156: Chapter 156 Prison Break: The Gathering of the "Masters"

Donghai City Third Prison, maximum-security ward.

The heavy iron door opened slowly with a teeth-grinding screech.

Master Ye was wearing an ill-fitting gray-striped prison uniform, clutching a plastic washbasin with a dazed expression.

Just a few hours ago, he had been the "Great Master Ye" whom everyone obeyed, enjoying the kowtowing of believers and the thrill of having hundreds of millions in illicit funds.

Now, the verdict had been delivered: fraud, involving an exceptionally large amount, fifteen years in prison, and the confiscation of all personal assets.

That Director Gu who had sent him in hadn't even spared him a second glance.

"Get in! What are you dawdling for?" the prison guard shoved him impatiently.

Master Ye stumbled into the cell, and the washbasin in his hands clattered onto the floor.

The cell wasn't large; it was an eight-person room.

Hearing the commotion, the few people who had been busy with their own tasks all stopped at once and turned to look.

Upon seeing them, Master Ye was stunned.

He had seen these faces on the news before.

In the spot by the window on the left, a lean man was sitting in front of a sewing machine.

His feet moved on the pedals so fast they were almost a blur, and the fabric in his hands flowed like water.

His focused expression suggested he wasn't sewing prison uniforms, but commanding a thousand armies.

It was the former "Dragon King," Ye Fan, the son-in-law who had broken off his engagement and claimed to command a hundred thousand troops.

In the corner on the right, a young man with messy long hair held a shedding toilet brush, gesturing at the air.

His gaze was sharp, every thrust accompanied by the sound of whistling wind, and he muttered, "With a sword in my heart, everything can be a sword... even this poop-stirring stick."

It was the former "Sword Immortal," Xiao Aotian, the chuunibyou Cultivator whose illegal construction in the Qinling Mountains had been demolished.

On the innermost bunk, an effeminate-looking man was holding a prison guard's wrist, eyes closed, taking his pulse: "Officer, your liver fire is too strong. Have you been staying up late recently? I have an ancestral acupuncture technique, as long as I get a sentence reduction..."

The prison guard pulled his hand away, cursed "quack," and turned to lock the door.

That was the former "Divine Doctor," Divine Doctor Lin Chen, the one who rolled Medicinal Pills out of pig feed.

"Yo, a newcomer?"

The former "Dragon King," Ye Fan, who was operating the sewing machine, stopped, picked up the towel around his neck to wipe his sweat, his eyes as sharp as a hawk's.

"Another one surnamed Ye? Looks like we were from the same family five hundred years ago. Brother, what path did you take to get in here?"

Master Ye shrank his neck and picked up the washbasin: "I was... into appraisals. You know, divine body appraisals."

"Appraisals?"

A fat man squatting by the bathroom door, unclogging the sewer, poked his head out.

He was covered in grease, holding a plunger. It was the former "Tycoon," Wang Fugui.

Wang Fugui's eyes lit up: "Then take a look at me. Am I a 'Body of the Richest Man'? I feel like my aura, even when unclogging sewers, is at a Forbes level."

Master Ye subconsciously tried to summon his System, but his mind was empty, save for the cold echo of "System detached."

He smiled bitterly and sat down against the corner wall: "Big brother, stop dreaming. We all have the 'Body of a Convict' now."

The cell was silent for a second, then erupted into raucous laughter.

Ye Fan walked over, patted Master Ye's shoulder, and his tone actually carried a bit of the kindness of someone who had been there before: "Look on the bright side. That Director Gu is not human; he's a bug in the Heavenly Dao. None of us with Systems could beat him, so you didn't lose unjustly."

"Come, newcomer, let me teach you a trick." Ye Fan pointed to the sewing machine, "Train your hand speed. As long as you pedal fast enough and meet the end-of-month quota, you get an extra chicken leg at night. I sewed two thousand uniforms last month; I'm the 'King of Sewing Machines' in our ward now."

Xiao Aotian also stuck the toilet brush back into the bucket and snorted coldly: "The Sword Heart must not be tarnished. Even here, I will attain enlightenment. The day I refine this toilet brush into a peerless divine weapon will be the day I break out of prison!"

"Give it a rest." Divine Doctor Lin Chen, who was studying how to make acupuncture needles out of toothpaste tubes, rolled his eyes, "Did you forget the time you tried to dig through the wall with chopsticks and got caught by Director Gu, resulting in an extra three years on your sentence?"

Looking at this room full of "protagonists" who once dominated the world and were now all striving for sentence reductions, Master Ye suddenly felt that this prison life didn't seem so boring after all.

National Bureau of Abnormal Affairs, Director's office.

Director Gu threw the newly arrived case report into the shredder and picked up his thermos, blowing on the hot steam.

"Director Gu, Master Ye has settled into the Third Prison."

Chen Xiaobei walked in carrying a laptop, his expression a bit strange, "Surveillance shows that he's getting along quite well with Ye Fan and the others; he's learning the pedaling technique for the sewing machine."

"Birds of a feather flock together." Director Gu took a sip of tea, "These people all had cheats before; their brains aren't normal. Now that the cheats are gone, letting them exchange 'medical conditions' inside is a form of treatment."

"By the way, there's a new situation."

Chen Xiaobei turned the computer screen around and pointed to a trending topic, "Recently, on a short video platform, a 'seaside foraging blogger' called 'Sea King' appeared. This guy... is a bit outrageous."

Director Gu glanced at the screen.

In the video, a dark-skinned man wearing waterproof pants was shouting at the camera.

"Brothers! See this puddle? A golden light flashed just now! It's definitely a huge catch!"

"Pump it! We must pump the water!"

The scene changed; the puddle was pumped dry, and the streamer called Sea King jumped directly into the mud, reached in, and actually pulled out a huge blue lobster.

"Holy crap! An Australian blue lobster! These claws are thicker than my arm! This is what you call a gift from the Dragon King of the East Sea! This is the joy of a bucket-bursting catch!"

The livestream chat was spamming frantically, and gift effects were flying everywhere.

Director Gu narrowed his eyes and activated the newly acquired [Eye of True Appraisal].

An invisible wave passed through the screen, locking directly onto the lobster that was still waving its claws.

[Item: Australian freshwater blue lobster (Cherax tenuimanus)]

[Status: Deceased, thawed after cryogenic freezing, loose muscle tissue.]

[Source: Walmart supermarket seafood frozen section.]

[Note: Unremoved price tag sticker residue on the gap of the abdominal shell, price: 288 yuan/jin.]

Director Gu paused the video and pointed to an inconspicuous white mark on the lobster's belly: "Chen Xiaobei, zoom in here."

The image zoomed in, and the white dot was clearly visible.

"A barcode." Director Gu sneered, "Is this Sea King treating the audience like fools, or does he think Poyang Lake connects to the Pacific? Catching Australian seafood in an inland freshwater puddle isn't just cross-species; it's practically cross-hemispheric teleportation."

Chen Xiaobei was also speechless: "This is too fake. The key is that his followers are growing rapidly, having already broken ten million. And to grab attention, he even eats this stuff raw on livestream, calling it 'deep-sea sashimi'."

"Eating dead lobster raw; he's risking his life for money."

Just then, Chen Xiaobei's computer suddenly popped up a red livestream notification.

"Director Gu, he's streaming again! This time the title is... 'Challenge to fight a man-eating shark with bare hands, witness a deep-sea miracle'!"

Director Gu raised an eyebrow: "Man-eating shark? Where is he fighting it?"

"Looking at the location... it's on a mudflat at the Yangtze River estuary."

Director Gu opened the livestream.

In the video, Sea King was standing in a murky shallow beach, surrounded by fans watching the excitement, with many passersby on the outskirts holding up phones to film.

"Family! Today's session is definitely a life-or-death match!"

Sea King roared at the camera, the veins on his neck bulging, "The drone just captured a huge black shadow underwater! Based on my experience, it's definitely a ferocious bull shark! To protect the safety of these waters, so that everyone can forage safely, today I, Sea King, will act on behalf of Heaven!"

But in Director Gu's [Eye of True Appraisal], the so-called "black shadow" underwater was emitting a faint red light of life.

[Target: Yangtze finless porpoise (Neophocaena asiaeorientalis)]

[Protection level: National Level I protected animal.]

[Status: Extremely weak, body covered in large amounts of black industrial paint, dorsal fin artificially tied with a piece of plastic foam (disguised as a shark fin).]

[Note: Life in critical condition due to paint poisoning and extreme fright.]

"Clap!"

Director Gu's thermos slammed heavily onto the table, splashing tea everywhere.

"Faking things to scam money is one thing." Director Gu's voice was as cold as ice shards, "Using a national treasure as a prop by painting it, abusing a Level I protected animal—the nature of this has changed."

He stood up, buttoning his uniform as he walked out.

"Notify the Fishery Law Enforcement Detachment, the Market Supervision Administration, and the Environmental Protection Bureau. Bring the best veterinarian."

"Director Gu, are we going to catch fish?" Chen Xiaobei quickly followed.

"Catch what fish?" Director Gu straightened his collar, a cold glint flashing in his eyes, "Go tell this 'Sea King' that some nets, once cast, cannot be reeled back in. Especially the net of the law."

Yangtze River estuary, a certain mudflat.

It was packed solid here.

Sea King's team had put up caution tape, and dozens of bodyguard-like figures were blocking ordinary people from getting close, allowing only the "shills" holding phones and livestreaming to gasp in amazement inside.

In the center of the puddle, Sea King was holding a harpoon, striking a "Sea King Poseidon" pose.

In his mind, that "Super Seaside Foraging System" was frantically prompting.

[Task: Livestream popularity exceeds twenty million.]

[Current popularity: Eighteen million.]

[Reward preview: Obtain skill 'Underwater Breathing' (ten minutes).]

"Just two million left!" Sea King was ecstatic.

As long as he got this skill, he could really go into the sea to catch big things, no need to spend money at the supermarket buying frozen goods anymore!

"Brothers! Spam those gifts! As soon as the Cloud-Piercing Arrow sounds, I'll immediately go into the water to capture the shark!"

Sea King shouted at the camera.

Just then, a commotion suddenly broke out on the outskirts of the crowd.

"Make way! Everyone make way!"

The sound of a loudspeaker drowned out Sea King's roaring.

"Fishery joint law enforcement, everyone step back!"

The crowd parted like a tide.

Director Gu was wearing a dark blue uniform, holding a megaphone, followed by a team of fully armed law enforcement officers, walking in with long, swift strides.

Sea King was stunned for a moment, but quickly reacted.

He was a person with a System, and he was livestreaming right now; the police wouldn't dare to act rashly.

"Officer!" Sea King stabbed the harpoon into the ground, revealing a mouthful of big white teeth, and grinned cheekily at Director Gu, "What's the meaning of this? This is legitimate seaside foraging; this is a gift from nature! If you want to watch the performance, you have to go to the back and queue up."