Chapter 255 - Chapter 255: Secret Prison 204
Chapter 255: Secret Prison 204
Beneath a certain building, in a place unknown to the public, there was a secret prison.
The area was vast and empty, devoid of any decorations, with only concrete and several load-bearing columns.
In this large circular space, there were only 35 cell blocks built along the walls, with 80 guards equipped with pistols patrolling back and forth between the cells. At the two entrances, one in the south and one in the north, more than ten mechanical dogs stood silently.
Strangely, the firearms carried by these people all had silencers attached, and the guards were all in plainclothes, none in uniform.
The cells were silent, while outside, a middle-aged man sat in the center of the open area, eyes closed, resting.
Suddenly, his phone rang from his pocket. The middle-aged man looked at the message and laughed, “Everyone, it’s almost the appointed time, but Uncle Li Dong hasn’t come to rescue you following the clues we provided. There’s not even a shadow over there.”
All 35 cells remained silent, no one responding to him.
Perhaps after eight years of prolonged silence, everyone was a bit unaccustomed to speaking.
The middle-aged man walked to a cell and looked in through the iron window, taunting, “Is this the friend you spoke of?”
In the cell, a gaunt figure with disheveled hair sat against the wall, his messy hair and beard obscuring his expression.
“Cheng Xiao,” the middle-aged man laughed, “have you ever thought that your friends who fought alongside you for your ideals would abandon you after eight years?”
“The message you gave him was false to begin with, it’s normal that he didn’t go,” Cheng Xiao’s hoarse voice came through.
He had not spoken for so long that his tone seemed somewhat stiff.
On the dim cell wall, Cheng Xiao had densely scratched words with his fingernails, so many that you couldn’t make out what was written.
One could only see a person wrestling with loneliness through sheer will.
The middle-aged man laughed and said, “No no no, given his past character, even if it was a false lead, he would definitely have checked it out. Cheng Xiao, he has also been imprisoned for eight years. Eight years is enough to dull a person’s sharpness.”
Cheng Xiao smiled painfully, “You’re wrong.”
“Where was I wrong?”
“If his sharpness had been dulled, if he didn’t care about us, then he would have left that prison long ago,” Cheng Xiao said calmly, “If he wasn’t concerned about our lives, do you think that prison could really hold him?”
The middle-aged man paused, knowing Cheng Xiao spoke the truth.
The middle-aged man said sternly, “He stays in that prison just for self-preservation. If he does not honor our agreement and leaves the prison on his own, the consortium has many ways to kill him. What era do you think this is now? Even a Demigod isn’t invincible.”
Cheng Xiao slowly stood up and walked to the iron door of the cell, staring through the iron window at the middle-aged man, “You fear him, which is why you always emphasize that a Demigod isn’t invincible.”
The middle-aged man looked at Cheng Xiao, his eyes fierce under his thick hair and beard.
The middle-aged man sneered, “I’m not interested in discussing this with you. All I know is that if Uncle Li Dong doesn’t come to rescue you tonight, then you are of no value, and thus all of you will die.”
“You dare to kill us?” Cheng Xiao smiled, “Has the Chen Clan considered whether they are ready to endure the wrath of a Demigod.”
“It’s not only Uncle Li Dong who is an S-Class,” the middle-aged man said coldly, “And as long as we have the Qin family member in our hands, Uncle Li Dong will still not dare to do anything drastic. Now is the final 40 minutes. If Uncle Li Dong doesn’t show up at the location we provided after 40 minutes, I will execute the order to secretly execute all 35 of you.”
“Death threats don’t scare us; you’ve known this for a long time,” Cheng Xiao said calmly.
The middle-aged man said coldly, “I’ve known from these past few years that you are tough. Right now, I only feel sad for you. The friend you’ve been thinking about constantly has just abandoned you. If it were me, I’d be very heartbroken.”
Cheng Xiao laughed, “You, a person like you, don’t deserve to have friends. Besides, I am very happy right now.”
“Happy?” the middle-aged man sneered, “You must be out of your mind. Why would you be happy?”
“I’m happy precisely because Uncle Li Dong didn’t come to rescue us,” Cheng Xiao gripped the iron bars on the window, staring straight at the middle-aged man, “This shows that he has finally learned to be ruthless, learned to no longer be merciful. Over these eight years, I’ve been pondering where we went wrong, and I’ve realized that we were too weak in the past, always wanting to solve problems peacefully. We believed in the promises of politicians, the hypocrisy of the parliament, and ended up in this situation. Now, Uncle Li Dong isn’t being played by you, showing no womanly compassion, and he has finally become a qualified leader.”
The sound of Cheng Xiao’s voice echoed in the empty secret prison.
The other 34 prisoners also slowly stood up and came to the front of their cells, silently staring at the middle-aged man.
This officer, under their stares, felt somewhat uneasy and suddenly said to the soldiers around him, “Open all the cells and bring them to the central open area, and execute them immediately once the time is up!”
…
…
Countdown: 5:15:00.
In the dense forest street of City No. 18, a procession was slowly moving north.
From 7 a.m. to 6:45 p.m., they walked all day except for a short rest at noon.
The Great Snow falling from the sky rendered the entire city solemn.
When the snow first started to fall, it melted into a slush of ice and water upon hitting the ground.
A student looked down and noticed that his shoes had been soaked without him realizing, the icy snow water making his socks painfully cold.
Looking up, he was startled to see that other students were in the same state, some with their trouser legs soaked through.
This made the march even more challenging.
The temperature in the air dropped rapidly, and the ground slowly started to ice over.
By then, the snowflakes had accumulated into a silver kingdom.
The protesters tread carefully on the snow, occasionally someone would slip and fall.
In the early morning, there were tens of thousands of protesters, but as the heavy snow continued, the numbers began to decrease gradually.
In this marching crowd, at least a third of the people were just there for a free meal, and they were unwilling to continue with the students any longer.
So, those who were there for the food were the first to leave.
Silently, they discarded their placards at the street corner, tore off the stickers on their faces, and left the protest.
Before leaving, they even looted the carts filled with food, creating a mess.
Later, some protesters who had been inspired by the students’ enthusiasm also began to falter.
The long trek and the low temperatures were torturous.
They approached the students who had initiated the march and said with consideration, “The weather today is really unfortunate. I think we might need to pick a clearer day. Maybe we should just call it off for today?”
The student hesitated for a moment and said, “But we’ve already come this far, and we’re almost at the Upper Three Districts. We must let the bigwigs there see that we really can make it!”
The wavering protesters shook their heads and said, “We really can’t go on, it’s too cold, everyone is freezing… Next time we will definitely walk with you to the end.”
So, these people left too.
The students who started the march stood lost in the snow, not knowing how to keep these people from leaving or even if it was worth it to stop them.
In the great snow, the students’ noses turned red from the cold, and they saw the crowd dwindling behind them, making them feel increasingly alone.
This sudden autumn snow felt like a test, the vast sky above seemed to be watching to see if the students remained determined.
Eventually, some students who had voluntarily joined the march also left.
From a group of more than ten thousand, only a few hundred remained, walking alone, stubbornly and defiantly shouting slogans for educational reform, their voices hoarse.
A female student looked back at the lonely long street behind her, and when she turned around to continue walking, she couldn’t help crying, feeling slighted. Those people had repeatedly claimed to be committed to initiating educational reform, so why had they disappeared along the way?
She quietly wiped her tears, afraid that her classmates would see.
At that moment, a girl with silver hair extended her hand and took out a handkerchief from her small crossbody bag to offer it.
The female student looked up in a daze, “Zheng Yi…”
The silver-haired girl smiled and said, “Don’t cry, we haven’t done anything wrong.”
The female student paused upon hearing this.
Zheng Yi said, “Look, we’ve already walked so far according to plan, and we’re about to reach the Upper Three Districts. This, too, is a form of success. Glory brings forth hypocritical spectators; the twilight witnesses the true believers. It’s actually good that those people left.”
The female student nodded, “Right, we’re about to succeed.”
“Are you hungry,” asked Zheng Yi. “I still have some food here.”
Saying this, her tiny, red hands fumbled in the crossbody bag and pulled out a protein bar.
The female student said quietly, “Thank you.”
At that moment, the procession suddenly stopped.
Just as they were about to enter the Upper Three Districts through the dense forest street, a team of Public Security Management Committee detectives drove up and blocked the front of the marching group, “We are detectives from the Third District Public Security Committee, needing to check your approval procedures.”
The student at the forefront turned pale as he faced them, everyone knew these were deliberate obstacles thrown in their path.
If it hadn’t been for their repetitive checks, the procession wouldn’t have had to endure the bitter cold for so long on the road.
But, they had to undergo the inspection.
The male student, who had kept the approval documents close to him, pulled out the warm documents from his chest and handed them over.
But this time, the Public Security Committee detectives did not bother to check the documents and instead passed them to the back.
Suddenly, a detective took the documents, got into the car, and drove away.
“Wait!” shouted the male student in astonishment. “Where are you taking the documents?!”
“What documents? I didn’t see any documents,” responded the detective emotionlessly. “I now suspect you are marching illegally. Who are the organizers here? Come with us for an investigation. Of course, if you leave now, we can let it go without charges.”
When the protest group was truly about to enter the Upper Three Districts, the opposition began to employ the most shameless tactics.
The students rushed angrily toward the front, trying to confront these Public Security Committee detectives.
However, dozens of committee detectives ruthlessly struck them on their heads and faces with batons, causing the students to panic and fall back into the slushy snow, in utter disarray.
Now, not only their shoes but also their clothes were soaked.
A detective said coldly, “Don’t be shameless. If you don’t disperse now, we’ll arrest you all, and have each of your parents come to bail you out. Then, I’ll ask them how they’ve raised their children.”