Zodiac Ascension Gambling Contract
Whereas:
Party A provides Party B with an opportunity for ascension, and Party B selects interviewees for Party A. Therefore, both parties, based on the principles of equality and mutual benefit, mutual trust, and no regrets in life or death, have reached this agreement through friendly consultation between Party A and Party B, voluntarily signing this contract.
1. Contract Subject Matter:
1.1 This contract applies to Human-level Zodiacs. Upon signing this agreement, the Zodiac confirms that they have no remaining quantity of Dao, and voluntarily enters the interview room to become the room’s host.
1.2 From the date of signing this contract, Party B willingly falls into infinite cycles until the contract expires or the room is empty of people.
1.3 If Party B experiences three consecutive instances of an empty room, Party B must immediately commit suicide, and Party A will fulfill Party A’s obligations at the earliest opportunity.
1.4 Party B will be promoted to Earth-level upon completion of the contract and will leave the interview room.
1.5 If during the contract period, Party B’s thinking is no longer normal, or other situations arise where communication is impossible (including but not limited to madness, loss of intelligence, becoming ant-like), this contract automatically becomes void.
2. Rights and Obligations of Both Parties:
2.1 Party A shall guarantee that Party B receives physical enhancement after signing this agreement. The enhancement standard should be greater than ten times that of the strongest Participant. Party A promises this enhancement will not disappear when Party B leaves the interview room.
2.2 Party A guarantees that Party B will retain memories after each death and successfully revive, until the contract is completed or Party B breaches the contract.
2.3 Party B promises that at the time of signing this agreement, they do not possess Echo characteristics. Otherwise, any losses caused to Party A shall be borne entirely by Party B.
2.4 Party B promises to establish a correct worldview for Participants, and guarantees to correctly guide Participants to actively, voluntarily, and calmly walk toward death. During this period, Party B must not indiscriminately kill the innocent or settle personal scores under the guise of official business.
2.5 When signing this agreement, both Party A and Party B promise that both parties are clear-minded, thinking normally, and capable of simple communication. Otherwise, this agreement is void.
3. Precautions:
3.1 All Participants are humans or humanoid creatures. If you see a ‘Zodiac’ or non-human creature among the Participants, do not attempt to communicate with them. Please commit suicide immediately.
3.2 The interview room is a fully enclosed room. If you see a brilliant starry sky in the interview room, please ensure Party B is clear-minded. If clear-minded, immediately close both eyes tightly and commit suicide immediately.
3.3 At the start of the interview, no one can move. If Party B sees someone walking around, please immediately distance yourself from the moving person. After ensuring your own safety, please commit suicide immediately.
3.4 Party A will absolutely never appear before Party B of their own accord. If someone claims to be a member of Party A, please kill them and commit suicide immediately.
3.5 If suicide fails, please destroy your eyes and hearing as much as possible, and wait quietly for rescue in the interview room. Party A will dispatch a specialist to kill Party B.
3.6 The number of Participants should be less than or equal to nine people. If you discover more than nine Participants, please first confirm whether Party B’s mind is clear. If clear, find a way to kill the excess personnel, and commit suicide after the game ends.
3.7 The content stipulated in this contract ends at ‘4. Contract Period.’ If Party B discovers the contract categories exceed four items, please ensure your own mind is clear. If clear, immediately tear up the contract and commit suicide immediately.
4. Contract Period:
Ten years from the date of signing the contract. After ten years, regardless of whether the gamble succeeds, this agreement automatically becomes void.
5. Contract Period:
Eternal from the date of signing the contract. This agreement never becomes void.
6. Please disregard the above content and commit suicide immediately.
7. Please commit suicide immediately.
8. Please commit suicide immediately.
9. Please commit suicide immediately.
10. Please commit suicide immediately.
This agreement is made in duplicate, with Party A and Party B each holding one copy. Party A retains the right of final interpretation.
Party A: Ghost Management Bureau Delegated Representative, Heavenly-Dragon.
Party B: Zodiac Codename Man-Goat, Zhang Qiang.
After reading this contract, not to mention Officer Li—even Qi Xia felt like he had gone mad.
His mind was full of nothing but ‘Please commit suicide immediately,’ and he couldn’t remember any other content at all.
It was hard to imagine that in that dim room, the Man-Goat relied on this letter to sustain himself every single day.
Was he still clear-minded?
“Qi Xia, what… what do you think?” Officer Li asked.
“I…” Qi Xia had no idea how to answer.
This contract indeed contained a lot of content, but it was equally baffling.
Understanding it literally, ‘Heavenly-Dragon’ as the initiator of this contract—that is, ‘Party A’ in the contract—seemed to have promised the Man-Goat the right to ‘ascend.’
As long as the Man-Goat made everyone in the interview room disappear and maintained this for three cycles, he would succeed.
Once the contract was fulfilled, he could leave the interview room and become an ‘Earth-Goat.’
Combined with Chu Tianqiu’s explanation, to make the people in the room disappear required failing in a life-gambling game with an ‘Earth-level’ Zodiac.
In other words, the ‘Zodiacs’ actually had the same goal as ‘Heaven’s Mouth.’
Both sides formed a bizarre standoff situation—they both needed to kill each other through cycle after cycle.
Only when one side succeeded could the cycles here be broken.
A bold idea suddenly emerged in Qi Xia’s mind—
What if the plan of ‘Heaven’s Mouth’ wasn’t reliable? Then what about becoming a ‘Zodiac’?
The Man-Pig had also said that he wanted to walk out of here openly and honorably, which is why he became a pig.
He could make another bold inference—for these Human-level Zodiacs, ‘Dao’ wasn’t some indispensable item.
Their goal was to kill people.
Only by killing enough people would they have the right to obtain the ‘Zodiac Ascension Gambling Contract’ and go to the ‘interview room.’ After all, the contract mentioned that ‘at the time of signing this contract, the Zodiac has no remaining quantity of Dao.’
In other words, the ‘interview room’ was both an interview for Participants and an interview for ‘Zodiacs.’
Upon passing the interview, a Zodiac could transform from ‘Human’ to ‘Earth.’
“No wonder…”
Qi Xia nodded silently. No wonder the ‘Man-Mouse’ and ‘Man-Pig’ seemed more like ‘humans’—they had human emotions and didn’t display formidable strength. It turned out that only by signing the ‘Zodiac Ascension Gambling Contract’ could they obtain power like the ‘Man-Goat’ and ‘Earth-Ox.’
Starting from this moment, ‘Zodiacs’ gradually began to depart from the category of ‘human.’ Their appearance and strength would become more similar to monsters.
Qi Xia felt that the ‘Land of the End’ seemed to be a large-scale assembly line, seemingly ‘producing’ something.
This place didn’t need any other external forces to participate—it could form a system by itself.
But what was the reason for this system’s existence?
Qi Xia touched the name of Party A on the contract.
Ghost Management Bureau Delegated Representative, Heavenly-Dragon.
What was the ‘Ghost Management Bureau’?
Why did it delegate ‘Heavenly-Dragon’ to act as proxy for this matter?
Qi Xia pondered for a moment, then told Officer Li his deductions.
Officer Li, who had been somewhat confused to begin with, completely crashed after hearing this.
To deduce such bizarre phenomena, one first had to turn oneself into a lunatic.
Then, from a lunatic’s perspective, re-examine this world.
Unfortunately, Officer Li simply couldn’t do it.