Prison Break Squad, Disband!

Above Shattered Lake. "It's over!" Menken shouted at the top of his lungs. "The trial is over! Send us back!" Except for Andere, who remained in a daze, the other six could hardly wait to return to prison for reform. They looked eagerly at Yaxiu. Yet Yaxiu merely held his pose with the *Sinner Directory* in hand, looking at them placidly without making a move. Panic seized everyone. *No way... Does this escaped convict plan to wipe us all out?* *Hummm.* Suddenly, the sound of a turbine engine drifted from the distance. Everyone turned to look and spotted a speedboat slicing through the waves across the lake dyed red by the blood moon. Though they could not see the faces of those aboard, anyone with half a brain knew this was no middle-aged man out for night fishing—it was a Bloodmad Hunter from the Sin Hunting Hall! Seeing someone finally arrive to put a stop to the fugitive's rampage, rather than rejoicing, the group fell into even greater terror! *No, please! Not arriving to the rescue after the trial is already over!* Perhaps the fugitive had still been considering whether to spare their lives, but now, provoked by the Sin Hunting Hall, he would likely slaughter them on the spot to flaunt his defiance against the Blood Moon Country. They had lost all faith in Yaxiu's sanity. Any rational person would have kept their head down and escaped prison, not staged their own prison break trial, forced the mayor into the defendant's dock, and provoked everyone into exposing the dark underbelly where the glory of the Blood Moon Country never shone! In their eyes, Yaxiu Heath had no intention of living. He simply wanted to turn his own funeral into a circus performance and stage a magnificent finale for himself! *If you want to blow yourself up like a firework, go right ahead! Don't drag us along to meet the Blood Moon Sovereign!* Seeing the distant speedboat, Yaxiu made a move. He closed the *Sinner Directory* and reached a hand into his trench coat pocket— *Clang!* Accompanied by the distant ringing of a sword, a line of blood cleaved Shattered Lake, ripped through the night sky, crossed the vast expanse, and pierced straight through Yaxiu's chest from afar! The thread of blood was as solid as steel. With a violent yank, it pulled the figure from the speedboat all the way up onto the Sea-Watching Rooftop! Catching sight of the figure landing on the terrace—clad in a Bloodmad hunter uniform with short-sleeved sin-hunting garb, white hair, and scarlet eyes—the death row convicts instantly breathed a sigh of relief. It was Bloodmad Hunter Gerard! A Three-Winged Sanctuary sorcerer! With him here, this mere escaped convict was surely— "Huh?" Menken asked blankly. "Where did he go?" Andere finally snapped out of his shock over his political rival's death. He turned toward the terrace, only to find Gerard standing there alone. And Yaxiu Heath—the host who had rounded them up and orchestrated what might have been the highest-rated special episode of the Blood Moon Trial in history—was nowhere to be seen. It was impossible for him to vanish into thin air right before the eyes of a three-winged sorcerer, wasn't it? Besides, Gerard had clearly struck him just now. How had he disappeared? Even if he was dead, a corpse should have remained behind, unless... "A Substitute sorcery spirit." Gerard crouched down. Paying no heed to the vital *Sinner Directory*, he reached out and picked up an object resembling a ballpoint pen, then lightly pressed the mechanism inside. Yaxiu's voice came from within: *"That's right, you've hit the nail on the head. So I'm not really asking you to confess to 'illegal acts.' Rather, I'm expecting you to expose Financier's lawful misdeeds..."* A voice recorder pen—a common item for most citizens in the Blood Moon Country, specifically used to document the words and actions of others. If someone recorded another's discriminatory or criminal behavior, they could take it to the Sin Hunting Hall to file a verified report. The Sin Hunting Hall offered cash rewards to citizens who maintained public order, and doing so would also boost one's citizen credit rating. Gerard stared at the few pens on the ground, realizing full well that the Sin Hunting Hall had been played. Everything Yaxiu had said during the live broadcast had come entirely from these recording pens! Because producing a true clone capable of independent thought, action, and speech required at least a three-winged miracle, none of the personnel at the Sin Hunting Hall had ever imagined the Yaxiu in the livestream was a fake. Gerard had gone so far as to take a speedboat here in person, all to apprehend the ringleader as swiftly as possible. Indeed, though there was currently no evidence whatsoever, Gerard was convinced in his heart that the mastermind behind this prison break had to be—and could only be—the leader of the Four Pillar Gods cult, Yaxiu Heath! Suddenly, Gerard noticed one recorder pen tied with a ribbon bow. He picked it up and pressed the button. A noisy clamor echoed out: *"Hey? Igola, why did you stop talking? Weren't you on a roll just now? Something about Gerard getting kicked out of the research institute for peeping at a Legendary Sorcerer in the bath, something about Gerard spending piles of cash to sponsor underprivileged girls, something about Gerard being a communal plug for a dozen veelas... Say some more, come on! I just love hearing legendary gossip like this."* *"Sigh, since the famous 'Swindler' Igola Bogin refuses to speak, I guess it's my turn to leave a message. Hi, Gerard Westminster. This is the 'Innocent' Yaxiu Heath. Although I'd like to advise you not to come after me, I doubt you're in the mood for harsh truths, so I can only advise you to catch the other guys first."* *"Igola Bogin, Archibald Harvey, Langna Chios, Ronald Wade—every last one of them is a heinous, irredeemable scoundrel. How about you catch them first? Let me live in fear for a few more days, just treat it as my punishment, alright?"* *"Don't misunderstand, Gerard. I'm really not trying to provoke you. I genuinely consider you a friend, so I wanted to leave a message to thank you."* *"After all, if you hadn't let me off that night, how could I have broken free tonight? Thank you, Gerard. You're my hero."* *Snap!* Gerard crushed the recorder pen. Ignoring the mournful gazes of the death row convicts tied to the stone pillars, he turned to gaze out toward the edge of the lake. Dark clouds drifted by, blotting out the moonlight and cloaking heaven and earth in dimness. Only the eyes of the Blood Saint clan still blazed bright as fire. "Yaxiu, not even willing to show up in person to say thanks... isn't that a bit lacking in sincerity?" * * * Kaimeng City, Pearl District, at a construction site. Five figures dressed in prison guard uniforms made their way to the rooftop of an unfinished building, gazing into the distance at the neon-lit, dazzling metropolis. The Pearl District, also known as the "Pig District," was like the Wheat Ear District—referred to as the "Lower District"—in that both were places where the bottom tier of Kaimeng City's populace resided. The difference was that the Lower District had been around for centuries; though poor, it was bustling and had its own established rules. The Pig District, on the other hand, was a newly planned zone that had only emerged in the past two decades. Due to certain political disputes, its development had been put on indefinite hold, and the city could not even afford to pay earth sorcery construction teams to finish the buildings. A perfectly fine prospective commercial hub had deteriorated into a massive cesspool teeming with gangs, vagrants, and criminals. Suddenly, all five of them felt their souls lighten slightly, as if some invisible shackle had dissolved. "Financier is dead. Harvey, your contract with us is concluded," Langna said. Harvey nodded and said sincerely, "Thank you." "Strange. We don't have our chips, nor did we see Financier's death with our own eyes. How did the contract complete automatically?" Yaxiu asked curiously. "Does the Void Realm help us track the contract's progress? Does it immediately process the contract the moment it detects Financier's death?" "That's why every industry needs contract masters," Igola said with a smile. "Most of the time, the Void Realm is the fairest arbiter. Since it succeeded, that means Yaxiu really did host an entire Blood Moon Trial using nothing but those few recordings... How on earth did you pull that off?" "Isn't that simple?" "Simple? How did you anticipate what others would say?" "One look and I can tell you've never delivered a commercial presentation. Leading people to ask the questions you want them to ask is an essential workplace skill—promotions and raises depend on it," Yaxiu said, spreading his hands. "Once you've been beaten down enough by Party A, you naturally prepare multiple contingency plans to make sure nothing goes wrong." Though not entirely convinced, Igola had nothing to say in response. After all, his expertise lay in one-on-one direct sales, whereas Yaxiu was a cult leader skilled in mass marketing; Yaxiu certainly had more authority in this area. Ronald clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention. "Gentlemen, now that Harvey's contract is settled and our prison break has succeeded, we stand at the edge of Kaimeng City. To our right lies the city; to our left, the countryside. "Isn't it about time we disbanded?" Langna, Igola, Harvey, and the others nodded in agreement. Yaxiu said with deep feeling, "I truly thank everyone for your full support; without it, we could never have pulled off such an absurd plan. This achievement, this honor, belongs to every single one of us!" He slipped a finger into his mouth. "I, Yaxiu Heath, will never forget any of you—" *Boom!* *Crash!* *Smack!* Yaxiu drew 'Honeyed Words and Daggered Heart' from his mouth, retreating rapidly as he raised the Sword Body Barrier. He leveled his blade straight at Langna, his Heart Sword darting like a beam of light toward the bald brute. Langna transformed into a werewolf and lunged at Harvey, darkness obeying his command as it surged forward to engulf everything. Harvey waved both hands, firing three grayish-black spikes of deathly energy toward Igola, Langna, and Ronald respectively. Ronald scattered a handful of steel pellets with both hands. They paused in midair for an instant before abruptly locking onto the Swindler in guided pursuit, accelerating within fractions of a second to the point of cleaving the air and shattering the sound barrier. Igola unleashed a Mind Shriek on the spot. The rippling shockwaves formed an armor that deflected the other effects and projectiles, the piercing shriek shattering several cracks into the unfinished building! Now that the squad had disbanded, they were enemies! Did anyone truly believe that breaking out of prison together made them friends who would entrust their lives to one another? Hardly!