SQUELCH!

Two Swords of Law plunged into the principal’s body. It let out a painful scream as its body began to crack. A dense web of fissures appeared, and a human face peeled off. Where the face had been, a deep, dark vortex formed, spewing forth endless greed.

"Such heavy sin."

Zhou Chen felt the fluctuations transmitted back from the Sword of Law. He raised an eyebrow, put force into his arms, and swung the blade upward. It sliced through the Corrupter’s shoulder and arm as easily as a hot knife through butter. The Plague Doctor mirrored his movement, severing the creature’s other arm.

"How dare you students strike a teacher! I’ll have to teach you a lesson on your parents’ behalf!"

The principal’s roar echoed from all directions. The entire dilapidated elite school began to shake violently, like an enraged behemoth.

The Tier Three Earth Style Ascender, Jonas, stomped his foot. Visible ripples of earth energy spread out. The school’s ground and buildings instantly fell silent, firmly suppressed. Only things not made of earth, like the vegetation, continued to tremble.

Zhou Chen and the Plague Doctor swept out with their Swords of Law. Suddenly, the principal Corrupter, now showing its true form, vanished into a wisp of black smoke. Immediately after, a school building dozens of meters away began to shake violently. A brutal, dark will started fighting Jonas for control of the building. The principal’s roar came from within:

"From the day you enrolled, you have been constantly violating school rules, talking back to your elders, assaulting teachers, and scorning the principal’s authority...

You deserve to be punished!"

A fierce wind kicked up. The surroundings grew even gloomier, and the temperature plummeted below zero. The contamination level displayed on their watches skyrocketed, breaking past 1,050.

Zhou Chen and the others raised their guard, wary of an attack from the principal Corrupter.

Dead silence. A brief yet seemingly endless dead silence.

They waited for nearly ten seconds, but no attack came.

Only the gloomy, fierce wind howled past. It felt a bit like all thunder and no lightning.

"We are fighting for control of the school," Jonas said at that moment, his expression grave.

’That’s a thing?’ Zhou Chen was stunned, but he immediately understood what was happening.

The Corrupter’s identity was the school principal. Under the influence of Abyssal Power, it had fused with the school... No, to be more precise, the entire school was the creature’s body.

But as luck would have it, Jonas was an Earth Type Ascender, and the school hadn’t crystallized. Therefore, he could manipulate everything in the school that belonged to the earth realm. This put the "school" Corrupter in a very awkward position—Jonas could control its body.

The two sides were in a clandestine tug-of-war. Jonas was trying to seize control, while the "school" Corrupter was trying to take its own control back.p>

"Hold on a little longer. I’ve established a sufficient link."

In the Plague Doctor’s hand, the Sword of Law dissolved into motes of light, replaced by an exquisitely crafted scale. On one side of the scale lay a light feather; the other held the ethereal silhouette of the entire school.

Instantly, intangible sin manifested as real weight, causing the side of the scale with the school’s silhouette to sink.

—The Final Judgment commences.

—Verdict rendered.

—The guilty shall die!

"AHHH!" The principal’s bloodcurdling scream echoed from all directions, then faded into silence. The howling, gloomy wind gradually subsided, and everything became calm.

The Sin Judgment Scale was an extremely dangerous Rule Level Artifact. Once something was placed on its scale, it had to face judgment. This might not mean much to an ordinary person, but to someone guilty of heinous sins, it was tantamount to a death sentence. The moment the verdict was rendered, they would be executed.

With its consciousness dead, the school Corrupter’s true body began to collapse, turning to dust.

In the span of a few breaths, the elite school vanished into thin air, becoming a pile of dust. The group found themselves standing on the crystallized ground.

’That was over way too fast...’ Zhou Chen couldn’t help but feel it was a bit strange. Based on his past experience, clearing this kind of instance should have taken a long time. Who would have thought their team was so strong they just bulldozed the whole thing without a second thought.

Any other team would have probably had to complete the tasks obediently to clear it, and they still would have faced a high chance of death.

"The destination is still ten kilometers away. Let’s keep moving."

·

The center of the Capital seemed to be the center of the Abyss as well. The closer they got, the higher the contamination level. After walking for five kilometers, the number on their watches had reached a frightening 1,200. If an ordinary person were here, they would be instantly afflicted by Abyssal Contamination.

Zhou Chen’s group had already used up two of their anti-contamination Matrices. Fortunately, they had brought plenty, so there was no immediate risk.

As the group was moving through an alley, Zhou Chen’s ears twitched. He listened intently for a moment. "Do you guys... hear something?"

"I hear it," Ah Man nodded.

"It sounds like... chanting slogans?" Ted looked bewildered. "I think I hear someone chanting slogans?"

"Could there be survivors?"

"Impossible," Zhou Chen shook his head. "With such a high contamination level, no ordinary person could survive. High-ranking government officials might have survived in safe houses, though.

It must be Corrupters."

Zhou Chen peeked out from the mouth of the alley, cautiously looking around. He soon saw the scene on the street in the distance.

A group of Corrupters in corporate uniforms stood in neat rows. There were ten to a row, five rows in total. Their posture was exceptionally standard, forming perfectly straight lines.

A Corrupter that looked like a manager pumped its fist and shouted, "Grow bigger, grow stronger, and create new glories!"

"Grow bigger, grow stronger, and create new glories!" the Corrupter employees roared, their pale faces full of passion and drive.

Zhou Chen’s mouth hung open, a sarcastic comment stuck in his throat.

’Is this a corporate morning meeting chant? Why are they doing this crap in the Abyss?’

’Wait, Corrupters have to work? What kind of work???’

The manager-like Corrupter clasped its three hands behind its back, held its two heads high, and said arrogantly, "The Shengqiang Group was able to reach its current scale thanks to our ’wolf culture’ corporate philosophy. Even though you’ve all fallen into Hell and become Corrupters, the work must go on. You signed contracts selling your lives to us. Never mind becoming Corrupters—even if you die, you have to keep contributing your last ounce of energy to make money for the big boss."

"Therefore, from this day forward, we must take our wolf culture to the extreme. You will work 24/7 without rest, wholeheartedly serving the big boss. The harder you work, the sweeter the big boss’s life will be. To be able to serve the big boss is your blessing.

Is that clear?"

"Clear!"

The Corrupter employees roared in unison, "We will work for the big boss until the end of the World!"

"Overtime! Overtime! Overtime!"

"Work! Work! Work!"

THUD!

Suddenly, a large-headed Corrupter with graying hair that looked very old collapsed to the ground. It twitched a few times and then went still.

"How did it die? Who is this? It’s gotten so ugly I don’t even recognize it," the Corrupter leader asked.

"Jeff. A thirty-five-year-old programmer. He was the employee of the month for twenty-six consecutive months," someone answered.

"A programmer?!" the Corrupter leader shrieked. "Get him into the company building, quickly! A programmer’s brain can’t be wasted! Upload its consciousness to the corporate network immediately, so it can fix bugs and write code nonstop!"

A few Corrupters hurriedly carried Jeff into the corporate building behind them.

Zhou Chen watched this scene, not knowing what to say.

’To be used as a tool even after death? That’s just too miserable.’

"Shengqiang Group... Heh, so it’s them."

The Plague Doctor said coldly, "They’re an internet company. They once launched a product called ’digital pets.’ Care to guess how they were made?"

"...Uploading a person’s consciousness?" Zhou Chen guessed.

"They would suspend people in containers to maintain their vital signs, then use special instruments to link their consciousness to a computer or a robot, letting consumers raise them as digital pets.

The humans whose consciousnesses were linked were ’slaves’ the company had raised since childhood, indoctrinated with the sole purpose of making money for the company.

The company would squeeze every last drop of value out of them. Even after death, their corpses would be used to refine Gold.

The actions of these corporations are all a microcosm of how the North Carolina Government enslaves its people."

The Plague Doctor paused after speaking, then said, "Let’s go. We shouldn’t waste time on them."

But just then, a shrill alarm suddenly blared.

"Warning, warning! Unauthorized personnel have entered the premises!"

A dangerous, red searchlight beam shone down from above, landing on the six of them and exposing their position.