Chapter 23

“Squeak—”

Before the lights went out, the cell door was finally opened again. Without raising his eyes, Locke already knew who had returned.

After all, up to now, that person is the only one still outside the entire cell.

The injury on his wrist seemed to ache again. He tried hard not to look up, but he still glanced towards the door reflexively.

...Just a glance, shouldn't be a big deal, right...?

However, the moment his sight focused——

Locke's pupils shrank again and again, and his blood seemed to freeze in an instant.

Cold sweat oozed uncontrollably from his forehead, and fear overwhelmed him, making it almost impossible for him to even look.

——A uniquely shaped earring appeared below the black-haired boy’s left ear.

It was an eye with a bulging pupil.

One of them felt his gaze and turned slightly, then headed towards him, looking coldly and condescendingly into his eyes.

…

Feeling Locke's gaze, César glanced at him and raised his eyebrows slightly.

I only gave him a light cut yesterday, and he wasn't disabled or dead. Why does it seem like his sanity is suddenly in danger today?

Is the mental state of this batch of prisoners really so bad?

He ignored Locke and slowly returned to his bed. As soon as he lay down, he heard a low buzzing voice in his left ear:

"Do we need to kill them?"

César blinked and, covered by the noise of the prisoners outside, replied, "How?"

"There are many ways," the childlike voice said, childish and emotionless. "However you like them to die, I will kill them."

Xizel was silent for a moment.

It wasn't that he really wanted to think too much about it, but after experiencing so much abuse from comics and comic readers, he could already imagine what effect such remarks would have if put on a comic.

"Peace & Love." Cesar said kindly, his expression calm and his heart steady, "Always talking about 'kill' makes us look bad."

He added the second half of the sentence slowly: "-- although we are not good people to begin with."

Ursula happily supported it, "I give it eighteen thumbs up."

The thin young man smiled in the darkness, then as if suddenly remembering something, he casually confirmed, "You seem to be able to read minds."

"It's not 'mind reading,' it's a shallow 'resonance.'" Ursula's voice remained flat, a bit dull. "But after you woke up, I couldn't hear your general thoughts anymore."

Cesar blinked. He knew that Ursula couldn't know all of other people's thoughts, otherwise what she heard from him at that time was not "This thing is quite good-looking", but the next sentence "Maybe I should find time to see a doctor".

But he didn't expect that the name of this ability was "Resonance".

You know, the difference between "resonance" and "mind reading" is not small at all.

As for "not being able to hear his inner voice after waking up," it's probably related to the new setting he was given. After all, the eye on his arm is more than just a mark.

"How did you get brought here... and locked up?" Xizel asked a question that seemed a little dangerous.

"I don't remember a lot of things." Ursula's attitude was unexpectedly calm, but her voice was a little lower. "But I'm not something strange."

"Of course you are not." The black-haired boy's voice seemed to have a hint of smile at first, but if you listen carefully, you will find that it is calm and cold.

“What’s strange isn’t the ‘container’ or the ‘experimental object’, but the people who created them.”

The main plot involving the protagonist of the comic must be closely related to this world. Since Xia Zuo was treated as an experimental subject in the White Elephant District, there must be more filth in the core of power.

After all, Xia Zuo was originally going to be taken away to the southeast, and the southeast direction of the White Elephant District can gradually get closer to the political center of the Federation.

Behind the mountains in the northwest of the Federation is the Eastwood Prison for the Insane, a famous exile place for high-risk individuals. It is too dangerous to build a laboratory there;

The south is the area of ​​the main patrol tower, which is easy to be caught;

The Northeast was out of the question. Neither the Dead Sea of ​​Della nor the Northern Ice Realm were fun places. After much deliberation, he decided his own home, where he had the most control, was the best choice.

I'm afraid that in the minds of the federal top leaders, they still feel that they are surrounded by wolves and are pitiful.

The reason why César directly asked Ursula whether she was a "vessel" or a "test subject" inside that door was because of what he saw - those tentacles that occupied a huge area. It would be too difficult to bring them to the prison and lock them up without attracting attention.

However, if we can choose a suitable container, reduce the area, and prevent the breath from leaking out, after weakening most of her strength, and then use special minerals to make the only door leading to the outside world, we can lock down her range of activities.

Although the door looks like it is made of iron and César has always called it the "iron door", it is clear that keeping an eye on the cage of such a dangerous character is not that simple.

…I need to find a way to get some scraps of that door.

Ursula had no idea what the young man who had just spoken for her was thinking, so she asked, "Will we really not be discovered?"

"Don't worry, Miss Ursula—" The black-haired boy came back to his senses, blinked, and said with a smile, "There is a B-level talent detection expert in this prison. Since he didn't notice anything the moment we opened the door, it means that his ability is not enough to detect you."

——What's more, whether Ursula and his abilities are talents or not is still unknown.

Xizel's voice was calm:

"You should be able to sense that Xia Zuo is a very pure light-type talent holder. Even Xia Zuo can't detect anything unusual. When you appear in human form, you will just be a human girl."

"Xia Zuo. I don't like him." Ursula said expressionlessly.

"It doesn't matter. It's enough that he doesn't hate you." Xizel was very calm.

Ursula: “…”

She didn't say anything else.

Unfortunately, the peace in the prison, like tonight, did not last long.

The next day, everyone could clearly see that the prison's security level had risen several levels. However, the guards themselves looked confused and obviously didn't understand what was going on.

As soon as Xizel woke up, he saved the game.

He had a book with him, and no one else could see the wordless book. Seeing his smooth movements, Ursula just thought he had started reading in the morning.

She was curious about everything, but she didn't rush Cesar. Instead, she waited quietly for him to finish packing and come to the cafeteria.

The brown-haired boy was waiting for Cesar here as usual.

Xia Zuo looked very energetic and was not affected at all by yesterday's strange experience. It was just that his san value was too high, and he was a little depressed that he couldn't see Ursula.

Ursula said coldly again, "He flashed into my eyes."

Xizel: "..."

He acted as if he hadn't heard anything and said calmly, "Get ready in the next few days."

Xia Zuo asked in confusion, "What preparations?"

"I'm afraid this prison will soon have to be taken over by someone else," the black-haired boy said calmly, as if he had already seen the future with his own eyes.

"You should take advantage of this chaotic time to increase your charges and risk score, and then be transferred to a Level 1 prison naturally."

"Is time urgent?" Xia Zuo nodded with full fighting spirit: "Don't worry, Caesar, I will do my best!"

Ursula added quietly, "After all, if you don't leave now, you'll never be able to leave."

The warden would not be able to keep this secret for long, and Ursula did not want to be locked up again.

"It's not that serious." Xizel shook his head and said calmly, "They probably don't know your true situation and mistakenly think you're just a failed and useless defective product, so they found an unimportant place to "place" you."

Ursula said she didn't remember anything, and if she wasn't lying, she was probably unconscious all along. To the researchers, this was a defective product.

How important can a defective product be?

"If it really doesn't work, then reveal your talent." The black-haired boy raised his eyelids and his gaze fell on Xia Zuo: "—Introduce him to the patrol tower."

"Patrol Tower..." Xia Zuo repeated silently, "...You think they're colluding with the Federation regarding the experiment. So even if we go there, we can use the agreement between them and the Federation to find out things that can't be made public."

"It's just a possibility." Xizel smiled. "Who knows what kind of agreement they have signed with the Federation? I'm not a god. I can't know everything."

Xia Zuo: "."

The brown-haired boy remained silent subtly.

"Don't worry. Don't the Big Three still have the Eastwood Lunatic Prison?" The black-haired boy forked a potato in one hand, resting his chin on the other. His movements were relaxed and easy, and he gently and skillfully soothed, "At least Eastwood has never been involved with either."

Xia Zuo: ...That’s because there is no force that wants to play QAQ with the high-risk crazy group of people.

"In fact, the most common comments I heard about the patrol tower enforcement officers were 'impartial law enforcement,' 'inhumane,' and 'biting everyone they saw.' I thought they really were like that."

"The lower and upper levels are naturally different, and the upper levels are well disguised." The black-haired boy tilted his head. "Also, did you hear what the federal officials said? That's right, the patrol tower loves to bite them the most."

Xia Zuo: "..."

For a moment, I couldn't refute it.

What he heard by chance seemed to have been spread by those people.

"Is this what you eat for breakfast?"

Ursula, who had been very quiet, suddenly spoke up.

Xia Zuo glanced at his vegan food and for some reason had a bad feeling.

As it turned out, his hunch was correct.

——Because the next second, a tentacle swung over extremely quickly. If it weren’t for Xia Zuo’s terrifying dynamic vision, he would not have been able to catch its shadow at all.

Then, a bloody dead rat appeared on Xia Zuo's plate.

Xia Zuo: "...?"

Ursula: "Protect César. This is your reward."

Xia Zuo: "???"

Cesar silently looked away.

Fortunately, he had the foresight to declare last night that he didn't like eating rats.