Heroes' Prison

Chapter 192 - 190 The Crucible

The sun finally set, and the bright moon, accompanied by seven colorful stars, rose into the sky. In the Xuanyuan Square in front of the City Hall in Xuanyuan Town, a grand celebration was underway.

At the center of the square, a bonfire was lit, and there were large cuts of meat and fine wines everywhere. The aroma of the meat mingled with the laughter of the people. Bards with their harps sang beside the fire, beautiful girls danced among the crowd, and people sat in small circles, creating a very festive and relaxed atmosphere.

"Instakill, is the food good? Is the wine tasty?" Dao Feng asked as he drank, draping an arm over Huang Yi’s shoulders.

"Not bad," Huang Yi replied, nodding as he bit into a roasted lamb leg.

"This was prepared by Heizi’s chefs," a man in black attire chuckled from across them. With a buzz-cut and in his twenties, the man had no unnecessary adornments on his person and looked neat and tidy. He was known as Dragon Dominates the World, a high-ranking member of the Xuanyuan Clan, in charge of the Battlefield Group. He was also one of the celebrities on the Chinese Mainland, ranked among the Four Great Assassins alongside Nameless, Seeking Flowers, and Mirror Broken. Above them was the world-famous Dragon Spike, a whole different level.

"Your guild is full of talent!" Huang Yi exclaimed sincerely. Although he had only been there for a day, he had already seen many talented people. Aside from the Guild President Dao Feng, the other team leaders were all formidable characters in their own right, such as Yun Sihai in charge of the Adventure Group, Lin Yiqin in charge of the Instance Group, Dragon Dominates the World in charge of the Battlefield Group, Mage Regiment Leader Donghuang, and so on. Any of them could be a guild president on their own.

Huang Yi would next go to find Qin Shiyu and meet with his organization. They intended to grow and flourish in The Second World and would definitely need to develop their own powers, which meant they would need talents from all areas. However, such talents were not easy to come by; finding them required fate, which was unpredictable and unforeseen.

"Even the strongest talents can’t compare to you!" Dao Feng shook his head and smiled. "The forums are all talking about you. The announcement says that the Yanhuang Legion got the first kill, but it was you who led it. I’m a bit embarrassed, basking in your glory."

Huang Yi smiled modestly and didn’t take it to heart. His ability to snatch the first kill didn’t mean he was stronger than Dao Feng; it just meant his skills were well-suited for that particular challenge.

"Instakill, when are you leaving?" Yun Sihai suddenly asked.

"Tomorrow morning, I guess!"

"Why not stay a few more days? We’ve got good food, good drinks, brothers, beauties, everything. Stay and rest for a few days! You should learn to enjoy life!" Yun Sihai urged.

"I need to find someone, she is waiting for me," Huang Yi said, looking up at the bright moon. Under the same starry sky, he was celebrating with drinks here, but Dragon City was already suffering from famine, essentially a ruined city.

"If you ever need help in the future, just let us know," Dao Feng said, patting Huang Yi’s shoulder. "Come on, let’s continue drinking!"

...

The celebration lasted until the late night. Dao Feng, Lin Yiqin, Yun Sihai, and others were already lying on the ground asleep. The roaring bonfire gradually weakened, and only a few small circles remained chatting and laughing.

Huang Yi logged off and returned to Rose Prison.

It was also late night in Rose Prison. Huang Yi was not yet sleepy; he opened the cell door and walked out into the corridor. Soft snoring sounds could be faintly heard around him; the criminals in the prison were all asleep.

Suddenly, some noises came from a nearby cell—the cell of the Prison Overlord, Lei Shen. From inside the cell, flickering lights shone out, brightening and dimming, as if a television was on.

Curious, Huang Yi walked over to Lei Shen’s cell door to look.

He saw Lei Shen sitting at a table in his cell smoking, with an antique television showing a movie on it. The smoky atmosphere, the changing lights of the television, and the dark cell created an image full of antiquated, decadent vibes.

Noticing someone’s approach, Lei Shen turned to look at the cell door and, seeing Huang Yi, smiled slightly, saying, "Ah-Yi, you haven’t slept yet? Want a cigarette?" He picked up a box of cigarettes from the table and gestured with it toward Huang Yi.

"Sure," Huang Yi replied, having nothing else to do, he opened the cell door and went inside, pulling up a chair in front of the television.

"Why are you not sleeping?" Huang Yi lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and exhaled a white ring.

"Ah, just not in a good mood!" Lei Shen shook his head, his gaze still fixed on the television. "Watching a movie to ease my mind a bit."

"What movie are you watching?" Huang Yi also turned his attention to the screen.

"It’s a movie from over a hundred years ago, I think it’s called ’The Crucible’, pretty good to watch!" Lei Shen said, smoking and staring at the TV, "Why are you not sleeping so late either?"

"Anyway, it’s prison, the day is not much brighter than the night, it’s always dim, you can sleep anytime, doesn’t have to be at night."

"That’s true," Lei Shen laughed, "Actually, the world is also like this, a lot of times right and wrong are indistinguishable. Look at this movie, a deaf-mute school, on the surface it appears upright and educates people. But behind the scenes, these deaf-mute students are being abused by the school principal and teachers every day, and these students can’t even speak out, they can’t escape, just like us, trapped in a prison, unable to tell the outside world."

"So what happened to these students later?" Huang Yi asked, staring at the TV.

"Later came a teacher, that teacher was like a hero, breaking through the school that was like a prison, leading these students in their struggle. It hasn’t gotten to the ending yet, so I don’t know what will happen."

"Then they’re better off than us, at least they have a hero," Huang Yi took a deep drag of his cigarette.

"Can’t help it, when there’s no hero, we can only be our own heroes," Lei Shen said, tossing the cigarette butt to the ground and stomping it out before continuing to watch the TV intently.

Following this, the two of them didn’t speak anymore, quietly watching the TV.

Lines from the movie echoed in the prison late at night, mixed with the smell of smoke, drifting in the dark air.

At the end of the movie, the heroic teacher finally led his group of students out of the darkness, obtaining their freedom.

He walked through the surging crowd, stepping forward with firm steps, eventually disappearing into the throng, but his voice still echoed in their ears—

"We fight not to change the world, but so that the world won’t change us."

...

The next day, Huang Yi got up early, the night sky outside had just faded, the sun was not yet up, and the world was shrouded in a dense fog.

After washing up and exercising, he logged online and entered the forum.

The first thing he saw was still that post about The Second World’s annual festival voting. On the Best Newcomer award, his support rate had indeed surpassed Thunder God’s, moving him back into first place, but his lead was minimal, just 2%.

Their combined support rates had exceeded 50%, leaving the other candidates far behind. By now, it was a certainty for every player in the world that one of them would win the Best Newcomer award, and it was no longer a matter of suspense.

Besides that, Huang Yi also discovered that Dao Feng’s support rate for the Best Individual Award had risen since before, further increasing his lead. On the Best Team, the Yanhuang Legion had replaced Heavenly Group and was temporarily in first place. For Best Guild, the Xuanyuan Clan firmly occupied first place with a huge lead of 15.3% over Pope’s Heaven. Yesterday’s instakill had an obvious boosting effect today.

Afterward, Huang Yi checked the hot posts in the forum’s 24-hour section.

"Instakill Moment! 37-minute Lightning Strike Takes Down Zombie King’s First Kill!"

The top trending post was the essence of yesterday’s live broadcast, albeit the title had been changed by the author.

Huang Yi clicked in to take a look.

The post still contained yesterday’s live content. From Pope leading the Angel Legion in a surprise attack at the start, to the Yanhuang Legion hurriedly organizing members to chase after, to the Yanhuang Legion bypassing Fist, and maintaining a 100% survival rate even after 3 consecutive Zombie King deaths... The post preserved the entire tense atmosphere, and those who were unaware of these events could fully experience the 37 minutes of breathtaking action after reading the post. Some members of the Yanhuang Legion also personally disclosed some details in the post, their tone both excited and proud.

At the end of the post, the author expressed their sentiments—

"118 years ago during a winter, the NBA witnessed a groundbreaking match. In the Rockets at that time, a player named McGrady scored an incredible 13 points in the last 35 seconds, securing victory for the team by a mere one point with that. Those 35 seconds have gone down in history as the ’McGrady moment.’ If I were to name the 37 minutes of yesterday’s fierce contest for the first kill, I think ’Instakill Moment’ would be fitting."