Although he had expected it, when he heard that Blood Moon Judgment was indeed a death sentence, Ash's heart could not help but skip a beat.
In actuality, he had more or less held on to a little fantasy. Perhaps the people here could recognize that he wasn't the leader of a cult. Perhaps he still had to go through a long period of trial, or perhaps there were two years of reprieve for the death sentence…
This fantasy reached its peak after he entered the prison. As Ash saw it, how could a death row criminal possibly have such a nice room with its own bathroom?
How could a death row criminal possibly move freely in prison?
How could a death row criminal possibly receive such good treatment in prison?
Runner's words shattered all his childish hopes—it was precisely because they were going to die that the prison treated them so well.
"The prison domesticates us just to let us die more miserably?" Ash said with difficulty. "Isn't this a waste of resources?"
"Would you disdain fireworks for not blowing up with enough brilliance?" Runner smiled and said, "I'm very surprised. You really don't seem to know much about the Blood Moon Judgment. That's a live broadcast program in every city. Most citizens would stay home at 8 PM on the first and fifteenth of every month to turn on the hologram and watch the end of every sinner together. The ratings are close to 70%.
"By the way, compared to the advertisement fees brought in by Blood Moon Judgment, the prison's expenses on us are really nothing."
"Watching executions" was actually a popular program in this world…
The corner of Ash's mouth twitched. "This is ridiculous. How can 70% of people watch entertainment programs at 8 PM without working overtime? I think they just don't have enough work…"
Runner wasn't the least bit surprised by Ash's useless rage.
He had seen too much of the ugliness of death row criminals when the Blood Moon Judgment was approaching. Their reactions ranged from denouncing the social system to criticizing the ignorance of the people in the world. One would see everything if they've stayed in this prison for long enough.
"But if you want to escape from the Blood Moon Judgment, it's not impossible either."
Ash perked up. "How?"
Runner did not keep him in suspense and said straightforwardly, "Although one person will definitely die in every Blood Moon Judgment, there will be eight people who will participate. These eight people are not fixed but ranked according to 'contribution points'."
"Every death row criminal will initially have 50 contribution points. 10 points are deducted every month. However, it doesn't matter if it's deducted to 0. The prison won't do anything to a death row criminal because of this."
"But the higher the contribution points, the later they are in sequence for judgment, and the lower the contribution points, the earlier they are in sequence for judgment. Theoretically speaking, the top eight in the sequence are the participants of the Blood Moon Judgment."
"There are many ways to earn contribution points. The simplest way is to create value. Although Memory Masters had retrieved all our memories before we came to prison, rendering any intelligence we could provide worthless, we still have many ways to make contributions.
"Some people came in because of malfeasance and corruption. They can suggest institutional improvements to reduce the possibility of subsequent malfeasance and corruption.
"Some people came in because of illegal experiments. They can continue to do legal experiments and write papers in prison.
"Some people had all sorts of talents to begin with. There are even people who write best-selling books in prison. Naturally, that can be considered creating value."
"But in this prison, there are more who came in for murder, and detest labor and advocate plunder by nature—such as me." Runner pointed at Ash. "And such as you.
"Then, how would we get contribution points? The Deathmatch Society is our answer."
Ash realized something. "You just said that there's a cost for participating in the deathmatch…"
"In addition to death and pain, the greatest price of a death match is the transfer of contribution points," Runner said. "In each death match, both sides must place a certain amount of contribution points. The victor will escape the Blood Moon, and the loser will be judged."
"If the Blood Moon Judgment is a dead end, then the Deathmatch Club is the sea of blood along the way to the dead end. Almost all criminals on death row will participate in the deathmatch to gamble away the last of their contributions and shed the last drop of blood, before entering the live stream that everyone is watching with the most desperate demeanor.
"This is the way we contribute—eliminate the weak and maintain the fighting spirit!
"That's the reason the prison allows the Deathmatch Society to exist." Runner's voice was as calm, as if they were discussing someone else's business. "Actors should always put on make-up before going on stage."
Actors should always put on make-up, or the audience wouldn't enjoy the show.
Even though he had never watched the Blood Moon Judgment, Ash understood what Runner meant.
It was just like how they did exquisite character illustrations on mobile games. The so-called "deathmatch" was a process of turning a death row criminal into an illustration: gambling, fighting, despair, fear, pain… Nothing was more motivating to a person's fighting spirit than "fighting with your life on the line".
When a death row criminal turned hysterical from pain after multiple defeats in deathmatches, and became desperate and mad from fear, he would become the "main course" for serving. When that happened, what would be served before the audience would be a highly combative, desperate and fearful "beast".
Compared to an apathetic and lifeless "person", of course killing a "beast" that still had the will to resist was a better spectacle.
This was an open conspiracy, one that the death row criminals could not refuse.
Not only would the losers become the products needed for prison and fetch a "good price" in the live broadcast, the winner would only be delaying the inevitable. One day, they would still appear in the live broadcast and walk the same path.
From the very beginning, there was only one outcome for criminals on the death row like them: they would be exploited for all their value by prison, and die. The dormitory rooms with independent bathrooms, the good food, and the comprehensive facilities were all just to fatten them for slaughter.
The so-called sequence of judgment was actually an involution mechanism. Everyone was in a zero-sum game. Either they would be judged, or someone else would be sentenced to death.
It actually made sense, though. They willingly broke the law and became criminals on death row.
Moreover, if a death row criminal did not want to be exploited, he could just roll over and wait for death. He would only participate in involution if he wanted to live.
If Ash were outside the prison, he would definitely applaud this mechanism and rubberneck at the spectacle too.
Unfortunately, not only was Heath the leader of a cult, he was such a weak cult leader. Ash was implicated by him and trapped in prison, so he could only find another way to survive.
"Do you still want to join the Deathmatch Society after hearing this?"
"Of course!"
Runner was unsurprised. He finished his milk and burped. "Then come with me. If we're lucky, we might see fresh, hot corpses if we go there now."
"Are there people participating in deathmatches so early in the morning?" asked Ash curiously.
"Although the deathmatch requires one to bet a lot of contribution points, it doesn't mean that one has to bet a lot of contribution points at the start. Rather, one only has to bet one contribution point on the first match, and bet one more contribution point in each subsequent deathmatch than the previous one—two points in the second match, three points in the third match, so on and so forth.
"Although the stakes will become considerable after gradual accumulation, there will still be a chance to turn the tables even if you lose all the first five matches. Therefore, everyone will try their best to make use of the first five matches to judge the strength of others and determine their own capability in prison.
"Therefore, the frequency of deathmatches is quite high. It's very normal to host one every day. There are only a few days left until the 15th, so those people at the back of the sequence definitely want to escape the judgment through deathmatches. I reckon that the blood stains on the deathmatch arena won't dry up in the next few days.
"Speaking of which, do you want to buy meat?"
Ash blinked. "Meat? What kind of meat?"
"The meat that falls in the arena ring. This is one of the few ways we can spend contribution points. The meat that fell on the ring already belongs to the prison. We can buy it back from the prison."
Runner turned to look at Ash, revealing two neat rows of pale white teeth. "If we're lucky, we'll be able to buy thigh meat. Whether made into sashimi or cooked, the texture is excellent. I strongly recommend it."