Ninth class citizen

Chapter 289 Sacrifice
Most of the mid-level gladiators possessed one or two extraordinary items. At this moment, they were all activated, using the ice, earth, and defensive extraordinary skills stored within them to barely erect a thin protective umbrella over everyone's heads.

The metal-based superhumans were not idle either, painstakingly adding another thick metal plate outside the protective layer.

However, the metal plate was not resistant to this dark green acid rain, and it melted and developed holes with a few hissing sounds, serving little purpose other than psychological comfort.

"Captain, even the skills that come with extraordinary items won't last much longer!" All the martial artists' eyes were focused on Chen Hao: "Do you have any solutions?"

As if hearing everyone's unspoken thoughts, the acid rain intensified. The silvery-white orbs reflected the acid rain, turning everyone's faces a ghastly white and a ghastly green.

"A solution?" Chen Hao laughed coldly: "The difficulty of each level in the Crimson Maze is randomly generated: Level 1 is normal, Level 2 is difficult, and Level 3 is hell."

"So what kind of difficulty have we encountered this time?"

"The appearance of acid rain only proves one thing: this time the difficulty is hellish," Chen Hao said.

Everyone's face turned grim.

"Captain, you're very experienced, you must have a way to get us out of here, right?"

"First-order and second-order are not problems, but there is only one way to do third-order."

"What is it?" someone asked impatiently.

“Sacrifice.” Chen Hao uttered two cold words from his thin lips.

"Once more than half of the members submit a sacrifice application, a collective vote will be held. The person with the most votes will be executed—for every person sacrificed, the difficulty of the level will decrease by one level."

"Then what are we waiting for?" a tall, muscular mid-level gladiator shouted. "The death of one person can save the others; we can't waste any more time!"

He pressed the red dot on the bracelet that was flashing continuously; it was the button to request a sacrifice.

Apart from a few physically weak low-ranking gladiators, everyone else submitted an application and received a response immediately.

"More than half of the members agree to the sacrifice; we are now entering the voting protection period." A flat, electronic voice rang out from above the passageway, and a square, transparent dome enveloped everyone in the center.
"Please complete your vote within 3 minutes. The number of votes for the sacrificed person must exceed half of the votes from the team members present; otherwise, the vote will be considered invalid, protection will be immediately canceled, and the application will not be able to be submitted again."

“We need to communicate beforehand and reach a consensus.” A cold smile appeared on Chen Hao’s lips.

Nan Rong was not as Ji Jun had imagined, but rather had no choice but to stay put because she was caught in a dilemma.

She suddenly remembered a sentence from "The Origin of the Universe" and the idea of ​​giving it a try arose spontaneously.

That was a line written at the beginning of the second section of the prologue: All things in the universe originate from the same source.

This was the first time she had ever taken the initiative to try to interpret the deeper meaning of the words in a book.

After thoroughly understanding the first section of the introduction, she gradually discovered that they were not as obscure and difficult as they had seemed at first glance, and that she could gradually glimpse the profound meaning they contained.

Her understanding of this statement is that everything in the universe, whether living or non-living, is composed of the most minute particles that are essentially the same.

If this understanding is correct, then she may not only be able to draw energy from alien beasts, but also from non-living things, such as this dark green acid.

Thinking it, he acted. Nan Rong activated a time-space freeze, and a dozen lines of gold-embossed text appeared in his field of vision.

They spun and danced rapidly, then burst apart, turning into countless pale golden wisps of mist that disappeared from sight.

Perhaps because I read more today, the pale golden mist was much thicker than the previous three times, and it looked strangely familiar.

Yes, they were very similar to the pale golden mist in my mental sea, only diluted countless times.

The pale golden mist was sent into her body by the Great Demon King. And the advanced textbook she's currently studying was also given to her by the Great Demon King.

The two are inherently related, so there seems to be nothing surprising about them.

Golden light flashed in Nan Rong's eyes, and the dark green acidic waves gradually lost their original color, leaving only countless tangled streams of dark green energy.

At the very bottom of the energy flow, deep within the pool, Nan Rong found a flickering, bright yellow free particle tidal node.

She gently waved her hand, and the bright yellow light flashed into her palm like lightning.

After hearing Chen Hao's words, the lower-ranking gladiators looked at each other, their faces turning quite grim.

Especially the two weakest second-tier martial artists, whose eyes already revealed a desperate realization.

Their pessimistic premonition was soon confirmed.

Chen Hao checked the team roster. Nan Rong's name had turned gray, making it impossible to select.

A hint of joy flashed in his eyes. He directly selected the two people ranked last in overall strength, and received unanimous approval from everyone else.

"Voting will now begin," Chen Hao said.

Before he finished speaking, everyone suddenly noticed that the passageway outside the glass enclosure had become much brighter.

The two second-tier warriors who were about to be sacrificed jumped up and shouted, "The acid rain has stopped! We don't have to die!"

"The rain hasn't stopped," a mid-level martial artist said. "It's just that the color has lightened."

He was right. The originally dark green acid rain gradually turned emerald green, grass green, and light green in a very short time, eventually losing all its color and leaving only a clear and transparent liquid.

What exactly is going on? All eyes were on Chen Hao, the most experienced of them all.

The latter frowned slightly and shook his red bracelet: "The acid might change the color, but it definitely won't change the properties. Hurry up and vote, or you'll miss your chance!"

"No!" a martial artist pleaded. "It's not acid rain outside anymore, please don't sacrifice us, I beg you!"

The other glared resentfully at the remaining lower-ranking gladiators: "If we sacrifice ourselves now, what about next time? You won't escape either!"

Looking at the number of votes returned, Chen Hao was still not up to the minimum standard required by the system, and he couldn't help but feel a little anxious.

"Don't listen to their nonsense! I will never choose the method of sacrifice again unless it is a matter of life and death—vote now, time is almost up!"

Fortunately, he maintained his authority within the team, and ultimately achieved the desired voting result before the voting countdown ended.

"Voting complete." The cold, electronic voice sounded again: "The vote count is as follows: Total number of sacrifices: two."

Before the electronic voice finished speaking, the two second-tier martial artists rushed out of the protected area and into the transparent rain curtain.

Dozens of eyes followed them, watching as they were drenched to the bone.

However, they were not injured, nor did they show the slightest sign of pain.
"It's not acid, it's just ordinary rainwater!" they shouted with joy. "The crisis is really over, we can survive!"

The crowd remained silent, making the continuing electronic voice all the more distinct.

"Meets the conditions for sacrifice; execution method is being randomly selected."

"Select to complete electric shock. Begin execution."