Great! I'm surrounded by villains!
Chapter 321 - 240: 1721

Chapter 321: Chapter 240: 1721

"Barrier."

Duan Mingyuan steadied his mind; he had not wished to battle the Judge, but now the colossal construct submerged at the bottom of the lake seemed to have malfunctioned, looking as if it intended to kill them.

It was inconvenient to negotiate at the lake’s bottom, and impossible to employ sword techniques, so he had to resolve the issue by force.

At first, there was a thin crack which then connected with other parts to form a net, causing the palmtop to disintegrate and fall at a visible rate at the bottom of the lake.

"Executing, exec, executing——"

The synthetic mechanical voice grew increasingly noisy until the crack spread over its entire body.

The broken construct cleared a new path for the two men—its huge body connected to the part at the lake’s bottom, and when its torso also shattered, a passage leading deeper unfolded before them.

Duan Mingyuan had a hunch about what lay further down the passage.

Before the construct malfunctioned, it had mentioned that what they were looking for was not here, as if trying to persuade them to leave.

If the prisoner confined here was not Eisenberg-Adler, then it must be another entity known only by its sentence, whose name was unknown to all.

By the measure of their sentence, this individual was undoubtedly the most vicious criminal on Prison Planet, and perhaps even in the entire universe.

The Judge treated him with extreme caution, even creating such a massive construct to guard in front of the prison.

Luckily, Duan Mingyuan was superior in skill, managing a narrow victory with a slight advantage in this encounter; otherwise, he and Owl might have followed in the footsteps of the previous diving champion, crushed to death by this giant construct as if they were mere insects.

Duan Mingyuan experienced a brief hesitation.

Their target was Eisenberg-Adler, not 1721, and it seemed they had no reason to deal with this villain imprisoned at the very depths of the jail, yet another voice called to him from deeper within the prison.

As the construct fell to ruin, the last of the light faded away, and Duan Mingyuan saw Owl’s face, still unsettled.

Although the harrowing moment had filled Owl with fear, it did not extinguish his "since we’re here" spirit; he mustered his last bit of strength, gesturing to Duan Mingyuan to continue descending.

Behind the hatch door, there was a place similar to an isolation chamber for flying vehicles.

The door no longer belonged to the D72 section; the boundless darkness disappeared, and a red light shone down.

The isolation chamber seemed to be in alarm mode; as soon as the two landed, a shrill alarm sounded, followed by a rattling noise from the room opposite, the sound of chains colliding with objects.

"This is..."

Owl suddenly thought of something and blurted out, looking around the noisy isolation chamber with growing conviction.

"Do you recognize this place?"

"When young, Eisenberg-Adler was unfortunately drawn into a wormhole on his return from participating in an academic forum; everyone on the spaceship perished except for him, who managed to escape onto a lifeboat. By the time the Universe Company rescue team arrived at the location of the flying vehicle, he had already been confined in this cramped space for 17 days."

Owl always researched the stories of each interview subject in advance, and this extraordinary anecdote about Eisenberg naturally did not escape his attention.

It was said that since then, Eisenberg developed a severe claustrophobia, making this place undoubtedly his greatest fear.

However, this meant that Eisenberg’s usual living conditions were far from what Prison Governor Norton had publicly claimed. Norton mentioned that where Eisenberg lived was almost no different from his time at the company, that Universe Company had arranged a laboratory for him, and even provided him with the most advanced artificial intelligence to replace his assistants.

Now, it seemed, Norton might be accused of false advertising.

The struggle from the other side of the hatch grew more intense and desperate.

The sound of iron chains grinding against tables and chairs grew louder, and the person making the noise stamped his feet in anger, until all the noise along with the isolation chamber’s alarm was silenced, and only then did Duan Mingyuan knock on the door.

"Damn it, I’ve told you countless times, when will you finally understand that I am the real Eisenberg-Adler!"

The person locked behind the hatch shouted.

Eisenberg-Adler?

Just as Duan Mingyuan hesitated whether to open the hatch to investigate, a cold arm rested on his shoulder.

The mechanical jailer appeared out of nowhere once again.

Just like a glitched NPC in those crappy games, it refreshed itself right behind them.

"Mr. Duan Mingyuan, you shouldn’t have come here,"

the mechanical jailer reminded him, seemingly unconcerned about him having just damaged the gigantic guard, "nor should you communicate with the people here."

"So, in fact, you’ve always been violating the company’s orders by secretly detaining Dr. Eisberg here, which is why you forbid anyone from approaching this block?"

Owl stepped out and spoke, feeling that with Judge’s level of madness, it really was possible for him to do such a thing for the sake of "justice".

This was the place Eisenberg-Adler feared the most and it fit with its usual methods of tormenting people.

"The person inside is not Dr. Eisberg."

"We just heard him speak a moment ago."

"Are you sure you want to meet the person inside?"

Considering that even the Titan guards of this block couldn’t stop the two of them, Judge realized that a "clone" was not enough to stop the two who had already arrived.

According to prison rules, although Duan Mingyuan could offset his punishment with his good deeds, Owl, as one of those who trespassed into the restricted area, should have been processed for formal imprisonment.

He would have been sentenced to 18 years and 3 months for this.

Judge reminded Owl, "I must clarify in advance, if you insist on seeing the person inside, your sentence will become 32 years and 4 months."

To its assessment of humans, 32 years was a daunting number.

Even more agonizing was the fact that after Owl spent those 32 years in prison, he would find that the outside world had changed beyond recognition and there was no longer a place for him.

So it considerately introduced the prison services to Owl, "I recommend our 18-year and 3-month basic package for you. Not only is the sentence shorter, but you would also be placed in a block closer to the surface, where the hardships you’d endure are less severe. With excellent behavior in the block, you could be released in as little as ten years."

"Stop beating around the bush, what’s the deal with the person inside?"

Owl ignored its suggestion and retorted, "Ignoring company orders and changing prisoners’ blocks on your own, that’s a crime too, isn’t it? Or do you think you can do whatever you want just because you’re the prison manager?"

For a self-proclaimed justice AI like Judge, this should produce a good effect.

"Since you’ve made up your mind..."

The mechanical jailer opened the isolation cell door right before their eyes, while silently preparing the 32-year and 4-month upgrade package for Owl.

A man in a white lab coat was chained to a chair.

"What did I tell you? This is Dr. Eisberg!"

Owl accused the person in the room, speaking in a high and mighty tone, "No matter who came today, they would be Dr. Eisberg!"

The mechanical jailer did not argue; it simply walked over to Eisenberg-Adler.

When its right hand touched the man’s forehead, the man suddenly let out a scream that nearly split their eardrums. His head twisted and shook at an almost grotesque speed, with black viscous fluid oozing from his eyes, nostrils, and corners of his mouth.

He opened his mouth wide, staring viciously at everyone like a vengeful ghost from a horror film.

The scream continued for almost a minute until Owl’s legs were almost weak, and it finally removed its palm from the man’s forehead.

The next moment, that distorted face once again reverted to the appearance of Eisberg.

"What the hell is this thing?"

Owl covered his chest, panting heavily.

"This is something that grew out of Eisenberg-Adler,"

the mechanical jailer said, "We also don’t know exactly what species it is."