Yi

Out of 3102 inmates, they were either playing with the newcomers or staying in the entertainment area. A small portion were lifting weights in the fitness equipment area. Everyone seemed uninterested in reading.

This made Li Shutong, Lin Xiaoxiao, and Ye Wan appear particularly different at this moment.

Lin Xiaoxiao was squatting on a chair with a cheeky grin, his bare feet exposed, his shoes scattered beside him.

Ye Wan stood upright behind Li Shutong, his gaze occasionally scanning their surroundings.

Lin Xiaoxiao, with his delicate features, looked particularly sharp, while Ye Wan was comparatively more robust, his face bearing a touch of sternness.

One looked more like a pageboy, and the other more like a bodyguard.

Seeing that Li Shutong had finished reading the news, Lin Xiaoxiao said, "Boss, that young man didn't help the other newcomers."

Li Shutong nodded, "It's normal for him not to help. He was decisive in chess, willing to sacrifice an arm to survive, let alone others."

"Playing chess is one thing, I'd even sacrifice a piece on the board if you told me to... Boss, are you still going to play chess with him tomorrow?" Lin Xiaoxiao asked after thinking for a moment.

"Yes," Li Shutong said with a smile, "If I don't play with him, who else would I play with, you two chess dunces?" In the reading area, Li Shutong was sitting by a long wooden table, engrossed in a brand-new reader, which displayed the morning's news.

The large cat was once again curled up asleep on the table, as if the meaning of its feline existence was to sleep in different places.

This reading area was like a small library, but the "bookshelves" here didn't hold paper books; instead, they held readers charging in their slots.

In the center of the bookshelves were dozens of long tables, enough to accommodate nearly a thousand people, but they were all empty at the moment.

The inmates in the prison fortress

Ye Wan said in his deep voice from the side, "I'm a bit stronger than Lin Xiaoxiao."

"But not by much," Li Shutong looked at Ye Wan and pointed to the news on the reader, "Remember Guo Huzhan, whom Chen's Group arrested? The trial process is complete, and he should be transferred to Prison No. 18 in the next few days. You can interact with him then."

Ye Wan nodded, "I've dealt with him once before. Although he's difficult to get along with, he's at least communicative."

"Mm," Li Shutong nodded, then turned to Lin Xiaoxiao, "What do you think about that young man's breakdown this morning?"

"I observed for a long time, and I feel something is off," Lin Xiaoxiao analyzed. "It looked like the young man was talking nonsense after breaking down, but when he mentioned Luocheng and Yongli Group, he was clearly very certain, as if it were true."

"His identity?" Li Shutong asked.

"We checked. Outside, he was just an ordinary idle person who dropped out of middle school. He worked with the Black Tiger Organization in City No. 18, dealing in mechanical prosthetics. He was suspected of illegally seizing mechanical prosthetics but there was no evidence. In the end, he was sent here on charges of tax evasion. All his past life experiences can be traced, but we can't find anything about Luocheng and Yongli Group that he mentioned," Lin Xiaoxiao said.

No one saw Lin Xiaoxiao do any checking, but it seemed he had thoroughly investigated the breakdown teenager in just an hour.

That was the most miraculous part.

Li Shutong said, "Keep monitoring him. This young man definitely has other issues. Also, what's the situation with the person I was playing chess with?"

Lin Xiaoxiao said, "You just finished that game, I haven't had time to check yet. I can give you an answer before lunch break."

"Alright," Li Shutong nodded and continued flipping through the reader.

Lin Xiaoxiao subtly glanced at Li Shutong, suddenly realizing that his boss was taking an interest in that young man.

Just as he was about to say something more, Lin Xiaoxiao turned his head to look outside the reading area. Qing Chen was slowly walking in, carefully and meticulously observing his surroundings.

Qing Chen first glanced at Li Shutong's group, then tried to gently pull out a PAD-like reader from the "bookshelf" and pressed the power button.

Qing Chen stared at the screen.

If there was any way to quickly understand this world, it would be by reading its books.

He hadn't expected that this world had even eliminated paper books, leaving only electronic products.

However, after the reader turned on, it wasn't an operating interface but a login screen.

Lin Xiaoxiao walked over and chuckled, "First time in prison? To use this reader, you need to register an account with your inmate number. After you log in, it will display your recent reading history, your bookmarks, and your preset reading habits and font sizes."

Qing Chen thought, this thing is quite user-friendly.

"Oh, and it also has a built-in AI voice. You call its name, and it can help you find the content you're looking for, like this," Lin Xiaoxiao also took out a reader and said, "Yi."

"I'm here," a pleasant female voice responded from the reader. Qing Chen recognized the voice; it was the same one that announced meal times in the prison fortress.

The tone was formal but not stiff.

Lin Xiaoxiao said to the reader, "Help me find the book 'Brown'."

"Okay, I have found 'Brown' for you," the AI 'Yi' replied.

"See," Lin Xiaoxiao handed his reader to Qing Chen. The book named Brown was already open.

Qing Chen glanced at his prison uniform, inmate number 010101.

After registering, Qing Chen looked at Lin Xiaoxiao, "Where can I read the news, like the one your boss is holding?"

Lin Xiaoxiao looked back at his boss's reader and then smiled, "Don't even think about it. Your reader account doesn't have internet access, not even mine does."

Qing Chen understood. It seemed Li Shutong's status in this prison was indeed extraordinary.

Just like how he could keep a cat in prison.

He didn't say anything more. After thanking Lin Xiaoxiao, he lowered his head and began reading the content on his own reader.

Lin Xiaoxiao returned to Li Shutong's side, subtly observing Qing Chen.

But he suddenly noticed that Qing Chen was flipping through pages extremely quickly!

Normally, a page in a reader contains about 800 words. It should take a normal person at least a minute to read through it, right? However, Qing Chen was flipping pages at a rate of two seconds per page!

Lin Xiaoxiao whispered to Li Shutong, "Boss, he's not even really looking at the reader. He probably just wants to get close to you and have a chance to spend time with you."

"Don't meddle," Li Shutong said without looking up. "Don't underestimate someone's will to survive. If you were in his shoes, you'd probably be even more eager. Xiaoxiao, you need to learn to think from another's perspective."

Lin Xiaoxiao said with a grin, "I know, I know."

Qing Chen found a seat and began to memorize the content on the reader, then quickly flipped the page. He continued like this for over three hours, not even changing his posture once.

For others, reading might be a pastime after meals, but for him, it was one of the ways to understand this world and survive.

The content on the reader was clearly carefully selected, with almost no important information. 95% of it was philosophy and motivational quotes...

But it was okay; any information was important to him right now.

Qing Chen had always been someone who cherished opportunities.

As lunchtime approached, Li Shutong finally put down the reader he was holding and logged out of his account.

Ye Wan, standing nearby, took the reader with understanding and placed it back into its slot on the bookshelf.

These two, Ye Wan and Lin Xiaoxiao, were like Li Shutong's closest attendants.

As Li Shutong stood up, he glanced at Qing Chen. He felt something was off. The young man was so engrossed in his reading that he didn't seem to notice Li Shutong standing up, which didn't seem like an act.

He suddenly asked, "What was the content on the third line of the previous page?"

His voice was as warm and smooth as jade, making one feel as if they were suddenly in an ancient, elegant tea room, listening to the earnest teachings of an elder.

"When order becomes chaos, chaos must be used to maintain order and save the law," Qing Chen replied, looking up.

Ye Wan took the reader from Qing Chen and flipped to the previous page. "Boss, that's correct."

At that moment, Qing Chen suddenly saw the big cat on the table open its eyes. He clearly felt that the cat's gaze was filled with surprise.

It was as if... the cat had always understood everyone's conversations and was also astonished by Qing Chen's memory.

After hearing Ye Wan's confirmation, Li Shutong was stunned for a moment, then called out to the big cat and left with a smile. "This is getting more interesting. Let's go, it's time to eat."

For some reason, Qing Chen always felt that Li Shutong had a unique aura when he walked. The light white training uniform swayed as if he were walking on clouds.