Chapter 68 Prison Operation

Chapter 68: Prison Showdown

Lin Xue closed her eyes. "He's not coming back..."

In Area C, the prison guards released the inmates as usual. Once most had gathered, a guard spoke into the walkie-talkie, "Alright, you can play the music now."

"OK," came the reply.

Upbeat music instantly filled Area C. People swayed and danced to the rhythm. Bai Suizhi shot a look at a few others nearby. Receiving the signal, the group immediately sprang into action, slipping through the crowd like fish diving into water, stirring up the calm.

Yue Shaolin and Lin Jiajia positioned themselves on either side of a flamboyantly dressed woman, boxing her in. "Is everything ready?" they asked.

The woman, her inner actress taking over, lifted the scarf around her neck to cover the lower half of her face and whispered mysteriously, "Everything's set. Just say the word, and we sisters will make our move!"

Meanwhile, Shi Mingshan stealthily approached his father. He politely greeted a group of elderly men wearing rabbit ears and doing exercises before whispering, "Dad, did you talk to them?"

Before his father could answer, the eavesdropping men chimed in loudly, "How could we stand by and do nothing? Those bastards have no sense of decency or morality! Don't worry, son, we'll move mountains and brave fire to get this done for you!" Their voices boomed with unwavering determination.

Shi Mingshan tried to calm the fired-up men. "Don't get too excited yet. Wait for the signal before you act!"

Kahn gently nudged the person next to him. "?"

The leader of the "jump squad" replied, "..."

Kahn: "^_^"

A conversation began and ended in silence.

Leader: "?"

Kahn: "?"

Their communication signals were hit-or-miss.

The leader facepalmed. "Why haven’t you been coming to exercise lately?"

Kahn: "Someone’s at home."

Leader: "Won’t let you jump?"

Kahn: "No, I just didn’t dare let him know."

Leader: "=_="

Oliver was surrounded by his workout buddies, who bombarded him with questions: "What if I can’t stop laughing later?"

"Should we pretend to cry?"

"I told my mom, and she said not to get involved."

"My parents actually support me and my brother. They’re organizing something on their end too. Let me tell you, Big Brother Bai is really kind—he helped us a lot back in the neighborhood."

"When do we start here?"

"Check out my sickly makeup—does it look convincing?"

"You forgot to cover your lips—they’re bright red like a female ghost! Quick, dab some foundation on them!"

Oliver covered his ears, closed his eyes, and snapped, "Stop talking all at once, and stop bouncing around me! My head is spinning from all the noise!"

In this group, Oliver was the rare voice of reason.

After the guards left, Bai Suizhi quietly slipped upstairs to the iron gate separating Areas C and D, waiting for the vendor on the other side.

The vendor grinned at the sight of him. "You, kid, helped our people a lot last time. Honestly, you should just join us."

Bai Suizhi replied modestly, "You’re too kind, Brother. I still have a long way to go. By the way, about what I asked you yesterday..."

The vendor waved a hand. "Don’t worry, it’s all arranged."

Bai Suizhi: "Thanks, Brother."

Vendor: "If you really want to thank me, come work with me." He said it half-jokingly.

Bai Suizhi smiled without responding. The vendor tactfully dropped the subject but inwardly lamented missing out on such a sharp and courageous talent.

After the music ended, everyone lined up calmly for breakfast. On the surface, they seemed normal, but a closer look revealed restless energy—their eyes gleaming with barely suppressed excitement.

The supervisor’s sixth sense told him something was off, but he couldn’t pinpoint what. It felt like teaching the last class before a holiday: the students appeared to be studying diligently, but their minds were already on the dismissal bell. Like a teacher without a clock or holiday notice, he had no idea when that bell would ring.

Suddenly, a commotion broke out in the crowd. The supervisor turned to see an elderly man clutching his chest and collapsing. His heart jumped into his throat as he grabbed his walkie-talkie to call for help—only to watch more and more people topple like dominoes, lying on the ground looking peaceful or in agony.

Panicked, the supervisor stammered into the device, "What’s going on?"

"Get the doctors here, now!" he shouted.

Doctors arrived in waves, and even researchers were pulled in to help.

After examinations, an impassive doctor told the supervisor, "They’re fine. They’re all faking it."

Hearing this, a woman nearby grabbed the doctor’s pant leg, wailing, "How can you say my husband is faking it when he’s foaming at the mouth? You heartless brute!"

The supervisor urged anxiously, "Check again! He’s not young, and he looks like he’s in real pain..."

Elsewhere, a girl paler than paper lay on the ground, gasping, "Doctor... am I... dying? Save me... I’m only 20... haven’t even... been in love..."

Doctor: "You’re as strong as an ox. You’ll probably live to 200."

Girl: "Really?!"

Doctor: "Stutter gone?"

The girl obediently lay back down, pretending to be weak.

Though most were pretending, some were genuinely hurt. A doctor pressed on a man’s calf and asked, "How did this happen?"

"Fell by accident."

"How?"

"Jumped from the third floor and twisted it on landing."

"...Let me put a splint on it first."

The supervisor scurried around frantically. But before one crisis settled, another erupted—this time from Area D. Shouts echoed: "Help! There’s a snake in our room!"

"Damn, people are fighting!"

"Shit, is that a fire?!"

The situations kept getting worse.

Regardless of whether these claims were true, it was necessary to calm people down. The supervisor grabbed his walkie-talkie and shouted into it, "Send more people over here! Zone D is about to go haywire!"

The chaos lasted for an hour before finally settling. Just then, Lin Xue sent Bai Suizhi a message: "Mission accomplished!"

Using the prearranged signal, those who had been pretending to be gravely ill suddenly came back to life, full of beans. They said to the fed-up doctors and the stressed-out supervisor, "Hey, I think I’m cured! It's a miracle!"

"Doctor, the pain in my chest is gone all of a sudden."

"Supervisor, the snake in our room crawled back into the sewer."

At this point, the supervisor was furious. He finally realized that these people had been making a fool of him. In a fit of rage, he grabbed the loudspeaker and bellowed at the top of his lungs, "Get back to your rooms, all of you!"

"Report! I still have a splint on my leg!"

"Take it off and crawl back!" The supervisor was seeing nothing but red.

The adults, knowing better than to push their luck, began to leave. But the children, who'd been having a blast, had no intention of going back. They lingered in the square, giggling and playing games of "eagle catching the chicks" with their families, chattering excitedly: "Mommy, I want to play more!"

"Daddy, I don’t want to go back! Come catch me, hahaha—"

"Sissy, I want makeup too!"

The supervisor’s veins were popping on his forehead. "I’ll count to three! Any child who hasn’t left with their parents will be thrown outside to be zombie food!"

"Three, two—"

Crying and whining broke out everywhere, and the "rebellion" finally started to fizzle out.

That evening, Lin Xue and Shi Yunzheng came to Zone C to find them. As soon as they met, Lin Xue teased, "I didn’t expect you to cause such a big stir."

Bai Suizhi raised an eyebrow. "Happy with how it went?"

Lin Xue said, "Of course. We basically had smooth sailing all the way."

Bai Suizhi glanced at her and Shi Yunzheng’s expressions and said noncommittally, "How did things go on your end?"

Shi Yunzheng dropped a bombshell right away: "Qu Baining has been conducting human experiments in the base. He’s now detained and under investigation."

"Huh?"

Lin Xue sighed helplessly. "Captain, could you ease into it? Don’t start with such shocking news right off the bat."

Shi Yunzheng replied, "They can take it." Then he glanced at Bai Suizhi and Kahn.

The two nodded in agreement. "We can handle it. Go ahead."

Lin Xue gave up on letting Shi Yunzheng do the explaining and said, "Qu Baining had his own lab in the base, separate from public facilities. He only helped out when they were short-handed, like in today’s situation."

She took a deep breath and continued, "Then we infiltrated his lab and saw a room full of... dismembered human bodies." She couldn’t find the words to describe the scene.

Harsh, sterile lighting shone on the lifeless, broken remains. Researchers in white coats worked with cold detachment, while sophisticated instruments beeped and whirred beside them. Complex data streamed through their minds, but the living, breathing bodies under their scalpels seemed to be the last thing they cared about.

Lin Xue had seen countless corpses in the apocalypse—scenes far more brutal and bloody—but never before had she felt such a bone-deep chill.

There were no gruesome wounds on those bodies, barely any blood at all, yet she felt sick to her stomach.

After a moment of silence, Kahn asked, "Those missing people..."

Shi Yunzheng nodded, "They're all there."

He then asked, "What about Mo Mo's brother..."

Lin Xue closed her eyes briefly, "He's not coming back."

Bai Suizhi clenched his fists angrily, "Those bastards!"

That was all they'd gathered today. Anything further would have to wait until Qu Baining decided to talk.

Kahn thought for a moment and asked, "Can I meet with him?"

Lin Xue didn’t ask who, simply replying, "Why?"

"I want to ask him why he kidnapped me," Kahn answered.

Shi Yunzheng said, "The kidnapping is indeed strange. We investigated—previously, all the missing people were taken directly to the lab. None of them ever stopped at Building 21."

Lin Xue agreed immediately, "I can take you to see him."

Kahn asked, "Shouldn't we get authorization first?"

Lin Xue shrugged, "Haven’t I done plenty of things first and asked for forgiveness later? One more won’t hurt." Everything she'd always believed in was beginning to waver after this incident.

Shi Yunzheng gave her a warning look, "Your team leader is right here."

Lin Xue wasn’t intimidated, "You’re not the team leader right now—you’re an accomplice."

Well, fair enough.

"No time like the present, let’s go now," Shi Yunzheng said without hesitation, making the call.

Bai Suizhi turned to the person beside him, "Do you want me to come along?"

Kahn shook his head, "It’s fine, I'll be fine alone. Besides, I’m not planning to do anything—just ask a few questions."

Lin Xue joked, "We've got him covered. Nothing will happen to him. You can trust us with him."

Shi Yunzheng found the phrasing struck him as odd—what did she mean by "trust us with him"? It sounded as if Kahn were Bai Suizhi’s...

Maybe it was just how people talk these days, Shi Yunzheng eventually convinced himself.

He checked the time. Working late again tonight. The little tyrant at home was bound to throw a fit. Just thinking about it made his temples throb. He considered just pulling an all-nighter and getting it over with.