Give Life a V Sign

Is it really okay?

Despised by more than 2,900 prisoners, standing in this stinking pigsty, being mocked and ridiculed by the soldiers of the Age of Gods like monkeys, is it really okay?

Qing Chen knew he didn't have a heart strong enough yet, but he was going to start learning to understand.

To understand the hardships of this world.

Understand the helplessness of ordinary people.

When Qing Chen was at Luocheng Foreign Language School, many students felt that he had a hard life because he had to earn his own tuition and living expenses.

But now that I think about it, what are those hardships compared to what I have now?

Even in Prison No. 18, before he became a knight, what he experienced was far less than one ten-thousandth of what he has experienced today.

Li Shutong helped him overcome his past hardships, and now it's his turn to walk out of them on his own.

Kamiyo Yunzhi looked at the prisoners and was very satisfied that they had finally succumbed to the temptation of food. He smiled and said to the Kamishiro soldiers, "Let them move stones for another hour. Tonight, give 2,900 synthetic protein bars to the 2,921 people."

He broke his promise. We agreed we wouldn't have to do any more hard labor today, and everyone would get a protein bar, but he can change his word at will...

It seemed as if Kamiyo Yunzhi was making a deliberate declaration.

In this secret military base A02, the final interpretation rests with him.

The prisoners lowered their heads numbly, none of them glaring angrily at Kamiyo Yunzhi. Qing Chen knew that these people must have faced this situation frequently for decades.

Any opposition or complaint will only result in a beating.

Kamiyo Yunzhi approached Qing Chen and said with a smile, "Isn't it ironic that those who once swore allegiance to the Qing clan now despise you for a bite to eat? Do you know that Qing Mu didn't commit suicide so that these people could continue to live?"

Qing Chen laughed and said, "Your mother is dead."

Kamiyo Yunzhi froze.

He thought Qing Chen would tell him about the Qing family's beliefs and the persistence of the Qing family's intelligence agents, but instead he was met with the most vulgar insult.

Qing Chen continued, "If you think you can make me submit, then try. From the moment I knew you couldn't kill me, I knew your fate. I'm ready for that day; are you?"

Since Kamishiro won't kill him, the worst-case scenario is that he'll be stuck here for the rest of his life.

If that's the case, why give in?

Kamiyo Yunzhi turned and left. "Don't worry, you'll be stuck here for a long time, we can take our time."

After saying that, he said to the soldiers, "Starve him for three days and three nights, then feed him pig feed and see if he's still so tough then."

Night falls.

Qing Chen watched as the prisoners, organized by the soldiers of the Divine Era, slowly walked towards the prison area.

Under the cover of night, more than half of the prisoners stood in a line, with those in the back putting their arms around the shoulders of those in front, like a train game they played as children.

The people behind them had unfocused eyes, as if they were blind.

Qing Chen was taken aback for a moment, but he quickly realized that this was because the prisoners had not received enough nutrition for a long time and had developed night blindness.

They had to be guided by sighted people to get back to the prison barracks under the cover of night.

Qing Chen looked at the prisoners. They were dressed in thin synthetic winter clothes and wore only a pair of thin rubber shoes.

Many people's ankles are swollen from the cold, and their swollen feet are barely able to fit into their original shoes, looking particularly awkward.

Qing Chen sat in the mud of the pigsty, looking at the empty stone trough. He patted one of the black pigs and said, "You guys are really unlucky. You'll have to go hungry for three days because of me."

The prisoners listened in silence for a moment. One prisoner, who had been convicted of stealing vehicles from higher castes, muttered under his breath, "Is this guy a little crazy? What kind of time is this to be concerned about pigs?!"

Someone behind him reminded him, "Keep quiet."

The nights in this frigid land were exceptionally cold, with temperatures dropping to -30 degrees Celsius, making Qing Chen feel as if he were frozen in mud.

This temperature won't kill a top-tier expert; it will only bring pain.

He carefully experienced everything, memorizing everything he went through.

In the past, he would want to bury painful experiences, but now he wants to feel them more deeply.

He even examined those past hardships one by one.

The next morning.

The prisoners were driven to the quarry like lambs.

Everyone worked while glancing at Qing Chen from time to time.

They found the boy sitting in the pigsty, his hair and eyebrows covered in frost.

Everyone knows how tough the nights are here, especially since Qing Chen's clothes were once soaked with saliva and he hadn't eaten anything.

At that moment, an airship arrived, and several civilian officers in military uniforms disembarked, carrying filming equipment.

The prisoners knew that this was to record Qing Chen's embarrassing situation and spread it to demoralize Qing's intelligence personnel.

Previously, the Kamishiro Corporation was forced by Qing Chen to return Qing Mu, and Qing Chen also caused the intelligence alliance to break down. These things have become a laughing stock in the intelligence community.

Now, the Kamishiro Corporation has captured Qing Chen and is making him repeat Qing Mu's mistakes, which is the most ironic counterattack.

The officer set up the equipment and focused it on the disheveled Qing Chen.

Someone wanted to get closer to take a close-up shot, but a Shindai soldier from Base A02 hesitated and stopped them. "Don't get too close, it's dangerous."

The civilian officers were stunned for a moment. They looked at the soldiers, then at Qing Chen, who was trapped and disheveled in the pigsty. They didn't understand where this danger came from.

However, as these officers from the Kamishiro Corporation stood in the pigpen preparing to take photos, all the prisoners saw Qing Chen stand up with heavy shackles on his back.

The shackles rattled, and the clothes on Qing Chen's body, frozen in place, made a tearing sound like ice crystals, as if a frozen towel in winter was being vigorously rubbed.

At this moment, everyone noticed that the Divine Era soldier responsible for guarding Qing Chen had subconsciously taken a step back.

But the soldiers quickly realized that the other man's hands were all shackled, making it impossible for him to lift his arms or hurt anyone.

He adjusted his expression and said to the civilian officers, "You can take pictures now, as soon as possible."

The civilian officers raised their cameras, only to be astonished to see the boy slowly raising his right arm in the lens.

The heavy shackles made his arm muscles tremble. The alloy shackles, weighing 800 kilograms per hand and used to restrain B-level experts, made it hard to breathe just by looking at them.

The prisoners watched silently as the boy slowly raised his arm.

Then, with a bright smile, she made a V-sign with her right hand.

"Give life a thumbs up!" Qing Chen said.

The civilian officers were stunned. They had come to film how disheveled Qing Chen looked, but at this moment, he didn't look disheveled at all.

The civilian officer angrily said to the soldiers, "Your superior notified us to come and film, but you haven't even dealt with him yet. How are we supposed to film? Where is Kamiyo Yunzhi?"

Kamiyo Yunzhi walked over from the distant military camp with more than ten officers. He said coldly, "Since when can civilian staff hiding in the rear yell at me?"

The civilian officer's momentum faltered, and he mumbled, "The higher-ups have ordered the propaganda materials to be filmed within seven days. You figure it out yourself."

Kamiyo Yunzhi frowned and said, "You'll stay in the camp for three days, and then you'll be free. Lieutenant, take them hunting in the wilderness and let them eat some game; they won't get to taste that outside."

An officer beside him nodded. "Understood."

"Okay, you said it. We'll wait for you for three days," the civilian officers said, taking their equipment and following the lieutenant.

Qing Chen lowered his arm and laughed, "Hey, I don't think you're in a good position in the God Era. Even clerical staff are so arrogant in front of you. Why don't you join the Qing family? Come and clean the toilets in my PA office, and I'll guarantee you a safe life."

Kamiyo Yunzhi glanced at him, then said to the prisoners, "Stop what you're doing, each of you take a rock and throw it at him. Just like yesterday, whoever throws it at him gets a protein bar. If one person is missing, none of us will get anything to eat. Whoever throws it less forcefully gets a whipping."

Then, Kamiyo Yunhe whispered, "Don't let anyone actually smash him to death."

After saying that, he turned and left.

A prisoner who had been brought here for seducing a high-caste woman picked up a fist-sized rock and ran over, throwing it at Qing Chen's head.

Qing Chen simply tilted his head to avoid it.

But with his movements restricted by shackles, he could dodge one, but there was no way he could dodge more than two thousand.

One prisoner after another went outside the pigpen and threw stones.

Except for his face, Qing Chen was covered in wounds all over his body.

When the Qing clan's intelligence agents approached, they hesitated, holding the stones. Even when the soldiers beside them whipped them, they did not throw the stones.

They watched as those people were whipped until their backs were covered in blood.

Qing Chen calmly said, "It's alright."

These four words again.

The Qing clan's intelligence agents eventually threw the stones, which hit Qing Chen with loud thuds, reopening his wounds.

Blood seeped into the soil along with the clothes, and the black pigs, terrified, hid in the corner again.

No one spoke, and Qing Chen didn't speak either.

After all the prisoners left, he sat in the pigsty, gasping for breath. The prisoners were all starving and had little strength even to throw stones.

But being punched by more than two thousand people still caused him excruciating pain, even with his current strength and level.

On the morning of the third day.

When all the prisoners came out of the prison area to work, the first thing they looked at was the pigpen, wanting to see if the boy was dead.

But what happened next stunned everyone.

All that could be seen was that the boy had used the stones that had hit him yesterday to build a windproof wall around the pigsty that was originally drafty.

The other party did not wallow in self-pity, nor did they give in; they continued to demonstrate their will through their actions.

Some of the gods' soldiers rushed over and pushed down the wall made of rubble, but Qing Chen did not look discouraged.

At one point, the intelligence agents of the Qing clan even felt a hint of pity in the way the young man looked at the soldiers of the God Era.