Escape Plan

The criminals held in Pebble Prison were all vicious monsters who had committed monstrous crimes—the kind who deserved to be shot ten times over.

In this world, committing a heinous crime often required formidable strength.

Blue Star was different from Earth. A thousand years ago, a "Rain of Evolution" had ushered Blue Star into the Evolutionary Era.

The plants and animals of Blue Star had all awakened Evolutionary Force. Their cells and even genes were transformed by it, granting them all kinds of powerful and miraculous abilities.

Humans alone remained unchanged. Facing the invasion of mutated beasts, they could only take up firearms and fight to survive.

That war had lasted five hundred years and became known as the "War of Evolution."

Over those five hundred years, humanity gradually found an evolutionary path suited to itself. One powerful expert after another rose to prominence, allowing humanity to defend its last remaining territory and bring the War of Evolution to an end.

Human evolution differed from that of other plants and animals. Humans had to absorb extracts from lifeforms at least one level above themselves for a chance to evolve.

This method was clearly more difficult than the evolution of plants and animals, but it also gave humans greater combat power.

Among those of the same rank, humans reigned supreme.

The higher the Life Level, the more obvious that advantage became. It was said that Saint-level human experts could generally hunt mutated beasts of the same rank, while the truly exceptional ones could even fight opponents above their own level.

Each time humans evolved, they had to absorb three vials of extracts from higher-level lifeforms. After absorbing an extract, aside from their physical abilities improving across the board, they would also randomly gain one ability belonging to the extract's original owner.

For example, Su Ze's neighbor in the next cell was a Cocoon Breaking Stage expert who had undergone two evolutions. He possessed abilities such as bloodsucking and blood manipulation. Through kidnapping, human trafficking, and other means, he had imprisoned and bred over a thousand "blood slaves" for his own feeding and pleasure. No fewer than two hundred people had died after being drained by him.

His bloodsucking ability came from the extract of a leech-like mutated beast, while his blood manipulation ability came from a third-rank mosquito beast that had evolved three times.

Su Ze had privately given him the nickname "Vampire."

In the cell opposite Su Ze was a middle-aged man who looked like the Sickly One. His face was deathly pale, and he was gaunt as a skeleton, appearing terribly frail. Yet he was actually a Cocoon Breaking Stage expert as well, capable of controlling corpses. He had once slaughtered an entire village and created an army of walking corpses. His inhuman crimes had enraged the entire nation.

Su Ze often felt utterly out of place in Pebble Prison because he was not twisted enough.

Of course, he had also single-handedly lowered Pebble Prison's average strength.

It could be said that Pebble Prison existed specifically to hold powerful death-row inmates guilty of atrocious crimes. Ordinary criminals had no right to be imprisoned here if they were too weak or had killed too few people.

Su Ze had only been sent to Pebble Prison thanks to King Mu's special attention.

However, under the deterrence of King Mu, a Saint-level lifeform who had evolved four times, Mu Kingdom had remained relatively peaceful over the past few decades. As a result, more than ninety percent of Pebble Prison's cells stood empty.

Thus, the only inmates around Su Ze's cell were Vampire and Sickly One. The three of them had been sentenced together and were all scheduled to be executed tomorrow morning.

Therefore, if Su Ze wanted to escape, those two were the only people he could rely on.

"Brother, want to break out of prison?"

Upon hearing Su Ze's question, Vampire sneered. "If you've got nothing better to do, go jerk off a few more times. Don't come bother me."

Su Ze heard the disdain in Vampire's voice, but he did not care. Convincing Vampire and Sickly One to help him escape would not be difficult. As long as he could make them believe his Escape Plan was feasible, the two would surely cooperate enthusiastically.

After all, they were death-row inmates with only one day left to live. Failing to escape meant nothing more than death, but if they succeeded, it would be like getting their lives back.

Su Ze said, "You don't want your sinful life to end just like this either, do you? Why not hear out my plan first and judge whether it's feasible?"

"You? A plan?" Vampire laughed aloud. "You were born into a good family, yet you screwed yourself into becoming a death-row inmate. You were dealt a winning hand and played it into the ground. I wouldn't dare listen to a plan from an idiot like you."

Su Ze had no response. With a month of his memories blocked off, he still had not figured out why Zhao Lingxiao had done something that destroyed his own future. From what Su Ze knew, Zhao Lingxiao was neither some lust-addled fool nor a spoiled playboy. On the contrary, he was ambitious, ruthless in his actions, and hardly lacking in women.

There had to be more to Zhao Lingxiao's rape and murder of Princess Zhuzhi, but Su Ze had no time to think about that for now. The most important thing was finding a way out.

Ignoring Vampire's mockery, Su Ze continued, "I already have a preliminary plan. But it requires you, me, and the guy across from us. Only the three of us working together have any chance of pulling it off, and the details still need discussion."

"You can keep laughing at me, or you can help me refine this plan and gamble on a chance to escape alive."

After Su Ze finished speaking, the next cell fell silent.

After a long while, Vampire's suppressed, low voice sounded through the metal wall again. "You're not the first person to want to escape. Pebble Prison has been standing for over a hundred years, and it has held plenty of Butterfly Transformation Stage experts who evolved three times. Yet there has never been a successful jailbreak. Why should I believe you can do it?"

"Forget everything else. There are cameras in the corridor outside these cells, and prison guards watch them twenty-four hours a day. The slightest unusual movement will alert the warden of Pebble Prison, and he's a Butterfly Transformation Stage expert..."

Su Ze cut him off directly. "What if I can temporarily disable the cameras?"

"How would you do that?" Vampire questioned.

"In terms of strength, I'm inferior to you. But in terms of status, you're not even worthy of carrying my shoes. What you can't do, I may not be unable to do," Su Ze said. "Since you know who I am, you should also know that money makes the world go round."

After another moment of silence, Vampire asked, "What do you need me to do in your plan?"

Su Ze smiled. He knew Vampire had taken the bait.

"First, help me open the door to this cell."

"I can't do that. The control console for the cell doors is at least fifty meters from here. I can manipulate blood, but only within ten meters of myself. Besides, the console requires fingerprint verification from a prison guard captain or higher."

"Then help me obtain the fingerprint of a guard captain. That should not be difficult for you."

"Also, help me kill someone!"

"Who?"

"You'll find out when the time comes."

Su Ze took a deep breath. "Now, let's talk over our plan with the guy across from us."

Around noon, Su Ze heard footsteps drawing closer along the corridor and knew the prison guards had come to deliver lunch.

There might not have been many prisoners in Pebble Prison, but nearly all of them were evolvers with special abilities. Even delivering meals carried a certain level of danger.

That was why every meal delivery was accompanied by a Guard Captain.

"Have a chicken leg and build up your strength. You'll need it for the road tomorrow."

The prison guard said this to Vampire in the next cell, but Su Ze's spirits rose when he heard it... there was chicken today!

After days of eating steamed buns, his mouth had almost lost all sense of flavor.

He hurried behind the heavy metal door and opened the small window on it. Outside stood a young prison guard delivering food, with a burly Guard Captain behind him.

Su Ze looked on expectantly, but then a steamed bun was tossed inside.

Su Ze caught the cold, hard bun. After staring blankly for a moment, he asked, "Where's my chicken leg?"

By Mu Kingdom custom, death-row inmates received better food the day before their execution. Clearly, Su Ze was being treated differently.

The Guard Captain outside the door chuckled. "Young Master Lingxiao, take a look at what you did. You're lucky to have a steamed bun at all. Why are you asking for chicken?"

Su Ze sighed. Seeing the two guards about to turn and leave, he quickly called out, "Captain, don't rush off yet. I have something I'd like to discuss with you."

The burly Guard Captain paused. After considering it for a moment, he told the food-delivering guard, "Go outside first."

Then he walked to Su Ze's cell door and said, "What do you want to tell me?"

Su Ze let out a breath of relief. The first step was what worried him most in the entire plan. Pebble Prison had three Guard Captains, and he had feared encountering one who was upright and incorruptible, someone who would not even bother listening to him.

Since this Guard Captain was willing to hear him out, that in itself revealed his attitude.

"I'd like to trouble you to deliver a message to my family. The Zhao Family definitely won't let you make the trip for nothing."

The Guard Captain neither agreed nor refused. Instead, he asked, "What message?"

"Come closer," Su Ze said.

The Guard Captain hesitated slightly. If it were any other prisoner in this prison, he would not dare lower his guard. But Zhao Lingxiao was merely a Mortal Lifeform who had never evolved and posed no threat to him. He therefore stepped forward to the cell door.

He pressed one hand against the cell door and tilted his head slightly.

He failed to notice the tiny beads of blood flowing where his fingers touched the metal door, leaving behind a faint fingerprint.

Su Ze leaned closer and lowered his voice.

"Go to my home and find someone named Zhao Qiang. Ask him just one question: 'Where is the doll?'" Su Ze paused. "Also, tell him that it would be even better if he could let me have one full meal before I die."

Where is the doll?

The Guard Captain only felt that the words came out of nowhere and had no idea what they meant.

However, he did not ask further and turned to leave.

But Su Ze knew that not refusing meant he had agreed. It was simply necessary to keep things discreet beneath the cameras.

After leaving the prison, the Guard Captain did not waste much time before driving to the Zhao Family residence.

Although Zhao Lingxiao had committed a grave crime, Mu Kingdom was not an ancient feudal dynasty. It was governed by law and did not punish entire families for one person's crimes.

Moreover, the Zhao Family had backers, so Zhao Yuanyi had not suffered much public fallout.

On top of that, Zhao Yuanyi had personally captured Zhao Lingxiao and turned him in. His act of putting justice above family had earned nationwide praise. Even if King Mu secretly blamed Zhao Yuanyi, he could not show it openly.

Therefore, the Zhao Family remained prosperous and influential enough for a Guard Captain to curry favor with.

After the Guard Captain left, Su Ze said to Vampire next door and Sickly One opposite him, "You two probably don't like chicken legs. Why not give yours to me?"

The two acted as though they had not heard him.

Su Ze added, "You're both Cocoon Breaking Stage experts. Going ten days or half a month without food or water won't affect you. I'm different—I'm just a mortal made of flesh and blood, and I'm weak. If I get sick from hunger, I'm afraid it might ruin things!"

"You don't want the plan to go wrong either, do you?"

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