Chapter 184. Prison World
The transport ship was cramped.
Two hundred prisoners packed into a cargo hold designed for freight, not people. Metal benches lined the walls. No seats. No comfort. Just the cold steel and the hum of engines.
Owen found a spot near the rear where he Sat and Watched.
Gorvax took the space beside him when he sat Silent, staring at nothing.
Around them, prisoners sorted themselves instinctively. Hierarchies forming without words.
The strongest claimed the best positions—near ventilation, away from the waste recyclers. Tier 4 prisoners radiated pressure that kept weaker ones at distance.
Varkoth stood at the hold’s center. Four arms. Stone-like skin. Tier 4, three-stars. His presence alone commanded space. Other prisoners gave him a wide berth.
Zhen coiled near a corner. Serpentine. Iridescent scales. Tier 4, two-stars. She watched everyone with unblinking eyes.
The Tier 5 prisoners clustered in groups. Thoss. Vrinn. Yalira. Korvan. Others Owen didn’t know.
No one spoke much. What was there to say?
The journey lasted six hours.
No windows. No updates. Just the constant hum and the knowledge that every minute brought them closer.
Then the ship lurched.
Atmospheric entry.
The hull shook. Metal groaned. Prisoners grabbed the benches, the walls, anything stable.
The shaking intensified.
Then stopped.
A voice crackled through speakers.
"Arrival in thirty seconds. Prepare for teleportation. Season 47 begins upon landing. Survive."
The floor beneath them glowed.
Panels activated. Teleportation grids.
Owen felt the energy building. His CE core reacted instinctively, trying to resist. But the restraints suppressed it.
The voice counted down.
"Ten. Nine. Eight."
Prisoners stood. Tensed.
"Seven. Six. Five."
Owen glanced at Gorvax.
Gorvax looked back. Nodded once.
"Four. Three. Two."
The light intensified.
"One."
Reality folded.
---
Owen’s body stretched. Compressed. Existed in multiple places simultaneously.
His vision went white.
Then—
CRASH!
He hit ground. Hard.
His restraints deactivated the moment he landed. Full CE returned: 5,600.
Owen gasped. Rolled. Pushed himself up.
Jungle.
Dense. Green. Humid. The air was thick, tasted like rot and growth simultaneously. Vines hung from trees that stretched impossibly high. Sounds echoed—birds, insects, something larger moving through the underbrush.
A notification appeared in his vision.
[PRISON WORLD SYSTEM ACTIVATED]
[WELCOME TO SEASON 47]
[PRISONER: FALSE FIST]
[TIER: 5, FIVE-STARS]
[STARTING LOCATION: JUNGLE SECTOR - ZONE 7]
[CREDIT BALANCE: 0]
[SURVIVAL TIME: 0 DAYS, 0 HOURS, 3 MINUTES]
[CURRENT RANK: #N/A - CALCULATING...]
[SEASON DURATION: 6 MONTHS]
[OBJECTIVE: SURVIVE. EARN CREDITS. ENTERTAIN.]
[CAMERAS ACTIVE. BROADCAST LIVE.]
Owen looked up.
Floating in the air, barely visible, were small devices. Drones. Dozens of them. Recording. Broadcasting.
"I’m in a fucking Total Drama episode for the Universe"
He stood. Brushed dirt from his clothes. The gauntlets were still on his hands—apparently they didn’t count as weapons.
He extended his CE sense.
No other prisoners nearby. He was alone.
Somewhere on this planet, 199 other prisoners were landing. Different zones. Different challenges.
Gorvax. Varkoth. Zhen. Thoss. Vrinn. Yalira. Korvan.
All scattered.
A roar echoed through the jungle. Close. Too close.
Owen’s Dragon’s Eye activated. He scanned the surroundings.
Movement. Thirty meters to his left. Something large pushing through the vegetation.
[THREAT DETECTED: JUNGLE STALKER]
[ESTIMATED TIER: 5, THREE-STARS]
His first fight.
Owen’s fists clenched. CE gathered at his knuckles.
The broadcast drones floated closer.
Watching.
Recording.
Waiting for the show to begin.
---
Across the planet, in different zones, other prisoners landed.
Gorvax materialized in a volcanic region. Black rock. Rivers of lava. Heat that would kill lesser beings instantly. He didn’t flinch. His scythe formed in his hand.
[STARTING LOCATION: VOLCANIC SECTOR - ZONE 3]
Varkoth appeared in a desert. Endless sand. Twin suns beating down. He grinned. Four arms flexed.
[STARTING LOCATION: DESERT SECTOR - ZONE 12]
Zhen landed in ruins. Ancient structures. Crumbling stone. Shadows that moved wrong. She slithered into darkness immediately.
[STARTING LOCATION: RUINS SECTOR - ZONE 18]
Thoss dropped into frozen wasteland. Ice. Snow. Wind that screamed. His stone skin didn’t register the cold.
[STARTING LOCATION: FROZEN SECTOR - ZONE 5]
Vrinn arrived in a toxic swamp. Green water. Bubbling acid pools. Mutated flora. Her translucent skin adapted immediately.
[STARTING LOCATION: SWAMP SECTOR - ZONE 9]
Yalira materialized on a cliff overlooking an ocean. Waves crashed below. Salt spray in the air. She stretched, cat-like, and smiled.
[STARTING LOCATION: COASTAL SECTOR - ZONE 14]
Korvan landed in grasslands. Open plains. Herds of creatures in the distance. He immediately began scanning for shelter.
[STARTING LOCATION: PLAINS SECTOR - ZONE 21]
All across Prison World, 200 prisoners began their fight for survival.
---
Back in the jungle, Owen faced the Stalker.
It emerged from the vegetation.
Massive. Feline. Six legs. Scales instead of fur. Eyes that glowed yellow. Teeth like daggers.
It circled him. Slow. Patient. Evaluating.
Owen’s CE flared. Dragon’s Aura pulsed outward. 50 CE.
The creature paused. Felt the pressure. Reconsidered.
But hunger won.
It lunged.
Owen dodged. Momentum Shift, 7 CE. The Stalker’s claws tore through empty space.
He countered. 60 CE punch to its flank.
CRACK!
Scales shattered. The creature roared. Spun. Faster than something its size should move.
Its tail whipped around. Caught Owen’s shoulder. Threw him into a tree.
WHAM!
Pain exploded. CE dropped by 40. Ultra-Regeneration kicked in. 30 CE to heal.
Owen’s CE: 5,423.
He pushed off the tree. The Stalker was already charging again.
Dragon’s Breath. 100 CE.
Black flames erupted. The Stalker tried to dodge but the fire spread too fast. It consumed the creature’s front legs, burning through scales, muscle, bone.
The Stalker collapsed. Thrashing. Screaming.
Owen approached. Gathered 80 CE into his fist.
Cosmic Impact Fist.
He drove his punch through its skull.
CRACK!
Silence.
The creature dissolved into light particles. Not like dungeon constructs. But similar. The planet recycling biological matter.
A notification appeared.
[KILL CONFIRMED: JUNGLE STALKER]
[CREDITS EARNED: 1,200]
[BONUS: FIRST KILL - +500]
[BONUS: VIEWER ENGAGEMENT - +300]
[TOTAL CREDITS: 2,000]
[CURRENT RANK: #47 OF 200]
Owen exhaled. His CE sat at 5,243.
"Two thousand credits. Out of one billion needed."
He looked at the drones still hovering nearby.
"This is going to be a long six months."
A distant roar echoed through the jungle. Different from the Stalker. Bigger.
Owen activated his CE sense. Scanned the area.
Multiple signatures. Some smaller. Some larger. One much larger.
"Yeah, This zone is active. I need to move. Find shelter. Find water. Find Gorvax."
He picked a direction. Started walking.
Behind him, the drones followed.
Recording.
Broadcasting.
Across the galaxy, billions watched.
Season 47 had begun.