“Don’t fight anymore, you won’t be able to kill him like this!”

“Can you guys hurry up? We’re all waiting here. Every minute wasted is wasting dozens of minutes for everyone!”

“Alright, that’s enough.”

As Asho and the others entered the Deathmatch Society, instead of hearing screams of adrenaline, beast-like roars, and malicious taunts, they heard a lot of complaints.

If it weren’t for the chips restricting the foul language of these death row inmates, Asho was sure he would have quickly learned all the classic curses of the various races in the Blood Moon Kingdom.

The group squeezed their way to the front, and the impatient death row inmates made way for them, some even showing humble smiles, when they saw that it was the infamous prison thugs like the “Demon”, “Beast”, and “Gourmet”.

Although there was no hierarchy among the death row inmates, and even the strongest among them couldn’t harm the weakest, not even plucking a hair or scratching a freshly done manicure, as long as they didn’t voluntarily step onto the Deathmatch Arena, they wouldn’t be bullied by others.

But admiration for the strong was a natural instinct of living beings, and among these death row inmates whose moral bottom line was like an old person’s diaper, the trait of admiring the strong was fully displayed. Even if Asho and the others couldn’t harm them in the slightest, they didn’t want to offend these fierce individuals.

Asho secretly kicked these people who made way for them out of the list of potential candidates – I am the kindest and most innocent person in this prison, even I’m afraid, how can I be bait! All of them fail!

As they reached the front, Asho saw two people on the lowest level of the Deathmatch Arena. One was a snake-lizard clan member covered in dark green scales, and the other was Harvey, a fellow inmate whom Asho rarely got along with and couldn’t remember his full name.

Asho quickly understood why everyone was complaining – Harvey and the snake-lizard clan member were having a rigged match.

The snake-lizard clan member didn’t fight back at all, allowing Harvey to punch his face repeatedly. Even when the tough scales on his skin were cracked and his sharp teeth were shattered, he knelt on the ground motionless, calmly looking at Harvey.

It was only when Harvey’s fists were covered in thick blood that the snake-lizard clan member slowly said, “Aqiborde, are you satisfied now?”

“Not yet!”

Suddenly, Harvey knelt down, tore open his own clothes, revealing a skinny and scarred body, his face twisted in a grimace. “Hablon, come on!”

The snake-lizard clan member shook his head, but still picked up the thorny whip placed on the side of the arena. Asho glanced at it and felt his hair stand on end – the whip was covered in dense barbs, and it was easy to imagine the satisfying feeling of being licked by it. If some saltwater was added, it would probably send the soul straight to heaven.

Smack! Smack! Smack!

With the sound of heavy blows, the complaints in the Deathmatch Society suddenly decreased. Although there were occasional taunts questioning whether Harvey was an idiot, more people showed their respect in silence – there were two ways to earn the respect of death row inmates, either by being ruthless to others or being ruthless to oneself.

Asho suddenly asked, “How is it?”

“Not bad,” Igura said. “I’ll investigate his ‘story’ later. Maybe there’s something we can use.”

“Aqiborde Harvey’s record in the Deathmatch is 7 wins and 1 loss,” Ronald said. “Because of his weakness, he is occasionally seen as a target for plunder, but his opponents often lose consciousness without realizing it. He is not weak.”

“We need this kind of passionate man. Just looking at him makes me fired up!” Ronald clenched his fist and said, “Let’s go find him directly after the Deathmatch!”

Igura shook his head. “No rush, we still have time. We can look at other candidates. Even if we want to find him, I have to catch him with something I can use, so that I can use it skillfully.”

“Hmm, you’re so cunning!”

“What? Do you have a problem?”

“Yes, look at that snake-lizard clan member. If we can’t find a breakthrough with Harvey, maybe we can use that snake-lizard clan member – after all, he has just entered the prison and hasn’t forgotten the taste of freedom.”

Igura nodded approvingly. “Rarely, Asho, you’ve come up with a good suggestion.”

“It’s nothing, I learned it from you, Igura.”

Watching the two of them exchange sly smiles, Lana’s face remained unchanged, but he was extremely surprised in his heart. He had observed Igura Bokin before and knew that this fraudster was a cold, selfish, and pleasure-seeking criminal, always wearing a business-like smile on his face, but deep down, he looked down on everyone and saw them all as tools to be used.

Lana wasn’t saying that Igura saw Asho as a friend. If he dared to say such a thing, Igura and Asho would probably think he was crazy.

But based on Lana’s observations, Igura’s attitude towards Asho was completely different from his attitude towards other inmates. It wasn’t a calculating flattery, nor was it the disgust of treating an enemy, but it was closer to…sincerity.

Yes, sincerity. Although this adjective seemed too naive when used on a fraudster, this was Lana’s observation conclusion.

Perhaps even Igura himself wasn’t aware that he had unconsciously taken off the mask he had built to protect himself in front of Asho. He didn’t hide his disgust, nor did he hide his approval. He treated Asho Heath as an equal, communicating normally, arguing normally – the emotional fluctuations Igura had experienced in the past year and a half were not as intense as these past few days.

Was it because of Asho Heath’s personal charm?

No, Lana didn’t think so.

It wasn’t that Asho didn’t have charm, but Igura couldn’t be easily influenced – any Second Wing Sorcerer specializing in the Mind discipline had a stronger will and determination than other sorcerers, not to mention that Igura himself was a fraudster skilled in manipulating people’s hearts. How could he have such a sudden change of heart, like a ‘love at first sight’ mental transformation?

In the world of sorcerers, there were no coincidences.

Only ‘miracles’.

Although Ronald played a part in it, Lana strongly realized that this escape plan initiated by Asho Heath was bound to succeed.

Unlike Igura and Ronald, Lana used to be a member of the church, a servant of the gods. He had bathed in the glory of the divine and knew the vastness of the power of the gods.

The will of the gods would surely be fulfilled.The seemingly impregnable Shattered Lake Prison was nothing more than a fragile, nearly transparent bubble to the Blood Moon Overlord. The same was true for the Four Pillar God.

Suddenly, the lights in the Deathmatch Society’s hall were fully lit, the barriers around the ring fell, and the small door of the ring opened. The crow medics came out to carry away the snake lizard tribe, but when they wanted to carry Harvey away, they were refused – Harvey didn’t want to be treated.

When Harvey, covered in wounds and blood-stained clothes, came out, the death row inmates consciously made way for him. Since Igura still needed to find Harvey’s leverage, Asho and the others didn’t immediately go over to win Harvey over.

However, Harvey took the initiative to come over.

“I’ve been wanting to find you, Asho,” Harvey said, “I want to discuss something with you.”

“I’m broke.”

“There are too many people here, let’s go—” Harvey reached out to pull Asho away as he spoke.

Igura grabbed Harvey’s wrist and smiled, “Sounds interesting, can I listen in?”

Harvey glanced at Igura, Langna, and Ronald, then slowly nodded, “Of course.”

The five villains quickly left the Deathmatch Society and headed to the men’s restroom – it was the closest private environment, and besides, the men’s restroom was frequently cleaned, had a pleasant smell, and the sound of running water could cover their conversation. It was the perfect breeding ground for conspiracies.

“I heard you guys are planning a prison break?” Harvey wiped the blood off his body with a wet towel, looking at Asho in the mirror.

“Yes.” Igura didn’t intend to hide it. He had been visiting celebrities in the prison in turns a few days ago, so this news couldn’t be kept secret.

But because they didn’t expose Asho’s miracle, and considering that Igura had once used his identity as the president of the Prison Break Research Society to deceive newcomers, everyone either thought Igura was joking or planning some conspiracy. Plus, the death row inmates had been tamed by the prison, so no one wanted to join, forcing Asho to find ways to drag Ronald and Langna into it.

“I want to join you.” Harvey put his head under the faucet, wetting his curly hair. He lifted his wet head, and Asho was surprised to find that when his hair wasn’t curly, he looked quite handsome, not as vulgar as when he had curly hair.

“I want to break out of prison.”

Asho was overjoyed, but before he could speak, Igura asked first, “If you want to join, you have to make your contribution and show us your value. We don’t lack people right now, and if you don’t play a certain role, we don’t need to let you join.”

“Actually, even without a contribution—”

“Shut up!” Igura glared at Asho, who shrank back in grievance.

It should have been Igura asking Harvey to join, but now that Harvey was volunteering, Igura wouldn’t miss this opportunity to make demands. After so many negotiations, Igura understood that people tend to value what is hard to get. If they let Harvey join directly, it would only make him doubt their professionalism, and even give him the illusion that he is important, which would make him hard to manage.

Now, by raising the bar as much as possible and ‘reluctantly allowing’ Harvey to join after fully exploiting his resources, they could not only make Harvey feel grateful, but also make him understand his position, so that he wouldn’t resist too much even if they ordered him to be a bait in the future.

“Fair enough.” Harvey nodded at the mirror, “I believe my abilities will satisfy you—I can operate the processors in the prison.”

“Sounds good… What?”

Igura was stunned, “Processor? You can operate the chip processors in the prison? How is that possible?”

“Why not?” Harvey turned to look at the other four, his wet hair hanging on his face, not hiding the sharpness in his eyes, “If any of the death row inmates can operate the chip processor, it must be me.”

“Because I am a necromancer.”

“And the chip processor is a corpse.”