Mysterious Prison

Sewage flowed everywhere, and mold ran rampant.

Deep within an abandoned prison...

Smack!

A Cell Cluster wrapped in a plasma membrane actually separated from the surface of a corpse.

The Cell Cluster was only the size of a human index finger. From the outside, it looked like a lump of white mucus.

This Cell Cluster seemed to possess independent thought and mobility.

However, due to its incomplete nervous system, it had none of the five senses.

Yet whenever the Cell Cluster came into contact with an external object, it could obtain basic information about the material through a special method known as intercellular signaling.

The separated cells did not remain still for long and began to move.

Transcription and Translation.

Actin production.

This finger-sized mass of cells began an extremely slow "migratory movement," roughly comparable to a snail's Movement Speed.

"No... not perfect enough. It's not what I want either."

The Cell Cluster seemed to have voluntarily abandoned this seemingly intact and strong body, continuing its search through the prison...

If there had been a torch to illuminate the place,

you would have discovered that there were over a hundred bodies discarded by the Cell Cluster within this enormous cell block.

The Cell Cluster had not formed on its own.

It had a name—Han Dong.

A Chinese expatriate and an Associate Professor at the University of Florence School of Life Sciences, he had been exactly thirty-one years old before becoming this cellular aggregate.

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

The hospital room had been filled with flowers, but they had come from his students rather than his family.

At the moment of death, the torment of illness had vanished completely, and Han Dong had instead felt relieved.

He had neither ascended to heaven nor fallen into hell. He had not drunk Meng Po's Soup, crossed the Bridge of No Return, or experienced the so-called cycle of reincarnation.

Only endless darkness had awaited him.

Yet his consciousness had persisted throughout the process.

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

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

Han Dong slowly tried to sense his "body," only for the image of a Cell Cluster to appear within his consciousness.

There were only two things he could do.

First, he could sense detailed information about objects he touched through intercellular signaling.

Second, he could gain the ability to move by producing actin.

Just as Han Dong synthesized actin within his cells for the first time and began moving, a system notification echoed in his mind.

'Please select a "suitable" body within the prison. Current maximum Load Value: 100.

If you are dissatisfied with the selected body, you may send it to the Processing Room for Cellular Separation.

While not in cellular form, you cannot carry or transfer the bodies of other prisoners.'

The notification ended.

A floor plan of the prison then appeared within Han Dong's Consciousness Layer.

Single-story structure.

A total of 204 cells.

The floor plan also marked the corresponding prisoner in every cell with points of light and annotations, each labeled with the words "deceased."

Aside from that, a room marked in red was displayed in the prison's central area. It was called the Administration Room and 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 worked at the forefront of science for years, he had an extremely strong ability to accept new things.

He quickly realized that he was an independent Cell Cluster with a protective membrane, though he did not understand how a mass of cells could survive independently and carry consciousness.

Cells were the basic units of life, which was enough to prove that he was not dead.

"So this so-called death transmigration happened to me? And I even transmigrated into a collection of cells? How ironic."

Han Dong had devoted his life to research in cell biology. Half a year ago, he had published an article in the top international journal Cell, titled "On Activating and Controlling Cellular Regulation Through Gene Encoding."

Han Dong had earned his position as an Associate Professor because of that article, only to be diagnosed with late-stage lung cancer during the university-wide faculty medical examination... Mercilessly eroded by cancer cells, his future had been utterly cut short.

He should have died completely when his consciousness dissipated, yet he had been reborn in the life form of a Cell Cluster.

Without hesitating for long, Han Dong considered that the Cell Cluster also required energy to function properly. His most urgent task was to follow the mysterious system's instructions and find a "suitable" body.

Following the map's directions,

Han Dong moved toward the nearest cell by crawling at an incredibly slow pace.

His migratory movement was almost identical to that of a snail, and it took him an entire day.

Matching the map within his consciousness to the tiny point of light representing "himself," he migrated along the shortest route to the neighboring cell and made contact with a prisoner's corpse for the first time.

"Good thing the map is guiding me. Otherwise, with all five senses completely gone, this would be a real pain..."

The instant he touched the corpse,

a complete cross-sectional diagram of a human body immediately appeared in Han Dong's Consciousness Layer, accompanied by detailed written annotations that could be examined within his consciousness.

Campbell Frank (an underground black-market boxer in life)

Head: inferior. Load requirement: 5.

Left arm: ordinary. Load requirement: 11.

Right arm: high-quality. Possesses the "Rapid Punch" skill. Load requirement: 23.

Torso: ordinary. Load requirement: 13.

Left foot: ordinary. Load requirement: 11.

Right foot: ordinary. Load requirement: 14.

A series of data flooded into Han Dong's Consciousness Layer.

"It seems the prisoners underwent some kind of 'special treatment' before death, preventing their corpses from decaying and allowing me to occupy and control them.

The earlier notification said that if I'm dissatisfied with a body, I can discard it in the Processing Room and choose another.

There are plenty of bodies available. I need to use one to understand the current situation."

'Please confirm whether you wish to acquire the complete body of "Campbell Frank." Required Load Value: 77.'

'Yes!'

In the blink of an eye,

the Cell Cluster entered through a "pore" on the prisoner's body surface, rapidly activating the entire body and restoring its vitality.

First, a bout of tinnitus echoed through his mind.

Then, the cold touch of stone reached him from every part of his body... indicating that the entire nervous system had been connected.

A crude cell made from black rock and steel bars came into view as his vision returned.

Just as Han Dong was preparing to investigate and analyze the mysterious prison, to deduce why he had been reborn and what secrets this mysterious prison concealed,

Bzzz! His entire body suddenly froze.

Han Dong braced one hand against the wall, gritted his teeth, and let out an enraged roar!

"Holy shit... this guy's a complete idiot!"

After completely taking over Campbell Frank, Han Dong felt terrible.

Once the return of his five senses gave him information about his surroundings, a major problem arose when he tried to use the brain for complex data processing!

Han Dong's consciousness was that of the youngest Associate Professor at a prestigious university's School of Life Sciences, an academic genius.

But consciousness was consciousness. When it gathered data through the senses, formulated the relevant processing equations, and tried to hand them over to the brain for processing, a huge problem arose!

It was like buying an ROG 2080 Ti graphics card, only to install such a top-tier card into a computer with an old-generation i3 CPU.

The bigger problem was that the processor had even been water-damaged!!

With the influx of massive amounts of data, the system nearly crashed.

Han Dong could only close his eyes, silently recite the Great Compassion Mantra, reduce his intake of information from the Outside World as much as possible, and empty his mind as much as he could!

Otherwise, this idiot's brain would inevitably crash from the influx of too much data, perhaps even "burn out."

A rebirth opening in a Western Fantasy world—two updates a day during the new release period. Hope everyone will vote.