Great! I'm surrounded by villains!
Chapter 303 - 222: Conviction

Chapter 303: Chapter 222: Conviction

The Third Prince first heard of the Prison Planet when he was twelve years old.

Books brought by foreign merchants would often appear in the library, which was also his main way to learn about the universe. Most civilizations were similar to the Blue Star, but in the depths of this vast cosmos, there were some abnormal planets.

One kind turned into Dead Stars after undergoing "Cocoon" transformation; another kind were planets like the Prison Planet, which were later modified.

Most of these planets were used for heavy industry production by companies and Chambers of Commerce, but the Prison Planet was unique. The company transformed the entire planet into the most secure prison in the universe, for detaining infamous criminals whose names would go down in history books.

According to recent statements from the Chamber of Commerce, they believed that Duan Mingyuan also should be sent to the Prison Planet for trial.

Even if the inmates confined on the Prison Planet managed to escape successfully, from passing through the multi-layered prison to the surface world, what awaited them was nothing more than a barren planet.

Since the establishment of the Prison Planet, there had been thousands of prison riots, large and small, but no prisoner had ever managed to escape the Prison Planet successfully.

Now, they were on their way to the Prison Planet under the pretense of escorting prisoners.

However, that was not their true purpose.

They intended to either take Eisenberg-Adler from the planet, which was notorious for never having had a successful jailbreak, or to outright ensure that he drew his last breath in his cell.

How they were to treat this "predestined individual" was a difficult decision.

But before that, they still had some preparatory work to do.

With this thought, the Third Prince gathered everyone and asked, "Among those present, who thinks themselves a good person who can withstand the test?"

Everyone raised their hands, including Earth Wolf Twelve.

"This question is of the utmost importance. Please consider it carefully," the Third Prince said with a stern face. "What I mean is, for those who can count every good and bad thing they have done so far and still come out with a positive value after offsetting them against each other, how many are there?"

"That..."

Tang Qianqian timidly raised her hand, "Does falling asleep in class and slacking off during work count as bad deeds?"

"Of course. However, the question is mainly directed at Jiuyue and Earth Wolf Twelve. According to the plan, once we reach the Prison Planet, aside from them and Teacher Mingyuan, all the others will stay on the Fortress Number and wait."

"Ah, us?"

Jiuyue and Earth Wolf Twelve looked at each other, their response now somewhat uncertain, "Should do, I suppose."

"Remember, murder is a grave sin, and it’s not easy to atone for such a crime."

As far as the Third Prince knew, both Jiuyue and Earth Wolf Twelve had committed quite a few "sins."

He explained, "This is not an interrogation, but once you enter the Prison Planet’s jail, regardless of one’s intentions for being there, everyone will undergo a universal judgment. If found guilty, even if one is not a criminal, they will be incarcerated by force."

This was all knowledge that the Third Prince had read in books as a child.

To achieve absolute fairness and justice, the tasks of judging the criminals and sentencing the inmates were carried out by a sophisticated artificial intelligence that would measure each person’s good and bad deeds before arriving at the final verdict.

Once a negative result is reached, one will be forcibly imprisoned until the end of their sentence.

It is said that the prison does not have the death penalty, and many were sentenced to more than four hundred years.

But this is not a blessing for the criminals on Prison Planet, for the graver their sins, the harsher the environment they are detained in, especially for the repeat offenders. Serving their sentence is worse than death, yet they are unable to even end their own lives.

The prison’s life support system will revive them, no matter how many times they attempt suicide. They will always wake up in their own cells, awaiting the eternal torment ahead.

This proposal was autonomously introduced by artificial intelligence, which believes that death is too lenient for those who are utterly vicious and doesn’t serve well as a deterrent. It hopes to make all criminals understand that death is not the severest punishment in this world, and often, it is living that equates to purgatory.

Furthermore, artificial intelligence has recorded everything that happens inside the prison, including those evil-doers breaking down mentally.

No matter how defiant they were before entering the prison, they all invariably went mad after a period of incarceration.

The staff of Prison Planet would then publish these recordings on the official prison website for all to see the consequences of misdeeds.

Clearly, the cosmic pirates held in Fortress Number are unaware of what happens on Prison Planet, or else they would not feel fortunate for having their lives spared under any circumstances.

The most pressing issue now is that, based on the Third Prince’s assessment, Jiuyue and Earth Wolf Twelve are very likely to have negative evaluations, of the repeat offender kind, which means both would have to stay on Fortress Number, forcing Duan Mingyuan to fight alone.

They are completely ignorant of the true situation inside the prison, and to avoid jailbreaks, all outsiders are cut off from all communication devices upon entering. By then, Duan Mingyuan will be left completely isolated and without support.

"At that time, we won’t be able to provide you with intelligence support either."

"No matter."

Duan Mingyuan understood the Third Prince’s concern and said, "I can do it alone."

Jiuyue and Earth Wolf Twelve’s faces stiffened, and they instinctively wanted to say something but realized that insisting on following him into the prison would only burden him more.

After all, according to their current plan, before meeting Eisenberg-Adler and confirming what kind of person he is, provoking a prison riot is not the outcome they want.

The vast majority of inmates on this planet deserve their sentences, and setting them free from prison would be a truly grave sin.

According to the navigation markers, they are 3 hours and 42 minutes away from arriving at Prison Planet, and they can already discern its outline, still pitch black as if uninhabited.

"We have less than four hours to come up with an excuse."

The Third Prince also started to feel nervous.

After all, the nature of their mission is essentially different from attending the Sixteen Star Summit; whether to help a criminal jailbreak, or to kill someone already incarcerated.

Neither of those has any justifiability.

And following the procedure for escorting prisoners, they should return immediately after sending the cosmic pirates into jail. Therefore, to delve deeper into the prison’s lower levels to search for Eisenberg-Adler, they must come up with an excuse.

An adequate one, capable of convincing the prison guards and even the artificial intelligence.