Chapter 18: The Dark Prison, Section 10

Darkness… endless darkness…
It seemed as if someone else was running again, breathing heavily, with a heavy body. Hei Fa felt like he was going mad. invisibly, the darkness around him seemed to have taken solid form, tightly entangling him; every step required all his strength, causing him immense suffering. Loneliness, coldness, and the feeling of being abandoned surrounded him like demons. He wanted to shout, but found he couldn’t produce any sound at all. His throat burned as if on fire, as if it might burst into flames at any moment.
Was this death?
His steps gradually slowed as his strength ran out. With his last feeble attempt to move, Hei Fa stumbled and fell to the ground in disarray. Straining to keep his eyes open, he looked around at the eternal darkness surrounding him, forcing himself to smile bitterly.
Dead… it’s fine to be dead… but why haven’t my companions appeared yet? Big Bear, Monkey, the Blacksmith… where are you? Didn’t we agree to be brothers again after death? Didn’t we promise to stay together, seize the King of Hell’s throne, and have those Bull-Headed and Horse-Faced demons serve us tea, bring us drinks, and offer us cigarettes?
Where are you? Come out! Come out!!
“Come out!!” With a desperate roar, Hei Fa suddenly sat up. His clothes were soaked with sweat, sticking to his body. His chest heaved violently, his breathing as loud as that of a bellows.
Huh… how… am I still alive? Was it just a dream? Then… where am I? Sweat blurred his eyes, causing sharp pain. Yet he still strained to keep them open and look around.
It was still pitch black around him, but thankfully, there was a faint light in the corner, allowing him to see his surroundings.
It was a small room, about five meters square. The walls were pitch black, almost identical in material to the walls he had seen before. There were no furnishings in the room. The floor was damp, and even the air felt wet, as if water could drip from it. A foul smell drifted in from somewhere, irritating his nostrils and making him feel nauseous.
“Awake?” Just as Hei Fa was looking around, trying to adjust to the light, a voice suddenly came from the corner. Hei Fa was shocked. He strained to look but saw only a mess of things there—no sign of a person at all.

But under his gaze, that messy mass began to wriggle, and soon it formed the shape of a half-sitting figure in the corner. In the area where eyes should be, two green, hazy spots gradually appeared—like the eyes of a wolf in the night.
Was that… a person?
The thought flashed through Black Hair’s mind, yet his face showed no sign of surprise. He continued to check his own condition before slowly leaning against the other side of the wall, letting out a long sigh.
Thankfully, despite being tired, his biological energy seemed abundant. And since he couldn’t detect any torture devices, it seemed the Bone Guard chief had been careless. Yet strangely, despite being in good physical condition, he felt as if he lacked strength—so much so that even moving slowly, his arms seemed on the verge of giving out. Was this still his own body?
Black Hair said nothing. The figure in the corner remained silent as well. It wasn’t until it saw Black Hair examining his arm that it suddenly burst into laughter.
“No strength, huh? It seems this is your first time in the Black Prison. They even warned me to be careful around you. I just don’t understand—why would someone who can barely move arouse such concern from those Bone Guards? Overreacting. All these years, I’ve never seen anyone escape the Black Prison.”
“You’ll understand…” Black Hair suddenly interjected coldly, his voice emotionless, as hard as steel.
“No, it’s not about whether I understand now. Hehe. It’s probably you who doesn’t understand the situation. You feel weak, yet everything else seems fine? Heh, this is just the beginning. As time passes, you’ll find your senses dulling, your vision blurring, your muscles atrophying, and you’ll grow increasingly lazy. Eventually, you won’t even want to move a finger, except to breathe. But in return, you’ll feel happy—happy as if you’re in a dream.” The shadow seemed delighted, talking to itself without caring whether its words were hurting someone’s heart.
Of course, if such words could hurt Black Hair, he would have died countless times by now. He simply listened quietly, neither objecting nor interjecting. Only when the shadow grew bored, realizing it seemed to be talking to itself, did Black Hair coldly respond.
“This is the Black Prison. Then what are you? A guard?”

“Hehe… Have you ever seen a guard hiding in a cage with prisoners? I’m just a prisoner like you. I’ve only been here a few years earlier than you, so I’m already familiar with everything here. Young man, it’s obvious you must be a powerful figure outside as well. How about we chat? Tell me, which star system do you operate in? How many men do you have under you? Why were you brought in? Oh… Don’t be shy. Those who end up here aren’t ordinary folks. Share your glorious achievements so we can pass the time.” Seeing Black Hair finally respond, the figure became excited and kept talking nonstop, regardless of whether Black Hair was listening or not. It was clear he must be a very lonely person.

Life in the Black Prison meant torture and suffering for many prisoners, but few knew that the most terrifying aspect wasn’t the life-threatening punishments—it was the monotonous existence. Like ordinary prisons, the Black Prison was also divided into different tiers. Truly dangerous criminals could never be used as entertainment by the Bone Guards like ordinary prisoners; instead, they were locked up in the most secure lower levels, kept like pigs all day long. Only when some powerful figures suddenly remembered them and tried to gain some benefit from them might they see a bit of sunlight.

Fortunately, Black Hair was classified as belonging to the most dangerous tier due to his combat prowess. The room they were in was actually the deepest part of the Black Prison, the high-security prison area a kilometer beneath the surface.

“There’s nothing to talk about… I was framed…” Unimpressed by the figure’s enthusiasm, Black Hair used the phrase every prisoner would say: “I was framed!”

If those Bone Guards heard this, he wondered if they might get angry enough to tear him apart. Black Hair thought maliciously. His actions were an outright attack on the Black Prison. If this was considered being framed, then, haha, the world must be full of good people.

But he didn’t expect that such a simple phrase would resonate with the figure.

“Nonsense. Who isn’t framed? Ask the people here—whose isn’t a record of paying taxes on time and being law-abiding good citizens? If people did bad things, who would lock them in the Black Prison? Can’t you see that the truly vicious ones have already become officials? Prisons—prisons are for good people. If you don’t understand this, you’re really a newbie.”

“Oh, I see…” Black Hair nodded, pretending to learn from it. “Then why were you brought in?”

“Me? Well, it’s a sad story. I’m just a humble biologist. I’m kind-hearted—I wouldn’t even kill an ant. Those officials, I’m terrified of them at first sight. But no matter how scared I am, I still have to conduct research, right? After all, I am a biologist. So I worked hard, delving into my studies, even sacrificing my rest time. Luckily, I discovered a tiny organism, something very special—well, you know what I mean… But when I went to see those officials, they wanted me to turn this organism into a weapon, claiming it was for human peace. They even prepared test subjects, right in the city’s slums.”
At this point, the figure showed a rare look of contemplation—though it vanished instantly. “Of course I refused. After all, those little creatures are the fruit of my hard work, right? I just don’t understand—what does biology have to do with weapons, and how can weapons be linked to peace? Plus, I get so excited that my hand trembles accidentally, and one of the biological samples ends up in that official’s tea… Ah, you know, I didn’t do it on purpose… The rest is like a dream. I had the happiest time of my life. When I woke up, I came here.”
The figure seemed excited, talking rapidly. His gaze held an air of innocence, as if trying to prove his guiltlessness. Unfortunately, no matter how hard he tried, that greenish gaze couldn’t convey any sense of innocence to the black-haired man—it only seemed cold.
“What about the outcome for those officials?” the black-haired man suddenly interrupted the figure’s performance, asking in a low voice.
“The outcome? What outcome?” This time, it was the figure who was surprised. He tilted his head slightly, trying to make himself more comfortable. “Oh, I forgot to tell you. Those little creatures are very friendly and lively. They love being around humans, and they’re also very warm toward their relatives, friends, and subordinates. That’s about it… They’re great, very powerful.”
“You mean it infected the entire planet!?” A cold glint appeared in the black-haired man’s eyes, his voice icy.
With his words, the temperature in the room seemed to drop suddenly. The air grew thick, almost solid, making it hard to breathe. Even the figure in the corner shrank back slightly, saying plaintively, “Not exactly… Just five generations of relatives…”