Chapter 158: Chapter 158: Are You Tired of Living?

First District, Superpower Monitoring and Management Institute

Beneath a sky of dark clouds, a black building sprawled over a vast area. Its tall, translucent perimeter walls were seamless, and the airtight surface was covered with honeycomb-like electronic pulse devices that glinted with a cold, sinister light in the gloom.

An all-black aircraft stopped before a section of the wall. A camera extended from the wall, and a mechanical voice spoke to the people inside the vehicle, "Please look up."

Simultaneously, dozens of floating cameras in the vicinity swiveled toward the vehicle. Gun barrels emerged from the bottom of the cameras and took aim, instantly covering the vehicle’s body with red dots.

"Everyone, don’t be afraid!"

The female in the passenger seat quickly raised her hand.

The one who spoke was Mo Sinan, the Deputy Director of the Prison.

Que Feiling was High Level, had a high pollution value, and a special status, so the Prison was being very cautious. The director was on a business trip in the Lower District, so the deputy director had been sent to assist Jiang Qingli.

Mo Sinan turned and smiled at Jiang Qingli. "We’ve had some nasty incidents in the past, like prison breaks and attempted rescues, so security is much stricter now. We use a dual verification system of both machines and personnel."

"Now, please look straight ahead for the iris scan."

The camera connected to the wall scanned Yi Nuo in the driver’s seat from head to toe, its gaze intensely scrutinizing.

After a few seconds of pause, the mechanical voice announced: [Yi Nuo, citizen of the Empire, verification complete. Authorized for three hours and twenty minutes. Authorized activity area: Garage.]

The process was the same for Qin Muye.

But when the camera scanned Gu Nian, an anomaly occurred.

The red light swept over his body from bottom to top, then from top to bottom again, as if deliberately tormenting him.

Gu Nian sat beside the girl, a flash of impatience and coldness in his eyes.

On the surface, however, he stiffened, tightening his grip on Jiang Qingli’s hand. His voice trembled, "S-Sister, what’s wrong with it? Is it broken? I’m so scared..."

Qin Muye’s mouth twitched. Seizing the opportunity to jab at him, he said, "If you’re so scared, you shouldn’t have come."

Gu Nian’s eyelashes trembled as he looked pitifully at the girl beside him.

"It’s okay, it’s okay." Jiang Qingli was actually a bit nervous herself, and she squeezed his fingers back. "Maybe it’s because you just arrived in the First District, so it’s taking them a little longer to find your records."

"Mm..." Gu Nian nodded obediently.

Jiang Qingli wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but she felt that the camera had paused for several seconds when she moved closer to Gu Nian.

Before her suspicion could fully form, the mechanical voice sounded, confirming his clearance.

Finally, it was Jiang Qingli’s turn.

The camera remained fixed on her face for nearly a minute.

Surrounded by guns, Jiang Qingli didn’t dare to move. She could only stare straight back at the camera, her heart pounding.

"So slow. Is the machine broken?" Gu Nian asked, feigning confusion.

Where no one was looking, the young man glanced sideways at the camera. The red light from the guns outside reflected in his eyes, refracting a piercing coldness.

Mo Sinan hadn’t expected it to take this long either, and she silently cursed out the people on duty today.

Worried they might be getting upset, Mo Sinan gave a dry laugh. "Haha, I’ll go check on it later."

As if sensing their impatience, the mechanical voice finally spoke: [Jiang Qingli, citizen of the Empire, verification complete. Authorized for three hours and twenty minutes. Authorized activity area: Superpower Monitoring and Management Institute - High-Pollution Containment Zone.]

The towering wall split open, revealing a narrow gap just wide enough for one vehicle to pass through.

After the vehicle entered, the gap slowly closed.

The cameras turned, watching the vehicle drive into the garage, before retracting into the wall.

-

The Prison’s management was incredibly strict.

After entering the main gate, the group underwent two more security checks before finally reaching the garage.

Everyone except Jiang Qingli was restricted to the garage.

Fortunately, it wasn’t uncommon for males to accompany their females to the Prison, so a rest area equipped with entertainment facilities had been built in the garage.

After saying goodbye to the steward and the males, Jiang Qingli followed Mo Sinan into an elevator.

After Mo Sinan entered the elevator, she flicked her fingers, and a black Barrier enveloped the camera.

Before Jiang Qingli could even react, she saw the female give her a perfect bow. "Miss Jiang, I’m sorry."

"What’s wrong?" Jiang Qingli was confused. "Director Mo, please stand up and speak."

Mo Sinan looked up guiltily and sighed. "Miss Jiang, Mr. Que’s condition worsened again last night... We had to give him a large dose of sedatives."

Jiang Qingli’s brow furrowed at this. "So, what do you need me to do?"

"This is what I must apologize for," Mo Sinan said. "A typical healing mission is three days. The first day is mainly for both parties to get acquainted, involving only brief spiritual contact to avoid rejection."

"Mr. Que’s situation is more serious, so we applied for four days. The original plan for the first day was to let you get familiar with him."

"But he’s unconscious now, so we can only ask you to enter his Spiritual Domain to perform the healing..."

As she spoke, Mo Sinan bowed repeatedly.

"I’m so sorry, Miss Jiang, for only telling you the situation now. If you don’t accept, I can apply to terminate the mission for you!"

A female suddenly entering a male’s Spiritual Domain could cause irreversible damage to the female’s spiritual power.

Jiang Qingli asked cautiously, "How long until he can recover?"

"He no longer has the ability to recover on his own," Mo Sinan said. "He has lost control multiple times in the last six months. I managed to suppress the reports this time, but if it happens again... he might be sentenced to life in prison."

The lifespan of an S-rank male is typically over five hundred years.

And Que Feiling is only nineteen this year.

Seeing Jiang Qingli’s expression soften slightly, Mo Sinan quickly added, "Miss Jiang, can we go take a look at the situation first? I promise we will monitor everything to ensure your safety. Please, help us... If he gets put away, we’ll all be out of a job."

"How about we double the mission reward? Besides that, regardless of whether the mission is completed, I will give you the highest rating on the evaluation form, which will be a great benefit to your future evaluations."

The offer was full of sincerity, and Jiang Qingli nodded.

’I’ll go take a look first. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll pull back.’

-

The Prison was brightly lit, a modern structure that felt overly spacious, and its silence was unsettling.

At the end of the long corridor stood a three-meter-tall door.

Red electronic characters glowed beside the door, displaying the number [0001].

Two researchers were pacing anxiously at the door. Their eyes lit up when they saw Jiang Qingli, and they immediately swarmed her like a bankrupt restaurant welcoming the nation’s richest man.

"Miss Jiang, you’re here!"

"Miss Jiang, this way, please!"

Mo Sinan cleared her throat, about to speak, when her terminal vibrated twice. She answered it casually, only to hear a cold, grim voice—

"Cancel this mission."

The young man’s voice was bone-chillingly cold yet carried an immense pressure, like furious magma churning beneath a glacier.

Mo Sinan’s eyes widened, and she looked at her screen in disbelief.

Seeing the call was from the Ninth District, she shivered, a chill running down her spine as she cursed under her breath.

’How is this diehard sister-complex so well-informed!’

She suppressed her expression and told the researchers to accompany Jiang Qingli inside to see Que Feiling first.

Then she walked to a corner and said stiffly, "I apologize, Marshal Jiang, but our Prison is not under military jurisdiction. You have no authority to order us—"

"Mo Sinan, are you tired of living?"

On the other end of the line, Jiang Youchen bit out each word in a cold interrogation.

The rage beneath the icy surface bubbled up like blood-red foam, threatening to erupt at any moment and mercilessly devour anyone who dared to defy him.

Mo Sinan let out a breath. "Marshal Jiang, with all due respect, this was a system-assigned mission. Weren’t you the one who asked our director to arrange an S-rank for Miss Jiang to level up with? Que Feiling is our most..."

Before she could finish, Jiang Youchen’s cold laugh cut her off.

Suddenly, a faint sound broke the silence of the room.

She looked up. The camera above her abruptly swiveled in her direction, a gun barrel extending from its dark muzzle.

Jiang Youchen’s voice came through again. "Cancel the mission. Don’t make me say it a third time."

’Does this guy take after his father and just not listen to people? How am I supposed to persuade him? The director must have gone on this "emergency business trip" because he was afraid Jiang Youchen would blow his head off...’

Mo Sinan felt a massive headache coming on. Just as she was about to speak, one of the researchers walked over, his face beaming with joy.

"Director Mo, Director Mo!"

"Miss Jiang has accepted the mission."