Otherworldly Desert Dust-Chapter 400 355: Vicious Energy
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Back in the prison.
Wu Hen and Fan Ke hurried through the inspection area, rushing straight to the floor where the prison guards were located.
"If there is a second Evil Spirit, it's most likely among the prison guard team," Wu Hen said briskly, looking back at Fan Ke.
"Then the prison guards who helped us with the inspection might be in danger, because as soon as they find someone not at their post…" Fan Ke quickened her pace, her long boots tapping out a frantic rhythm on the floor.
Arriving at the entrance to the prison guards' floor, Wu Hen suddenly caught a whiff of a strange scent, reminiscent of blood, wafting down from above.
Wu Hen furrowed his brow and immediately pointed upwards, asking, "What's on the top floor?"
"The Prison Director's office," answered Fan Ke.
"Who normally goes up there?"
"Just me and Captain Liao; he's in charge of the officers," Fan Ke also stopped in her tracks.
"Not good!" Wu Hen instantly realized the problem and dashed towards the stairs.
He became a blur of motion, swiftly traversing the long, spiraling staircase and the corridor.
Seeing this, Fan Ke activated her own electric porcelain boots and quickly caught up with Wu Hen.
As soon as the two arrived, they found a thick iron wall in front of the Prison Director's office, with a small arched door beneath it.
The arched door was tightly closed, but locked from the outside with an iron chain.
Clearly, someone was inside, and the chain bolted from the outside indicated a clear intent to prevent outsiders from entering—to harm the Prison Director.
Without hesitation, Wu Hen lifted his fist to smash the heavy iron wall.
"Boom!!!"
Before Wu Hen's fist could strike, the thick iron wall suddenly crumbled from within, steel fragments flying into the corridor and embedding into the walls.
A mass of Dark Energy blossomed like a rose, soon releasing sharp Thorny Electricity from within its petals.
This Thorny Electricity combined the spectacle of thunderous fireworks with the sharpness of steel spears, lashing out at the entire floor's reinforced concrete and effortlessly piercing through the heavy iron walls!
"Prison Director!" Fan Ke exclaimed.
Her hat flew off, her hair came undone, and she was pushed to the other end of the corridor, surrounded by the terrifying Thorny Electricity.
Immediately, Wu Hen enveloped himself in Holy Breath and, after seeing that Fan Ke wasn't in mortal danger, he burst forward with a speed surpassing the overflowing energy, dodging the whip-like spurs of Thorny Electricity and charging into the Prison Director's office.
Inside the office, sofas, tables, lamps, and safes had lost their gravity, floating in the air, while other items such as cups, picture frames, ornaments, and wall hangings had turned to powder, rotating slowly above, like debris on top of the floodwaters.
Wu Hen didn't know what this force was; he looked for the figure of Prison Director Levi.
But he saw Prison Director Levi standing in the center, holding an archaic-looking shotgun, with Thorny Electricity bursting out of his clothing as if he were a Magic Ability Master wielding some kind of strange power, his grey medium-length hair fluttering, his black trench coat billowing...
In front of him, a person wrapped in the aura of an Evil Red Poison Snake was lying prone on the ground, his spine sporting red Bone Spurs arranged like a horrifying set of Iron Clothes; it was Captain Liao, the High-level Evil Spirit.
Yet before this High-level Evil Spirit could commit his crime, he was bound by some kind of Thorny Electricity, with a dozen places on his body pierced by the energy and pinned to the floor, immobilized!
The High-level Evil Spirit's blood-red energy swirled inward, forcibly reinfused back into his body.
The Thorny Electricity formed an absolute suppression, preventing the High-level Evil Spirit from using Evil Magic, like a beastly prisoner shackled with metal cuffs, possessed of brute strength but unable to break free from the smelted chains.
Finally, all the red energy was forced back into the Evil Spirit, who collapsed like an old dog with all its bones broken, tongue lolling out.
The potent Thorny Electricity then extinguished, allowing all the furnishings to crash heavily back to the ground, but the items turned to dust were beyond restoration.
"You've arrived?" Prison Director Levi put away the antique shotgun and sat back down in his chair, even pouring himself a cup of tea, only to awkwardly realize the cup had turned to powder.
"It looks like I'm not needed," Wu Hen said, looking at the collapsed High-level Evil Spirit on the ground.
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"Humph, because of this jerk, I can't go home to see my wife and kid. But catching a High-level Evil Spirit alive is still quite valuable; I hope the Judgement Institute people will put in a good word for me to the Deputy Mayor," Levi said irritably.
"You had already made a judgment, asking me to come just to see if there are any small evil spirits left," said Wu Hen.
"Do you know what the most terrifying thing about criminals and Evil Spirits is?" asked Levi.
Before Wu Hen could answer, Levi continued, "The most terrifying thing about them is that, before they commit their crimes, they show no difference from us ordinary people. They are among us..."
"Killing them is easy, finding them is what's difficult."
"Yeah, don't think I was so suave just now. When he killed my prisoners and my subordinates, I was just as powerless," Levi said with a long sigh.
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Clearly, he was still mourning the death of old comrade Lao Zhao.
After all, his subordinate was still passing on information to them before his death.
"Regardless, I'm very grateful for the contribution you've made to our town, and this Yuan You from the Evil Spirit's body is for you," Levi extended his hand, which held a clump of pure energy in his glove.
Upon seeing the Yuan You, Wu Hen's eyes lit up.
Previously, there was nothing of value on the prisoner Evil Spirit, but he hadn't expected that this High-level Evil Spirit contained Yuan You.
"This Evil Spirit was absorbing the hostility from the prisoners. The Yuan You formed within it is also Vicious Energy. We would need to cleanse and purify it before we can use it, but as a Holy Cultivator, you should be able to digest that hostility, right?" Levi said.
"No problem, hostility doesn't affect me much," Wu Hen happily accepted the gift.
"There's also a canister of Dark Energy, which I also promised you." As he spoke, Levi opened a safe and took out a canister of Dark Energy.
Dark Energy is a transparent black, although Wu Hen also didn't know why it was so; the black it exhibited was transparent.
Once put into the canister, the Dark Energy seemed to be alive as it would occasionally slam against the canister walls, looking as though it wanted to escape.
"Our Da Xuan welcomes the addition of extra-universal personnel. After observing you these past days, we feel you are a good lad. Are you interested in joining our glorious prison efforts and becoming one of the decision-makers for the town's blueprint? You can start off as a junior Prison Guard," Levi began to recruit Wu Hen.
"Let me think about it," Wu Hen said.
"Sure, but it seems your plan to visit the big city for sightseeing is shattered. We will still need to continue catching the Da Xuan wanted criminals on this land. However, the expansion of the prison facilities is urgent," Levi said.
"How will we expand?" Wu Hen asked.
"With Dark Engine technology, all we need to do is find another Dark Energy Spring Eye to expand. Moreover, we have just annexed Huaguo Village, and there is now an empty space between the town and the village where we can build a new prison. The tricky part is the shortage of manpower; I will have to recruit some people in the large market towns later..." Levi explained.
"Some Deserted People arrived in Huaguo Village a few days ago. They're jobless. Have you considered them?" Wu Hen asked.
"We'd have to interview them. If they're clean, they can come work as temporary labor," Levi nodded.
"Don't they need any special abilities?" Wu Hen asked.
"A clear mind and decent character are all that's needed. We don't really need abilities since we rely on technology and equipment. Personal evolution isn't that important, though of course, if they're Spirit Awakeners, that would be best," Levi said.
Wu Hen nodded.
In their Da Xuan Dynasty, a technological civilization, basically anyone who had received a complete education could skillfully use their equipment.
However, Wu Hen could tell that the Prison Director Levi wasn't relying solely on equipment to achieve his strength; he was a Spirit Awakener and must be an evolved Desert Dust Life.
"I have some chronic conditions, and Mr. Ding is treating me, so I might be resting at home for a while," Wu Hen explained.
"Alright, you just focus on recovering. Let me know if you run into any major trouble, I'll speak to Mr. Ding," Levi nodded.
After their conversation, Fan Ke walked in gingerly, her face filled with disbelief as she looked at the collapsed Evil Spirit on the ground.
The Prison Guard Captain was actually a High-level Evil Spirit!
Thank goodness they discovered it in time. If they had taken it back to the city, all the public officials of Prison Town would have been criminals.
"Miss Fan, please see off this friendly foreigner. From now on, he'll be our town's most loyal partner. Treat him like family," Levi instructed.
"Oh, oh, are you alright?" Fan Ke asked with concern.
"I'm fine, Bai Luobo arrived just in time to save me from the terrifying Evil Spirit, and I... am safe... oh, just as I was!" Levi's greasy smile appeared.
Wu Hen forced a wry laugh.
The resentment in Fan Ke's eyes was no less than that of an Evil Spirit. What a terrible joke.
...
After leaving the prison, Wu Hen couldn't help but be curious as to why Prison Director Levi credited all the achievements to himself.
Was he hiding his strength?
Even his most trusted subordinates didn't want to expose their true power?
However, Prison Director Levi's approach was also right. After all, the High-level Evil Spirit had misjudged the Prison Director, thinking that if it dealt with him, it would have nothing to worry about. Little did it know that Prison Director Levi was the big boss of the town, and his personal combat abilities seemed no less formidable than that of this living town...
"What did the Prison Director do before?" On the way back, Wu Hen inquired about Levi from Fan Ke.
"I don't know, my family thinks highly of him, so they tasked me to work under him," Fan Ke replied.
"Oh, so you have quite a background too, not just a native of this small town?" Wu Hen remarked.
"Both the Prison Director and I are from the Unified Valve Officials. We have the right... how should I put it, you would say we're allowed to 'establish schools and lead factions.' We can have our own villages, cities, and states," Fan Ke explained.
