Chapter 6: The Reason
The woman in the next cell froze, her hand mid-motion. This prison housed 107 inmates, none of whom were easy to deal with, and her neighbor was the particularly troublesome type. As a spy for the "Sun Kingdom," she was a dangerous existence in the outside world, but here, she needed to keep her head down.
Gakubak Prison could be called the most dangerous prison on the Blue Star, bar none. There were no guards here—or rather, ordinary guards couldn't suppress the inmates here. Those stationed here were soldiers just pulled back from the front lines, warriors who had experienced blood and fire.
Death row inmates weren't even qualified to be locked up here. Those held here were either major military criminals or those involved in treason, with the occasional serial killer thrown in—and they were the bottom of the barrel here.
Murderers could only be vicious toward ordinary people, but those imprisoned here were soldiers who had undergone rigorous training, specializing in killing techniques. This was the difference between professionals and amateurs.
To protect those serial killers sentenced to life imprisonment, most of them were placed in solitary confinement. There were two reasons for solitary: either the inmate was too dangerous, or they needed protection. Serial killers fell into the latter category.
The previous owner of Su Xiao's identity had been locked up here for a month. On the first day of imprisonment, five inmates in the same cell died horribly. The warden of Gakubak had no choice but to give him a single cell.
Even so, people still died every few days. Chopsticks during meals, cigarette butts left by soldiers—all were tools for killing.
At his wit's end, the warden arranged for the only young female inmate in the prison to be placed in the next cell. This time, the previous owner of Su Xiao's identity calmed down and began considering how to get into the female inmate's cell. As for his purpose, it was obvious.
After a week of the female inmate trembling in fear, Su Xiao arrived in this world. The previous owner of this identity was frozen and cast into some unknown space.
Su Xiao had only obtained an identity, so he would have no interaction with the previous owner of this identity. The same went for other contractors.
The cell block grew noisy. Su Xiao turned and walked to the bed, picking up a rubber chopstick. When he returned to the iron bars, the inmates who had been laughing or cursing all shrank back into their cells.
In moments, this floor of the prison fell silent. The rubber chopstick spun in Su Xiao's hand. He noticed one thing: these inmates seemed very afraid of him.
Su Xiao currently had no idea about the background of this identity he had taken over, so he decided to take a risk. Dragon-Slaying Flash appeared in his hand.
Su Xiao vanished from where he stood, using the Dragon Shadow Flash ability to enter the next cell. As soon as he appeared, he sheathed Dragon-Slaying Flash.
The neighboring cell had the same layout as Su Xiao's previous one: a bed, a toilet, and nothing else.
A woman with a single ponytail, wearing a gray short-sleeved shirt, sat on the bed. She was tilting her head back, drinking heavily, looking quite bold.
The woman's shirt had several holes, faintly revealing her abdominal muscles, and there was even some exposure at her chest.
*Gulp~*
Drops of wine splashed from the corner of the woman's lips. She closed her eyes and exhaled a breath of alcohol. Maybe the wine was too strong, making her stick out her tongue.
When the woman opened her eyes, the blissful expression on her face gradually stiffened.
"Ah!"
After a brief scream, the prison fell back into dead silence.
"That lunatic must have killed the woman next door."
"Quiet, he might be in the middle of it."
Inside the female inmate's cell, she was pinned to the bed in a spread-eagle position. The wine bottle that had fallen over was spilling alcohol, and the cell was filled with the smell of evaporated liquor.
"Shh."
Su Xiao held his index finger to his lips. His knee pressed down on the woman's two arms, one hand holding her head, as he sat on her lower abdomen.
The female inmate wanted to nod, but her head felt like it was clamped in iron tongs, unable to move an inch. The feeling that her skull could be crushed at any moment was terrible.
"I ask, you answer."
Su Xiao picked up the wine bottle from the bed; there was still a little less than half left.
"Mm~"
The woman whimpered softly. Su Xiao lifted his hand.
"Huff, huff..."
The woman gasped for breath, the terror in her eyes quickly fading.
"Name."
"..."
The woman turned her head away, the meaning clear: kill her. She was an enemy spy, and some secrets she would die to keep.
"Forget it, let's get straight to the point."
Hearing Su Xiao's words, the woman felt a slight relief inside.
"I'll undress myself, don't tear my clothes."
"..."
Su Xiao just wanted to get some information; he had no intention of doing anything intimate with her.
"Why am I locked up here? Answer that question."
"?"
The female inmate was stunned for a moment.
"Didn't you... kill the diplomat from the Aledo Kingdom?"
The woman looked at Su Xiao with confusion.
"That wasn't me."
Though Su Xiao said this, he finally understood why he was in prison. "The diplomat from the Aledo Kingdom"—that was important information.
"It wasn't you..."
The woman clearly didn't believe him.
"Then why are you locked up here? Soldiers from the Killing Force are hard to train, and it's wartime now. You should be on the battlefield."
No sooner had the woman spoken than Su Xiao heard footsteps approaching.
"What the—!"
First came a cry of surprise, then a roar of anger.
"Kukulin Bai Ye has escaped! He's gone! Highest alert!!"
The squad leader who had brought the wine earlier roared, his eyes wide with fury.
*Clang, clang, clang.*
The sound of knocking on the iron bars caught the squad leader's attention. He turned his head and, seeing the scene before him, even a battle-hardened soldier like him couldn't help but open his mouth slightly.
In the neighboring cell, Su Xiao was shirtless, holding a half-empty bottle of wine. On the bed in the cell was a female inmate curled up, pressed against the corner of the wall.
"What are you screaming about?"
Su Xiao tapped the iron bars, signaling the squad leader to let him out and return to his own cell.
The squad leader's expression was complicated. He glanced at Su Xiao's previous cell, then at Su Xiao, and finally at the curled-up female inmate.
"This..."
The squad leader hesitated for a moment but eventually opened the female inmate's cell door, then Su Xiao's cell.
Su Xiao walked out of the female inmate's cell and slowly returned to his own. Unexpectedly, the squad leader didn't fear Su Xiao like the other inmates did. From his casual actions, it was clear that in his mind, Su Xiao was one of his own, an ally.
With a clang, the iron door slammed shut. The squad leader looked at the lock on the cell door, pondered for a moment, then had someone bring chains and added three more heavy locks.
"You..."
The squad leader wanted to say something, but after thinking it over, he chose to walk away in silence. Su Xiao had had a chance to escape earlier, but he hadn't—that was an attitude.
"When can I get out?"
Su Xiao stared directly at the squad leader outside the cell.
"Have you come to your senses?"
The squad leader stepped forward quickly.
"..."
Su Xiao didn't fully understand the situation, so he had to rely on quick thinking.
"Of course... I've come to my senses."
"Good, I'll inform the warden. Those scum from the Foreign Ministry won't arrive until evening at the earliest."
The squad leader left, muttering under his breath as he went: "The Killing Force can't go to the front lines to kill enemies," "Locked up here," "How absurd," and the like.
From the squad leader's attitude, it was clear he knew how dangerous the previous owner of Su Xiao's identity was, but he didn't care because he had been on the battlefield and knew what war was like.
Ordinary soldiers had a high chance of developing post-war syndrome, let alone the blood-soaked Killing Force. Right now, repelling the Sun Kingdom was the top priority.
This was the Free Nation, where the military's style was iron-blooded. Warriors should die on the battlefield, not be imprisoned in cages.
Inside the cell, Su Xiao roughly understood the current situation. The previous owner of the identity he had taken over was probably a stubborn person who had killed a diplomat from some country during a mission and, due to the political situation, had been thrown into prison.
Gakubak Prison was under military control. As an elite unit of the "Special Situation Emergency and Cleanup Strategic Force," Su Xiao naturally enjoyed decent treatment here. The squad leader who brought the wine was actually acting on the warden's orders.
The warden here had once been a colonel in some legion, but after some incident, he had been stuffed into this position. Judging by the current situation, he wasn't far from being reinstated.
In the Free Nation, as long as soldiers didn't disobey orders, harm civilians, leak secrets, or commit treason, most other things weren't considered major issues.
Su Xiao didn't wait long. About five hours later, a middle-aged man with a face full of scars, wearing a black military uniform, led a dozen soldiers to the cell. This man was the warden.
"Finally come to your senses? Those people from the Foreign Ministry are stubbornly holding on—they just want an attitude. Handle this matter, then get the hell back to the battlefield. I don't have time to entertain you here."
The warden looked Su Xiao up and down, nodding with satisfaction.
"Let him out."