Wish

This new sorcery spirit was naturally the harvest from last night's Void Realm Exploration. As it turned out, Yaxiu and Sword Princess's wait had been well worth it. Right before the Vortex was about to disappear, Yaxiu finally saw the map prompt change from "Wait a moment" to "Charge now!", and he hurriedly pulled Sword Princess along as he leaped into the Vortex. After crossing thousands of li of sea, what appeared before the two of them was a heavily injured Fishcleaver Dragon. Dealing with this kind of knowledge creature, Yaxiu and Sword Princess naturally had no intention of abiding by any chivalric code. They struck while it was down and finished it off, reaping a total of five sorcery spirits. Unfortunately, there were no Experience Orbs, but each of the five spirits had its own distinct utility—a truly bountiful harvest. The reason Yaxiu had gone to such lengths to establish a "transactional" relationship with Igola was precisely that the newly acquired "Balance" sorcery spirit gave him ample confidence. [Balance] [One-winged sorcery spirit] [Restriction: The sorcerer must master basic mathematical knowledge such as trigonometric functions, sequences, and probability theory.] [Basic Effect: Reflects any effect back onto the caster in a certain proportion.] [Passive Effect: Substantially enhances the sorcerer's sense of balance and ability to adjust their center of gravity.] ["Balance resides in all things."] Initially, Yaxiu had only intended to use the Balance sorcery spirit as a sort of spiked armor and hadn't thought much more of it. But after leaving the Void Realm and returning to reality, he suddenly realized he could easily trigger resonance with it. Perhaps it was because he was proficient in all the basic mathematics required by the Balance spirit. After all, those had been tested on exams; even though four years of university had degraded his problem-solving skills, he could still grasp the fundamental concepts. This was the first time Yaxiu had seen a sorcery spirit that demanded knowledge. According to Sword Princess, it seemed only spirits touching upon "Fate," "Prophecy," or "Truth" came with knowledge requirements. Such spirits could rarely be used in direct combat or production, but they often produced unexpected effects, and sorcerers of the prophecy faction enjoyed high social standing. Being able to trigger resonance with the Balance sorcery spirit at any time meant that beyond the Void Realm, Yaxiu could also use it to his advantage in the "civilized society" of Shattered Lake Prison. However, the Balance sorcery spirit was the type of self-righteous cop that never moved unless the enemy moved first, only stepping in when someone else was casting with a sorcery spirit. In a prison where virtually no one could use their spirits, there were actually very few targets Balance could be turned against. Except for this "good friend" Yaxiu had just made. "Not bad, Yaxiu," Igola said, keeping his tone as nonchalant as possible. "Since you have my wish and I have yours, we've reached a balance of wishes. From now on, you live your life and I'll live mine. Peaceful coexistence, mutual non-aggression, working together to build a harmonious prison—how about it?" "Not interested," Yaxiu smiled slightly. "I'm using my wish right now." "Think carefully!" Igola's tone turned sinister. "Once you use your wish, you won't have any leverage left to threaten me with! At that point, I can make you do whatever I want. Never mind making you do a handstand while taking a dump and rolling around on the floor—I could even make you deliberately throw a death match without an issue!" "Of course I've thought it through." Yaxiu took a step forward, closing in on Igola. A bad premonition stirred in Igola's heart. Backing away, he pleaded, "Yaxiu, really, there's no need to take things this far. Or don't use your wish—just talk it over with me. I'm your good friend. If I can help you, I definitely will..." "I don't want an 'if.' I need you to satisfy my wish 'wholeheartedly.'" "I'm just an ordinary swindler with limited abilities. You think too highly of me, Yaxiu. How about this: I'll find a way to establish a contract with another death row inmate, and whatever request you have, I'll have him fulfill it for you, alright? Anything at all, with unlimited uses!" "No deal. No one else will do—it has to be you." Igola's back pressed against the wall, leaving him nowhere left to retreat. Bracing one hand against the wall, Yaxiu looked at him and said, "Igola, my wish is—" "I'm not listening, I'm not listening!" Igola clamped his hands over his ears and tried to make a run for it. But without access to sorcery spirits, their physical condition was roughly even. Yaxiu darted over, grabbed his arm, and shouted: "Igola, I want you to help me break out of prison!" A prison guard patrolling past glanced at the two of them, shook his head, and whistled as he walked away. Declarations like "I'm the man who will become the Prison Break King" were things the guard had heard hundreds of times, so he naturally paid it no mind. He even felt a touch of pity for these condemned inmates; after all, daydreaming right after finishing breakfast made them look quite pathetic. Yet the two involved certainly didn't think it was idle sleep-talk. Panting, Igola stared at Yaxiu, his expression as sour as if he had taken a punch to the face, his back drenched in cold sweat before he even realized it. He knew it! He just knew it! What other wish could a man who had just survived a Blood Moon Trial possibly have? Aside from that sordid business of thrusting in hard and pulling out soft, what else could it be other than breaking out of prison? The moment Yaxiu held his wish, Igola knew he was doomed. Sure enough, only good swimmers drowned, and only libertines died in bed. A swindler like him, who had milked an untold amount of stupidity tax from others, had actually lived to see the day he got trapped himself. As for using his own wish to counter Yaxiu's, that was impossible—because doing so would violate the restriction to "help Yaxiu," something Igola was utterly incapable of doing! The wish Yaxiu had made rendered Igola completely unable to do anything to prevent Yaxiu from breaking out! He let out a sigh. "Follow me." Igola brought Yaxiu to his room. Shattered Lake Prison didn't forbid inmates from visiting one another; prisoners could even sleep together and chat without issue—since they couldn't do anything other than sleep anyway, given that the chip's list of restrictions included "intimate contact." Only couple rooms could temporarily lift the restriction on intimate contact, only the Death Match Club could temporarily lift the restriction on combat, and only restrooms could lift the restriction on excretion—yes, death row inmates didn't even have the freedom to take a shit in public. Or rather, death row inmates possessed the same freedoms as normal people, except that before doing certain things, you had to submit an application to the prison; only if the prison granted permission could you do it. The difference between a condemned inmate and a free person was perhaps the distinction between "whatever is not permitted is forbidden" and "whatever is not forbidden is permitted." "Your room is pretty big." Yaxiu plopped down onto the velvet bed and leaned back, sinking into the mattress. Igola, who had just dragged out a chair, watched this and couldn't stop the corner of his mouth from twitching. Yaxiu glanced at him and waved a hand. "Don't stand on ceremony. Make yourself comfortable. I'm not one to care much about etiquette—no need to pour me any water." *What a pity. I was just thinking of ladling some water from the toilet to quench your thirst, and if I hadn't just finished peeing, I would've even added some extra seasoning...* Bottling up his spite, Igola sat down, laced his fingers together, and fixed his gaze on Yaxiu. "Do you really want to break out?" "What kind of question is that? Who living here doesn't want to break out?" "A lot of people," Igola said flatly. "Take 'Diamond' Taige, for instance. He has no desire to break out. He crossed too many people on the outside, so escaping would actually put him in greater danger. Besides, ascetic faction sorcerers have no way to make a living other than serving as muscle or bodyguards. As long as he isn't selected for the Blood Moon Trial, Taige actually lives more comfortably here than he did outside." "There are plenty of people like Taige. Or rather, anyone who has managed to survive here for a few years has basically found a new way to get by and holds no lingering longing for the outside world. To them, the outside is nothing more than a slightly larger prison." Igola looked at Yaxiu and quietly activated his "Resonance" sorcery spirit, speaking in an enticing tone: "Since you survived your first Blood Moon Trial, barring any accidents, you'll be just like the rest of us from now on, participating in the trials according to contribution point rankings. As long as you have enough contribution points, you won't be chosen." "You have decent strength and a high chance of winning in death matches. In other words, you have the capability to live comfortably here." He spread his hands. "If you want, you could live in a spacious room like this too. Whatever you feel like eating, you can have the cafeteria prepare it. Read books whenever you want, watch films whenever you want, drink, dance, or even indulge in moon sugar if you wish. If you have requests, you can submit suggestions to the prison—that newly built ice rink was constructed simply because an inmate enjoyed skating." "In the eyes of outsiders, this place might actually be a paradise—no crime, no vulgarity, no competition, not even any work. Every day is a peaceful life with a regular routine and ample energy." "Life here isn't any worse than on the outside." Seeing that Yaxiu seemed somewhat swayed, Igola felt a surge of excitement, inwardly applauding his own cleverness. Yaxiu's wish was not without loopholes. The premise of "helping Yaxiu break out of prison" was that Yaxiu wanted to break out. Therefore, as long as he persuaded Yaxiu to abandon the idea, Igola naturally wouldn't have to fulfill the wish. Yet these were also Igola's sincere thoughts. Breaking out of prison was a dead end with no finish line. An escape was not a fleeting victory, but a lifelong torment. Setting aside whether they could even pull it off, even if they succeeded, what awaited them was an even harsher ordeal—living like sewer rats, fearful under assumed names, breathing turbid air infused with the scent of freedom. Meanwhile, clinging to life was a happiness easily within their reach. Any condemned inmate who had survived the Blood Moon Trial would know which choice to make. "You make a lot of sense." Yaxiu sat up and nodded under Igola's expectant gaze. "Indeed, breaking out is a thorny path fraught with danger and the unknown. While living here carries risks as well, overall it's far more comfortable. If I stay here long enough, I suppose I'd end up just like you lot, learning how to enjoy prison life." Igola was overjoyed. "Right, exactly! It's great that you understand, Yaxiu. So—" "That's why I must break out—and quickly. The sooner, the better!" Yaxiu looked at Igola and shook his head gently. "I don't want to become like you lot: edges ground down, courage extinguished, backbones snapped." "I don't want to live like a... dog!" Igola's expression froze instantly. After a brief silence, Igola slowly stood up. *Crash!* He kicked the chair over and spun around to smash a fist into the wall, but a fraction of a second before making contact, his body abruptly seized up, its kinetic output suppressed by the chip. "Fascinating. So calling yourself a dog doesn't count as profanity? That must be a loophole in the chip, huh? Hahaha..." "Fine! Break out! Break out, sure, we can all break out!" Igola flicked his hand in disgust and said coldly, "But the prerequisite for a prison break is that we first figure out a way to fucking... deal with the chip on the back of our necks! As long as that neck chip is still there, forget about breaking out—even where you take a dump is subject to the prison's whims! Heh, I don't have a way around that. Do you, my dear cult leader, Yaxiu Heath?" "I have a way to deal with the chip." "I knew you didn't have... Wait, what?"