As it was almost 8 pm when they arrived at the restaurant, Asho naturally couldn’t order the limited Lalafell delicacies and just grabbed some leftover meat dishes to eat.
“Is the food good after the victory?”
Asho looked up and saw Wakas sitting across from him with a glass of water.
“To be honest, these leftovers are a bit cold, and the Lalafell dishes were all ordered by you guys…”
“You can still order, you won 37 contribution points from me, it’s not too much to reward yourself with one or two dishes, right?”
“Huh? Order? With contribution points?”
“Don’t you know? Right, you just got here.” Wakas pointed to the menu sign next to the restaurant. “You can order at any time, not limited to the restaurant’s daily supply. If it’s not during free activities, the restaurant will even deliver food to the dormitory – as long as you spend contribution points.”
It was then that Asho realized that the menu sign was actually an order form, and he had thought it was just a showcase for the restaurant – “Look, we provide so many dishes here! We didn’t withhold any food from the prisoners!”
The order form looked cheap at first glance, any three popular dishes added up to only one contribution point, such as ‘Seafood Lalafell’ + ‘Creamy Chicken Noodles’ + ‘Misty Spinach Omelet’, which only required one contribution point. It was enough for a good meal.
However, each death row prisoner only had 50 initial contribution points, and 10 points were automatically deducted every month, which were also the chips for applying for death matches. The lower the contribution points, the higher the trial sequence, and the easier it was to be called to participate in the live broadcast program ‘Blood Moon Trial’.
Therefore, contribution points in the prison not only represented circulating currency but also represented the life quota of prisoners. Consuming contribution points was no different from slow suicide… or maybe there was, that was with slow suicide, you didn’t know when you were going to die, but with consuming contribution points, you could see your life quota decreasing.
“Although there’s not much to do in prison, if you want to spend contribution points, you can definitely spend them.” Wakas said, “Hair care, customized prisoner uniforms, purchasing specific care products… you can even exchange contribution points for a better dormitory, a three-bedroom, two-living room with windows, and the rent is one contribution point per day.”
“One contribution point per day? Are you crazy? Who would live there?”
“There are people, ‘Diamond’ Tager has been living in that VIP suite for years, and his contribution points are too much to spend. There are always some newbies who are foolish enough to give him contribution points. If we convert one contribution point to one gold coin, Tager in the prison may be richer than outside.”
Asho raised his eyebrows, “So… in the prison evaluation system, we prisoners are only worth 50 gold coins?”
“Is it too little for you?”
“Is it a lot?”
“Most ordinary people without higher education can’t earn 50 gold coins in their lifetime, and even some mediocre artificers can’t earn that much. If you have an annual salary of one gold coin, you can live a decent life in Camon City.”
At this moment, Asho finally understood the true value of the gold coin in his arms and realized how dark this prison was – three meat dishes cost a year’s salary! Were the Lalafell dishes in there made by a doctorate graduate?
“I suddenly feel that the leftovers are still delicious.”
Wakas snorted and just looked at Asho quietly.Asho ate for a while before he couldn’t help but say, “I’m the type who can’t pee when someone is watching.”
“Shh~”
“I’m just making a metaphor, you don’t have to whistle to agree with me!”
“I thought young people nowadays like to pee while eating.” Wakas laughed, then his expression became cold again. “What I’m going to say next is just me talking to myself, mostly just nonsense. If you hear it, it’s best to pretend you didn’t.”
Asho was slightly startled.
“Xilin Dor is not only the president of the Elf Rights Association in Camon City, a member of the Camon Council, and a university professor, but he also has a hidden identity as one of the backers of the Falconer gang. He openly opposes the Blood Saint and Moon Shadow tribe councilors in order to defend the interests of other races, but he has secretly made many deals with them. The Falconer gang is his black glove, and Camon City Mayor Fenanche owes him for his support.”
“The Four Pillar God Heresy has not been seen for many years, almost disappeared, except for a rumor with no evidence that some important ritual books about the Four Pillar God Heresy were unearthed in an archaeological excavation in the eastern ruins eight years ago. That same year, the eastern ruins were hit by a Virtual Realm storm, and most of the archaeological findings were lost.”
“Xilin Dor was the main advisor who presided over the eastern ruins excavation team that year.”
“Xilin is a very patient elf. At least I haven’t seen any creature that can surpass him in this aspect of restraint. If he wants someone dead, it means that person holds information that is crucial to him. Once leaked, it would cause him great losses.”
Wakas took a sip of water to moisten his throat and glanced at Asho.
“In theory, the memories of most death row inmates who enter prison have been investigated. If there really is any information, it must have been found by the hunting hall… unless someone’s memories were not checked.”
So that’s it.
Although Asho still didn’t know his relationship with Professor Xilin, he fully understood why Xilin wanted to kill him by any means necessary – he thought Asho held a secret that had not yet been leaked!
Because of the Four Pillar God Heresy, the hunting hall dared not check his memories, so Asho Heath became the only prisoner in the prison who still had a secret!
This was Xilin’s luck, because Heath did not leak his information;
It was also Xilin’s misfortune, because Heath could report him at any time!
To be honest, if Asho really knew this secret, he would definitely report it to the hunting hall immediately.
It’s not that he’s a bad seed who hurts himself and others, he’s just curious about Xilin and wants to become intimate cellmates with him. It would be even better if they had a chance to collide passionately on the deathmatch arena.
But the problem is – Asho really doesn’t know Xilin’s secret!
He didn’t absorb a single drop of Heath’s memories!
It’s frustrating, Asho also wanted to use Heath’s memories to help the hunting hall bring the bad guys to justice.
After all, there are so many lawbreakers, why am I the only one caught?!
Unfortunately, he doesn’t know anything.
What’s even more frustrating is that others are afraid of him leaking secrets, so they try to get rid of him by any means necessary!
But he doesn’t know anything!This feeling is like being wrongly accused by a teacher of stealing a classmate’s stationery when I was a child.
“Hey, are you still here? Did you hear me talking to myself?” Wakas stood up and said, “Let’s call it a day today. I’ll find you for a brainstorming session when I have time.”
“Really?”
“Haha, just kidding. I don’t have time, and you don’t have a brain.”
“Wait, Wakas.” Asho stopped him. “Why are you helping me?”
Although Asho thought Wakas might give him some information because he lost to him, the way he gave it was completely different from what Asho imagined. He thought Wakas would leave him with a harsh word, something like “I’m the weakest of the Four Dark Kings, beating me is useless, our people will come after you soon.”
Asho didn’t expect Wakas to betray him so easily. Did he still have a moral compass when he hit people?
“I’m not helping you.”
Wakas shook his head.
“I just want to give that bastard Xilin some trouble.”
It is indeed a very reasonable reason to harm others and not benefit oneself. Asho took the opportunity to ask, “Do you know if there is a channel for trading artisan spirits in prison? If I can get a few swordsmanship artisan spirits, I will have a chance to cause major trouble for Xilin-“
“None of my business.”
Asho was choked and decided to take a caring route. “By the way, Wakas, you didn’t kill me this time and lost to me. Will you have any trouble-“
“None of your business.”
“Then you have to tell me how Xilin will deal with me next, right?”
Wakas glanced at him and left with a word.
“The next time we meet, you will know Xilin’s means.”
Asho felt that Wakas’s downfall to prison was definitely related to his foul mouth and riddle-solving nature.
But he can be sure of one thing now: the mastermind behind all this must be Xilin Dor, the former college professor and elven scholar who taught Heath!
……
…
After finishing the meal, Asho did not continue to linger in the prison and hurried back to his dormitory, shouting.
“Sword Girl? Are you there?”
“I’m here, but not completely here.”
Sword Girl sat on the bed, legs crossed, the deep black silk outlining a graceful curve. She held her chin with her palm and looked at Asho with a sidelong glance.
“Is there something you need?”
“Did you remind me during the deathmatch just now?”
Asho stretched out his hand, and a “stand-in” artisan spirit appeared in his palm, sleeping soundly.
“The chip is still limiting my output of artisan power, but why can I activate a stand-in artisan spirit?”
“Isn’t it obvious-you understand the knowledge of the stand-in artisan spirit, and under the right conditions, you can directly resonate with the artisan spirit and it will automatically affect reality. Other death row inmates who want to activate an artisan spirit in prison also use this method.”
Although Asho had heard this many times, he couldn’t help feeling surprised by this phenomenon: mature artisan spirits can actually cast spells on their own.
“But how did I understand the ‘stand-in’ artisan spirit?” Asho still didn’t understand. “I haven’t learned any knowledge about the stand-in artisan spirit.”
“You learned it, and you understood it.”
Asho was stunned and suddenly remembered Sword Girl’s reminder.”Is it because of this sentence? ‘If you feel pain, just think of yourself as someone else, and the pain will go away’?”
“Yes.” Sword Girl nodded, “When you understand this sentence, you naturally understand this Artisan. In essence, an Artisan is a collection of knowledge. When you possess an Artisan, even if you don’t actively learn, the knowledge of the Artisan will actively pursue you.”
“Is it that simple?”
“It’s not that simple.” Sword Girl shook her head, “Understanding knowledge and comprehending knowledge are two different things… If you weren’t in extreme danger just now, with your body covered in injuries and your spirit on the verge of dissipating, you wouldn’t have resonated with the Artisan of Substitution. Just learning is not enough, empathizing is a necessary condition for understanding an Artisan.”
Asho looked at the Artisan of Substitution on his palm, trying to delve into its depths with his consciousness.
This time was better than the last. Asho could understand the information flow fed back by the Artisan, but he still couldn’t understand its structure. If the Artisan was a dish, last time Asho had no sense of taste, unable to taste the Artisan’s flavor at all; this time, Asho could taste the Artisan’s flavor, but he didn’t know how it was made.
“You’ve already reached the limit by understanding the Artisan. As long as it’s not a Sorcery Spirit you’ve personally summoned, you won’t be able to find the hidden door of truth within it.”
Sword Girl could tell at a glance what he was trying to do: “Only an Artisan born from the knowledge you possess can allow you to find its door of truth. Artisans you obtain from other channels, no matter how deeply you understand them, are ultimately not yours.”
“Truth must be pure and perfect, without a single flaw.”
Truth is really strict, isn’t it?
Asho withdrew the Artisan and looked at Sword Girl.
“Where have you been all this time?”