Free Web NovelChapter 3: Chapter 3: The White Lion Goes Berserk
Shi Lan’s first meal delivery as the new Prison Director concluded perfectly.
She returned to the Prison Director’s work area outside. There were no surveillance monitors like she had expected, but there were several bright red alarm buttons.
’That makes sense, though.’ These men were supposedly sent to prison, but they weren’t actually being guarded like common criminals. The facilities here were designed to suppress the spread of their spiritual power; all that mattered was that they didn’t leave their cells.
Shi Lan found a chair and sat down. Suddenly remembering something, she couldn’t resist searching for He Hanshi’s name. After a moment, she finally understood why the name had felt so familiar.
He Hanshi, the Empire’s most powerful and decorated young Major General. The book she had transmigrated into had mentioned him briefly. He Hanshi was the hero admired by the female lead, and he was also the most popular man among females in the entire interstellar space.
However, the book had also mentioned a tragic detail: He Hanshi had SSS-Level spiritual power, but because it was too high and he lacked the soothing of a female, his spiritual power collapsed and he died, becoming the untouchable "white moonlight" of the female lead’s heart.
She thought of the White Lion in the prison and couldn’t help but feel it was a pity.
When a male regressed to their beast form, it generally meant their life was nearing its end. Their spiritual power was on the verge of collapse, and they faced the risk of death at any moment.
And right now, the situation for all the men in the prison cells seemed dire.
She sighed. But as a minor, cannon-fodder character in this book, there was nothing she could do to help them. freeweɓnovel.cøm
Shi Lan pushed aside her thoughts. ’Since these men don’t have long to live, as the current Prison Director, I should at least do what I can to make their final days comfortable.’
With that in mind, she opened the Prison Director’s manual and continued to read. However, the manual was filled with dense text and numerous red markings. The words blurred together like hypnotic symbols, and as she read, her gaze began to wander. Before she knew it, her eyes had closed.
The Prison Director’s office fell silent. Just then, a lock of Shi Lan’s hair trembled slightly, and a teal-green mushroom popped out. The mushroom was about the size of a palm. It wiggled its body twice, then deftly leaped off the top of Shi Lan’s head. It passed unimpeded through the door and went bouncing and flying toward the depths of the prison.
Inside the prison, all the beasts were eating their breakfast.
Mu Tangfeng had changed into his human form. Among the group, the collapse of his spiritual power was relatively mild, so he could still transform occasionally.
As he ate his breakfast, a thought occurred to him and he sneered, "This new Prison Director is a bit of a fool."
"But her taste isn’t bad. She knows how to appreciate my beauty."
The others were speechless at his narcissistic comment, but they were used to it and didn’t bother arguing. Jiang Xia chimed in, "Well, it looks like things won’t be so boring from now on."
He paused, unable to resist poking his head toward Cell Five. "Yan Huoshui, did the new Prison Director say her name was Shi Lan?"
Yan Huoshui was eating breakfast while soaking in his hot spring, but his current beast form was far from convenient. A flicker of gloom passed through his eyes as he irritably tossed his utensils aside. However, when he saw the butler-bot beside him start to move as if to feed him, he could only pick them up again with a sullen expression.
But his bad mood made his words less than friendly. "You’re so close to me, didn’t you hear her?"
"I was just asking, wasn’t I?"
Jiang Xia couldn’t help but mumble, now also in a bad mood, though his mouth never stopped gobbling down his food.
He wasn’t as refined as the others. He just lowered his head and ate straight from the plate, getting grease all over the fur and whiskers on his face.
Yan Huoshui couldn’t bear to look at him. Just as he averted his gaze, he heard the sound of a plate smashing. He was about to yell at Jiang Xia for being so crude while eating when he heard Mu Tangfeng’s anxious voice, "Major General He, what’s wrong?"
At the sound, the others in their cells instantly stopped eating. They walked to the doors of their cells and looked toward Cell One with concern. "What happened?"
Mu Tangfeng explained, "Major General He’s spiritual power collapse seems to have gotten worse. He just destroyed his bed."
Hearing this, everyone’s heart sank.
For thousands of years, the interstellar world had seen much turmoil. This turmoil had driven humanity to evolve into Beastmen, splitting off into a race with greater strength and more powerful bodies.
But as humans evolved, so did other creatures. The once-inconspicuous insects became the interstellar world’s greatest scourge: the Insect Clan.
The Insect Clan released toxins that affected spiritual power, as well as disruptive Sound Waves. The higher a Beastman’s spiritual power, the stronger their perception, which was also why powerful Beastmen were more prone to spiritual power collapse.
Among their group, He Hanshi was the one who’d had the most contact with the Insect Clan and the battlefield, so the collapse of his spiritual power was also the most severe.
Mu Tangfeng had always thought he seemed calm and unbothered. Even when they were all enduring the brain-shattering pain that came with a spiritual power flare-up, He Hanshi had never shown any outward signs of distress and could even continue his climbing exercises as usual.
He had even thought the severity of He Hanshi’s spiritual power collapse was decreasing. Only now did he realize it had gotten worse; He Hanshi had just been enduring it in silence.
Inside Cell One, He Hanshi’s bed had collapsed into a pile of rubble. The butler-bot in the room sensed something was wrong and curled itself into a ball to hide. The White Lion’s normally serene blue eyes were now bloodshot and crimson. He rampaged around the room, tearing apart everything in sight until the cell’s facilities were a complete and utter mess.
He then fixed his gaze on the cell door and began ramming his body against it tirelessly.
THUD... THUD...
The dull impacts echoed through the prison. From their angles, Jiang Xia and Yan Huoshui could only hear the sounds.
Mu Tangfeng watched as the White Lion’s fur became stained red, and he asked anxiously, "What do we do?"
"If this goes on, his body won’t be able to withstand the spiritual power rampage! He’ll be torn apart from the inside and die!"
Ye Ming watched with a cold, silent gaze, his tone unnervingly calm. "It’s useless. These cells are specifically designed to contain us. The more severe the spiritual power collapse, the stronger the defensive measures become. You’re the only one who can occasionally slip through the cracks."
"Are we just supposed to watch him ram himself to death? Can we contact the Empire’s rescue team?"
Jiang Xia couldn’t help but speak up. Just listening to the sounds felt cruel. The entire prison seemed to be trembling along with the impacts, as if it were wailing in sorrow.
Yan Huoshui’s voice turned ice-cold. "Naive..."
He scoffed. "From the moment the Empire sent us here, you should have understood. We’ve long been abandoned."
"As long as we don’t get out and cause destruction, our dying here is the best outcome they could hope for."
"Eldest Prince, what I’m saying... is it right?"
Ye Ming’s ghostly green pupils contracted. He looked toward Cell One but said nothing.
His silence, however, was a tacit confirmation that it was all true. freewebnoveℓ.com
A deathly silence fell over the prison. Only the White Lion in Cell One continued to tirelessly slam his fragile body against the defensive barrier.
The door’s blue light screen flickered between transparent and solid. The White Lion’s once-white fur was now mostly covered in red, and a large pool of crimson blood was spreading from the front of the barrier.
The rims of Mu Tangfeng’s eyes reddened as he looked away, unable to watch any longer.
He Hanshi wasn’t just an idol to countless females across the interstellar space; he was also the man Mu Tangfeng admired most. In his youth, a high-spirited and revered He Hanshi had become famous in a single battle, taking on a thousand members of the Insect Clan by himself and saving tens of thousands of refugees.
And now, he could only wait for death in this prison, with no one to save him...
No one had the heart to eat anymore. It seemed they all understood that He Hanshi wouldn’t survive this time.
Just like them, from the moment their spiritual power began to collapse, they had long been prepared to die at any moment.
A sorrowful and gloomy atmosphere descended upon the prison, and the sound of He Hanshi crashing into the barrier grew duller and fainter.
They didn’t dare to look too closely, so no one noticed a green mushroom pass through the defensive barrier, leap onto the White Lion’s head, and burrow inside.
