Hunter of Immortals

Chapter 346: The First Day

Adam observed the emaciated figure for a few seconds, then nodded in response.

"Hi, you must be my cellmate, right? Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Adam."

"My name is Guang Fei."

Guang Fei's speech was a little slurred due to the gaps in his teeth and how weak and powerless his tongue was, but that didn't interfere with his communication with Adam.

Adam didn't care if this person posed a threat or not. In any case, there weren't any innocuous individuals here in Darvaza Prison. At the moment, Adam's top priority was to gather more information on this place as quickly as possible.

"What are you in here for?"

Guang Fei seemed to also be quite eager for a chat. Having been in this prison for so long, he yearned for human interaction.

"They prosecuted me on grounds of cannibalism, but I didn't actually commit the crime."

"Of course, everyone who comes in here says that they're innocent." Guang Fei wasn't concerned in the slightest to hear that Adam was supposedly a cannibal, and he even made a joke about it. "Given my understanding of cannibals, I'm assuming someone like me definitely wouldn't be appealing to you, right?"

Adam looked at Guang Fei, then thought back to what he had seen in the cannibal club. All of the "meals" served up there either had emotional ties with the patrons, or were fine specimens to dine on, so it was true that someone like Guang Fei would've most likely been rejected.

"Let's not talk about that. Can you tell me about Darvaza Prison? How long have you been in here for?"

"23 years? Or has it been 24 years? I can't remember." Guang Fei shook his head as he spoke, and his spine crackled audibly as he did so. "There's not much to be said about Darvaza Prison. Did you not do some research before you came here?"

"I did. We work for eight hours a day and earn labor points in exchange for food. We get a total of four hours for activity and meal times, and outside of that, we have to remain in our cells."

Ever since World War III, human rights had taken a sharp decline. Human rights had already been in quite a terrible state prior to that, but since World War III, the government wasn't even trying to keep up pretenses anymore.

There were many consequences to the collapse of humanitarianism, one of which was the terrible condition of these prisons.

A century ago, the environment in the prisons of some of the wealthier countries had been exceptional. In fact, it was no exaggeration to say that those prisons were no different from living in a dormitory with the exception of the restrictions on one's freedom.

However, things were completely different in this day and age. Even in Darvaza Prison, where mental illness ran rampant, inmates were still mandated to perform manual labor. In addition to that, there were also many rules that had to be followed, rules that were enforced by Mechguard units, so failure or refusal to follow those rules could easily result in an inmate being executed on the spot.

Of course, this was only publicly available information that Adam had seen on the internet, and the conditions in the prison were sure to be far more complex than that.

"What kind of work do we need to do?"

"We make handmade art pieces."

"What?"

Adam didn't know if the man was joking or not.

"Most of the inmates in Darvaza Prison are insane, and there's a theory in Sandrise City and the entire world that art pieces created by insane people have a unique type of artistry to them. Some wealthy people or even average people on the outside like to collect art pieces of this nature. Regardless of whether it's paintings, sculptures, or just ordinary handmade accessories, there's never a shortage in demand."

"I see."

In this world, money was paramount, even in a place like Darvaza Prison.

Money was intertwined with the fabric of human society, and even deranged killers couldn't escape from its influence.

After developing some understanding of Darvaza Prison, Adam finally asked the most important question on his mind: "Who are the people in this prison that absolutely cannot be messed with."

"There are several large factions, and also the wardens."

After answering Adam's question, Guang Fei turned over and curled up in the corner in a different position. After changing his posture, it was as if he had become a completely different person, and he refused to speak to Adam no matter what Adam said.

Adam could already guess that his days in this prison were going to be quite tumultuous.

Not only was he going to have to start trouble with the factions in the prison so that he could take advantage of the resulting chaos, even more importantly, he had already made an enemy out of the wardens. More specifically, he had made an enemy out of the chief warden, which was sure to be a major problem for him.

No matter how stupid the chief warden was, he was definitely going to target Adam to appease his higher-ups at the southern congress. Adam was certain that the southern congress wouldn't be opposed to seeing him die in a prison brawl.

……

.

The next morning, while Adam was still half-asleep, he was woken up by the sound of the alarm ringing out outside.

Adam didn't dare to sleep too soundly on his first night in the prison. He had constantly kept his telegnosis sharp and alert to ensure that Guang Fei didn't try anything funny, and thankfully, the night proved to be a peaceful and uneventful one.

The sound of the alarm heralded a brand new day in Darvaza Prison, and it was 6 AM.

Adam had no time to wash up, and he hurriedly left his cell as soon as the door was opened.

All of his days here were going to be strictly regimented, and he had to take full advantage of every second that was available to him.

It was time for breakfast, and following the alarm, a series of flying Mechguard units arrived, supervising all of the inmates as they passed through the cell area to the nearby cafeteria.

After arriving at the cafeteria, Adam didn't see any human workers. Instead, there were only countless mechanical arms serving food to the inmates.

Adam lined up and made his way over to one of the mechanical arms, which pulled out a blob of white food from a conveyor belt on the ceiling before thrusting it at Adam.

The blob of food was very small, only roughly the size of Adam's fist, and it appeared to be a piece of bread, but it was very sticky, with a texture that resembled mashed potatoes.

Adam hesitated momentarily, but still decided to eat it.

He was confident that even if the chief warden wanted to kill him, he wasn't going to tamper with his food. Death from poisoning was far too easy to detect, and the repercussions would be quite severe, considering Adam was still a very relevant figure when it came to public discourse.

To the chief warden, Adam was a completely inconsequential political enemy, and it simply wasn't worth risking his career to have Adam killed.

The best way to kill Adam was to have him die in a prison riot.

This is disgusting.

The food served at the cafeteria was like a blob of wax that had no flavor whatsoever and a terrible texture.

Even so, he still wished that he could get another piece.

A piece of food that was only around the size of his fist was nowhere near enough to fill his stomach, but this was the only food that he was going to receive unless he had labor points that he could pay for more food with labor points.

There were Mechguard units and surveillance cameras in the cafeteria, so everyone was very docile and obedient as they quietly collected their food.

However, with his sharp telegnosis, Adam noticed that instead of eating their food right away, some of the inmates chose to hide it somewhere on their bodies instead.