Chapter 6 - The One That Got Away

Watching the crowd depart heartlessly, Xu Shu sighed.

People have their own ambitions.

It was reasonable for them to act on their own, and he couldn’t blame others.

As he just pressed the emergency button, he heard several piercing screams from afar.

Two men who had just left were stumbling toward him from a distant corner, yelling, “Don’t close the door, don’t close the door!

Help!”

“Ah?

Then you guys better hurry over,” Xu Shu almost responded.

However, the ground beneath their feet split open without warning, and a huge shark leaped out, swallowing both men whole.

It sprawled on the ground like a dog beginning its meal, crunching loudly, leaving behind several severed limbs and legs on the ground, its narrow eyes fixated on Xu Shu.

Even from a distance, Xu Shu could hear the terrible chewing sounds.

Fuck!

Xu Shu frantically slammed on the emergency close button, fearing it would suddenly rush over.

Luckily, until the heavy security door clanged shut completely, the giant shark made no move, as if it had no intention of approaching the prison.

“This is Black Widow’s territory.

It seems these monsters don’t know she’s dead yet, like they’re afraid to come close?”

“It’s so dangerous out there, this is really bad.

I might as well stay in this prison for a while.”

At least, this place had relatively sturdy buildings and plenty of water and food.

With this in mind, Xu Shu decided to settle down in this prison for now,

and wait to try crafting more powerful items using the daily resets of the “Tai Chu Scroll” before considering exploring the Wasteland.

As the saying goes, recklessness leads to bankruptcy, carefulness to everlasting prosperity.

By being cautious, he could have everything eventually.

While others suffer from being cautious just wasting their lives, Xu Shu can gain many powerful items by doing so.

Strength is the foundation for survival in the Wasteland.

Though he had survived this ordeal, Xu Shu did not feel happy at all.

It was too dangerous.

He survived only by a fluke with no preparations, relying on Heavenly Defiance skills and decent luck.

He hated the feeling of not having control over his own life and death and never wanted to experience it a second time.

Xu Shu locked the main gate and checked every corner of the prison again, making sure there were no broken windows or similar vulnerabilities.

The prison was structured like the Chinese character “cao.”

The middle horizontal part was a sloping corridor.

The left end had facilities like the police office and interrogation room.

Walking down the corridor to the right, on the left side, there were cells numbered in the 100s, and on the right, cells numbered in the 200s; the vertical section to the right was built on the second floor, with an upper three and lower four cell configuration.

Beneath it, there was a staircase leading to a storehouse and restrooms.

The prison entrance was at the very left end of the “cao.” Xu Shu now needed to walk to the right from here.

There was no need to go upstairs; at the first intersection, there was a small door leading to the storage area on the right.

As he ran up and down busily, just as he reached the nearby corridor, the man in cell 101 suddenly spoke:

“Hey, little brother, you won’t survive on your own.

Why not let us out?”

Another in cell 102 quickly chimed in, affirming, “That’s right, you’re too weak.

Let us out to help you.

It’s better to have more hands.”

“Heh.”

Xu Shu chuckled.

He couldn’t be bothered to argue with them, resolved to starve them to death but wasn’t planning to say it out loud, as their constant shouting would be annoying.

These two bald brutes were accomplices in the group that had deceived them into human trafficking, committing such acts countless times.

They were beyond redemption and deserved death.

There was no chance he would let them out.

Associating with such people was akin to seeking skin from a tiger, and Xu Shu could never make such a foolish decision.

At that moment, the person in room 301 near the second-floor entrance said coldly, “What’s the use of keeping us locked up like this?

If we die, you’ll have to deal with the bodies anyway.

Why bother?

There’s plenty of food and water here, and we don’t have any irreconcilable conflicts.

Besides, you even managed to kill Black Widow, what are you afraid of?

We can only help you, not harm you.”

The person spoke logically, seemingly a rare wise man.

Xu Shu’s face, however, was a picture of confusion.

Seeing his expression, the people in rooms 101 and 102 thought he was hesitating and quickly pressed their advantage, “Right, right.”

“Bro, let me out, I only went astray because I couldn’t bear seeing my sick parents dying.

I’ll definitely reform from now on, you’d be my savior if you let me out…”

I don’t believe a word!

Xu Shu ignored him completely, scratched his head, and muttered to himself, “Strange, how did an extra person get in?”

“What?”

What was he talking about?

What extra person?

In their confusion, the two bald brutes watched as Xu Shu walked past them up the ramp and approached the iron door of room 301.

Peering through the small window above, the interior looked just like the other cells, with a single iron bed near the window and a slim man with long, disheveled hair sitting on the floor.

He also looked up at the window and made eye contact with Xu Shu.

“I…

I’ve never seen this person before, he must not have been caught with us.”

Xu Shu suddenly felt awkward.

“When I was calling out earlier, why didn’t you say anything?

I thought there was no one in there, and now I’ve left you out.”

The thin man in 301 opened his mouth for a moment, a gleam appearing in his eyes, and asked, “So, can you rescue me now?”

“Well, I was thinking of doing that…”

Xu Shu paused, noting that although the man inside looked weak and gentle, with skinny arms like a woman’s, his eyes sparkled sharply, and there was a chilling sense of ruthlessness about him.

He gave Xu Shu a feeling of danger that was much greater than the two burly bald men on the first floor.

“Unimpressive at a glance, yet a dangerous character indeed…”

After a moment of silence, Xu Shu said, “But I’m sorry, brother, I think you might hold a grudge against me.

It’s better you stay in there for now.

I’ll make sure you have water and food every day until I can release you someday.”

He had no intention of making things difficult for others, but he also didn’t want to be harmed.

It was better to keep such a dangerous character inside.

To Xu Shu’s surprise, the man in 301 didn’t curse at all.

He just gave a slight hum, then hugged his knees, sat on the ground, and looked out at the now dark sky, remaining silent.

“Hahaha!” The people in rooms 101 and 102 chuckled delightedly at the misfortune of others, having thought that Xu Shu would release the man.

Even though they were locked up themselves, seeing someone else in a worse situation brought them joy.

Then, seeing Xu Shu returning, they hurriedly pleaded:

“Bro, you’re overthinking it, I’ve reformed now, give me a chance to live!”

“We’ll definitely help you out if we get out, little brother, give us a chance!”

Xu Shu looked at them coldly, his eyes flickering suddenly before saying, “It’s not impossible, but you’ll have to do me a favor first before I can let you out.”

“We can, we can!”

“Just tell us what you need!”

The two, overjoyed, suppressed their murderous intent toward Xu Shu and nodded obsequiously while bowing.

Xu Shu nodded then unhooked a high-heeled shoe from behind his waist, opened the package, and placed the golden bar taken from inside on the ground, asking, “Do you recognize what this is?”

“Gold?”

The two brutes’ eyes widened, staring blankly at the gold object on the ground.