The night before the promotion

Chapter 81 Jealousy
Zhou Si seemed like a movie star who had just walked across the red carpet. There were bright lights everywhere, like the flashes of countless camera shutters, which made it impossible for him to open his eyes.

After Zhou Si adapted for a while, his vision was barely restored a lot, and a huge space like a atrium came into Zhou Si's eyes.

In the atrium, a dilapidated Taoist temple stands out, blending abruptly with the precisely crafted cabin structures around it.

The roof of the Taoist temple has collapsed in many places, and strong light shines through the broken tiles, casting sparse and fragmented light and shadows, which are intertwined with the dim candlelight inside the temple.

The murals on the walls had long since faded and were blurred, and only some ancient totems and spells could be vaguely made out. The door was crooked and creaked with the slight shaking of the ship.

In the center of the Taoist temple, there are statues of gods sitting or standing, but they are all broken. Some have lost their heads, and some have broken arms. Only the eyes, even under the erosion of time, still seem to reveal an undying majesty and sorrow.

In front of the statue, a few candles flickered, retaining the last bit of warmth and light for this forgotten holy place. Behind the candles, people in Taoist robes knelt and whispered, surrendering to the gods and desires in their hearts.

Zhou Si took a deep breath. The air was filled with the scent of incense. Light mists slowly rose from every corner of the Taoist temple. They floated lightly, intertwining with the metal structures and complex mechanical devices in the cabin, forming an indescribable strange beauty.

"What a show," Zhou Si said with emotion, "Come on, can I call you Taoist priest?"

He called out tentatively, "Master Huo?"

No one paid attention to Zhou Si's words.

In the diffuse mist, vague black shadows slowly emerged. Zhou Si looked at it intently, and the figures of the mountain king and Madam Cui appeared.

They were talking as they walked forward. After noticing Zhou Si, the tiger smiled ostentatiously, showing his teeth, like a wild beast showing its fangs.

"Doctor Zhou," Shan Jun came to Zhou Si and carefully studied his expression, "Don't you realize that you are in great danger?"

"so what?"

Zhou Si said disdainfully, "What kind of expression do you want me to have? Frightened, terrified, or even better, crying bitterly, hugging your legs, begging for your grace?"

The tiger smiled but said nothing.

"Don't think about those useless things, Shanjun," Zhou Si waved his hand, "I won't give in to you, let's stop wasting each other's time."

"very good."

Shanjun was quite reasonable, but then he added, "I have to say, Dr. Zhou, you are indeed an extremely interesting person."

He pointed to Madam Cui beside him and said helplessly, "But unfortunately, your brain is really useful, otherwise I really want to keep you here."

Zhou Si sneered. He was too lazy to talk about these useless things with the tiger anymore.

He asked directly, "How are you going to fight me in this state?"

"That's easy."

The tiger snapped his fingers, and several medical staff came over. They looked the same as the ones Zhou Si saw in the Paradise system.

They skillfully injected Zhou Si with several injections. Zhou Si didn't know what the medicine was, but what was certain was that as the medicine ran through his blood vessels, the pain that permeated his flesh and nerves was rapidly fading away.

Even Zhou Si's stiff and painful joints began to relax and after a simple movement, there was no effect at all.

Zhou Si asked doubtfully, "What did you inject me with?"

"Is it important?" Shan Jun joked, "You're about to leave this 'body' anyway."

Zhou Si looked down at his body and couldn't help laughing. "You're right. Even if you inject me with mercury, it won't make any difference."

The medical staff tried to support Zhou Si, but Zhou Si pushed them away. He struggled to stand up. He still felt a dull pain in his ankle, but after taking two steps, Zhou Si was sure that he had regained some mobility.

Another medical staff member pushed a cart to Zhou Si's side. On it was a prosthetic left arm. It was crudely made and there were burrs on the metal edges.

Zhou Si protested, "This is not mine."

"It's fine as long as it's usable," Shanjun said admiringly, "I don't have the courage to give that arm back to you."

Zhou Si looked at Shan Jun deeply, and said disappointedly, "I thought you were an interesting person, Shan Jun."

The tiger's voice turned cold, "Fun can't be exchanged for money, nor can it be exchanged for life."

In this desperate situation, Zhou Si could only obey. He obediently put on the prosthetic limb. After a sharp pain in his mind, Zhou Si successfully completed the mind connection with the prosthetic limb.

He simply moved his arm, but found that it was far inferior to Zhou Si's arm in terms of power and sensitivity. In fact, because of the imbalance of weight, Zhou Si needed to spend more effort to maintain balance.

Shanjun stood aside and communicated with Madam Cui. He had no intention of covering his voice, and Zhou Si could hear their conversation clearly.

Shanjun introduced diligently, "In addition to the above, we also have some emerging industries."

For the Supervisory Bureau, the Land of Bliss is a mysterious group of incarnated killers. For patients with the disease of consciousness separation, they are a place where they can escape from pain and become immortals. But for the mountain king, it is just a complex interest structure.

The staff set up the camera and pointed it at Zhou Si. Someone pushed a cart over. A huge stand was hung with a wide variety of mobile phones. All the screens remained on, frozen in the same live broadcast room.

Soon, a man in a black robe and a mask came over. He stood in front of countless mobile phones and introduced them happily. "Welcome everyone to today's duel!"

When he heard the other person's voice, Zhou Si realized that there was a woman under the black robe.

There was constant chattering, and Zhou Si made a simple analysis. Then he realized what the emerging industry Shan Jun was talking about was.

The tiger runs an online casino, and the main content of the casino is various gambling duels.

As the bodies of the incarnations, which were almost indistinguishable from humans, began to bleed and their internal organs fell out, the morbid audience went crazy for them, placing bets and partying, just like the Colosseum in ancient Rome.

The anchor stirred up the atmosphere in the live broadcast room, "Today will be a special duel. It will no longer be an incarnation, but a real flesh and blood battle, a life-and-death battle!"

The live broadcast room on the screen was filled with jubilation, but in the Taoist temple where fog was rolling, everyone was unexpectedly calm and the atmosphere was dead silent.

"This project is very profitable. Even if there is no gambling, there is still a high amount of payment just for the killing show."

Even though he was about to go on stage, Shanjun still did not forget to promote the product to Madam Cui, but Madam Cui did not have any obvious reaction, as if she was not interested in this industry.

But even so, Shanjun's enthusiasm has not diminished in the slightest. From this point of view, Shanjun is indeed a qualified operator.

Yes, Shanjun doesn’t look like a soldier, but more like an unscrupulous businessman.

This made Zhou Si think of Zuo Zhi.

"At this point, you still don't feel the slightest bit of fear, Doctor Zhou?"

Huo Daochuan's voice sounded from behind, full of confusion and doubt. He didn't understand why Zhou Si was so calm, and this calmness was not something he pretended, but a real calmness that came from the heart.

"I am a person who has died once. Now every minute and every second I live is won from the hands of the god of death. Even if I lose something, I will only feel lucky."

Without anyone's encouragement, Zhou Si walked to the camera himself, stood in an empty field, and waited quietly. His voice rolled in the mist, like advice coming from a distant place.

"Besides, whether it's you, me, or Shanjun, in the end... we are all going to die."

Huo Daochuan's expression froze for a moment, as if his facial nerves were paralyzed and only numbness remained.

Zhou Si no longer paid attention to this confused man. He clenched his fists, unclenched them, and clenched them again, trying to excite his body again and get his restless blood burning.

Shan Jun was also prepared. He put on a pure white mask to cover his face, just like the incarnated killers Zhou Si had seen before.

Two people appeared in the camera, and in the live broadcast room, the constantly refreshing gifts almost occupied the entire screen.

"Actually, I still don't quite understand you, Shanjun."

Zhou Si walked slowly, pretending to be an expert, keeping a distance from the tiger and circling around.

"Huo Daochuan said that you have a strong desire to win, but in fact, I don't feel such a strong feeling from you... Can you tell me the real reason why you challenged me to a fight?"

"Okay, the apparent reason is, of course, to introduce our industry. This will determine whether I can sell all of this for a good price."

Shan Jun spoke softly, but anyone could sense the vigilance behind his words. After all, he was facing Zhou Si in the true sense this time and could no longer hide under the shell of his incarnation.

"Another more personal reason...I really hate you, Dr. Zhou."

The tiger clenched his fists. Although he lost his legs, he did not become decadent and lazy. He still maintained high-intensity exercise every day. The muscles in his upper body were highly developed, like a strong bull.

"I hate idealists like you who tell unrealistic stories all day long but don't care about what happens in the real world.

As soon as I saw your innocent eyes, I wanted to knock you to the ground, step on you in the mud, and stuff the stinking mud into your mouths so that you can taste what the real world tastes like. "

The tiger suddenly stopped. Although he was wearing a mask, Zhou Si could still imagine the twisted and hideous appearance of the tiger.

"You, and Huo Daochuan, you people are always so naive, but the logic of how the world works is not what you imagine!"

Shan Jun lowered his voice, and it sounded like a roar full of venomous resentment. Then, he stepped forward and smashed his heavy fist towards Zhou Si's head.

It has only been a few hours since Zhou Si woke up from coma, not to mention that during these hours, he also suffered inhumane torture in the Paradise System.

If it were any other ordinary person, he would have probably already suffered a mental breakdown. He wouldn't even have the courage to face a tiger, let alone fight one.

But apart from feeling his body a little heavy and his movements a little slow, Zhou Si did not feel anything abnormal.

"Hate?"

A strange smile suddenly broke out on Zhou Si's face. He barely dodged the tiger's heavy punch and laughed unscrupulously.

"Why do I feel like you're jealous of us?"

(End of this chapter)