"Good work, little black panther."

This was Yu Tu's aberrant state.

Because of the Partner Mark, Yu Tu had sensed Lu Mi's peril. Beneath the blizzard, Yu Tu had been forced awake.

Yu Tu, in his aberrant state, remembered everything.

Including his Lu Xiaojiu.

Recent memories flooded Yu Tu's mind, and his expression became deeply complicated.

He just... felt very sorry.

Slender fingers reached out and gently rubbed Lu Mi's waist.

"Good work, little black panther."

Lu Mi's face looked considerably thinner than it had in Yu Tu's memories.

Had Yu Tu worn him thin?

But now was not the time to think about that.

Yu Tu reached out and slowly removed the white gauze from Lu Mi's chest. Behind him, white vines as thick as ancient trees grew rapidly. Limited by the spaceship's height, their tips abruptly stopped when they neared the ceiling.

Then, branches split off around the vines, and smaller vines grew from those branches.

In the blink of an eye, a massive white ancient vine seemed to have appeared behind Yu Tu.

Power surged wildly through him, making Yu Tu in this state extremely uncomfortable. He clutched his chest and gasped hard several times before stepping onto the bed and gathering Lu Mi into his arms.

The white ancient vine before him bent down as he did, assuming the posture of embracing Lu Mi.

-

"Mm..."

Lu Mi comfortably stretched his limbs, then slowly opened his eyes.

Yu Tu was holding him in an embarrassingly intimate position.

Like a baby being coaxed to sleep.

What was even more infuriating was that, the instant he woke up, he actually felt incredibly comfortable!

Impossible! There was no way he liked this position!

Lu Mi quickly crawled out of Yu Tu's arms. Yu Tu collapsed limply as if he had no bones.

The wounds on his body had completely vanished, but his tattered clothes revived Lu Mi's memories.

Yu Tu had been hurt.

So had he.

Looking down, Lu Mi saw that the bloody hole in his chest had disappeared. Because of the injury to his chest, part of the visible vines had been concealed, hidden within his flesh.

Lu Mi reached out to hold Yu Tu. "0456, wake up."

"0456, I know you're pretending to sleep. You healed my injuries, and I'm very grateful."

"0456?"

"Alright, baby, get up. I'm full of energy right now. I'll definitely satisfy you."

"Big brother, Lu Xiaojiu is calling you to wake up!"

"Big brother?"

Lu Mi switched back and forth between personas like someone with split personalities, but Yu Tu's sleeping face remained peaceful, showing no sign of waking.

Lu Mi tightened his hold around Yu Tu's arm. Heartache, guilt, anger—countless emotions mixed together on his face.

In the end, they turned into a choked sob lodged in his throat.

Lu Mi buried his face in Yu Tu's white hair. "Big brother, I'm sorry..."

Lu Mi directly took Yu Tu back to his own warden's rest cabin.

He personally washed him clean, dried his hair, changed him into clean loungewear, laid him on the bed, and tucked him beneath the covers.

When he turned around, Black Shadow was grinning wide with its long iron tongue hanging out, panting as it stared at Yu Tu with eyes full of ingratiation and longing.

Lu Mi snorted coldly. "Stop acting cute. You're ugly."

Black Shadow drew back its iron tongue, shut its enormous mouth, and sat down. In an instant, it became a majestic black panther sitting upright.

Lu Mi gave another mocking laugh. "Think looking cool will help? Are you more handsome than me?"

Black Shadow nodded very seriously.

Actually, in Panther's world, Lu Mi was an ugly freak.

Lu Mi raised a brow. "Then what about Yu Tu?"

Black Shadow panted.

He's a super-duper, peerlessly beautiful person.

Lu Mi laughed in anger. "Fuck, you really are playing favorites?"

Despite his irritation, Lu Mi still explained the situation to Black Shadow.

"Yu Tu overused his origin power and has entered a dormant period. During this time, guard him. Other than me, no one is allowed near him."

After a pause, Lu Mi emphasized, "Including Ming Qiuxue."

-

Black Shadow was Lu Mi's second pair of eyes. With it guarding Yu Tu, Lu Mi felt at ease.

After turning on the humidifier in the room, Lu Mi returned to First Prison.

The investigation into Yu Tu's murder case had yielded results.

Seventh Operations Room.

Lu Mi summoned everyone who had been present that day.

Including the prison officers on duty.

Lu Mi sat atop the workbench in the front row, with Lin Luo, Mo Ke, and Luo Wei standing beside him.

Everyone else stood in orderly rows before him, with the prison officers in the first row.

"Speak. What happened?"

One prison officer stepped forward. "Warden Lu, we've already investigated everything. That day, 0763 secretly instructed 0679 and 0670 to cause trouble and draw us away, then had someone destroy the surveillance cameras and block the doors."

The prison officer said, "0763 took a liking to 0456 and tried to force himself on him, but he never expected to be killed instead."

Lu Mi gave a cold snort. "Served him right."

He held out his hand. "The recent staff records for the Seventh Operations Room, and 0456's work schedule."

Another prison officer handed over the documents in his hands.

Lu Mi found this sort of chart extremely difficult to read. The first glance made his head spin. He closed his eyes to recover for a moment before frowning and continuing down the page.

"0763 was in the Seventh Operations Room for two consecutive days? 0456 wasn't rotating through the seven operations rooms? Who arranged this?"

"...Hehe, Warden Lu, I arranged it. Sorry, I was careless—"

Black Shadow flashed past. Lu Mi instantly appeared before the prison officer and viciously clamped his fingers around the man's throat.

"Zhang Qing, are you still refusing to tell the truth?"

"I..." Zhang Qing said with difficulty, "Warden Lu, I, I didn't lie, didn't lie to you. I swear, if I lied to you, then I'll go die."

The moment the word "die" fell, Lu Mi released him and grabbed Zhang Qing's head with both hands, twisting hard.

Crack.

Lu Mi's expression remained blank. "Then go die."

Lu Mi let go. Before Zhang Qing's body could hit the ground, Mo Ke and Luo Wei stepped forward in perfect coordination and swiftly carried Zhang Qing's corpse away.

Lu Mi turned and returned to his place. "Now, we'll continue."

He tried to put on a kind smile.

"To lower First Prison's mortality rate, I strive to be a warden who 'convinces people through virtue.'

"Now, everyone, please raise your hands actively and speak enthusiastically. Report every suspicious detail in this matter to me.

"Those whose reports prove truthful can—live, on."

Lu Mi leaned back, bracing both palms against the workbench. He crossed one leg over the other and raised a brow with a hint of wildness.

"Begin."

After a brief silence—

"Warden Lu, I have something to say! I have something to say!"

"Me too! Me too!"

"Warden Lu, I want to report! I want to report!"

These serious criminals had probably never answered questions this enthusiastically even when they were in school.

Lu Mi looked at the raised arms and nodded in satisfaction.

"Quiet down. From left to right, one at a time."

Half an hour later.

The Seventh Operations Room had been cleared.

Mo Ke and Luo Wei were responsible for guarding the operations room door and preventing anyone from approaching.

Inside the operations room, apart from Lu Mi and Lin Luo, only the three serious criminals 0765, 0767, and 0768 remained, along with another prison officer, Peter.

Lu Mi planted both feet on the ground and pulled a black whip from his waist.

"Speak. What was your purpose in inciting 0763 to attack Yu Tu?"

From the serious criminals' eager statements just now, Lu Mi had learned that the serious criminal numbered 0763, whose real name was Ai Mu, had always harbored intentions toward Yu Tu.

But they had only been intentions.

Recently, however, people had continuously urged Ai Mu on by saying Yu Tu would become his "pet." That was what had ultimately driven Ai Mu to act.

These three serious criminals were the ones who had encouraged Ai Mu, while the two prison officers were responsible for assigning Yu Tu and Ai Mu to the same operations room.

The three serious criminals instinctively looked toward Peter. Peter's expression changed slightly as he stepped back, reaching for the energy gun at his waist.

Before he could draw the energy gun, Lu Mi's whip had already arrived, wrapping precisely around the gun and flinging it backward.

A vicious glint flashed through Peter's eyes. He opened his mouth to bite his tongue, but before he could exert any force, Lu Mi had already appeared before him.

Lu Mi gripped Peter's face with one hand, forcing his mouth open, while holding the energy gun in the other and shoving its muzzle into Peter's mouth.

Lu Mi pulled the trigger. "Want to die? Fine, then I'll grant—"

Peter calmly closed his eyes.

Lu Mi said, "—your wish? No."

Peter's eyes flew open in shock. He reached up, trying to pull the energy gun's trigger, but Lu Mi slipped his index finger through the middle of the trigger. As he spun the gun and pulled it back, he dislocated Peter's jaw.

At the same time, his black boot rose and viciously kicked Peter in the knee.

Peter's kneecap cracked, and he instantly dropped to his knees, face pale. Lu Mi then dislocated both of his hands in seconds.

Disgusted, Lu Mi handed the energy gun smeared with Peter's saliva to Lin Luo.

Lin Luo's expression twisted as he pinched it between two fingers, rolling his eyes and making a gagging gesture.

Lu Mi opened the door and walked out of the Seventh Operations Room.

"0765, 0767, 0768. Whipping punishment. Don't stop unless they die."

Warden Lu of First Prison never killed people. The serious criminals were simply too delicate and weak to endure punishment, so they died on their own.

As for the prison officer he had personally killed just now.

Sorry, forget about that.

"Mo Ke, Luo Wei, carry Prison Officer Peter. Come with me."