Chapter 29: Black Prison

Inside the luxury sedan sat a handsome man.

He cautiously took the cassette tape that had suddenly appeared in his hand and carefully placed it into a specially made briefcase.

Only after closing the briefcase and locking the combination did he let out a slow breath of relief.

"Now that we have obtained the 'Song of Extinction,' our plan is halfway to success." Sitting beside him was a beautiful woman wearing a short skirt.

She caressed the man's cheek with obsession and smiled. "I've already started looking forward to the reward the Great One will grant us once the mission is complete. You and I both have a chance to push for our fifth awakening."

"Don't be careless! Something still went wrong with Black Umbrella. According to the original plan, he was supposed to lead followers and use forbidden items to stage a feint against the Eastern Branch of the Processing Department. But he failed in a most unexpected way, and then three followers went missing along with him..."

As he spoke, the handsome man's expression darkened. He pulled the woman into his arms, reached into her skirt, and said, "If it weren't for that, those three followers wouldn't have been qualified to know the plan's intelligence, let alone enter the 'Ark.' I wouldn't dare step foot in Border City No. 3!"

The reason it was called a Border City was its proximity to the Calamity Forbidden Zones.

It was the frontline fortress for humanity's struggle against the Calamity, possessing immense internal strength. With four branches and one headquarters, it housed many powerful Processors and controlled a vast number of forbidden items.

Furthermore, Border City No. 3 was home to an old fellow who had survived a Calamity and fought his way out of the Calamity Mist.

For them, and even for the 'Ark,' this was an extremely dangerous place.

If not for the exorbitant reward, he would never have planned to come here to take such a risk.

The woman blushed at the man's actions, but she laughed coquettishly. "It doesn't matter. With the 'Song of Extinction,' they will be too busy looking after themselves. Those cunning forbidden items won't miss such a perfect chance to escape; that alone will be enough to give them a headache. Let's continue with the plan..."

"Besides, what we are doing isn't to destroy the Megacity." The woman leaned into the man's embrace, whispering in his ear, "It's to force that King to act, to see if he's finally died of old age..."

"To force... the Old Mad King to act!" the man whispered, his voice barely audible, as if he were wary of the King's name.

The Old Mad King, the former Mad King.

He was a powerful existence who had challenged the Kings of the Forbidden Zones. He was the one who had overcome countless hardships to lead the human armies to this land, eventually establishing Border City No. 3 right under the noses of three Forbidden Zones.

Guarding the three great Forbidden Zones!

He had even made the bold claim that one day, he would reclaim the 12.6 million square kilometers of national territory.

To do that, one would have to annihilate several Forbidden Zones—it was sheer arrogance!

Thus, he was called the Mad King by the Kings of the Forbidden Zones.

To be recognized by the Kings of the Forbidden Zones was a supreme compliment for a human, but he possessed the strength to match the title. At his peak, even the Kings of the Forbidden Zones did not wish to clash with Border City No. 3.

But now, as a psychic, he had aged under the entanglement of curses.

Perhaps he had aged beyond recognition.

Someone who wanted to know if the Old Mad King could still fight had devised a mad plan.

And the 'Ark' was the intermediary for this transaction.

As an organization that existed outside the physical world, their group had no concept of good or evil.

The 'Ark' was more like a communication hub that ignored physical distance.

Its leader, or rather the Captain, would find psychics qualified to enter and grant them exclusive "tickets."

This allowed members of the 'Ark' from all over the world to gather together.

They traded intelligence, items, or issued missions within the 'Ark.'

This function allowed their strength to increase rapidly, turning them into a behemoth hidden in the shadows.

They addressed each other by codenames, their true identities unknown.

And this time, a mysterious guest had issued a mission within the 'Ark' with an incredibly lavish reward—so lavish that many 'Ark' members were willing to join forces and take the risk.

Who could that mysterious guest be? Could it be one of the Kings of the Forbidden Zones? the handsome man wondered.

Then, the vehicle slowly came to a halt. The door opened, and the beautiful woman inside vanished with the briefcase. Only the handsome man stepped out of the car, waving to the fans on both sides.

His face was full of smiles and enthusiasm, but no one noticed that the eyes hidden behind his sunglasses revealed coldness and madness.

***

On the other side, Li Yela arrived at the branch and saw many old acquaintances.

Spark, Shadowstream, Heavy Cavalry, and Detective were all at the branch.

"What a coincidence. If you're going to eat, count me in," Li Yela said, stepping forward to greet them.

"I heard you've already had your second awakening." Heavy Cavalry, the expressionless girl, actually spoke up first. A faint smile appeared on her pale, emotionless face. "Congratulations! I'll catch up to you soon."

Heavy Cavalry had also been very busy lately. Although she wasn't as unlucky as Li Yela, running into trouble every single time, she had resolved several dangerous incidents and was on the verge of a breakthrough.

"Yeah, keep it up. Be careful of the temptations of the Void power," Li Yela said, remembering the hallucinations he encountered during his own breakthrough.

Shaking off the mental image of Heavy Cavalry in revealing clothes, he gave a serious warning: "Until the very end, do not believe you have succeeded. And don't be misled by any visions. They are all fake!"

"I'll keep that in mind. Thank you. Next time I surpass you, I'll share my experience with you too," Heavy Cavalry nodded.

Detective picked at his ear and asked with wide eyes, "What 'him'? Surpassing him?"

Heavy Cavalry shot him a glance and returned to her expressionless state.

Spark's expression, however, was much more mature. The incident with Motor had been a heavy blow, but it had also helped him grow significantly.

He no longer possessed that competitive edge; instead, he had become much more steady and calm.

"Brother Ye, thanks for last time," Spark said. "Also, congratulations on your successful second awakening."

"Mm," Li Yela responded. "I remember you guys just graduated high school, right? Are you going straight to university?"

In this era, the threshold for university was very high.

Someone like Li Yela only had a high school diploma. Normally, one would have to save up wages for several years and gain considerable work experience before being able to take the university entrance exams again.

Of course, those with exceptional academic records could be recommended for admission, or the wealthy who wanted to use a university to polish their status didn't have to worry about such things.

Therefore, the prestige of being a university student was very high.

"Yeah, I'm already a university student," Spark nodded. "My current daily task is to monitor whether there are any hidden anomalies or urban legends at the university. It's just been a bit troublesome lately; a celebrity band has come to Border City No. 3. The students are very fanatic. The higher-ups are worried about potential issues and asked us to monitor the whole process. It's a good chance to get two free tickets."

The authorities had taken precautions regarding the band's arrival.

Perhaps certain intelligence had made the officials uneasy, leading them to dispatch many Processors to the scene.

After all, once the concert began, there would be massive crowds. If any problem occurred, it would be magnified infinitely.

However, this no longer had anything to do with Li Yela.

He was going down to the Black Prison today; when he came out, it would be next month.

After chatting with them for a while, Li Yela went to retrieve his Crimson Longblade and put on the combat uniform prepared by the authorities.

He wandered around the branch, waiting for his rotation time.

During this time, he saw senior Processors returning from outside the city one after another. They were all members of a squad and were similarly fully armed.

Li Yela even saw a knight clad in full dragon-scale armor, wielding strange twin blades.

That dragon-scale armor was made of real dragon scales, reportedly crafted into psychic armament after hunting a troublesome fire dragon in the Calamity's Doomsday Forest.

Those senior Processors were often tough individuals who left the Megacity, stepped beyond the high walls, and faced the Calamity in the wilderness.

They constrained the expansion of those transcendent beings and protected the communication lines and trade routes between the Megacities.

Because of this, they were also known as the "Night Watchers."

They were the elite among Processors!

Li Yela knew this title came from ancient history before the Calamity.

Even though he only had a high school diploma, working in an antique shop had given him some knowledge of this history.

The name originated from the ancient Great Wall, which Li Yela had never seen.

The Great Wall was a defensive method used by agrarian civilizations to combat nomadic civilizations.

In most feudal dynasties, the Great Wall played a vital role.

Strong dynasties, like the Han and Tang, used the Great Wall as a base to attack foreign tribes.

Weaker dynasties used it for defense.

One must realize that beyond the Central Plains lay the widest grasslands in the world.

Countless steppe cavalrymen roared across the heavens and earth, becoming the most terrifying cavalry of that era.

The Xiongnu, the Xianbei, the Rouran, the Shiwei, the Turks, the Khitans, the Jurchens, the Mongols... none were insignificant powers.

And the Great Wall stood there on that long, despair-inducing border line.

It could signal warnings with beacon fires, defend with high walls, and serve as a garrison for troop transport.

Thus, the Great Wall became the most headache-inducing defense for the nomadic tribes.

It was precisely because of the Great Wall that many northern nomadic tribes were forced to abandon their southward expansion and instead turn west, crossing the Danube or the Rhine.

The "Night Watchers" were the troops that operated outside the protection of the Great Wall. Their duty was to gather intelligence, launch surprise attacks on enemies beyond the border, and scout enemy movements.

They were a unit that walked on the edge of a blade. Once discovered, survival was a slim chance.

The high walls were like a steel Great Wall protecting humanity from the Calamity.

And these Processors were the Night Watchers walking outside that wall!

For this suppression of the Black Prison, the Night Watchers who were originally outside had also returned to the Megacity.

Compared to the small skirmishes within the Megacity, the dangers they faced outside were far greater.

These colleagues were quite friendly to Li Yela, even suggesting that if he had the chance to go out, he might be able to help them surround and kill a high-level transcendent being, among other things.

This left Li Yela quite confused.

Just then, Li Yela felt his arm being pulled.

Looking back, he saw a small dinosaur.

It was a mascot!

This time, she had changed into a dinosaur mascot suit, looking quite comical among the group of fully armed psychics.

After the mascot pulled Li Yela out of the training room, she held up a sign.

[I prepared something for you (..)]

Then, she handed Li Yela a small black cloth bag with gold trim.

"If it's snacks, you probably didn't need to prepare them, right? I heard from Cheese that there's..." Li Yela asked curiously, but when he opened the bag, he saw a lock of long hair.

In an instant, two senior Night Watchers who had walked over to watch the commotion gasped and hurriedly backed away.

Li Yela immediately closed the bag.

He understood instantly: this was the mascot's own hair. Due to its cursed properties, if her hair were seen by others, it would trigger a state of terror.

"This is..." Li Yela was somewhat shocked.

[As long as my hair is kept well after being separated from my body, it will still have a curse effect for about ten days. Although it's nothing to be proud of, it's quite a hassle to maintain normally... (〃ω)]

[If other colleagues use this, it will affect them too. Since you aren't afraid of me, you can use it for defense (*`*)]

[You must be careful. Forbidden items are very dangerous; many colleagues have fallen victim to them (；′⌒`)]

[Certain forbidden items possess extremely high intelligence and the ability to bewitch. Once you feel something is wrong, just throw my hair out. They are afraid of me too! (ω)]

The mascot continuously changed the words on her sign.

Every word conveyed care.

Li Yela was somewhat moved; this meal buddy was too kind to him.

So, he said, "Thanks. Once I get out, I'll treat you to a big meal! Definitely!"

[Mm-hmm, okay, I'm looking forward to it (▽*)]

Seeing Li Yela hide the bag, the mascot looked quite happy.

After chatting a few more words, she skipped away.

Li Yela stowed the bag, took his weapon, and headed to the assembly point.

The time was almost up.

When Li Yela arrived at the black elevator, he saw hundreds of fully armed psychics.

Behind the crowd, Cheese was waving at him.

"Are we going down now?" Li Yela leaned in and asked. Today, Cheese had rarely swapped her hoodie for a combat uniform, and she was carrying various bags.

"Yes, they've already started going down. But the black elevator has a small capacity, so it will take several trips," Cheese said. "Once we go down and rotate with the fifth squad, we will begin our official guard duty. Don't be careless, but don't be nervous either."

Li Yela nodded and looked at the small bags hanging on Cheese's body, discovering they were all filled with saccharin.

To prevent another incident of lost saccharin, Li Yela stepped forward and took one bag.

"I'll take a bag so you don't lose your sugar again," Li Yela said.

Cheese didn't refuse, but smiled instead. "Mm, just don't make me choke this time, and don't get it all over me..."

Li Yela was already somewhat immune to Cheese's cheeky remarks. He simply replied, "You rogue."

Ten minutes later, Li Yela, Cheese, and the other Processors finally boarded the black elevator.

There was an observation window in the elevator, but it was pitch black.

After the elevator descended rapidly for dozens of meters, a light suddenly appeared before them.

What appeared before Li Yela was a relatively vast underground space, filled with many brightly lit buildings.

Squads of Iron Guards and groups of fully armed psychics were assembling in the large underground plaza.

"It's actually this big?" Li Yela was stunned; he had thought the Black Prison was just a pitch-black dungeon.

"In the beginning, the Megacity intended to build an underground city. Later, they realized it wasn't necessary and converted it into the Black Prison halfway through. This is the first level, which is also our rest area and cafeteria," an unfamiliar Processor in the elevator explained. "There are several more levels below, but those are not the targets for you and me to guard. Remember, if the situation gets out of control and multiple forbidden items break containment, we must immediately retreat to the outside of the black elevator."

"That is the only exit of the Black Prison!"