Chapter 79 – Sin City (13)
◎ Prison Break ◎
These past few days, the Death Prison has been far from peaceful.
Warden White met a violent end. It’s said that his death was gruesome, with someone stabbing him through the throat. Floors 7 to 12 were put on lockdown, and a large number of inmates seized the opportunity to escape amidst the chaos. She Liang was busy dealing with the aftermath, his hands full, and the management of the original cell blocks appeared somewhat lax. As a result, Lin Youyou and a few others were able to meet on the activity area.
Su Cha had already informed them of what had happened below.
“Both of them went down?” Lin Youyou nervously tapped the table.
“Yes,” Su Cha said with a grave expression.
Song Ke was absent, and Xu Xing couldn’t be bothered with being coy. The little boy sat there, his brow furrowed.
Lin Youyou felt a headache coming on. Among the six of them, it had never been her role to make decisions. However, in the current situation, if they didn’t decide quickly, the situation for Song Ke and the others would become more perilous.
“I’ll take the lead in making a decision. I want to go down to find them,” Lin Youyou sighed.
“I agree.” Surprisingly, Fang Zhixu was the first to speak up. They had come to the Death Prison because of him, and now with Song Ke and Zhuang Qingyan in danger, he couldn’t stand by and do nothing.
“I agree too.” Xu Xing bravely raised his little hand. He was determined to save his sister.
Su Cha nodded in agreement with Lin Youyou.
With a unanimous decision to stick together, Lin Youyou gained some assurance. “Well then, let’s first think of a way to get down…”
While the four were discussing their plan, the Crime Record device on their shoulders suddenly lit up with a red light. Lin Youyou looked at the badge in surprise. How was this possible? They hadn’t committed any crimes now, so why was it glowing? Could it monitor their psychological activities as well?
A secret message suddenly flashed into their minds.
Lin Youyou listened quietly, and her expression became strange. She noticed that the others’ faces were similar to hers.
“The content we heard… should be the same, right? Good news, Song Ke and Zhuang Qingyan are safe, and they’ve even found Lu Xiaoyu.”
Fang Zhixu, Su Cha, and Xu Xing nodded, confirming her statement.
Lin Youyou paused for a moment and couldn’t help but smile lightly. “You received the second part of the message too, right? Song Ke, you really are… always a source of surprises, no, shock.”
…
She Liang hurriedly moved through the administrative area, busy arranging various matters. An underling approached him and reported, “Warden, a notice has come from the 18th floor, requesting the transfer of four inmates down below.”
“The 18th floor? Are there still living prisoners there? Who issued the transfer order?” She Liang asked, surprised.
The subordinate’s legs were trembling as he replied, “…It’s a direct order from that esteemed person.”
She Liang abruptly stopped, a cold snort escaping his lips. “That old coot always knows how to stir up trouble. I’ll reject it outright.”
She Liang had never met Lord Hades. Since his first day as warden, he had been shrouded in the shadow of this person. There were always people criticizing him, pointing out where he fell short of Lord Hades’ standards, and how he couldn’t do things according to the rules set by Lord Hades. He was tired of it all.
“But, Warden… From the perspective of your authority, you don’t have the right to refuse,” his subordinate stated plainly.
She Liang glared at him with a cold expression, slowly crumpling the papers in his hand. “Is that so? I don’t have the right, huh?”
Although he was furious to the extreme, She Liang didn’t let anger cloud his judgment. White was dead, and the immediate priority was to bring the escaped inmates under control. He needed to secure authority over floors 7 to 12 before the official transfer order came from the Alliance. Then, he would hold all the power, and no one could oppose him. As for that old coot, Lord Hades… he would be replaced sooner or later. In the future, the Death Prison would only have him, She Liang, as the warden.
Once She Liang had calmed down, he asked, “Which four inmates have been selected for the transfer?”
The subordinate quickly handed over the four inmates’ files. She Liang glanced at them briefly and said, “Retrieve the inmates’ surveillance footage.”
In real-time surveillance, Lin Youyou, Fang Zhixu, and Su Cha were seen laboring honestly in their prison uniforms. Xu Xing, who had already served his sentence but was still in confinement due to unpaid fines, sat in his cell drawing, looking carefree. The last one was a tall man who had been placed in a temporary cell and hadn’t been reassigned yet.
She Liang didn’t have much of an impression of Lin Youyou and the others, but the moment he saw Su Cha, he frowned and recognized him immediately.
Why wouldn’t this person go away? He had just been sent down, and now he was back again. Seeing him brought back memories of the ten billion he had lost. She Liang’s good mood disappeared, and he impatiently said, “Since Lord Hades wants them, then send them down.”
Half an hour later, the prison guards responsible for transporting the inmates had set the destination floor and pushed the inmates into the elevator. “Get in and behave.”
As the elevator doors closed, Lin Youyou smiled sweetly and discreetly slipped something into the elevator wall.
The same subtle actions occurred with Xu Xing on the 1st floor, Fang Zhixu on the 4th floor, and Su Cha on the 6th floor…
The four tracking devices left behind by Song Ke were concealed discreetly inside the moving elevators.
…
Zhuang Qingyan extracted a usable light screen from Smail’s cell and connected it to the data port on Lu Xiaoyu, beginning to study the structure of the entire Death Prison.
“Did you send the one-way signal? This is such a minor task; you don’t need an ability for it,” Zhuang Qingyan remarked.
“Quit your yapping; I’ve already sent it,” Lu Xiaoyu’s branches flowed smoothly, his pale fingertips tapping the leaves as he monitored the elevator’s movements in real-time. “Your people are coming down.”
“Give me the balance vector data for the particles.”
“Why don’t you calculate it yourself?”
“I’m working on the gravity parameters. You should be thanking me; this was originally your job.”
The two of them made progress while bickering back and forth, occasionally arguing like they used to when working on projects together in their youth.
Lu Xiaoyu rolled his eyes and swiftly completed the calculations. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a figure.
In the nearby shadows, a person stood quietly, with a straight posture and stern demeanor.
“Wait for me,” Lu Xiaoyu used his data leg to “stand” up and “walk” a few steps in the person’s direction, stopping in front of him.
“I’m leaving,” Lu Xiaoyu said.
“Congratulations,” he replied.
Lu Xiaoyu’s tone remained indifferent. “When I leave, there might be some commotion. The Death Prison might be destroyed, and it will cease to exist.”
The prison guard paused for a moment, not fully comprehending his words, and unable to respond effectively.
But Lu Xiaoyu’s words seemed to trigger something in his consciousness. He replied calmly and mechanically, “The Death Prison… The Death Prison is a necessary product of the Alliance’s development at a specific stage, emerging with the creation of classes and districts.”
His missing consciousness prevented him from dealing with a more advanced linguistic environment, causing him to repeat meaningless phrases.
After he finished speaking, Lu Xiaoyu spoke again. “You are one of my few failures.”
“I also don’t understand your pursuit of immortality.”
“But if you’re willing, when I leave, I can use my ability to write an operational program for you, to complete the missing part of your consciousness. But let’s be clear, you won’t be able to return to your previous state. At most, you’ll be a kind of artificial intelligence with built-in factory memory.”
The prison guard remained silent for a long time, then slowly raised his arm and gave Lu Xiaoyu a standard salute, his voice low but firm.
“Staying in the Death Prison is my lifelong mission.”
“Thank you,” Lu Xiaoyu responded absentmindedly, turning to leave. Unexpectedly, he met Song Ke’s wide eyes.
She hadn’t eavesdropped; she had been standing there openly, listening.
Song Ke blinked her eyes, her thoughts swirling. How to describe Lu Xiaoyu? He appeared to have a scattered mind, hard to communicate with, but he had his own set of standards for doing things. How did that saying go again? Oh, right, he’s fiercely loyal.
Song Ke looked at Lu Xiaoyu and smiled, a faint dimple appearing on her cheek.
Lu Xiaoyu’s ice-cold pupils narrowed slightly, and his branches secretly touched Song Ke’s shoulder as he lowered his voice. “While that guy isn’t looking, do you want to try synesthesia with me?”
Song Ke’s entire body bristled. “No!”
Up ahead, Zhuang Qingyan’s finger tapping on the light screen stopped abruptly, and his voice turned icy. “Lu Xiaoyu, get back here and get to work!”
…
When Lin Youyou and her group exited the elevator, someone was already waiting for them.
A prison guard with gray hair, wearing a uniform, spoke in a deep voice, “Follow me.”
The group silently followed him as they descended further from the 18th floor. They passed through a dark corridor and arrived at a spacious area, where they saw the illuminated data tree and Lu Xiaoyu. They stared in disbelief, deeply awed by the sight.
Xu Xing ran over and hugged Song Ke’s thigh. After a brief exchange of information, Fang Zhixu was called away by Zhuang Qingyan.
“These tubes, can you deal with them?” Zhuang Qingyan crouched down and carefully examined the data interfaces on Lu Xiaoyu’s body. They already knew that levels below the 7th floor were designated as abilities restricted areas.
“I can quickly remove them, but stopping the bleeding and suturing requires special abilities, which are challenging to use here,” Fang Zhixu explained.
“For now, let’s forget about suturing. I’ll give you an additional 30 seconds of ability time. You can use it to stop the bleeding for him. Can you do it?” Zhuang Qingyan asked.
“I can.”
The seven of them sat in a circle, and Zhuang Qingyan activated a projection. A clear schematic of the Death Prison’s structure appeared before them.
“Let’s go through the plan once more. We’re preparing to leave this damned place.”
…
At five o’clock in the afternoon, the work shift came to an end.
All the internal elevators in the Death Prison suddenly became restless without anyone controlling it.
“Ding,” “clank,” the sounds of impacts echoed continuously as these massive structures seemed to have an agreement to rush in the same direction, toward the same floor.
“The Death Prison is an inverted cone. The quickest way to escape is to turn it upside down.”
“What we need to do is use enough weight to forcibly alter the gravitational field.”
Zhuang Qingyan switched to a three-dimensional map. After rotating it 180 degrees, their current 19th floor became the top floor.
“Do you know what’s the heaviest thing in the Death Prison?”
“The elevators!” Xu Xing eagerly raised his hand to answer.
“That’s right. Every internal elevator is made of high-density metal structures with astonishing mass. If we gather all of them, we can achieve the goal of flipping the Death Prison.”
The operating programs of hundreds of elevators simultaneously came under attack from an unknown virus. They all piled up in the corner on the 1st floor’s oil reservoir, the ground began to tilt, heavy objects fell uncontrollably and rolled out, causing the inmates to stumble and fall, their vision spinning. Steel frames in the factory broke, showering countless sparks, and the Death Prison started sinking into the seabed.
“But what if they use elevators to capture us?” Song Ke raised a question.
“Right, so just in case, we need to cut off the possibility of being pursued,” Zhuang Qingyan concluded.
On the 19th floor where V587 was located, they sliced through the waves, rapidly ascending. 12,000 meters… 10,000 meters… 8,000 meters… 6,000 meters!
The moment they left the super abyss zone, their awakened energy was restored, and they could use their abilities!
On the 6th floor of the Death Prison, She Liang struggled to support himself against the wall and shouted, “What’s going on?”
The prison guard trembled as he reported, “It seems to be the 18th floor. Inmates have escaped from the 18th floor, and there’s commotion…”
Again, it’s the 18th floor, and it’s another escape! In an instant, She Liang thought of the culprit who had cost him ten billion, that bastard named Su Cha. If he had known, he wouldn’t have let him go no matter what. That Lord Hades is also useless, unable to even control his own inmates.
“Special Police Team, arm yourselves and follow me down.” She Liang was furious, swaying as he headed towards the elevator. In that case, he would personally resolve it, regardless of what Lord Hades said, or any rules. He would deal with the person completely and be done with it.
Inside the crowded elevator, the four kunai suddenly began to glow. Powerful awakened energy kept pouring in.
“Boom!”
All the elevators exploded into ruins. She Liang took a step into the flames, and he was blown out, his face scorched and he fell unconscious.
…
On the 19th floor of the Death Prison, the tip of the cone-shaped structure was just a few hundred meters away from the sea surface.
“Song Ke!” Zhuang Qingyan shouted.
Lin Youyou’s singing voice echoed, empowering Song Ke.
Song Ke was enveloped in blue light, transforming a massive five-meter-long battle-axe. She activated her core powers and swung her arm, smashing the tip of the 19th floor.
“Bang, bang, bang!”
The sturdy outer wall crumbled, black seawater surged in, and Song Ke was drenched in it, choking on a mouthful of seawater.
“Xu Xing!”
Xu Xing nodded solemnly, and his awakened ability was released, instantly freezing the incoming seawater into an escape passage.
“Fang Zhixu.”
Fang Zhi Xu was fully focused, sweat forming on his forehead. Only a few dozen tubes remained on Lu Xiaoyu’s severed leg, and he swiftly removed them with his left hand while using his awakened ability to stop the bleeding with his right hand. His movements were so fast that they were almost imperceptible.
Lu Xiaoyu shivered all over, his face as pale as snow. Intense pain surged through all his nerves, but he didn’t utter a sound.
“The mass is starting to deviate,” Su Cha reminded them.
Sure enough, the Death Prison had started to descend again. Forcibly altering the gravitational field could only be sustained for a short time, and with Lu Xiaoyu losing control over the elevator, their time was running out.
Everyone’s gaze was fixed on Fang Zhixu.
Ten tubes… Seven tubes… Three tubes… the last one! Fang Zhixu, racing against the clock, pulled out the final tube and swiftly treated the wound.
Lu Xiaoyu was finally free!
“Hurry, let’s go!”
Several kilometers away, the citizens of the underground city looked up in disbelief toward the direction of the Death Prison.
The once calm underground sea churned with colossal waves, and the surface roiled and stirred. This soon triggered a massive tsunami, rushing out and submerging the entire trading street. Rain poured down like a torrential downpour, leaving everyone astonished.
Could it be that the Death Prison is in trouble?!
“The Crime Record has disappeared!” Amid the crowd swimming around, a joyous shout suddenly echoed.
Others quickly lowered their heads to check and, indeed, all the bars on the sign had disappeared, rendering the Crime Record a useless piece of scrap metal.
Cheng Yi, in a state of chaos while trying to salvage crystals from her store, suddenly remembered something. She rushed to grab the terminal that the group had stored with her and dashed towards the direction of the underground sea.
…
“Hey,” shouted Lu Xiaoyu just as they were about to escape, stopping the prison guard.
Pale fingertips streamed with data, touching the guard’s forehead. An icy, dominant superpower surged in, like an epiphany, as a foreign code entered the guard’s consciousness, filling in the missing fragments of his soul.
“I, Lu Xiaoyu, never make defective products.”
Song Ke waited for him to finish speaking with a proud expression, then picked up his collar, turned around and ran away.
The ice seawater gradually melted, and the 19th floor, one step away from freedom, fell into the sea again. The prison guard’s vision became narrower and narrower, and finally he vaguely saw a woman with a strange hairstyle meeting Lu Xiaoyu and the others at the beach.
Zhuang Qingyan pulled out two wheelchairs from his spatial storage. He chose a premium one for himself, but handed Lu Xiaoyu a basic one.
Lu Xiaoyu was furious, “I want your chair!”
Zhuang Qingyan sneered, “There are only two left, take it or leave it.”
“Stop arguing, let’s go.”
The girl with shoulder-length hair pushed the heads of the two in opposite directions and, with a strong pull, lifted them up and ran off.
“Boom.”
There was another round of spinning, and the Death Prison fell back into the abyss, then turned back up.
The silent prison guard sealed off the 19th floor and slowly walked back to the 18th floor, sitting alone in the darkness for an unknown amount of time.
Until the noisy voices rushed in.
“We’ve arrived at the 18th floor, the escaped prisoners… Lord Hades, Lord Hades!”
Several middle-aged prison guards with panicked expressions saw his face and exclaimed in shock.
The former Lord Hades slowly stood up and spoke in a deep voice, “Liao Yi, Liu Er, long time no see.”
In reality, he didn’t remember the names of these two individuals at all; the implanted memories had informed him of their names.
“Lord, are you planning to come back and manage the Death Prison again?”
The two of them asked with excitement. With one of the wardens dead and one severely injured, the Death Prison was in chaos. If Lord Hades could return at this moment, it would be a powerful reassurance to everyone.
“Yes, I’m back,” the former Lord Hades nodded solemnly. His mind, however, couldn’t help but wonder: he could remember everyone else’s names, but what was his own name? He couldn’t recall it, and that didn’t matter. He could start anew.
“From today on, don’t call me Lord Hades. There is no Lord Hades in the Death Prison anymore.”
“I am Hu Yong, the moderate Yong.”
**TN
The character “庸” (yong) means to adapt to changes and use the right person at the right time, emphasizing the importance of balance and moderation in one’s actions.
