Seeing the message from Guding, Rousi could hardly believe it. She immediately dialed Cavill's communicator.
As soon as the communicator rang, Cavill answered, "Big sister Rousi, what's up?"
"Did that guy Cain escape?" Rousi asked directly.
Cain took over the communicator, "Big sister, it's me..."
"You really escaped?" Hearing Cain's voice, Rousi was taken aback.
"I don't know why, but there was a serious malfunction in the prison system, and that kid Guding took the chance to bust me out," Cain said with a hearty laugh.
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, they hung up the communicator.
It was only then that Rousi realized everything Guding had said was true. At the same time, she was somewhat puzzled; a system malfunction at Sea Blue Star Prison at such a time seemed too coincidental. Having watched Guding grow up since he was a child, she had no idea when he had acquired hacking skills.
Rousi immediately sent a message to Guding, "Tonight, Rose Tavern reopens, come back to work, and if you're late, your salary for the month is cut in half!"
When it was time for the night shift, Guding nonchalantly returned to the Rose Tavern. Although there weren't as many people coming and going at the entrance as usual, from afar, one could hear that the tavern was still bustling inside.
Stepping into the tavern, "meat floss" auntie and the others were already sitting in a circle, toasting and celebrating something. Seeing Guding push the door open, Rousi waved at him, leaving an empty seat to her left.
Guding looked around and saw that it was the only empty seat, so he took a deep breath and sat down.
The bartender handed him a Milka. Normally, if the "meat floss" auntie saw someone ordering such a non-alcoholic drink in her tavern, she would curse, "Sissy." But today, unexpectedly, she said nothing and just smiled, her cup raised, "Toasting to little Cain's successful escape from Sea Blue Star Prison, drink up everyone tonight, all the drinks are on Cain's tab, let him pay back with interest next year."
Everyone joyously raised their cups, and aside from the Rose Tavern's staff, there were also some outsiders. They kept what Guding had done within their own circle, knowing it would only cause trouble for him if outsiders found out, so no one in the tavern brought it up.
The jovial party lasted until the early morning, when they finally sent all the customers away. "Meat floss" auntie, who had drunk who knows how many kegs of liquor, still didn't show the slightest hint of drunkenness. She filled everyone's cups again and raised hers to Guding, "Cain told me everything. On behalf of my brothers, I, Rousi Jinger, thank you!"
The other Rose Tavern employees also raised their cups high.
Guding simply grinned without saying a word, tilting his head back and gulping down the Milka.
The others at the Rose Tavern also laughed and poured the strong liquor down their throats.
Without the control of the Sea Emperor, the Tianhe Star Domain's prison system quickly returned to normal, and the virus was contained within a few hours.
What Guding didn't know was that the incident of virus intrusion and system failure at Tianhe Prison had not only caused a strong reaction at the Tianhe Prison Headquarters but had also gained the high attention of the Federation Government.
Over eighty percent of the escaped criminals were recaptured within less than a day, and on Sea Blue Star, the two inmates Guding had seen escaping were also recaptured. Sea Blue Star checked the number of escapees they had yet to capture and found there were three more, among whom the most famous was the interstellar pirate Cain, who had been sentenced to death and had a bounty amount of over three hundred million.
The following afternoon, the system failure and virus issues on Lanwo Star were finally completely resolved, and Preston indeed had no desire to stay on this planet any longer. He already knew of similar issues in other branches and that his arch-enemy, Cain, had successfully escaped from prison on Sea Blue Star. He boarded the interstellar transport to Sea Blue Star with an unwilling heart, wanting to find out what had happened.
In the depths of the night, the moonlight on Sea Blue Star was refreshingly cool.
The interrogation room at Sea Blue Star Prison was filled with agonizing screams and pleas that had continued for most of the night. After questioning the last recaptured inmate, Preston, with his face covered in horizontal stripes of flesh, stepped out of the door.
Two prison guards dragged a prisoner out from the interrogation room, the man had been tortured beyond recognition. Each of his hands had fingers broken into more than twenty pieces, with not a single fingernail left intact. His bare upper body bore over a dozen marks of superficial burns left by intense electric shocks. Furthermore, a foul, bloody stench emanated from his trousers, along with vague damp spots—clearly he had been tortured to incontinence.
Having left the interrogation room, Preston dialed the Sea Blue Star Prison Director's communicator. As the Deputy Director of Tianhe Prison Headquarters, he had direct authority over the directors of these branch prisons.
At 3:30 in the morning, Old Henry was jolted awake by his communicator's alarm. As the director of Sea Blue Star Prison, he was a figure of some standing on Sea Blue Star. He had been struggling with a virus attack that completely paralyzed the prison's systems for the entire day and had only arrived home late at night.
He had only gotten a few hours of sleep when he was already being disturbed from his peaceful slumber. Annoyed, he picked up the communicator. He pressed the answer button and was about to unleash his fury when he heard Preston's voice from the other end. Old Henry quickly covered his mouth, and a cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
Preston was the Deputy Director at the headquarters, their immediate superior at the branch, and most importantly, he was known to hold grudges.
Having been at Tianhe Prison for over thirty years, Old Henry knew Preston somewhat. Seven or eight years ago, at a headquarters meeting, a new prison director from one of the branches laughed at the sight of Preston's comical appearance. Less than a month later, the director was not only dismissed but had also been implicated with a slew of charges. Preston had him incarcerated in Tianhe Prison Headquarters's sexual offenses section under accusations of corruption and bribery. Unable to endure the torment in prison, that director had taken his own life within a week.
"I hear that you recruited an intern named Guding the day before yesterday?" Preston's voice was chillingly cold.
"Intern?" Old Henry was startled, though he soon recalled the event, "Oh, I remember now. He's a graduate from the Basic Military Students, I've seen his resume, he's very capable."
"I want all his information," Preston's voice remained cold.
"Now... now?" He glanced at the clock on the wall which read 3:41 AM and asked, somewhat unwillingly.
"Do you expect me to wait another five hours and nineteen minutes?" Preston's tone became even icier with the rhetorical question.
Old Henry shivered, "I'll be right there!"
"Who is it at this hour?" Old Henry's movement to get up had awakened his wife.
"There's a bit of an emergency at the prison, I'll step out for a moment." Old Henry forced a smile, quickly dressed, bent down to kiss his wife's forehead, and left hastily.
When Old Henry arrived at his office, Preston was already sitting in his chair, legs propped up on the desk. And what he held in his hand was a photo of Old Henry and his wife.
Old Henry frowned, "The resume is in the bottom drawer."
He went to the desk and placed his fingerprint on the recognition system. After the system verified his identity, the drawer unlocked. He took out Guding's resume from the drawer and handed it to Preston, "Is there a problem with this kid?"
Preston ignored Old Henry's question, put down the photo frame, and began perusing Guding's resume. After a moment, he narrowed his already small, mung bean-sized eyes, "Rose Tavern? Who owns it?"
"Rousi Jinger and her subordinates," Old Henry did not hide the fact.
"Rousi Jinger of the Rose Pirate Group? Cain's former boss?" A cold light flickered in Preston's eyes.
"Yes." Old Henry nodded, "The bounty on Rousi's head is from over thirty years ago. Ever since their pirate group disbanded more than twenty years ago, the Federation Government has revoked their bounties. They have all been staying on Sea Blue Star for the past twenty-plus years, and the Federation Government Military Department has never troubled them."
"A pirate is always a pirate, it's something etched in their bones," Preston slammed Guding's resume forcefully onto the table, "Inform the Federation Government Tianhe Branch that I've found the person who let Cain go. After they've had breakfast, have them arrest this kid named Guding and send him directly to the Federation Court for interrogation."
(Ah, the contract I sent on Friday hasn't arrived by Monday. The efficiency of STO Express is really worrying. I wonder when my contract status will change...)