"Tell me, what did you gain after today's trial?" Lecter took Verak to the interrogation room again and asked Verak about the progress of extracting the golden clue from Keating.
"I haven't asked yet." Verak also didn't expect that Lecter couldn't wait to find him after the first day of the tour to ask about the situation. All he could do now was to find reasons to extend the time as much as possible to win the
More opportunities, "This matter is not that simple. Keating is still very wary. I think it will take some time."
Lecter raised his eyebrows: "How long is the period of time exactly?"
"I don't know either." Verak didn't dare to say a time rashly. He wasn't sure whether Lecter had seen through their purpose, or whether he hadn't seen through their purpose now but was very likely to find out later. It doesn't matter whether it's a week, a month or half a year.
Very passively, "But Keating seems to be in a good mood today. As long as the conditions are sufficient, I think it will not be a problem for this matter to be completed smoothly."
"Don't give me such ambiguous nonsense." Lecter grinned, his voice impatient and contemptuous, "Give me a time to explain clearly what conditions are needed and the consequences of not being able to do it."
"...Okay, I think..." Verak hesitated to continue, because he really couldn't figure out what Lecter was thinking.
Lecter came with a bad intention and allowed him to take Keating for a walk, but knowing that the matter would not be resolved so easily and quickly, he started to be aggressive on the first day.
This is the most difficult opponent he has encountered in a long time, and the most difficult to deal with.
"Speak quickly," Lecter urged.
"One year." Verac said it was long enough. In fact, everything will be settled with the end of the World Exposition in a few months.
"It's too long. I'll give you a month at most." Lecter was not satisfied with this answer.
No matter whether one month is enough or not, Verak has to try to get more, so he said: "One month is too short. It is useless for you to make things difficult for me. This matter really depends on Keating... I think at least
It will take six months."
Lecter shook his head: "Three months."
"Three months is still—" Verak couldn't accept it.
"Tell me what other conditions are needed?" Lecter interrupted Verak and asked the second question directly.
"...I don't know. Anyway, it's going well so far. What I just said is that there is no guarantee that Keating will make more requests in the future. We will need to provide some proactively or passively accordingly." The release time has been set.
, Verak could only concentrate on answering the remaining questions and try his best to expand the space for display. "This will only be revealed at a certain point, and there is no point in talking about it now."
Lecter did not delve into this point and asked the last one: "What about the consequences of not being able to do it?"
"What do you mean?" Verak asked.
"I have provided you with so much help, but if you fail to do it for so long, you should bear my losses, right?" When Lecter said this, madness appeared on his face again. This lunatic never stopped.
He never gave up the abuse and even killed Verak.
"How do you want me to bear it?" Verak's face turned cold.
"I haven't thought about it yet." Lecter curled his lips, "Just thinking about this can keep me happy. Do you feel how much I appreciate you?...Since you don't know the first two points yourself, you still need to
Time to answer. Then let me do the same. I won’t rush to tell you what you need to bear, and just do what I say when the time comes. How about that?"
Verak chuckled: "Do I have the right to refuse?"
"Of course not." Lecter said matter-of-factly.
"Is there anything else?" Verak didn't want to stay in this depressing and cold interrogation room any longer. "If not, I'll leave first and continue to ask Keating about the whereabouts of the gold."
Lecter looked around and rubbed his hands: "Well... nothing's wrong."
Verak stood up and walked towards the door.
"If you need any help, remember to contact me as soon as possible. I wish you all the best and say good night in advance." Lecter sat on the interrogation table, swinging his legs and waving goodbye to Verak.
Verak did not respond. He opened the door of the interrogation room in a familiar manner and followed the two armed prison guards outside the door back to cell 208.
Lecter lay back on the interrogation table, staring blankly at the ceiling.
"Deputy warden, do you still need to keep an eye on them in the square?" A prison guard walked in and asked.
"Just keep an eye on them for two more days. I'm curious about how they can contact others." Lecter closed his eyes. "If they still don't make any movement within two days, don't worry about them. Let them contact freely in the square.
Activity."
"Understood." The prison guard stepped back.
Lecter turned sideways, sniffing the interrogation table and the smell of blood in the entire interrogation room, showing an intoxicated expression, and fell asleep unknowingly.
——
"...That's it." After returning to cell 208, Verak truthfully relayed the conversation with Lecter to Keating, "I can't see through the logic of his behavior at all now, and I don't understand why he did it on the first day
Are you in such a hurry just to embarrass me and torture me in another way?"
"Maybe." After listening, Keating's smile rarely faded from his face because he was focused on contemplation, "Or maybe, he has already seen through us."
Verak was stunned at first, then shook his head: "How could he see that?"
"What we do is whether we can see through it or not." Keating looked outside the cell door. Because other prisoners were still working at this point, they were the only ones imprisoned on the entire underground floor, so he patrolled
There are only two prison guards. “The disguise we made before and the rhetoric we compiled are not logically correct.
There is a problem, which means that this may indeed be true. But if Lecter and others apply another layer of logic, which is what we really think, then all of this will naturally make sense. Since both possibilities are
Yes, as the warden, how can he only focus on the good outcome?"
"But if that's the case..." Verak recalled that during the morning break, the prison guards scolded other prisoners not to have contact with them, "then we will proceed with the plan almost while he watches."
"If you want to understand the logic of Lecter's behavior, you must at least know what kind of person he is. He is a madman, and this is his paradise. As a son of a nobleman, he is willing to stay in such a harsh environment because there are people here.
Something that fascinates him." Keating deconstructs the problem by analyzing Lecter.
Verak's pupils shrank: "Torture, tease others."
Keating glanced at Verak meaningfully: "Yes, so if you put this in, what he did becomes understandable."
"Hmm..." Verak thought about it.
Keating once again called it quits, leaving plenty of room for Verak to think for himself without announcing all the answers himself.
"If he really chooses to believe that I am not trying to trick you, but is planning to join forces to escape from prison, then his connivance is actually just to tease us." Verak's eyes were complicated, and this conclusion was not good news. "He just wants us.
Escape from prison, then observe us from a high place, come out when our plan reaches the final step, and knock us back to the bottom. The feeling of destroying us with his own hands and giving up our hopes is the source of his pleasure."
"And this kind of thing has happened many times. During the six months since he took office in Damans Prison, he often secretly encouraged prisoners to have the idea of escape, deliberately created loopholes in the prison, lured them to riot and escape, and then used violence to fight violence. It is logical.
He vents his anger and kills people for fun." Keating said.
"The worst thing that can happen is that he is playing tricks on us." Verak came to the final conclusion.
Keating said "hmm": "This is very likely."
"Then I'll let him get away with it." Verak's eyes turned sharp.
——
Dymans Prison,Office
In the evening, Warden Adel called Lecter over again. This time he did not talk about canceling Verak and Keating's release, nor did he dissuade Lecter from being more restrained here, but directly attacked Lecter's life.
: "Your father contacted me this afternoon. He said that he is already in Leize because you have paved the way for the future and it is time for you to go back."
Lecter, who had been in low spirits since entering the door, immediately woke up when he heard this: "Why?"
Why was this question too broad? Adel did not answer.
"Did you say something to him?!" Lecter realized that their conversation this morning was not pleasant, and it was very likely that Adel would contact his father because of this and say bad things about him and transfer him away.
"It was your father who took the initiative to contact me to inquire about your situation and conveyed this news to me." Adel did not want to provoke this lawless young man, so he clarified, "If you don't believe it, you might as well think about it.
How much does your father have to pay to pave the way for you, and is your father really willing to let you stay here for the rest of your life?"
Lecter calmed down and sat down, showing a fake smile: "Uncle Adel, do you still remember what I mentioned to you? No one has ever paid attention to this prison. Your ability is outstanding, and it is practical to stay here.
It's too unfair. So we can make an exchange. I'll stay as the warden and you go to Lezein and let my father help you arrange a job with more dignity and better conditions."
"Do you think it's possible?" Adel said, "As a deputy warden, you almost ignored me, causing more than ten riots and escapes in the prison within six months. Not to mention the prisoners, the prison guards were injured.
There are more than twenty disabled people. If I really leave, you don’t have to think about what this place will become like."
"So you don't agree?" Lecter's smile froze.
"I don't agree, and your father won't agree either." Adel shook his head slightly, "Don't think about staying here, cherish the opportunity your father gives you. If there are no other surprises, you can make the handover.
Work, wait until the 12th of this month, and leave by boat."
There are only nine days until the 12th.
The corners of Lecter's mouth twitched, but he still smiled stiffly: "Uncle Adel, there is something that I have always been puzzled about."
"explain."
"Don't you think Lezein is better? Going to a better place, with a higher title and salary, shouldn't this be what you dream of?" Lecter asked, "What are you doing here? Why do you want to take mine?"
Tell my father the truth? You obviously only need to praise me for benefiting a lot from working here, and I can continue to stay. You also know that not only will I not expose your father who deceived me, but I will also help you win huge benefits.
Benefit."
"No comment on that."
"Oh, no comment?" Lecter stood up with a sneer, "Or, you don't care about the prosperity of Lezein, nor the power. Then you can just tell me what I need before I leave here, and I will
Satisfy you.”
Adel also stood up.
Lecter himself is not low, but Adel is almost a head taller than him, and his strong body is more than a circle bigger than him. Coupled with his murderous aura, the whole person's pressure is very strong.
"Money? Women? These are all easy to deal with. Just tell me the amount, or tell me what type of women you like and which country, and I can guarantee that I will help you achieve it within ten days." Lecter felt that he had made the right decision.
Del's real interests.
"I don't need it." Adel looked down at Lecter.
"Then tell me, what do you want? What else besides money, power, and sex?" Lecter's unruly state was suppressed by Adel's momentum, and his expression and tone darkened.
"No comment, just go and pack your things and do the handover work." Adel bypassed Lecter and walked to the filing cabinet nearby to rummage through the information.
Seeing that Adel was almost ignoring him, Lecter smiled, opened the door and left without saying anything more.
——
October 4th, morning.
Verak and Keating's schedules have been consistent. They woke up early in the morning, washed and had breakfast, and then began their regular lectures. Keating continued to explain various aspects of experience to Verak, including Dunman and Bash.
.
After the lecture, it was time to relax again at nine o'clock. Verak, who felt a little better, personally helped Keating into the wheelchair. Under the escort of the prison guards, he pushed him up to the first floor and turned right to pass the three-way railway.
The door arrived at the square.
When they arrived at the square for the second time, the situation did not improve. The other prisoners still avoided Verak and Keating. Verak tried to make contact, but was immediately stopped by the prison guards. Moreover, the guards did not threaten Verak, but threatened him.
The contacts made the prisoners in the square even more frightened. Looking at Verak and Keating was like seeing the Grim Reaper.
The situation became serious.
"Lecter must have given the order." Verak said with a sullen face, pushing the wheelchair along haphazardly, "Sooner or later they will completely stop contacting us if this continues."
Wherever they walked, other prisoners stayed away from each other for more than 14 to 15 meters, so they didn't have to be so quiet when they spoke.
"Then let's shelve this aspect for the time being." Keating suggested, "Let's focus on other aspects first."
"This is the only way." Verak also felt powerless and could only agree with Keating's idea.