Chapter 842 - 827: First Arrival at Paradise

Chapter 842: Chapter 827: First Arrival at Paradise

"I, Sigmund! Will never become your eternal slave!"

With this roar, Sigmund, who accepted the outcome of victory or defeat, shattered his own soul and welcomed eternal tranquility...

...

Squelch——

In the dark, damp cavern, Sigmund emerged from the cocoon.

What is this...?

He wanted to speak but found he couldn’t open his mouth, wanted to touch his face but only extended a few tentacles that haphazardly draped beneath his faceless mushroom cap.

Sigmund did not panic; instead, he quickly realized——that he... had turned into a Puki...

Why?

He clearly didn’t believe in it, and even shattered his soul at the end, so why did he become a Puki?

Could it be that the self-shattering wasn’t thorough?

But this couldn’t explain why he would become a Mushroom Transformer.

Though without eyes, Sigmund quickly adapted to Puki’s way of perception.

As his perception spread out, besides a few curled up Puki not far away, all that surrounded him in the cavern was a stretch of fungal mat and glowing mushrooms, which was undoubtedly the stronghold of his roommate.

Although his roommate’s voice hadn’t appeared in his mind for the time being, Sigmund felt no sense of luck.

This mushroom form lacked casting ability, unable to shatter his soul again, but it could still commit physical suicide!

He picked up a sharp stone from the ground, stuck it into his own body, and with force, drew a massive wound, then the mushroom form went limp and fell to the ground, dead.

However, it was unknown how much time had passed before Sigmund’s consciousness returned to this Puki body once again.

The grievous wound on his body had mostly healed by the autonomous wriggling of the mycelium.

Sigmund did not give up; after assessing the terrain once more, he climbed a protrusion in the cavern, and then hugged a stone roughly his size before leaping down.

He deliberately held the stone above him so that upon landing, it directly smashed him into a pulp, beyond even fungal filament reassembly’s capability to repair.

Yet, Sigmund still didn’t get his wish.

A cocoon slid out from the fungal mycelium network on the rock wall, and once regaining consciousness, Sigmund emerged from the cocoon, staring dumbfounded at his "previous body" that had been smashed into a pulp.

Before this, he never imagined there would be a case where death was unattainable.

Suddenly, a voice appeared in Sigmund’s mind, yet it wasn’t the voice of his familiar roommate.

"Newcomer, you won’t be able to die doing this..."

The telepathic message was somewhat timid, and Sigmund quickly pinpointed its source——the Puki curled up in a corner of the cavern!

Sigmund tested a telepathic response, and succeeded: "Who are you?"

"If you ask about the past, I was a Lizardman adventurer within the Empire, named Ocas. As for now..." it waved its tentacles, "like you, just a pathetic captive. And you?"

Sigmund asked again: "What do you mean by ’won’t be able to die like this’? Is there a correct method for seeking death?"

Sigmund didn’t answer the question and instead asked again, showing no respect for his senior, yet Ocas showed no dissatisfaction, answering: "Indeed, for us Puki captives, even the right to die isn’t in our hands... whether wanting to get out or die, there’s only one way, and that’s to participate in the playground challenge!"

"Playground challenge? What’s that?"

Ocas led Sigmund to the adjacent cavern, where Sigmund saw more captives.

Most were from the Demon Race, but there were also a few humans and dwarves mixed in, while the Puki were the fewest.

Listening to Ocas’ continuous narration, Sigmund finally had some understanding of where he was.

All here were the captives of his roommate, serving as materials for all sorts of terrifying experiments, collectively termed D Level personnel.

If one didn’t want to become material, there was a way, and that was to participate in the highly fatal playground challenge.

Surviving could exempt one from the fate of becoming material for a certain period, while winning the final victory could even grant brief entertainment time outside!

The same applied to the release of Puki captives, winning twelve challenges would earn the freedom of their souls!

"Since Mushroom Transformers can’t die, wouldn’t participating in challenges be all benefits and no harm to you?" Sigmund asked.

Ocas chuckled softly: "How could the great Mushroom Lord not foresee this... if captive Puki die in a challenge, they’ll be sent to the void for a week!" At this, Ocas’s mushroom body trembled, seeming to have experienced confinement, "There’s nothing there, you can’t even feel the passage of time, every moment spent there is torture!"

Sigmund was not frightened: "Hmph, so this place is a mutated slave gladiatorial arena, huh."

"There was indeed a gladiatorial arena before, but it hasn’t opened for a long time." Having introduced up to here, Ocas rubbed its tentacles, stating its purpose, "Well... friend, whether you wish to die or leave, you have to participate in the challenge, but a single Puki’s power is limited, it’s impossible to compete against those guys, so... how about we collaborate?"

"Friend?" Hearing this word, Sigmund scoffed internally but eventually didn’t ignore Ocas.

He had been reborn for so long, yet his roommate hadn’t spoken in his mind; not knowing if it was lack of attention or monitoring him elsewhere.

Now he couldn’t even die if he wanted to, so it seemed the only choice was to win that so-called challenge and confront his roommate!

"Let’s give collaboration a try." Sigmund agreed to the proposal, after all, without Ocas, he wouldn’t even know how to join the challenge.

"Great, then we’re partners!" Excited, Ocas extended its tentacles to embrace, which Sigmund coolly dodged.

Feeling a bit awkward, it scratched its mushroom cap, still leading the way proactively.

Through the dim fluorescent cavern, they walked past D Level marked captives, some scrutinizing, others eyeing them with ill intent.

They mechanically chewed on mushrooms, their mouths and hands full of fluorescence, reflecting their gloomy, hollow eyes.

And from the deeper darkness, occasional screams or maniacal laughter echoed, which these captives were accustomed to, not even blinking.

This place was off.

As a former Duke, Sigmund couldn’t possibly be unfamiliar with jails, aside from the ones in his own jurisdiction, he had seen those of other nobles and even the slave gladiatorial arenas mentioned earlier.

But he had never seen a prison like this before.

Judging by expressions, most of these captives were on the brink of collapse, such existences were most prone to emotional outbursts.

Yet, along the journey, he hadn’t seen any brawls; even quarrels and insults were rare—despite none of them being in chains.

"Fights? No way, rest assured, even as Puki, no one will trample us." After Sigmund posed the question, Ocas thought he feared trouble, "Apart from the playground challenge phase, captives are not allowed to fight privately, no matter how cheap a captive’s life, it’s the great Mushroom Lord’s property, no one dares damage the Lord’s property."

"What happens if they do?"

This question made Ocas’s mushroom body tremble: "They will... become a prison guard... like him..."

Following Ocas’s tentacle direction, a figure slowly emerged at the corridor’s turn ahead.

He held a sign, on which was written [Playground Challenge Registration] in multiple languages.

The instant this guard appeared, many captives in the cavern stood up and gathered toward the figure, including Ocas and Sigmund.

As he got closer, Sigmund saw the reality of the prison guard’s appearance.

The guard, body covered with mushrooms, moved stiffly and mechanically, like a puppet being manipulated.

However, terrifyingly, the head still retained self-awareness.

With hands continually shedding mycelium, he recorded the captives’ registration while hoarsely pleading in a soft voice: "Kill me... I’m begging you... someone kill me, please..."

Yet those D Level personnel, seemingly used to it, ignored his plea, completing the registration before stepping aside to wait for the challenge to start.

This bizarre scene was enough to make even Sigmund shiver, shaking a few strands of spores from his mushroom cap...