Firefly had no idea that her casual action of equipping a talent had given Tatsumi such a massive shock; she just thought the guy was making polite small talk.
“Thank you,” Firefly thanked him sincerely.
Tatsumi really is a good person.
To be honest, in her past life, if the Platinum Empire hadn’t issued a massive bounty and wanted him worldwide, Firefly wouldn’t have wanted to kill such an upright NPC with her own hands.
Now that she had received his help for free, even if Firefly didn’t consider herself a good person, she wasn’t so ungrateful as to forget a favor.
She didn’t know how this guy had offended the Platinum Empire, but if she had the chance in this life, she’d see if she could save him.
As Firefly was calculating in her mind, she suddenly remembered something and asked:
“By the way, you just said you’re about to die too?
What did you mean by that?”
“Literally,” Tatsumi said, then fell silent, appearing to have no intention of explaining further.
Firefly felt an unbearable itch of curiosity.
In her previous life, after killing Tatsumi, she learned from his loot description that he had infiltrated Shawshank Prison to investigate some secret.
At the time, she thought it was a hidden quest and specifically looked for Shawshank Prison, only to find that the prison had already been destroyed by then.
So back then, Firefly just treated it as an easter egg and didn’t pay much attention.
Now that she was here in person, she couldn’t help but be curious.
What secret was this guy actually trying to uncover?
What unspeakable secrets were hidden within Shawshank Prison?
…
Tatsumi didn’t speak again until noon.
Seeing this, Firefly went about her own business.
After tinkering for a while, she managed to break the shackles on her hands and feet.
The feeling of having her limbs free again made her feel quite comfortable.
She paced back and forth in the cell like someone with restless hyperactivity.
The Orc jailers saw her remove her handcuffs but didn’t even bother with her.
One could only say they were typical Orcs—all brawn and no brains.
When it was mealtime, the jailers opened the cell doors one by one, guiding the prisoners toward the cafeteria.
The cafeteria environment was filthy and chaotic, with hardly any intact tables or chairs.
A few female Orcs stood by large vats filled with food, letting the prisoners come forward one by one to get their meals.
The Orc jailers, who had been idle, started howling when they saw the female Orcs.
Firefly saw a green-skinned Orc pick his nose and then scratch the back of his head with his snot-covered hand, grinning foolishly as he greeted them.
The female Orcs crossed their arms with looks of disgust and ignored them.
“This chair is mine!”
“To hell with that!
Only I am worthy of sitting down to eat!”
A group of prisoners started brawling over the few intact tables and chairs.
The scrawnier prisoners silently squatted in corners to eat after getting their food, not getting involved in the disputes.
Firefly glanced at her status panel.
If any of the four attributes—Strength, Agility, Endurance, and Spirit—were above 10 points, one could be considered ‘grunt level’.
According to the setting, humans were a race with extremely low initial stats but an incredibly high ceiling.
90% of humans were in the ‘civilian level’ tier and couldn’t even access the class change methods for the three main professions.
She was at least Level 7 now; bullying her own kind in prison shouldn’t be difficult, right?
Thinking this, after Firefly got her food, she walked straight toward the few intact chairs in the center of the cafeteria.
Several burly men were fighting to the death for these chairs.
In reality, while they seemed to be fighting for a chair, they were actually fighting for their authority within the prison.
Whoever grabbed the chair was the Prison Emperor!
A large crowd of hecklers and those who had failed to grab a seat gathered around, watching these several muscular, bronze-skinned men fight in a heap.
“Nice!
Good hit!”
“Kill him!
Kill him!”
Bang!
A burly man with brown hair knocked his opponent to the ground with a punch.
Stepping on the backs of several unconscious losers, he raised his well-defined, muscular arms and let out a long roar toward the ceiling.
The onlookers were quite tactful, cheering and applauding.
They knew that for a long time to come, this man would likely be the most prominent figure among the prison inmates!
However, just as everyone was celebrating the birth of the Prison Emperor, a stunningly beautiful girl with silver-gray hair suddenly walked out from the crowd.
Carrying her tray of food, she walked straight toward those few intact tables and chairs as if she hadn’t noticed the atmosphere at all, and then calmly sat down.
This girl had a gentle temperament and was about 1.6 to 1.7 meters tall.
Her eyes were a beautiful gradient color, and her fair, tender face seemed to always carry a faint, gentle smile.
At first glance, one might think she was a young lady from a wealthy family.
Despite her beauty, her actions were undoubtedly a provocation to the Prison Emperor’s authority.
Though the victorious brown-haired man was panting, he still strode over.
Seeing this, the onlookers couldn’t help but gloat.
“That chick really can’t read the room.
She’s finished now.”
“Maybe not.
This girl is prettier than the Imperial Princesses in the newspapers.
I bet our new boss won’t have the heart to hit her.”
“Tsk tsk, if I could sleep with such a beautiful woman once, I’d be willing to give up ten years of my life.”
Hearing the whispers of these people, the Prison Emperor held his head high with a fierce expression and said in a low voice:
“Don’t you know whose seat that is?”
“I know~” The girl’s voice was like heavenly music, almost like a melody.
She tilted her head slightly, put down her spoon, and looked at the Prison Emperor with a gentle smile on her pretty face:
“It’s my seat.”
“Heh.” The Prison Emperor laughed out of anger.
Originally, seeing how beautiful this woman was, if she had been sensible enough to become his plaything, he might have let her off.
But she actually dared to challenge his authority so blatantly!
The Prison Emperor understood perfectly that if he wanted to be the leader of the crowd, authority was something he could never abandon.
After all, he couldn’t fight a hundred people alone; he could only secure his current position by intimidating everyone through ruthlessness and vicious methods.
Therefore, those who provoked his authority could never be let off!
“It seems I should teach you the rules of this prison properly.” The Prison Emperor cracked his neck, making a series of clicking sounds.
The onlookers couldn’t help but look forward to it.
Since they couldn’t have her, watching something beautiful be destroyed was also a pleasurable thing.
“Yeah!
Kill her!”
“Teach these women a lesson!
Let them know their place!”
The prisoners cheered and applauded.
Amidst everyone’s expectations, the Prison Emperor also showed a cruel smile and then suddenly swung his massive fist toward Firefly.
However, what happened in the next moment made everyone’s eyes pop out of their heads.