Mage Manual

Chapter 93: Chapter 86: Prison Break Study Club

“This is the port where the transport ships dock. The transport ship comes to Shattered Lake Prison on the 1st, 11th, and 21st of every month to replenish the prison’s supplies and bring in death row inmates. The transport ship is of a medium-sized cargo vessel specification, and there will be at least one team of Blood Frenzy Hunters accompanying the prisoners. The average strength of the Blood Frenzy Hunters is around One-winged or Two-winged, and unless they are escorting a particularly important prisoner, a Three-winged Hunter Captain won’t appear…”

Ash, looking at a Prison Guard nearby puffing on a tobacco pipe and exhaling clouds of smoke, couldn’t help saying, “Shouldn’t we stand a bit further away to talk?”

Igula glanced at him and said, “No one will suspect you, this is my business.”

“Business?”

“Didn’t Igula invite you to escape with him the first time you met?” Lanna stood outside the yellow line on the shore, gazing at the calm and waveless lake. The clear blue sky reflected in the water, with occasional glimmers of silver light darting across the surface—a picturesque natural scene—if you didn’t know that those ‘silver lights’ were finger-length sharks that could crunch bones like chips.

“He mentioned it, but wasn’t that just a ruse to lure kids in?”

...

“While I appreciate your accurate self-assessment, don’t insult my professional integrity,” Igula shot Ash a glance. “I never lie. If you go to the library and look up the ‘Club Directory,’ you’ll find the club I founded on the second page, thirteenth line—Escape Research Society.”

Young Ash had many questions pop up: “How could the prison allow… There are clubs in this prison… Why would you set up such a club?”

“Smart Hunters often appear in the guise of prey,” Igula said indifferently. “When we first met, didn’t I seem very enthusiastic, like a friendly person eager to recruit new comrades?”

“Every new death row inmate, even if they are on guard inside, will be attracted by the information I reveal. And I don’t just talk; I truly study how to escape, even taking them to scout various points.”

“By the time they realize in our conversations that I’m just a fool obsessed with escaping, they begin to let their guard down and unwittingly fall into a situation from which they can’t escape.”

“I am the trap, this club is my bait.”

Ash remarked, “You sound like a vixen who appears innocent on the outside but is treacherous at heart, specially seducing sleazy men…”

“Now, I’m starting to doubt the chip’s ability to control speech,” Igula spoke calmly. “However you think about it, your words seem to have reached the threshold of spreading obscene information. In any case, you don’t have to worry about the gaze of the Prison Guards—this kind of scouting is something I’ve done with people over a dozen times in the past.”

Ash blinked, “Is this your scheme? Pretending to think about escaping every day, using the allure of escape to entrap new inmates, and then, when you really want to escape, no one will suspect that you are actually doing it.”

Igula looked at Ash with some surprise, then broke into a smile, “Ash, to think that you’d consider me so complicated and dark is truly heartbreaking.”

“Pah.”

After inspecting the port of Shattered Lake Prison, the four of them headed back inside the prison. Notably, even though they reached the edge of Shattered Lake Prison, they never actually went ‘outside’—Shattered Lake Prison covered the entire island, with only a few glass domes occasionally allowing sunlight to fall through. Otherwise, death row inmates could only see the ceiling whenever they looked up, even from the sea-view rooftop covered with a sunshade dome.

The entire island didn’t have a single inch of land that was ‘outside’ the prison.

Although it was unverifiable, the strong control exerted by the chips on the napes of the inmates’ necks was perhaps linked to this omnipresent ceiling.

“The next place we’re heading to is my greatest discovery in investigating Shattered Lake Prison. I’ve never taken anyone there before; you are the first to be privy to this secret.”

Before Ash could feel touched, Lanna said indifferently, “Have you said that line to every victim? Are you going to say, ‘So you must swear to keep all my secrets’ next?”

Igula expressed some surprise, “Gourmet, how did you know about this phrase? According to the rules, anyone who utters that phrase should be bound by a Technique Spirit Contract to keep my secrets and not speak of them. It’s impossible for you to know.”

“Walls have ears, Igula. Unfortunately, I’m a Body Technique Master with particularly acute hearing.”

“Understood, I’ll be more cautious and careful next time I do dirty work—if I’m still able to live in this prison.”

Ash glanced at Ronald, who was next to Lanna. Ronald was very quiet today, being led by Lanna without saying a word.

After their conversation ended yesterday, Ronald had another death match with Lanna. For details, refer to the method of tearing chicken by hand, and the consequences were very clear—if yesterday’s Ronald was a servant grudgingly held by Lanna, today Ronald had almost become an accessory to Lanna, without joy, but no longer resisting.

There was less and less of ‘himself’ on his body, and more and more that belonged to ‘Lanna.’

One day, when he comes out of the treatment room, all the newly-regenerated parts will bear ‘Lanna’s’ name.

Perhaps as Igula said, Ronald had become deeply mired. He thought commanding Lanna with love was his victory, not knowing it was also Lanna’s lethal counterattack.

Love is a terrifying power. You can wield it, but it will use you too; as you gaze at it, it gazes back; you think you can be its master, but soon you become its slave.

When the seed of love sprouts, anything will ultimately be parasitized by it.

Nonetheless, underneath it all, Ronald still clung to his survival instincts, determined to escape. And thankfully, Lanna’s rituals couldn’t be conducted often; otherwise, Ronald would have turned to dregs in a matter of days.

According to Igula’s investigation, Lanna’s ‘friends’ had a minimum term of one month, which meant Ronald should be able to hold on until the next Blood Moon Judgment came—this was enough, as Ash just needed a temporary teammate anyway. Whether Ronald could resist Lanna after escaping would be down to his luck.

“However, I never lie,” Igula laughed. “This place is truly crucial for our escape. I could even say it’s as important as Ash’s Purification Miracle… Here we are, this is it.”

As important as my Purification Miracle?

Could it be a secret passage of Shattered Lake Prison? An armory? Or possibly…

Filled with anticipation, Ash raised his head, only to see a clear green sign above the room in front of him— @@novelbin@@

‘Men’s Restroom’