As they advanced, Frank could feel air getting more damp, with the stench of blood and rot getting even more pungent, to the point that one could throw up."A torture chamber?" Frank asked interestedly.He was no stranger to torture chambers as he met Burt Yorkman in the one at Riverton.In this case, this place was definitely the one in Zamri."Cut the chatter," someone growled as he was led into an elevator that descended below the surface.Eventually, the thick steel doors parted, and Frank immediately heard the screams.And they were all, men whose very will was crumbling under the audible crack of whips, and the sizzling hiss of branding iron burning into their skin.There was maniacal laughter on top of that, along with a stench that was worse than before. And he could feel from the wetness of the floor that it was flooded with ankle-deep puddles down the hallway.The rug sack on Frank's head was then taken off, and he found himself staring down a pitch-black hallway, as
The jailer who just left did not turn back in spite of Scarface's screams, as it was way too common around here.He paused for a moment before chuckling and left without looking back.Meanwhile, Scarface was clutching his almost broken thumb and cowering in a corner, wheezing."Yo!" Someone chuckled. "It seems the newbie can throw down, almost snapping Scarface Tucker's thumb in an instant. Interesting!"Hearing the gleeful laughter around him, Frank looked around and asked, "Can anyone tell me where I am?""Eh…?""Pfft…""No way. The kid doesn't know where this place is?""Makes sense. Just look at his blank stare—doesn't look too smart, does he? Someone must have tricked him."Clang…"Ahem…"As Frank's fellow inmates chuckled and commented, silence quickly ensued with the clanging of metals.A geezer could then be heard coughing, as every eye turned toward him in the darkness.Even the cells nearby were silent, a far cry from the liveliness when Frank had just entered th
If Frank really wanted to leave, not that many people could actually stop him.His brow easing, he turned toward the fettered geezer again. He could certainly notice from the other inmates' reaction that they feared the geezer too."In that case, may I ask how you ended up here, sir?" Frank asked."Oh, it's really not worth mentioning…"The geezer avoided the subject, shaking his head and smiling when he discerned Frank's mood. "Word of advice, kid—you're not getting out of here now that you're here. I tried to escape with the strength in my arms… and well, you can see how that went."He gestured with his chin at his fetters, and Frank walked up to him.He studied the geezer and saw that he had overflowing vigor and a rich meridian nexus.Judging from that, he was definitely halfway into Ascendant rank. And if someone of his caliber was kept here, it was clear that this prison was worse than it looked.The geezer then calmly continued, telling Frank about the brutal truth. "K
"Well, the jig's up."The fettered geezer shook his head and sighed. "I guess you'll be getting the Willbreaker.""Willbreaker? What's that?" Frank asked."To bring the new inmates down a peg, they would all be beaten up their first day in… though the severity depends on what you can offer the jailer."The geezer shook his head and sighed—Frank would definitely be getting a world of pain since he was not paying off the jailer.Still, he advised, "Look, if you can't pay him off and have nothing of value, you just have to endure the stick and be as agreeable as possible. That way, the jailer just might take it easy on you.""Exactly." A skinny inmate sighed in agreement. "I had nothing to offer when I was brought here, so I had to suffer fifty strikes. Fortunately, I was healthy enough to recover after two weeks' worth of lying down."He then looked pointedly at Frank. "But judging from your small frame, it'd take you a month to recover.""Yeah, but surviving is better than nothi
Would the jailer let Frank off easy after this? Young men were really inexperienced!This was it for Frank. Forget fifty Willbreakers—his attitude would earn him up to seventy more.And his scrawny body might not even survive it!"Woah, kid! You're quite cocky, huh?"The two flunkies following the pudgy jailer around were at once upset, one of them even spitting on the floor as he pointed at the jailer. "Kid, don't you know who this is? He's Tigris Fisher, the Stallion of Blackwater! How dare you behave so insolently in front of him? Do you want to die?!"Tigris shoved his flunkie out of the way as he stared fixedly at Frank and chuckled. "I heard that you were framed… but naturally, I don't give a shit. Once you end up in here, you're never getting out."However, I can give you one chance to contact whatever friends and family you have outside, and tell them to pay me off. Once they do and I'm happy with the number, I just might play nice. But if it's not enough… Hehe…"Tigris
The fettered geezer was left speechless by Frank's attitude and sighed softly.The young man would definitely pay for not listening to his elders."Hmph. Mongrels."Seeing the two flunkies of the jailer eagerly bringing out their torture tools and a fire cauldron, endless hate showed on Scarface Tucker's face.They were the ones who scarred his face, after all.He would not hate them so much if they were jailers, but these flunkies used to be his men. They used whatever they had to pay off the jailer, and after days of sycophancy, earned their special rights despite being inmates.In fact, they were worse than the jailer when they did his dirty work!Various emotions could be seen in Scarface's eyes as he stared at the steel bar door which was left wide open.He wanted nothing more than to charge outside and kill those two despicable flunkies on the spot.However, without a stable diet and being afflicted by sickness and stress, he was now the weakest of the three. He would de
But at the very next instant, Frank was picking up the rusted shiv thrown over by the flunkies, and he turned toward Scarface interestedly. "Hey, what's your story with Terry Cotton?""Terry Cotton…?" Scarface murmured, stumped just then.It was already a death sentence after Frank insulted the jailer, but he was now picking up the shiv, clearly ready to attack Tigris!He was doing everything Tigris would never dare!Around them, the inmates in their cells were shocked to see Frank pick up the shiv too but were soon laughing out loud.After all, letting an inmate pick up a weapon was almost a traditional bait that new inmates fell for, unless warned by another inmate who was aware.It was an indisputable crime to take up arms, after all. The inmate would also be charged with attempting escape and attacking the jailer, with the punishment being a brutal round of torture.Losing a limb and disability was common for such instances.The fettered geezer was certainly reluctant to sa
Frank did not move even as he watched the two flunkies stride toward his sides.Instead, he turned and threw the rusted shiv to Scarface, who caught it in reflex.However, he dropped it on the floor the next instant as if the shiv jolted him.Frank, however, did not mock him, and instead smiled faintly. "Terry Cotton is like a brother to you, isn't he? I happened to meet him too, and I dare say we're quite close—just like brothers."Scarface was left taken aback and started panting as he watched the two flunkies press Frank toward the iron chair.Even as he glanced between Frank and the rusted shiv on the floor repeatedly, he finally snapped when he saw one of the flunkies stride toward Frank with a branding iron.Picking up the shiv from the floor, he lunged at the two flunkies and yelled, "Fuck! Let him go!" His voice was tired and enfeebled, but he surprised the two flunkie nonetheless."Tucker…?""What the fuck are you doing?!"While Tigris was surprised to see Scarface