Chapter Twenty: Going Out to Play

As the ropes were untied, the spirited young man looked at me in disbelief. He never expected that his casual words, meant only to bolster his own courage, would be taken so seriously by me.

2050 gave me a strange look, his gaze clearly asking: Are you out of your mind?

I wasn't in a hurry. I turned to Brother Can and asked respectfully, "Brother Can! May I ask, have these piglets below been starving for days?"

Though he had no idea what I was up to, Brother Can nodded in response, "That's right! They've been hungry for three days!"

"There's the gate! You can leave now!" I pointed toward the entrance and called out to the spirited young man.

At that moment, everyone present was stunned. 2050 looked at me as if I were insane.

The young man hesitated for a moment, then dashed toward the gate of the compound, hundreds of meters away.

Brother Can's expression immediately darkened, but just before he could explode with anger, I suddenly pulled out several red banknotes and waved them, then called out to the piglets below, "You all must be starving, right? Let's play a game!

"Whoever brings me someone's head gets a reward!"

The piglets fell silent for a few seconds, then, led by several bold ones, they swarmed toward the direction of the spirited young man.

Indeed, in this place, a human life meant nothing.

Brother Can's anger vanished; he picked up his binoculars, ready to enjoy the cruel hunt, a smile spreading across his face.

"Who would've thought? Among the three of you, you're the toughest! But that's good! I like it that way!" Brother Can patted my keyboard with satisfaction.

I let out a deep sigh. In truth, I did all this simply because I didn’t want to bear the burden of killing someone myself.

2050 looked at me blankly, then whispered as he came closer, "You really know how to play..."

As we spoke, the piglets returned to the command platform, cheering and shouting, and at the front of the group, someone held aloft a bloody head.

The sight shocked me. These piglets had no tools at all, yet they had managed to tear off a living man's head with their bare hands—all for those few red banknotes in my hand.

As the bloody head was placed on the platform, I gasped, the expression on its face forever frozen in terror and resentment.

I couldn't bear to look at him any longer. I took out several hundred-yuan bills and handed them to the one who brought the head. He took the money, examined it in the sunlight, and then returned to his spot, delighted.

Seeing Brother Can still eager for more, I quickly shouted to the piglets below, "You all saw what happened! Anyone who doesn't obey, this is your fate!"

With that, I kicked the bloody head into the crowd, unable to bear looking at it any longer.

"As long as you behave, work hard for the company, there'll be plenty more of this for you!" I tossed several more bills into the crowd.

After finishing, I stole a glance at Brother Can. Clearly, he was very satisfied with my actions. I had said what he wanted to say and saved him a lot of trouble.

Finally, Brother Can said a few words as the leader, then had the piglets escorted back to the detention center.

"Alright! You three go rest for a while! I'll take you out tonight to have some fun!" Brother Can told us.

Have some fun?

I was surprised. Was Brother Can taking us out of the compound?

If so, would we have a chance to escape?

Brother Can seemed to guess our thoughts and teased, "You'd better not get any ideas! You're already fugitives—illegal immigrants, fraud, aiding and abetting, intentional homicide. Do the math, how many times could you be executed for all these charges?"

He wasn't bluffing. Among those crimes, at least fraud and aiding were fully substantiated. Given the amounts, we'd certainly be sentenced to ten years, maybe even more.

That evening, back in our single rooms, we changed clothes. Brother Can had prepared a clean outfit for each of us, along with hair dryers and toiletries, telling us to tidy up our appearance—we were going to meet someone important tonight.

2044 and I donned suits like the other henchmen. But when I saw 2050, I was stunned. She wore an alluring off-shoulder evening dress, her hair styled in European waves.

Who exactly was the important person Brother Can wanted us to meet?

After getting ready, I thought for a moment, then quietly retrieved the bayonet from under my pillow and tucked it at my waist.

Outside the office building, two Maserati Grecale cars were waiting. The three of us piglets got into one, Brother Can took another, and trailing behind was a military green Hummer carrying five armed, masked men.

As the compound gate slowly opened, the scene before me shocked me again, for the heavy iron gate was being dragged open by several giant insects, each the size of a person.

"What on earth are those things?" I frowned and whispered. 2050 glanced around, then leaned close and murmured in my ear, "They’re female piglets who broke the rules and were executed."

"What?"

Startled, I nearly cried out, but 2050 quickly covered my mouth, preventing me from screaming.

About an hour later, the car entered a bustling city district.

Looking outside at the neon lights and towering streets, I almost thought I was in the downtown of a major city back home. The signs on the buildings were all in Chinese.

At last, the car stopped beneath a sign reading "Golden Source Grand Hotel".

"We're here!"

Brother Can, who had gotten out of the car ahead, signaled for us to follow.

We stepped into the lobby and saw a crowd of smiling, welcoming hostesses. Some were dark-skinned local women, while others were fair-skinned, likely from back home.

Yet, without exception, all their expressions were numb. Though they smiled, it was clearly forced.

"Private room 606!"

Brother Can spoke as he showed the head hostess a card or badge—whose it was, I didn't know.

"Hello! The elevator's this way! Take it to the sixth floor, go left all the way to the end!"

The head hostess pointed stiffly toward the elevator.

At the private room door, Brother Can politely knocked.

As the door opened, I saw a familiar face.

My sister...

No, wait!

In this setting, I should address her as Miss Zhou!

Of course, besides my sister, a circle of people sat around the round table—men and women, young and old—but without exception, they were all lavishly dressed, adorned with gold and jewels.