inspire-indiana Chapter 1096 The Shadow Descends, Who's Acting?
Chapter 1096 The Shadow Descends, Who's Acting?
"Shut the hell up!"
Deep within the dungeon, a hoarse roar drowned out all the curses and wails.
A man with a blood-stained face, codenamed Number 22, was chained to the wall.
He scanned each of his infighting comrades in the prison with his bloodshot eyes.
"Still blaming each other? You bunch of idiots, haven't you figured it out yet?"
He struggled frantically, the chains rattling loudly.
"It was a setup from the very beginning! What a fucking 'final trial,' what a load of bull 'the winner takes all,' it's all a scam!"
"That old bastard city lord, and that unknown god behind him,"
"They never intended for any of us to survive!"
"From beginning to end, we were just pigs being raised in captivity, batteries used to power the artifact!"
Number 22's voice, filled with heartbreaking resentment and desperate clarity, struck everyone's hearts with each word.
The cell fell silent instantly, with only heavy breathing remaining.
The arguing, cursing, and crying agents were all stunned.
The resentment and anger on their faces were gradually replaced by a deeper sense of bewilderment and fear.
Yes... they killed each other for a hollow promise.
They betrayed their partners, only to end up with nothing and being imprisoned as a whole.
They didn't lose to each other, but to a pre-planned conspiracy.
"What the hell is all that noise about! All of you, shut the hell up!"
A harsh shout came from the dungeon entrance, and several servants carrying long whips walked in.
The head servant glanced contemptuously at the group of former high-ranking agents, a cruel sneer playing on his lips.
"A bunch of drained good-for-nothings, still thinking they're superior? Dare to say another word, and the whip won't have eyes!"
As he spoke, he lashed the whip hard across number 22, who was yelling the loudest.
"Snapped!"
The sound of flesh being torn apart was particularly jarring in the dungeon.
Number 22 grunted, gritting his teeth, his eyes burning with the flames of humiliation.
"What? You're not satisfied?" The servant grinned maliciously, raising his whip again.
"I'll teach you dogs a lesson today, what rules are!"
Just as the whip was about to fall.
"Clap."
A soft sound.
At the same time, all the candles in the entire dungeon went out quietly.
Utter darkness and deathly silence instantly enveloped everything.
The servant's whip-wielding motion froze in mid-air, and the agents' breaths stopped.
An indescribable chill rose from everyone's spine.
"Who...who's there?!" the head servant shouted, his voice trembling with fear.
No one answered.
In the darkness, only a few extremely faint sounds could be heard, like the "slicing" sound of cloth being cut, and the muffled thud of a heavy object falling to the ground.
One sound, two sounds, three sounds...
The dungeon was so quiet you could hear your own heartbeat.
Just when everyone's nerves were stretched to the limit.
"Snapped."
A crisp snap of fingers rang out abruptly in the deathly silence of the darkness.
The next second, all the extinguished candles suddenly reignited!
The flickering firelight re-illuminated the dungeon, and also the two additional figures that had appeared in the center of the dungeon.
And at their feet, the several lifeless servants.
All agents, including Jack Crowder (number 22) and (number 09),
Their pupils constricted sharply as they stared intently at the two men in black cloaks, as if they had seen ghosts.
It's them!
It was the shadowy figure who caused the riot in the city and stole the artifact!
Under the suffocatingly shocked gazes of nearly a hundred agents, one of the men in a black cloak slowly raised his hand.
He took off his hood, revealing a young and cynical face.
It was Lin Qiye.
Hello everyone.
Lin Qiye looked around, greeted everyone with a smile, as if they were old friends visiting rather than intruders.
"It seems my arrival was a bit ill-timed?"
Wu Hen stood behind him, silent, his icy gaze almost tangible.
All the agents who met his gaze involuntarily lowered their heads.
After the deathly silence came a deafening uproar.
"It was you! You stole our divine artifact!"
“You despicable thief! Give us back our things!” an agent named Brown Myers shouted excitedly.
"We've become like this because of you!"
Despite the angry accusations from the crowd, Lin Qiye's smile remained unchanged.
“First, let me correct you.” He held up one finger.
"I didn't steal it, that's called intercepting it."
"You guys fought to the death for those few pieces of junk, I just happened to pick up a bargain."
He paused, his eyes turning somewhat mocking.
"Secondly, is it really because of me that you've become like this?"
He stepped forward, his voice not loud, but clearly reaching everyone's ears.
"Isn't it because of your greed? Isn't it because you so easily believed the city lord's lies?"
"Isn't it because you, for the sake of power, didn't hesitate to turn your swords against your own comrades?"
Lin Qi-ye's gaze swept over the faces that were filled with anger, shame, or resentment.
“You are criticizing me now because I have stolen your ‘hope’.”
"But have you ever thought about what would have happened to you if it weren't for me?"
“One of you will become the new city lord, and then, like him,”
"Bound by the artifact, becoming the next tool to be drained dry."
"And everyone else will die."
"You should thank me."
"At least I kept you all alive, didn't I?"
His words were logically sound and every word was piercing.
The agents, who had just been so enthusiastic, suddenly fell silent.
They wanted to refute it, but found that every single word the other party said was fucking true.
It was their own greed and folly that led to this outcome.
Looking at the silent crowd, Lin Qiye's smile widened, but his eyes turned cold.
"Do you know what you are in the eyes of those gods, in the eyes of that city lord?"
He paused for a moment, then softly uttered two words.
"It's a dog."
These two words were like a red-hot branding iron, burning them deeply into the hearts of all the agents.
Their faces instantly turned extremely ugly.
“If the gods throw down a bone, you fight tooth and nail over it, tearing each other apart, just to get your master’s reward.”
Lin Qiye's voice was cold and blunt, ruthlessly tearing away their last shred of self-respect.
"Now that the master has taken the bones back, you've started blaming each other again, feeling that your companions have stolen your food."
His gaze was sharp as a knife, slowly sweeping over everyone present, from number 09 Jack Crowder to number 22, and then to Brown Myers.
"Didn't you ever think... why don't you just storm into the master's kitchen, take over the entire slaughterhouse, and become the masters yourselves?!"
He almost shouted the last sentence.
The entire dungeon was deathly silent.
All the agents' breathing became heavy, and in their eyes...
The flames that had been suppressed for so long by humiliation and anger were finally ignited at this moment!
Yup!
They are agents of God! They were once powerful beings who stood at the pinnacle of the world!
Why do they beg for divine mercy like dogs?!
Why entrust your fate to someone else?!
"The Scepter of Domination, the Ever-Spinning Star Coin..." Lin Qiye's voice was full of seduction.
"Why should these powerful artifacts be controlled only by gods and their slaves?"
He opened his arms wide, like a generous devil, extending an invitation to everyone.
"They're in the city lord's mansion. That old geezer is a useless piece of trash now."
"Let's join forces, break out, seize them, and keep them for ourselves!"
"From this day forward, there are no gods, no masters! We ourselves are our own gods!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the air in the entire dungeon seemed to burst into flames!
An unprecedented light shone in the eyes of nearly a hundred agents.
That was ambition and desire that grew wildly after being suppressed to the extreme!
However, just as this frenzied atmosphere was about to reach its peak—
clatter……
A series of clear, slow, and extremely imposing footsteps.
Suddenly, it came slowly and deliberately from the darkness deeper in the dungeon.
The sound seemed to pound on everyone's hearts with every step.
The hope and fervor that had just been ignited froze instantly.
A look of surprise and unease appeared on everyone's face.