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Chapter 37
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The Hidden Game Chapter 38
"Why are you here?" Caleb asked with a frown."I came to see you, Officer Johnson," Lucas replied in an eerie tone."Me?" Caleb was puzzled. "Why?"Lucas' gaze shifted toward Marcus, clearly signaling that he didn't want to speak with the other inmate present.Caleb checked the time and said to Marcus, "You should go."Marcus stood up and walked toward Lucas. Knowing the older man was not someone to mess with, Lucas instinctively shrank back, pressing himself against the wall as Marcus approached."See you tomorrow, Officer Johnson," Marcus said, turning back to Caleb before leaving.Caleb couldn't help but recall the moment Marcus' lips had brushed against his cheek, causing his ears to start to warm up involuntarily. Thankfully, Marcus quickly exited, and Caleb regained his composure.He turned to the lurking Lucas at the door. "Did you need something from me?"Lucas still had that eerie expression on his face as he asked, "Officer Johnson, do you trade stocks?""Stocks?" C
The Hidden Game Chapter 39
Some well-behaved or low-risk inmates were assigned tasks to assist the correctional officers, such as distributing supplies or cleaning.Caleb suspected that Lucas' so-called "undercover work" was just him helping out in the administrative department. But what puzzled him was how Lucas had connected him to the Chess Wizard."I tracked the IP address of the Chess Wizard from the stock trading forums, and it led me to Southern Prison," Lucas said, raising his right index finger and pretending to push up imaginary glasses on his nose. "Then, I filtered through the people in the prison who have access to computers and found out that they're all administrative correctional officers."In terms of computer access, the patrol team could be completely ruled out, so the search was narrowed down to the administrative building.But that wasn't the key point.Caleb quickly zeroed in on the most crucial piece of information from Lucas' story—the Chess Wizard was in Southern Prison."Next, I w
The Hidden Game Chapter 40
"Chief, I haven't finished talking yet! I really need to express my admiration for you. Ever since I-""Alright, that's enough. Just go. You can express it later."Caleb wasn't the Chess Wizard, so there was no reason for him to accept Lucas' admiration.After the correctional officer escorted Lucas away, Caleb stared at the bandages on his hands for a moment before setting his thoughts aside. He unwound the bandages and made his way to the warden's office on the third floor.When the walkie-talkie had gone off earlier, Caleb had already guessed why Victor might be calling him. And as expected, it was to discuss what kind of reward should be given to Marcus for stepping in to help when Mikey attacked."Officer Johnson, you were there. What's your take on this?" Victor asked.In all fairness, Caleb believed that the reward shouldn't be too excessive, given that the situation hadn't been particularly dire. Even if Marcus hadn't intervened, Caleb felt confident that he could have ha
The Hidden Game Chapter 41
However, Victor seemed not to have heard Caleb's objections."Alright, that's settled. Please make the necessary arrangements," he said to his secretary."Sir-""Officer Johnson." Victor raised a hand, cutting Caleb off. "Your job is relatively light. Since you have so much free time, it wouldn't hurt to learn a bit about stock trading, would it?"Caleb fell silent.Previously, he had no interest in stock trading, simply because he wasn't in need of money. However, Victor's suggestion sparked a change in his thoughts. He had just discovered something intriguing—it turned out that Marcus had a little secret of his own.After work that day, Caleb spent the evening browsing the stock trading forum, where the Chess Wizard had many followers. Caleb finally understood why Lucas was so enamored with his idol—the Chess Wizard indeed seemed to embody a heroic aura.Caleb dug through posts from before the Chess Wizard gained recognition. The Chess Wizard had predicted an impending stock m
The Hidden Game Chapter 42
If Caleb had to analyze Marcus the way he did with others, he honestly wouldn't know where to start.He could only say this—Marcus was by far the most interesting person he had ever met.Grabbing that sketchy, unmarked bottle of strawberry jam from the fridge, Caleb hastily spread it over a slice of bread and bit down on his breakfast as he rushed out the door. When he stopped at the only traffic light on his way to work, he finally found a moment to finish his breakfast.He had initially thought the strawberry jam tasted a bit off due to him adding lemon juice to it, but the more he ate it, the more he got used to it. In fact, it started to taste more like real strawberry jam than factory-produced stuff.After polishing off the bread, Caleb glanced at himself in the rearview mirror. Sure enough, there was jam smeared on the corner of his mouth. He immediately licked it clean, but the light turned green before he could wipe up the rest with a napkin. He quickly hit the gas, determi
The Hidden Game Chapter 43
"Where did you hear that?" Marcus suddenly asked. "You said this forum is reputable—who told you that?"Just as Caleb had expected, Marcus wasn't the type to sit back and take hits. He would definitely strike back."I just looked it up online. Isn't this forum considered reputable?" Caleb replied smoothly, throwing the question back at Marcus.Caleb hadn't mentioned the username "Chess Wizard" directly. It was because he knew that with Marcus' sharp mind, showing his trump card too soon would only expose him. But Caleb still underestimated Marcus' level of caution.Instead of answering or probing further, Marcus simply stared at him and said, "Something's off about you today, Officer Johnson."Caleb blinked innocently. "Is that so?""Why the sudden interest in stock trading?" Marcus asked."The warden suggested I use my free time to learn about it. Doesn't hurt, right?"Caleb had already prepared his answer. He knew there was a fine line to teasing, especially with someone as s
The Hidden Game Chapter 44
After a moment, Marcus lowered his hand and looked at Caleb. "I can't taste it."Wasn't that to be expected?!Caleb quickly averted his gaze, not wanting to reveal that his mind had started wandering into inappropriate territory again. But then, he noticed something odd.Marcus' eyes were fixated on Caleb's lips, almost as if silently saying, "I couldn't taste it from my thumb. How about I try tasting it from your lips instead?"A strange thought popped into Caleb's head. Could it be that while he was busy daydreaming, Marcus' mind was also filled with similar inappropriate thoughts?"What are you staring at?" Caleb shifted slightly toward the window. "I just realized—there won't be a next time. I'll buy it myself at the store.""No need for that." Marcus finally lifted his gaze from Caleb's lips. "I can make it for you.""Don't you have anything better to do?" Caleb asked seriously."No," Marcus replied. "You know I've got plenty of free time."Well, that was true. Compared t
The Hidden Game Chapter 45
Caleb kept glancing at the clock.When it finally hit nine-thirty, he straightened up and said, "Time's up. Let's continue next time.""There's one more important thing—when trading stocks, you must maintain a steady mindset. Don't act impulsively-"Caleb quickly cut Marcus off, "Professor Zephyr, we've covered enough for today. It won't hurt to leave the rest for next time."Marcus gave him a long look, then asked, "What did you call me?""Professor Zephyr?" Caleb repeated.Marcus, who only had a high school diploma, seemed quite pleased with the title.He finally let go of the mouse. "Alright. See you this afternoon.""Not this afternoon," Caleb replied. "Some company executives are coming to tour the prison. I'll be accompanying them."Occasionally, groups would visit the prison as a deterrent—to remind themselves not to engage in criminal behavior. It was usually the warden's job to host these tours, but this time, Victor had asked Caleb to join. Caleb suspected it had som
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