CHAPTER 47: CHAPTER 47; PRINCESS 1

"Careful now, Princess," Chen’s voice was close to her ear, his breath hot and sour. "Wouldn’t want you damaged before the show. The boss has a big bet riding on you this time."

Behind her, she heard the guards take hold of the others. Heard Tank’s sharp intake of breath when Wu grabbed her injured shoulder. Heard Razor’s muffled whimper quickly cut off when Zhang’s grip tightened in warning.

"March," Guard Wu ordered, excitement evident in his voice. "Time to make us some money."

And they began to walk.

The journey was disorienting for the others, blind in their hoods, but Shuyin counted steps and tracked the turns.

That phantom vision at the edge of her consciousness helped her maintain her balance, giving her a sense of the space around them even through the black cloth.

Around them, the prison’s usual cacophony continued. The clang of cell doors. Voices raised in anger or despair. Someone crying. Someone else was laughing, the sound high and broken. The symphony of human suffering that never ended.

But there was something else now.

A growing rumble. Not quite sound, not quite vibration, but something in between. It was coming from ahead of them, growing louder with each step they took.

A crowd.

Shuyin felt Tank’s presence close behind her, felt the other woman’s hand briefly brush against her back, a gesture of solidarity, of shared fate. We’re in this together, the touch seemed to say. Whatever happens, we survive it together.

The rumble ahead grew louder, resolving into distinct sounds now. Voices shouting. The stamp of feet. The clink of glasses and bottles. And underneath it all, a rhythmic chanting she couldn’t quite make out yet.

They turned a corner, and the temperature changed. Warmer now. The smell of too many bodies in too small a space. Sweat and alcohol and expensive cologne mixing with something coppery that was definitely blood.

"Almost there," Guard Chen said, and there was eager satisfaction in his voice. "Huge crowd tonight. Biggest turnout in months. You girls are going to put on quite a show."

The corridor was sloping downward now, descending into the bowels of the prison where official rules held no sway. Where the warden’s office was far away and convenient blindness was institutional policy. Where guards supplemented their salaries with betting pools and protection money and the willful ignorance of their superiors.

The chanting was clearer now, and even through the hood, even with her inhuman calm, Shuyin felt the borrowed body’s muscles tense as she made out the words:

"BLOOD! BLOOD! BLOOD! BLOOD!"

Tank’s breathing behind her had gone rapid and shallow. Blade’s footsteps faltered before a guard shoved her forward. Razor was whispering something under her breath, a prayer, perhaps, or a mantra to keep the fear at bay.

They had all been here before. They all knew what was coming.

The descent continued, the sounds growing louder, the air growing thicker. The crowd’s bloodlust was palpable, a living thing that pressed against them like a physical weight.

They had reached the fighting ring.

And from the sound of that crowd, hungry and vicious and eager for violence, tonight was going to be worse than usual.

The guards pulled them to a stop. Shuyin could hear a door opening ahead, heavy metal sliding on tracks. The noise from beyond hit them like a physical blow, hundreds of voices raised in anticipation, the sound of money changing hands, the sharp calls of bookies taking last-minute bets.

"Welcome back to hell, ladies," Guard Wu said, and she could hear the smile in his voice. "Try to make it entertaining this time. The boss hates it when fights end too quickly."

One by one, they were shoved forward into the cacophony.

Into the ring.

Into the nightmare they’d all hoped never to face again.

The hoods were ripped from their heads roughly, the sudden brightness of the spotlights making them squint and recoil.

The roar of the crowd hit them like a physical force, hundreds of voices screaming, jeering, demanding blood and entertainment.

Shuyin’s jade eye adjusted quickly to the glare, and she took in her surroundings with cold calculation.

The fighting ring was exactly as her penetrating vision had shown her, a circular concrete floor surrounded by chain-link fencing that curved up and over to form a complete cage. No escape... No mercy.... Just the fighters and the hungry eyes of the crowd pressing in from all sides

.

The spectators were a mix of wealthy businessmen in expensive suits, corrupt officials who should have been enforcing the law instead of breaking it, and even some women dripping in jewelry, their faces flushed with anticipation of violence.

They sat in tiered seating that ringed the cage, close enough to see every drop of blood, every broken bone, every moment of suffering.

Guards lined the perimeter, batons ready, expressions bored. They’d seen this a thousand times before. To them, this was just another night at work.

Shuyin’s gaze swept across the scene, her glowing jade eye cataloging every detail with inhuman precision. The exits. The guard positions. The cameras mounted in the corners were being recorded and probably sold to even sicker individuals who couldn’t attend in person.

"Humans are truly fickle creatures," she murmured, her voice barely audible beneath the crowd’s roar. The hatred that had simmered in her heart for three years of torture threatened to boil over. Here they were again, humans forcing other humans to fight for their entertainment. Humans were hurting other humans while other humans watched and cheered and placed bets.

In her underwater prison, at least her captors had claimed it was for research, for science, for the supposed advancement of knowledge.

But this? This was cruelty for its own sake. Violence as recreation. Suffering as a spectacle.

Why couldn’t they just let each other be? Why did they have to complicate existence with such unnecessary torture?

A spotlight swung toward them, and the crowd’s noise reached a fever pitch as they got their first good look at the fighters.

Then someone in the front row noticed.