Chapter 37
"Are you the chief warden?"
After the chaos, Lu Mi looked at the old man who was slowly supporting himself and sitting up from the hospital bed.
"Ahem, it's me." The old man put the respirator on his face and took a few breaths before looking up. He cast a look of surprise or confusion on the silver-eyed young man. "I didn't expect such a coincidence to exist in the world."
Without anyone's explanation, he knew the identity of the visitor just by seeing Kano walking in behind the young man.
The only one who could survive from such a powerful demon without a scratch... Based on the old man's understanding of him over the years, it must be the "friend" that the demon always mentioned.
The warden turned his gaze towards Kano. His face was as calm and smiling as ever, but his golden-brown eyes were clearly flickering with anxiety because of the human youth.
...It's incredible.
The warden sighed. This was the first time he had seen Kano like this. There actually were humans out there, even Storm, fearing restraint, hesitated.
Lu Mi was unaware of the old man's turbulent emotions. He nodded and said, "I'm not sure if you're aware of the current situation in the prison. Let me explain—Scott has rebelled, sparking a major riot originating from the middle third floor. Xiao Lun is currently trying to stop them, and he hopes you can give him instructions as soon as possible."
The old man didn't show any anxiety when he heard this. Instead, he asked the silver-eyed young man, "Can you tell me, how are you and Xiao Lun...?"
Kano also looked over as if unintentionally.
Lu Mi's expression remained normal. "He is my boss now."
“…”
For some reason, the warden's expression became even weirder.
After a long moment, the warden sighed, not disguising his regret, "If only you had shown up earlier..."
As his body deteriorated over the past few years, his control over the prison became increasingly weak. Furthermore, the headquarters seemed to be trying to get involved in the "absolutely neutral" Tartarus in recent years, making Smith even more troublesome.
Therefore, even though he knew about some of Scott's tricks, he was still powerless and had to rely on Xiao Lun and the mechanical troops to keep him in check until now.
Time is really merciless, whether to him or to Tartarus.
If Lu Mi could appear earlier, it would not only mean that there would be a transcendent with unlimited future potential, but also that a powerful abyss species would completely stand on this side - if this were true, he would be completely willing to pick up the decisiveness of his youth and bet everything to clean up the prison from beginning to end. The result at that time might be completely different.
"What a pity..." The old man lowered his eyes, imagining another dreamlike possibility, muttering the regret that only he knew.
Then, under Lu Mi's silent gaze, the warden spoke to him word by word: "Please tell Xiao Lun... No, tell everyone in the prison now - there will be no more Tartarus from now on!"
Even though Kano had anticipated this, he was still somewhat touched when he heard it with his own ears.
If there were someone who truly belonged to this big prison, he would probably be completely unable to bear it at this moment, with a shock and disbelief on his face.
As if a last glimmer of light had returned, the warden's eyes gleamed with brilliance, and he declared, "The self-destruct system will be activated immediately. Anyone who doesn't want to die should hurry and escape!"
"I understand." Even in the face of such explosive news, Lu Mi remained very calm.
This calmness soothed the old man whose heart was in turmoil.
Didn't you ask him why?
No one accused him of being ruthless and incompetent.
There was no inquiry into the arrangements made for the guards and prisoners.
In his final moments, the old man unexpectedly found a long-lost peace with this young man he had never met. Even though this peace might have come more from the indifference of those who did not care about it, it still strangely comforted him.
It must be easy to get along with someone like this. Inexplicably, the Chief Warden seemed to understand Kano's conflict of wanting to escape his bonds, yet being unable to help but stay.
Then, the old man stretched out his hand and pointed at the void, "Tartarus, Document Number One."
Lu Mi saw a translucent screen suddenly appear in front of the old man, with numerous symbols rapidly scanning across it. After a series of intensive checks, a low electronic sound came from the air.
"Confirmed as the highest authority holder."
"Document No. 1—"
On that empty interface, there was only a single crimson button. The red light flickered across it, filled with ominous meaning.
A skinny hand slowly stretched out towards the interface, and the short distance seemed to have lasted a lifetime.
Then the wrinkled hand began to tremble slightly, as if tightened by an invisible rope. At the same time, the heart rate monitor next to it fluctuated rapidly, and Kano almost thought that the old man was going to die in the next second.
In this suffocating moment that seemed to be about to crush the heart, the silver-eyed young man who had been silent all this time suddenly said, "Let me do it."
"There's no need to push yourself at a time like this." The silver-eyed young man looked calmly at the old man who had suddenly frozen in thought. "You can go and rest now. Leave the rest to me."
…
On the fourth floor of the prison, Xiao Lun slowly stood up from a pool of blood.
After a short rest, he finally regained some strength.
Suddenly, the sound of messy footsteps came from a distance. Xiao Lun's eyes became fierce, and the blood surging in his body made him look like a terrifying evil ghost.
"Warden Xiao Lun, it's us!"
It was not until a familiar voice was heard that the scarlet in Xiao Lun's eyes suddenly stopped.
"Why are you here?" Xiao Lun looked at his familiar subordinates and his adjutant.
The adjutant quickly replied, "An exchange student told us everything. They're working with some of our men on the first floor to deal with Liaison Officer Scott! I can't believe Liaison Officer Scott has such wicked ambitions. He's been lurking in the prison for so long, secretly using his authority to communicate with the outside world!"
The adjutant kept on talking indignantly, but Xiao Lun's impatient cold glance made him stop in time and get to the point immediately.
"...and the rest of you followed me to support you—are you okay?"
"Exchange student?" Xiao Lun's expression changed, and he suddenly covered his face and smiled, "It's really true that he completely..." He suddenly paused here and didn't continue.
Xiao Lun then took another deep breath and opened his eyes, his gaze extremely sharp. "Since you are all here, then follow me to find the warden."
That person should be there now. I wonder what the situation is like now.
This unprecedented feeling of "worry" made the warden of the prison frown uncomfortably.
The adjutant beside him quickly echoed, "That's right! The warden will definitely be able to turn the tide and restore peace to the prison..."
However, before the adjutant could finish his words, a unique whistle sound suddenly filled the air.
——The sound of the whistle means that the communication channel unique to the Chief Warden of Tartarus has been opened at this moment.
Xiao Lun looked up faster than anyone else and looked at the broadcasts left in various places in the passage.
Even the people fighting on the first floor suddenly stopped and subconsciously looked in the direction of the sound.
However, what came from the radio was not the voice of the warden as they thought, not even a human voice, but a sudden electronic sound.
Like an announcement, he explained a piece of news that made everyone's eyes widen suddenly—
"Transfer of the highest authority."
"Identity entered: Lu Mi."
“……!”
etc--!
Although they understood every word, but when they put them together, why did it sound so strange?
Only some people with particularly quick brains quickly figured it out in their minds: Everyone in this world knows that the highest authority in Tartarus has belonged to only one person since ancient times, and that is the chief warden of Tartarus. Now this person named Lu Mi has obtained new highest authority, which means?
Pairs of pupils suddenly trembled, and countless people subconsciously opened their mouths, which opened and closed with twitching.
No, no way! ?
Their hearts suddenly started beating wildly.
However, the next second, the system that had completed the transfer of authority spoke again, with the same unchanging cold electronic voice, congratulating—
"Announcement: the thirty-ninth chief warden of Tartarus is born!"
The cold but increasingly unquestionable electronic sound struck everyone's heart.
"From now on, Lu Mi will be the new chief warden of Tartarus!"
“…”
After a brief silence, the entire prison suddenly exploded like a firecracker.
Not only the prison guards, but even the prisoners were talking about it crazily—
"Huh? Who is this Lu Mi?"
"That old man let a guy he'd never heard of take over the prison. Is he crazy?"
"The warden must have his reasons for doing this..."
"He should be the former chief warden now!"
"I don't know who this new warden is... but Tartarus is a mess right now. Our crude methods can't suppress these restless lunatics. So, what will you do, new warden?"
The prisoners' ridicule and gloating, the prison guards' anxiety, and some people's deep speculation and wait-and-see attitude...
Thousands of thoughts flashed through everyone's mind in an instant, and all their energy was focused on the name that most people heard for the first time, but had already left a deep impression on them.
"Hey, Amber..."
"Don't ask me! I don't know what's going on!"
The exchange students on the first floor were all equally confused and looked at each other, almost not caring about fighting.
"Xiao, Warden Xiao Lun?" On the fourth floor, the adjutant looked tremblingly at his boss whose expression could not be seen clearly.
Just when everyone was immersed in their own thoughts and the prison was noisy, a different voice finally came from the radio.
"Hello?" A young voice, as if clearing a throat, was like the wind and snow blowing through the wilderness, suddenly waking everyone up.
"You should all be able to hear it." The voice continued.
"So that's our new warden?" Some people laughed maliciously. "He sounds like a kid who hasn't grown up yet."
"You should have heard the announcement just now. As the newly appointed highest authority in Tartarus, I will now issue my first order—"
Eyes, either curious or disdainful, were cast towards the broadcast that was constantly emitting sound.
"It is now 4:35 AM on August 27, 2277. I hope everyone will remember this time, because at this moment, I will represent Tartarus and announce to the world its end."
As the voice on the radio slowly spread, more and more people became furious.
"...What is he talking about?" The expressions of those who were looking forward to the show faded away one by one.
Voices of shock, panic, and disbelief were heard more and more frequently from all over the prison.
However, their voices and noise did not shake the existence on the other side of the broadcast in the slightest.
In the empty ward on the top floor, an old man, seemingly resigned to everything, whispered to his chosen silver-eyed youth, "Tartarus is a place of 'absolute neutrality,' absolutely independent of any political faction, much like its namesake in certain myths. Even the God King bows before it. Its establishment wasn't a sudden event, and many factors are involved, even to my mind right now."
"But over time, more and more people wanted to intervene here. They set their sights on the powerful and terrifying monsters here. When the world was completely unprepared, they wanted to use these dangerous forces, causing a terrible tragedy in history. Many people died at that time."
"So, Tartarus established a strict rule after that: no one, not even the prison guards, could leave for life, in order to prevent external shocks and influences... But perhaps, from that point on, they gradually went the wrong way."
Whether it is the ambitious Scott, the parachuted-in Smith, or Xiao Lun who grew up in prison and is obsessed with defending the system... they are all products of this twisted cage.
"I don't have the courage to end it all. I've invested my entire life here, so—"
The old man didn't finish his words.
The silver-eyed young man had already pressed the red button on the interface with one hand, and the gear-like pattern in the background began to spin rapidly in an instant.
He said, "Then let me be the one who cuts it all off."
[Self-destruction program has been activated, countdown 10——]
[9——]
[8——]
The huge countdown sound echoed throughout Tartarus.
People at all levels finally realized that this was no joke.
"Crazy, lunatic--!!" It seemed that only this incoherent name could describe what was happening.
An expression of panic crept onto their cheeks, completely distorting their expressions.
As the countdown drew closer, the entire Tartarus began to vibrate wildly. Countless molten lava from the upper layers lost its restraints and began to pour down to the lower layers on a large scale.
All electricity was cut off, and the prisoners in the cells began to frantically hit the shield that had lost its power.
Run away——
Let's mess up——
The roars of aliens echoed in the corridor, and the prison guards standing in the mess looked around in confusion.
This is a carnival of doomsday.
The author has something to say: Onlookers: Look! It's the new chief warden! From the sound of it, he's a new guy who's easy to bully!
Lu Mi: The first order is to self-destruct, Tartarus!
Onlookers: ? ? !
You didn't expect it to end just as it began.
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