# 310
Chapter 310 – Meteor from the Heavens
A sea breeze swept through the island woods, rustling the leaves with a soft shaaa.
Baili Pangpang clapped his hands, looked at the three people tied up so tightly they could barely squirm, and nodded in satisfaction. “What, that’s it? I thought we were dealing with some tough nuts, but we bagged them without breaking a sweat.”
Second Seat: …
Fifth Seat: …
Shen Qingzhu: …
Cao Yuan studied the trio trussed up together, his expression odd. “That tying style… something’s off.”
“Off?” Baili Pangpang blinked.
“It’s… mm… the kind I’ve only seen in certain special movies,” Cao Yuan said carefully. “Honestly, you’ve made them look a little too… tempting.”
“Tempting?” Baili Pangpang scratched his head. “The maid sisters taught me this knot. What’s wrong with it?”
The corner of Cao Yuan’s mouth twitched. “N-nothing.”
“As long as they can’t move, any knot works.” Baili Pangpang waved dismissively, stepped up to Second Seat and lifted his chin.
“Hey, behave. Don’t budge, got it? If I catch you acting weird, I’ll chop you on the spot!”
Fifth Seat glared daggers at Baili Pangpang, about to snarl something, when Second Seat nudged him with a shoulder and shot him a look.
“All right, we can’t stay here. Time to figure how to break into the Purification Chamber.” Cao Yuan glanced at the black steel wall in the distance and started off.
Baili Pangpang nodded and followed quietly.
Once the two were gone, Fifth Seat finally exploded. “Damn it, that was humiliating! The punk’s only swaggering because he’s loaded with relics!”
“Let him swagger,” Second Seat said coolly. “Our job is to stay hidden and wait for the signal. You want to die here just to vent? Save revenge for after the suppressing stele’s effect lifts.”
“Hmph! I’ll kill him sooner or later.”
Second Seat turned to Shen Qingzhu. “Newbie, why so quiet?”
Shen Qingzhu watched the departing backs and shook his head. “I just… don’t feel like talking.”
……
Purification Chamber.
Lin Qiye and An Qingyu sat in the shade, pondering and now and then scratching lines in the dirt with twigs. The tangle of marks was enough to make anyone dizzy.
“That’s basically the whole layout,” Lin Qiye said after studying the sketch. “Every building, watchtower, checkpoint—mapped. Now we need a workable escape route.”
An Qingyu pondered. “Any ideas?”
“I’ve thought of one, but it’s rough…”
“Let’s hear it.”
Lin Qiye laid it out; An Qingyu’s eyes brightened, then narrowed in thought.
“Doable, but we’ll need outside conditions—”
A few kilometres away, the sky suddenly rippled with shifting colours; then a corner of heaven cracked like glass.
Claaang!
The crisp shatter rang overhead. The two under the tree looked up.
A meteor burst through the breach, roaring down, friction setting its surface ablaze.
“A meteor?” An Qingyu frowned. “From where?”
Lin Qiye stood, eyes narrowing. Its trajectory was dead-on for the Purification Chamber.
“That’s no random rock. Someone sent it.”
An Qingyu’s eyes turned grey as he watched the plummeting fireball. “This level of force won’t scratch the prison. Naïve.”
……
Administration block.
“Meteor?” Acting warden Xie Yu’s brows knitted. “Natural or man-made?”
“Almost certainly man-made,” a guard replied.
Xie Yu moved to the window, eyes glinting. “Notify the military—shoot it down.”
“Yes, sir!”
Weee—!
Sirens screamed across the yard; every inmate froze.
“Free time over! Back to cells, now! Repeat—back to cells!”
Curious prisoners poured out of the canteen for a glimpse of the sky-show, only to be herded at gunpoint by rushing guards. Within minutes the yard was cleared.
Lin Qiye and An Qingyu exchanged looks.
“Let’s return,” Lin Qiye said. “Situation’s unstable and the plan’s half-baked—caution first.”
An Qingyu nodded and jogged toward the cellblock.
Lin Qiye scuffed out the map with his foot. An orderly arrived with orders from Doctor Li to escort him back to the asylum for safety.
Walking with the orderly, Lin Qiye glanced up at the growing fireball. The meteor couldn’t destroy the prison, but he was curious how the defences would handle it.
Just as he stepped inside, two missiles streaked skyward, trailing flame, and slammed into the falling rock.
Boom—!
The blast bloomed; burning fragments rained into the sea. The meteor was shredded mid-air.
“They even hide missiles on the island…” Lin Qiye murmured, entering the building.
Anyone strong enough to launch that strike would know it couldn’t breach the Purification Chamber…
Which meant things were far from over.