CH 17.1

Second Floor (10)

Translated by boilpoil

Edited by boilpoil

“He’s an Extraordinary”

Lin Yi and the unfamiliar prison officer walks quietly along the hallway to the exit. Surveillance cameras along the side discreetly turn as they move.

No one speaks, and the silence persists.

Lin Yi has quite a lot on his mind, when he notices the sound of footsteps stop.

He holds his baton tight as a reflex. His right hand is holding another object coldly and tightly in his pocket. He then turns a little with minimal movement and wary eyes.

“Don’t be so nervous.” That officer stands in place, and shows his hand with a remote control openly. He presses a few buttons in the direction of a surveillance camera.

The red light of the camera flickers, and then dims.

Lin Yi raises his brow. He retracts his hands.

“Daring, huh?”

“Not really.” He throws the remote over, “you can have this… Not that I think you’d need it?” The officer smiles and comments, “since you’ll be on your way to the third floor.”

Lin Yi receives the remote, while quickly analysing the power that could have sent him. A prison officer——So, official means; possesses remote control for the CCTV——Bold and extremely powerful.

Lin Yi has his conclusion.

“Starfleet?”

“As expected of Fox; I suppose you would not have become a confidant to Nianluo’s boss in just a few years otherwise… Seeing is believing. I’m impressed.”

Lin Yi is not here to exchange pleasantries, and asks directly, “what do you want?”

“Think of this simply as a friendly greeting by coincidence.” The officer casts his gaze in the corridor behind, “I’m here to present a gift.”

Lin Yi watches with a poker face.

“So I do need to learn of the recipient’s preferences first…” He looks back at Lin Yi, and raises his brow, “that’s quite the look you have.”

Starfleet is intervening. Ever since the Doctor decided to approach Lunatic, Lin Yi knew this would happen. Knowing is not the same as facing, however.

More specifically, when you only know, you can always bury your head in the sand and pretend not to know.

When you come face-to-face, however, Lin Yi is now forced to confront the reality of the players from different factions congregating around Jiang Yiyi——Which is not a desirable development in terms of his mission.

“Oh man, Fox, you haven’t actually deluded yourself into thinking you still have control over what’s going on?” He walks closer to pat Lin Yi on the shoulder, “that would be egotistical indeed.”

Lin Yi glances at the hand on his shoulder.

The man raises his hands in the air, “worry not. I received no orders to kill anyone.”

“You didn’t dig up anything either?” Lin Yi finally asks.

He appears saddened, “Doctor has hid himself far too well.”

“Even your people couldn’t dig up anything…” Lin Yi mumbles, shocked by the hidden truth behind Jiang Yiyi.

What power must be at play to do such a perfect job, as to paint the Doctor as that useless, mundane fool of a Jiang Yiyi?

“Although I’d like to stay and chat some more, I’m in a hurry.” He tells Lin Yi, “you did spend quite some time around Doctor. I don’t suppose you wouldn’t even know what he likes?”

Lin Yi quickly runs through his memories on Jiang Yiyi, to extract useful information from the flashbacks.

“He likes surgical operations.”

The man waits patiently for a moment more, until he asks, “that’s it?” He is observing Lin Yi’s demeanour while remarking with disappointment, “I could have asked any prisoner on the second floor without doing any investigative work for that.”

Lin Yi looks at him, and says frankly, “you should have known when you asked.”

“The Doctor desires nothing, likes nothing, and has no weaknesses.”

The man sighs, “what a difficult recipient to please.”

Lin Yi watches the corridor behind, now mostly enveloped in darkness, “a piece of advice. You can ask directly.” Lin Yi smiles, clearly hoping for a spectacle befalling the next unfortunate victim, “you might find your answer with ease.”

“Your schadenfreude…” He looks a little offended, “is clear as day.”

“Quite possibly, because talking to the Doctor…” Lin Yi smiles brilliantly, “is itself a cause for sympathy.”

The man is speechless for a few moments before turning to look at the dark corridor behind.

“I do need to prepare well, then.” He turns back to tell Lin Yi, “let’s go. We’ve been stalling long enough. Butcher is probably close to blowing up.”

They walk towards the exit once more.

“Speaking of whom…” Lin Yi mentions, seemingly innocently, “his reign sure has been quite stable here.”

“You want to stage a coup?” He glances at Lin Yi, “you jest, surely.”

“There have been precedents of Coordinators being replaced.”

“There were, but that was for the sixth floor.” He doesn’t seem to mind offering some information, “this is only the second.”

“Nianluo has limited reach into Stargaol, which is not exactly a good thing if you plan on continuing to descend.” Then, stopping at the door, he asks, “do you know about the Warden?”

The Warden? The most mysterious person of the entire Federation. They exist only in rumours and stories. Nothing concrete is known about them. It makes one question if he or she even exists.

“It appears not.” The man has concluded what he needed from the expression, “here’s a tip. Don’t try to breach the rules.”

“The Warden does not like that.”

“Assessment complete.” The machinery scanning them makes a noise, and then a green light comes on above the shut door. It opens up, connecting the solitary confinement area with the rest of the facility.

There is no other sound to be heard.

A deathly silence forms the only theme tune around, with a little spicy chorus of fear. It destroys the will and mind of those locked up without a trace.

Even the most resilient human cannot keep absolutely calm in complete, silent darkness——No sound, no light, nothing else in the entire world but silence, solitude, abandonment, and despair.

When described in mere words, people tend to think——Sure, they can take that——But they would never take the time to imagine, what it truly means when those words are reflected in reality.

Of course, one cannot really criticise this common defect of the human race——For there are countless more undesirable habits of humans far more deserving of it.

And here, right now, there are suddenly footsteps coming from the silence.

Jiang Yiyi stops what he was doing and turns to look at the door.

The doors appear to be lacking in sound insulation. Understandable, when no one is supposed to be entering this place regularly, but Jiang Yiyi does want to advise Butcher to purchase better doors——It is quite embarrassing for the door to a confinement cell to let sound in this easily.

The footsteps approach, and stop in front of the door.

Jiang Yiyi stops looking to continue what he was doing——His blade moves across a silhouette that does not exist, to dissect, and reassemble.

In the boring confinement cell, this serves as passable entertainment.

“Doctor?” An unfamiliar voice asks cordially.

“I am A.” He introduces himself, “here to express my gratitude.”

Jiang Yiyi stops his hand, “gratitude?”

“Ning Sha has been in your care.”

The name reminds Jiang Yiyi of a file——Lunatic’s file.

“However, we do not know Doctor’s likes and dislikes well enough to come up with a suitable present as our token of gratitude.” A is selecting his words very carefully, unlike when speaking with Lin Yi. His politeness is faultless.

“Present…” Jiang Yiyi wonders about that word, for his first thought is – what kind of question is that? Just let him out of Stargaol already.

However, another thought emerges to overtake and eliminate that thought before it can take root.

He is actually curious about the next floors in Stargaol…

Jiang Yiyi is speechless for a moment, amazed that he is actually torn between getting out of prison or not——The hesitation itself makes the issue blatantly clear.

What he has ignored thus far can no longer be——Who is this Jiang Yiyi?

Who is he?

Jiang Yiyi pauses for a moment, sighing slightly as countless thoughts slip into his mind.