Volume 1, Chapter 11: A Complete Shuffle of the First-Level Prison Guards

Inside Wang Daqiang’s room.

"Old Wang... rest in peace. We will never forget you!" A veteran prison guard, who had been close to Wang Daqiang, had reddened eyes.

Lin Yun, dressed in black and wearing a sorrowful expression, followed behind the other guards as they slowly exited the house draped in white mourning cloth.

"I wonder how much of the government pension will actually reach Old Wang’s family..."

"Yeah, that pittance isn't enough for anything. How will his family survive?"

"Shut up! Do you want to get yourselves killed?"

The few guards gossiping instantly fell silent. Noticing Lin Yun standing silently nearby, they stepped forward to offer comfort.

"Young brother Lin Yun, you really walked through the gates of hell and back this time."

An elderly guard patted Lin Yun on the shoulder, and the others chimed in, "Those who survive a great disaster are destined for good fortune. Brother, you should burn some incense for your ancestors!"

"Who would have thought that kid Dai Ping, usually so quiet and reserved, could cause such a massive disaster!"

"He was just bewitched by that old devil in Cell Number One! He was a fool; we told him hundreds of times to be careful of that old monster’s silver tongue."

"Dai Ping was cold-blooded, too. He even took out the Captain with a single blade!"

"I heard he received a blood-energy empowerment from the old devil Leng Cang. In just one month, he secretly advanced to a high-level esper! When the Special Esper Bureau agents went to arrest him, they were nearly wiped out!"

"In the end, it took Officer Chen himself to step in and finish him off with one strike. That finally put an end to it."

"He deserved to die! Not only did he help the old devil escape, but he set a fire on his way out, nearly killing us all!"

"Indeed..."

Lin Yun sat quietly to one side, listening to the old-timers chatter. In just two days, the atmosphere in the Esper Prison had shifted. He had finally pieced together the sequence of events: the old devil in Cell Number One wanted to break out, and that idiot Dai Ping had been used as a pawn.

As for the Special Esper Bureau, they had intentionally kept the old devil Leng Cang on the first floor of the prison and leaked the news to lure in members of the cult.

"So they used Leng Cang as bait to wipe out the cult in one fell swoop, and they didn't even give us a heads-up. Aren't these people afraid of retribution?"

"Perhaps they were afraid we would leak the news. In their eyes, the lives of us prison guards are no different from ants..."

Lin Yun listened for a while longer, then greeted the older guards and turned to leave. Although he had narrowly escaped death this time, the sense of caution in his heart had only deepened. He could only rely on himself for his own life; counting on others would lead to disaster sooner or later. Only by possessing sufficient strength could he survive in this brutal world of espers.

"Why didn't those bastards from the Special Esper Bureau just finish off that old devil Leng Cang on the spot?"

Lin Yun flipped through his "Prison Master’s Grimoire" while cursing under his breath. While sixty experience points per hour were sweet, compared to the old devil's esper techniques, the latter were far more tempting. If he could trade Leng Cang’s head for a lucky draw, that would be a true jackpot!

Lin Yun finished the draws for the criminals who had died at his hands and added all the experience points to his strength.

*Boom!*

The esper power within his body surged instantly, directly promoting him to a Tier 9 mid-level esper.

"In just one month, I’ve gone from a sickly weakling to being on the verge of becoming a high-level esper! In three more days, I’ll have enough experience points." Lin Yun beamed.

At his current rate of experience gain, barring any accidents, he would advance to a super-level esper in eight months! Eight months? Even thinking about it felt absurd. One had to realize that countless people spent their entire lives stuck at Tier 9 mid-level, struggling even to reach the high-level tier.

"Eight months... still feels a bit slow..." Lin Yun couldn't help but sigh.

If those old mid-level esper geezers knew he was unhappy about taking only eight months to go from an ordinary person to a super-level esper, they would likely cough up blood in rage and slap him twice.

"Take it slow, don't be too greedy... Time for sleep! I hope when I wake up tomorrow, I see dozens of big devils like Leng Cang lined up, waiting for me to process them!" Lin Yun secretly hoped as he closed his eyes.

The massive prison break caused by Leng Cang had finally settled down. It was said the old devil had been transferred to the lower levels of the prison. This riot had claimed the lives of many guards on the first floor—over twenty of them! Even the second floor had lost a few, though the first floor had suffered the worst; it was nearly dismantled.

Now, the guard staff on the first floor had been completely overhauled. Some were transferred from elsewhere, while others were the brothers or sons of the fallen, stepping into their predecessors' shoes. Lin Yun was no longer the youngest on the first floor. There were new junior auxiliaries following him around, calling him "Brother Lin, Brother Lin."

Lin Yun remained the same, wandering around the first floor of the prison. Wherever there were prisoners, he was there, appearing and disappearing like a ghost.

Time flew, and in the blink of an eye, more than half a year had passed.

*Clang, clang, clang—*

"Prisoner Liang Lifan of Cell Thirteen, eat your final meal!" the guard delivering the food shouted, banging impatiently on the cell door.

Deep within the cell, a figure slowly moved. Through the faint light of the corridor, one could see a skeletal face filled with numbness and despair. Liang Lifan used his remaining four fingers to hold the food tray, staring at the roast chicken and fine wine inside without moving for a long time.

Suddenly, as if possessed, he began to shovel the food into his mouth. Having not tasted meat for so long, he ate ravenously, like a dying wolf. Suddenly, Liang Lifan began to cough violently; the wine and meat he had just swallowed mixed with stomach acid and were vomited back up, leaving the floor in a mess.

The guard delivering the food looked on in disgust, spat on the ground, and hurried away, covering his nose.

In the shadows not far away stood a handsome young guard. Lin Yun watched the scene of Liang Lifan gorging himself only to vomit it all up again, a complex emotion flashing in his eyes. He still remembered what Liang Lifan looked like when he first entered the Esper Prison—a muscular giant standing eight feet tall! Every time he spoke, his yellow teeth made him look terrifying. But now, he was as thin as a bamboo pole, barely resembling a human.

One could imagine how he had spent the last half-year. The interrogators were exhausted; every two or three days, they would drag him in for torture, claiming they had never seen anyone so resilient.

"This guy, if he isn't getting beaten, he's on his way to get beaten! He hasn't died after seven full months of this; he really is a tough one!" Lin Yun stroked his chin, calculating in his heart.

He had been coveting Liang Lifan's body-tempering esper technique for a long time. Since he was set to advance to a high-level esper tomorrow, he had finally managed to wear this man down to the end.

"After I advance to a high-level esper tomorrow, I can also do a draw from Liang Lifan. Tomorrow is truly a good day!"

Lin Yun felt cheerful. He glanced at the dying Liang Lifan one last time and turned to leave.