After leaving the warden's office, Verak continued working until nine o'clock in the evening before returning to cell 208.
Today was one of the rare days that was not so eventful in comparison. When Verak reported to Keating, he explained the whole day's events in just a few words. Afterwards, the two discussed the situation based on the map provided by Dawn, prison guard information and other information.
I faced the possibility of jailbreak until late at night, and then fell asleep in a hurry.
The next day, October 18th.
When Verak was taking a walk, he discovered that a crude ball frame had been installed in the square, and white lines were drawn that were not neat. It seemed that the football match had been completely settled. In two days, the place that had been temporarily transformed into a stadium would explode.
A game that has never been played before.
As one of the first batch of prisoners released on October 18th, Verak pushed the wheelchair of Keating, who also came for release, and watched the prisoners pointing at the different square.
There had been a lot of rumors about a football match being held at the Peace Festival, and almost all of the more than 2,000 prisoners knew about it. But they found that even the prison guards didn't know about it, and it had not been officially announced yet.
When I was notified, I remained skeptical about what Verak said.
At this time, the ball frame and the white line made the stone hanging in their hearts fall.
Since the football games are all true, the rumor that as long as you win the game you can write a letter to your family and friends should also be true. The prisoners cheered, even though the game had not started yet, even though the hope of victory was extremely slim.
.
"The football match has been decided. Now it's up to us to win the game." Verak and Keating stood apart from the crowd, watching the crowd's joy, anger, sorrow and joy from a distance. "If we can win this game,
It will definitely be inspiring.”
"Have you thought about it?" Keating sat in a wheelchair, squinting his eyes and looking at one prisoner after another.
Verak knew that Keating was talking about his own participation in the competition: "I had already thought about it when Lecter and I talked about it, and it must be done even if I don't want to."
"How is your health?" Keating asked about Verak's physical condition. During this period, apart from changing his dressing regularly, Verak was basically doing the same as a normal person.
"I feel like there's nothing wrong. I should be able to stop taking the medicine in a few days." Verak said, "I'll have to take a good bath then. It's really inconvenient to just wipe it with a towel."
"Don't get another serious injury during the game." Keating warned.
Verak chuckled: "No, my identity is as special as yours. Even if they can attack me, they will be very measured. The one who least understands the severity is probably Lecter. I just want to beat him too.
It just depends on what the situation is at that time.”
"Chris, this place has become completely different since you came," Keating said.
Ross said the same thing when Verak was at work, taking a leisurely stroll and casually asking, "What do you think has changed?"
"It's an indescribable feeling." Obviously Keating didn't intend to list a few well-known major events on the surface. He was more concerned about the internal changes, "It's a subtle change."
"You are not the first person to say this. Before I came here, I never thought that I could do so many things. Sometimes when I think about it while lying in bed, I feel unbelievable." After Verak was commented like this by many people
, feeling a little happy inside. Because everyone who said this to him meant that he made them better.
This was something he had never felt before when he was planted in Lezein.
Like many people who have been affected by Demans Prison, Verak's rebirth this time has also stirred up the situation in Lezein. However, he did not make many people better and better through his own power. Instead, he directly and indirectly killed people.
Dempsey, Colin.
If Lazer's experience of less than two months was attributed to getting into trouble and making mistakes, then the period of being imprisoned in Dymans Prison was a burden and a burden.
"Keep up the good work, Chris." Keating encouraged Verak. He witnessed many changes in Verak. This young man who was incompatible with the prison did not assimilate or become numb. Instead, he became stronger under the violent blows.
He became so powerful that hope burst out from his heart.
"I will." Verak tightened his grip on the wheelchair's handle.
When the two of them were sighing, Dawn, who was also assigned to the first batch of prisoners on probation, did not lie alone in the corner to bask in the sun this time. Instead, he organized the prisoners to gather and listen to his arrangements.
"Everyone, although the official notice has not yet been issued, it can be seen from the new things added to the square today that the football match is already a certainty!" Dawn's voice was loud, and he easily controlled the scene.
"Perhaps some people don't know yet, so let me tell you again what rewards we will get if we win the game! As long as we beat the prison guard in the Peace Festival football game the day after tomorrow, we will be able to write letters to our family, friends, and lovers.
Opportunity!”
"It's Dawn." Verak heard the shouting, pushed his wheelchair and followed the crowd to surround Dawn who was speaking.
"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! We must seize it no matter what, and win no matter what!" Dawn looked around at the prisoners surrounding him, and glanced at the prison guard standing guard who was watching the fun and not taking it too seriously, "The game is about to begin.
In order to ensure nothing goes wrong, I will select people who are reliable enough among you to participate in the competition!"
Keating smiled slightly: "This matter is really important to them."
"Yes, otherwise Dawn would not have agreed to cooperate with us deeply after winning the game, and now he is responsible for organizing everyone to fight against the prison guards." Verak nodded.
"Has any of you ever played football?" Dawn asked.
As soon as he finished speaking, many people in the crowd raised their hands.
Dawn picked out all these people and roughly counted them. There were almost fifty people. Even if the proportion of the next group who had played football was the same, there would only be a hundred people in total. He knew that the prison guards could attack them.
If so, how fast would the prisoners get off the field? Dawn was not satisfied with this data, so he picked out the stronger ones from among the prisoners.
In this unfair game, the experience of playing football is very important, and the ability to fight against the prison guards is equally important.
"You, and you, come over." Dawn walked around the crowd, pointing out suitable candidates among them from time to time, and ordering them to stand aside to prepare for the final arrangements.
"Can I do that?"
Dawn walked all the way and finally stopped in front of Verak who was pushing a wheelchair. With a smile on his face, Verak took the initiative to ask Dawn for a place to play football.
"Can you physically handle it?" Dawn didn't know yet that Verak had special privileges on the field. He considered that Verak himself was injured and was not very strong and would not have an advantage in the game the day after tomorrow, so he planned to refuse directly.
.
"It's just a football game. Do you think it will be better than Lecter's nine days of abuse?" Verak said.
Dawn was stunned.
How could someone who could survive nine days of inhuman torture at the hands of Lecter be easily defeated in a football match? He found that his worries were unnecessary, and after a long silence, he agreed to Verak's application: "Then where are you?
Stay with them and discuss the competition together later."
"Okay." Verak pushed Keating to stand together with the other people selected by Dawn to participate in the game.
After another round of screening by Dawn, a total of more than 150 prisoners were identified as candidates to participate in the football match.
"Many of us have never played football at all, and we don't even know what it is because we have been locked up for so long." Dawn sat down with more than 150 prisoners in a circle, "And in
During the game, the prison guards have the right to beat us with batons at will, and we cannot fight back... As soon as I learned about the football match, I thought about what advantages we had compared to the prison guards. After thinking about it for a long time, I found that there was none. But
Even if not, we still have to win..."
Dawn is doing game mobilization.
Verak and Keating sat in the outer area of the contestants, listening carefully to Dawn as he stirred up everyone's emotions and started planning how to compete.
"I don't think there's much point in planning. We can only adapt to circumstances when the time comes. After all, we don't know anything, and we can't be sure whether Lecter will add any new rules at the last minute." Verak said to Keating.
He and Carmine watched a football match and learned some football knowledge from Carmine. In his opinion, although the main rule of the football match held on the Peace Festival the day after tomorrow is to kick the ball into the opponent's box, there are other ways to play it.
Everything has undergone earth-shaking changes, and many things can no longer be viewed as they were before.
After listening to Dawn predict some possible outcomes in the game and roughly deciding on tactics, Verak decided to find an opportunity to have a good talk with Dawn.
At noon, he was not with Keating during the meal, but Ross, who was eating at the same table, learned about Dawn's recruitment of players for the competition, and discussed with Verak whether he could participate: "Chris, what did you say?
Can I compete?"
"It's better for you to say goodbye. Your physical fitness is not very good. If you participate in the competition, you will not only be unable to play any role but may also be seriously injured." Verak directly rejected the possibility of Rose participating while eating.
"This matter concerns everyone. It would be a pity to just watch." Rose was a little depressed when Verak said this. He knew that his participation in the game was not as suitable as other prisoners with better physical fitness, but only with real
Only when he stood there and participated did he feel at ease and felt that he had also contributed his own strength.
"Don't think too much, no one is willing to watch one of our own fail, so everyone will choose the most suitable and promising person." Verak's mind was not on this matter, so he seemed a bit casual in comforting Rose.
"Even if you can't participate, you have to know that you don't just stand on the field and play football, you have contributed to winning."
"I understand..."
After finishing his meal quickly, Verak stood up and handed the lunch box to the prison guard: "Okay, I'm going to change the dressing first. You can go back and rest after eating."
"Um."
After being escorted to the infirmary by prison guards, Verak took off his shirt and removed the bandages himself.
Lecter, who had completely replaced the doctor and was enthusiastically responsible for changing Verak's dressing, had already prepared the ointment and was waiting for Verak to remove the bandage: "I heard that during the release, a prisoner named Dawn started to organize prisoners.
How are you going to cope with the football match the day after tomorrow, huh?"
"Yes, they all wanted to win, so they took advantage of the opportunity to initially select candidates suitable for the competition and formulated strategies." This was done under the watchful eyes of the prison guards, and Verak didn't think anything of it.
The secret, when Lecter mentioned it, he took the initiative to talk about it, "It's just some people who have played football and fought against each other."
"It seems that I have to go and see for myself tomorrow." The prisoners' attention to the game made Lecter more and more excited.
"What's there to see?" Verak also planned to discuss his thoughts with Dawn.
"Looking at how hard they worked to win, and then seeing their expressions of defeat in the end, the feeling of disparity must be particularly interesting." Lecter was full of confidence in the result of the game, and he was sure that the prison guards would win the final victory before it even started.
Verak, who took off the bandages and lay on the hospital bed, asked: "Listening to you, are you very confident that the prison guards will win?"
"What if?" Lecter said.
"I don't think victory is so easy to determine." Verak did not dare to judge the final winner, but he did not think that the prisoners were incapable of fighting.
"It doesn't really matter who wins or loses. It's just a small activity. The most important thing is to be happy." Lecter smiled and applied ointment to Verak. "Is there any new progress in gold?"
"No, but I think the football match is a good opportunity. I may not know there will be any unexpected gains that day." Verak saw that Lecter never mentioned the results of his negotiation with Adel, and he deliberately did not take the initiative to mention it.
Lecter carefully applied ointment to Verak's major and minor injuries: "How was your talk with Adel?"
Verak told Lecter the content of his conversation with Adel.
After learning that Adel had no trump card to compete with him, and was only trying to seduce Verak through things like security and trust, Lecter immediately burst out laughing: "It seems like he really can't do anything to me."
"What he said makes sense." How could Verak watch helplessly as Lecter became powerful and the balance of the war warden's war was broken. "Compared to the two of you, he is indeed more calm and reliable. If you can give me
The things are the same, I should choose him."
"Let me explain two more points to you. First, what I can give you is far more than what he can give you. I have said this no less than ten times, so there is no need to repeat it. Second, what will I do?
As for not being able to fulfill my promise, yes, I can’t prove my reliability by any means. But have you ever thought about it, Adel can
Will it be a simple role to be the warden? There is a possibility that I will not fulfill my promise, won't he?" When Lecter heard that Verak said that he might choose to cooperate with Adel, his face immediately turned cold, "As for you
As you said, I am keen on torturing you. If I became the warden, I would not miss you as a toy."