The Mysterious Prison

Chapter 1: Mysterious Prison

Sewage flowed, and mold spread.

Deep within a certain abandoned prison…

Snap!

A cell cluster, encased in a membrane, detached itself from the surface of a corpse.

The cell cluster was only the size of a human index finger. Macro scopically, it resembled a blob of white snot.

This cell cluster seemed to possess independent thought and the ability to act.

However, due to an imperfect nervous system, it lacked the five senses.

But when the cell cluster came into contact with external objects, it could acquire basic information about the substance through a special method called 'intercellular signal transmission'.

The detached cell did not linger for long and began to move.

Transcription and translation.

Actin production.

This cluster of cells, the size of a finger, began an extremely slow 'migration', moving at about the speed of a snail.

"No… not perfect enough, and not what I want."

The cell cluster seemed to actively abandon this seemingly complete and strong body, continuing its search within the prison…

If there were a torch to provide light at this moment.

You would find that in this giant cell block, there were hundreds of discarded bodies abandoned by the cell cluster.

The cell cluster did not form spontaneously.

It had its own name—Han Dong.

He was an overseas Chinese, an associate professor at the University of Florence's Faculty of Life Sciences. Before becoming this cellular aggregate, he was exactly 31 years old.

On July 21, 2018, he died of lung cancer on a hospital bed at Florence Central Hospital.

The hospital room was filled with flowers, but these flowers came from his students, not his family.

At the moment of death, the torment of illness vanished completely, and Han Dong felt a sense of relief.

He did not ascend to heaven or fall into hell. He did not drink the Meng Po Soup, walk the Bridge of Helplessness, or experience the so-called cycle of reincarnation.

All that greeted him was endless darkness.

However, his consciousness remained present throughout this process.

"Am I dead or not?! After death, the brain remains active for five minutes… but I've been dead for an hour now?"

Han Dong had a strong 'sense of time'. With his consciousness clear, he knew exactly how long he had been 'dead'.

Han Dong slowly tried to perceive his 'body'. Unexpectedly, an image of the cell cluster appeared in his consciousness.

Only two things were possible.

First, he could sense detailed information about contacted items through intercellular signal transmission.

Second, he could generate movement ability by producing actin.

Just as Han Dong synthesized actin within his cells for the first time and engaged in related activities, a system prompt echoed in his mind.

『Please select a 'suitable' body within the prison. The current maximum load capacity is [100].

If you are not satisfied with the selected body, you may send it to the Processing Room for cellular separation.

Outside of the cellular form, you cannot move or transfer other prisoner bodies.』

The prompt ended.

A prison floor plan was then generated in Han Dong's consciousness.

Single-story structure.

A total of two hundred and four cells.

The floor plan also marked the corresponding prisoners in each cell with light spots and annotations, with the words 'Deceased' added.

In addition, the central area of the prison displayed a room marked in red, named the [Management Room], which was locked.

The room Han Dong was currently in was the [Processing Room].

"A foreign prison? Rebirth after death? What exactly am I?"

These questions did not trouble Han Dong for long.

Having long been at the forefront of science, he had a strong ability to accept new things.

In a short period, he realized he was an independent cell cluster with a protective membrane. He did not understand how a cluster of cells could survive independently and carry consciousness.

Cells are the basic units of life activities, proving that he was not yet dead.

"The so-called death transmigration happened to me? And I transmigrated into a cellular aggregate? How ironic."

Han Dong had dedicated his life to the study of cell biology. Six months prior, he published an article in the top international journal Cell titled "On Activating and Controlling Cellular Regulation Through Gene Encoding."

After being promoted to associate professor due to this article, Han Dong was diagnosed with late-stage lung cancer during a school-wide physical examination. Eaten away by cancer cells, his future was cut short.

He should have died, his consciousness completely extinguished, but instead, he was reborn in the form of a Cell Cluster.

Without much hesitation, considering that the Cell Cluster needed energy replenishment to function normally, the immediate priority was to follow the mysterious system's instructions and find a "suitable" physical body.

Following the map's directions, Han Dong made his way to the nearest prison cell by "crawling" at an extremely slow pace.

His movement, almost identical to a snail's, took him an entire day.

Matching the map in his consciousness with the small dot symbolizing "himself," he migrated along the shortest path to the adjacent cell, encountering a prisoner's corpse for the first time within the prison.

"Fortunately, I have the map's guidance. Otherwise, with all five senses completely lost, this would be truly troublesome..."

The moment he touched the corpse.

On Han Dong's consciousness level, a complete human anatomical cross-section immediately appeared, accompanied by detailed textual annotations, which could be viewed within his consciousness.

Campbell Frank (a underground bare-knuckle boxer in life)

[Skull] Inferior, Load Capacity Required: 5

[Left Arm] Normal, Load Capacity Required: 11

[Right Arm] Superior, Possesses "Rapid Punch" Skill, Load Capacity Required: 23

[Torso] Normal, Load Capacity Required: 13

[Left Foot] Normal, Load Capacity Required: 11

[Right Foot] Normal, Load Capacity Required: 14

A series of data information was fed back to Han Dong's consciousness level.

"It seems the prisoner underwent 'special treatment' before death, which preserved the corpse from decay, allowing me to occupy and control it.

The previous prompt mentioned that if I'm not satisfied with a physical body, I can discard it in the [Processing Room] and choose again.

There are many other bodies to choose from. I need to use one of them to understand my current situation."

"Please confirm if you wish to acquire Campbell Frank's complete physical body? Required Load Capacity: 77."

"Yes!"

In the blink of an eye.

The Cell Cluster entered the body through the "pores" on the surface of the prisoner's flesh, activating the entire body in a short period and restoring vitality.

First, a ringing sound echoed in his mind.

Following that, a cold, stone-like sensation transmitted from all parts of his body... indicating that the nervous system was fully connected.

The simple prison cell, constructed from black rock and rebar, came into view as his vision returned.

Just as Han Dong was about to begin investigating and analyzing the mysterious prison, trying to deduce why he was reborn and what secrets this mysterious prison held.

Buzz! He froze completely.

Han Dong leaned against the wall with one hand, gritting his teeth and letting out a roar!

"Wow... this guy is an idiot!"

After completely occupying Campbell Frank, Han Dong felt terrible.

With the restoration of his five senses, he received information about his surroundings. As he attempted to process complex data using his brain, a major problem occurred!

Han Dong, the consciousness itself, was the youngest associate professor in the life sciences department of a prestigious university, a true academic prodigy.

But his consciousness was one thing, and his brain was another. When his consciousness collected data through his senses and formulated the relevant processing formulas, he encountered a huge issue!

It was like buying a top-tier graphics card, an ASUS ROG Strix RTX 2080 Ti, only to install it in a computer with an old-generation i3 processor.

What's worse, that processor had been water-damaged!!

Due to the massive influx of data, the system was on the verge of collapse.

Han Dong could only close his eyes and silently chant Buddhist scriptures, minimizing external information intake and emptying his thoughts as much as possible!

Otherwise, this idiotic brain would inevitably crash or even "burn out" from the overwhelming data input.

Reborn at the start, in a Western fantasy world—New book period, two updates per day. We hope everyone will vote a lot.