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墨書 Inktalez
The next day, Lu Fei Fan woke up to find himself lying on a hospital bed covered with a white sheet. He glanced at the window behind the headboard, where the curtains fluttered gently in the breeze, but the sunlight poured in like a dazzling waterfall.
He tried to sit up, but a wave of stiffness and pain washed over him. It wasn't too severe, though; he seemed to remember that he had collapsed after stepping off the fighting stage, and after that, everything was a blur.
Lu Fei Fan surveyed the room again. The smell of disinfectant lingered in the air, and the simple furnishings indicated that this was definitely a hospital. However, the ward appeared somewhat old and shabby, leading him to deduce that it must be a medical facility within a prison.
Before long, there was a loud bang as the door swung open. A male doctor wearing a white coat and glasses entered, holding a vial of medicine. He had a patch of stubble on his chin that made him resemble a goat.
"Ah? You woke up by yourself? That's quite unexpected," the doctor said as he set down the medicine and began examining Lu Fei Fan's body. Nodding to himself, he muttered, "With injuries this severe, I thought you'd be out for four or five days. To wake up so soon means there shouldn't be any major issues; you should be able to return to your cell soon."
"Where am I?" Lu Fei Fan asked.
"You’re in the treatment hospital of Black Iron Prison," the doctor replied. He then tossed Lu Fei Fan a bottle of pills. "Take these; they will help with your internal injuries."
With that, he turned and left, leaving Lu Fei Fan alone in the ward. His Superbrain Device must have been taken away. Without it to connect to the Virtual Network and contact 'Heroes,' he figured he might as well find something to do—he couldn't just lie around waiting for death.
Lu Fei Fan swallowed the pills and then sat cross-legged on the bed to practice Fu Mai Xi Shu. The awakened cells within him surged like a wellspring; it seemed this time he had expended quite a bit of energy—otherwise, he wouldn't have collapsed so suddenly.
After running through several cycles of Fu Mai Xi Shu, his cells began to release streams of Pulse Energy once more. This at least proved that the depleted Pulse Energy could be replenished.
Thus, Lu Fei Fan began meditating, becoming like a statue in the ward. Only his faint consciousness was engaged in Fu Mai Xi Shu. After several hours, Lu Fei Fan's posture on the bed had transformed completely from its earlier weakness; he had recovered about one-fourth of his Pulse Energy. If he continued this practice overnight, he estimated he could regain half of it. He even noticed that many cells were maturing; if he filled up on this depleted Pulse Energy and cycled through several more rounds of breath work, he would likely awaken another batch of energy cells.
While Lu Fei Fan was recuperating and meditating in his ward, an evaluation report regarding his fighting abilities was tossed onto Warden Tao Shu's desk.
Tao Shu looked up at Liu Chengshu, his assistant who wore lace-trimmed glasses. They were about the same age; regardless of how formally dressed he was, there was always an air of scholarly demeanor about him. However, outsiders were unaware that this assistant at Black Iron Prison had never attended any prestigious schools.
"This is my investigation and evaluation report on him along with the list of personnel involved," Liu Chengshu said as he handed over another thicker report to Tao Shu before stepping back to stand beside Wan Changqing.
The latter stood there silently, like a stone.
Tao Shu opened the report that had more names than the others and examined it closely. Upon seeing several familiar names, his eyelids involuntarily twitched a few times, and then he furrowed his brow and asked, "Were these people all chosen by our own?"
"Most of them were not, Warden," came the firm reply from Wan Changqing. He dared not be careless in front of Tao Shu. "Some were specifically requested by Colonel Gao," he added, "including the one who won the fighting competition, named Lu Fei Fan."
Tao Shu stroked his chin, his fingers rhythmically tapping on the table as if he were hesitating over a difficult decision. "These are all prisoners sentenced to extreme penalties under the Free Federation's constitution. It's fine to hand them over, but this Lu Fei Fan..."
At that moment, there was a knock on the door, and a female secretary walked in.
"Warden, outside Colonel Gao and Captain Qiu request an audience."
Tao Shu closed the report and waved his hand. "Let them in."
The secretary understood and left. Shortly after, Colonel Gao walked in with a toothpick in his mouth. Upon seeing Tao Shu, he rubbed his hands together eagerly and said, "Tao Warden, I hope you don’t mind my uninvited visit; I’m here to ask for some people."
Tao Shu looked at this straightforward middle-aged colonel and maintained a smile.
"Familiarity aside, we still need to follow proper procedures. Come on, where's the dispatch document?" Colonel Gao turned to the young lieutenant who had been following him and requested a command document from Military Headquarters, which was then handed to Liu Chengshu. Liu Chengshu passed it to Tao Shu.
Tao Shu glanced at the Military Headquarters seal on the folder; he didn't even need to open it to know what the order was about.
"Colonel Gao is quite bold," Tao Shu said with a smile. He then looked at Wan Changqing, who showed no expression. Tao Shu picked up the report on the table and handed it to Colonel Gao. "The people you want are all in here."
Colonel Gao took it without looking and passed it to the young lieutenant behind him. The young captain in Free Federation military uniform opened the document and began to examine it carefully.
"These individuals were selected by Chengshu and Changqing for you, but many of them are troublemakers, so be cautious," Tao Shu advised.
“Tao Warden is furious. A troublemaker is just perfect for this,” Colonel Gao replied, matching his tone.
The young Captain behind them finished reviewing the documents and informed Colonel Gao, “We’re missing that person from the fighting arena.”
Upon hearing this, Colonel Gao chuckled and turned to Tao Shu. “Tao Warden, that young man…”
“Ah.” Tao Shu feigned ignorance, quickly slapping his forehead. “Look at me, I completely forgot about him. It’s not that we don’t want to give him to you; it’s just that we can’t.”
“Why not?” Colonel Gao was taken aback.
“Because there are some unspeakable difficulties,” Tao Shu said, struggling to explain without revealing the truth, which only deepened Colonel Gao’s confusion.
“If there’s something difficult to say, Tao Warden, feel free to speak up. If it’s truly a problem, I won’t make things hard for you,” Colonel Gao said candidly.
“Wow, why is it so lively in here today! Tsk tsk tsk.”
The door swung open with a voice that interrupted their conversation, and they turned to see who had entered.
Tao Shu exchanged a meaningful glance with Colonel Gao, who looked toward the newcomer with a mix of understanding and curiosity.
It was Su Su, who walked in while chomping on a chicken leg without a care for her image. Behind her trailed Wang Bo, who seemed as persistent as a shadow. Despite her messy eating habits, Su Su's beauty drew attention wherever she went.
“Oh, Uncle Gao is here too!” Su Su said with her mouth full of greasy chicken as she greeted Colonel Gao. He smiled and continued to pick at his teeth, seemingly lost in thought.
The Young Lieutenant behind Colonel Gao wanted to greet her but was completely ignored as Su Su turned away, giving him no chance to speak.
Without any regard for decorum, Su Su plopped herself onto the Warden's desk, crossing her long legs and swinging them back and forth, oblivious to how others perceived her.
“Su Su, what brings you here today?” Tao Shu asked, taking a sip from her teacup.
“I’m here to collect someone,” Su Su replied casually, tossing the leftover chicken bone onto the floor and dusting off her hands.
Tao Shu exchanged a glance with Colonel Gao, who nodded in understanding.
So the so-called hidden agenda was actually about this sister.
“Here’s the report,” Tao Shu said, sliding Lu Fei Fan’s report across the table. Su Su reached out to grab it, but Tao Shu held on, leaving Su Su looking puzzled.
“Have you considered handing this person over to the military?” Tao Shu suggested.
“The military?” A frown crossed Su Su’s brow as she realized who might be trying to take someone from her. “No way! I’ve worked hard to find this person; how could I just throw them into the military to become cannon fodder?”
Her words made Colonel Gao’s eyelids twitch several times. This sister’s unfiltered and reckless nature was indeed notorious, and he was finally witnessing it firsthand.
“How about this? I’ll arrange for a reinforced company’s military equipment as compensation for Uncle Gao,” Su Su proposed.
Several gasps filled the office at the mention of a reinforced company’s military equipment. What kind of concept was that? It easily amounted to tens of millions. This sister had casually offered such a significant sum for someone completely unrelated to her, clearly demonstrating her willingness to spend big. It seemed she was determined to have Lu Fei Fan.
Colonel Gao stroked his chin, pondering the sharp Hu Xu, and suddenly felt that this deal was quite advantageous.
“Since Su Su has spoken, I can’t be ungrateful,” Colonel Gao said, deciding to accept. After all, acquiring an additional set of reinforced equipment was indeed more beneficial than trading for a young and promising Fuser.
“Alright.” Seeing that Colonel Gao had no objections, Tao Shu released her grip on the report and handed it over to Su Su. She lifted the report in thanks and turned to leave.
After sending off this sister, Colonel Gao found an excuse to take the Young Lieutenant with him and left as well.
After sending off the two parties that could not be offended, Tao Shu let out a sigh.
“Could it be that Su Su has taken a liking to a young man?” Liu Chengshu remarked subconsciously, and then he suddenly realized he had misspoken, hurriedly coughing a few times.
“Probably not,” Tao Shu replied while tapping his fingers. “What about that guy, Changqing?”
“Report to the Warden, he has been sent to the hospital for treatment. The doctors say he should be fine,” Wan Changqing answered. “Additionally, Warden, we had a verbal agreement regarding his release…”
“We did indeed release him from prison, but we never agreed on how he would be released…” Tao Shu said.
“What about Su Su?” Wan Changqing asked with concern.
“Let her handle it herself. It’s good for that guy to suffer a bit; as for the rest, we can just look the other way,” Tao Shu said with a slight smile. He seemed to anticipate that Lu Fei Fan would not easily submit, and when the time came, he would surely be in for a rough time at Su Su’s hands. The thought brought him an uncontrollable sense of amusement.
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