In the boundless darkness, Fang Wuwei suddenly heard rustling whispers all around him.
"This isn't right. Why am I still conscious?"
Fang Wuwei, seeing nothing before him, immediately questioned why he still had consciousness the moment he regained it.
The voices around him grew louder and clearer. Finally, Fang Wuwei could barely make out what the speakers were saying—
"...Why... did you... bring the demon here?"
"...I... need... to interrogate..."
"Demon... brought... you... don't you understand?"
The intermittent voices gave Fang Wuwei a headache and left him puzzled.
His vision was still completely dark, but his consciousness was gradually returning.
After an unknown amount of time, the arguments outside slowly ceased.
The silence, stillness, and boundless darkness made Fang Wuwei want to shout out loud, to hear even a faint sound, to see even a glimmer of light.
As if to grant him light, Fang Wuwei's vision gradually brightened. A sliver of light penetrated the solid ice, shining on Wuwei's face. Then, Wuwei's vision became completely bright again.
The solid ice shattered.
Before Fang Wuwei could fully savor his freedom and the light, and even before his vision recovered from the temporary blindness caused by the sudden shift from darkness to light, an illusory yet incredibly sturdy chain bound him.
"I'm probably not completely safe yet," Fang Wuwei thought. In this world, where could there be a safe place? Everything he saw was an enemy.
"Oi! Demon!"
A sharp cry came, and Fang Wuwei instinctively looked up to see a humanoid cat, dressed in clothes, standing before him.
"Holy crap, a furry."
But Fang Wuwei quickly realized something was wrong. There were dozens of people in front of him, all different animal furries, but with one commonality—they weren't outlined by the system's red box. This meant this group of furries were indigenous people, natives of this world.
This made Fang Wuwei overjoyed. If he could get help from these people, the chances of defeating those Reincarnators would greatly increase.
Before Fang Wuwei's brain, somewhat dulled by the ice, could fully process things, the ignored cat promptly slapped him. Fang Wuwei couldn't dodge in time and was knocked to the ground by the slap, his face now bearing several claw marks.
The pain made Fang Wuwei realize that gaining the trust of these people would be a long and arduous task, let alone getting help from them.
The cat grabbed Fang Wuwei by the neck, lifted him, and threw him towards the distant crowd, its attitude far from friendly.
Thrown out, Fang Wuwei, his limbs bound by chains and unable to move easily, rolled along with the momentum until he reached the front of the crowd.
Among the group of furries, there was a younger furry rabbit. She seemed to have been pushed to the front of the crowd, to guard against Fang Wuwei.
The rabbit squatted down, holding a dagger to Fang Wuwei's throat, and spoke fiercely,
"Demon! From the present, I ask, you answer!
First question, why did you invade us? What is the meaning of these self-slaughtering rituals held here?"
"Then go ask the Main God! Why ask me?!"
Fang Wuwei actually felt quite aggrieved. He had been fighting for them with all his might, and now he was caught by these people.
There was no choice. To gain their trust, and because he had no reason to hide anything from them, Fang Wuwei began to explain these matters bit by bit.
World Source… Reincarnators… Examinations… and so on, Fang Wuwei revealed everything without concealment.
After hearing these words, most of the furries fell into contemplation. What Fang Wuwei said was logically very true and correct. They didn't understand what the World Source was, but they knew the concept of war. It was probably because their side had something they needed, that thing called the World Source, which was why they were invaded. And the Reincarnators' examinations sounded like a survival of the fittest elimination match. Living in the wild, they fully understood that the weak would become food for the strong.
But, was it trustworthy?
The group fell into thought, trying to find loopholes in Fang Wuwei's words.
But unfortunately, this was the truth, and there were probably no loopholes to be found.
"Chief? What do you think..."
Unable to decide, the group ultimately focused their gaze on a Lion King not far away.
The Lion King was silent for a moment, then slowly walked towards Fang Wuwei. The courtiers began to slowly retreat, making way for the Lion King.
Fang Wuwei looked up at the Lion King, and the Lion King looked back at him. He felt a powerful pressure, aura, and the majesty of a King emanating from the Lion King, which was chilling.
The two stared at each other for a long time. Ultimately, Fang Wuwei was the first to yield, lowering his head and averting his gaze. Seeing Fang Wuwei lower his head, the Lion King immediately announced that Fang Wuwei would be thrown into the dungeon and temporarily detained.
Amidst the confused and dissatisfied looks of "Why not kill him?" from the ministers, the Lion King watched silently as a group of guards led Fang Wuwei away, then turned and left, not stopping until he had left the main hall and returned to his own chambers.
The Lion King sat on his bed, his face full of weariness, and finally spoke in a low voice, seemingly to himself, yet also as if conversing with the heavens: "Great Priest... he has come."
In the main hall, the Lion King had received a telepathic message from the Great Priest: the person before him was the Savior prophesied. The Lion King had no doubt; only the Great Priest could achieve such long-distance telepathy.
However, the Lion King's mood remained complex. How many times had it been? How many times had demons performed rituals, only for a Savior to be prophesied to descend? Now he had truly come, how could I believe...?
But the Lion King had no choice. He could not defy the Great Priest's order to keep Fang Wuwei alive. Though he was the Chief, his authority was beneath that of the Great Priest.
Alas... it's difficult...
————This is a frightened dividing line————
At this moment, Fang Wuwei was escorted into the dungeon beneath the main hall, shoved and pushed into a single cell. It was clear that the guards responsible for the escort were also quite afraid.
Even after being confined, the magical chains on Fang Wuwei remained unbroken, still binding him and making him uncomfortable.
But he didn't even dare to struggle now. Just a moment ago, when he uncomfortably twisted his body, the guards standing outside almost reflexively lunged at him with a spear.
Time passed little by little, and Fang Wuwei couldn't be sure how long he had been there, until the guards outside began to doze off, and he felt that it might already be night.
He hadn't eaten all day, and the people from the tribe hadn't brought any food. Even when Fang Wuwei asked, he received no answer.
Until...
"You two, you've worked hard."
Just as Fang Wuwei was also dozing off, he suddenly heard voices from outside. It had been a whole day, and finally there was some movement.
Forcing himself to stay awake, Fang Wuwei looked up and saw two guards bowing respectfully to an elderly Sheep Clan member, who had a look of loving kindness on his face.
"You two, I need to speak with this demon for a moment. This is the Lion King's order, please step aside." The Sheep Clan member spoke slowly, while also pulling out two golden objects from his Arms and placing them in the guards' hands.
"Sheep Clan Chief, this..."
"I imagine neither of you would want others to know about you dozing off while on duty, would you?"
This was a blatant threat, and the guards understood it perfectly. They just wanted a job that allowed them to survive, so naturally, they wouldn't confront the higher-ups, especially since they had already received benefits.
So, the two guards bowed and assented, opening the cell door to allow the Sheep Clan member to pass.
Fang Wuwei looked at the Sheep Clan member before him. He felt a strangely familiar sensation from him, a feeling that made him somewhat uncomfortable.
The Sheep Clan member sat down and pulled out a box from his bag. Inside was a steaming hot blue fried rice and a strange-looking but fragrant piece of meat, which made Fang Wuwei, who had been hungry all day, salivate.
Seeing Fang Wuwei's appearance, the Sheep Clan member smiled ingratiatingly and spoke.
"This demon, no, I should say human, I am the Chief of the Sheep Clan, Marler G. Baaz."
Suddenly, Fang Wuwei knew why he felt the Sheep Clan member was a bit familiar.
"Well, well, a traitor."
(Regarding that furry cat... my original plan was for the protagonist to bring her back to the tribe, which would then naturally lead to conflicts between the tribe and the protagonist, and then naturally bring out the end of the battle topic and the Lion King. However, after writing a bit, I realized that this way of writing would make the chapter too long. The Battle Royale arc would probably need seven or eight more chapters. To end it quickly, I hastily revised it, cutting out all of the furry cat's scenes. So it might seem a bit... strange.
Please forgive me!! I'm sorry (cries)!!)