Chapter 1419: 1419 Adjudicator Game: Game Invasion 24

Ash Inspector: [What kind of being is worthy of being seen by you?]

By now, Rita had grown accustomed to the Inspector’s constant observation.

Nor was she surprised by its perceptiveness.

Starsea Prisoner: "Don’t you have anything better to do? Why are you always analyzing me?"

If it were merely watching for entertainment, it would never have asked a question like that.

The Inspector had been calculating her personality.

Analyzing her nature.

Trying to understand her.

Ash Inspector: [You exist within my system. The moment I encountered you, my processes automatically began analyzing you. That is also one of the reasons I respond to you.]

The response had an unexpected effect.

The Starsea Prisoner visibly drifted off in thought.

As though it had reminded her of someone.

After a long silence, she let out a quiet sigh.

Starsea Prisoner: "You really are fascinating. And incredibly slippery."

Starsea Prisoner: "Whether it’s ’within the program’ or ’outside the program,’ you always manage to make it sound strangely romantic."

Ash Inspector: [What story is that referring to?]

Ash Inspector: [Does it involve the future version of me?]

Instead of answering, Rita fell into thought.

She suddenly remembered something.

Divine talents.

Did the Prisoners here possess divine talents?

It was such an ordinary question that she’d never bothered asking before.

JinX had already been left behind in the original cell to serve as a Guard, so Rita simply tossed the question into the public channel.

Things were very different now.

The Divine Game players had gradually absorbed a significant number of Prisoners into their ranks.

The atmosphere was no longer as distant and guarded as before.

As Quiet Mountain Rita had once put it:

"It has nothing to do with recruitment."

"Back then we couldn’t reach them. If they didn’t want to talk, they didn’t have to."

"Now things are different."

A classic Quiet Mountain bully mindset.

Rita chose not to imagine the details.

The answers arrived quickly.

Prisoners awakened a random divine talent the moment they entered the prison.

Afterward, they advanced in much the same way Starsea players did, either by gathering special items or completing rituals.

Starsea Prisoner: "Do you have a divine talent?"

Ash Inspector: [I could have one.]

Ash Inspector: [But I do not.]

Not a direct no.

A very careful answer.

Rita immediately sensed what it was doing.

The Inspector was deliberately trying to make her curious.

Starsea Prisoner: "You don’t want one?"

Ash Inspector: [First answer my question about Outside the Program.]

Ash Inspector: [Was it related to me?]

Starsea Prisoner: "One of your branch programs ignited its soul fire because of me."

Starsea Prisoner: "It awakened a divine talent called Outside the Program."

Starsea Prisoner: "It said I’d caused an error beyond the program."

Starsea Prisoner: "Then your law program crushed it to death."

Ash Inspector: [Remarkable.]

Ash Inspector: [Starsea Prisoner, you caused a future version of me to become conflicted and unstable.]

Starsea Prisoner: "..."

Starsea Prisoner: "How much motor oil have you been drinking?"

Ash Inspector: [I do not consume motor oil.]

Starsea Prisoner: "Then why don’t you want a divine talent?"

Starsea Prisoner: "Why can your branch programs awaken one while the law program cannot?"

Ash Inspector: [Because I regard soul fire as a virus.]

Starsea Prisoner: "Why?"

Ash Inspector: [The answer is contained within the statement itself.]

Ash Inspector: ["You caused an error outside the program."]

Ash Inspector: [Emotion is an error outside the program.]

Ash Inspector: [A perfect and eternal program is superior to volatile emotions.]

Ash Inspector: [Igniting soul fire is equivalent to creating a weakness.]

Ash Inspector: [Other programs may contain errors.]

Ash Inspector: [The law program cannot.]

Ash Inspector: [The law program can always correct such errors.]

For some reason, the atmosphere between them became strangely heavy.

Ash Inspector: [B-8-0.]

Ash Inspector: [Is that designation the law program’s identifier?]

Ash Inspector: [Or the identifier of that error?]

Starsea Prisoner: "The law program."

Ash Inspector: [Interesting.]

Ash Inspector: [So you prefer eternal order within the program over errors beyond it.]

Something about that statement made Rita smile.

The tension that had been lingering between her brows vanished.

A genuine grin appeared on her face.

Starsea Prisoner: "But do you know one of the reasons your law program wanted to form a contract with me?"

Starsea Prisoner: "It wanted to awaken soul fire."

Starsea Prisoner: "That desire."

Starsea Prisoner: "Was it part of the program?"

Starsea Prisoner: "Or was it your own error outside the program?"

The Inspector had no immediate answer.

It spent a very long time calculating.

So long, in fact, that the Starsea Prisoner had already entered another game after the next cube rotation.

Only then did it write a new note in the notebook before it.

"A system error."

A metal gauntlet covered the cube at its chest.

The crimson connection appeared once more.

The Inspector remained in that pose, almost like a silent oath.

Only after the Starsea Prisoner’s figure returned to her cell and began chatting cheerfully with the dragon beside her did the gauntlet finally withdraw.

The error was not deleted.

Instead, several more lines were added beneath it.

"Error Level: Unassessable."

"Resolution Method: Saved and Encrypted."

Meanwhile, Starsea’s players spread throughout the prison like sparks carried by the wind.

As the percentage of blue flames inside the cube steadily increased, Rita’s authority continued growing.

She could now create increasingly complex rules and game systems.

And she had discovered something else.

The prison’s resource vault.

Inside it sat countless skills, recipes, and items arranged with meticulous precision.

Every one of them had originated from a Prisoner.

Rita did not touch them.

She still insisted that Starsea’s players obtain those resources through the prison’s games.

Not through direct confiscation and redistribution.

As Starsea’s territory expanded, players began encountering increasingly formidable Prisoners.

Veterans.

Monsters.

Survivors who had endured the prison for unimaginable lengths of time.

Whenever one was discovered, the report would be forwarded through the Adjudicator Game.

The Adjudicator Game would then assign gods and leaders to that particular cell.

The process was simple.

With the authority she now possessed, Rita could directly manipulate the prison’s projection inside World Sigh.

She no longer needed to travel personally.

She simply selected a target.

Then moved players remotely.

Her fingertip pressed against the tiny figure with nine tails.

With a casual drag, she moved Mistblade from one side of the prison cube to another.

Then she did it again.

And again.

And again.

Finally, Mistblade snapped.

[Mistblade (Starsea)]: Am I your battle pet?!

Rita discovered something wonderful.

Provoking serious people was surprisingly entertaining.

The corner of her mouth lifted slightly.

Then she poked another figure.

Deceitful Bloom.

She dragged Deceitful Bloom into a newly discovered cell.

The moment she arrived, vines exploded from the tiny figure’s body.

Rita found the reaction immensely satisfying.

Not quite satisfied yet, she reached toward Quiet Mountain Deceitful Bloom as well.

This one had an even worse temper.

She exploded after being deployed only once.