Great! I'm surrounded by villains!
Chapter 318 - 237: Deeper

Chapter 318: Chapter 237: Deeper

It was reported that the "Debtor" went mad for half an hour before finally returning to calm under the "soothing" measures of the mechanical prison guards.

The cost was another round of depletion of his Life Energy; he became quiet and his reactions seemed half a beat slower.

Owl received the information transmitted back by the broadcasting team and couldn’t help worrying about the current situation of the prison. It didn’t seem to be a surgery without any side effects. Compared to a frontal lobotomy, the only difference was the lesser degree of the side effects, barely enough to consider it a slight improvement.

He now began to suspect that the inmates on Prison Planet were just the first batch of guinea pigs for the Judge, an artificial intelligence that would eventually promote and apply this procedure to everyone—just like those research teams that developed the frontal lobotomy and won awards for it.

Human thought and artificial intelligence do not communicate in the same way; perhaps in the eyes of artificial intelligence, eliminating strong emotional fluctuations is a beneficial choice for humans.

This meant that they had to accelerate their progress.

The intuition of a news professional told Owl that once this trial ended, something irreversible would happen on Prison Planet.

"One of my informants has picked up some gossip; although he doesn’t know the exact location of the Eisenberg-Adler District, he can at least help us eliminate some wrong answers."

He spread out the map of the Prison Star Jail on the table and marked the eliminated areas with a red marker.

Many people had been sent in over time to extract Eisenberg from his cell, trying everything possible but never getting close to the district where Eisenberg was held. Through process of elimination, they concluded that Eisenberg and another prisoner with a sentence of 1721 years were detained even deeper.

"That is, somewhere deeper than here."

Owl leaned over the table with a very solemn expression.

The known deepest district is D72, called Black Lake.

The entire D72 District holds only three prisoners, all inexcusable villains with sentences of over 800 years. The district is perpetually shrouded in darkness, a special kind of darkness that no light can penetrate its woven net.

The prisoners’ cells are small cottages by the lake, surrounded by an endless expanse of water separating them from the elevator.

No one knows what lies within Black Lake, not even the prison guards.

Darkness and the unknown, that was the "gift" left to these three by the rebellion.

Since nightfall, these three haven’t seen light for decades; perhaps their vision has already degraded in the darkness. The prison guards who have had contact with them describe them as lifeless as wood, not responding even when their names are called, only confirmed to be alive through their breathing and slight movements.

Owl said, "I know it sounds crazy, but that informant guessed that the way to the deeper prison is to jump into Black Lake, hold your breath, and swim to the very depths. Maybe then you’ll find an entrance to another district."

"Are the sources of the information reliable?"

Duan Mingyuan could not help but be skeptical.

It sounded like a story concocted by people who were never able to find Eisenberg, placing him in a location that could never be reached by conventional means.

"All I can say is that the guy was a war correspondent before he was imprisoned, a colleague of mine."

Owl paused and deflated under Duan Mingyuan’s inquiring gaze, only managing to say awkwardly, "Well, I don’t know. He mentioned that the group that tried to rescue him used some method to reach D72 District and even got hold of a set of diving gear through some mysterious Strength."

This mysterious strength naturally refers to the prison guards.

In places like this where the job is leisurely and many of the appointees come with some family background, corruption is most likely to take root.

Owl’s former colleague had not listed the names of these people nor had he specified who wanted to get Eisenberg-Adler out of prison, but he did mention their fates.

"Once they went underwater, they never appeared again; alive they were seen by none, dead they left no corpse. No one in the prison ever mentioned their names again, as if they had never existed."

If nothing unexpected had happened, they would have been added to the few deaths on the list of the Prison Star Jail in recent years.

"This at least suggests that there must be something hidden in Black Lake; otherwise, even if they didn’t find Eisenberg, they wouldn’t have drowned in the lake with diving gear on."

And this was in violation of a long-standing principle of the prison—in other districts, no matter how close you were to death, the mechanical prison guards would save you, and when you woke up, you would find yourself lying on a bed in the infirmary, staring at the pristine ceiling above, briefly returning to civilized society, until your condition stabilized and then, without mercy, they’d kick you back into Hell."

"Whatever’s hidden there is important enough to make artificial intelligence violate its own principles, to permanently seal their lips."

Having said that, Owl and Duan Mingyuan exchanged glances.

As he had said in the beginning, it sounded crazy.

To entrust one’s destiny to the unknown and to luck seemed to fit the rhythm of District D72.

He fished out an identity card for a prison guard from his pocket and a hint of a smile appeared on his face, "But it’s worth a try, isn’t it?"

This identity card had taken Owl a considerable effort to acquire, and he hoped that his efforts were worthwhile.

Universe Company hoped to turn Prison Planet into the most bizarre, most morbidly fascinating entertainment venue in the entire universe, but that was not Owl’s purpose.

He was never one to conform; otherwise, he wouldn’t be in the situation of being hunted down by the Silver Lotus Family.

Darkness and the unknown, to a journalist like him, were fatally attractive.

Perhaps all the secrets of this planet were hidden beneath the Black Lake of District D72 and he was certain that, with Duan Mingyuan’s skills, he wouldn’t end up as one of the disappeared like those before him.

"I can procure a full set of diving equipment, the necessary lighting tools, and of course, apart from these, we’ll need courage, and some luck."

"At least it beats sitting here twiddling our thumbs."

Duan Mingyuan nodded, "You prepare the diving equipment and lighting tools, I’ll figure out how to come by some luck."

"...What?"

Three question marks appeared above Owl’s head, "You do realize that the last two are just to add numbers, right? Their purpose is to make this operation sound more meaningful."

"I can get us luck."

Duan Mingyuan attempted to adopt Owl’s way of speaking so he could understand, "I also know an informant; she should be able to help us procure enough luck."