Chapter 32 White Hole Prison (9)

Chapter 32 White Hole Prison (Nine)

At this moment, Shi Wu felt like a clown stripped naked under a spotlight, utterly exposed and with no escape.

He stared at the sea of puppet-like prisoners before him, his mind racing frantically, even though he had no clue what this so-called "ideological deviation" was supposed to be.

But this was a goddamn place that didn't operate on logic.

"I..." Shi Wu slowly rose to his feet, his movements like a slowed-down film. What the hell was "ideological deviation" anyway? He'd never been in a prison before.

"Prisoner number nine—902-4, please proceed with your self-reflection promptly."

The broadcast sounded again, like a death knell, hammering at Shi Wu's heart with each repetition.

"Ideological deviation"? Thought...

Shi Wu straightened up, stood firm, and swept his gaze across the rows of hollow, mask-like faces. With a sincere expression, he began: "Hello everyone, I am the new prisoner, 902-4."

"Regarding this morning's 'ideological deviation' report meeting, I've suddenly realized I have an extremely serious problem."

He spoke off the cuff, his voice not loud, but he came out with an opening line no one expected:

"I have discovered that I actually—" Shi Wu even drew out the last syllable, pausing for several seconds. Only when the gazes of all the prisoners and the three silver-masked "supervisors" had fully settled on him did he continue with satisfaction: "—thought."

Dead silence fell over the room, as if even the sound of breathing had vanished. The three supervisors exchanged glances, seeming to see bewilderment in each other's eyes.

"You might not understand what I mean."

Shi Wu sighed, a meaningful look in his eyes. "I began to reflect. I reflected on why I was locked up here, on why the broadcast can always sound so suddenly, and I even started to question... why water flows from the faucet?"

"Do you... know the answers to these things?"

Shi Wu abruptly shifted his focus, looking at a prisoner sitting beside him and asking with a smile that crinkled his eyes.

That prisoner seemed completely unprepared for Shi Wu to address him directly. The previously hollow, eerie expression on his face instantly turned bewildered, like a naive college student fresh into society who had just been brutally disillusioned.

"Ah, it seems no one knows."

The prisoner Shi Wu had addressed could only shake his head in confusion.

Shi Wu let out another soft sigh, as if in regret. "I now realize that thought is the contemplation of ordinary rules—"

"And contemplation? Isn't that precisely the starting point of all deviation?"

He chuckled as he said this, his tone unhurried yet inexplicably tinged with sarcasm. "And now I understand."

"All this reflection is a form of arrogance. It's a distrust of the prison's directives, an ideological deviation of non-cooperation with the system."

"I put on too many airs as a human, believing I had the right to think."

"So, starting today, I have decided—" Shi Wu's eyes suddenly brightened, his tone becoming impassioned: "I have decided to surrender all thought back to White Hole Prison!"

Shi Wu stood at his spot, arms spread wide, his demeanor fanatical, like a true "believer" who genuinely loved and supported "White Hole Prison."

"From now on—if the prison tells me to wash my face, I'll wash it. If it tells me to reflect, I'll reflect. I won't even care what I'm supposed to reflect on, because it must always be my fault. There's no need to figure it out, because the prison is never wrong. I will not analyze, not question, not inquire. I will only obey."

"Obey forever—"

"White Hole Prison!"

As soon as these words left his mouth, the entire hall fell into an eerie, absolute silence. Hundreds of faces stared at him, motionless.

Shi Wu even spotted a few other players among them who looked admiring.

That familiar Scarface, seeing Shi Wu's gaze sweep over him, immediately trembled and gave him a shaky thumbs-up, as if to say: Bro, were you a cult leader in a past life or something?

After Shi Wu finished his entire speech, the broadcast crackled with static before falling silent again. It remained utterly quiet for a full ten seconds before abruptly sounding once more:

"+10 points"

A white point card descended from the ceiling, drifting slowly into Shi Wu's hand.

Shi Wu raised an eyebrow. Seriously? That actually worked?

Then he clenched the point card in his hand and bowed deeply to the crowd. "Grateful to the prison!"

The other prisoners: ...Something feels off, but they couldn't quite put their finger on it. Was it really because they hadn't thought in so long?

Just as Shi Wu was about to sit down, he heard a rhythmic series of footsteps echo from the other side of the report hall—

"Tap. Tap. Tap."

He instinctively looked back. A side door in the left corner of the hall slowly opened, and a Guard Captain walked in. It was Bao Yan.

Following behind Bao Yan were several people Shi Wu didn't recognize, but they wore the same uniform as Bao Yan, all bearing the badge indicating "Guard Captain."

"Prisoner 902-4..."

Bao Yan strode steadily towards the platform, his lowered gaze falling on the white point card clutched in Shi Wu's hand. "The point reward for this morning's meeting—invalid."

As soon as the words were spoken, the card in Shi Wu's palm spontaneously combusted, turning to ash before his eyes in an instant.

"Your statement lacks a substantive basis in action, shows a tendency to deviate from the rules and disrupts the morning meeting procedure."

Bao Yan's icy eyes looked down at Shi Wu, who stood below the platform with a displeased expression. His tone held not a trace of emotion, as if he didn't know this person at all and was merely carrying out his duty impartially. "This prison does not encourage superficial, formalistic reflection content, nor does it accept the deliberate obfuscation of orders or the exploitation of linguistic loopholes for point acquisition."

Shi Wu lowered his head, staring at the pile of cleanly burned ash, then slowly looked up at him. "This... Guard Captain, do you have the authority to override the broadcast?"

The situation was already clear. Shi Wu also knew Bao Yan's authority must supersede the broadcast's; otherwise, he couldn't have made the point card disappear.

But he just wanted to ask one more time. Because he could see that Bao Yan's action was entirely intentional on his part, not a judgment from the instance itself.

Bao Yan's expression remained unchanged. He merely nodded to the other Guard Captains behind him, signaling them to record the violation number.

Two Guard Captains stepped forward, each holding a metal tablet-like device. They tapped on it a few times casually. A "beep—" sounded.

"Prisoner 902-4, point adjustment complete. Marked as—Key Observation Target."

"Key Observation Target?" Shi Wu let out a derisive laugh, as if hearing something novel. "Sounds pretty intimidating, doesn't it?"

"Silence."

Bao Yan said coldly, "From now on, be mindful of your words and actions."

Shi Wu shrugged, adopting an "I wasn't planning to hide anything anyway" attitude, and even had the leisure to retort: "Well then, you'll have to watch my 'devout' posture closely, because I am truly sincere towards the prison!"

Bao Yan: Do you think I believe that?

The entire hall was deathly silent.

At that moment, another guard captain behind Bao Yan suddenly stepped forward and whispered a few words into his ear.

That guard captain had a very distinctive appearance—the left eyebrow was broken in the middle.

Bao Yan nodded, and the guard captain with the broken eyebrow stepped forward, his voice booming: "Prisoner 902-3 has reached the point limit."

"Head to the 'Sanctification Bureau'—now."

As soon as the words fell, a crisp electronic lock sounded. With a "click," the wall on the left side of the hall slowly slid open to both sides, revealing a golden passageway leading deep inside. The entire corridor seemed as if it had been repeatedly cleansed by steam, with every inch of the floor tiles and walls radiating a soft golden light.

The named prisoner—902-3—froze solid.

"Is it me?" he murmured, his expression shifting from shock to disbelief, then to manic joy.

"It's me! It really is me!" He fell to his knees with a thud, clutching the prisoner number plate on his chest tightly, tears streaming down his face in excitement. "Praise the prison! Praise its tolerance and cleansing!!!"

"I did it! I finally did it!!!"

His voice was choked and distorted with emotion, his expression frenzied, as if he'd finally gotten his life's wish.

Before he could say more, two guards in black beside him stepped forward, each pressing down on one of his shoulders.

"On your feet."

"According to the White Hole Prison management regulations, prisoners who've maxed out their points must proceed immediately to the 'Sanctification Bureau.' The process cannot be delayed."

902-3 struggled to his feet, his legs still weak, but his entire demeanor was radiant, completely different from how he had been in the morning. He continued to mutter under his breath: "I will be cleansed, I will... I will never think again..."

"I won't think about anything... I won't make any more mistakes..."

As if afraid of missing something, he stumbled forward, sobbing, all but eagerly following the two guards into the depths of the golden corridor.

The wall slid shut without a sound, the golden light extinguished, and the passageway shut completely, as if it had never opened.

The other prisoners stared blankly at the wall. Some had longing in their eyes, some lowered their heads and silently recited something, while others even began to smooth their collars on their own, afraid of missing the next opportunity to perform.

Shi Wu tsked, leaned back in his chair, swinging his legs, and curled his lips into a smirk. "He's gone completely off the deep end."

He glanced at the points card, now just ashes in his hand, as if all that earlier excitement had just been someone else's dream.

This points system is no good.

"Once you max out your points, you get to go to the 'Sancti...' what? 'Sanctification Bureau'? For all I know they'll just send you off to be cremated after the cleansing."

He grumbled.

Bao Yan stood on the high platform, his expression calm and unmoved, his gaze flicking over Shi Wu's face without pausing for a second.

Just then, the broadcast sounded again, its voice still mechanical but carrying a strangely alluring warmth:

"All prisoners, please remember: Only through complete self-abandonment can true cleansing be achieved."

"Morning assembly is dismissed."

The large door slowly opened, and all the prisoners, as before, filed out in numerical order.

Shi Wu stood up. As he walked out of the report hall, he glanced back one last time at the empty high platform and the now-closed golden wall.

On that wall, something seemed to pulse rhythmically, like it was breathing.