Chapter 16 - The Contribution of a Death Row Inmate
Although he had expected it, Ashe still couldn't help but feel his heart skip a beat when he heard that the Blood Moon Tribunal was indeed a death sentence.
Deep down, he had still harbored some fantasy that perhaps the people here would recognize he was not actually the leader of a heretical cult, or perhaps he would still have to go through a lengthy trial process, or maybe there would be a two-year reprieve from execution...
These fantasies had peaked after entering the prison, because in Ashe's eyes, how could death row inmates possibly have such nice private bathrooms in their rooms?
How could death row inmates be allowed to move freely within the prison?
How could death row inmates receive so many privileges from the prison?
Langna's words completely shattered all of his naive hopes - it was precisely because they were going to die that the prison treated them so well.
"The prison raises us like livestock just so we can die a more miserable death?" Ashe said with difficulty. "Isn't that a waste of resources?"
"Would you complain that fireworks are not flashy enough?" Langna laughed. "I'm surprised you don't seem to know much about the Blood Moon Tribunal - it's a live broadcast event held in every city that most citizens watch at 8pm on the 1st and 15th of each month. The ratings are close to 70%."
"Incidentally, compared to the advertising revenue generated by the Blood Moon Tribunal show, the cost of keeping us in prison is negligible."
'Watching executions' was actually a popular program in this world...
Ashe twisted his mouth. "It's simply outrageous that 70% of people can watch entertainment shows at 8pm and not have to work overtime... I see they just don't have enough work saturation..."
Langna was not at all surprised by Ashe's impotent rage.
He had seen far too many death row inmates reveal their ugly sides as the Blood Moon Tribunal approached - ranting against social systems, cursing the ignorance of the masses - if you spend enough time in this prison, you'll naturally witness it all.
"But if you want to escape the Blood Moon Tribunal, there are ways."
Ashe immediately perked up. "What ways?"
Langna did not equivocate and spoke bluntly. "Although someone inevitably dies at each Blood Moon Tribunal, eight people go, and the eight spots are not fixed, but ranked according to 'contribution level'."
"Each death row inmate starts with 50 contribution points, and 10 points are deducted each month. But it doesn't matter if it goes down to 0, the prison won't do anything to the death row inmates."
"However, the higher the contribution level, the later the trial sequence, while those with lower contribution levels and earlier trial sequences are the eight who participate in the Blood Moon Tribunal."
"Theoretically, the first eight in sequence are the participants in the Blood Moon Tribunal."
"There are many ways to earn contribution points, the simplest is by creating value. Although all our memories have been extracted by mnemonists before entering prison, rendering our intelligence worthless, we still have many ways to make contributions:"
"Some came in for embezzlement and corruption, they can provide suggestions for improving the system to reduce future corruption;"
"Some came in for illegal experiments, they can continue doing legal experiments and writing papers in prison;"
"Some are talented individuals, some have even written bestselling books while in prison, which naturally counts as creating value."
"But in this prison, most are those who came in for murder and have an innate aversion to labor and inclination for plunder - like me," Langna pointed at Ashe, "like you."
"So how do we earn contribution points? The Deathmatch Society is our answer."
Ashe realized something. "You said earlier that participating in deathmatches requires a price..."
"In addition to death and pain, the biggest price of deathmatches is the transfer of contribution points," Langna said. "Both sides must stake a certain amount of contribution points for each deathmatch. The winner escapes the Blood Moon, the loser faces the Tribunal."
"If the Blood Moon Tribunal is the final stop on the road to death, then the Deathmatch Society is the sea of blood along the way - almost every death row inmate will eventually participate in deathmatches, gambling away their last points, draining their last drops of blood, before finally stepping onto the live studio in the most desperate state."
"This is how we make our contributions - culling the weak, maintaining the brutality!"
"It's also why the prison allows the Deathmatch Society to exist." Langna's voice was as calm as if discussing someone else's affairs. "Actors must put on makeup before going on stage."
Actors have to put on makeup, otherwise the audience won't enjoy watching.
Even without ever watching the Blood Moon Tribunal, Ashe understood Langna's meaning.
It was just like how they made elaborate character portraits for their mobile games - the so-called 'deathmatches' were the process of turning death row inmates into portraits: gambling, fighting, despair, fear, agony... Nothing brought out the brutality in people more than 'battles with their lives at stake'.
When a death row inmate becomes hysterical from pain after losing many deathmatches, devolves into despair and madness from fear, he becomes a 'main dish' ready to be served. What is then presented to the audience is a beast full of brutality, fighting spirit and despairing terror.
Compared to a numb and lifeless 'person', a 'beast' that still seems to dare resist is naturally more entertaining to watch killed.
It was a conspiracy, one the death row inmates could not refuse.
Not only did the losers become the 'products' the prison needed, sold for a 'good price' on the livestream, but the winners were also just drinking poison to quench their thirst, eventually also ending up on the livestream, walking the same path to death.
From the beginning, the death row inmates had only one outcome - squeezed of all value by the prison, then killed. The private bathrooms, good food, comprehensive facilities, were all just to fatten them up.
The trial sequence was actually just a rat race mechanism, everyone engaged in zero-sum games, either you go to the Tribunal, or I get executed.
But this was also reasonable, who made them commit crimes and become death row inmates?
Besides, if death row inmates didn't want to be exploited, they could just lie down and die. It was because they wanted to live that they would race each other.
If Ashe was outside the prison, he would certainly applaud this mechanism while eating melon seeds on the side.
Too bad that Heath had to play cult leader, and such a weak cult leader at that, dragging him into the depths of prison, forcing him to find another way to survive.
"After hearing all this, do you still want to join the Deathmatch Society?"
"Of course!"
Langna was not surprised. He burped after finishing his milk. "Then come with me. If we're lucky, we can still catch a glimpse of a fresh steaming corpse."
"People duel in the morning?" Ashe asked curiously.
"Although deathmatches require staking contribution points, it doesn't require staking a lot of points at the start. The first match only needs 1 point, and each subsequent match must be 1 point more than the previous one. 2 points for the second match, 3 points for the third, and so on."
"Although the stakes gradually accumulate, even losing the first five matches leaves room for a comeback. So everyone tries to make use of those first five matches to gauge others' strength and determine their own strength in prison."
"Thus the frequency of deathmatches is quite high, one a day is common. We're close to the 15th, those near the end of the sequence definitely want to use deathmatches to escape the Tribunal, so I estimate the bloodstains on the deathmatch stage won't dry these few days."
"Speaking of which, do you want to buy meat?"
Ashe blinked. "Meat? What meat?"
"The meat that falls on the stage. It's one of the few ways we can spend contribution points. The meat that falls on the stage already belongs to the prison, we can buy it back from them."
Langna glanced at Ashe, baring two rows of pale, even teeth. "If we're lucky, we can buy thigh meat. Whether making sashimi or cooking it, the texture is amazing, highly recommended."