Worldwide Awakening: My Soul Kinds Are Lost

Chapter 774 - 774: Black Prison Night Watchman, Capturing the Shadow of the Wind to Imprison One Hundred Thousand_1

Wang Linchi yawned in the Black Prison. He was faring adequately and hadn't faced excessive torment from the Great Zhao Night Guard. After a round of interrogation, he had simply been thrown into a cell.He was told he was scheduled to be sacrificed as a burial accompaniment for a noble in a couple of days.

As for the others, their conditions were far worse. Take Mao Xu, the Principal of Eastern State Martial University, for example. He had been brought in only a couple of days ago. Now, however, the relentless torture had beaten him into an unrecognizable state; the viciousness of the beatings was apparent.

The Bureau Master of the Eastern State Department of Earth Defense hadn't lasted long; he died three days ago.

The entire Eastern State and Qin State were gripped by trepidation. Day and night, large numbers of people were thrown into the Night Guard Black Prison, among them many prominent figures. Deaths occurred daily. This was truly a dark time for both states.

Through all this, Wang Linchi also learned something about the origins of these nobles.

It was said that the nobles were favored by the world itself, possessing some profound significance. Furthermore, all of them were said to possess Immortality, having been nurtured by Heaven and Earth.

The death of any noble would invariably lead to extremely dire consequences.

To Wang Linchi, this all sounded like mystical ramblings.

Further intelligence was scarce. The nobles seemed inherently superior, and everything about them was shrouded in secrecy.

Nobles didn't just exist in Great Zhao Country; other nations in the Martial Arts World also had them, albeit in smaller numbers. This was why Great Zhao Country was the most powerful nation.

They were the uncrowned kings, hidden in the shadows.

Now that one of these 'kings' had died, Great Zhao Country was not the only one enraged. Other nations also mobilized, preparing to launch a major investigation.

Wang Linchi hadn't anticipated that the status of these nobles would be so incredibly high.

A Martial God personally oversaw the matter, with a Martial Sovereign running errands as an assistant—this was simply unheard of.

Wang Linchi felt an urge stirring within him.

If the death of just one noble could cause such a commotion, wouldn't killing a few more turn the world upside down?

The whereabouts of the nobles weren't a great secret; it was only hidden from the common populace. Elsewhere, they were each more high-profile and arrogant than the last, their conduct extremely unbridled.

Wang Linchi hadn't killed the noble to eliminate a scourge, but to further roil the already chaotic situation.

The death of one had already wiped out so many of the Human Clan's combatants. If a few more died, with wider implications, it might cause devastating losses among all Human Clan Martial Artists.

The notion seemed rather amusing. Instead of dying at the hands of an Alien Race, they would die due to the actions of their own kind. It was quite a dark joke.

"COUGH. Wang, are you okay?" Mao Xu struggled to pull himself up, his face covered in blood, his limbs twisted at unnatural angles.

"Principal, I'm fine, but your condition..." Wang Linchi glanced at Mao Xu in the adjacent cell. He knew the man was holding on by a thread, likely to deliver his last words. After that, he would probably die.

Still, death might be a relief, saving him from further torment.

"I fear I won't make it. These black-clad dogs don't intend to let us go. They're rounding people up for funerary sacrifices!" Mao Xu's voice was laced with resentment.

Wang Linchi understood instantly. Mao Xu wasn't speaking to him alone but to all the inhabitants of the Black Prison.

Everyone present was a Martial Artist of considerable strength, with keen hearing and sharp sight, so they naturally heard Mao Xu's words.

"If you manage to escape, remember, never show your face in the cities. You must hide deep in the mountains and old forests. Otherwise, if these black-clad dogs catch you, it's certain death."

"They are the nobles' dogs! They don't care if we of the Human Clan live or die; they only serve their masters!"

"With Bureau Master Wen dead, there's no one in Eastern State to deal with the Subterranean Alien Race. Don't go back to Eastern State! Before I was brought here, Eastern State had already..." Mao Xu's words trailed off here, and he spoke no more.

Wang Linchi observed him intently, then said, "He's stopped breathing."

The expressions of every Martial Artist in the Black Prison changed. Other matters aside, just hearing about Eastern State's situation made their hearts itch with unbearable curiosity and anxiety.

From his tone, Eastern State had clearly been invaded by the Subterranean Alien Race, but the specifics of its fate remained unknown.

So, these nobles aren't Human Clan, are they? Wang Linchi mused.

His words stunned the listening Martial Artists. They hadn't expected him to say such a thing. But they quickly understood. It was indeed a real possibility. Otherwise, how could fellow members of the Human Clan do such things?

Due to this affair, at least 100,000 Martial Artists were imprisoned here in the Black Prison, all suffering various degrees of injury. The strongest among them, a Martial Sovereign, had been grievously wounded. To this day, not one person had made it out alive.

And at this point, even if they got out alive, they'd be crippled.

Essentially, because of one so-called noble, 100,000 of the Human Clan's Martial Artists had been rendered useless.

Given such behavior, could these so-called nobles truly be Human Clan?

Even if they were, they'd be traitors to the Human Clan!

Everyone was fighting to the death on the front lines, yet the death of one insignificant 'noble' had implicated 100,000 Martial Artists across two states! No, that was 100,000 for now; the number was still growing, and who knew how high it would climb in a few more days.

This thought caused a stir in everyone's mind.

"Young man, how did you get thrown in here?" an old man in the cell opposite Wang Linchi asked, his tone calm.

He had only been brought in three days ago, yet his injuries were already so severe that only his head could move.

"I'm not sure. They interrogated me as soon as I arrived," Wang Linchi shook his head.

He guessed that the Great Zhao Night Guard arrested most people based on mere conjecture. For example, a Martial Artist who had once passed through a certain place might be considered a suspect.

Then, the 'might be' would be conveniently dropped, turning them into a definite suspect. And since they were a suspect, they were arrested.

After the arrest, they'd find out this Martial Artist had just been drinking at a friend's home. Since the Martial Artist was a suspect, the friend he drank with must also be a suspect. So, they'd arrest the friend too. It was through this kind of 'logic' that the number of arrested Martial Artists snowballed.

Fortunately for the Great Zhao Night Guard, such arrests and interrogations were routine. They had long prepared a massive number of cells in the Black Prison. Forget 100,000; they could hold a million, or even ten million if they packed them in.

This just went to show how outrageously arrogant their usual practices were.

"Then, how much of what your Principal said was true?" asked the old man from the cell opposite.

The surrounding Martial Artists all pricked up their ears. With the Principal dead, Wang Linchi was now their only source of information.

"I don't know. I was brought in even earlier than the Principal. He might have been implicated because of me," Wang Linchi sighed, appearing helpless.

A ripple of disappointment went through the crowd, though this was somewhat expected.

They too had been thrown into the Black Prison in a daze, first tortured, then interrogated.

Whether they could extract any information was secondary; the main thing was to torture them until they were terrified.

"But it's probably related to the Subterranean Alien Race. Otherwise, why would Bureau Master Wen of our Eastern State die?"

"And it's not just Bureau Master Wen. The entire Department of Earth Defense was arrested. I saw quite a few captains I recognized earlier; their corpses were dragged out." Wang Linchi maintained an air of knowing nothing, while actually fanning the flames intensely.

The old man in the cell opposite couldn't help but focus his gaze. Wang Linchi's words were too suggestive. If he were outside the Black Prison and hadn't suffered torture and persecution, he truly might not have believed it; after all, the official measures for dealing with the Subterranean Alien Race were usually very comprehensive.

But now, he couldn't help but believe.

The chance that Wang Linchi was lying wasn't high. There were many Martial Artists from Eastern State present; if Wang Linchi were spouting falsehoods, someone would surely have spoken up to refute him.

Since no one did, it meant he was telling the truth.

Without the Department of Earth Defense, who would fight the Alien Race? Wouldn't that mean the Subterranean Alien Race could march straight into Eastern State unopposed?

As for the other departments in Eastern State, well, many of their Martial Artists had also been thrown into the Black Prison, not just officials but Loose Cultivators too.

One couldn't claim they were completely annihilated, but a massive reduction in their defensive capabilities was absolutely certain.

Everyone remained silent. Wang Linchi didn't add any more verbal provocations, as enough had been said.

Continuing to fan the flames now might backfire.

What I need now is a suitable opportunity, Wang Linchi thought.

Poison the Great Zhao Night Guard? That's out. It would be better to arrange for the Subterranean Alien Race to attack.

Or perhaps... both together?

A suitable opportunity doesn't have to be waited for; it can be manufactured.

Moreover, if the Great Zhao Night Guard were poisoned, their strength would plummet, and they would surely be routed by the Subterranean Alien Race.

This would give everyone the impression that they were strong against their own people but weak against outsiders.

One could well imagine what would happen then.

If a faction and its members—who not only failed to fight the Subterranean Alien Race but actively hindered the Human Clan and backstabbed their fellow Martial Artists—were allowed to continue existing, then he, Wang Linchi, would rather throw his support behind the Subterranean Alien Race.