Chapter 73 – Sin City (7)
◎ The days are becoming more and more harsh ◎
“Name?”
“I’m asking you, don’t look around. What’s your name?!”
The stern-faced female prison guard slammed her hand on the table, startling the girl in the prisoner’s uniform.
“…Song Ke.”
“Age?”
“19 years old.”
In the closed interrogation room, only a dim ceiling light was on. The prison guard, behind the bars, typed the name into the computer connected to the file room, pressed search, and found no information about “Song Ke.”
“What’s your identification number? Report it.”
“I don’t… Does the ‘Awakener Certificate’ count?”
The prison guard lifted her head from the computer and sneered, “We don’t care about that here. Whether you have abilities or not, coming in here is the same.”
Anyone who entered the Death Prison, tagged with the Crime Record, was like wearing an invisible shackle. True freedom was never possible. So what if you are an awakener? Dare to act recklessly in the Death Prison, and you would instantly become a mindless walking corpse.
The prison guard asked again, “No identification, are you a black household? From District F?”
Song Ke admitted honestly, “F177 District.”
The guard halted the search, opened a new file, and began inputting information.
“Can you… tell me how many years… I’ll be sentenced for?” Song Ke asked tentatively as she watched the guard type.
The guard spared her a sympathetic glance, “You are suspected of intentional destruction of property, with a heinous circumstance and a serious nature. According to Warden She’s orders, you will be confined to the 5th floor for a sentence of nineteen years and seven months, and you must pay a fine of one billion Alliance coins.”
Song Ke gasped. Nineteen years and seven months? That’s older than her! The days were truly becoming more and more harsh.
And one billion Alliance credits! One billion! Was this a number that could be thrown around casually? Even if she spent her whole sentence, she wouldn’t be able to come up with that much money. It seemed she had truly angered the guy surnamed She this time, and they had no intention of letting her go.
“What about the others with me?”
“You still care about others? I advise you to reflect on yourself while you’re in here, try to live a couple more years.”
The guard finished inputting her file, clicked upload, and stood up from behind the desk, saying, “Follow me to the cell.”
“Get in.”
On the 5th floor of the Death Prison, Song Ke was pushed into a narrow cell.
She looked around, and the surveillance above followed her. Apart from the single bed connected to the floor, the simple washbasin and toilet, there was nothing inside. Song Ke looked around curiously, walked to the door, and submitted her activity request for the next day on the screen.
Then she lay back on the bed, adopting the carefree attitude of going with the flow. She closed her eyes, stretched her legs, and fell asleep.
Without any fear.
*
When Su Cha regained consciousness, he found himself in the familiar interrogation room. Kunbu sat across from him, glaring at him with frustration. “Awake now? You, lad, are you serious?”
“You’ve only been out for a few days, and here you are again. No wonder you said ‘see you next time’ to me. Do you think this place is a hotel that you can visit whenever you please?”
His head felt like it had been hit by a sledgehammer, and a cold, numb pain reverberated inside. Kunbu’s voice seemed distant and muffled, making it almost impossible to hear what he was saying. Su Cha slowly regained composure, and his vision gradually focused. The chaotic and bewildering sensation finally subsided.
Criminal Record… Is this the Cotard’s Syndrome it can produce? It’s terrifying.
At the time of the Rose Auction House incident, all of V587 were arrested, and the others, being “newcomers,” were coerced into surrendering by force. However, among the buyers on-site were also individuals who had completed their sentences, including Su Cha. Regardless of the number of bars displayed by the Criminal Record before this, they all collectively lost consciousness in that moment and staggered back to the Death Prison like zombies.
Su Cha’s memory only remained up to when the voice with the surname She sounded. He didn’t remember anything afterward.
Seeing Su Cha silent, Kunbu thought he felt remorse. But now, it was too late for anything. He sighed deeply with a heavy heart. “Adding crime upon crime, this time you’ve been sent to the 6th floor, a sentence of… forty years, mandatory labor, and no possibility of reduction. I wonder if you can endure this.”
The cells on the 6th floor were even more cramped, resembling solitary confinement rooms. There wasn’t even a bed inside, and given Su Cha’s height, he could only crouch and turning around was difficult.
He activated the light screen at the door, but the labor option was crossed out and turned into an unselectable gray. Fortunately, he could still apply for activities, but the conditions were more stringent, limited to once a month.
Su Cha submitted his activity request for the next day.
*
On the second day, when the activity time arrived, Song Ke lined up in the corridor. All the inmates who had submitted applications were taken to the mezzanine by the prison guards.
She was looking forward to it, taking quick small steps. Inadvertently, she stepped on the heel of the inmate in front.
The startled inmate slowly turned around, wearing an angry expression and clenching their fists, saying, “Be more careful.”
‘Avoid trouble, avoid trouble, nineteen years and seven months,’ Song Ke silently recited her sentence in her mind.
Then she took a step back, bowed her head, and gestured with exaggerated hospitality, saying, “Please, please.”
The prison guard was nearby, and the inmate scowled at her timid appearance, making a disdainful sound and walked past with an indifferent gait.
Song Ke breathed a sigh of relief.
In the quiet reading room, Song Ke walked briskly. As she passed a handsome man sitting in a wheelchair reading a newspaper, she silently slipped a kunai into his collar. Continuing forward, she pushed the door into the coffee shop. A woman with long curly hair was waiting in line for coffee. Song Ke stood behind her, and their fingertips touched lightly, and another kunai was discreetly handed over.
Song Ke casually found a table and sat down. The slender man across from her was focused on building blocks. Song Ke looked elsewhere, placing the kunai at the edge of the table. When the man picked up the blocks, he naturally picked up the kunai.
The two faced each other without any communication. Shortly after, the man in the wheelchair, the woman with long hair, and the boy who came in happily holding the prison guard’s hand all coincidentally sat at the same table.
The activity time was only a short hour, and one person was missing.
Ten more minutes passed, and a young man with a crew cut slowly entered through the door and silently sat at the neighboring table.
Everyone was here.
V587’s six members reunited in the Death Prison.
This was the plan they had agreed upon before coming in. They would gather intelligence and arrange the next steps during the one-hour activity time.
Using the act of drinking coffee as a cover, Song Ke whispered, “I’m on the 5th floor, where are you guys?”
“I’m on the 1st floor,” Xu Xing whispered back.
“The 3rd floor,” Lin Youyou said, sipping her coffee.
Neither of them took direct action. Xu Xing even discreetly used frost magic. Being considered suspects involved in the case along with Cheng Yi and others, they received relatively lenient sentences. Lin Youyou was mainly sentenced to the 3rd floor for impersonating a food delivery person.
Fang Zhixu signaled “4” with the building blocks.
Zhuang Qingyan folded the newspaper, revealing the number “4” as well.
They both had forged identities and deliberately infiltrated the auction house, intentionally causing a disturbance to the scene. Hence, they received slightly heavier sentences.
As Song Ke listened, she discreetly handed a kunai to Xu Xing.
All their communication devices had been confiscated, and they had no contact devices on them. These kunai were materialized by Song Ke using objects she had in the cell, carefully crafted without being seen by surveillance. Her spiritual artifact could track them using mental power, functioning as a tracking device to ensure they wouldn’t lose each other.
“6th floor,” Su Cha said lastly.
He was the one sentenced the most severely among the six.
The others showed expressions of sympathy, saying things like, “I feel for you,” “That’s so unfortunate,” and “Light a candle for you.”
Song Ke made a subtle movement with her fingertips, and the kunai flew out. Su Cha effortlessly caught it and held it in his palm.
“I roughly calculated just now, there are about 3000 cells on the 6th floor,” Su Cha said, unperturbed, as if he hadn’t seen their various colorful expressions, and delivered the bad news that they could only move once a month.
Zhuang Qingyan’s gaze fell on the newspaper, and she spoke lightly, “Since we are on different floors, we can conveniently split up to search for people. There are still 7 days left this month; let’s collect and summarize the information.”
Apart from the 2 floors that Su Cha had previously investigated and the monitoring layer controlled by someone with the surname She, they had their people on almost every floor.
Considering that Su Cha would find it difficult to come out frequently and frequent meetings might attract the attention of the prison guards, Zhuang Qingyan decided to set the second gathering time for early next month, giving them 7 days, which should be enough for them to get a rough idea.
“Alright,” they all nodded.
While they were talking, they heard a commotion from behind.
Two inmates bumped into each other, causing one of them to spill hot coffee all over the floor.
“You spilled my coffee.”
The bumped inmate stared at the spilled coffee on the ground and spoke rapidly.
The one who caused the collision sneered, “So what if I spilled it? If you really want to drink it, hurry up and lick it off the floor while it’s still hot!”
The person suddenly raised his head and repeated, “You spilled my coffee!!”
He shouted loudly, and everyone in the coffee shop heard him.
“How did he provoke Jorik?” a prisoner behind Song Ke whispered.
“Who’s that?”
“Crazy Jorik, got shocked too many times. The circuits in his head don’t work well,” the speaker pointed to his own head. “He can only come out once a month, like clockwork, to have a cup of coffee.”
Although the activity floor was meant for leisure and entertainment, there were strict rules. It wasn’t for the inmates to enjoy life. For example, the drinks in the coffee shop were limited to a small cup per person each time. If they missed it this time, they would have to wait for the next activity day.
Listening to the conversation between the two, this Jorik seemed to be locked up on the 6th floor as well. This time, he missed his coffee and would have to wait another month.
Jorik didn’t look very old, with fair skin and a pampered appearance. He stared at the blistering on his hand, muttering softly, “You spilled my coffee…”
After saying these words, Jorik suddenly exploded!
He mounted the person who bumped into him, raised his fist high, his veins swelling, and his mental force bursting forth.
In the presence of everyone, Jorik’s smooth arms were covered in dense fur, sharp fangs grew in his mouth, and he instantly transformed into a half-wolf creature. He then pummeled the person’s face with punches, blood splattering everywhere. Broken teeth and shattered bones flew out continuously. In just a few minutes, the arrogant inmate had no chance to fight back and was beaten to death on the spot!
Jorik continued to punch, repeatedly saying the word “coffee” in his mouth, pounding the other person’s skull, leaving it concave.
“Shape-shifting ability,” Zhuang Qingyan murmured.
A sharp whistle sounded from the speaker. Suddenly, Jorik’s Criminal Record displayed five bars. He rolled on the ground in pain, clutching his head. All the inmates in the coffee shop were affected by the arm band, experiencing dizziness, palpitations, and other discomfort.
Song Ke frowned slightly, suppressing the restlessness of her mental power and looking towards her companions.
Zhuang Qingyan was an S-class mental power awakener, experiencing the least impact. There was hardly a ripple in his eyes. Lin Youyou, Fang Zhixu, and Xu Xing felt slightly uncomfortable but were within controllable limits. Only Su Cha had a more intense reaction than all of them.
He clenched his fists, pressing them against the table, trembling all over.
“The power of the Criminal Record has been amplified,” Zhuang Qingyan said coldly.
In the underground city, the limit of the Criminal Record’s effect was 1, but in the Death Prison, it was almost doubled, and strengthened to 10.
After a while, the invisible sound waves disappeared. Su Cha’s breathing gradually calmed down, signaling to them with his eyes that everything was fine.
As for Jorik, he lay on the ground with a vacant look, appearing even more foolish.
Suddenly, shouts came from the entrance of the cafe: “The warden is here!”
Sitting together was too conspicuous. Song Ke and her companions immediately stood up in unison, pretending not to know each other.
Two men wearing black overcoats, exuding a different aura from regular prison guards, strolled in slowly.
Song Ke focused her gaze. The person on the left was slightly shorter, and the eyes under the police hat were as cold as a snake. The nameplate on his shoulder read “She Liang.”
On the right, with a red, freckled face and a bulbous nose from alcohol abuse, it seemed like he had a bad temper. His name was “William White.”
White took a step forward, looking at Jorik lying on the ground, and the body that was covered in blood and unrecognizable. His eyes flashed with hostility as he said, “You bastard!”
The bloodstained whip was raised high, seemingly about to strike Jorik.
A short cane blocked his movement, and She Liang calmly said, “White, he’s a prisoner from the 6th floor. You have no authority to deal with him.”
In White’s eyes, there was a sense of impending doom: “For the third time, this bastard has attacked my prisoner for the third time. She Liang, since you can’t control your dog, why don’t you just throw him down to the 7th floor? I’ll teach him a lesson for you.”
She Liang sneered, “No need.”
Song Ke took small steps backward, retreating to the inmate who had just spoken. They muttered to each other.
“Jorik always causes trouble whenever he comes out. Why, why not just let White deal with him?”
“Hey, that guy surnamed She can’t let him go. Jorik’s family is very wealthy, they contribute a lot of money every time they visits, he’s like a golden goose laying eggs. Even if he causes trouble, he’s only pressed down to the 6th floor.”
This was an unexpected discovery. So, different floor wardens couldn’t interfere with each other?
Song Ke thought to herself as she lowered her gaze.
She Liang looked around at the inmates watching the commotion. Wherever he looked, the voices disappeared without a trace. The inmates were afraid of him, avoiding his gaze.
She Liang raised his voice, “Today’s activity time is over. Everyone, return to your respective floors immediately!”
Following the crowd, Song Ke walked towards the exit, suddenly feeling a chill down her spine.
She turned around, and She Liang’s cold gaze lingered on her and Su Cha for a moment longer.
