Losing his voice was supposed to make Rocky’s life harder, but to him it did not make much of a difference at all.

He has started to grow tired of his own voice anyways and hence rarely spoke while alone.

While he did miss trying to make Nubi laugh, it wasn’t extremely bad either.

She still chatted to him as if he could talk back and most times she understood what he wanted to say without him having to say anything, so their conversations, although one-sided, were still fun.

After his fifth penalty, Rocky was reduced to an even more useless donut than he already was before as he became a borderline coma patient.

Without his voice and movement, he no longer had any means to communicate with the outside world anymore as he had essentially become a plant.

While he was still alive, could still think and hear, he was no longer able to show any form of response to his surroundings, as just like a plant he existed by being stationary in one place.

Without his voice, he could no longer use the gluttotal voice skill given to him by the hall gods which helped him determine his own position using echolocation, as he became a plant that no longer had any idea where he was sleeping.

From Nubi’s words, he believed he was on his room’s bed. However, even if he wasn’t, even if he was on the floor or the bathroom, or the playground, he would still be unable to tell the difference as without his senses, all these places felt the same to him.

He ate when fed and listened when called to, but apart from it his only friend was his mind as he kept thinking about his goals and what he needed to achieve once he got out of this place.

Even with five penalties, his mental state had not reached a breaking point and although he felt paranoid once in a while, overall, he was prepared to see this punishment through to the end.

***********

( Meanwhile, Back On Earth )

There was unprecedented commotion within the usually calm True Elites Guild as something unexpected had come to pass.

The event was so grand and shocking, that vice guild master Neatwit, who was on a floor raid was recalled urgently mid-way, while guildmaster Karna canceled all his high profile meetings for the day, including one with the prime minister of country X as he returned to the guild at once.

Someone had unexpectedly infiltrated the guild headquarters last night and had managed to tie up a man on the guild entrance, with a note spelling ‘Traitor’ hanging from his chest.

The True Elites Guild headquarters was one of the safest locations on Planet Earth, being patrolled and protected by the strongest climbers of Earth, yet a man who the surveillance tapes indicated could walk through walls, came in with a rucksack over his shoulders, took his time to unpack a living man out of it, hung him near the entrance and put a note around his neck for good measure, before walking out as if he was never here.

The man he delivered was none other than Joe, the most wanted criminal of the whole human race currently, who the True Elites Guild was hunting for months.

Yet despite the large bounty on his head, the man who surrendered him did not even seem to care about the rewards as he seemed very casual about the whole thing as if it was but child’s play for him.

For 20 whole minutes after he left, nobody noticed the hanging man at the entrance, until someone suddenly did and upon closer inspection of the hanging man, they realized that it was none other than Joe!

Joe the traitor had finally been apprehended!

**********

( The conference room, True Elites Guild )

The conference room of the True Elites Guild had been transformed into an ad hoc interrogation chamber. The blinds were drawn tightly, casting shadows across the rearranged furniture, now set to craft a space that was both isolating and imposing.

Joe, bound securely to a chair, found himself the focal point of this meticulously engineered atmosphere. Opposite him, at a deliberate distance of two meters, stood Neatwit, Amelia, and Karna. Their gazes bore into him, unrelenting and sharp.

The air between them was charged with a palpable sense of foreboding. Despite the physical space separating them, the intensity of Karna and Neatwit’s silent threats was suffocating, compelling Joe to lose his composure utterly—evidenced by the two distinct occasions he had involuntarily soiled himself since his confinement began, and all before a single question had been posed.

Karna, observing Joe’s contorted expressions, read them like an open book. The fear etched on Joe’s face, his eyes darting and desperate, spoke volumes to Karna. It was clear—Joe’s involvement in the crime of Riva’s abduction wasn’t a product of coercion but a path he had chosen willingly. His guilt was as unmistakable as his terror, revealing a man wholly complicit in his actions.

“Please forgive me guildmaster….. water, I need water! I’m thirsty” said Joe eventually, trying to break the awkward atmosphere as he could not longer tolerate the silence he was being subjected to.

“Water? This guy wants water Karna, can you believe it? Alright. I’ll give you water, but first tell me, IS RIVA BEING GIVEN WATER?” Neatwit said, stomping his feet in anger as his killing intent surged.

Pee dripped down Joe’s legs once more as he began crying like a little girl.

“No-no please don’t kill me, please I’m sorry…” Joe said, as by this point Karna was sure that Joe was beyond redeemable, that he was scum who deserved death.

“Where is Riva?” Karna asked calmly, as he waited patiently for Joe’s hysteria to calm down and for him to answer Karna rationally.

“I-I can’t tell you, guildmaster, they placed a soul oath on me! If I tell you, I’ll die” Joe said, looking towards his heart as he tried to desperately explain his situation.

“Well, it’s not like we’ll let you live if you don’t speak. So what will it be?” Amelia said boldly, as she cocked a revolver and pointed it towards Joe.

“W-what? You can’t do it! I am a human too! I have rights! You can’t just kill me, you need to submit me to the courts, I want a proper criminal trial!” Joe said, sounding insanely afraid as he stared down the barrel of Amanda’s gun.

If it were a normal gun, Joe would not be too worried, afterall his climber body could probably take a hit or two from such a mortal weapon, however, the gun Amelia carried was a special weapon from the tower that shot mana bullets.

One hit from that weapon would pulverize monsters and humans to dust. It was truly a dangerous item and Joe had witnessed it’s might first-hand since he was in Riva’s party when they procured it.

“Human rights? Trial? Hahaha, well I’ve heard enough….” Karna eventually said, as he stood up from his chair and slowly walked towards Joe.

“I don’t need you to tell me anything Joe, I could have candice read your mind for all the information I need.

I did not do it because I wanted to give you a chance to explain yourself. To tell me something that would make me believe you were not a criminal, but unfortunately, my hopes about you were wrong.

You are nothing but a piece of trash and are not worthy of being called an Elite” Karna said as he slapped Joe hard on his face, before walking out of the room.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep