Evil Tower

Biodata

Purpose and Inmate Population

• Containment of E-Types: Everyone officially classified as an E-Type Spiritual Power User, or “Extremist,” must enter the Evil Tower. Their exceptional power is considered a potential threat beyond the capabilities of ordinary imperial guards 6.
• Preventive detention: People suspected of developing into E-Types can be confined for observation and behavioral correction before their soul type is confirmed. The youths admitted alongside Xu Qingran include a twelve-year-old 12 13.
• Serious offenders: The institution also imprisons major criminals, death-row inmates, and dangerous E-Types who have committed violent crimes 15 21 25.
• Mentally impaired prisoners: Its population includes psychiatric patients and E-Types whose Spiritual Pools were permanently damaged after losing or being separated from their soul-bonded partners 16 20 24.
• Military recruitment: Released E-Types generally enter the imperial military, placing their abilities in the empire’s service 6.

The tower’s introductory lessons attribute more than ninety percent of the empire’s historically troublesome criminals—including serial killers—to E-Types. The same instruction states that fewer than one percent of detainees admitted as suspected candidates ultimately become confirmed E-Types 15.

Location and Layout

• The Evil Tower and the royal palace stand on different continents of Queen Star, separated by thousands of kilometers of ocean 13.
• Its deep-black buildings form six nested layers. The hollow cylindrical prison buildings rise nearly one hundred stories, with the outermost building described as nearly as wide as the capital Xu Qingran knew in his previous life 13.
• Prisoners generally become more dangerous, and their crimes more serious, toward the center 13.
• Interiors are dim, damp, stale, and sparsely finished. Some waiting-room walls are crumbling despite the institution’s advanced surveillance and assessment technology 13 16.

Numbered Buildings

Administration and Security

Staff and Oversight

• Tower Master / Warden: The institution’s highest administrator oversees detention and assessments. He knew Shen Tingyu as a prisoner and maintains contact with him after his military advancement 16.
• Individual tower supervisors: Each numbered tower has its own administrator. Tower 3’s supervisor handles Xu Qingran’s university invitation and departure arrangements 28 29.
• Interrogators: Assigned examiners establish preliminary personality assessments and can retain final authority over a detainee’s punishments and later test results 16 21.
• Military inspectors: Shen Tingyu returns periodically on the commander-in-chief’s orders. His inspections include the training and suppression of Tower 2’s E-Type inmates 16 21.
• Arrest personnel: Officers dispatched to apprehend suspected E-Types have Spiritual Pools ranked A or above and carry weapons used with Mental Power 12.

Surveillance and Restraints

• Mechanical surveillance spheres patrol the air above the complex; interview waiting rooms also have cameras in all four corners 13 16.
• Punishment bracelets are black wrist restraints fitted with red monitoring beads. They track the wearer’s physical state and deliver electrical shocks when violent behavior is detected 19.
• Remote monitoring devices allow staff or assigned evaluators to observe bracelet activity. Shen Tingyu receives one for the two punishment bracelets worn by Xu Qingran 22.
• Defensive cell locks and barriers prevent escape. Xu Qingran witnesses an inmate collapse and convulse after attempting to force a cell door 20 21.

Screening, Correction, and Release

Intake and Instruction

New arrivals register their information, attend ideological education, and undergo individual questioning. Interviews establish an initial basis for personality assessment 14 15 16.

• Instruction teaches that changing extreme thoughts and behavior before the soul fully develops may prevent an E-Type outcome 15.
• Lessons cover unstable E-Type Mental Power, difficulties finding compatible partners, and the risks of dependence on a soul-bonded D-Type 15 16.
• Former E-Type detainees serve as instructors. Xu Qingran’s introductory class is taught by a Golden Wing woman and her Silver Dragon partner 15.
• Correction includes psychological counseling, labor, and physical punishment. Xu Qingran treats his unusually demanding workload as an opportunity to strengthen his body 24 41.

Assessments

Suspected candidates may also leave if their soul and spirit stabilize and they are confirmed not to be E-Types 13. Compatible D-Types provide another means for confined E-Types to be released for imperial service; hospitals notify the tower when new D-Types are identified for possible soul matching 11 17.

Arenas

Arenas occupy the lowest levels of Tower 3 and the prison buildings farther inward. They pit condemned criminals, serious E-Type offenders, and selected prospective E-Types against one another 25.

Rules and Rewards

• Last survivor: Death-row participants fight until only one remains alive; that survivor can be spared their sentence 25.
• Selected candidates: E-Types and prospective E-Types sent into the arena may be talents the empire intends to recruit 26.
• Academy admission: A qualifying candidate who becomes the last survivor can bypass entrance examinations and basic tests for direct admission to Grandis Military Academy 26.
• Military prospects: Successful graduation through this route leads to a starting rank of major at the graduate’s faction headquarters 26.
• Official tolerance: The empire tacitly permits the arenas, but the death of an unsentenced participant can expose staff and the warden to royal punishment 27.

Protective Measures

• Silver-white bracelets protect vital points and block Mental Power penetration below S-rank. Their alerts summon guards to rescue the wearer 26.
• Tower 3’s condemned fighters generally have Mental Power between C- and A-rank. Protection does not eliminate the possibility of severe injury or death against an exceptionally dangerous opponent 25 26.
• Guards receive no live video feed, officially to avoid the harmful effects of watching the violence. The control system instead tracks remaining life signs 27.
• Armed guards await the survivor because previous victors have continued attacking after leaving the arena 27.

History

Shen Tingyu’s Imprisonment

Shen Tingyu was sent to Tower 1 at twelve. His unusually early E-Type development resembled that of a historical E-Type responsible for massacring a city, prompting the empire to try to break his will before he committed comparable violence. He spent three years there and endured nearly every punishment the building employed 41.

He eventually triggered a self-destructive eruption of Mental Power during a visit by the eldest prince, who had personally tortured him. The blast injured one of the prince’s eyes and permanently damaged Shen Tingyu’s Spiritual Pool. Shen then negotiated military service in exchange for freedom 41.

Transferred to an outer tower, he completed counseling and instruction before passing every assessment with perfect marks. He remains the institution’s only perfect-scoring graduate and later returns as a military inspector. He also previously entered an arena without protective bracelets 16 26 41.

Escaped E-Type

An S-rank fugitive’s escape prompts checkpoint searches on Red Maple Star. Tower guards later confirm that the fugitive is an E-Type and has already left Queen Star 3 20.

Xu Qingran’s Detention

Xu Qingran enters after reports of extreme behavior lead officials to suspect that he may awaken as an E-Type. Initially assigned to Tower 5, he is interviewed by Shen Tingyu under the name “Officer Niu” and fitted with a punishment bracelet after being judged to require stricter discipline 12 13 18 19.

After attacking a youth who knocks his food onto the cafeteria floor, Xu Qingran is transferred to Tower 4. He uses the punishment bracelets and compulsory labor to condition his weakened body. During his confinement, Qi Heqian reveals evidence obtained from a psychiatric inmate implicating Xu Qingran’s father and stepmother in his mother’s death 20 21 24.

Xu Qingran performs strongly in his initial assessment, but his written threat against the world—and against the author of the final question—draws Shen Tingyu’s attention. Shen sends him to Tower 3’s arena, where he discards his protective bracelets and emerges as the sole survivor nearly two days later 25 26 27 28.

After treatment in Tower 3’s medical department, Xu Qingran receives an official Grandis University military academy invitation. He leaves with a representative sent by Shen Tingyu shortly before Lu Cheng arrives seeking his release 28 29.