Future Masters in Modern Times

Chapter 15: The Conspiracy Unfolds

An endless desert, completely deserted. This was a barren stretch of land on the border of the Duchy of Limes. It had no name; although it bordered several countries, none of them had any interest in claiming this land. In 1960, the United Nations set aside a large tract of land here. Two years later, a massive structure stood tall in this wasteland, and the area within several li of the building was designated a restricted zone. This structure was a prison, known as Lobestan Prison. Since then, wave after wave of high-risk criminals have been sent here to spend the rest of their lives in this prison until their deaths. Consequently, Lobestan Prison is also known by another name: the City of Sin. Out in the desert, a huge cloud of dust suddenly swirled up. A dust-covered car seemed to materialize out of nowhere, emerging from the dust and speeding away. Two sets of tire tracks appeared briefly on the desertified ground before vanishing without a trace. “There’s a checkpoint a li up ahead. Be careful,” the man behind the wheel said, glancing back briefly at his passengers. He was the Silver Hair Squad captain dispatched by the Doomsday Empire to carry out this mission; they had been driving through the desert for a very, very long time. “Captain, don’t worry!” the two team members assured him. The Silver Hair Squad captain nodded and continued to focus on driving. A few minutes later, the first checkpoint came into view ahead. The Silver Hair Squad captain slowed the vehicle and came to a smooth stop just before the checkpoint. Two heavily armed soldiers turned toward the parked car, their expressions wary and their gazes sharp. They raised their guns, ready to act at a moment’s notice. A dark-skinned soldier emerged from a makeshift structure beside the checkpoint. He stopped in front of the car, tapped on the window, and said in broken English, “Please show your valid identification.” ” The three people inside the car remained calm as they took their IDs out of their pockets and handed them to the soldier. He accepted the IDs, picked up a scanner, brought it close to the documents, and scanned them one by one. After three “beeps,” the system confirmed everything was in order. However, the soldier did not immediately return the documents. Instead, he opened them and compared each one with the men’s faces; again, there were no issues. Nodding, the soldier held the ID and stammered, “Aike.” The team member in the car impersonating Aike almost didn’t react—it was a conditioned reflex. Although he had been extremely cautious, such a reflex couldn’t be developed overnight; after all, he wasn’t the ID’s original owner. Fortunately, he was only momentarily startled, and the soldier didn’t notice anything amiss. Striving to keep his expression natural, he took the ID the soldier handed him. “Born。” “Conrad。” Now mentally prepared, neither of them showed any signs of unease. They accepted the IDs with composure. There shouldn’t be any more problems this time. The soldier stepped aside and signaled to the two soldiers who had been standing guard that they could let them through. The two soldiers nodded, lowered their rifles, and opened the checkpoint gate. “Let’s go,” the Silver Hair Squad captain whispered to his two team members, starting the car and preparing to leave. As they passed by the soldier, he said to them in a brusque tone, “Good luck.” “Thanks,” the Silver Hair Squad captain forced a smile, waved at the soldier, drove the car through the checkpoint, and was gone in the blink of an eye. A few dozen meters past the checkpoint, the Silver Hair Squad captain, who had been smiling, wiped the smile from his face and said coldly, “There are nearly ten more checkpoints like this ahead on the road. Do you understand what I mean?” He meant for them to be careful—the soldier hadn’t noticed the mistake they’d just made, but he had. One slip-up, and their mission would fail—and failure, for them, meant death. Fortunately, having learned from their recent mistake, they made no further errors. Finally, after passing through the last checkpoint, Lobestan Prison was within sight. Inside the car, the only sound the three of them could hear was the hum of the engine, while before their eyes loomed a massive, entirely gray structure that exerted a subtle psychological pressure—this was Lobestan Prison, the world-renowned “City of Sin.” In fact, by the time they arrived, entering the prison posed no difficulty whatsoever. The Silver Hair Squad skillfully slowed down, and the vehicle came to a smooth stop a dozen or so meters outside the prison gates. He opened the door and was met by a prison guard walking toward him. As he approached, the guard muttered under his breath, “The United States are here to collect another body.” “Hey, hello, I’m Conrad.” The Silver Hair Squad captain mimicked Conrad’s tone as he pulled his ID from his pocket and handed it to the guard. The guard took it, gave it a cursory glance, and handed it back to the Silver Hair Squad captain. “All right, no problem. You can go in.” It seemed this guard wasn’t handling people like them for the first time. He waved toward the prison, and the massive, sturdy alloy prison gates slowly swung open. Behind them lay three layers of high-voltage electric fences. A guard spoke into a microphone, and moments later, the electric fences automatically slid apart to the sides. Although the three people in the car were quite far from the fences, they still felt a tingling sensation run through their bodies. If they were to accidentally touch the fences, all three of them—along with the car—would be vaporized in an instant. Lobestan Prison truly lived up to its reputation, the three thought to themselves. Driving cautiously, they entered this world-famous city of sin. A prison guard up ahead gestured, directing their path, and moments later, they finally entered Lobestan Prison proper. “Knock, knock,” the guard tapped on their car window twice. The Silver Hair Squad captain rolled down the window and looked at the guard, who pointed in a certain direction ahead. “Drive in the direction of the arrow. You’ll reach the prison medical center in about ten to fifteen minutes. Once you get there, you should know what to do. I won’t be accompanying you any further.” ” Without waiting for a response, the guard walked away. The Silver Hair Squad captain drove in the direction the guard had pointed. Once they were out of the guards’ sight, he quietly pulled over. He quickly pulled a miniature device from his pocket; on it, a light was flashing continuously. “We’ll follow the direction indicated by this device and begin searching for the target. From this moment on, we must all remain on high alert. One slip-up, and we’ll all meet our end here today,” the Silver Hair Squad captain said solemnly. They weren’t exactly the elite of the organization; whether this mission succeeded or failed now depended entirely on luck. The other two understood immediately, nodding emphatically as their expressions changed in an instant. Inside the helicopter, Catherine looked down through the window and couldn’t help but be taken aback. Across the desert below, a series of checkpoints had appeared; at a glance, there were at least ten of them. She bit her full, red lips, revealing her surprise, while a faint curiosity stirred within her: What exactly did the mysterious Lobestan Prison look like? Amanda, sitting beside her, explained with a smile, “Miss Catherine, if an unfamiliar aircraft were to fly over this area, it would be attacked without hesitation by ground forces. Fortunately, we’ve already made contact with the relevant authorities. So we can fly over this territory with confidence.” Catherine nodded slightly, then suddenly stretched out her slender, fair fingers and pointed ahead. “Is that… Lobestan Prison?” Upon hearing this, Adelaide quickly looked in the direction Catherine was pointing. There, amidst the vast, desolate landscape, a massive, square structure suddenly came into view, surrounded by towering walls. Within those walls lay a complex network of buildings. “Lobestan Prison!” Adelaide finally murmured, a peculiar gleam flashing in her eyes. “Have we finally arrived?” The image of that Eastern man in battle flashed through her mind—killing as easily as mowing grass, taking down several men in the blink of an eye. A fervor for combat instantly filled Adelaide’s eyes. With Zhao Wuji gone, Zone B had been in turmoil for a while. A rumor—its source unknown—spread that Zhao Wuji had killed members of Delta Force, and as a result, he was shot dead on the spot by Delta Force special operations troops. Consequently, several small factions began to stir, scheming to replace Zhao Wuji’s position in Sector B. The previously calm situation was suddenly rife with undercurrents. In the warden’s office, the warden was smoking his cigar as usual, with prison guard Kerry standing respectfully by his side. As Kerry reported on recent developments—specifically the resurgent chaos in Block B—the warden furrowed his brow, removed the cigar from his mouth, and exhaled a thick plume of smoke. Never mind that Zhao Wuji was currently being held by Delta; even if he weren’t, he would eventually leave Lobestan Prison. The warden knew he had to find a replacement as soon as possible. A prisoner with Zhao Wuji’s skills was out of the question, but at the very least, the replacement would have to be able to keep the inmates in line. “Being a warden is really no easy job,” the warden sighed to himself. Suddenly, the phone on his desk rang. As if he’d just remembered something, the look of worry on his face vanished. Clearing his throat, he picked up the receiver. “Hello, yes, this is he.” The warden nodded repeatedly. Kerry, standing nearby, immediately guessed who was on the line—wasn’t it that influential figure? “Kerry, come with me now—we have an important guest arriving!” “Yes!” In Block B, one inmate was furiously pounding another with his fists, surrounded by a crowd of onlookers. Suddenly, the atmosphere felt off, and the onlookers scattered in an instant. What was going on? The attacker slowly lowered his hand and looked around in confusion, while the victim—who had been feeling a barrage of punches rain down on him—suddenly felt the assault stop. He shook his dazed head and looked around, equally puzzled. Cheng Jue leaned against the prison wall. Lately, with Zhao Wuji’s absence, friction between the various factions in the prison had been on the rise, and incidents of mass violence had gradually begun to occur. However, he didn’t want to believe that someone like Zhao Wuji could die. That brief encounter with Zhao Wuji had left a profound impression on him, and he believed Zhao Wuji would return. “Huh, what’s that?” A black dot approached from the distance—it turned out to be a luxury sedan. All the inmates involved in the brawl stared blankly as the car drew near, the ferocity fading from their faces; they looked just like innocent children. Because this was the warden’s official vehicle! Prisoners who had been incarcerated for a long time had all heard rumors about the warden’s methods. Legend had it that even the most vicious prisoners met a terrible fate at his hands; perhaps he wouldn’t kill you outright, but he would make your life a living hell. The car pulled up, the window rolled down, and the warden’s head appeared. His eyes, devoid of any emotion, swept over the prisoners as he spoke slowly: ““Today, we have distinguished guests arriving. I don’t want anything to go wrong. Do you understand? Act as well-behaved as you’ve ever been—and if you can’t, just pretend! Otherwise…” The warden said no more, yet a chill ran through every prisoner’s heart, and they all broke into forced, nervous laughter. If outsiders had seen this, they would surely have found it hard to believe: were these really the most vicious criminals in the world? With a soft snort, the warden ordered the driver to continue, heading straight for the prison’s exit.