Chapter 130: Jailbreak Prison Inspection!

The man who was about to die was named Bram.

A sharp spring knife was stabbed into his lower back. Blood flowed all over the ground, staining the trouser legs and shoes of many people around him.

“No, no! No no no no!” Writer Joey rushed over in a breakdown.

Bram lay in Elijah’s arms. The earlier howl had come from Elijah.

The pain in his abdomen twisted his face. Cold sweat poured out as he struggled to open his mouth and raised one finger.

His lips mumbled at the corner, as if he wanted to say something.

“Send him to the hospital, quick!” Bruce shouted hurriedly.

This tall, skinny man in his thirties curled up in Elijah’s arms. Blood soaked his bright orange prison uniform. Within several meters around him, dozens of bloody footprints scattered in all directions. No one knew whose they were.

All the prisoners wore the same uniform shoes. The prints looked identical, making them completely untraceable.

【I’m so worried about our guests right now. Facing these demons in human skin, their lives and safety aren’t guaranteed at all.】

【This is too terrifying. I left the live stream during the fight earlier. I didn’t even dare to watch.】

【These people have no humanity. They’re devils sent by Satan to plague the world. Why do we have to waste taxpayers’ money feeding them?】

The prison doctor was temporarily called over to treat the wound. He then called a few others to lift the man onto a stretcher and send him out. For now, no one knew if he lived or died.

Bruce’s thick voice, filled with anger, rang out.

“Who did it?!”

The area remained deathly silent.

Many criminals’ eyes gleamed with wicked light. Mocking smirks hung on their lips, utterly unconcerned.

Bruce was about to resort to his usual methods and lock everyone in solitary confinement, but the three vice squad officers didn’t agree.

“We need to find out who did it,” Fang Si Ting said. “Through investigation, not interrogation.”

“Even if we find out, what good does it do? Most of them are never getting out in this lifetime,” Bruce disagreed. “This incident is just another stain on their rotten records.”

“If we lock them in solitary, will they really be afraid?” Mikhail worried about the guests successfully escaping. “In prolonged darkness, they don’t lack ways to communicate. It won’t create any psychological pressure. But if they want to do something—like a jailbreak—it’ll be even easier. And more importantly, who smuggled in that contraband spring knife, and how? That’s what deserves attention.”

Ulysses added, “This won’t hurt them at all. Better to increase the factory workload.”

“From today on, all personnel are banned from outdoor activities for a month!” Bruce roared angrily before slamming the door and leaving.

His words caused no ripples among them. Numbly, they were herded by the remaining vice squad officers’ batons, like emotionless machine parts returning to their respective cages.

After roll call, the cell block doors slowly closed. The lights in the rooms and corridors went out one by one. The entire prison plunged into darkness.

You couldn’t see your hand in front of your face.

————

After treatment, Bram was sent to the ICU. He still hadn’t escaped danger, and his case was destined to remain unsolved.

There had been too many people at the time, too chaotic, all crammed together. The killer just needed to hide the knife in the wide sleeve of a cotton uniform, pull it out suddenly, use their body to cover the motion, and stab forward. The murder was smoothly completed.

No one knew who did it or when.

So they could only investigate based on motive.

Over the next two days, Ulysses successively called in over a dozen of Bram’s prison friends for private, secret talks, but got no leads.

The prison surveillance had been blocked. Bruce had wanted to get the program crew’s drone footage directly, but the scene had been too chaotic. Nothing useful was captured.

Bram had behaved well since entering prison. He kept to himself and didn’t cause trouble—better than most inmates.

Bruce scoffed at that. “Anyone who ends up here is no pushover.”

“What case got him sent here?” Fang Si Ting asked.

“The high-profile rich man’s wife and kids murder from a year ago,” Bruce said. “You know the Silver Sky Group?”

The biggest investor in this show?!

“He killed the Silver Sky Group CEO’s father, wife, and two sons. Evidence and witnesses were all there. It was a huge scandal at the time,” Bruce, the vice squad officer, said. “A scum like that—what’s the point of saving him? Total waste of resources.”

“He didn’t have enemies in prison,” Fang Si Ting suggested. “Reasonable to assume the tycoon hired a hitman.”

“Maybe. Who knows,” Bruce said. He didn’t care about these societal dregs.

Ulysses saw it differently. “I’ll go question Bram’s prison mates again. Maybe there’s a surprise clue.”

The two disagreed. Though unspoken, it felt like they were competing, determined to prove who was right.

The third vice squad officer guest, Mikhail, wasn’t very interested in the case.

He was more anxious about the bombing case back home.

He’d quietly notified Yevgeny in private, hoping they could break through the bomber’s psychological defenses soon and get some useful leads.

At this critical juncture—the day after the prison brawl—psychologist Lev and international inspector Rodion both withdrew from the variety show.

Rodion left purely because his undercover identity was exposed. Staying longer served no purpose. Lev was just scared.

“It’s understandable,” Yevgeny said in the cafeteria, sitting with Xiao Fen and the other two. The move drew whispers from the Nordic Gang and others.

“This savage little society was too brutal for a civilized man like him.”

Yesterday, Lev had nearly been carried back to his room.

The next morning at dawn, he made a hand gesture toward the camera.

This was the signal agreed upon between the program crew and guests. If they encountered danger or couldn’t take it anymore and wanted to quit, they could make the gesture, and the crew would provide a reasonable excuse for their exit.

Last night, surrounded, Lev had been too scared to remember it.

The six million prize was important, but life and safety mattered more.

The incident drew sighs from many netizens. As a psychologist, Lev should have been better at reading inmates’ minds, breaking defenses, and getting along with them. Clearly, he’d failed.

While foreign netizens lamented the prison’s horrors, M Country viewers couldn’t sit still.

【Now that he’s gone, who’s going to pry words out of the bomber?】

【Last night, another package bomb went off in our K City. A 45-year-old prosecutor died. God, in this day and age, not letting us receive packages—isn’t that killing us?】

【It’s not just K City. Incidents have happened in multiple places. The whole country is in panic. Hurry and get clues from the bomber to catch this criminal!】

【Inspector Fang handled that case back then. Doesn’t he have any leads?】 Some were starting to blame Fang Si Ting.

This was also why Yevgeny had approached Xiao Fen and the others.

“I’ve talked to Qian Ning. Honestly, I can’t handle him,” he admitted in frustration. “Lev spent the last couple days observing his behavior. He planned to approach him during yard time today after getting a full read, but then he quit. So, I want you guys to help. Help me get his copycat identity from outside prison out of him.”

Ou Yu looked at Matthew.

Xiao Fen shook his head at him.

Matthew’s hypnosis distorted a person’s thoughts toward normal things, creating fear to harm others or themselves.

It was useless for interrogation. It would only pollute the target’s mind.

“We’ve run into some tricky stuff lately too,” Xiao Fen said. “It’s also about the goal of our participation this time.”

Yevgeny got the hint. “Within my power, I’d be happy to help.”

“Don’t worry, you can,” Xiao Fen said. He handed over scraps of three disposable cups.

“What’s this?”

“Keys to open my room, the cell block door, and the building door where Dr. Jiang is held.” Xiao Fen took a sip of the tomato soup here. It was sour in a refreshingly flavorful way.

Prison disposable cups were terribly made. They deformed after one use, which gave him the perfect opportunity.

They were natural, ideal molds.

And as guests aiming to escape, from day one, nearly every guest had eyed the vice squad officers’ keys—what they were for and who carried which. Basic observation.

“My God.” Yevgeny touched the items in his pocket. His heart tightened. He lowered his already quiet voice even more. “You want me to get keys made?”

“Exactly,” Xiao Fen said. “I know you know a few inmates in the factory who work on metal parts.”

Ironically, last night’s clash with Rodion hadn’t raised suspicions about him. Instead, it cleared them. Daring to lay hands on Rodion directly earned him goodwill from many inmates.

“I’ll do my best,” Yevgeny thought for a moment and said. “If I get an extra set made, you guys won’t mind, right?”

Xiao Fen was surprised by his straightforwardness. They’d figured key-making was risky. If Yevgeny wanted to escape, he’d definitely make an extra set on the sly. No reason not to tacitly allow it.

This was bait for Yevgeny too. Once offered, he’d surely help.

“If I ask that brother, he’ll definitely propose cooperating on an escape too.”

“Do whatever. Our deal is: you get us the metal keys, we handle the bomber for you. Best if we wrap it up by noon tomorrow.”

Because latest tomorrow night, he’d meet Jiang Kangsheng. And the day after was his court date—the initial verdict.

Yevgeny nodded, picked up his tray, and left.

Ou Yu whispered, “If he escapes early with those keys, won’t we lose?”

Xiao Fen knew what he meant. They were still tangled in Jiang Kangsheng’s case. Waiting for the verdict would take days at least. And cracking the bomber wasn’t hard.

Ou Yu was suggesting to stall on the bomber. Even in competition, prioritize their tasks first, start from the same line after, no rush for a day or two.

“How tight-lipped the bomber is remains to be seen.”

He figured solving it sooner was better. M Country would still have to hunt the perp nationwide afterward, and the real killer might be watching the stream too. Tricky.

Unexpectedly, Yevgeny delivered. At dinner that night, their elbows bumped. When they parted, Xiao Fen had three brand-new keys in hand.

Rough, unpolished edges.

They pretended not to know each other and left with their trays.

Now it was just a waiting game.

Prison life was monotonous, easily numbing people into mechanical routines.

Finally, after lights-out roll call, over a dozen vice squad officers left with their batons. The cell block doors locked.

Pitch black all around.

The inmates’ chatter gradually faded. Snores rose and fell.

In prison, everyone slept the same way: head toward the door, feet toward the sinks and toilets. That way, during sudden night patrols, vice squad officers could glance in and see who was there and who wasn’t.

Xiao Fen buried his pillow under the blanket, leaving an area the size of a head exposed. He used dry grass plucked from the yard earlier to mimic hair on the pillow. After signaling Ou Yu, he used the key to open the room door.