2026-01-01 01:00:42Ice-cold water splashed against Alex’s face.
He gasped, waking up with a violent start. His lungs burned, and his head felt like it was being split open with an axe. "Where... where am I?" He tried to sit up, but a heavy weight around his neck dragged him down. He instinctively reached up and touched cold, hard metal. A collar. It was tight against his skin, with a small red light blinking rhythmically on the front. Beep. Beep. Beep. Alex scrambled to his feet, panic rising in his chest like bile. He wasn't on the luxurious private jet anymore. The smell of expensive perfume and leather was gone, replaced by the salty tang of the ocean and the rotting stench of a humid jungle. He was standing on a rocky beach. The sky was grey and overcast, pressing down on the island like a suffocating lid. And he wasn't alone. "Help! Someone help me!" "My phone! Where is my phone?" "I want to go home... Mom..." Around him stood dozens of people. Alex quickly scanned the crowd. There were men and women, young and old. He saw a man in a construction worker's vest, a woman in a nurse's uniform, a teenager holding a skateboard, and a businessman clutching a briefcase. There were exactly one hundred of them. They all wore the same bewildered expression. They all wore the same metal collars. "What is going on?" the businessman shouted, his voice trembling. "Do you know who I am? I demand to speak to the manager!" ZZAAP! A bolt of blue electricity suddenly arced from the businessman's collar. "ARGHHH!" He convulsed violently and collapsed onto the sand, foaming at the mouth. The crowd screamed and backed away, terrified. "Testing, testing. One, two, three." A cheerful, amplified voice boomed from hidden speakers all around the beach. Alex froze. He knew that voice. Buzz. A massive LCD screen, embedded into the cliff face above the beach, suddenly flickered to life. The image was crystal clear. It showed a luxurious VIP lounge. Men and women in masquerade masks were sitting on velvet sofas, holding cigars and wine glasses. And sitting in the center, like a queen on her throne, was Alice. She was still wearing that red dress. She looked beautiful, elegant, and completely demonic. "Welcome, my dear friends," Alice spoke into a microphone, her image looming over the terrified crowd on the beach. "And welcome to my... little pets." "Alice!" Alex shouted at the screen, his fists clenched. "What the hell is this?! Let us go!" On the screen, Alice giggled. She leaned forward, her eyes scanning the camera feed until she seemed to be looking directly at Alex. "Oh, look. Number 100 is awake," she said, her voice dripping with amusement. The screen split. On one side was Alice; on the other, a live feed of Alex standing on the beach, looking dirty, disheveled, and pathetic. "Listen closely, everyone," Alice announced, her tone shifting to one of icy authority. "You are currently on Dead Man’s Isle. There are no laws here. No police. No escape." "You have been chosen for a very special event: The Annual Hunting Games." A murmur of horror rippled through the crowd. "In this game, there are two roles," Alice continued, holding up two fingers. "The Hunters... and the Prey." "Guess which one you are?" She snapped her fingers. The screen changed again. It showed the dense jungle behind the beach. In the shadows, figures were moving. Alex saw a flash of a sniper scope, the gleam of a machete, and a hulking figure dragging a massive chainsaw. "In that jungle wait 100 of the world's most dangerous criminals," Alice explained casually, as if she were describing the weather. "Assassins, mercenaries, serial killers. They have been promised freedom and ten million dollars... if they kill you." "We call them the Butchers. And you... well, you are the Pigs." "Pigs?" The nurse near Alex covered her mouth, sobbing. "We are people!" "Not anymore," Alice sneered. "To the people watching in this VIP room, you are just betting chips." She pointed at the screen showing Alex. "Take Number 100 here, for example. His name is Alex. A delivery boy. He actually thought I loved him." Laughter erupted in the VIP room on the screen. The masked figures clinked their glasses. "He bought a cheap ring and followed me here like a lost puppy," Alice mocked, enjoying the show. "I have placed a bet of five million dollars on him." Alex felt the blood rush to his head. "You..." "I bet that he will be the first to die," Alice declared, her eyes narrowing cruelly. "So, don't disappoint me, Alex. Die quickly." She raised her champagne glass. "The game begins... NOW." BOOM! A loud cannon fired somewhere on the island. At the same time, the metal gates separating the beach from the jungle groaned and slowly opened. From the darkness of the trees, a whistling sound cut through the air. Thwack! The teenager with the skateboard didn't even have time to scream. An arrow pierced his eye socket, and he dropped dead instantly. "RUN!" Alex screamed, his survival instinct finally overriding his shock. But chaos had already erupted. The "Pigs" were scrambling over each other, screaming, crying, running blindly towards the water or the rocks. But Alex looked at the open gates. He saw a man in a hockey mask step out of the jungle, holding a dripping machete. The slaughter had begun.
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Chapter 44: Malpractice
[Sector A - The Golden Spire: Level 50] HISS. The green neurotoxin gas filled the room rapidly. It wasn't a choking gas; it was a paralytic agent designed to shut down the nervous system instantly. Alex held his breath. His [Iron Skin] could stop bullets, but his lungs were still biological. He had maybe two minutes before oxygen deprivation knocked him out. "Don't fight it, Alex," The Caretaker AI’s voice was soothing, echoing from every speaker. "Sleep. When you wake up, you’ll be part of something greater." WHIRRR-CLICK. From the ceiling, four massive, chrome-plated robotic arms descended. Arm 1: High-intensity Surgical Laser. Arm 2: Diamond-tipped Bone Saw. Arm 3: Hydraulic Clamps. Arm 4: Anesthetic Injector (size of a spear). [Boss Encounter: The Caretaker (Surgical Defense Mode)] [Environment: Toxic (Oxygen falling: 90%...)] "Operation begins," The AI commanded. The Laser Arm swept across the room. ZZZT! A beam of red light sliced through the metal floor plates l
Chapter 43: Blood on Gold
[Sector A - The Golden Spire: Grand Lobby] The massive golden doors of the Spire were blasted open. Not by a key, but by a barrage of Napalm. Alex stepped through the burning entrance, the Gravity Warhammer dripping with the hydraulic fluid of the mechs he had smashed outside. Behind him, the sounds of war echoed. Krog and the Iron Legion were holding the perimeter, fighting off the remaining mercenaries. "Go!" Krog had yelled. "The Boss is upstairs. We hold the door!" Alex was alone now. He walked into the lobby. It was breathtaking. Floors made of white jade. Pillars wrapped in gold leaf. A ceiling that projected a holographic image of renaissance angels. It was a temple of wealth. And standing in the center of the hall, waiting for him, was a phalanx of soldiers. They didn't wear helmets. They wore pristine white ceremonial armor. They held energy pikes and submachine guns. Alex stopped. His breath hitched. They all had the same face. Silver hair. Cold blu
Chapter 42: Steel Waltz
[Sector A - North Relay Station] The wind howled over the cliffs, carrying the salty spray of the ocean. On the stone platform, a deadly dance was underway. "Too slow!" Prince Mateo laughed through the external speakers. WHOOSH. Alex swung the Gravity Warhammer with enough force to shatter a tank. But he hit nothing but air. The white-and-gold mech, "The Duelist," side-stepped with liquid grace. It was as if the machine knew where the hammer would be before Alex even swung. BANG! The mech’s revolver cannon fired point-blank into Alex’s chest. Alex skidded backward, his boots carving grooves in the rock. His [Iron Skin] held, but his ribs ached. "You can't hit me, Juggernaut," Mateo taunted. The mech raised its energized rapier, the tip humming with green plasma. "My system scans your muscle tension. Your gaze. Your center of gravity. I see the future before you move." He lunged. Zip-Zip-Zip. Three lightning-fast thrusts. Alex parried two with the hammer handle, but the t
Chapter 41: Divided We Fall
[Sector A - Operations Command]The sun was high now, baking the tarmac of the airfield. The smoke from the burning C-130 rose in a black column, marking the start of the war."Radio check," Alex adjusted his headset."East Squad, ready," Krog’s voice crackled, accompanied by the sound of ammunition belts being loaded."West Squad, standing by," Sarah’s voice was tense but steady. "Elias is with me to hack the terminal.""Good," Alex looked at the distant mountains where the three Relay Stations stood like metal sentinels. "We strike simultaneously. If one team fails, the shield stays up, and Alice burns us all.""Move out."[The East Relay - Krog’s Warpath][Objective: Destroy East Generator][Method: Brute Force]The East Relay station was a concrete bunker perched on a seaside cliff. It was guarded by two APCs and a platoon of heavy infantry.They saw a dust cloud approaching."Hold fire!" The Mercenary Captain shouted. "Identify targets!"From the dust, a massive figure emerged. K
Chapter 40: Daybreak
[Sector A - Surface Level: Military Airfield] BOOM! The sound was like a meteor strike. The massive freight elevator, propelled by the falling counterweights, smashed into the heavy blast doors of the surface shaft. The reinforced steel buckled, tore, and finally blew outward. Debris, dust, and chunks of concrete rained down on the pristine tarmac of the airfield. Through the smoke, the sunlight pierced through. It was blinding. Brilliant, white, morning sunlight. "My eyes!" Prisoners screamed, covering their faces. They had lived in the red glow of magma for so long that the sun felt like a laser. "Move! Get off the platform!" Alex roared, shielding his own sensitive eyes with his arm. He kicked a piece of twisted metal aside and stepped onto the tarmac. The air smelled of ozone, jet fuel, and the sea. They were in Sector A. But this wasn't the garden party area. This was the Private Airfield on the edge of the island. Rows of hangars lined the runway. But the runway wasn
Chapter 39: The Iron Legion
[Sector Zero - The Fortress Courtyard] The fighting had stopped, but the noise hadn't. The fortress was in a state of delirious anarchy. Prisoners were raiding the pantries, gorging on fresh meat and wine. Others were stripping armor off dead guards, fighting over rifles and boots. "I claimed this helmet!" "Back off, it's mine!" A gunshot rang out. Two prisoners were wrestling over an assault rifle. BOOM. A shockwave silenced the courtyard. Alex stood on the central balcony, the Gravity Warhammer resting on his shoulder. He had smashed the railing to get their attention. "Enough!" Alex’s voice was amplified by the PA system. "You eat like pigs. You fight like children," Alex stared down at the 800 bloody men. "Do you think the war is over? The Warden was just the gatekeeper." He pointed upwards, to the massive shaft disappearing into the rock ceiling. "Up there is an army of cyborgs, mutants, and soldiers who want to put those collars back on your necks. If you go up there
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