Spy-x-War Showdown
Chapter 122 - 121 Key

Chapter 122: Chapter 121 Key

Bringing a new member into the fold wasn’t easy or quick since the only chance to interact with other inmates was during yard time.

But Yang Yi had considered many possibilities but had never anticipated this one.

As he returned to his cell for his routine daily exercise, he saw a guard appear outside his cell, followed by a pair of shackled feet taking small, shuffling steps to his cell and stopping.

With his feet against the wall and hands on the ground in a handstand, Yang Yi flipped down to face the guard.

The guard knocked on the iron bars and nodded at Yang Yi before calling out loudly, "You’ve got a new cellmate, Bad Seed."

Yes, Yang Yi had a nickname in prison now, and it was Bad Seed.

The nicknamed Bad Seed came to be because Yang Yi used to look for trouble and fight with others all the time, even though he no longer did, but the nickname stuck with the other inmates and even affected the guards.

Except no other inmate dared to call Yang Yi Bad Seed to his face, but the guards, of course, were another story.

Yang Yi just watched the new inmate.

Caucasian, in his thirties, about six feet tall with a slight hunchback, wearing glasses, and at first glance, quite handsome. But on closer inspection, there was something indistinguishable on his face that detracted from his looks.

The guard opened the cell door and grabbed the inmate’s hands to unlock the handcuffs.

"Get in."

After pushing the inmate into the cell, the guard shouted at Yang Yi, "Bad Seed, keep an eye on him. If he tries to unlock his shackles, give him a good beating and let us know."

Having said that, the guard locked the iron door and walked away.

What was this all about?

Yang Yi was still in shock. Owen had transferred his cellmate and arranged for a jailbreaking thief to live with him. What was the meaning of all this?

Looking at Yang Yi’s stunned expression, the inmate glanced behind to confirm the guard had left, let out a deep sigh, and then said to Yang Yi, "Hey, buddy, hey, I’m talking to you!"

Yang Yi suddenly snapped back to attention and looked at the inmate, "Hmm?"

The inmate surveyed the cell casually and said, "This isn’t bad, much better than the Los Angeles jail. How long have you been here?"

"About a year and a half."

"Do you know who I am?"

"No."

"You can call me Key, my name is Key. Alright buddy, tell me, who’s the top dog here? Tell me, and I’ll make it worth your while."

Key looked at the bunk; ever since Zhang Yong slept on the top bunk, Yang Yi had been on the bottom. Even later when he was with Gweil and Hamer, he hadn’t switched. But after eying the bedding on the bottom bunk, Key nodded at Yang Yi and said, "Hey, bro, do me a favor, move your stuff to the top. I’ll sleep on the bottom."

Yang Yi stared blankly at the new prisoner; he felt that this newcomer clearly hadn’t figured out the situation yet.

"Don’t space out. Hurry up, I’m already very tired."

Yang Yi let out a soft sigh and then asked in a deep voice, "What’s your name, what crime did you commit to end up here, and how long is your sentence?"

"You..."

Turning his head to look at Yang Yi, the man who claimed to be Key seemed somewhat displeased, but upon seeing the pile of things in the corner of Yang Yi’s cell, he immediately asked, "What’s that?"

"Cigarettes, candy, and instant noodles."

The tributes from his underlings and the items he had snatched from other prisoners had piled up; there was no place in the cell to store them, so Yang Yi had piled them in the corner and covered them with a cloth, but it still looked like quite a large mound.

Looking at the pile, then back at Yang Yi, and once again at the pile, Key suddenly changed his expression and immediately said very obediently, "My name is Hank, I committed theft, and was sentenced to eight years in prison. Then I escaped, and they added four more years, so now it’s a twelve-year sentence."

Yang Yi nodded his head, then he asked curiously, "What did you steal, where did you steal it from, and why were you sentenced so harshly?"

"Uh, it’s a long story. I like to steal art pieces, and I have a strong interest in jewelry too. But I got imprisoned because, well, I was breaking into a mansion in Los Angeles and was caught red-handed by the police. They charged me with endangering national security. Fortunately, my lawyer was good, and in the end, I only got eight years. Actually, they wanted to give me life in prison."

Yang Yi felt something wasn’t quite right, because burglary alone would not lead to such a heavy sentence of eight years, and if there was an element of assault, it wouldn’t be as light as only eight years. As for life imprisonment, that was far too severe a punishment for a thief.

"Why did it happen that way? Explain more clearly."

"Well, while I was stealing at a mansion before, I came across something interesting, and I just felt like spreading it online. Let me tell you, the content of those videos was incredibly thrilling! But I didn’t expect it was a senator’s house, and the star of the videos was the senator himself, so I got targeted. Someone set a trap for me, leading me into a house with the police waiting outside. Then they said I stole an important national security document, trying to lock me up for life."

Hank looked smug. Flipping his hand, he chuckled, "But I didn’t touch that safe. I felt something was off, so I didn’t touch it. Their cameras didn’t catch the most crucial evidence, so I was only sentenced to eight years. It was supposed to be retribution, and I was supposed to die, or at least get life imprisonment, but I only got eight years."

Yang Yi raised his index finger and shook it a few times, then he said softly, "It’s twelve years. They added four more years to your sentence."

"Oh, that was just a side effect of the escape, but I did make it out, right? Just bad luck."

Yang Yi casually grabbed a towel and wiped the sweat from his face, then he pointed to the corner of the wall and ordered, "Go squat over there, holds your ears with your hands, and don’t you put them down until I say so."

Hank threw his bedding onto the upper bunk and then immediately squatted down in the corner Yang Yi had indicated.

Yang Yi looked at Hank and said indifferently, "Heels on the ground, and don’t lean against the wall."

Hank immediately showed a painful expression because he couldn’t squat like Asians could, with his heels on the ground, which was very uncomfortable for him.

Why Hank went from arrogant to submissive, why he wanted to bully Yang Yi with his seniority and then quickly changed his attitude, was all because of that pile of stuff in Yang Yi’s corner.

In prison, how could someone who doesn’t dominate as the boss have so many valuable prison commodities? Therefore, since Yang Yi had a pile of good stuff, he must not be an inmate who could be bullied; on the contrary, he could bully any new inmate at will.

Yang Yi didn’t like to bully people, but showing a new inmate who’s the boss and opening their eyes was still very necessary.

After making Hank squat in the corner for half an hour, Yang Yi finally asked, "You call yourself Key, so you’re very good at picking locks, are you?"