The host's excited voice spread throughout the venue via broadcast:
"Next, I will introduce the rules of this festival! The 'prey' present, including natives and some problematic Slaves, total about a hundred thousand 'Rabbits'!"
"Among them, hunting the 13 rare Rabbits marked as'SR' will earn you ten thousand points! Hunting the other 150 'R' rank Rabbits will earn corresponding high scores! Hunting time—three weeks! It officially begins in one hour! So now—run, 'Rabbits'! Please us with your struggles!"
The cages were opened, and the countdown to death officially sounded. Like startled birds and beasts, tens of thousands of Slaves and civilians, driven by instinct, frantically flooded into the island's jungles, ruins, and any place where they could possibly hide.
Some remained standing still, harboring illusions and hoping for the mercy of the "gods." But they would soon discover that in this hunting ground, the stronger the "prey's" desire to survive and the more spectacular their struggle, the more it would stir the "hunters'" numb killing nerves.
Bang! Bang!
Two gunshots rang out, and two natives who had stayed behind died under the golden pistols of two Celestial Dragons.
Seeing this, the host laughed and said, "Please stop! Don't break the rules! Wahahaha!"
"What kind of rabbit is it if it doesn't run?" the Celestial Dragon who fired replied.
The fleeing natives looked back in horror at the scene: "It's a lie, right... From now on, are we really going to be hunted like livestock?!"
"I heard... I heard that as long as we survive for three weeks, we'll be saved! We have no choice but to run now!"
"But where can we run? Where is there any place left to hide on this island?!"
The chaotic flight had just begun when the hunt descended.
An hour? That was merely a game prelude to give the "Rabbits" a bit of hope; no Celestial Dragon cared about that condition.
The Celestial Dragons, who had long been impatient, had already excitedly mounted their prepared exotic beast steeds—giant hounds and tall ostriches.
Behind a boulder, a pair of young parents tightly covered the mouth of the infant in their arms, trying to suppress that fatal crying.
However, the slight sound still attracted the "demons" circling nearby.
"Found you, Rabbits!" A Celestial Dragon riding a giant ostrich raised a gold-inlaid pistol and pointed it excitedly at them.
The woman, her face covered in tears, begged desperately, "My Lord! Please! Spare the child's life! He doesn't know anything!"
Bang bang bang!
Three gunshots. Behind the boulder lay three corpses gradually growing cold, the smallest of which was still in swaddling clothes.
The Celestial Dragon blew away the blue smoke from the muzzle and looked at the scoreboard with satisfaction: "Got thirty points!"
He then rode off happily on his strange bird.
No miracles would happen here. This was only a bloody hunting ground.
"Help us! Where are the Marines?!"
"Don't kill my husband! I'll fight you!"
Pleas, roars, wails... Life was thoroughly mocked and toyed with here, eventually turning into cold, rising numbers on the hunting leaderboard, measured and then forgotten.
Crimson blood soaked the soil, foreshadowing the countless bones that would surface in the future.
The desperate flight, the cruel hunting, and the hunters' wild laughter were all transmitted back in real-time to the "Land of the Gods" in the distant Holy Land Mary Geoise via dozens of visual transponder snails.
The Celestial Dragons gathered there, as if watching the most thrilling horse race, cheered and jumped for joy at this "spectacular show" held once every three years.
"Go! The Figarland Family has taken the lead!"
"The Bapet Family and the Manmaya Family are catching up! Look!"
"Saint Galin is too strong! Another ten thousand points!"
Figarland Galin Saint, a God's Knight, swung his blade, and hundreds of Rabbits fell silent. With his overwhelming strength, he outstripped everyone in the competition, leaving fields of corpses in his wake.
This efficient and cold "dazzling" performance drew screams from many female Celestial Dragon fangirls in the Mary Geoise spectator stands.
"Which side did you bet on?"
"For the family battle, I bet on the'Shepherd Family.' For the individual battle... I bet on 'Gunko'!"
"Really? She's the 'God's Attendant Blade' of the Knights!"
Gunko, fighting for the Manmaya Family, had now activated the power of the "Arrow-Arrow Fruit," a single arrow piercing the hearts of hundreds of people.
The host shouted: "Another super score for the Manmaya Family! Miss Gunko's performance is impeccable!"
Meanwhile, in a heavily guarded house somewhere in God Valley, Shakky, the grand prize of the competition, sat silently in the room. A large number of elite soldiers stood guard outside.
A soldier peered through the crack of the door and whispered, "It's so nice, Saint Galin. To be able to marry such a beauty as a wife."
Another soldier was more sober: "Shh! Quiet! The competition isn't over yet; the result hasn't been decided."
Shakky remained silent throughout, as if the outside clamor and her own fate had nothing to do with her, just quietly waiting for a certain moment to arrive.
Madness spread to every corner of the island.
Saint Samaz was playing his "game" to the extreme.
He forced a child to climb a tree, a kind smile on his face.
"Why did you run up so high? It's so dangerous." His tone was gentle, like an adult caring for a junior.
"Don't be afraid, I've already laid out 'thorns' as a cushion for you. Quick, jump down."
The child, clutching the tree trunk tightly, was already crying hysterically and shaking his head frantically: "Stop... don't do this... please..."
"Please stop! That's my child!" A man rushed out from his hiding place and threw himself under the tree.
"Papa...!"
"It's okay! Jump down! Papa will catch you!" The man opened his arms.
Schlick!
The next moment, sharp thorns pierced through the father's body, and the child who fell afterward was not spared either. Two figures, one large and one small, fell silent amidst the thorns.
Samaz covered his face with his hand, as if moved by this "paternal love," and sighed to the heavens:
"Ah... what a truly moving scene." His tone was filled with twisted satisfaction.
On the other side, Dragon, who was sneaking around, bumped into a small group of surviving Slaves, and a Celestial Dragon discovered them at the same time.
"Found you! A ten-thousand-point Bacania!" The Celestial Dragon excitedly raised his weapon.
At this moment, on a boulder, stood young Ivankov, his wrists still shackled! Though in rags, his eyes burned with an unyielding fire as he gave a loud speech to the group of Slaves of various races below:
"For resources, they drive out the natives and even conduct killing games. There are about a hundred thousand of what they call Rabbits on this island! Unbelievable! Is this really the living world?!"
"B-but," a man also wearing handcuffs and shackles looked up at Ivankov and asked:
"According to what they said, if we survive these three weeks, we can regain our freedom!"
"It's absolutely impossible! Okay?!" Ivankov jumped in front of him and said loudly with a ferocious face, "In all past competitions, the number of survivors was zero!"
"Since it's a lie, why did they specifically give us hope!" another slave said, weeping.
Ivankov looked over, his fingers clenched into a fist: "Only with hope will we run! Killing people who are waiting for death in despair holds no pleasure for them!"
"Ah!" Hearing Ivankov's words, the pupils of the surrounding Slaves shrank, and they cried out in shock.
"Want to survive in this foul game? Waiting for charity? It's nothing but a pipe dream! Crying and begging won't bring a way out! If we want to live, we can only rely on ourselves! Unite and escape from this damn game! Let's escape this place together! Hee-haw!!"
His infectious shout caused a glimmer of light to reignite in the eyes of the numb Slaves below.
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