Chapter 24: The Horror Story 4 - The Isolated Island Prison
Besides Wu Wangwang, there were three other prisoners who came to water the plants today. I couldn't tell which area they were from, but I hadn't seen them behind Gate 2 before.
With strangers around, Wu Wangwang didn't say anything, picked up the shovel, and followed the other prisoners into the park.
No one mentioned what happened behind Gate 2 again. Ling Yuanshan didn't have time to ask why Wu Wangwang knocked his knife away so quickly. Judging from the current progress of the dungeon, Wu Wangwang felt that she would definitely be tested tomorrow morning.
The park has many flowers, trees, and vegetables. The supervising prison guards assigned the four of them tasks, not requiring them to water the entire park at once, as that was impossible. They were to do as much as they could, and the remaining part could be watered by a new batch of prisoners the next day.
Following the park's number, Wu Wangwang arrived at the edge of a vegetable field, where she carefully poured the corpse oil onto the roots and stems of the vegetables.
After walking a few steps, Wu Wangwang noticed something dazzling her eyes. She squatted down to investigate and found a thin, long nail in the soil. It was still shiny and not rusty, so it must have fallen there recently.
Looking from the nail towards the densely packed vegetable area, Wu Wangwang saw some more pieces of meat. To put it simply, from her ghostly perspective, the meat used for planting in the park was completely different from the monster meat in the central area of the island.
The monsters in the center of the island are more like a composite monster, as if they were made by humans, while the meat chunks in the park are more like humans themselves.
Prison uniforms are not good for hiding things, but the Demon Mother has plenty of strength and methods. She simply hid the nails and planned to bring them to Ling Yuanshan to see tomorrow.
Nothing else of note was found in the park after that. The other three prisoners walked further and further away and soon disappeared behind the trees.
At 4:30, the prison guard came to inform them that it was almost time to inspect and return the bucket, so Wu Wangwang went to return it.
As it approached five o'clock, the three prisoners still hadn't come out, so Wu Wangwang had no choice but to take the prison van back to District 21.
When she rushed back, it was just in time for dinner. Coincidentally, dinner was stir-fried pumpkin and sweet potato. Looking at the pumpkin, Wu Wangwang couldn't help but think of the pumpkin vines she had watered with corpse oil all afternoon.
The delicious prison food probably comes from this.
The evening class was different from what Wu Wangwang had imagined. It wasn't about moral education; instead, the teacher brought out a form and asked Wu Wangwang what kind of job she wanted after being released from prison.
Wu Wangwang didn't react for a moment: "Huh?"
The teacher smiled and replied, "Prisons also need to consider the survival of prisoners after their release. If they don't have a skill, they will soon go back to prison for committing crimes again. So, we usually offer skills courses. What do you want to learn? For girls, it's usually something like embroidery or cooking."
The form was quite long, with various skills listed. Later, Wu Wangwang even flipped to topics like computer science and modeling. Although these were all introductory courses, they were clearly much more legitimate than the courses sold outside.
Wu Wangwang thought that now that she was a human being, she should also know some of the things that normal humans know, so that even if she was fired by the Ling family in the future, she could quickly find another job.
So, among many courses, Wu Wangwang chose sewing, because she saw that many humans could make things themselves with fine thread, and learning this couldn't be wrong.
The teacher was not surprised; sewing was a popular course in the prison, and both men and women were expected to learn how to use a sewing machine.
On the first day, Wu Wangwang received a bunch of novel items, which could not be taken back to the cell and could only be used in class.
After a peaceful evening class, the director appeared on time at 8:30 and announced that Wu Wangwang had worked very hard today and received the highest score, but unfortunately, she did not get a chance for a reduced sentence.
"Keep up the good work tomorrow. You did a great job this afternoon. Also, what kind of reward would you like? Just tell me today, and it will be delivered tomorrow morning," the director asked with a smile.
Wu Wangwang answered directly: "I want to weigh the weight of my sins."
The director's smile vanished: "Why?"
“If I don’t know how serious my sins are, how can I know how many criminals I need to arrest before I can get out of prison?” Wu Wangwang retorted.
Faced with Wu Wangwang's question, the director remained silent for a long time. Then he placed the rating sheet in front of Wu Wangwang: "Choose another one. It's very difficult for prisoners who enter District 21 to get out just by catching criminals."
Wu Wangwang was taken aback: "Why?"
The director smiled again: "Because the prisoners who come to this area are all people who are hard to distinguish between good and evil. Every prisoner who catches a criminal may gradually cleanse himself of his sins, but you keep catching criminals and going to catch criminals, which is just repeating your past behavior and has no effect."
"Then wouldn't I be committing the least serious crime, but receiving the heaviest punishment?" Wu Wangwang looked at the director with a half-smile.
“The guy in Zone 1 is in a similar situation to you. You’ll probably never get a reduced sentence by catching criminals. But don’t worry, Zone 21 is different from other places. Here, as long as you live a normal life, your life will pass quickly,” the director comforted him.
It sounds great, but it's not good news for players. If the so-called special treatment is just a warning of certain failure, then Wu Wangwang won't be able to sit here and play forever.
Wu Wangwang returned to her cell and thought about it all night, ignoring the monster that came to pick at her lock again. The next day, she took advantage of her work to arrange a meeting with Ling Yuanshan at Gate 4. There was no need for them to avoid suspicion now; it was difficult to separate in the center of the island, and others would eventually know that they had come together.
The situation behind Gate 4 seemed slightly better than that behind Gate 2; there were no piles of blood and mud, but there were significantly more severed limbs on the ground.
Among the prisoners who came to Gate 4 today were some who were at Gate 2 yesterday. They had seen Ling Yuanshan make a move and kept their distance from him and Wu Wangwang, fearing that he might make a move again if he was unhappy.
The memory of the 600-pound prisoner being beaten is still fresh in everyone's mind, which has finally solidified Ling Yuanshan's image as a super criminal.
In the minds of well-informed prisoners, apart from the prison guards, the people they least want to mess with are Ling Yuanshan and Wu Wangwang, who is suspected to be his girlfriend. This woman's crimes and behavior are unusual, making her difficult to deal with. Moreover, she has Ling Yuanshan protecting her, so it's best not to touch her.
After yesterday's work, the prisoners gained some understanding of the center of the island and began to explore further in, as they couldn't just hide at the door and wait for it to open every day.
People set off in small groups from different streets, trying to find the criminals the prison guards had mentioned.
Just like yesterday, Ling Yuanshan first found a secluded place where he wouldn't be eavesdropped on, and then shared the information with Wu Wangwang.
Ling Yuanshan said, "Yesterday afternoon I was assigned to inspect the cells in the fourth ward. I found that the cells there were different types, and the locks were in a strange direction, locking from the inside. Also, the entire cell structure was not like the open structure of the first ward, but rather a circular cell structure."
Rather than calling Zone 4 a prison, it's more like a maze, and more like an escape maze. The passageways outside the bars are interconnected, but the cells are completely separate. If it weren't for the prison guards leading the way, Ling Yuanshan probably wouldn't have been able to find his way out on his own.
Ling Yuanshan chose cooking for his evening class. He thought that he was tired of eating in the cafeteria and going out to eat during holidays because he lived alone. If he knew how to cook, he could eat at home without having to go out, which would be much safer.
Sleep time was no different from the previous day, with strange prison guards walking around and the still unclear dragging objects.
Wu Wangwang recounted what had happened yesterday and took out the nail.
Ling Yuanshan took the nail and examined it carefully, but couldn't see anything special about it: "Such a thin nail, I can't tell what it's for. It's a bit too thin for nailing wood, but too long for nailing other things... By the way, why did you hide it when you took it out?"
The prison has such strict security, with both male and female guards, that it's very difficult to hide anything.
Wu Wangwang made up a random excuse: "It was hidden in the prison van. No one checked it on the way. I brought it to you this morning."
Wu Wangwang was lucky; if the prison guards had inspected the prison van, it would definitely have been confiscated.
Ling Yuanshan returned the nail to Wu Wangwang and said, "By the way, I received my verdict yesterday. I only have one crime: poisoning."
"Poisoning?" Wu Wangwang repeated, "Did it kill many people?"
“Yes, it seems I was experimenting on many people, so the crime is particularly serious. I should have been executed as soon as I was caught. But I am also a talent. To outsiders, I am a death row inmate who has long been dead, but I am still useful to insiders.” After reading the verdict, Ling Yuanshan immediately realized that it would be very difficult for him to pass the test with his identity.
After listening to Ling Yuanshan's story, Wu Wangwang comforted him: "Don't be sad, I'm the same. The director said that I'm the kind of prisoner who can't distinguish between good and evil. The prisoners who enter District 21 are all special, just like District 1. They will never be able to serve their full sentence and be released."
Ling Yuanshan was speechless for a moment. Was this supposed to be comforting?
With news this bad, they should have burst into tears on the spot.
Seeing Wu Wangwang's completely oblivious expression, Ling Yuanshan sighed deeply: "In our current state, we probably won't even have the chance to cooperate with other players. We've essentially acquired two doomed identities."
“No, I’ve thought about it. I’ll stay in the center of the island for a few days, and once my sins exceed the weight of the twentieth district, I can change districts. As for you… I haven’t thought of a way yet,” Wu Wangwang said happily.
In other words, once Wu Wangwang's sins increase, the situation where both of them are destined to die will be reduced to one person being destined to die, which can be considered good news.
Ling Yuanshan felt that this method was not something a human would come up with. Would a normal person want to spend a night in such a terrifying and unknown place?
At the same time, Ling Yuanshan recalled the blow he received from Wu Wangwang yesterday. The 600-pound prisoner was clearly a trained fighter and very difficult to dodge, but Wu Wangwang was very fast. Before he and the 600-pound prisoner could react, Wu Wangwang had already hidden behind him and even slapped his hand to prevent the incident from being discovered by other prisoners.
It's one thing for players to see each other's items, but it's troublesome if NPCs find out.
In less than a second, how could Wu Wangwang have considered so many things?
Various doubts resurfaced in Ling Yuanshan's mind, but he didn't ask. He knew that even if he did, Wu Wangwang would only make excuses to avoid the question. Perhaps she had her own concerns and didn't want to tell the truth. Since that was the case, they were not on opposing sides and still needed to cooperate, so he might as well not ask.
Ling Yuanshan disagreed with leaving this matter alone: "No, it's too dangerous for you to be alone in the center of an unknown island. Let's think of another way."
Wu Wangwang shook her head: "No way, have you forgotten? We have nine teleportation opportunities. Besides, I don't think there are many clues to be found in the prison outside. To be honest, we still don't have any clues. This instance... is very fragmented."
It falls under the category of plot fragments. Generally speaking, a dungeon will have a necessary event for players to find loopholes, such as the bride and groom going to the temple during the night sacrifice, and the past truth and identity entanglement in the promise.
Currently, this instance is quite empty, only giving players a vague quest.
The numbering system gave them identification information, letting them know roughly how many sins they had committed. The next step was to mitigate their sins, but they were not told what kind of criminals could be arrested to reduce their sins. To get the answer, they had to run around to many places, which was exhausting.
Having cleared so many dungeons, Ling Yuanshan still had more experience than Wu Wangwang. He said, "The biggest pitfall of these dungeons with little storyline is that they're exhausting. They make players run around constantly, and once they stop, they lose the motivation to get back up. Didn't you notice that this dungeon has no time limit?"
The most terrifying dungeons in the game are always those without a time limit. A person's energy and physical strength have their limits. The so-called 21 days to form a new habit is simply impossible for most people. They will only be exhausted after three or four days and then become addicted to the dungeon's tolerance.
As the director said, since we can't get out, there's nothing wrong with living a peaceful life here for the rest of our lives.
As long as you lock the cell door at night and don't go out, you won't be eaten by monsters. During the day, once you enter the cell, don't wander around. Just wait until midnight to reopen the door. There's absolutely no danger. Every afternoon's work is different, so you can always keep things fresh. And in the evenings, there's plenty of time to learn new skills.
Many people outside of prison cannot enjoy this kind of easy and simple life.
If you can't leave the instance for seven days, people will try to persevere in order to survive. After seventy days without leaving the instance, they will feel that living in the instance is not so bad. Anyway, they will die sooner or later if they go out, so why not go into the instance?
Why not stay here and live a carefree life?
Wu Wangwang was shocked after hearing Ling Yuanshan's description. It was alright if she was a ghost; if she really couldn't get through it, she could just report to the referee and say that she wanted to return to the Night Sacrifice instance. She could escape during the teleportation and continue to live freely. But for the players, they would never have the chance to leave again. They would die in a way that deceived themselves, when they wanted to live the most.
“In that case, we can’t waste any more time, young master. Let’s split up. That way, even if something goes wrong, we won’t have to worry about being transported to another prison area. Instead, we’ll go to the center of the island. If something happens to you outside, you can walk out from the center of the island the next day, and the prison guards definitely won’t be able to do anything to you.” Wu Wangwang tried to persuade Ling Yuanshan.
Seeing Wu Wangwang's insistence, Ling Yuanshan agreed. They agreed that every day thereafter, Ling Yuanshan would only choose to enter through Gate 4, and Wu Wangwang would remember the route, not go too far, and come to Gate 4 in the morning so that they could exchange information again.
After making their plans, they began to walk in. Yesterday, the mud and water got deeper and deeper, but today, the area behind Gate 4 was filled with more and more limbs, hanging everywhere. As they approached the bustling area, they could see some slightly larger pieces of limbs trying to piece themselves back into human form.
After seeing it once, the impact wasn't as great anymore. Wu Wangwang had time to think about what these things were: "Why are they so persistent in piecing themselves back into human form? Do they want to be human?"
Ling Yuanshan shook his head. There was no information available at the moment, making it difficult to draw any conclusions.
They reached the edge of the bustling area, and it was almost time. If Ling Yuanshan didn't stay, he would have to turn back and come back tomorrow.
As they were about to part ways, Wu Wangwang suddenly said, "Young Master, if you can only walk to this place every day, does that mean you'll never catch the criminals?"
Upon hearing this, Ling Yuanshan was stunned. Yesterday and today, he had only reached the same distance: "So... this is the rule."
If you maintain the weight of your sins within the time limit, you can't move forward and can't catch criminals to reduce your punishment. But if you move forward and catch criminals in time, you still can't go back in time. If you don't follow the time rule, you will also increase the weight of your sins. How much skill would a prisoner have to catch criminals and go back immediately?
This is an almost impossible task.
Even if players cooperate, with one person catching a criminal and the other going out to maintain the crime, it cannot completely offset the weight of sin caused by breaking the rules, and it may even get heavier.
Unless the player has a lot of items and catches a lot of criminals at once, causing the ratio to increase significantly.
Players like that would have to have completed at least a dozen dungeons to collect enough items to cheat, otherwise, getting the prisoner status in this dungeon is just waiting to die.
After listening to Ling Yuanshan's analysis, Wu Wangwang said, "Now we have the advantage of our identities. No wonder the information given by the copy is a number. I will try to find information here, while you can find other information outside. For example, you can exchange the first place each day for the corresponding information, as well as the afternoon's work. I think there is a place where we should find it."
"Where?" Ling Yuanshan asked hurriedly.
"The place where corpse oil is boiled," Wu Wangwang said earnestly.
Ling Yuanshan immediately understood that corpse oil could not be made casually. A person's volume is limited, and most people's body fat percentage is not high enough to produce a lot of oil. Therefore, there must be a place full of people and large enough to produce enough corpse oil for the entire park.
To find such a place, you have to change tasks one by one every afternoon. If you're lucky, you might find the place quickly.
There are only so many people on the island, and the number of prisoners is not much less, as are the prison guards. So where did the corpses used to make corpse oil come from?
If the bodies were being sent from elsewhere, but after two days on the island, they hadn't heard any more ship horns, leading Ling Yuanshan and Wu Wangwang to suspect that there was some secret on the island.
Ling Yuanshan had to leave. He quickly disappeared around the corner of the alley. Wu Wangwang looked back at the bustling area and strode over.
If we disregard whether they are human or not, there are still quite a few seemingly normal humanoid animals in the bustling area, wearing normal clothes and living very ordinary lives.
Wu Wangwang wandered aimlessly, just as she had become familiar with her surroundings after arriving in the human world.
As she walked towards the tallest buildings in the center, Wu Wangwang soon entered a normal neighborhood. She found that it was almost like a normal city, with police stations, traffic police, and shops. In this way, it was as if she, dressed in prison clothes, was out of place running around on the street.
The normal surroundings made one wonder if this was the real world or the prison outside.
There was a newsstand on the street. Wu Wangwang walked over to try to find a map, but as soon as she reached out, the shopkeeper inside swept her hand away with a feather duster.
"Where did this prisoner come from? You can't touch it if you don't have money. Be careful, or I'll call the police and have you arrested." The shop owner impatiently shooed him away.
"Money? Do you know there are prisoners locked up outside?" Wu Wangwang asked tentatively.
The shop owner rolled his eyes: "Another newbie. What don't we know about living here? You guys are so guilty, you should just stay in jail. You just don't believe in the law. Get out of here and don't interfere with my business. If you have any problems, call the police."
Knowing they were heinous criminals, their attitude was still unusual, and there was something strange about the whole island.
Wu Wangwang didn't hesitate much and turned to walk towards the police station she had just seen. The shop owner was right, if there was a problem, go to the police.
Upon entering the police station, Wu Wangwang was stunned. There were already five prisoners in the hall. They turned around when they heard the noise and were not surprised to see Wu Wangwang.
A policeman approached and said, "Hu He, come over here to register."
Wu Wangwang followed the police to register in a daze, received the form, and found that the information on it was almost the same as the information read by the warden, only more detailed.
After registering her information, the police said, "The prisoners who come to this island have only two tasks: to maintain the ecological balance of the island and to catch the criminals in this area. A high-IQ criminal like you should be wondering what kind of criminals the island needs you to catch, but it is exactly what it says."
The dungeon is playing word games again, always saying the literal meaning, but this literal meaning is often the most difficult possibility for players to perceive.
Wu Wangwang remained silent. Seeing that she did not answer, the police officer was not angry and continued, "You can arrest other prisoners and list their crimes. As long as you list one crime, you can reduce the corresponding crime, but in the same way, the crimes that the other person has already committed will be added together."
"Is this some kind of 'poisonous insect breeding'?" Wu Wangwang felt that this pattern was very familiar. If a Poison King were to be bred in the future, Ling Yuanshan might be kicked out of the first district.
The police officer chuckled silently: "You're all death row inmates to begin with. If we were to release you so easily with reduced sentences, we would be letting down the people you killed. Of course, if you find it difficult to play the game of killing each other, you can choose the classic mode, which is to find and catch the criminals on this island."
Wu Wangwang felt she hadn't misunderstood the meaning behind the criminal's actions: "Then can you directly provide the case details for us to solve?"
The police said they could, but added, "The people on our island all know the rules, so we never commit crimes. We'd like to provide it, but unfortunately, we don't have any criminal cases. Oh, by the way, I forgot to tell you, this city has a name: the City of Innocence."
Wu Wangwang showed a rare interest: "City of Innocence, do you mean there's absolutely no sign of crime in your city?"
The police officer was absolutely certain: "Absolutely not."
"Then I'll bring the scale from the prison tomorrow, and everyone can be weighed. I don't want to make things difficult for you. Don't worry, I'll take care of anyone who has weight." Wu Wangwang felt that she shouldn't make such a promise, after all, people aren't necessarily people, and ghosts aren't necessarily ghosts, let alone weighing the bones of criminals.
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Author's Note: [End of Chapter]
Wu Wangwang: Young man, you're still too young and inexperienced. [Let me see]
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