Black Prison

Inside a luxury sedan, the handsome man

carefully placed the cassette that had suddenly appeared in his hand into a specially made briefcase.

Only after closing the briefcase and locking it with a combination did he slowly let out a breath.

"Now that we have the Song of Extinction, our plan is already halfway to success." A beautiful woman in a short skirt sat beside him.

She stroked the man's cheek adoringly and smiled. "I'm already looking forward to the reward that great person will give us once the mission is complete. We'll both have a good chance of reaching our fifth Awakening."

"Don't get careless! Black Umbrella still ran into trouble. According to the original plan, once the operation began, he was supposed to take the Forbidden Item and his followers to launch a feint against the Processing Department's East City Branch. But he got careless and paid for it. Then three of his followers went missing along with him."

As he spoke, the handsome man's expression darkened. He lifted the woman onto his lap, slipped a hand beneath her short skirt, and continued, "If those three followers hadn't been unqualified to learn about the plan—and unqualified to enter the 'Ark'—I wouldn't dare set foot in Border City No. 3!"

The city was called a border city because it was the one closest to the Calamity Forbidden Zone.

It was humanity's foremost stronghold against calamities, and its forces were formidable. It had four branches and one headquarters, all staffed with many powerful Handlers and equipped with a large number of Forbidden Items.

What was more, Border City No. 3 was home to an old man who had survived a calamity and fought his way out of the Calamity Mist.

This was an extremely dangerous place for them—and even for the "Ark."

If the reward weren't so generous, he wouldn't have come here to take such a risk.

The woman blushed at his movements, but laughed coquettishly. "It's fine. With the Song of Extinction, they'll have their hands full when the time comes. Those cunning Forbidden Items won't pass up such a good chance to escape. That alone will give them enough headaches. We'll stick to the plan."

"Besides, we're not trying to destroy the giant city." She nestled against him and whispered into his ear, "We're trying to force that King to act, and see whether he's died of old age."

"Force that... Old Mad King to act!" the man murmured. He seemed so wary of the King's title that his voice was barely audible.

The Old Mad King, once known as the Mad King,

was a powerful being who had challenged the King of the Forbidden Zone. Against all odds, he had led the human army to this region, then built Border City No. 3 right under the noses of three Forbidden Zones.

It stood watch over all three Forbidden Zones!

He had even declared that one day they would reclaim 12.6 million square kilometers of territory.

That would mean wiping out several Forbidden Zones. It was arrogance beyond belief!

That was why the King of the Forbidden Zone had called him the Mad King.

For the King of the Forbidden Zone to acknowledge a mere human was an extraordinary honor. But the Mad King had the strength to live up to the title. At the height of his power, even the King of the Forbidden Zone had been unwilling to provoke Border City No. 3.

But now, as a psychic, he had grown old under the curse's relentless grip.

Perhaps he had grown so old he was barely recognizable.

Someone wanted to know whether the Old Mad King could still fight, and had devised a mad plan.

The "Ark" was the intermediary in this deal.

As an organization that existed outside the physical world, its members had no particular allegiance to good or evil.

The "Ark" was more like a meeting place where distance in the physical world meant nothing.

Its leader—or captain—sought out psychics qualified to enter and gave them exclusive passes.

This allowed members of the "Ark" from all over the world to gather in one place.

There, they traded information and items, or issued missions.

This had allowed their strength to grow rapidly. They had already become a behemoth lurking in the shadows.

They addressed one another by code names and knew nothing of one another's identities.

This time, a mysterious visitor had posted a mission in the "Ark" with an extraordinarily generous reward. It was so tempting that many members were willing to join forces and take the risk.

Who could that mysterious visitor be? Could it be one of the Kings of the Forbidden Zones? the handsome man wondered.

Soon, the car came to a stop and the door opened. The beautiful woman inside had vanished, taking the briefcase with her. Only the handsome man stepped out of the sedan and waved to the fans on either side.

His face was full of smiles and warmth. No one noticed the coldness and madness in the eyes hidden behind his sunglasses.

Elsewhere, Li Yèlái arrived at the branch and saw several familiar faces.

Starfire, Shadowflow, Heavy Cavalry, and Detective were all there.

"What a coincidence. If you're going to eat, count me in." Li Yèlái went over to greet them.

"I heard you've had your second Awakening." Heavy Cavalry, the usually expressionless young woman, was the first to speak. A faint smile appeared on her fair, impassive face. "Congratulations! I'll catch up soon."

Heavy Cavalry had been busy lately too. She hadn't been as unlucky as Li Yèlái, who seemed to run into trouble every time,

but she had handled several dangerous incidents and was on the verge of breaking through.

"Right. Keep at it, and watch out for the Void Realm's influence." Li Yèlái remembered the hallucinations he'd encountered during his breakthrough.

He pushed aside the image of Heavy Cavalry half-undressed that had surfaced in his mind, then warned her seriously, "Don't believe you've succeeded until the very end. And don't let any images lead you astray. They're all fake!"

"I'll remember. Thanks. When I surpass you next time, I'll share my experience with you too." Heavy Cavalry nodded.

Detective picked at his ear and asked with wide eyes, "What do you mean, 'when she surpasses you'? Surpasses him?"

Heavy Cavalry shot him a glance, then returned to her usual blank expression.

Starfire, on the other hand, seemed much more mature. Mada's incident had hit him hard, but it had also helped him grow.

The competitive streak he once had was gone. He had become much steadier and calmer.

"Brother Ye, thanks for last time," Starfire said. "And congratulations on your second Awakening."

"Right." Li Yèlái replied, "I remember you'd just graduated from high school. Are you going straight to university?"

In this era, getting into university was difficult.

Li Yèlái, for instance, had only a high school diploma. Normally, he would have to save up for a few years and gain substantial work experience before he could go back and take the entrance exams.

Of course, those with outstanding grades who earned a recommendation—or rich kids who wanted a university degree to polish their résumés—didn't have to worry about that.

That was why university graduates were highly valued.

"Yeah, I'm already a university student." Starfire nodded. "My current routine assignment is to watch for hidden anomalies or urban legends on campus. There's just been a bit of a hassle lately. A famous band is coming to Border City No. 3, and the students are going crazy over them. The higher-ups are worried something might happen, so they've told us to keep an eye on the whole event. At least we get two tickets for free."

The authorities had taken some precautions for the band's arrival.

Some intelligence had apparently made them uneasy, so they had sent many Handlers to the venue.

After all, once the concert began, there would be a massive crowd. Any incident could quickly spiral out of control.

But that had nothing to do with Li Yèlái anymore.

He was going down to Black Prison today. By the time he came back out, it would be next month.

After chatting with the others for a while, Li Yèlái retrieved his Crimson Longsword and put on the combat uniform the authorities had prepared for him.

He wandered around the branch, waiting for his shift to begin.

During that time, he saw one veteran Handler after another returning from outside the city. They were all members of the Night Watch, and every one of them was fully armed.

Li Yèlái even spotted a knight wearing dragon-scale armor and carrying a pair of strange blades.

The scales in that armor were real dragon scales. It was said to have been forged from materials taken from a troublesome fire dragon hunted in the Doomsday Forest, inside a Forbidden Zone. It was a Psychic Weapon.

Those veteran Handlers were the kind of tough fighters who left the giant city, passed beyond its walls, and faced calamities in the wilderness.

They kept supernatural creatures from spreading and protected the communication routes and trade roads between giant cities.

That was why they were also called the Night Watch.

They were the elite among the Handlers!

Li Yèlái knew the title came from ancient history, before the calamity.

Although he had only graduated from high school, he worked at the Antique Shop and knew a bit about that history.

The name came from the ancient Great Wall, which Li Yèlái had never seen.

The Great Wall was a defensive measure used by agricultural civilizations against nomadic ones.

It had played an important role in many feudal dynasties.

Powerful dynasties, such as the Han and Tang, used the Great Wall as a base from which to attack foreign tribes.

Weaker dynasties relied on it for defense.

Beyond the Central Plains lay the world's vastest grasslands.

Countless Prairie Cavalry rode across the land, becoming the most fearsome cavalry of their era.

The Xiongnu, Xianbei, Rouran, Shiwei, Göktürks, Khitans, Jurchens, and Mongols had all been powerful in their time.

The Great Wall stood along a border so long it seemed to stretch on forever.

It could warn of danger with beacon fires, defend with its walls, and support troop deployments and supply transport.

Thus, the Great Wall became the defense that troubled the nomadic peoples most.

Indeed, its existence forced many northern nomadic tribes to abandon their southward expansion and turn west, crossing the Danube or the Rhine.

The Night Watch, meanwhile, were troops who operated beyond the Great Wall's protection. Their duty was to gather intelligence, launch surprise attacks against enemies beyond the frontier, and scout enemy movements.

They were a force that walked on the edge of a blade. If discovered, they would almost certainly die.

The city walls were an iron Great Wall, protecting humanity from calamities.

And these Handlers were the Night Watch who walked beyond it!

For this operation to suppress Black Prison, the Night Watch who had been outside the city had also returned to the giant city.

Compared with the minor skirmishes inside the city, the dangers they faced beyond its walls were far greater.

These colleagues were friendly to Li Yèlái. They even told him to go outside sometime—he might get the chance to help them surround and kill a high-level supernatural creature, or something along those lines.

Li Yèlái was left completely confused.

Just then, he felt someone tugging at his arm.

He turned around and saw a little dinosaur.

It was Doll!

This time, she had put on a dinosaur costume. Among the group of fully armed psychics, she looked comical.

After leading Li Yèlái out of the Training Room, Doll held up a sign.

[I prepared something for you (..)]

Then she handed Li Yèlái a small black pouch with gold trim.

"Shouldn't you save the snacks? Cheese said they have some downstairs." Li Yèlái asked in confusion. He opened the pouch and saw a handful of hair inside.

In an instant, two Night Watch veterans who had come over to satisfy their curiosity sucked in a sharp breath and hurriedly backed away.

Li Yèlái immediately closed the pouch.

He understood at once. It was Doll's own hair. Because of its curse, anyone who saw it could be struck with terror.

"This is..." Li Yèlái was taken aback.

[As long as my hair is stored properly after it falls out, it keeps its curse for more than ten days. It's nothing to be proud of, and it's a pain to take care of. (〃ω)]

[If other colleagues use it, they'll be affected too. You're not afraid of me, so you can use it for defense. (*`*)]

[Be careful. Forbidden Items are dangerous, and quite a few colleagues have fallen victim to them. (;′⌒`)]

[Some Forbidden Items are highly intelligent and very persuasive. If anything feels wrong, throw my hair at them. They're afraid of me too! (ω)]

Doll kept changing the words on her sign.

Every line was full of concern.

Li Yèlái was touched. His meal buddy was so kind to him.

So he said, "Thanks. When I get back, I'll treat you to a feast! I promise!"

[Okay, okay! I can't wait! (▽*)]

Doll looked happy once Li Yèlái had stowed the pouch away.

After chatting a little longer, she bounced off.

Li Yèlái put the pouch away, picked up his weapon, and headed to the assembly point.

It was almost time.

When Li Yèlái reached the black elevator, he saw over a hundred fully armed psychics.

Behind the crowd, Cheese waved to him.

"Are we going down?" Li Yèlái approached and asked. Cheese had unusually changed out of her hoodie today and put on a combat uniform. She was carrying a big bag and several smaller ones.

"Yeah, they've already started heading down. But the black elevator can only transport a small number of people at a time, so it'll take several trips." Cheese said, "Once we're down there, we'll relieve Fifth Squad. After that, we'll begin the official guard rotation. Don't be careless, but don't get nervous either."

Li Yèlái nodded and looked at the small bags hanging from Cheese. He realized they were all filled with her sugar cubes.

To avoid another incident where the sugar cubes went missing, Li Yèlái stepped forward and took one of the bags.

"I'll take one, so you don't lose your sugar again," Li Yèlái said.

Cheese didn't refuse. She smiled instead. "Mm. This time, don't make me choke, and don't get me covered in it again."

Li Yèlái had grown somewhat immune to Cheese's suggestive remarks, so he only replied, "You shameless flirt."

Ten minutes later, Li Yèlái, Cheese, and several other Handlers finally boarded the black elevator.

There was a viewing window in the elevator, but it showed nothing but darkness.

After the elevator had descended several dozen meters, the view suddenly brightened.

A fairly spacious underground area appeared before Li Yèlái, with many brightly lit buildings.

Squads of Iron Guards and groups of fully armed psychics were gathering in the underground plaza.

"It's this huge?" Li Yèlái exclaimed. He had thought Black Prison would be a pitch-black dungeon.

"When the giant city was first built, they planned to make an underground city. Later, they realized there was no need, so they turned it into Black Prison halfway through construction. This is the first level, where we have our rest area and cafeteria." A Handler Li Yèlái didn't know explained from inside the elevator. "There are several more levels below, but those aren't what you or I are here to guard. Remember, if things get out of control and multiple Forbidden Items break containment, we retreat beyond the black elevator immediately."

"This is the only exit from Black Prison!"