"If hurt enough, with these two hands,
Cleanly sever yesterday's curse.
Through the night await the daylight, leaving only scars..."
As the morning wake-up song sounded, free time began in the prison, and all dormitory access lights turned from red to green.
Yaxiu arrived at the Central Hall just in time to see the light screen broadcasting the weather: "...Meteorologists announce that on April 21, the weather will be cloudy turning to clear, with the goblin conception rate significantly increasing today..."
Death row inmates came and went through the dining hall as usual. When Yaxiu walked in, many actively greeted him with considerable deference. Having won two death matches in a row and survived the Blood Moon Trial, 'Fiend' Yaxiu was already regarded by the prisoners as another powerhouse capable of serving out an endless sentence alive.
The moment Yaxiu sat down, Igola sat across from him. They exchanged a silent glance, finished their breakfast quietly, and then headed up to the uppermost Sea-Watching Rooftop, where Langna and Ronald were already waiting for them.
Except for those harboring ulterior motives who wanted to scout the surrounding waters, no one came to the rooftop early in the morning to soak up the sun. With only the four of them present, Igola got straight to the point: "Is the miracle ready?"
Yaxiu clenched his fists, closed his eyes to recall the feeling of resonance with the sorcery spirits, and let out a soft breath. "All I can say is, I'll do my best."
After multiple days of practice and training in the Void Realm, Yaxiu had thoroughly mastered the 'Severing Self' miracle, even managing to cast it in the Void Realm without consuming a sliver of sorcery power. Still, he could not guarantee casting the miracle with absolute certainty in reality. After all, the difference between reality and the Void Realm might be as vast as that between a dining hall and a latrine.
Igola gave a noncommittal nod, turning to Langna and Ronald. "Having been locked up here for so long, can you two still recall how sorcerers fight? If a problem arises later, we'll be counting on you to eliminate whoever raises the problem."
"I've been in prison for less than a month. I'm fine."
After not seeing him for two days, Ronald looked even more haggard. His body had not withered, but his overall vitality and spirit had noticeably deteriorated. In Yaxiu's words, he looked like a programmer who had worked fifteen hours a day for a straight month while eating, defecating, and sleeping entirely at the office.
Yet his deep voice brimmed with an indescribable vitality. There seemed to be light in his eyes and a fire burning in his heart, as if a life waiting to be reborn from the flames was incubating inside his decaying frame.
Which only made Yaxiu worry more.
Ordinarily, common folk referred to this condition as the rally before death—the final burst of vitality.
Still, as long as he could hold out through today, that would be enough... Yaxiu's thoughts were steeped in the callous pragmatism of a capitalist who squeezed a temporary worker dry and then tossed him aside like a worn shoe.
"I've been stuck here for several years, so it's hard to say whether I can regain my past combat prowess," Langna said. "However, I am a fist-and-claw sorcerer, and I haven't neglected my combat arts. Even if I can't unleash a miracle, merely driving my sorcery spirits will be enough to bring me to seventy percent of my former strength."
Among body sorcerers, especially unarmed martial artists like fist-and-claw sorcerers, most possessed sorcery spirits that enhanced their physical attributes to some degree.
After all, real-world combat did not play by rules. Opponents would never refrain from using weapons just because you relied on bare fists; on the contrary, they would use weapons specifically chosen to counter and dismantle you. Unarmed martial artists therefore needed sorcery spirits capable of bridging the gap in armaments, whether by bolstering defense or increasing movement speed.
Moreover, Langna was a Moon Shadow werewolf. Upon transforming, his physical baseline alone would surge drastically, and coupled with sorcery spirits, his combat prowess in dark, cramped quarters was likely the strongest of the entire group.
"The transport ship usually arrives in the morning. After prisoners are escorted to haul the cargo, it heads back to Shattered Lake Port in Kaimeng City," Igola said. "However, there is a key detail: the ship's crew and the Bloodmad Hunters visit the dining hall to eat in two separate batches.
"Regulations during Bloodmad Hunter training dictate that mealtime cannot exceed five minutes. Factoring in transit time, we can assume that once the second batch of Bloodmad Hunters appears in the dining hall, less than ten minutes will remain before the return trip.
"In other words, the moment the second batch of Bloodmad Hunters steps into the dining hall is our signal to act. We must purify the chips within ten minutes, change into the healers' crow suits, and use the healers' authorization to board the transport ship directly.
"Understood?"
The entire plan was crude and rushed. A single slip-up at any stage would mean total failure, and many links relied on sheer luck. Yet within this virtually airtight Shattered Lake Prison, Igola had managed to formulate a theoretically viable escape plan out of thin air. Yaxiu and the others held considerable admiration for him, nodding with expressions of approval.
"In that case, make your final mental preparations. Head to the dining hall early around noon to rendezvous."
Igola turned to Yaxiu. "Yaxiu, this is your last chance to turn back. You aren't without the means to survive in this prison. You could choose a far less dangerous path."
Ronald and Langna also looked at Yaxiu. They both knew that Igola did not have a strong desire to escape from the start, and none of them understood how Igola, someone who usually held all the cards over others, had ended up being manipulated by Yaxiu.
Yaxiu said, "I cannot go gentle into that good night."
Igola gave a thoughtful nod. "You mean your pride cannot bear clinging to a shameful survival?"
"No, I mean if I stay here, I'll definitely be chosen for the Blood Moon Trial every single time. If I don't run, I'm just waiting to die."
"Even in prison, you still have to worry about retaliation from enemies. Shouldn't you reflect seriously on what you've done in the past?"
Seeing that Yaxiu's resolve remained unshaken, Igola cast aside the last shred of wishful thinking and waved before taking his leave. He needed to take a bath to cool his head.
With an hour or two left until noon, Yaxiu had no idea what to do with his time. He had already fully mastered the three sorcery spirits—Substitute, Heart Sword, and Transference—and could invoke them at a moment's notice. As for miracles, he dared not practice recklessly; the 'Severing Self' miracle required a concrete target to cast. If he accidentally purified someone else's chip and put the prison on high alert prematurely, he would never hear the end of Igola's mockery.
Wandering aimlessly, Yaxiu unconsciously found himself back at his most familiar haunt, the Death Match Club.
With a sudden thought, instead of entering the Death Match Club, he sought out a dim entrance behind it. Surrounding ambient sounds suddenly receded into the distance. Before him stood a heavy, pitch-black iron door, exuding an ominous aura that practically declared: *Those who cherish their lives, enter not.* This was the Treatment Room.
Yaxiu pushed the door open and stepped inside. The healer on duty at the front desk glanced at him. "Head to Treatment Room One. Your dedicated healer will come find you."
He had not even shown his number plate for 222; how did the front desk already know who his dedicated healer was? Though slightly puzzled, Yaxiu did not dwell on it and walked straight into Treatment Room One.
Watching his retreating back, the duty healer let out a soft chuckle beneath the crow mask. "Consider it an honor for your future."
After waiting in the treatment room for a short while, Healer 222 pushed open the side door, tossed an apple toward Yaxiu, and asked, "Where are you injured?"
Yaxiu caught the apple and took a bite without bothering to wipe it. "I'm not injured."
"If you're not hurt, why are you here? Much as I'd love for you to get cosmetic surgery, you were so resistant before that I doubt your timid aesthetic tastes can be corrected anytime soon. So you must be here for..." The healer crossed her arms and deduced, "Biological modification?"
Yaxiu was left speechless. "Aren't you overestimating my courage a bit?"
"Bio-modding doesn't require courage! It's the trend nowadays. Swapping out a hand, a leg, an eye—it's completely normal!" the healer said in astonishment. "Don't tell me you're a fundamentalist naturalist? A stubborn conservative who vehemently resists new technology?"
"What's wrong with a natural body? Why swap anything?"
"Because it's not good enough! Don't you want to become more agile, stronger, have sharper vision, and keener hearing?"
"I think my current body works just fine—"
"You can even modify your lower body to enhance your endurance and pleasure during mating!"
Yaxiu's eyes sharpened. "If there's an opportunity next time, I'll consult you on the profound depths of biological modification."
"While I'm glad you're interested in bio-modding, I have a feeling your lower body won't get any use for the rest of your life..."
"I told you, I'll definitely escape this place! I'm definitely going to regain my freedom!"
"Even granting that unrealistic premise, I still have no intention of revising my conclusion... unless you're willing to undergo my Pretty Boy Transformation surgery! Come on, consider it!"
"It's not that I doubt the power of a handsome face; I mainly don't trust you."
"Tch."
The healer curled her lip and sat on the edge of the bed, asking curiously, "If nothing's wrong, what did you come to the treatment room for? This is the first time you've ever walked in here on your own!"
It was true. Every previous time, Yaxiu had been carried in on a stretcher; this was indeed the first time he had walked in on his own two feet.
"I came... to chat with you," Yaxiu said, spreading his hands. "After all, a death row inmate like me has plenty of free time."
"Well, I don't! You think I'm like you? I'm very busy—researching sorcery procedures, learning new knowledge, writing research papers..." The healer planted her hands on her hips. "I don't have that much time to waste chatting with you! I'll let it slide this once, but don't do it again!"
Even with the crow mask muffling and altering her voice, Yaxiu could tell she sounded rather pleased.
Indeed, no matter which world it was, working folks always harbored a fierce desire to slack off, and nothing brought more joy to slacking off than gossiping with someone else.
After the healer cheerfully shared various happy tidbits—how the senior who had always picked on her was expelled for stealing, how her luck in the Void Realm had been great recently, and how she had eaten a double-yolk egg for breakfast—Yaxiu suddenly shifted the topic.
"Hey, I just realized you're actually pretty attractive."
"Huh?" The healer froze. "R-really? I'm not that great, honestly... What part of me looks good?"
"That outfit of yours looks great," Yaxiu said. "So, could you take it off and give it to me?"
It took a full five seconds for the healer to process the nonsense Yaxiu had just uttered.
When she turned around, opened her toolbox, and began meticulously selecting a scalpel, Yaxiu felt a sudden dread—the person in front of him was ruthless enough to completely dissect him, stitch him back together, and farm a batch of medical experience in the process!
"222, I don't have much time left."
Chapter 91