In the dim, wide hall, Hades stood on the podium on the second floor, his helmet reflected in the cold, faint white light.

He lowered his eyes and looked at the hall on the first floor, which was densely packed with people.

In the shadows behind Hades, the original body held his arms, and the poisonous gas in the incense burner slowly sank, quietly waiting for Hades to deliver his speech.

Originally, Motarian only needed the first layer of screening, but Hades chose to add another layer of screening.

Motarian took the report submitted by Hades and pondered.

"Yes."

Eventually, Motarian put down the report and spoke slowly.

On Hades' proposal, a temporary structure was erected that was used for selection.

It was a humble building, covering a huge area, tiled over the barbarous moors.

Inside, each room can accommodate 50 people and has simple sanitation facilities, but people who move inside do not get water from it.

There is a special water supply system, and every hour, a fixed amount of water flows.

Each room is also equipped with a lighting system, but only minimal lighting is provided.

Other than that, the whole room was empty, no furniture, nothing.

And such rooms are covered with this temporary building.

Hades stared blankly at the recruits, who had all proven themselves resilient in the first round of trials.

But it's not enough.

He needs someone who can stand his last ground in extreme circumstances.

It's almost time.

Hades held the obituary and raised his hand, and slammed it down.

"Hum—"

The dull sound rippled in the hall, and the crowd, which was still a little commotionous, was instantly silent.

The boys stared at Hades in the heights, fearful, nervous, and curious.

The servo skeleton reached out from above Hades' left shoulder, staring coldly at everyone.

"I'm the head of the second trial, Death Guard Hades."

Hades spoke, briefly introducing himself,

"First of all, I sincerely congratulate you on passing the first trial, you have proven that you are resilient enough."

"Of course, I think you've already discovered that the criteria for passing the first trial weren't what they were announced."

"And the criteria for passing the second trial will not be clearly stated."

Hades paused, looking at the boys in the hall with different expressions, some stunned, others unsurprised.

"But I can give you some hints."

Hades was silent for a short time again, and after making sure that each child's attention was fixed on him, Hades spoke again,

"You're human."

That's Hades' first sentence.

"If you pass the trial, you will be death guards, and you will fight together for humanity."

"You have to be tough enough."

"Both inside and out."

People struggled to raise their heads and prick up their ears, trying to sift through Hades's words useful information.

The crowd was like a school of hungry fish, with their mouths wide open, waiting for Hades to continue feeding them.

But Hades stopped,

"Alright, now get ready for your second trial."

Antai walked silently with the crowd.

On his wrist, there is a bracelet flashing "0077", which is said to be able to monitor their body data.

They were numbered, divided into different groups, and led into the room by the tall death guards.

The room was quite dim, and Antai couldn't help but widen her eyes.

It was a rather empty room, with a concrete floor and a simple toilet in one corner.

There was something piled up in the center of the room, and with the help of the dim light, Antey recognized it as a pile of food.

More than a dozen knives were neatly placed on the ground, forming a circle around the food pile, and the tips of the knives flashed with cold light, straight at the food pile.

Antai subconsciously swallowed his saliva.

"Tick, tick."

The small sound of water echoed through the room.

Antai fixed his gaze, and in another corner, a slender pipe emerged from the wall, and water dripped from there, drop by drop.

The Death Guard who led them into the room motioned for them to stand against the wall and wait until the lights came on before they could move on.

Once the indicator light is on, the trial begins, and the indicator light is on the second time, and the trial is over.

Antey stared at the pile of food, and the dozen knives, and an uneasy thought began to take shape in his mind.

The others realized this, too, and as the Death Guard arranged for them to stand against the wall, the children began to push each other in an attempt to get closer to the food pile.

There was some commotion, but the death guard didn't interfere with it.

Antey swallowed, and under the influence of the crowd, he also tried to get a little closer to the food pile, perhaps because the children knew that he was the only one to climb the mountain, so no one came to squeeze him. He smoothly stood in a fairly central position.

Seeing that the children were in place, the death guard walked away.

"Thorn-la-la-"

The iron gates were closed, cutting them off from the outside world.

Antey's gaze focused, and he saw—he saw—the things that made his uneasiness and despair soar straight to the top—

On top of the iron gate, there was a small rectangular door.

The size and height of that small door was just enough for a person to be sent out lying down.

But what can be sent out will most likely not be alive

"Hey!"

A muffled cry rang out in his ears, and Antey jerked back to see Io's face.

"All four of us are in a group."

Io winked at him.

"And the two of them?"

Antai looked around and saw that they were not found in the center of the crowd.

"I asked Lena to take Pasteur to grab water."

Io lowered his voice and whispered to him, making sure their voices were not heard by anyone else.

"Let's team up with the four of us, I seem to know what this is all about."

Antai turned her head obscurely, staring at the pile of food,

"Shall we go grab the knife later?"

Io nodded.

"I might be able to guess what the person in charge wants us to do."

"But I'll need to count the pile of food to test my suspicions."

"In short, you can't go wrong with grabbing a knife."

Io patted Antey on the shoulder.

"Help me keep them under control."

"Me?"

Antey stared at Io in disbelief, but Io's pale blue eyes were staring at him intently,

"We all know you've climbed to the top of the mountain, and this identity will be very useful."

"Take advantage of that when people are still intimidated by you or something."

Io whispered quickly, and Antey wanted to say something more, but he felt the light come on.

In the end, he could only take a complicated look at Io and then prepare to sprint.

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Also, in the yard too

(End of chapter)