle arena, the screen showed the bets by the residents placed on Contestant 14's survival time. The first two options were very popular, and the amount wagered just kept climbing, whereas only a few took a gamble on the third option.
Soon, the segment for the bets to be placed on Contestant 14 and Contestant 70 ended. The black van, so familiar to Lin Sanjiu, stopped outside the arena.
As the battle arena was fully covered by the blood and flesh of the casualties, the prison van was parked outside, probably to prevent the vehicle from skidding.
The duoluozhongs that came out from the van were visibly different from those used in the past three days. The duoluozhongs, which were currently in the arena, barely looked like humans and seemed to only have a violent intent to kill. However, the duoluozhongs that had just arrived, though hairless, retained their most important appendages. From the looks of it, the Garden of Eden Laboratories definitely strengthened...
The appendages were almost as long as a man's lower leg swung between their knees as the duoluozhongs walked, evoking the image of a male horse. There was an indescribable expression on each of the duoluozhongs' twisted faces, but the growing excitement in their eyes was undeniable, and their appendages were also getting tenser.
Nathalia let out a heart-wrench scream as white fumes poured out from her capsule. This immediately attracted the duoluozhongs' attention. The white fumes were sex pheromones specifically made to target those duoluozhongs.
Lin Sanjiu collapsed in her capsule. Her fingers clawed the walls of the capsule. As she used too much strength, her nails were almost about to flip. The nerves in her nails were sending pain signals like madness, but Lin Sanjiu closed her eyes, panting as if she couldn't feel anything.
Lin Sanjiu couldn't help feeling confused about her current condition. Her body was shaking uncontrollably, her muscles ached, and her vision was blurry. This reminded her of the feeling she had when she was lying on the grass when she just arrived in this apocalypse world. She did not have any anti-radiation protection then, but she was now protected by the glass walls, so logically, the level of surrounding radiation shouldn't be lethal to her...
Lin Sanjiu tried to watch the events unfolding with her bloodshot eyes. She tried to forget the discomfort she was feeling. She wanted to watch and remember everything. She wanted to avenge those women she barely knew...
Through her hazy vision, she spotted a member of the audience in the first row who was sitting closest to the capsule containment area. The person looked at the capsules and hesitated for a moment, then looked at the duoluozhongs before finally taking out a small bag and pouring out some anti-radiation gummies. The person slowly placed the gummies into a tube under his or her hood.
Lin Sanjiu understood instantly what was happening to her. A familiar darkness overtook her consciousness. She closed her eyes unwillingly and fainted.