"Where are you bringing me?" Mu Rong Shao demanded as he was being escorted by the prison wardens. "This isn't the way back to my cell!"
"I didn't think you would be so enthusiastic to return to your cell, 'young master Mu Rong,'" the leader of the wardens said, amused. Mu Rong Shao snarled at him, but with his hands restrained, he couldn't do anything. Evolution energy swirled around him, but the wardens tensed and their fingers strayed over their batons.
Even though they weren't evolvers, the weapons they used were effective against evolvers. At the very least, with enough power, they could incapacitate even a Solar Ranked evolver. This was why evolvers should never underestimate regular people, unless they wanted to die. As someone once said (was it Stalin?), quantity was a quality all on its own.
Not that Mu Rong Shao ever took note of that lesson. He was so deluded by what he believed was his superiority that he would continue to look down on other people for as long as he lived.
The wardens were aware of that, which was why they weren't satisfied when they heard of the arrangements. Their superiors were helpless to stop the transfer, but thankfully there would be a few days before Mu Rong Shao was due to move to the Bai Zeng research facility outside the districts. The superiors might have notified them about the transfer, but they also added a new instruction.
During the next few days before Mu Rong Shao was transferred, they could make their own arrangements.
"You dare?! I'm the young master of the Mu Rong family! If you hurt even a strand of hair on me or try to kidnap me…"
"Sorry, brat, but you're no longer the young master of the Mu Rong family." There was no sympathy whatsoever in the warden sergeant's voice. Instead, he was smirking. "Your father has disowned you publicly. You're no longer a member of the Mu Rong family."
Mu Rong Shao bristled visibly, but he didn't argue. He had been handed the same news by his mother, and while he was still in disbelief, there was nothing he could do. For now. Once he got out of here, he was going to look for his dad and…
"Anyway, we're transferring you to a new cell," the warden sergeant explained. "We thought you might be feeling lonely in your isolated cell these few days, so we decided to move you to someplace where people can take care of you."
"I don't need anyone to take care of me!" Mu Rong Shao all but spat. The warden sergeant chuckled.
"No, you don't. But we need people to take care of you."
"What's that supposed to mean?!"
The warden sergeant didn't reply this time. Instead, he stopped in front of a cell that was filled with several burly, grizzled inmates. He nodded at them. There were quite the motley collection – a bald guy bulging with muscles, a scarred man with long hair and an eyepatch, a grizzled veteran with tanned skin and a square jaw, and a psychotic looking guy with a twitching grin and a tic in his eyes.
"What…?" Mu Rong Shao began, but the wardens shoved him into the cell.
"You guys can take care of this little guy for me," the sergeant said with a grin. "Educate him in the ways of the world."
The inmates didn't say anything until the barred door was locked. Then the veteran with the tanned skin and a golden tooth – probably a former gang or mafia or syndicate leader, from his imposing air and dignified appearance – raised a hand.
"Young master Mu Rong Shao, was it?"
"Yes. You know who I am?" Mu Rong Shao quickly latched onto the guy's question, scrambling to his feet and trying to restore some modicum of dignity. "Do you know me?"
"Oh, all of us know about you. You've become famous quite recently." The former mafia leader cracked his knuckles and beamed. "What was it that you said? That we are all worthless trash and should die just because you told us to?"
"No, that…that was…" Mu Rong Shao swallowed. "That…that only applies to lowly commoner trash!"
"And we are lowly commoner 'trash,'" the bald guy replied sourly, rising to his feet and rolling his shoulders back. "None of us here are from the major families. According to you, we're worse than insects and should just be trampled beneath your feet."
"Now, now…" the mafia leader held up a hand. "He's no longer from a major family. Didn't you watch the news? His father has already disowned him. He's lowly commoner trash just the rest of us now."
The man with long hair and eyepatch snorted. "He's worse than trash. At least trash can be recycled. This brat's very existence fouls the atmosphere."
"Why do you think he was sent to us?" The mafia leader grinned and also stood up. The psychotic guy let out a peal of insane laughter and hopped over, rubbing his hands gleefully.
"Fresh meat! Fresh meat!"
"Yes, yes, Shen Jing Bing. Fresh meat. Enjoy yourself."
"Wait your turn," the bald guy snarled, raising a fist. "Let me educate this brat first. I've always wanted to punch his face ever since I saw his smug pug on television."
"No…no! Please! Please wait…!"
The inmates didn't. And the agonized and horrified screams of Mu Rong Shao filled the prison, along with the constant pounding of flesh and crunch of breaking bone.
*
"Dude, are you all right?!"
Pang Fei was staring at me. This was right after the incident with the Mu Rong family. Even though Lisa had healed me completely, I was still sent to hospital for observation. The doctors couldn't find anything wrong with me, but my parents were near hysterical.
I shouldn't have done that, but I assured them that everything was planned, and that I had armor or some sort of protective ability, otherwise I would never have done it. Even so, they weren't persuaded, and I had to promise that I would never pull such a stunt again.
Well, as long as I didn't run into yet another arrogant young master, I wouldn't have to worry about that.
It took a few days, but the hospital finally let me out and I returned to school. During that period, I watched the news and saw how the Mu Rong family ran damage control, trying to distance themselves from Mu Rong Shao's attempted murder and even disowning him. Mu Rong Zhu himself personally visited me in the hospital to offer an apology. My parents weren't pleased, but credit to Mu Rong Zhu, he stoically bore their tirade and berating, and then proposed to pay the hospitalization fees and compensation. My parents weren't greedy people, so they settled on a reasonable sum without ripping Mu Rong Zhu off.
They also knew the financial trouble his family and family-owned company were getting into. As angry as they were, they weren't like Mr. Yoo and his thugs. We weren't extortionists. Come to think of it, most of my values were gotten from my dad.
And so that was that, and I returned to my evolver life in the academy.
"Damn, but that was a crazy stunt you pulled." Pang Fei was shaking his head. "You were lucky you survived Mu Rong Shao's shots. He was using a Colt Solar Pulse Laser pistol specifically designed for evolvers, you know? Each shot has serious stopping power, enough to blow a hole in a zombie's head. And he shot you like several times!"
"Well, considering that I'm still alive, it seems obvious that Mu Rong Shao was not as good a shot as you believed him to be."
Cheat Death had helped me block the fatal shot to my head and kept me alive. If it wasn't for it, I would have died. I was also lucky there wasn't any other assassins from Dark Shadow Guild or killers around because my Cheat Death went to its automatic 24 hour cooldown after preventing my death from the first (and only) fatal shot. The rest of the shots hit my body in non-vital places. Even though they hurt a lot, with my increased Endurance, I was able to withstand the firepower of a laser pistol.
If Mu Rong Shao had been using a rifle designed for evolvers, I probably would have died. But I would have seen him carrying such a bulky weapon around, so I didn't have to worry about it.
"You were too reckless," Nian Qing agreed, his arms folded. "What if Lisa didn't make it there to heal you in time?"
"I know." I had heard the same rhetoric from my parents. "But I didn't have a choice. You know how the Mu Rong family was. If I didn't stream and broadcast this live to the whole world, do you think Mu Rong Shao would be punished? He would be free right now, the Mu Rong family covering up this whole thing. And my family and I would still be in danger."
"Yeah, it seems that the Mu Rong family has been bribing the police for ages now. A lot of the corruption is now coming to light after you exposed Mu Rong Shao's true colors." Lei Shu nodded. "Everyone is cutting the Mu Rong family off now, like some plague. No one wants to be associated with them any longer."
"As much as I enjoy seeing them suffer, I don't think it's worth putting your life at risk for that," Pang Fei said sternly. "I thought you were only going to broadcast the confession and use that as evidence. Had I known you were going in there expecting to be shot and murdered on live stream, I wouldn't have agreed to help you."
"Sorry." I hung my head. "But high risk, high reward. If I didn't put my life on the line, the Mu Rong family would continue getting away with their crimes."
"Are you trying to martyr yourself or something?" Pang Fei snapped. "It's still not worth it."
"Well, all's well that ends well." Nian Qing tried to defuse the atmosphere. "At least Zhi Ming is safe and fine now. And Mu Rong Shao is behind bars. The Mu Rong family is in decline. This is a cause for celebration, isn't it?"
"Celebrate?" Lou Qian finally wandered over to glare at us. "I don't think such reckless behavior is something to celebrate. Student Feng Zhi Ming, you should be reflecting on your actions."
"Sorry. I already am. After seeing my parents so worried, I promised them that I would never do this again."
"That's good then." Lou Qian nodded in approval. "As long as you learn your lesson."
"I have," I assured her. Then I glanced around. "Speaking of which, any new mission yet?"
"Not yet." Lei Shu shook his head. "Qi Ren and his team aren't around. I think they aren't back from their assigned task yet. They were sent to clear sector 9A of zombies on Monday, before you came back."
"I think the instructors have decided to dispatch us in smaller squads instead of as an entire class like that last time," Pang Fei added. He then frowned when he read something on his smartphone. "You have got to be kidding me!"
"What is it?" Nian Qing asked curiously, but Lou Qian was ahead of him, also checking her smartphone with a frown.
"They say that Mu Rong Shao is let off from imprisonment." She then snorted. "In exchange for volunteering to help out at Bai Zeng research facility."
"Bai Zeng research facility?" Lei Shu parroted. "What's that?"
"It's a research facility situated right outside the districts, away from the barriers. They do research on zombies and mutants. Officially, they are conducting research in order to find a cure, but there has been a lot of rumors that they are engaged in illegal experimentation and production of bioweapons." Lou Qian's lip curled. "I'm not sure if the Mu Rong family know what Mu Rong Shao is getting into. All of these volunteers who go into the research facility never come out again."
"They're probably used as laboratory specimens," I muttered. Pang Fei snorted.
"Come on, Zhi Ming! You've been reading way too many stories! Or reading too many conspiracy theories! How can that be possible?!"
"It might be," Lou Qian said darkly. Pang Fei stared at her incredulously, but she turned away. "Believe it or not, it's up to you. I'm just saying what I've heard."
"I heard those rumors too, but I'm 100% certain they are bullshit. No way the authorities would let such dangerous research happen under their noses."
Was he really that naïve?
"It's not under their noses," I reminded him. "They're conducting it outside the districts, beyond the barrier."
"Yeah, that's evidence that they care about the population. They're experimenting on zombies and mutants, of course they have to do it in a place outside the districts. If any of them escape, it'll be disastrous."
"Agreed." I took a deep breath and sighed. "I hope something like that never happens."
As it turned out, I was quite the naïve person myself.