Chapter 136 - Prison: The Zoo (Part One)

(Inside the Building, right before the timer countdown began)

The prisoners were going about having a normal day, which was nothing other than eating and reading something. It was not a Fight day, meaning that their only form of Entertainment, which was the Arena will not be happening.

Everyone was doing what they liked. Some of them had the habit of reading, while some others write. While some others just sketched. There were different ways to while away their time there, and they were just doing that. 

Whenever it was Fight Day, they would be excited. That was because the fighter that was selected, would have to face another. If won, they would be called upon to be given an upgrade to their Beast DNA.

This was the reason why most of them fought. And if someone, who was at a disadvantage took down someone, they could have a double upgrade, meaning they will be able to move up two tiers completely.

And when they had reached the Demi-God Tier, a new round will be initiated, which was the survival mode. In that mode, anyone can challenge him, and if the person keeps winning, he will be left alive. If he loses one match, he will be killed immediately.

Every person in this prison had their thought connected to a supercomputer by a chip. And the thought of escaping, or trying to leak the information to the people outside, will end up being dead on the spot.

They will get three warnings in the form of electrocution. An electricity charge of 160 watts of electricity throughout their body, stunning them. They will be put in White Torture.

White torture is a technique where they imprison a single person in a room, which is covered in white. The lights in the room are placed strategically around so that when the lights are turned on, there will be no shadows of the person that is inside. 

The form of torture begins from visual to psychological. Visually, the person loses sense of all color, as the only thing they can see is white, and not even their shadows. Even the clothes they will wear are white.

The second is by sound. There will be no sound in the room as it will be made completely soundproof, not allowing any sound to be entered into it. Even the guards who will be placed inside will be wearing padded shoes that allow them to move around without making any noise inside. There is no ether sound other than the prisoner inside.

The third is by taste. The prisoner is fed white food, meaning the food is bland and doesn't have any taste. Making the person lose their sense of taste, and these three factors would slowly drive a person towards the edge.

This form of torture is psychological, making the prisoner lose their sense of self-identity, invoking hallucinations and psychosis.

The warnings that are given will be in this room, in the form of time. The first warning, they will be imprisoned here for an hour. The second is for six hours, and the third will be for an entire week.

After that, if the said prisoner still refuses to follow, he will be electrocuted to death. The electricity will run throughout their whole body, and blood will come out of their orifices due to an overload of electricity.

Most of the time, this results in the melting of the brain, turning the said person to mush. In some extreme cases, the head has exploded due to the overload of electricity. 

The reason for this was they all had a chip connected to their cerebrum, the part of the brain that was responsible for thinking. They had an algorithm that could accurately translate those brain waves into what they thought, and that was how the supercomputer kept track of all the thoughts.

Everyone was going about having another day, and they were being closely monitored by the cameras and the supercomputer. Just as they were having a calm time, a countdown appeared in front of them.

Everyone was confused as they were sure today was not a fight day. Unless someone had made it to Demi-God Tier, there would not be such notification was the train of thoughts for everyone. 

After the timer appeared, The Zookeeper began to speak.

"As you all can see, a timer has appeared before you. But this is not about the regular ones. And today is a special event."

"Today's event shall be between the Zoo's, and you all shall be released from here. You are to kill every opponent you see, and the more you kill, the higher you can get an upgrade, we will show you the kill count needed to be achieved", said The Zookeeper, and a count was displayed to everyone.

[100 kills - Basic -> Intermediate

250 kills - Intermediate -> Advanced

500 kills - Advanced -> Legendary

750 kills - Legendary -> King

1000 kills - King -> Emperor

1250 kills - Emperor -> Demi-God

1500+ kills - You will be able to leave 'The Zoo']

Everyone was looking at the screen that was hovering above, and some had a smile across their faces. While some others had a frown on their faces for the number of kills they had to make to get a Tier Upgrade, most of them had their concentration on one number.

[1500+ kills - You will be able to leave 'The Zoo']

That was what everyone that was in 'The Zoo' wanted. They wanted to be free of this place, and they were willing to go to any lengths to achieve that purpose. 

Everyone huddled around, and there was one person to whom the whole of the prison listened. He was the top 'Animal' in the prison, and his name was Zen. They were waiting for any decisions from the top.

Alongside Zen, there were three other people. They followed Zen diligently, and their positions were solidified in the prison. They were Bruce, Alfred, and Ichiro Ren. 

Zen was a lean man who had a smoke in his mouth, and he was swinging his tail as he was walking into the middle of the circle. A chair was brought forth, and he took his seat in it.

To his right was Ren, and he was also a lean man like him. Both of them were Chinese and Japanese respectively, and they had mastered some Martial Arts. 

To his left was Brice, and he was a burly man with dark skin. His hair was in dreadlocks, and he had a tattoo of a word down the middle of his back. It was written in Japanese, which read 'Gi, Yu, Jin, Rei, Makato, Meiyo, Chugi'.

These words were the 'Seven Virtues of Bushido', or also known as the 'Samurai Code Of Chivalry'. The words translated to 'Justice or Integrity, Courage, Mercy or Benevolence, Respect, Honesty, Honor, and Loyalty'.

In the middle of these two was Alfred, and he was a middle-aged man. He was just standing there silently observing the atmosphere, and he cleared up his throat. 

"As you can all see, we have been here for far too long, and we now have a chance to leave this place. And if what we heard was true, and there were other places like ours, and we are pitted against them, then we will need a code", he said.

Everyone nodded their heads. Even Zen had a smile on his face as he heard the idea. He was thinking along the same lines, and for one of his trusted men to come up with the same was something he had expected.

"So what will the code be?", he asked, and everyone was confused as to why he was asking them when they thought he had one. Alfred shrugged his shoulders, and everyone began to think and give their suggestions. 

Alfred was rejecting everyone as he was sure they could be easily figured out. One small person came forward and pulled at his pants.

Alfred looked down and saw the person. It was a little girl, and she was looking at him with expectant eyes. Alfred had looked at her and smiled as he squat down to listen to her suggestion.

"What about a question, mister? A question that would make everyone think a lot, but only our people will be able to figure out the answer?", she asked. She thought it was something good, and pitched it to him.

Alfred nodded his head as he was sure that was s good answer. He gave the girl a head pat and showed her to go back to the crowd. 

She went back with a wide smile, and Alfred had a smile on his face. He then looked at everyone, and his face turned serious.

Everyone now had their game faces, as they knew from this moment onwards, it was a battle that was inevitable.. The place that was bustling quieted down, and pin-drop silence was present.