Escaping from prison is no easy feat; stories like the Shawshank Redemption only exist in novels.
Firstly, in China, prisoners generally don't have the opportunity to live in a single cell, nor the chance to put up a celebrity poster on the wall to cover up the hole they dug. Secondly, it's impossible for you to live in the same cell for decades; prisons usually change your cell block every few years based on your behavior and sentence reduction. You also can't possibly dig through a modern reinforced concrete wall with a small hammer, and there are cameras in the cell. If you don't sleep well at night, you'll be discovered immediately, and you might not even have the right to sleep for a few days.
Finally, and most importantly, spending twenty years digging a tunnel out of the cell to escape is less worthwhile than serving your sentence well in prison. Even with a life sentence, if you behave well, you can get out in about twenty years.
Wuzhong Prison has twelve prison districts, each containing several cells. Only the prison guards on duty can open the cell doors. After leaving the cell door, you have to go through another door to enter the prison district. The prison district gates are more strictly guarded. After leaving the prison district gate, you enter the work area, where fully armed police officers are on duty.
Starting from the cell block, one must pass through at least six gates to actually leave the prison. Two of the cell block gates and the two outermost gates are AB gates, meaning they can only be opened sequentially, not simultaneously. To open gate B, you must wait for gate A to close. Moreover, the entire route is equipped with cameras and electronic alarms. With such tight security, a forced escape is virtually impossible.
Howard thought that escaping from prison was too risky, and if all else failed, it would be better to abandon the current human body and find a new host. Zhao Pengcheng, however, believed that the process of transferring a host was too complicated, and the cost of abandoning all current memories was too great. Moreover, parasitism is not always successful, and with humans now on their guard, it is more difficult than before. The most troublesome thing is that they can no longer find even a cat that can facilitate the transition of consciousness.
In the following days, Howard appeared in Zhao Pengcheng's dreams almost every night to discuss the details of the prison break. Zhao Pengcheng intentionally or unintentionally revealed some progress in his Mental Power, which shocked Howard to some extent. Of course, he wouldn't be foolish enough to expose his full strength.
Howard noticed the progress in Zhao Pengcheng's Mental Power. For pure consciousness beings like them, strong Mental Power meant strong vitality, and a higher status within the organization. Zhao Pengcheng was Howard's subordinate, and in a sense, his student. Naturally, Howard wanted to have an outstanding student.
If he were to re-parasitize, regardless of the success rate, Zhao Pengcheng's current mental advancements would likely be wiped out. Howard also felt it was a bit of a pity, so despite the high risk, he agreed to Zhao Pengcheng's escape plan and promised that the organization would provide assistance.
During the day, Zhao Pengcheng worked as usual. For some reason, the orders from the electronics factory had been very unstable lately; either there were no orders at all, or he had to work overtime until late at night, which caused his fellow inmates to complain.
Whenever he worked overtime, Zhao Pengcheng was always the last to leave, because he had to go with the factory to inspect the goods and help with loading. Over time, he became quite familiar with the factory's inspectors and drivers.
Finally, news came about Zhao Pengcheng's letter of repentance. The guards took him to see the instructor, who then took him to see the deputy political commissar. The political commissar asked him a few questions while holding up his letter of repentance, and then lectured him on some important principles. Finally, he said, "Not bad, not bad. The letter of repentance is well written. If you reform yourself well, your future will still be bright."
And so, Zhao Pengcheng was inexplicably praised and returned.
A few days later, the guard came to him again, saying that his confession was well written and asking if he would be willing to help other inmates. He asked how he could help. The guard said that in order to improve the level of modern management and the cultural level of the prisoners, the prison would gradually replace traditional paper documents with electronic ones, and the most important thing at present was training. However, the prison was short-staffed; with so many prison wards, there was only one training specialist, and the other prison guards had their own responsibilities. Therefore, they would select some prisoners with higher ideological awareness and cultural level to assist in the work.
Zhao Pengcheng readily agreed. So, he began spending half a day each day in the computer lab assisting the training specialist in teaching fellow inmates how to use computers and WPS to write repentance letters, reports, applications, and similar documents. The training specialist would just come and check on them, like a doctor making rounds. Actually, there wasn't much to do; Zhao Pengcheng could handle it all by himself. Because the prison was cautious, they only sent a few people for training each time. These people weren't completely computer illiterate; they didn't need to be taught basic typing skills. They simply had low levels of education and insufficient ideological awareness, and needed guidance to improve their writing abilities.
Zhao Pengcheng felt that the prison authorities weren't trying to improve the quality of life in the prison, but rather were training a group of basic writers. As for what they would be used for, he had no idea.
As a training assistant, Zhao Pengcheng naturally had the opportunity to use the computer alone. The prison guards in charge of the computer room would no longer stare at him like they did the first time, nor would they pay attention to the contents of his documents.
However, Zhao Pengcheng was still very careful. He would always type out a long document before adding text containing special information, hoping that the automatic reply would appear. And that thing never disappointed him. They even tacitly invented a set of code words, although he felt in his heart that it was completely unnecessary.
I spent my mornings in the computer lab, my afternoons working on the construction site, and my nights either dreaming or working overtime. This routine lasted for a while.
The weather had clearly turned colder. Zhao Pengcheng found that the winter clothes he had applied for were still not enough, and he shivered with cold every morning, especially since his pants were too thin. But there was nothing he could do; with shackles on, he couldn't wear thick pants even if he had them.
He tentatively asked the guard if his shackles could be removed. The guard refused outright, telling him to behave well, but that his shackles would not be removed until he received a reduced sentence.
Zhao Pengcheng had no choice but to give up. However, the shackles seriously hindered his escape plan; the heavy iron chains, weighing over ten kilograms, not only made him walk slowly but also rattled loudly.
One day, while he was working, the guard came and called him, " Zhao Pengcheng, come with me, someone has come to see you."
Zhao Pengcheng immediately thought of Qingmu, who had come to see him without warning last time as well. But he quickly dismissed the thought, explaining that they had been secretly communicating using the computers in the server room, and it was impossible for him to suddenly come to see him.
He already knew that the guy behind the computer was called Ghost, and that he was one of Qingmu's men. Although he still didn't know how Ghost had contacted him, his methods were indeed as unpredictable as a " Ghost," and Zhao Pengcheng could only conclude that he was a super hacker.
He thought of Howard again, but then realized it was impossible. If Howard wanted to see him, he could simply do so in a dream. The Dream Corridor was still there, so why go through all that trouble? Besides, they had just seen each other a few days ago.
Besides these two, who else would come to see him?
He arrived at the meeting room with a mixture of curiosity and trepidation, and met Yu Jianguo.