610: 10.5 Mysterious Singing

10.5 Mysterious Singing

After everyone had finished registering their data, changed their clothes, had their photos taken and original cuffs unlocked, a warden clad in dark uniform came out from the metal elevator to welcome them. 'Welcome' was not a suitable word to describe his demeanor. It was more like he was herding a flock of sheep into the cage.  0

"Get in line and enter one by one!" He ordered in a booming voice. "The others are having lunch, but you need to get into your cell now. Hurry up before you bump into them!"

A dissatisfied protest sounded from one of the prisoners, "Then what about our lunch? They can eat but we can't?" 

No sooner than his voice landed, a loud crackle suddenly sounded followed by the man's ear-piercing scream. Everyone was dumbfounded to see the originally healthy as an ox man suddenly collapsed on the ground twitching like a fish thrown out of the water. His eyes rolled to the back of his head and white froth formed on the corner of his mouth.

The warden waved his hand with a bored look. "This is what happens when you're disobedient. Have I given you permission to speak? If you want to survive here, then you'd better follow the rules."

Everyone's face, including Lu Yizhou's, sank as they witnessed the half-dying man being carried away in a stretcher to God-knows-where. 

Who would care about the livelihood of a criminal in this place anyway? They were originally supposed to die here so it did not matter if it was hastened by a few years, right? Everyone suddenly registered the precarious situation they were in and the air became somber and heavy as each of them eyed the warden with a wary look.

Behind the crowd, Percy shrunk into himself and covered his mouth tightly. His entire body was shaking like a little helpless leaf. It was not until now that the severity of the situation dawned on him. In this kind of hellish place, how could he manage to survive…?! Damn it, he would definitely get to Pandora as quickly as possible and make a wish to have those people suffer ten times more than he did!

[666: Host, 666 has scanned your body. There's a mini chip planted in the back of your neck that can transmit a signal to expose your location and generate electricity. It happens before you transfer into this body so that's why you are not aware of it. The remote is… yup, it's in the warden's hands.]

[Every warden?]

[666: No-pe! Each warden has different authority. Meanwhile, the warden in front of you has low-level authority. It's because the man who is carried away is a prisoner of C-level that he can activate the chip. If it's you, then no one knows what's going to happen, Host.]

[Hmm…] Lu Yizhou narrowed his eyes thoughtfully as he stared at the warden's back.

[666: *gulp* H–Host… you won't commit crime even in this kind of place, right…?]

Lu Yizhou was just thinking of the best way to get closer to Pandora when all of a sudden, a gentle and pleasant-sounding male voice humming a tune drifted to his ear. Lu Yizhou was stunned. As he pricked up his ears, the voice got closer and closer until he could faintly hear what the man was singing. He could not actually pinpoint where the voice came from. It was more like… it echoed from all directions. 

The birds are singing… 

The flowers are blooming…

But it's such a pity…

Everyone is already deceased…

The man's voice was akin to oriole's serenade, it was so pure and clear that it could soothe one's worries away. However, the content of his song immediately made one's blood run cold. Lu Yizhou furrowed his brows as he discreetly observed his surroundings. Who was singing? And why… was no one acting like something was off? 

[666: Host?]

Lu Yizhou asked somberly, [Do you hear that?]

[666: H–Hear what…?! Host, don't scare 666! 666 still has psychological trauma from two days we spent in the haunted Knox Mansion!! QAQ]

His frown deepened. So, 666 could not hear the man's voice? Lu Yizhou quickly drew a conclusion based on his observation. Apparently, the same applied to everyone around him — they could not hear the song either. 

Lu Yizhou sank into contemplation. He could somewhat understand it if the people around him couldn't, but… what about 666? 666 was a system created by Dr. Feng, and this simulation was also created by Dr. Feng. Logically speaking, nothing in this world could escape from 666's attention; not to mention that it had always been staying in Lu Yizhou's mind. So why was it only Lu Yizhou who could hear the man's voice?

It couldn't be… 

Was it Pandora? Did he have an unnatural power in this world that could make him bypass the omnipotent system?

[666: *shudder* H–Host, are you sure it's Pandora and not a ghost instead? After all, there are a lot of people who died here…] The more 666 said, the more frightened it was. In the end, its voice became smaller and smaller until it died down altogether. It could only tremble helplessly in system space. 666 could not hear the mysterious singing, but why was it still so scary?! QAQ

[Is this a supernatural world?]

[666: Hic, 666 doesn't know either…]

So what do you know, Lu Yizhou grumbled inwardly. 

He trudged along the line to the metal elevator. Nobody knew that the warden in front of them only had a low-level authority and hence, everyone was as quiet as mice for fear that they would be the next victim of electric shock. After all, it was really painful to be electrocuted… 

(He was truly speaking from experience here)

Lu Yizhou observed the proceedings and saw that the warden only delivered prisoners up to D-level. There was a high-level iris identification on the panel that prohibited non-related personel from operating the elevator. After that, another somber looking warden took over until O-level. The number of people was decreasing quickly and at the same time, the air was getting increasingly humid. Even though the entire prison had been refurbished after the tragedy, there was still an unpleasant odor clinging to the corner of the walls that made him wrinkle his brow. Lu Yizhou had no doubt that if he were still a zombie, then this place would definitely become his paradise from the thick odor of blood, sweat, fear and rotten corpses.

One prisoner finally could not endure it anymore and frowned, "Can't you get rid of this smell? It's so fucking awful!"

The people who remained in the elevator were not innocent at all. At least, they had the blood of a dozen lives in their hands. Everyone could immediately tell that this odor came from the result of prolonged exposure of corpses to humid air. If they were not seasoned criminals, it was expected that they would be puking their guts out right now.

"You will get used to it," the warden replied with a deadpan look. "Not only the weird odor, but also the strange happenings around."

"W–What do you mean by that?" The prisoner had an ugly expression as he did not expect such an answer. As it turned out, this prison was haunted?!

However, the warden did not divulge anything more. He merely showed a strange smile and said in a mysterious tone, "You will know after tonight." 

Everyone's faces changed for the worse. If not for the chip in their body, they might have already forced the answer out of his mouth!

In the end, the lowest level of this batch's prisoner was S-level and only three people remained, including Lu Yizhou. The elevator door slid open to reveal a dim passage with rows of metal doors on both sides. Above their head, the lightbulb flickered once in a while, looking as if it was going to die down at any minute. 

Lu Yizhou discreetly swept his gaze over the expertly hidden surveillance cameras. So far, he had not discovered any blind spots. Sigh, this place was really troublesome…

"There are less than thirty people in this level," the warden told them as he took the lead to walk down the hallway. "So everyone must get along with each other. You don't want to receive punishments, do you?" Upon receiving no answer, he showed a satisfied smile. "There will be two people in each cell. You two, get in there," he stopped at an empty room and pointed at the two people beside Lu Yizhou.

The two prisoners were visibly relaxed. They did not want to room with a cannibal! Who knew when he would go crazy and demand to eat your flesh in the middle of the night? Not to mention that they had not eaten lunch yet, so he must be hungry! They hastily scurried into the cell like they had wind beneath their feet.

"Oh?" The warden let out an amused snort. "This batch is quite obedient."

Just as Lu Yizhou thought he was going to be given a new room for himself, he saw the warden pointed at a nearby door. "That's your cell there."

Lu Yizhou followed his line of sight and saw that there was already a nameplate in one of the slots in front of the door. A cursive writing was inked on the white paper; Christian. He immediately sank into silence. Was it not their dear protagonist's name?

[666: *cough cough* you're right, Host! It's indeed the protagonist, Christian! Oh my Admin God, why is your luck so shitty every single time, Host?! Should 666 sprinkle some salt around you???]

It was unknown what the warden was thinking about but he laughed all of a sudden. "Don't worry. He won't bite."

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