I raised Hell's Sentinel, pointing it at James Wang, who was still chewing. To save himself, he had betrayed me.
"Hahaha, Ethan Zhang, hurry up and finish this guy off. Otherwise, with three left, he's the one most likely to stab you in the back."
Thousand Hands burst out laughing, then spoke in a puzzled voice.
"Ethan Zhang, what was that just now? I didn't even see it clearly. Heh, you hid it well, but there are still three left. If you don't show your true strength, you'll die."
I understood exactly what Thousand Hands meant. The monster in front of me, James Wang, would definitely stab me in the back. That was beyond doubt. But I wanted to bring him back—at least, as a monster, he still had consciousness.
"Hurry up and go. If the next one comes out, it'll be trouble."
James Wang said this and immediately returned to his cell. Thousand Hands didn’t seem to intend to release the next one, so I followed James Wang back to the cell.
"Your name is Ethan Zhang, right? Heh, sorry about earlier. You know what they say: 'If a man doesn't look out for himself, heaven and earth will destroy him.' I don't want to die. After all, I still want to see my wife and child one last time."
In that instant, all my hostility toward James Wang vanished.
"Hahaha, you really want to see my wife and child?"
Thousand Hands mimicked James Wang's tone, mocking him, but James Wang just laughed and said nothing.
"That's right. After all, my wife and child died by my own hand."
In that moment, my anger exploded uncontrollably. Facing someone like him, I didn't want to argue or cooperate anymore.
James Wang just smiled, saying nothing, and sat down.
"You should rest too. The next one is going to be tough."
I sat by the door, not wanting to look at James Wang at all, instead watching what was happening outside.
"Ethan Zhang, why do you think someone becomes a monster?"
I ignored James Wang and said nothing.
"Only when life is completely hopeless does someone turn into a monster."
Then James Wang continued, "Most members of the Immortality Society are criminals. In this society, they have no rights—most are either on death row or serving life sentences."
I turned to look at him. Indeed, these criminals had lost all hope for life. Some would spend their entire lives in prison, never seeing the outside world again.
"When I was a kid, I once saw a guy who'd been locked up for over twenty years. When he got out, he didn't even know how to use a faucet. Do you think that's funny?"
I shook my head.
James Wang began to speak. Years ago, like most laborers, he went to the coastal cities, chasing the hope of rapid economic growth. James Wang was one of them.
He worked in a factory. The food was terrible, but at least he could fill his stomach, and each month, he managed to save a little money.
At that time, James Wang had just met his wife. The two of them saved every penny they could to get married, but before they had enough, his wife became pregnant.
They decided to get married right away and have the child. After the wedding, as his wife's belly grew, she couldn't work anymore. James Wang worked as hard as he could—factory by day, washing dishes at nightclubs by night.
But it didn't last. James Wang collapsed from exhaustion and fell seriously ill. The factory fired him, and their life became desperate. The baby was almost due.
When James Wang recovered, his wife gave birth. He could only find grueling work at construction sites, but the money wasn't enough to feed his wife and their newborn.
With no other choice, James Wang had to ask his boss for an advance on next month's wages. The boss gave it to him, and life got a little easier.
James Wang’s wife recovered too. She took their child and found work at a small workshop, and things finally stabilized.
But because he’d taken an advance, James Wang was always in debt to his boss. The amount kept growing—over ten months’ worth. He and his wife scrimped and saved, trying to pay it back.
"Why didn’t you go back home then?"
I asked. From what James Wang said, their hometown should still have farmland in those days.
"We did plan to go back. But that day, my boss invited me out for drinks and asked me to do something for him."
I stared wide-eyed at James Wang as he continued.
Back then, James Wang’s boss had a rival in the area who’d stolen a lot of business. The conflict had been going on for a while, and the rival had allies at his company. James Wang’s boss had suffered many losses and business was hard. The rival’s goal was to drive his boss out of the region.
The thing his boss wanted James Wang to do was murder. If he succeeded, he’d get twenty thousand yuan—a huge sum then, enough to rent a good shop for a year and still have ten thousand left.
James Wang was tempted. For his wife and child, he agreed. One night, while the rival boss was drunk in a nightclub bathroom, James Wang killed him.
Afterward, James Wang went to his boss for the money, but the boss said he had to wait until things cooled down. But James Wang was caught and arrested.
But James Wang knew very well that if he turned in his boss, he wouldn't get a single cent.
James Wang was sentenced to over twenty years for intentional homicide. He claimed he killed because of an argument.
"I was so naive back then, Ethan Zhang."
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James Wang’s boss promised him the money, but told him to keep it secret. Later, James Wang’s wife visited him once and said the boss had given them a year’s wages—about three thousand yuan. That put James Wang’s mind at ease.
His boss also promised to give money to his wife regularly, telling James Wang to behave and try to get released early.
After that, for a year or two, James Wang’s wife visited him, and his boss paid nearly ten thousand yuan. James Wang felt at ease.
But then, for five years, his wife never visited. Then, out of nowhere, tragedy struck: his wife and child died in a car accident.
In an instant, it was as if James Wang had fallen into hell. He wanted out, wanted to see his wife and child one last time, but it was impossible. He made a scene in prison every day, begging his boss for help.
But his boss never came. James Wang drifted through more than ten years in prison, numb. Then, one day, someone from the Immortality Society arrived and told him his wife and child hadn’t died in an accident—they’d been killed by his boss, run down with a dump truck.
After the Immortality Society man left, James Wang was consumed by grief and rage. He confessed to the murder from years ago. The warden said he’d report it, but then, one of James Wang’s cellmates was killed—beaten to death—and James Wang was blamed. He was sentenced to execution by firing squad.
James Wang hated everything—hated the injustice of fate. On the eve of his execution, he decided to go all out. During a meal, he killed two prison guards. He thought he was finished, but then someone saved him and told him about the Immortality Society, and gave him a chance to take their test.
James Wang joined the test without hesitation and successfully entered the Immortality Society. His goal was always the same: his boss, his enemy.
The Immortality Society made it all happen. They brought his boss to him. For days, no matter how much his boss begged, James Wang tortured him in every way he could. In the end, he got his revenge, burned his own face, and joined the Immortality Society.
"But maybe fate is still unfair. At the last moment, when I could have gained a strong body, I failed and became like this."
I listened quietly to his story, feeling neither sympathy nor anger.
"So you want to see your wife and child? They’re already..."
"Heh, as long as I get out, I’ll find them. Maybe my wife and child are still suffering in the underworld, all because of me."
I said nothing, just stared quietly outside. At that moment, a cage creaked open. A huge monster, two meters wide and fat as a giant, with a massive head and two horns, its body a bluish-gray, appeared.
Its two arms were black whips, and every step it took thundered through the ground.
"That’s the one—the strongest here. Heh, I doubt we have any hope. But if I could eat something, maybe I could beat him."
I said nothing and slowly walked to the door, then floated up.
"I’m not like you. If it were really for my wife and child, I wouldn’t hurt others. That would only bring pain to them. Watch closely—I’m different from you. See how strong I really am."
Murderous aura kept pouring from my body as I floated out. Facing the monster, I felt no fear at all and rose into the air.
With a roar, the monster on the ground noticed me.
"Oh, finally getting serious, Ethan Zhang?"
At that moment, I felt a rush of wind at my back. I raised my hand, and a revolver appeared in my grip. I pointed it at James Wang, who was charging toward me.