Great! I'm surrounded by villains!
Chapter 311 - 230: Your Good Buddy

Chapter 311: Chapter 230: Your Good Buddy

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, I’m your buddy Owl..."

As Duan Mingyuan approached the studio, he heard an enthusiastic voice.

At this moment, Owl was sitting in the studio, surrounded by a bunch of screens showing the registration status of various districts; the number of viewers in the live broadcast had already surpassed a million, and the screen was filled with dense barrages of comments.

The much-anticipated Prison Planet trials, a quarterly event, were one of the people’s favorite electronic pickles.

The company’s affiliated betting websites were updating the number of registrants from each district in real time. The betting phase had already started, and Duan Mingyuan noticed that the last prisoner entered, named Great Wisdom, looked like a cannon fodder character.

For the audience, the event had already begun.

Now was the horse-picking phase, where viewers discussed the strong contestants’ past performances in the live broadcast room.

No wonder the company valued the Prison Planet trials so much. Although the Judge’s original intention was to let everyone witness the prisoners’ struggles firsthand as a deterrent against crime, the program had, since its broadcast, not only failed to achieve its wish but had also become a variety show that entertained people.

Even after Universe Company got involved, it had driven the flourishing development of its casinos.

Every season, some people would strike it big against all odds, while others would lose everything, leaving them to walk towards the rooftop.

Owl, who was wearing headphones, noticed Duan Mingyuan outside the window and gave him a look to wait a moment. Then he calmly finished his lines and switched the live broadcast screen to the registration status of various districts.

The audience was bidding and betting; surely, they all hoped to get a closer look at the mental and physical state of the "horses" they had wagered on.

"We meet again, Old Duan."

Upon leaving the studio, Owl greeted him with a smile. Faced with Duan Mingyuan’s skeptical look, he felt the need to clarify something first, "First off, I’m not a stalker."

"I find it hard not to think so."

Duan Mingyuan recalled his first meeting with Owl; the latter’s flying vehicle had followed Ranger all the way from Mechanical Star. It had only been a few days since they’d left, and now he met him again.

Before departure, Owl had interviewed them and learned their next destination.

After the Chamber of Commerce and the families withdrew from Mechanical Star, the responsibility of escorting the Cosmic Pirates naturally fell to them.

"Universe Company and the Peace Dove Press have entered into a strategic cooperation. I was sent here to lay low," Owl explained.

"Lay low?"

"’The Untold Stories Between Morgan VII and His Butler’."

Owl grinned slyly, "The family would love to grind my bones and scatter them to the wind. They’ve reportedly hired a top assassin to take my life; Prison Planet is one of the few places the Chamber of Commerce can’t get into."

Assassins couldn’t enter here either.

They would be detected as malevolent while trying to pass through the gates and then receive a one-way ticket to prison.

Owl had never believed in the effectiveness of anonymity; it took the family only an afternoon to trace his real identity. At first, they tried to intimidate him into making a public apology and drafting a clarification report, but Owl refused.

He was used to being a lone wolf; the threat tactics commonly used by the Chamber of Commerce, threatening family members, were ineffective against him.

Just as he was about to become space debris, Universe Company came knocking.

According to some inside information Owl had gathered, the company’s internal affairs were already in chaos, friction was constant between the other three Consortia and the Mandala Consortium controlled by the Shan Clan People.

"Sending me here was also to disgust the family a bit."

Owl was very clear about his role—he was now a troublemaker in the midst of the conflict between the Shan Clan People and the company. Even though he couldn’t play a role that would change the situation, he could still make the family stink to high heaven.

The live broadcast on Prison Planet was aimed at the entire universe’s residents. He had just made his official appearance, clearly telling his family he was now in the broadcast studio on Prison Planet, and if they had the capability, they should try to bypass the guards and sneak into the universe’s most secure prison.

"So the special guest they mentioned was you, after all. How about it, old friend, once the registration ends, shall we have a drink?"

"No need."

Mingyuan politely declined.

He had plans already for after the registration ended.

He needed to reserve his evening for Jiuyue, as the little Fox Demon had been lately researching how to make telephone porridge, and the internal network on Prison Planet allowed them to have video calls.

Compared to drinking and dealing with journalists, Mingyuan immediately chose Jiuyue. Even half a second of hesitation would have been disrespectful to the Fox Demon.

"You still don’t like socializing. Sometimes, going out for a drink isn’t such a bad thing."

"One should be careful when going out for drinks, especially when the one inviting you for a drink is a journalist."

This was Jiuyue’s reminder to Mingyuan; she was much more sensitive in social domains than him. During Owl’s interview with him, she noticed that the journalist was contemplating getting Mingyuan drunk to pry some secrets from him.

"Ha, too bad, seems like you’ve seen through me."

Owl didn’t argue and openly admitted his intentions.

This was a mark of a news professional’s work ethic—often, to get some juicy information from an interviewee, one needed to use certain methods.

"But still, having one more friend means having one more way out. When the trial officially begins, there will be a section for on-site reporting. At that time, the live broadcasting team will leave the studio to go to the trial zone in the prison area, much like those front-line reports."

Owl hinted, "Considering safety issues, special guests are not required to move with us in principle, but if they strongly request to do so, we can invite them to accompany us."

Smart people only need to hint as much as he did.

If Mingyuan wanted to leave the residential area to meet someone in the prison zone, he could use their help.

"What’s the exchange condition?"

"I conducted some inquiries on my way here, out of professional habit. I happened to learn that there are two special inmates in this prison, one of them once the most important scientist at the company and the other, someone no one knows the identity of, locked up at the deepest part of the prison."

Owl knew Mingyuan had come all this way not to meet minor characters who couldn’t make it onto the stage like ’Great Wisdom.’

"I’m very interested in them. If you happen to meet one of them, or both, at the time, I would like to have some valuable news material, even if it’s just scraps."

Curiosity joined him.

Even as this place was about to become the most perilous place in the entire universe.

Just like the turmoil on Mechanical Star.

Owl stepped forward and lowered his voice, "I’ve also received some inside information; you’re not the only one who wants to meet that scientist. The Chamber of Commerce is very interested in him and is figuring out how to get him out of this prison."