Chapter 156: Going to the Island

The door of the van was pulled open with a sharp rattle.

"Get in."

The skinny man didn't even raise his head, a cigarette dangling from his lips as he gave the muffled order.

Chen Yu hunched his back, feigning the cowardice expected of "Ah Zhe," and scrambled in agilely.

Four or five people were already crammed inside, every single one of them sallow-faced and gaunt, their eyes filled with either despair or numbness.

"Damn it, a bunch of losers."

Cursing, the skinny man slammed the van door shut. The vehicle emitted a groan before lurching forward.

Chen Yu found a corner to shrink into while his mind raced at lightning speed.

These people were undoubtedly "consumables" just like him—driven to the absolute brink, with no choice left but to gamble their lives.

The van wound its way through the city, deliberately taking backstreets devoid of surveillance cameras, before finally coming to a halt in front of an abandoned freight warehouse.

Everyone was roughly chased out of the vehicle and pushed into the warehouse.

Inside, another seven or eight people were already standing, making a total of a dozen or so.

A fat man in a floral shirt—the very snakehead who had "pointed the way" for Chen Yu at the gambling den yesterday—was sitting behind a battered table, with his feet propped up on it.

"You're all here?"

He swept his gaze across the group, his eyes resembling those of a butcher inspecting pigs slated for slaughter.

"I'll only state the rules once."

The fat man slapped a stack of papers onto the table.

"This is the employment contract. Sign it, and get on the boat to work. In a year, you'll be masters of your fate."

"If you don't sign..." He grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth. "The river is right behind this warehouse. It'll make a fine new home for you."

A young man asked with trembling lips, "Mister... wh-where are we going? It doesn't say anything on the contract..."

The smile vanished from the fat man's face.

He pulled a steel pipe out from under the table and walked straight up to the young man.

"Bang!"

The steel pipe landed squarely on the young man's thigh.

The young man let out a miserable scream, clutching his leg as he collapsed to the ground, convulsing.

The entire warehouse fell into dead silence.

"Does anyone else have a fucking problem?" The fat man asked viciously, pointing the steel pipe at the figure on the floor.

No one else dared to utter a word.

Chen Yu sneered inwardly. They certainly played this intimidation game quite skillfully.

He was the first to step forward.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, he picked up the so-called "contract."

The clauses within it were even more absurd than he had imagined.

Voluntarily surrender all personal rights.

Any accidents occurring during work, including death, have nothing to do with the employer.

Unconditional obedience to management; otherwise, the employer reserves the right to handle violations in "any form whatsoever."

This wasn't a contract by any stretch of the imagination; it was a deed of indentured servitude, the kind signed by a living man directly to the King of Hell.

The "Ah Zhe" persona Chen Yu was acting out trembled violently, as if he were about to piss himself from fear the very next second.

He picked up a pen, didn't even bother to read through it again, and directly scribbled the two crooked characters for "Ah Zhe" at the bottom, heavily pressing his thumbprint into the red ink pad.

This crisp, decisive display of spinelessness deeply satisfied the fat man.

He nodded. "You know what's good for you, kid."

With the first person taking the lead, the rest had no choice but to accept their fate, lining up one by one to step forward and sign away their lives.

Once the contracts were signed, everyone was ordered to stay put and wait in place.

The warehouse doors stood wide open, offering a view of the hazy docks outside.

Time ticked away second by second.

Chen Yu leaned against the cold wall, watching the outside world with feigned boredom.

Suddenly, his pupils contracted slightly.

A black Bentley glided silently to the other side of the dock.

The car door opened, and a woman dressed in a crisp, professional pantsuit stepped out.

Her high heels clicked against the oil-stained concrete ground, yet she walked as if she were strolling down the red carpet at the Walk of Fame.

Her face was exquisitely made up, breathtakingly beautiful, but exuding an untouchable, frosty arrogance.

What the hell.

Zhang Luyao?

Chen Yu cursed internally.

This chick is something else. With this outfit and this aura, anyone who didn't know better would think she was some overbearing female CEO of a listed company.

Following closely behind her was a man in glasses, bowing and scraping with a flattering expression—evidently the person sent by Dong Zhan to welcome her.

(End of Part 1 of 3)

The plan... had succeeded.

Sensing something, Zhang Luyao cast an inadvertent, sweeping glance toward the warehouse.

Her gaze lingered on Chen Yu's "Ah Zhe" face for less than half a second.

There was not a single ripple in her eyes, as if she were merely looking at a stranger passing by.

Yet Chen Yu understood.

That single glance contained far too much information.

"My infiltration has also succeeded."

"Take care of yourself."

"See you on the island."

Chen Yu lowered his head slightly, avoiding her gaze while continuing to play the part of the cowardly, timid gambler.

Internally, however, he couldn't help but complain: *Not bad, Chief Expert. With acting skills like these, it's a crime you didn't go to Hollywood.*

*Though... her legs really are porcelain white.*

The Bentley soon drove away.

The fat snakehead stood up and roared, "Get up, all of you! Prepare to board the ship!"

The group was driven out of the warehouse.

A rusted, battered cargo vessel was moored at the dock.

"Black hoods! Put them on yourselves, damn it!"

Several thugs tossed a pile of mold-festering black cloth sacks onto the ground.

They were meant to blindfold them.

Chen Yu picked one up and shoved it over his head without a moment's hesitation.

Pitch darkness instantly enveloped him.

He could hear the panicked breathing and suppressed whimpers of the others around him.

Then, like a herd of cattle, they were shoved and prodded forward, stumbling blindly onto the swaying gangplank.

"Keep in line, you bastards! If you fall in and drown, nobody's coming to fish you out!"

The thugs' scoldings echoed in his ears.

Chen Yu was pushed into a cramped, stuffy space reeking of rust and the salty tang of the sea.

The bilge hold.

The hatch slammed shut with a heavy crash and was locked from the outside.

The very last sliver of light vanished.

Total darkness.

The cargo ship's engines roared to life, and the hull began to roll violently.

They were out at sea.

No one knew how long this voyage would last, nor did anyone know their destination.

In the darkness, time lost all meaning.

Chen Yu leaned against the cold ship's bulkhead, regulating his breathing.

He silently began to keep time in his heart.

How long had passed? Perhaps a day, perhaps two.

The ship's speed finally slowed down.

The violent rocking also ceased.

The hatch was pulled open once more.

A blinding glare pierced through, causing a sharp, stinging sensation in everyone's eyes.

"Get the hell out of here, all of you!"

They were kicked out of the hold one by one.

Hoods removed.

Chen Yu squinted to adjust to the light, and then, he was stunned by the sight before him.

They were not out on the open sea.

Instead, they were inside... a massive underground harbor, seemingly carved out from the hollowed-out interior of a mountain.

Above them were jagged rock walls fitted with neat rows of bright lighting fixtures.

Yet the harbor's facilities were frighteningly advanced, brimming with a futuristic, high-tech aesthetic.

The seawater was a bottomless, ink-like green, where several sleek, high-speed motorboats were quietly moored.

This was Jade Island.

A lawless sanctuary that existed on no map whatsoever.

The dozen-plus people were driven off the ship and lined up in a row.

A luxury electric sightseeing buggy drove over, carrying a man dressed in a crisp suit and white gloves.

His gaze swept across the crowd before finally landing on Zhang Luyao.

(End of Part 2 of 3)

Ah, so Zhang Luyao had been on a different ship, and her treatment was clearly on an entirely different level.

"Dr. Zhang, our master has been waiting for quite some time. Please."

The suited man made a respectful gesture of invitation toward Zhang Luyao.

Zhang Luyao nodded expressionlessly. Before boarding the vehicle, her gaze once again swept over Chen Yu, lingering imperceptibly.

Then, she was whisked away by the private transport.

Chen Yu watched as the sightseeing cart vanished deep into the tunnel.

*Damn it, we're both undercover, so why is there such a massive gap in treatment?*

*I'm out here eating dirt while she's off enjoying five-star service.*

Waiting for the rest of them—the "laborers"—was another overseer wearing a grey uniform.

This man had a fierce expression, high cheekbones, and a sinister, predatory gaze.

He walked up to the crowd, looking at them as if they were already corpses.

"Starting today, you have no names. You only have numbers."

"Your lives do not belong to you anymore; they belong to this place."

"Here, the only rule is obedience."

With that, he clapped his hands.

A subordinate approached carrying a silver tray.

Neatly arranged on the tray were more than a dozen black, pill-sized objects.

A strange, eerie smile crept onto the overseer's face.

"Before coming onto the island, according to the rules, you must all take some 'health supplements'."

"To prevent you from bringing any filthy outside diseases in, understand?"

Chen Yu's heart gave a heavy thump.

It was here.

What was bound to come had finally arrived.

He stared at those black gel capsules.

Their surfaces were smooth, reflecting a dim, baleful sheen under the lights.

This was "Butterfly Dream."

The demon poison capable of causing Lin Li to "melt" into a pool of blood and flesh in agonizing torment.

It was also the ultimate chain used by this island to control everyone upon it.

"Come up one by one and swallow it! Right in front of me!"

The overseer barked harshly.

A timid man grew so weak-kneed with fright that he instinctively shrank back.

Without a second word, the overseer strode forward and kicked him fiercely in the stomach.

Then, grabbing him by the hair, he forcibly shoved a pill directly into the man's mouth, compelling him to swallow it.

The remaining people no longer dared to harbor any thoughts of resistance.

They lined up like condemned prisoners awaiting judgment, stepping forward one by one to pick up the pill that would decide their fate.

It was Chen Yu's turn.

He reached out his hand and picked up the capsule.

Without hesitation.

He tilted his head back, tossed the capsule into his mouth, his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed it down.

A faint, burning sensation slid from his esophagus into his stomach, before quickly dissipating.

Almost simultaneously.

The Detective System in his mind sounded a shrill, piercing alarm.

[Warning! Unknown high-risk biological toxin invasion detected!]

[Host's vital signs are being forcibly bound... Binding successful!]

[S-Class Timed Mission: Butterfly Dream Shatter has been forcibly activated!]

[Mission Countdown: 167 hours, 59 minutes, 58 seconds.]

A bright red, ticking countdown occupied his entire field of vision.

Seven days.

From this moment onward, his life had officially entered a countdown.

The corners of Chen Yu's mouth curled into an inscrutable smile.

The game had finally begun.

He was eagerly looking forward to it.

Looking forward to the day he would reduce this so-called paradise on earth to complete and utter ruins.

(End of Part 3 of 3)