"Lu Xiaojiu, forever loving his commander."

Three days later.

The warden's office.

Lu Mi looked with a gloomy face at the field prison officer indicator lights in front of him.

Previously affected by a severe dust storm, most prison officers' indicator lights had turned red; after adjustments, the screen was now full of green.

Except for a few.

Lu Mi opened the communication system: "This is First Prison, I am Lu Mi of First Prison. First prison officers working outside, please reply upon hearing this."

Beeping signal sounds rang out, and after just a few rings, they turned into busy signals.

This was the sign of a communication connection failure.

Lu Mi raised his head, and four characters successively appeared over the electronic photos of Lin Luo, Mo Ke, and Luo Wei—

"Communication failed!"

Lu Mi's fingers tapped rapidly on the control keys: "Open secondary communication, and attempt to connect with Deputy Warden Lin Luo, as well as Prison Officer Mo Ke and Prison Officer Luo Wei!"

Beep beep beep beep—buzz

"Secondary communication, connection failed!"

Unable to establish contact with the three subordinates, Lu Mi opened the AI function: "I am Lu Mi, try to connect with Ship 03 communications."

"Alright, Warden Lu Mi, connecting you to Ship 03 communications now.

Requesting communication...

Communication request countdown...

Ten, nine, eight, seven... two, one, zero.

Attempt to connect with Ship 03 communication failed; initiating forced communication device.

Forced communication failed.

Found forced communication destruction receipt, Warden Lu, Ship 03 has been destroyed."

Lu Mi asked: "Is there any way to determine the location of Lin Luo and the other two?"

"Yes. Warden Lu, the Ship 03 black box backup will be opened for you...

Ship 03 black box backup opening...

Ship 03 black box backup parsing...

Ship 03 black box severely damaged, partial voice data parsed. Will you listen?"

Lu Mi said in a deep voice: "Play it."

Accompanied by static-like buzzing sounds, an effeminate laugh rang out in the warden's office—

"Warden Lu, on January 27th of the 2046 Era, I am waiting for you at Z60 Abandoned Planet."

Lu Mi's expression grew colder: "Determine the location of the Ship 03 black box."

"Reporting to Warden Lu, the last positioning point of the Ship 03 black box is: Z60 Abandoned Planet."

"I understand." Lu Mi took out his communicator and found Cang Qi's contact number.

Cang Qi answered quickly, his voice sounding utterly exhausted,

"Hello, Warden Lu, I am Cang Qi... Warden Lu, do you plan to transfer me back?

The weather here is so bad, dark and cold, and I can no longer crawl out of my quilt. Warden Lu, your free laborer, Mechanic Cang Qi, is about to die heroically in the line of duty."

Lu Mi said solemnly: "Cang Qi, I am very sorry."

"What?!" Cang Qi regained his spirit, "Warden Lu, I'd better stay here! The last time you said sorry to me, you plucked away quite a bit of my hard work! In my small warehouse, only Lord Lan is allowed to pick and choose at will!"

Lu Mi: "..."

Lu Mi rubbed the bridge of his nose: "Cang Qi, how is he? Is the water enough? Is he suffering? Did he curse me?"

"Commander Yu Tu is doing just fine, full of spirit and vitality. He said he really likes it here and doesn't want to go back!"

Lu Mi: "...He really is angry, sure enough."

"No, no, Commander Yu Tu really likes it here!"

"How is that possible?"

Ghoststone Forest didn't even have him—how could Yu Tu possibly like it there?

Furthermore, Ghoststone Forest was a large ghost mine with hallucinogenic properties.

Illusions were related to a person's own state of mind.

Because Ghoststone Forest was located on the northern side of Calamity Planet, which was in a state of perpetual polar night, the long-term dark environment coupled with even harsher weather meant that hardened criminals sent here had a hard time keeping a good mood from the moment they stepped foot inside.

Negative emotions surged, and ten hardened criminals in Ghoststone Forest would all see predominantly negative illusions.

If Ghoststone Forest hadn't been the only punishment that wouldn't cause severe injury to hardened criminals, Lu Mi would never have let Yu Tu come here.

Cang Qi retorted: "How is it impossible? I secretly recorded a video, Warden Lu, take a look!"

Cang Qi actually sent Lu Mi a short video.

In the dark environment, Cang Qi delivered breakfast to Yu Tu.

Yu Tu was wearing a prison uniform in the small space, wrapped in a quilt as he waved at Cang Qi.

"Commander Yu Tu, how did you sleep last night? Were you frightened by the illusion mirror?"

Cang Qi placed the breakfast basket by Yu Tu's feet. Yu Tu picked up a cup of milk and smiled happily,

"I wasn't frightened! It's simply wonderful here; I saw Warden Lu!

Warden Lu is so amazing here, much more amazing than he usually is! I was even reduced to tears by him!"

Cang Qi shivered in fright: "Commander Yu Tu, you, you, you really shouldn't say things like this!"

The video ended there. In the communicator, Cang Qi's voice sounded a bit shy,

"Warden Lu, the potion Lord Lan gave you... wasn't the effect good?"

Lu Mi: "..."

Very good, you stinky old bastard.

You're telling me taking medicine isn't enough to satisfy you, is that it!

Deep breath, long exhale.

Lu Mi said: "Cang Qi, please stay in Ghoststone Forest for a while longer. When I return, I'll give you a long vacation. Help me watch him, and if something seems wrong, go find Ming Qiuxue."

Lu Mi's expression suddenly softened,

"Cang Qi, if I can't come back... please tell him. Lu Xiaojiu, forever loving his commander."

"Wait—"

Lu Mi hung up the communication, opened the warden's office door, and walked out: "Prepare Ship 01 to leave the bay, conduct pre-departure checks, and I'm going out for a while. During this time, the order of First Prison is left to you all."