Chapter 237
by Golden DragonChapter 237: Prison Break
Arkham Prison—one of the ten most unbelievable architectural marvels of the new century.
Of course, it wasn’t some cradle of geniuses. Instead, it bore a striking resemblance to the Impel Down from that pirate manga—a subterranean prison descending level by level, housing the most vicious criminals from around the world.
“Why bother? You finally made it out after twenty years.”
“Cut the crap. I’m already out of touch with society. Outside, everyone’ll know I did time. Here, everyone’s done time too—no one’s judging anyone.”
He chuckled, fishing out a cigarette from the gap in his handcuffs and offering it. “Want one? Brought a bunch from outside. These days, even smokes are fucking counterfeit.”
“At least out there you can eat decent food. You wouldn’t believe the slop they served for lunch yesterday—couldn’t even tell what the ingredients were.”
“Truth is, nobody’s ever really free, right? From birth, you’re doomed to the grind—kindergarten, elementary, middle school, then slaving away to feed a family. Most people are already dead by the time they’re busting their asses for their households. Some never even leave their hometown.”
“Bullshit. If you’re unlucky, you die in a toilet at birth. If you’re lucky, you’re set for life.”
“Hah, screw you. Both of us are rotting here forever. Next life, let’s reincarnate rich—lounging in sports cars, mocking the poor people online for not ‘bettering themselves.’”
“Rich boys still end up in prison, eh, Nikita?”
Nikita stayed silent, lying on the top bunk with a book.
Oppressive—that was Enoch’s sole impression of Arkham.
It wasn’t just the environment. Most here had given up all hope for their futures.
Then again, wasn’t that true for a lot of people nowadays? Drifting through life in a daze, no plans, no direction.
Enoch quickened his pace to catch up with Humpback Whale, who was walking ahead. “What’d that guy do?”
“He used to be a chef. Got bullied daily by his head chef until one day he chopped off both the guy’s hands with a cleaver. Got out, went back to beat the shit out of him again, and landed another fifteen years,” Humpback Whale replied.
This kind of thing wasn’t even unusual. Many long-term convicts, cut off from the outside world, found themselves unable to reintegrate. For some, prison became the only escape from a life they couldn’t face.
Humpback Whale was here to see a certain Level 5 inmate in the deepest level.
Level 5 criminals were a rarity in prisons—subduing such threats alive was nearly impossible.
When Okulet had cross-referenced Easter’s members among Level 5s, he’d included incarcerated ones for thoroughness. He hadn’t expected to actually find one.
The original Fifth Fractal.
Given Easter’s infiltration of the Federation, pulling off a prison break should’ve been trivial. But Okulet couldn’t even confirm if this prisoner was the real deal.
Ultimately, Okulet always prioritized keeping his daughter close—and a place as suffocating as Arkham was the last spot he’d bring Misha.
So the mess landed on Humpback Whale. He’d promised Wei Shi he’d look after Mi Xiaoliu, damn it. If not for Okulet uncovering her identity, he’d have secured custody by now.
“Arkham even has Level 5s? Then there must be a ton of Level 4s too,” Enoch muttered, suddenly uneasy.
“Yep. That’s why security’s airtight. Escaping’s impossible. The only breach in their record was the Red Prince incident six years ago… So, how’s it going with Little White Whale (Beluga)?”
Not keen on dwelling on the topic, Humpback Whale deftly shifted gears.
“Huh? She won’t even reply to my texts. Always off playing with Xiaoliu instead. Won’t even play games with me anymore.”
Not that he minded—Mi Xiaoliu was pretty too, with a soft, sweet personality. Way cuter than those over-filtered influencers online…
Before he could spiral further, a piercing alarm shattered the air.
No one had time to process what was happening before Humpback Whale suddenly swatted Enoch aside, the force nearly dislocating his spine.
The ceiling collapsed into rubble, burying the spot where he’d stood.
“OLD MA! NO! OLD MAAAA!”
An unthinkable scenario—Arkham was under attack.
The invaders were a ragtag bunch of kids, some even sporting bleached blond hair.
“Alright, let’s show these feds what we’re made of!”
Their thick-browed leader pumped his fist, riding the high of their initial success.
Then a boulder the size of a CRT TV smashed into his face—courtesy of Humpback Whale’s brutal dunk.
The sight of the giant sent the others scrambling, faces drained of color.
God knew where these idiots found the audacity to waltz in, but the chaos they’d stirred could’ve been someone else’s ticket out—if the prison weren’t built underground.
The cacophony of destruction upstairs reverberated even in the deepest levels.
An old man, immobilized in a mold-like restraint down to his fingers, slowly blinked his eyes open.
“…Has the New Moon attacked?”
“Old man, dementia acting up again? How many times do we have to say—he’s the one who put you here,” snapped a woman’s voice from the next cell.
“Oh, my apologies. And you are…?”
“I’m The Hanged Woman.”
“Ah, I see. Might I ask what that noise is? Has the New Moon attacked?”
“For fuck’s sake—”
“Such language from a young lady. And you are…?”
“…”
—
“What the hell are you all doing?!”
Even Heli’s patience had its limits, and she finally snapped.
The underground lab had infrared anti-theft systems, double-layered titanium alloy automatic doors, multi-factor authentication combining passwords, fingerprints, facial recognition, and retinal scans—not to mention round-the-clock human guards.
And it still got robbed?
The titanium alloy door had been blown open with a gap wide enough for two people. The plants were largely untouched, but all the labeled reagents and the meteorite stored in its container had vanished.
How the hell did someone walk off with all that?
She’d just barely grasped a lead last night—Xiao Mi’s lifeline.
“The droplet cameras captured the scene,” a young security guard muttered timidly.
“I recall you were supposed to be on night shift monitoring the feeds,” Heli said, turning her gaze on him.
“Uh… I had diarrhea.”
Wrong. He’d been grinding ranked matches.
Assuming the lab’s secrecy made it untouchable, he’d spent his shifts gaming instead.
Heli massaged her temples and cursed him with diabetes.
The surveillance footage showed a group of oddly dressed individuals tunneling into the facility. A red-robed figure blasted open the door, while a girl shrank the items with a wave of her hand and pocketed them—except for the Star’s container, which remained unaffected.
Meanwhile, the pajama-clad lookout did absolutely nothing but stand guard.
The childishness of their outfits made it obvious, Tian Xing Dao was behind this.
Her blood pressure skyrocketed.
How pathetic was it that a bunch of kids with zero sophistication had pulled this off?
Then Okulet called, sending her blood pressure into the stratosphere.
“Misha is missing.”
—
Where was Misha?
Dressed in her new combat suit, she ran aimlessly into the distance before tripping and tumbling onto the rooftop of a building.
“Master, are you okay?” Sasha asked worriedly.
Mi Xiaoliu didn’t respond, brushing off the dust as she stood.
“Master, where are you trying to go?”
No answer.
“Misha?”
A delighted female voice called from behind.
“Did you come to see me?”
A pair of soft spheres pressed against the back of Misha’s head as hands slid under her armpits.
Lifted off her feet, Misha dangled in the air, held up by Gloria.
At the sound of that voice, she trembled slightly.
This floor belonged to a university lecture building.
“Look, this is my little sister! Isn’t she adorable?”
Gloria proudly showcased Misha to her roommate, swaying her left and right.
Misha’s dangling legs swayed along with the motion.
“She’s so cute! I thought the photos you showed me were filtered. How old is she? Let’s film a video together—I’m an influencer!”
The roommate excitedly raised her phone.
“Back off. Don’t leech off my Misha’s clout.”
Gloria quickly flipped Misha around—then paused, noticing something off. She set her down gently.
“Misha, what’s wrong with your eyes?”
Mi Xiaoliu squirmed free and unleashed a flurry of kitten punches at Gloria.
Though they stung a little, she wasn’t using full force. To Gloria, it just seemed like playful whining.
Then Mi Xiaoliu turned and leapt off the rooftop to her roommate’s shrieks.
Hit-and-run tactics.
“Master, find a mirror and check your eyes!”
Sasha sensed something was wrong.
Gloria was the second person to mention her master’s eyes.
Mi Xiaoliu peered into a car’s side mirror.
She couldn’t see anything unusual—she was colorblind.
“Master, put the Mystic Eyes Killer (Lenses) back on. You’re acting really strange.”
Mi Xiaoliu didn’t answer, continuing to run until she reached the outskirts of the city.
“Master, where are you even going? Hurry back—Mommy Heli will worry!”
Mi Xiaoliu stopped, but didn’t turn around.
She found a quiet haystack, lay down, and closed her eyes.
Sleepy.
“Holy shit, I’m late! Holy shit—who the hell are you?!”
A familiar female voice.
—
Author’s Note: Hitting a writer’s block… At some point, many flaws started getting pointed out, and of course, that’s on me.
Honestly, I’ve been lost on how to write this for a long time now. Even a simple 2,000-word chapter takes multiple drafts before I dare post it. I have to think about pacing, whether it feels cliché or toxic, whether it lacks the essential elements of a yuri story, whether slice-of-life segments come off as filler, if the plot twists feel abrupt…
Sorry, the pressure’s been getting to me.
[Will take a short break to recalibrate.]
[Translator’s Note: See the index page for this Novel if you want to see the Amazon Link for the eBooks.]
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