Chapter 2: Escape Plan
The criminals imprisoned in Rock Prison are all heinous offenders who have committed terrible crimes, enough to be shot ten times over.
In this world, committing a great sin often requires immense strength.
Blue Star is different from Earth. A thousand years ago, an “Evolution Rain” ushered in the Evolution Era on Blue Star.
The flora and fauna on Blue Star awakened their Evolution Power, their cells and even genes being reshaped by this power, mastering various powerful and miraculous skills.
Only humans remained unchanged. Facing the invasion of exotic beasts, they could only rely on firearms to fight for survival.
This battle lasted for five hundred years and was known as the “War of Evolution.”
Over these five hundred years, humans gradually figured out their own evolutionary path, giving rise to numerous strong individuals who managed to defend humanity’s last territories and end the War of Evolution.
Human evolution differs from that of other plants and animals. Humans need to absorb extracts from lifeforms of a higher level than themselves to have a chance of evolving.
This evolutionary method is clearly more difficult than that of plants and animals, but it results in much greater combat power.
Amongst those of the same tier, humans reign supreme.
The higher the life level, the more pronounced the advantage. It is said that human Saint-level powerhouses can generally hunt exotic beasts of the same tier, and the most exceptional among them can even fight across tiers.
Each human evolution requires the absorption of three doses of extracts from higher-level lifeforms. After each absorption, in addition to a comprehensive improvement in physical fitness, they randomly gain a skill from the original owner of the extract.
Take Su Ze’s next-door neighbor for example. He is a Cocoon Breaking stage powerhouse who has undergone two evolutions. He possesses abilities such as blood absorption and blood control. He once kidnapped and trafficked people, keeping thousands of “blood slaves” for his own pleasure. No less than two hundred people died from his feeding.
His blood-sucking ability came from the extract of a leech exotic beast, while his ability to control blood originated from a third-tier mosquito beast that had evolved thrice.
Su Ze nicknamed him “Vampire.”
In the cell opposite Su Ze’s is a middle-aged man who looks like a Sickly Person. His face is pale, and he is as thin as a rake, appearing extremely weak. However, he is also a Cocoon Breaking stage powerhouse with the ability to control corpses. He once annihilated a village, creating an army of zombies. His inhumane actions caused nationwide outrage.
Su Ze often felt out of place in Rock Prison because he wasn’t perverse enough.
Of course, he also single-handedly lowered the average strength of Rock Prison.
It can be said that Rock Prison exists solely to imprison death row inmates who have committed heinous crimes and possess immense power. Ordinary criminals, if too weak or if they haven’t killed enough people, are not qualified to be imprisoned here.
Su Ze’s confinement in Rock Prison was entirely due to the special attention from King Mu.
However, under the deterrence of King Mu, a Saint-level lifeform who had evolved four times, the entire Mu Nation had been relatively peaceful for decades. Consequently, over ninety percent of the cells in Rock Prison were empty.
Around Su Ze’s cell, there were only two cellmates: “Vampire” and “Sickly Person.” This was because the three of them were part of the same batch of prisoners, all scheduled to be executed the next morning.
Therefore, if Su Ze wanted to escape, his only reliance would be these two individuals.
“Brother, want to break out?”
Hearing Su Ze’s question, “Vampire” next door scoffed, “If you have nothing better to do, do it a couple more times. Don’t bother me.”
Su Ze could hear the disdain in Vampire’s tone but didn’t care. It wouldn’t be difficult to persuade Vampire and Sickly Person to help him escape. As long as he could convince them that his escape plan was feasible, they would readily cooperate.
After all, they were death row inmates with only one day left to live. Failure in the escape attempt would only mean death, but success would be akin to getting their lives back.
Su Ze said, “You don’t want your sinful life to end like this, do you? Why not listen to my plan first and see if it’s feasible.”
“You? A plan?” Vampire burst into laughter. “You were born into a good family but ended up as a death row inmate, ruining a good hand. I wouldn’t dare listen to the plan of a fool like you.”
Su Ze was speechless. Having had his memory blocked for a month, he still couldn’t understand why Zhao Lingxiao would self-sabotage his future. As far as he knew, Zhao Lingxiao wasn’t a simple-minded fool driven by lust, nor was he a mere dandy. On the contrary, he was extremely ambitious, ruthless in his actions, and Zhao Lingxiao had no shortage of women around him.
The matter of Zhao Lingxiao raping and killing Princess Zhuzhi must have had hidden reasons, but Su Ze didn’t have the time to ponder these things. The most important thing now was to find a way to escape.
Ignoring Vampire’s mockery, Su Ze continued on his own, “I already have a preliminary plan, but it requires the combined efforts of you, me, and the guy opposite. We can only complete it together, and the details still need to be discussed.”
“You can choose to continue mocking me, or you can help me refine this plan and seize an opportunity to escape alive.”
After Su Ze finished speaking, silence fell over the adjacent cell.
After a long pause, Vampire’s suppressed, low voice echoed from the metal wall again, “You are not the first to want to escape. Rock Prison has been standing for over a hundred years, and many Butterfly Transformation stage powerhouses who have evolved thrice have been imprisoned here. There has never been a successful escape case. Why should I believe you?”
“Never mind anything else, what about the surveillance in the corridor outside this cell? Guards are watching twenty-four hours a day. If we make any move, we’ll alert the Warden of Rock Prison, who is a Butterfly Transformation stage powerhouse…”
Su Ze directly interrupted him, “What if I can temporarily disable the surveillance?”
“How do you do that?” Vampire questioned.
“In terms of strength, I’m not as good as you, but in terms of status, you’re not even fit to carry my shoes. What you can’t do, I might be able to,” Su Ze said. “Since you know my identity, you should also know that money can make the world go round.”
After another moment of silence, Vampire asked, “In your plan, what do you need me to do?”
Su Ze smiled, knowing Vampire had taken the bait.
“Firstly, help me open this cell door.”
“I can’t do that. The control panel for the cell door is at least fifty meters away. Although I can control blood, the range is only within ten meters of my body. Moreover, that control panel requires fingerprint verification from a Warden Captain or higher-level guard.”
“Then help me collect the fingerprint of a Warden Captain. This should not be difficult for you.”
“Also, help me kill someone!”
“Who?”
“You’ll know when the time comes.”
Su Ze took a deep breath. “Now, let’s first discuss our plan with the guy opposite.”
…
At noon, Su Ze heard approaching footsteps in the corridor. He knew the guards were coming to deliver lunch.
Although there were few prisoners in Rock Prison, they were almost all Evolvers with special abilities. Therefore, even delivering food carried some risks.
Thus, each time the guards delivered food, a Warden Captain would accompany them.
“Have a chicken leg to replenish your stamina. You have a long journey tomorrow.”
The guard said this to Vampire in the adjacent cell, but Su Ze’s spirits lifted when he heard it… chicken legs today!
After eating steamed buns for days, his mouth was practically numb.
He quickly walked to the thick metal door, opened the small window, and saw the young food-delivering guard and the burly Warden Captain behind him.
Su Ze’s eyes were filled with anticipation, but only a steamed bun was thrown in.
Su Ze caught the cold, hard steamed bun, was stunned for a moment, then asked, “Where’s my chicken leg?”
According to Mu Nation’s custom, the meals of death row inmates would be improved the day before their execution. Clearly, Su Ze was being treated differently.
The Warden Captain outside chuckled, “Young Master Lingxiao, you should consider the crime you committed. It’s good enough that you get steamed buns. What more do you want?”
Su Ze sighed. Seeing the two guards about to turn and leave, he quickly called out, “Captain, don’t rush off. I have something I need to discuss with you.”
The burly Warden Captain paused, pondered for a moment, and said to the food-delivering guard, “You go out first.”
Then, he walked to Su Ze’s cell door and asked, “What do you want to discuss with me?”
Su Ze breathed a sigh of relief. The first step of the entire plan was what worried him the most. Rock Prison had three Warden Captains, and he was afraid of encountering an upright Warden Captain who would ignore him.
Now that this Warden Captain was willing to listen to him, it indicated his attitude.
“I’d like to trouble the Captain to deliver a message to my family. The Zhao Family will definitely not let the Captain’s trip be in vain.”
The Warden Captain neither agreed nor refused, but instead asked, “What message?”
“Come closer,” Su Ze said.
The Warden Captain hesitated slightly. If it were any other prisoner in the prison, he wouldn’t dare to be so careless. But Zhao Lingxiao was just a Mortal level lifeform who hadn’t evolved and posed no threat to him. Therefore, he took a step forward and came to the cell door.
He placed one hand on the cell door and tilted his head slightly.
He didn’t notice, however, that his fingers were in contact with the cell door, and fine blood beads flowed, leaving a faint fingerprint.
Su Ze leaned closer and lowered his voice.
“Go to my house and find someone named Zhao Qiang. Ask him one question: ‘Where is the doll?'” Su Ze paused. “Also, please tell him that if I could have a full meal before I die, that would be even better.”
“Where is the doll?”
The Warden Captain found the question nonsensical and didn’t understand its meaning.
However, he didn’t ask for further clarification and turned to leave.
Su Ze knew that his not refusing meant he had agreed, but under surveillance, he had to act subtly.
After leaving the prison, the Warden Captain didn’t delay long before driving to the Zhao Family.
Although Zhao Lingxiao had committed a grave offense, Mu Nation was not an ancient feudal dynasty; it operated under the rule of law, with no concept of collective punishment for the entire clan.
Furthermore, the Zhao Family had powerful backing. Thus, Zhao Yu was not significantly implicated on the surface.
Adding to that, Zhao Yu personally apprehended Zhao Lingxiao, an act of righteous punishment that was praised nationwide. Even if King Mu harbored resentment towards Zhao Yu, he couldn’t overtly express it.
Therefore, the Zhao Family remained prosperous, worthy of a Warden Captain seeking favor and connection with them.
Su Ze waited for the Warden Captain to leave and then said to the “Vampire” next door and “Sickly Person” opposite, “You two probably don’t like chicken legs, why don’t you give them to me?”
The two ignored him.
Su Ze then said, “You are both Cocoon Breaking stage experts. You’d be fine for ten days to half a month without eating or drinking, unlike me, a mortal body, frail and weak. If I starve myself, it might ruin things!”
“You don’t want the plan to go awry, do you?”
