Great! I'm surrounded by villains!
Chapter 315 - 234: D17 Block

Chapter 315: Chapter 234: D17 Block

The next day, before dawn broke, Owl knocked on Duan Mingyuan’s door.

Universe Company placed great importance on this edition of the trial, hoping that the broadcasting team would follow and film the entire process. Last night, the company had dispatched an additional batch of personnel, assigning them to various prison sectors, and the prison guards were also mobilized to ensure that the audience could see almost every sector’s activity.

This morning was arranged for the interviews with the contestants, and the first guest was the winner of the last Purification Trial, "Debt Collector" Mr.

In the previous competitions, he had won a championship, a runner-up, and a third place, undoubtedly making him the most noticeable contestant of this event. The company’s betting website announced the latest odds this morning, and the website administration department was overjoyed, as every second of the live broadcast brought them an incalculable fortune.

"I heard this ’Debt Collector’ is quite troublesome, especially at odds with the company’s staff."

Owl looked somewhat nervous.

The broadcasting team had sent him the "Debt Collector"’s information, no wonder the "Debt Collector" bore a grudge against Universe Company.

The debt collection company was a gray industry under Universe Company, and as a veteran from its establishment, he had poured his heart and soul into the company’s development. What’s more, there were internal messages indicating that the torture and death of that little planetary prince might not be as simple as it appeared on the surface.

It was an instruction from the higher-ups, and one with a political motive.

Like most of the company’s discarded pieces, the company pinned all the blame on "Debt Collector," sending him to Prison Planet and handing him a 577-year sentence, which meant he could never leave the planet.

Owl seriously suspected that someone in the broadcasting team wanted to harm him.

God knows if the "Debt Collector" might suddenly lash out with a knife after hearing their identity.

"Old Duan, I heard that the prison allows inmates to carry weapons. Most of them carry knives."

Walking on the road to sector D17, Owl had already begun thinking about the aftermath, "If I’m unfortunate enough to get stabbed by a prisoner and sent to the infirmary, remember to tell the prison guards I want blueberry jam bread with cheese meat sauce rice for lunch."

"You won’t be stabbed."

This was good news.

The bad news, however, was that they would have to spend the night in the prison sector, and Mr. Owl was destined not to enjoy his coveted cheese meat sauce rice.

"Are you so certain?"

"The mechanical prison guards said last night that these prisoners will never walk the path of crime again."

Duan Mingyuan chose to believe in artificial intelligence’s judgment, after all the souls had been extracted by AI, and he had little interest in the "Debt Collector"’s entanglements with the company. He carefully scanned the map of sector D17, which was located 17 stories underground, and when the elevator doors opened to them, a wave of heat swept over them.

Unfortunately, the map did not indicate the sector where Eisenberg-Adler was located; he lived even deeper within the prison.

The nickname for Sector D17 was Purgatory, where the temperature remained around 47 degrees year-round.

Hot and arid, like a steaming cage.

The Judge had thoughtfully designed a special environment for the inmates on each floor to ensure they could fully enjoy the tortures of Prison Planet.

Therefore, the inmates of Sector D17 were in dire need of a bathroom.

Not only to wash off their sweat but also to provide a precious source of water.

After the Purification Trial, every inmate in the sector regarded the "Debt Collector" as a hero.

Fortunately, the prison guards provided the broadcasting team with a motorhome, which included air conditioning, clean clothes for changing, some canned food, and the most valuable source of water.

Prison Governor Norton accompanied them personally, though he seemed somewhat reluctant.

But then again, there wasn’t a soul in the world who liked overtime, especially the kind that kept you busy from dawn to dusk, with a schedule packed to the brim.

Trial participation had not previously required the involvement of these prison guards, and right now Norton should have been in his office, enjoying the air conditioning and savoring the latest issue of a magazine, instead of staying in a sauna-like environment, coming into close contact with foul-smelling prisoners.

But the company hoped to turn this into a long-term entertainment project, and even transform the surface of Prison Planet into an odd tourist attraction.

The D17 detention area was as large as a city, yet it only had the most primitive wooden houses.

These wooden houses did not seem able to withstand the harsh heat, and the prisoners they encountered along the way were all in a similar state, listless and appearing as though they were about to die from the heat.

Norton began to introduce the situation of the D17 detention area, "Originally there were no houses here, all of the houses were built by the prisoners, and over time, they gradually evolved into a symbol of status, where only those big shots with famed reputations in the detention area could live in these rudimentary houses."

But that too was merely a symbol of status, "In reality, there’s little difference in temperature inside or outside the houses. The harsh heat of the D17 detention area doesn’t come from the sun but is the result of artificial climate control. Regardless of day or night, regardless of how the seasons change, the temperature here remains constant."

The live broadcast team turned the camera towards Norton, and this speech was also broadcast in real-time.

The audience that had come early to watch the broadcast were suddenly enlightened.

No wonder "The Debt Collectors" won the championship in the Purification Trial; they lived in a steamer every day.

Mr. Owl clicked his tongue.

He could see the air outside the windows of the recreational vehicle warping. He couldn’t stand being in such a hellish place for three days, let alone imagine how these prisoners were supposed to serve a lifetime in this kind of Purgatory.

The scorching environment reminded him of Mechanical Star.

When his flying vehicle had just landed, that planet was also a barren desert, the residents had dark, sun-beaten skin, and every day people would die from lack of water.

Mr. Owl cleared his throat, faced the camera, "Ladies and gentlemen, good morning, your good buddy Mr. Owl here, and our next destination is the communal bathhouse that ’The Debt Collectors’ won in the previous trial. Please join us in witnessing the change that last season’s winners brought to this Purgatory!"

A structure loomed barely visible in the distance, strangely conspicuous in this empty and barren place.

The outside of the bathhouse was crowded with prisoners, the majority of whom had lined up all night just for the chance to take a bath.

Like the wooden houses, the communal bathhouse was originally a privilege for the "big shots," but after registration yesterday, "The Debt Collectors" seemed to have a sudden attack of conscience and decided to open the bathhouse to all the prisoners in the detention area.

Mr. Owl downed an entire bottle of water, took a deep breath, and opened the door of the recreational vehicle.

The broadcast crew carrying the camera equipment followed closely behind. They squeezed out a path amidst the stinky prisoners, none of them wanting to stay outside even for a moment longer.

However, once they finally made it into the bathhouse, they discovered that it was much hotter inside than out.

It seemed that due to the humidity, the stench was even more pronounced.

Mr. Owl held his breath, trying his best not to vomit in front of the audience.

"Didn’t I tell you?"

Seasoned Norton had already equipped himself with an air purifier and had it strapped to his face, which didn’t change the temperature inside the bathhouse but at least spared him the agony of the stench.

"This is a prison, not a vacation spot. The Judge won’t let any prisoner have it easy. Even though they built a bathhouse after the Purification Trial, the temperature of the water was also strictly controlled."

Specifically, the ground temperature in the D17 detention area is 47.5 degrees Celsius.

The bathhouse water temperature is 62.4 degrees Celsius.