Ten minutes after the virus invasion began, Gu Ding looked at the explicit images appearing on the monitoring room screens and dialed the prison's internal emergency number, Old Henry's direct line. "Warden, this is Gu Ding, the new recruit. I'm in the monitoring room right now, but... I just discovered that there seems to be a problem with the footage here..."
"I know. I'll be right there. Notify the network maintenance worker and have him figure something out." Hearing Old Henry hang up nervously, Gu Ding guessed that he had already heard about the virus invading systems on other planets. But it did not matter if he knew; it would not change the fact that the system was about to collapse.
A few minutes later, Old Henry arrived at the monitoring room, but he had also received word from the network maintenance worker that the system had been completely compromised.
"Unlock all prison checkpoints and restraint devices. Keep an eye on Kane's location and generate a route map for me." Gu Ding secretly issued a new instruction to Sea Emperor.
"Warden, I'm going to the restroom." After informing him, Gu Ding left the monitoring room and headed for the restroom. Old Henry stared blankly at the surveillance footage, clearly too distracted to care about Gu Ding. Once inside, Gu Ding locked himself in a stall, took off his trainee guard uniform, and changed into a filthy prisoner outfit. After changing, he did not come out immediately. Instead, he sat on the toilet lid and watched the situation unfold through the surveillance feeds controlled by Sea Emperor.
Once the prison checkpoints and restrictions went out of control, the prisoners quickly began rioting. In less than five minutes, prisoners were charging toward the guards' office area.
Gu Ding shut off the surveillance feed. Hearing the noise draw closer, he knew the prisoners had started causing trouble in the office area, so he finally pushed open the restroom stall door.
Just then, the restroom door was flung open. A guard in uniform locked the door behind him and panted heavily. Gu Ding's heart tightened. He used Shadow Step to silently slip behind the man, then struck the back of his neck with a chop. The guard instantly passed out.
Gu Ding dragged him aside, unlocked the door, and left the restroom. To his left was the guards' office area, filled with clamor. Gu Ding headed right, toward the prisoner holding area.
Sea Emperor had long since locked onto Kane's location, and Gu Ding sprinted in that direction. The path was a complete mess. To vent their resentment, the prisoners had smashed nearly everything along the way. Water dispensers, coffee machines, vending machines... almost nothing remained intact.
He encountered quite a few fierce-looking prisoners along the way, but fortunately, Gu Ding was wearing prisoner clothes, so no one bothered him. He soon found Kane amid the crowd.
"Uncle Kane!" Gu Ding shouted.
Kane was frowning at an intersection, hesitating over which path to take. When he heard someone call his name, he turned around in confusion. As far as he knew, the only people he knew on Deep Sea Star were Rose and her group. Yet he was the only one arrested in this incident, and he could not understand why he would have an acquaintance in this prison. When he saw Gu Ding, his expression visibly froze.
"Little Gu Ding, why are you here?" Kane asked in confusion.
"Come with me. I'll explain after we get out." Gu Ding led Kane toward the guards' office building. "This chaos is only temporary. We need to leave as soon as possible."
As he spoke, Gu Ding secretly had Sea Emperor notify Kane's crew to prepare for departure at any time.
On Kane's ship, Kaviel was surprised when he received the unfamiliar message. He was about to speak when someone beside him shouted, "Someone just sent me a message saying the boss is about to get out and that we should be ready to set sail at any time."
"I got it too!" Quite a few others soon voiced the same thing.
"Quick! Start the engines and prepare to depart! The moment the boss arrives, we leave immediately!" As the Pirate Crew's vice-captain, Kaviel immediately made the right call.
"Vice-Captain, are you sure this information is real?" someone could not help asking.
"I'm not sure, but I choose to believe it." Kaviel stared intently in the direction of Hai Lan Star Prison.
Gu Ding led Kane all the way toward the guards' office area. Kane had no idea where the exit was, so he could only follow closely behind Gu Ding.
"We'll first change into guard uniforms in the office area, then we can walk straight out through the main entrance." Gu Ding told Kane his plan. He had chosen to change clothes in the guards' office area because although it had been attacked by prisoners, there were fewer prisoners there than in the other areas. The prison's only exit also required passing through the office area. Besides, other guards in that area would draw the prisoners' attention, making it far less likely that they would be surrounded and attacked.
Soon, the two reached the guards' office area. Gu Ding darted into a restroom, and Kane immediately followed him inside. Gu Ding took two sets of guard uniforms out of his Storage Space and tossed one to Kane. "Once you've changed, head back to the port immediately. I've already told Kaviel and the others that you'll be there soon. They should have the ship's engines running and be waiting for you."
The two quickly changed inside the stalls, and Gu Ding led Kane toward the exit.
The moment they left the restroom, they ran into three vicious-looking prisoners. Thinking the two were real guards, the three charged at them.
Kane merely shifted his footing, his figure flashing repeatedly. Three chops struck the men's necks almost simultaneously, so fast that Gu Ding's eyes could not even follow them. The three bodies immediately went limp. A flash of envy passed through Gu Ding's eyes, but he did not hesitate and led Kane toward the entrance.
The two then smoothly left Hai Lan Star Prison through its main gate. Kane raised an eyebrow. "I don't know how you did it, but Uncle Kane thanks you. Sooner or later, they'll find out that you were behind this. Come with us."
"No, Uncle Kane. I'll be fine, so don't worry. Hurry up and go. Your companions are still waiting for you." Gu Ding waved casually and flashed his trademark grin.
Guessing that Gu Ding had another way to get away, Kane did not press him further. He waved at Gu Ding, then vanished after a few leaps.
Just then, two prisoners rushed out through the prison gate as well. Seeing Gu Ding's uniform, they did not pay much attention to him and seemed unwilling to get tangled up with him as they left. However, one of them glanced toward the direction Kane had just gone.
Seeing the two leave, Gu Ding did not pay it any mind. He lowered his head and sent Auntie Rose a message. "Auntie, Uncle Kane has successfully escaped from prison. You don't need to worry anymore."
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