"Someone's coming!"
Hearing footsteps in the distance, a prisoner called out curiously. Basan gave a lazy grunt. "So someone's coming. What's the fuss?"
For Basan and the others, each day they stayed alive was just another day spent waiting to die.
Nothing else interested them. Even when Hannibal came to inspect Freezing Hell with his shirt off, they had seen it so many times that they could no longer be bothered to look.
The novelty of anything wore off eventually. But the prisoners locked up that year hauled themselves to the bars and peered into the distance, eyes wide with curiosity.
Basan glanced over, found it boring, and closed his eyes again. Jace looked lost in thought.
The prisoners in Freezing Hell moved so little that they could hold the same position for days. At first glance, the place looked like an exhibition of ice sculptures. If their eyes hadn't moved, an outsider might have taken them all for corpses.
Even an ordinary person trapped in that frozen wasteland would eventually reach his limit. These prisoners had spent years on end in that icebox.
Leather boots crunched through the deep snow. Ye Chen's feelings were tangled. This place held too many memories. He didn't even know whether Basan and the others were still alive.
As they neared Basan's cell, Magellan looked back at Ye Chen and warned him, "Remember, you're not allowed to speak to anyone. Just point out your friends."
Ye Chen nodded. He was here now, and whatever happened next, at least he had kept the promise he had made.
When six-year-old Ye Chen left Impel Down, he had promised again and again that he would come back, no matter what.
"Awooo..."
Two War Wolves suddenly ran over from the distance. Far from fearing the stranger, they seemed