Am I going to be controlled by the players too?

"—Death sentence with reprieve."

The gavel fell.

Time seemed to stretch out at that moment.

Cheng Cheng saw the gavel slowly descend, saw the demon's face bloom with a maniacal smile, and saw the darkness around the courtroom begin to surge, seemingly condensing into countless black guillotines, hovering above his head.

"call……"

He let out a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, there's a suspended death sentence before the actual execution, so there's still enough time...

"Hahaha, did you think you were going to die just now?" the demon of injustice mocked wantonly. "Too bad, this is just the beginning—if I just pin another crime on you, you're doomed!"

"I love that delicious fear that comes out when you think you're about to die and then crush you into hell!"

But the next moment——

Upon seeing Cheng Cheng's expression, the devil's smile suddenly froze.

Because it saw Cheng Cheng smile.

"Your life is entirely in my hands, so why aren't you afraid?" The demon frowned slightly. "What...are you laughing at?"

At this moment, Cheng Cheng, sitting in the defendant's dock, slowly raised his head, his mouth full of blood, looking utterly disheveled.

But he was definitely laughing.

Laughing joyfully, laughing heartily, laughing radiantly.

Why? Why is he laughing?

"This is just pretentious nonsense, it's disgusting!"

Fearing the lack of delicious food, the demon of injustice lost its appetite for toying with its prey. It opened its mouth, ready to fabricate another crime for Cheng Cheng—

Its pupils suddenly contracted.

It raised its hand, as if to say something, but its lips moved a few times, only emitting indistinct breaths. Its body began to tremble slightly, and the red light in its eyes flickered.

This is……

Hahahahahahahahaha!

Light Yagami failed the 40-second "don't laugh" challenge, and Cheng Cheng finally couldn't hold back and burst into laughter: "Yeah, what is it? Don't you want to think about it?"

Puppet Flame!

This was the second time the high-ranking demon was logged into the game, it was crushed by the system like a speed bump, and its embers were shared by Cheng Cheng!

"Spark Puppet: It can sense and slightly interfere with the 'spiritual threads' of nearby life forms, causing the target to become slow-witted, stiff-bodied, and sluggish in movement. If the interference is maintained for more than 40 seconds without external interruption, the target can be transformed into a puppet!"

While engaged in close combat with the demon of injustice, Cheng Cheng had no time to manipulate the threads of the spirit body, therefore the power of this spark remained unused.

But when the demon opens the realm of the Court of Injustice, the demon must stand in the plaintiff's seat, while Cheng Cheng stands in the defendant's seat. The distance between the two is less than five meters, just enough so that they cannot attack each other!

Just now, while the demon kept making false accusations and the judge kept sentencing, Cheng Cheng was secretly doing one thing: enduring the excruciating pain, concentrating his mind, and slowly and firmly controlling the demon's spiritual threads little by little!

If it weren't for the pain distracting him and the repeated interruptions from the judge's punishments, how could this demon have been so arrogant for so long?

Just as the demon was basking in the joy of its impending victory, just as its attention was entirely focused on the final step of "sentencing to death"—

Its lifeline is now in Cheng Cheng's hands!

"Puppet? You..." The Demon of Injustice finally squeezed out the words through gritted teeth, "This spark should be in the hands of the Ruler, why do you possess it..."

"Guess?" Cheng Cheng grinned, lying on the ground with his mouth full of blood. "Yeah, how did I get this spark? There's a reward if you guess right!"

The demon's expression changed.

It sensed it—the threads were tightening, and with each tightening, its control over its body weakened, and its thoughts slowed.

At this rate...

No! I can't think about it too much!

This human is inducing himself to waste time—his thoughts are slowed down several times over, and even if he thinks for just one more second, several seconds of time have already passed in the outside world!

It will take time for the spiritual threads to fully entangle me, and I must immediately break them with external force... There are still 27 seconds before I am completely puppetd, but I have no more than 10 seconds to save myself!

And what can I do?

In this legal arena, attacks can only be launched through the judge. Either continue falsely accusing Cheng Cheng, gambling that he'll die before you're completely puppetized, or…

The demon abruptly raised his head, looking at the phantom of the judge on the high seat, his lips moving slowly and haltingly due to stiffness and stagnation:

"Your Honor...I want to...turn myself in!"

…………

The mallet stopped in mid-air.

The black guillotine hovering above Cheng Cheng's head also temporarily stopped descending.

The judge's illusory figure slowly turned its head to look at the demon: "Plaintiff Jing Liyuan, what do you want to confess to?"

"I..." The demon's thoughts were becoming sluggish. It shook its head violently, forcing itself to stay awake. "I confess... I murdered her. Jing Liyuan is dead. I killed her..."

"boom!"

Just as Cheng Cheng was about to successfully turn it into a puppet, the wooden mallet fell!

"The defendant is guilty of the heinous crime of injustice, but given his good attitude in surrendering himself to the authorities, he is sentenced to five years in prison."

"Boom--!"

The invisible pressure was then placed upon the demon!

Its body trembled violently, its knees buckled, and it almost collapsed to its knees. Black mist gushed from its body, and its face instantly paled.

But at the same time—

Cheng Cheng sensed that the spiritual threads binding the demon's soul had loosened!

The puppetization process, which used to take only one second, has regressed to twenty-three seconds!

"By turning yourself in, you want to forcefully interrupt and withdraw my control?" Cheng Cheng instantly understood the devil's plan. "What a pity, you unjust devil, it seems that because you have privileges, the sentences against you are all very lenient..."

If Cheng Cheng had committed intentional homicide and been convicted, this unjust court would likely have sentenced him to death. But the same crime, committed by this unjust devil, only resulted in a five-year sentence, a punishment that was extremely perfunctory!

The points for resistance to and immunity to legal attacks are really high...

Unfortunately, this punishment isn't enough for you to escape my grasp!

"Continue!" the demon gritted his teeth and spoke again, "I also admit... to false accusation. I framed Cheng Cheng!"

The gavel fell again.

"The defendant is guilty of the crime of unjustly committing evil, but given the defendant's good attitude in surrendering himself to the police, he is sentenced to one year in prison."

"boom--!"

The demon's body swayed again, and a trickle of black blood spilled from the corner of its mouth.

This time, the loosening of the spiritual thread was not obvious, and time only rewound by about three seconds.

"Let's talk peace!"

The Demon of Injustice suddenly raised its head, looked at Cheng Cheng, and said breathlessly, "Human, let's make a deal—you relinquish control, and I'll release the domain."

"Then they went their separate ways and lived in peace."

"How about it?"

Cheng Cheng stared at it for three seconds.

Cheng Cheng remained silent.

He simply lay slumped in the dock, coughing up blood while staring intently at the devil.

Then, he raised his right hand towards the demon—

He raised his middle finger.

The smile on the demon's face froze.

"You...you're insane!" The demon of injustice roared in fury. "Your life is in my hands! If I give up resisting the threads and instead falsely accuse you, you're doomed!"

“Then let me die.” Cheng Cheng said in a hoarse voice, “Death is not scary. Death is like a cool summer night, where one can sleep peacefully without worry... At worst, my sister can watch a 30-second commercial to revive me.”

"Or you can ask my wife Barbara. She has six lives, and she can revive me with her ultimate skill."

"You're insane!!!"

The demon's expression twisted.

If Cheng Cheng were just talking nonsense, that would be one thing—but it's a demon that can sense emotions!

This human—he really thought that when he said those words!

This is insane! Is this even human?

Thirteen seconds remained before the puppet's control process was complete. The Demon of Injustice had no time to consider; it certainly didn't want to gamble with Cheng Cheng on whether it would be faster to sentence him to death or to be puppetd itself.

Gritting his teeth, a struggle flashed in the demon's eyes.

But this struggle lasted for less than a second.

It raised its head and looked at the judge again:

"Your Honor, I also admit..."

It began to confess one case at a time.

He admitted to intentionally hurting Cheng Cheng, admitted to deliberately inciting the audience's emotions, admitted to using Jing Liyuan to create chaos online, and admitted to setting a trap in the contract he signed with Jing Liyuan...

For each case acknowledged, the gavel falls once.

Each time it falls, it suffers a minor punishment.

Black mist continued to spew from its body, its face grew paler and paler, and its body trembled more and more violently.

But it didn't stop.

Because each time someone surrenders, the erosion by the puppet threads is interrupted, and the control time is reversed by a few seconds—from thirteen seconds, to twenty-five seconds, to thirty-two seconds…

Cheng Cheng lay on the defendant's seat, quietly watching this scene.