Morning.
Countdown: 16: 20: 00.
That night, another group of new prisoners arrived at Prison 18.
As instructed, Lu Guangyi interrogated all of them.
After Qing Chen confirmed that there were no transmigrators among the group, he predicted that all transmigrators would travel at the same time.
No one could appear in between migration periods.
He could now make sure that all of the transmigrators were on the same page.
Li Shutong and Qing Chen were already playing chess at this point.
"The prison seems a lot more quiet than usual since you warned Lu Guangyi not to torture these newcomers," Li Shutong stated as he glanced at the chessboard, "but have you noticed that the other two groups' members are slowly turning against Lu Guangyi?"
Normally, the three groups in prison took turns to entertain themselves with the newcomers. An event for everyone to enjoy.
But now that Lu Guangyi was in charge every time, a lot of the prisoners became pissed off.
Qing Chen moved a red chess piece and said, "I noticed, but I think Lu Guangyi can deal with it himself.”
"Have you considered that these newcomers might not be grateful to you?" Li Shutong joked.
"If you encountered a homeless man on the street and gave him some change in your pockets, you know it wouldn't be enough to save him from poverty, but you bought a sense of calm and pleasure for that person," Qing Chen remarked after some consideration.
Li Shutong smiled and stayed silent.
"Knight on the Field" was the title of today's endgame. Qing Chen couldn’t win this time but instead tied.
In truth, the black side had an unfair edge in the endgames, hence tying as the red side may be regarded as a solution to the endgame.
Unlike the usual group watching them playing chess, Guo Huchan also appeared amongst Lu Guangyi's group of followers.
Yesterday, the man was still sitting far away, but now, he was right next to Qing Chen, diagonally across from Li Shutong.
The two-meter tall titan looked out of place sitting at the table, his muscular frame was far too large for the tiny seat.
But Guo Huchan didn't care as much, because all he needed was to be beside Li Shutong.
Since he couldn't beat Li Shutong, then he must approach!
Also, he noticed that Qing Chen got real meat when getting food, and he didn't have any, so he said to Li Shutong boldly, "I'm at least a well-known figure in Black Spades. You here are eating real meat, and I'm eating synthetic meat. Surely this isn’t how you treat an esteemed guest, is it "
Seeing how shameless he was, Lin Xiaoxiao sneered and said, "What made you think you can be treated the same way as us? How about this, if you can beat the boss in another fight, we will give you real meat. "
Let's not even talk about fighting. "Fighting is bad," Guo Huchan muttered as he stroked his bald head, "but why does this youngster get to eat when I don't?" He is simply a regular guy. Hey, you kid, go get another dish; this one will be mine."
Everyone around them froze when they heard this. They never expected Guo Huchan to be so sleazy, focusing his attention on Qing Chen rather than fighting with Li Shutong.
Qing Chen exchanged a glance with Guo Huchan before returning his gaze to Lin Xiaoxiao.
He noticed that Lin Xiaoxiao didn't argue with Guo Huchan but looked at him, which meant Qing Chen had to decide.
Qing Chen closed his eyes and ignored Guo Huchan.
Seeing that the boy didn't dare to provoke him, Guo Huchan immediately grabbed Qing Chen's plate to himself, "You all saw it right? He was the one that agreed. "
At this moment, Qing Chen turned his mind back to the fight yesterday.
The moment that Guo Huchan threw out his punch.
The world froze.
The prisoners were mostly on the floor, beaten down by the Metal Storm's rubber bullets.
The gates of the prison were slowly opening, and robot guards were rushing into the open area. gunshots, rubber bullets bouncing, and mechanical sounds were all mixed together.
Qing Chen looked around at everyone.
No, this was not the moment he was looking for.
Standing in his memories, Qing Chen waved his hand and the world around him changed.
The rubber bullets returned to the guns on the ceiling, flying upwards.
The fallen prisoners stood back up in an impossible posture.
The past memories played backward in Qing Chen's mind, frame by frame.
Until… the moment that Guo Huchan stepped into Prison 18.
Qing Chen walked around the scene, focusing on everyone’s voice.
The people inside his memories would not speak, but their body language and actions could reveal secrets.
As Guo Huchan was about to eat the rest of the meat on Qing Chen's plate, Qing Chen reopened his eyes.
"Lu Guangyi. "
"Yes, boss. What do you want?" Lu Guangyi didn't pretend to hide his identity this time, and he answered immediately.
Qing Chen said, "I want to pick out a few people. Bring them to me. "
He then looked around at the surrounding prisoners and picked out 8 people.
As more and more people were being chosen by Lu Guanyi, Guo Huchan's face made an ugly expression. He didn't bother to finish his meat.
Qing Chen returned to his seat and said to Guo Huchan, "Are these eight your people? "
"Not all of them are," said Guo Huchan.
"Yeah," Qing Chen nodded, "After you came in, you glanced at five of them at least one, and these five all gestured toward you with their index fingers. Even though I don't know what it means yet, I am sure that it is signaling to you. The other three all looked at each other the moment you came in. Your men were among us the whole time."
Lin Xiaoxiao and Ye Wan's eyes changed slightly. During that time, they were preparing to avoid the rain of bullets and didn't have the spare mind to notice many details.
It was as if during the storm of bullets, Qing Chen was just a bystander.
Li Shutong smiled, "Prison 18 is a messy place. It's normal for groups to send people to keep an eye on me. "
Lin Xiaoxiao asked joyfully, "Boss, should we relocate these prisoners to other prisons? "
"No need," said Li Shutong, "If we relocate 8 people without a specific reason, the people on the outside will become suspicious of what I’m doing again. Ye Wan, put these eight people in solitary confinement, and interrogate them one by one to find out who they are working for. "
Seeing that Lin Xiaoxiao was very happy after he pointed out the undercover people for him, Qing Chen stood up and pulled out twenty more people.
But this time he didn't say anything. Lin Xiaoxiao, however, couldn't hold it anymore. He bent down next to Li Shutong and whispered, "Boss, that kid pulled out all of our men as well…"
Li Shutong looked at Qing Chen and said, "Although you still are an ordinary person, your deduction and analysis abilities are comparable to an Extraordinary. "
Guo Huchan also saw that Qing Chen took out members of the Knights, and he realized that Qing Chen was not working under Li Shutong directly. He asked curiously, "Little brother, who are you? "
Qing Chen glanced at him, "Qing Chen. "
"From the Qing Family?" Guo Huchan was not expecting that, "When did the Knights start cooperating with the Qing Family? "
"Do I have to be part of the Qing Family if my last name is Qing? Even people in the Qing Family might not have very close ties with the company," said Li Shutong, "In the wilderness, isn't there also a famous man with the family name of Qing? "
Guo Huchan's eyes flashed, and his attitude took a 180-degree turn.
He quietly pushed the plate of meat back to Qing Chen and said enthusiastically, "Brother Qing Chen, what is your impression of my Black Spades? "
"Not very good," said Qing Chen coldly.
He still could not understand what kind of person Guo Huchan was. The man looked strong and stubborn but acted ever so strangely.
The person was here for the forbidden item, so no way would he make the person's life easier.
Today, he was able to use Li Shutong's abilities to eliminate all the support that Guo Huchan had in the prison, and that was a good start.
Suddenly, a loud noise erupted from the corner of the prison.
Qing Chen looked over at the chaos and Ye Wan frowned.
Next to him, three of the first eight people he picked out were lying on the floor. Their lips and jaw area were turning purple.
It was a typical symptom of suffocation.
Wrapping his hand in his jacket, Ye Wan quickly walked over and opened the mouth of one of the people who were dead. He then looked at Li Shutong and said, "Boss, their mouths smell of bitter almond. They died from cyanide poisoning. "
Guo Huchan said, "These three aren't from Black Spades. "
"They are hired assassins," said Li Shutong calmly, "Now things are getting interesting. "
No one knew who these killers were after in Prison 18 nor who hired them.
Qing Chen looked at this indifferently.
But with his clenched fist, he still felt nervous deep inside
Opening his hand, he noticed that his fingernails already made some deep red welts on his palm, and there was sweat as well.
This was the first time he saw death right in front of his eyes.
He had only seen suicidal killers in movies.
Now that he saw the way they died with his own eyes, he realized that this world was truly ruthless.
Countdown: 15: 21: 59.
The countdown was about to end. He mustn't bring any more trouble to himself.