Free Web NovelChapter 297: Chapter 297: The Carnival of Freedom_1
The command did not arise in her mind as someone’s voice but rather emerged like a memory, as if she had read this rule in the past and only now suddenly recalled it.
Veronica instinctively knew she should not defy the order, and she quickly realized—this was the effect of the Divine Artifact in the pirates’ possession, as the officer had mentioned.
Once someone within the influence of the Divine Artifact attempted to violate the rules, the artifact itself would issue a warning.
It seemed that ignoring the warning and acting wilfully would most likely result in the artifact’s "punishment."
The prison break at the capital’s prison four years ago did not cause any casualties, but a large number of guards who tried to stop the break lost consciousness, presumably due to the effects of the Divine Artifact.
Therefore, Veronica gave up on warning the prisoners and walked directly out of the duty room.
When she appeared, the jubilant prisoners streaming out of their cells fell silent for a moment, reflexively. In everyday life, Veronica was practically a second Aiden in the core area, and a considerable number of them had been severely beaten by her before,
until Annie Drake spoke up, "Don’t worry, she’s cursed by the Sea God now. She can’t do anything; we just need to keep going!" freeweɓnovel.cѳm
The prisoners immediately noticed that Veronica neither issued a warning nor drew her gun, seemingly a paper tiger indeed.
Veronica opened the doors to all the cell blocks, whose locks had already been unlocked, and left the area.
Since she could not prevent the prisoners from leaving their cells, she now ought to do as Aiden had said before, lead the riot squad to hold their positions, continuously monitor the situation in the prison, and wait for the warden’s next command.
"She’s running away! She’s running away!"
"Ha ha! Even you have your day!!"
"We’re finally free! Yeehaw!!"
The escaping prisoners cheered triumphantly.
"It’s party time! Just head straight for the main gate and meet up with our contacts. Go grab tools, take everything valuable, smash your way out! Tear this damned prison down!!" Annie shouted in command to the escaping prisoners.
Although they couldn’t attack the guards, they could still destroy the prison’s facilities and loot its resources—enough to avenge themselves on that detestable warden.
Some prisoners who had initially been hesitant and observant, upon seeing this, finally made up their minds and left their cells to join in the revelry. Meanwhile, a few more cautious prisoners realized that Aiden had not yet appeared and remained on standby.
...
In the corridors of the core area, the pirate crew continued to move unhindered.
"Make way, make way! Don’t block the path!!"
"What a nice sightseeing spot, hahahaha!!"
"The cops are welcoming us along the way; we might as well switch to being hotel greeters!"
The pirates laughed boisterously, loudly mocking the guards, waving flags, and some even fired their guns at windows and gas lamps for fun.
The guards encountered along the way had no way to stop them and could only stand by helplessly watching. They had seen what happened to those who lost their patience and acted—the moment they drew their guns to shoot, black thorned tattoos would grow on their hands, accompanied by unbearable agony.
"They’re at the restricted area passageway, seal the emergency gates and trap them there!"
Another equally impatient guard rushed into the control room. Though his movements were momentarily delayed by a sudden "warning" in his mind, he ultimately resolved to pull the switch. freewebnσvel.cѳm
However, the mechanical mechanism controlling the gates emitted a few sounds and then jammed, with the gates at both ends of the passage failing to fall.
"How could this..." The guard who had pulled the switch watched helplessly through the window as the pirates entered the passageway, heading toward the security zone which required clearance to enter.
He couldn’t comprehend why the equipment in the area he was responsible for would malfunction at a time like this—he had just inspected all the devices yesterday.
He was about to leave the control room to check the situation when he turned around and bumped into a "wall": "Ah!!"
Then, he realized that several "invisible walls" had suddenly appeared around him.
He groped around the transparent walls with a dumbstruck expression, like a mime artist performing with an air wall.
Trapped in a space less than one square meter, he finally understood what the "imprisonment punishment" mentioned in that "warning" meant.
"Alert all posts, hold positions. Do not take any action on your own anymore! Everyone stay at your posts and hold positions!!"
With failure reports coming in one after another, Warden Flandre, stationed in the conference room, had no choice but to issue the hold position orders repeatedly.
"Warden, where on earth is the Chief Warden? His office is empty!!" A section chief yelled at Flandre after hearing a report from a guard.
"He’s figuring out a solution, the order to hold positions came from him, don’t panic!" Flandre replied, trying to remain calm.
Aiden’s instructions left in advance were that in the event of a prison break, all staff should hold their positions and wait for his further instructions. He would "find a way" to counter the pirates’ breakout strategy. He temporarily handed over command of the core area to Flandre, while the riot squad was to be led by Veronica.
But it wasn’t until the pirates burst into the prison that Flandre truly realized how cunning their breakout strategy was.
All attacks and interception measures completely failed, and all guards who took action were bizarrely struck with a "curse."
Although the pirates didn’t attack the personnel, they rampaged through the prison facilities without restraint.
In such a terrible situation, without Aiden’s personal supervision, it was incredibly difficult to maintain the troops’ morale within the prison!
Then, the worst news arrived.
"Warden! Those pirates are fast approaching the vault of the core area, and they’ve sent a group toward the treasury! They’re carrying barrels, and inside... inside it seems there are explosives!!" A guard rushed over frantically.
Everyone in the conference room changed their complexion; the prison’s treasury, like the core area cells, was situated within the most secure area.
But in fact, the treasury didn’t have much defensive strength; it was just a storeroom that the finance department could open with the proper procedures. After all, this wasn’t a bank that specialized in storing cash or valuables. If the black magic traps and lockdown devices were all to fail, explosives would indeed be sufficient to blow open the treasury’s doors.
No, from what had happened before, they might not even need to explode anything to open the doors—the explosives might just be for vandalism!
Ordinarily, the Rose Iron Prison’s treasury wouldn’t hold much money; most of the funds would be kept in bank accounts. However, the prison had recently received various sizes of orders after the production area’s renovation, leaving a significant amount of cash in the treasury yet to be deposited into accounts, which Aiden had not shifted beforehand!
At that moment, even Flandre couldn’t help but falter internally: Warden, where are you now when we need you most?
