When I Dominate Reality, It Will Be the Day of Your Freedom

The smooth metal door acted like a mirror.

A pale smiling face, blood-red markings, and a crown of black fire were reflected within.

A spark flickered and dimmed.

"Hoo..."

Li Fan sat on the ground, leaning against the opposite door with a cigarette dangling from his lips. He took a deep drag and exhaled a plume of smoke.

At the same time, he reached up to touch his horns and his face.

Then, he looked at his fingers, which were absurdly long.

What the hell...

Have I become an anomaly?

Now he finally understood why the anomalies previously imprisoned had been so terrified upon seeing him.

This appearance he currently wore must be the form of the former master of the Prison of Suppression.

He touched his eyes; a layer of transparent, hard shell covered his pitch-black pupils, allowing him to never blink.

Of course, he didn't even have eyelids to begin with.

He had been in too much of a rush last time to notice, but after seeing the Spider-Legged Monster and Eight-Heads recognize his identity as the Prison Master the moment they met, Li Fan had finally realized this.

He never imagined that inside the Prison of Suppression, he possessed such a terrifying appearance.

This look perfectly exploited the uncanny valley effect; it was even more chilling than Eight-Heads.

However, he was currently just an empty shell, completely lacking the power of the former Prison Master.

Li Fan sighed.

Is my true calling supposed to be an actor?

I have to perform even harder this time; otherwise, if Eight-Heads or the others discover I'm a fake, I don't even want to imagine how miserable my death will be.

It might be worse than death.

Those are monsters that have been locked up for over a hundred thousand years without dying.

How terrifying must that resentment be?

Fortunately, it seemed that apart from Eight-Heads, there were only a few living monsters left in the Prison of Suppression. After all, even anomalies couldn't survive such a long time.

But then again, those who could survive were bound to be incredibly powerful existences...

Just as Li Fan was thinking this, a chaotic sound of footsteps suddenly echoed from the darkness in the distance, reverberating through the empty Prison of Suppression.

Someone was coming!

He jolted to his feet, threw the cigarette butt on the ground, and crushed it.

He stood before a door, watching the direction the footsteps were coming from, ready to bolt if things went south.

With a flicker of fluorescent light, Li Fan saw the appearance of the newcomers clearly.

In the lead was Eight-Heads, his body pierced by chains.

Beside him was a mass of glowing mist, from which the faint, wretched screams of men and women could be heard.

Following behind was a creature crawling on all fours that looked like a Floating Corpse Giant View, leaving a trail of corpse fluid wherever it walked.

Eight-Heads had actually escaped his cell again, and he had brought two unknown things with him!

What are these things!?

Seeing Li Fan standing there silently, Eight-Heads and the two strange entities he brought immediately prostrated themselves on the ground, trembling with fear, not daring to take another step forward.

"...Prison Master, Your Excellency, please forgive our recklessness... It is just that you have not returned for over a hundred thousand years. We feared you would leave again, and we only wish to beg for a chance to atone for our sins, a chance to trade for our freedom..."

Eight-Heads said, trembling:

"...It has been over a hundred thousand years. Of the prisoners in the jail, only... only the three of us remain. Only I, Pestilence, and the Lost One..."

Aren't you guys pretty free already? You can open doors whenever you want and stroll through the streets, can't you!?

Li Fan grumbled internally, but kept a straight face and said:

"I have returned from the Extreme Abyss and opened the Void Path leading to reality. When I become the master of reality, the Dream Territory will be completely connected to it."

Yes, for an ancient or super-powerful figure, "I" is the standard and most natural choice in English. If you want to emphasize their arrogance or status, you can occasionally use "This Seat" or "This Sovereign" as requested, but "I" remains the most readable option for the majority of the narrative.

Please provide the text you would like me to translate or revise, and I will ensure it is polished into natural, punchy English while adhering to your formatting rules.

Though it seemed everyone communicated directly through consciousness, so the actual language didn't seem to matter much.

Hearing Li Fan's words, Eight-Heads was overjoyed. He lowered his body even further and said:

"We are willing to serve as the Prison Master's vanguard! We only ask for atonement!"

Li Fan understood; these three guys had been locked up in the Prison of Suppression for too long and were desperately craving freedom, hoping to trade their labor for the Prison Master's favor.

He didn't give them an answer immediately, instead saying with a sinister tone:

"Since you can come and go as you please, why haven't you escaped?"

The three monsters before him shuddered, prostrating themselves even lower.

Eight-Heads trembled as he spoke:

"Eight-Heads dares not, Eight-Heads dares not. The prison is not beneath our feet, but within our hearts. Since we have entered the Prison of Suppression, without the Warden's permission, we shall remain prisoners for eternity."

He certainly wanted to escape, but what use was it to get out of the cell if he couldn't leave the Prison of Suppression itself?

Besides, who didn't know that the Master of the Prison of Suppression loved nothing more than to toy with and cruelly torment his captives? This had to be a trap left by the Warden to torture them.

After a pause, Eight-Heads continued with a look of loyalty:

"The cell doors of the Prison of Suppression have fallen into disrepair over the years. I implore the Warden to reinforce them, so as to prevent any ignorant prisoners from escaping."

Li Fan gave a grim smile:

"Very well. Since your hearts are sincere, I grant your request. When I rule over reality, that shall be the day of your freedom. Now, get back to your cells."

Eight-Heads and the other two anomalies were overjoyed. They hurriedly bowed to Li Fan once more before quickly returning to their cells and shutting the doors tight.

They even latched the observation windows firmly, acting like model prisoners, leaving only a segment of their chains hanging outside to make it convenient for the Warden to abuse them.

Li Fan toyed with his lighter, walking silently toward the three tightly shut cells, his heart racing with tension.

Reinforce... how was he supposed to reinforce them?

He didn't even have any materials...

Suddenly, he remembered that when he first entered the Prison of Suppression, he had picked up a bundle of rope from beneath a stone tablet. He hurriedly fished it out of his pocket.

The black rope was light and soft, but when he gave it a hard tug, it proved to be incredibly sturdy.

He used his lighter to burn off three segments and tied the door locks shut one by one. Only then did Li Fan let out a long sigh of relief.

At the same time, he felt a lingering fear.

That was terrifying as hell.

I actually looked like that monster.

And there were three terrifying anomalies that had lived for over a hundred thousand years; he had almost been exposed by them!

As for that promise about becoming the master of reality, it was complete nonsense meant to bluff them.

These anomalies had lived for over a hundred thousand years, while he would be lucky to live to a hundred in reality.

By the time he finished his days, retired from the Anomaly Bureau, and died of old age surrounded by his children and grandchildren, it would likely have been nothing more than a fleeting moment to these anomalies.

Of course, he should try to visit this Prison of Suppression as little as possible from now on. He didn't know how long that rope would hold; if the anomalies inside got out and discovered the truth, he would be completely finished.

It was all the Unity Society's fault.

If not for the Unity Society, he wouldn't have had to come back to the Prison of Suppression to investigate the source of the Snake Concubine, and he wouldn't have run into Eight-Heads and those other two things.

Filled with rage, Li Fan grabbed a door and flung it open. The key tattoo on his palm shimmered, and he turned and stepped inside.

Soft light appeared before his eyes. Li Fan stepped out of the restroom and returned to the lounge.

Ke Ke and the others had already finished their dissection work and were resting in the lounge.

Seeing Li Fan emerge, Zhang Hongbing teased:

"How come you were in the bathroom so long? I didn't even think there was anyone inside."

Li Fan hurriedly turned to look in a mirror, letting out a breath of relief when he saw his normal human form, and laughed:

"I ran too hard tonight, my stomach's a bit upset."

He then walked out of the lounge and arrived outside the office building.

In front of the Investigation Department building in the distance, quite a few people seemed to be gathering, though he didn't know what mission they were about to carry out.

Looking at the brightly lit Anomaly Bureau outside, Li Fan pulled out his phone and dialed his father's number.

The other side picked up quickly, though they seemed surprised that Li Fan had called directly, and their breathing was slightly hurried.

Li Fan spoke in a casual tone:

"The 'Legend of the Dian King' is showing at the Silver Glow Cinema tonight. I heard it's quite good. Take the family to see it. If there are any guests, make sure they have a good time."