Sato was roughly thrown down once more, his brows furrowing as he feigned grogginess. A cold, indifferent voice soon followed.
"Akazam, Teleport!"
"Zamm!"
"Whoosh!"
Without resistance, Sato was instantly transported to aremely dimly lit pce.
Almost immediately, voices surrounded him, whispering and gossiping.
"Another kid? This one looks like he hasn't even grown all his hair yet."
"Hmph, probably just another orphan without parents."
"I wouldn't be so sure. Look at his pajamas—the fabri't something a poor kid would wear."
"Who knows? Maybe he's some illegitimate child, sold off by the main wife. Hahaha…"
There was no longer a o pretend. Sato opened his eyes and coldly swept his gaze across the crowd. Just one gnce was enough to make their mockery cat their throats.
"Tch, you brat, you looking for trouble?"
The skinny young man who had first spoken was irritated at himself for being intimidated by a mere child's stare. He shot to his feet, i on teag Sato a lesson.
Sato remained motionless, simply staring at him with an icy gaze.
The young man's frail frame didn't even pique his i. But as a warning to the others, he might do just fine.
"Enough, stand down!"
A deep voice echoed from the shadows.
The skinny youth immediately froze, throwing Sato a hateful gre before retreating.
With the excitement gohe surrounding crowd gradually dispersed.
Sato remained uurning toward the dire of the voice. Unfortunately, all he saw was darkness.
Instead, he shifted his focus to his surroundings.
Amid the dim lighting, he could make out iron bars sealing off the space, as well as the pu mix of sweat, filth, and heavy breathing filling the air.
Slowly, his fragmented memories aligned with reality. Sato moved to a er, sat down, aed quietly.
More people were teleported into the cage over time, each reag differently. Some panicked, sed, but in the end, they all had no choice but to accept their fate.
Of them all, Sato was the calmest.
-------
Their impriso didn't st long.
By the time Sato swallowed his fourth disgusting meal, a blinding white light suddenly illumihe area, causing an uproar among the captives.
As their eyes adjusted, two men dressed in bck stood silently beyond the iron bars.
Sato stood up, the two figures.
Their uniforms were identical, but there was a small yet critical differehe man on the right wore a deep blue badge on his belt, while the one on the left had a deep red badge.
Sato kly what these meant.
Red, Green, Blue, Silver, Gold, and Bck—these six colors represented Ghost Ship's assassin ranking system.
In his previous life, he had cwed his to bee a Gold-rank assassin, relying on reckless determination and the Power of Darkness.
And the two before him? One was a Red-rank assassin, the other was Blue.
"g!"
The iron gate creaked open just a fra. No and was hose rushed out desperately.
As each person passed through, the Red-rank assassin silently hahem a metallic tag.
Engraved on the first tag were three simple digits:
"001."
Seeing that there was no immediate dahe rest of the prisoners scrambled to leave, eager to escape their cage.
Each person who left received a metal tag, with the numbers steadily increasing.
Sato was the st to exit.
Wheook his tag, the number on it was "136."
Clutg the metal pte tightly, he forced himself to remain calm. In his past life, after his parents' deaths, he had been forcibly dragged into Ghost Ship. He had been pletely lost, fused, and aimless.
Back then, he had bee person thrown out of the cage— and the tag he received that day bore the exact same number.
"136!"
"Open it."
"Yes, sir!"
The Red-rank assassin gave a respectful nod to the Blue-rank, therieved a remote trol from his waist.
With a click, a row of blinding white lights flickered on in the distance, illuminating ten iron cages.
At the same time, the iron doors of the cages automatically swung open, releasing an overwhelming stench of blood and decay.
Instantly, the sound of retg filled the air.
"Numbers 1 through 10, step forward aer!"
The Red-rank assassin's voice was chillingly indifferent, yet a hint of excitement seeped through.
Sato shot him a brief gnce.
If he remembered correctly, this man had once beero among their batch. But in a ter assassination mission, his twisted desires led to a fatal mistake— and he was killed.
Sato shook his head.
A dead man. Not worth remembering.
As long as he didn't get in his way, his vices meant nothing to him.
"Did you hear me? 1 through 10, get in!"
"W-What… what's inside?"
The first man—who had been eager to escape the cage—trembled as he asked. At this moment, he wished he could chop off his own legs for rushing out first.
"What's inside?"
The Red-rank assassin's voice suddenly turned siingly gentle.
Then—from the darkness, a pair of blood-red eyes flickered to life.
A hellish demon slowly emerged.
"Houndoom!"
The Dark and Fire-type Pokémon stepped forward without a sound. No growls, no attacks—yet the first man's legs buckled.
A sed ter, he abandoned all pride and sprioward the cage.
"Whatever's ihose cages... it 't be worse than Houndoom!"
That was his only thought.
The remaining captives needed no further persuasion. Each of them hurriedly rushed into a cage, despite the unbearable stench.
"Cck!"
"Cck! Cck! Cck…"
Ten iron doors smmed shut.
Then—a scream pierced the silence. And was instantly cut off.
"Boom!"
"g…"
"Help! Let me out! Let me out!"
Soon, es began to echo with screams and frantiging.
Yet within two minutes, all fell silent. Among the hundred remaining captives, only a handful kept their posure. The rest? Pale-faced, trembling, and utterly horrified.
Some colpsed to the ground.
Some broke into sobs.
"Awooo!"
Houndoom's chilling howl silehe chaos.
Those who had sidered esg—or had already given in to despair—froze in pce.
And right then—The Red-rank assassin spoke again.
