Snap.
The phone screen went black. Holding the phone, Wang Rui smirked slightly, "Do you think you're going to die?"
Zhao Ba was momentarily speechless. His parents were powerful, with an extensive and intricate network of connections. Forcing tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands, of people to vote in his favor wouldn't be difficult. After all, as long as 11% of people wanted him alive, he could survive. Such a small margin—his parents could definitely achieve that.
But… Zhao Ba didn't dare voice his thoughts. He merely shrank in place like a frightened turtle, unable to move.
Seeing this, Wang Rui bent down, her smile widening, "Want to know a little secret? Even if fewer than 90% vote for your death, I can still kill you."
Fear and anger mixed in Zhao Ba's expression as he shouted, "You're not keeping your word!"
The girl's smile grew more wicked, her laughter sharp and shrill. "Keeping my word? Why would I care about that with someone like you? Do murderers deserve promises of fairness?! When I begged for you to let me go, did you show justice? When you ripped off my clothes, did you show kindness? When you gouged out my eyes, did you speak of morality?"
Laughing maniacally, Wang picked up a knife from the floor and slashed Zhao Ba's body over and over. Some cuts were deep, some shallow, haphazard but none hit a major artery.
Zhao Ba endured the pain, reassuring himself: It's okay, these wounds aren't fatal. Dad will come soon, I'll be in a hospital soon…
But in the next second, Wang stopped and stood still like a painting. She retrieved a vial from a sealed box, shaking the liquid inside as she smiled at Zhao Ba.
"You see, what I have here is a synthetic bacterial strain. It contains over ten deadly pathogens, like Staphylococcus aureus, gas gangrene exotoxins, and tetanus neurotoxins. Oh, I forgot—you never even finished your basic education. You probably don't understand any of this. To put it simply, if I pour this on your wounds, your organs will simultaneously fail, your blood will clot in your veins, and within hours, your body will swell into a grotesque balloon."
A faint hissing sound accompanied the trickle of liquid, and the stench filled the air. The man strapped to the cross whimpered in terror, losing control of his bladder.
Wang bent down, holding the vial, her voice soft and coaxing, like a devil whispering to a soul. "But I'll give you one more chance."
——
At 11:30 AM, in the Zhao family mansion, the live vote showed that over 90% of people had voted for Zhao Ba's death. Watching the screen, Zhao Ba's mother let out a sharp sob, clutching her husband's arm. "Please, do something—save our son!"
Zhao Lisheng angrily shoved her hand away, his face dark. "What else can I do!" In truth, he had already exhausted all efforts to save his son. Despite deploying vast resources and conducting an extensive search, Zhao Ba's whereabouts remained elusive. The tech team informed him that the opposing side possessed incredible hacking capabilities, with all tracked IP addresses being fake, making it impossible to trace them. Traditional surveillance methods like checking security footage and license plates were equally ineffective.
Even though they had found the garbage truck that had transported Zhao Ba, it was empty, and all leads were lost.
Incredibly, despite his immense power, Zhao Lisheng had been reduced to participating in the voting game set by his adversaries—pulling strings and mobilizing subordinates to ensure more than 10% of votes favored his son's survival.
But what he hadn't anticipated was the sheer number of people who wanted Zhao Ba dead. Just now, he had secured votes from a large organization, with tens of thousands voting for Zhao Ba to live, but almost immediately, social media platforms lit up with posts urging the public to ensure Zhao Ba met his end.