By the time Wang Yongxin's trial game ended, Ding Wenqiang had already arrived in front of Cell 4.
[Cell 4: Silence is Golden]
[The criminal enters an iron maiden device and will be pierced by its needles at random times and on random body parts. Any sound made above 60 decibels will trigger more piercings. Each piercing grants 1000 minutes of visa time.]
[For repeated plays, the number and frequency of piercings will continuously double.]
With a grating, teeth-cringing screech, a human-sized iron maiden device appeared in the center of Cell 4.
It was currently open, revealing it was covered in dense, countless holes.
The good news was that these holes avoided the body's more critical areas, such as various organs, the head, and so on, but the bad news was that the holes weren't very small.
Each so-called piercing would leave a bloody hole.
Zhang Peng couldn't help but swallow. He was now feeling more and more that Cell 3 was quite a sight for sore eyes.
As for Gao Zhankui, he hadn't said a word since a moment ago. It was obvious he was trying to think of a way out, but it was all in vain.
Under the restrictions of the game rules, any form of violence was useless.
Ding Wenqiang had the scepter. As long as his demands complied with the game rules, Gao Zhankui could only obey.
Snatch it? Highly unlikely.
Even if he succeeded, it might trigger a rule violation, resulting in an immediate lethal penalty.
Therefore, with his relationship with Ding Wenqiang already soured, Gao Zhankui could only shut up and resign himself to fate.
Ding Wenqiang took out the last videotape and inserted it into the VCR.
The scene in the video looked quite familiar, seeming to be a food delivery station.
Many delivery riders were sitting on their electric scooters waiting for orders, while Gao Zhankui was pointing at one of the riders' noses and cursing them out.
[As the manager of a food delivery station, your daily job is simple:]
[Lure people in through labor agencies and various channels, then use all sorts of tricks to bleed them dry.]
[Hold pointless morning meetings, impose fines under various pretexts, manipulate order volumes for riders you dislike, and rush injured riders to return to work immediately.]
[Your duties state safety advocacy, but in practice, it has become instigating riders to run red lights.]
[Recruitment ads promise free room and board, but in reality, you rent out cheap dorms and electric scooters to riders to make a profit.]
[If the platform is a bloodsucker that gnaws to the bone, then you are its willing accomplice.]
[You often call the riders your brothers, but I wonder, in their hearts, who do they want to kill more: you or the high-and-mighty boss?]
Following that, Gao Zhankui's profile appeared on the screen.
[Gao Zhankui, male, 45 years old.]
[Occupation: Food delivery station manager.]
[Deducted delivery riders' salaries, instigated them to disobey traffic rules, and profited from them through various means.]
[Verdict: Not yet judged]
Seeing this, Zhang Peng subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief.
He knew he was temporarily safe.
As expected, Ding Wenqiang's expression towards Gao Zhankui became even more disgusted.
Compared to a boss like Wang Yongxin, Ding Wenqiang despised a lackey like Gao Zhankui even more. Of course, this was a common sentiment for most people.
What he didn't expect, however, was that Gao Zhankui was tougher than he had imagined.
"Cut the crap, I'll go in myself."
Gao Zhankui actually walked straight into Cell 4.
Ding Wenqiang's face darkened, and he raised the scepter, "Get out! I'm the one judging you. Before I tell you to go in, you will stand outside obediently!"
Gao Zhankui glared at Ding Wenqiang, but still stepped out of Cell 4 and stood at the entrance.
"Go in."
Only then did Ding Wenqiang point the scepter at Gao Zhankui again, driving him into Cell 4.
[The game will begin in 30 seconds. Please enter the iron maiden and prepare.]
[Each piercing grants 1000 minutes of visa time. The device will automatically release after 10 minutes.]
Gao Zhankui didn't enter the device immediately. Instead, he took off his shirt and tore it into strips of cloth.
First, he stuffed a strip of cloth into his mouth, then he bit down on another strip and tied it tightly behind his head.
Finally, he used another strip to cup his chin and tied it at the top of his head.
With all this tying, his mouth was sealed shut, making it difficult for him to even open it to make a sound.
Gao Zhankui shot another defiant glare at Ding Wenqiang before stepping into the iron maiden device.
With a "click," the device closed.
The countdown ticked away second by second. Ding Wenqiang couldn't see what was happening inside the device at all, and he could barely hear any sound.
Only by listening carefully could one faintly hear occasional muffled grunts and barely audible gasps from within the device.
However, these sounds clearly did not exceed the game's 60-decibel limit, so they didn't trigger more piercings.
...
Through the floor-to-ceiling glass, Lin Sizhi looked at the scene.
As the game neared its end, a small speaker, audible only to the audience, began to play a new broadcast.
[Please vote on the fairness of the King's actions.]
Lin Sizhi returned to the table and fell into a brief moment of thought.
In terms of game content, it roughly matched Gao Zhankui's act of instigation.
He instigated delivery riders to run red lights to save time, so now he had to "learn to shut up" in the game.
But the game's punishment was clearly too severe.
Because although the first two games caused physical pain to the prisoners, at least during the first playthrough, they wouldn't cause any serious damage.
But for the game in Cell 4, no matter how the prisoner played, they would inevitably suffer piercings; the only difference was the quantity.
Judging by the thickness of the needles, it was roughly similar to the previous "Farmer's Walk," but the "Farmer's Walk" device was concentrated on the shoulders, whereas the iron maiden covered all non-vital parts of the body.
The visa time reward for the game also showed that this cell's game was far more dangerous than the previous two.
Although from an emotional standpoint, a willing accomplice like Gao Zhankui was even more detestable than the actual boss, Wang Yongxin, Lin Sizhi still instinctively felt the punishment was too severe.
This feeling of unfairness was especially heightened considering that Cell 3 was still empty.
As the countdown was about to end, Lin Sizhi ultimately chose to follow their gut and press "×".
The countdown ended.
[Voting result is √××√×√√×√√]
[Final fairness rating: 20]
[Thank you for your evaluation!]
...
The ten-minute countdown ended. Accompanied by a harsh screech, the iron maiden device opened again.
A figure, dyed red, fell out of the device.
Although no large wounds were visible, the blood seeping through the clothes and the holes on the exposed skin showed everyone the brutality of this game.
Gao Zhankui tore off the cloth strips wrapped around his head, wiped the dense beads of sweat from his forehead, and gasped heavily for air.
[30000 minutes of visa time have been settled for the player.]
Ding Wenqiang nodded, "Alright, you're a tough one."
"Pah." Gao Zhankui tilted his head and spat out a mouthful of bloody foam. "A petty person enjoying a moment of power, you piece of shit."
Ding Wenqiang's face darkened again, his right hand gripping the scepter tightly.
But in the end, he didn't say anything and just walked to the front of Cell 5.
Cells 5 and 6 were now both unlocked.
[Cell 5: Unforeseen Calamity]
[The criminal is fixed to a 2.4-square-meter target. A nail gun will continuously fire at random areas of the target. Each shot grants 2000 minutes of visa time.]
[For repeated plays, the number and frequency of the nail gun shots will increase significantly.]
[Cell 6: Fate]
[Randomly select a game from Cells 1-5.]
The videotapes had all been played, and the cells were all unlocked.
[Judgments completed: 3/10]