Countdown: 24: 00: 00.
Qing Chen, Ye Wan, and Lin Xiaoxiao walked into the unoccupied Prison 18.
It was the first time Qing Chen visited the prison after 9 o'clock, and he was astounded by its size and emptiness.
In the open space, 4 robot guards watched motionlessly. The display on their faces was turned off as if they were sleeping as well.
Qing Chen was sure that he and He Xiaoxiao were both right because Jian Sheng only appeared in Prison 18 after visiting Luo City.
After transmigrating here, every transmigrator's life would begin anew starting from where he or she transmigrated.
Ye Wan said, "The day that the new group of transmigrators appeared we didn't take action immediately because we don't want others to make a connection between you and transmigration. We announced to the outside that you got placed in detention after trying to sneak up on the boss's ACE-005."
"Oh, how very thoughtful of you," Qing Chen understood that Li Shutong already considered all the possibilities when he was being considered to join the organization. It was just whether Qing Chen could pass the test or not.
At that moment, somewhere in the prison came a dry, scratchy voice, "Li Shutong, release my boss…"
Qing Chen was quite surprised, "Did you lock him up for four days?"
"Yeah, or else he would start causing trouble again. If it wasn't because the boss admired his loyalty, the boss would've got rid of him by now," said Lin Xiaoxiao, "But don't worry. He got food and water for the past four days."
"What did he do in the past? Have you researched that?" asked Qing Chen.
"I did," said Lin Xiaoxiao, "He used to be a retirement home fighter in the Helian Group[mnf]Think of "groups" here as gangs[/mfn]."
Qing Chen's mouth dropped, "Retirement home… fighter?"
"Right, you don't know about this," Lin Xiaoxiao nodded, "The ordinary people of the Inner World didn't have the habit of taking care of their older generation, so at around sixty years old, your child will send you into a retirement home and use your pension to do whatever they want."
"Then what's up with the fighters?? To beat the other elderlies?" Qing Chen was still puzzled.
"No, no that," Lin Xiaoxiao wanted to laugh, "The group would take protection money from the elderlies and let them select ‘fighters' depending on how much they pay. Then the ‘fighters' will pretend to be these old people's grandchildren, being used to scare away the other elderlies. That way, the old people that paid protection money would not have to worry about their safety inside a retirement home."
“These warriors even have a well-known ad campaign,” Ye Wan continued, “Helian Group retirement service, guaranteed to be faster and safer than your son. After all, if you die, we won't get our money; instead, your kid will get it all.”
Qing Chen hesitated, "Does this business actually work?"
"It's quite popular," Lin Xiaoxiao nodded and said, "At least enough to Enjoy reading on NovelHub - your free online novel platform."
Now Qing Chen was curious why the Qing Family would send him a retirement home fighter to assist him in the Fight for the Shadow.
Qing Chen thought for a moment and said, "Can I go see him first?"
"Of course." Lin Xiaoxiao brought Qing Chen to Lu Guangyi's cell, and the cell door opened after he waved at a camera next to it.
But Lin Xiaoxiao and Ye Wan didn't go in. They left room for Qing Chen to speak with Lu Guangyi privately.
Lu Guangyi sat on the cold floor motionlessly. The food placed in front of him was barely eaten.
He jumped up as the cell door opened, but when he saw Qing Chen, he cried, "Boss, are you ok?"
Qing Chen smiled and answered, "I'm OK." He sat down on Lu Guangyi's bed because he was still weak from not eating for so long.
"But how come you appear so thin?" Lu Guangyi questioned, squatting next to him. Did they put you through any kind of torture? When Qing Yan comes to see you in a few days, I'll inform him of their wrongdoings!
"No need to tell Qing Yan about this," Qing Chen shook his head, "I heard that you ran into some trouble with Li Shutong?"
"Yeah," Lu Guangyi nodded, "Is it just for his ACE-005? What's this torture for? Didn't Guo Huchan also come after it? How come he wasn’t punished? It must be because you are a Shadow candidate, and he must want to do something with the Qing Family very soon! ”
"Let's not talk about this again. We are in his territory after all," said Qing Chen.
"No, tomorrow I'll tear Li Shutong apart!" Lu Guangyi said furiously.
"Alright, that's enough acting," Qing Chen said while holding back his laughter.
"Acting… I didn't act," Lu Guangyi hesitated.
Qing Chen stared at him with a pair of clear eyes, until Lu Guangyi started feeling guilty about himself and sat down like a boy caught in the act of doing mischief.
Even when this person got Qing Family's military-grade mechanical limbs, he could still sense that this person was nothing but a servant.
Qing Chen was quite impressed. He merely spent a few days with Lu Guangyi, and they'd never had a connection before.
He felt that his observation abilities had increased after experiencing the pain of a lifetime.
He could clearly tell that Lu Guangyi knew he wouldn't end up too beat up, so he was just pretending to be loyal.
If he didn't do anything while Qing Chen disappeared, he would be forgotten.
There was no such thing as love and loyalty without a reason.
Qing Chen was very familiar with that.
Lu Guangyi murmured quietly, "Looks like you saw through everything already. It's just how we lowly people survive…"
Qing Chen sighed, "You don't have to gain my trust. I appreciate your efforts for the past few days, so don't worry. As long as you don't betray me, I won't use you as a chess piece."
Lu Guangyi looked up in awe, "Really, boss?"
"Yes," Qing Chen nodded.
Qing Chen thought and said, "There's something I have to mention though. You have to be more low-key while being here. Don't boss around like before."
"I heard from Qing Yan that the boss is a simple and kind man. He was certainly right!" Lu Guangyi became very cooperative, "Boss, what do you want me to improve? I will work my hardest to fix it."
Qing Chen said, "You can start by taking off the gold decorations on your mechanical arms. Be more natural."
"Yes!" Lu Guangyi ripped off the gold strips decorated on his arms without another word.
The gold strips were flat and long, much like a gold line.
It was about a millimeter thick, two millimeters wide, and ten or so centimeters long.
The moment it was taken off, the mechanical arm that he had seemed to have dropped in quality.
Qing Chen nodded and said, "I'll safe-keep these for you, and remember not to attract too much attention."
Lu Guangyi didn't give it much thought, knowing that a member of the five most powerful families would never be short on cash. They create money out of thin air.
"Rest early," Qing Chen said as he grabbed the golden lines from Lu Guangyi's hands and stuffed them into his pockets. He then walked out of the cell.
The teen held his sigh of relief until he left the cell.
Qing Chen began to calculate. That was about two centimeters of gold cubed. The amount should be roughly 30 grams at room temperature, based on the density of 19.23…
What is the current gold price in the Outer World?
Lin Xiaoxiao enquired: "Is there anything else you'd like to do?”
Qing Chen remarked, "Yes, I have a plan… to reaffirm something.”