"If anyone else had said this, I would have laughed it off." Dawn looked at the cloudless sky, sweat soaking his prison uniform.
Verak just chuckled after hearing this.
The prisoners in the substitute area rushed to the field with abandon, some shouted the names of Verak and Dawn, and some hid their faces and cried bitterly at the thought of being able to contact their families.
"They recognized you." Dawn said, tilting her head.
He has always been in contact with Verak in the name of the prisoners' representative, and now that he said that the prisoners recognized Verak, it meant that he himself also recognized Verak.
"...Thank you." Verak didn't know what to say, and in the end only two words came out of his mouth.
"Can we...really be able to go out?" Dawn hesitated and asked.
Verak's voice was clearly audible under the noise of the prisoners: "Yes."
"You are indeed different from those people. I can't find any reason to refuse to cooperate with you." Dawn said as he stood up, "I hope we can leave here."
Dawn stood up and stretched out her hand to Verak who was lying down.
Verak looked at Dawn, reached out to hold his hand, and stood up directly under Dawn's pull.
The two stood side by side, looking around at the prisoners who had gathered around to celebrate. The prisoners gradually became quiet, waiting for Verak, Dawn and the others to say something.
"Can you tell me something?" Dawn said.
"What did you say?" Verak couldn't form words for a moment, but he was satisfied just to see everyone filled with smiles and vitality that they had never seen before.
"Say something." Dawn patted Verak, her eyes full of expectation.
"This is the first time I feel that you are alive." Verak pursed his lips. For a long time, he looked directly at the prisoners and said frankly, "I may give you the feeling that you are not afraid of anything and can do anything, but in fact
I'm very scared. When I first came here, I saw you lying numb in the cell, and I was scared to death. I was afraid that one day I would become a living dead like you."
Dawn put her hands on her hips and looked to the side.
"At that time, in addition to persisting under Lecter's abuse, I spent all night thinking about how not to be changed and how not to be assimilated into you." Verak felt that all the efforts were worth it. "Later,
I thought, before I am changed by you, let me change you first."
While the prisoners were excited to get in touch with their families, they began to think about the things that had disappeared unknowingly following Verac's words.
"I don't know what to say. In short, I hope that everyone can always fight for their families, for their friends, for themselves, for dignity, and for equality like today." Verak stretched out his hand and wiped the corners of his eyes, "I'm done.
.”
The prisoners were silent, then burst into applause.
"Thank you!"
The prisoners were sincerely grateful.
"Thank you too." Verak smiled back.
——
It was already afternoon by the time all participating prisoners and prison guards had treated their injuries. Adel specially arranged for the cafeteria to be open all day long, so that those who received treatment could go back to rest after eating.
Verak and Daun finished bandaging their wounds in the infirmary, went to the cafeteria to eat together, and then returned to their respective cells.
Before they went back, many prisoners who had participated in the competition had returned. Through the doors and iron bars, they spread the story of the competition carefully. After hearing the descriptions of the conditions on the field from those who had participated in the competition,
Most of the prisoners who had not been able to witness it with their own eyes could not help but feel excited.
Beat up the guards who don't treat them as human beings, win unfair games, and write letters to your family.
Nothing they thought would happen.
But today, all of this has come true.
Therefore, after Verak and Dawn returned, a prisoner in a cell saw them and immediately shouted at the top of his lungs: "Boss Dawn, Chris is back!"
When the sound came out, the door of the cell where the sound was heard was instantly crowded with prisoners. They looked at Verak and Dawn up and down as they passed by as if they had never seen the two of them before.
"Thank you!"
"Well done!"
"Just hearing what they said makes me so happy!"
In front of every cell that Verak passed by, there were prisoners actively and enthusiastically greeting him, thanking him for his efforts, and affirming his efforts. He waved and nodded in response.
"Dawn! Chris! Dawn! Chris!"
The cheers intensified, and soon all the prisoners on the underground floor reached a tacit understanding, tapping the iron railings rhythmically and calling their names.
"Quiet! Quiet!" The prison guard maintained order, but it was of no use. The warning was easily swallowed up by the cheers.
It wasn't until Dawn and Verak returned to their cells that the cheers gradually subsided.
"Chris! Tell me what happened! Listening to them is not enough. I want to hear it from you!"
Verak, who had just returned to cell 208 and sat down, didn't bother to say hello to Keating when Ross next door yelled at him to tell him about the situation on the field.
Following Ross's initiative, several cells next to cell 208 all excitedly agreed.
"Tell me about it, I'm curious too." Keating, who was sitting on the bed waiting patiently for Verak's return, said with a smile.
"Yes, teacher." Verak nodded slightly, came to the iron railing, and told everyone about the situation on the field. Because he also wanted Keating to understand, he explained the whole process in great detail.
It took just a few minutes to finish speaking.
Finally, he did not forget to repeat the last words he said on the court to the other prisoners who could not go to the stadium.
After everything was done, the prisoners stopped holding on to Verak, and Verak was able to chat with Keating.
"Teacher." Verak sat across from Keating, grinning.
"How's the injury?" Keating was most concerned about Verak's physical condition.
Verak specifically moved his body: "It's nothing serious. Compared with Lecter's abuse, their attacks are not painful at all."
"That's good." Keating looked at Verak kindly, "You once again made the impossible possible."
Verak did not feel that he was attributable to it. There were many reasons for this. It was a coincidence that allowed the prisoners to achieve the final victory: "It was everyone who worked together to make the impossible possible."
"Why would Adel help us?" Keating asked the important question.
When Verak was telling everyone just now, he only mentioned that the warden acted as a referee and temporarily changed the rules to allow the prisoners to fight back, but did not elaborate on the reasons.
"I made a deal with him." Verak said about the matter between him and Adel with doubts. "The content of the deal is that he will help us win the game, and I will report the gold clues to Lecter later.
Give him some time."
"He agreed? Nothing else?"
"He agreed and had no other requirements, so I was a little surprised myself. I just helped him delay a little time, and I didn't agree on how long the delay would be. It was just verbal. How could he be willing to help so much?
"Verak racked his brains and thought, "I have been busy with the competition before, and now I have time to talk to you about the doubts about this matter."
Keating said "Yeah": "It's really weird. He agreed to your counterattack, which directly caused dozens of prison guards to be injured during the game. This will probably seriously affect his rule in the prison. So, you just verbally promised to delay
Is it worth his time to do this?"
"It's definitely not worth it, unless he can find some trump card to reverse the situation during my delay. But if he really bets his hope on time, how could he not specify how long it will take during the negotiation? It seems like
It's like he doesn't care at all about the benefits I mentioned." Verak said his analysis.
"Is it possible that you are worried that if you tell the time, you will reveal it to Lecter?" Keating just said a guess and quickly denied it, "That's not right... If that were the case, I wouldn't even dare to reveal the time to you.
, what else are we talking about about cooperation?”
"That's only one possibility. Adel doesn't care what I can give him. He doesn't hesitate to stand on the opposite side of the prison guards to help us win. It's not for us, but for other purposes." Verak followed the only remaining message.
Keep exploring the possibilities.
Keating groaned, and thought of the answer before Verak: "...Oh no."
"What?" Verak looked at Keating.
"Lecter told you personally that he didn't even think about the prisoner winning, so he proposed the reward for writing a letter?" Keating asked.
"Yes, he also told me that he has no ability to redeem -" Verak paused mid-sentence, then opened his eyes wide and looked at Keating in disbelief, "Adel just wants to
Is Lecter in a dilemma? If Lecter cannot fulfill his promise, the prisoners will surely burst into unprecedented anger, and if he fulfills his promise, Adel will directly catch him and kick him out of the prison."
Keating's face became solemn: "Other than that, Adel has no reason to help the prisoner win."
"In other words, the twelfth of next month, the day when they fulfill their promise, will be the key to their fight for the position of warden..." Verak clenched his fists.
If Adel really helps them with such a purpose, the originally good situation will become complicated.
Their frontal escape plan is having difficulty advancing, so they can only hope to reach in-depth cooperation with Dawn and gather the strength of all prisoners to find loopholes in the prison.
If they can't come up with a good solution even after uniting everyone, they must start to push forward with all their strength, which is a plan centered on Adel and Lecter's competition for the position of warden and waiting for opportunities to break the situation.
But after Adel helped the prisoners win, the prison warden's battle will be settled by the 12th of next month at the latest.
They must determine whether a frontal jailbreak is feasible before then. If it is not feasible, they must immediately start an alternative plan to complete the jailbreak before the 12th of next month.
More than twenty days are very tight.
"Do you think it's too late?" Verak felt a little unsure, even though he had set a goal for himself early on to escape from prison within a month.
"First think about whether it is possible to postpone the time a little longer." Keating thought calmly.
Verak sighed, as crises came one after another, leaving him without a moment's rest: "Adel will definitely find a way to make Lecter make a choice on the 12th, either to help the prisoner write a letter, or to regret it."
"Repenting will not only cause great dissatisfaction among the prisoners, but will also greatly reduce your trust in Lecter. I think of these two consequences, Adel is focusing on the latter." Keating frowned, "
After all, even if the prisoners are dissatisfied, they can be suppressed if necessary. If they want to threaten
Lecter's position is unlikely. And what Adel can give you now is almost the same as Lecter. If he can be better than Lecter in terms of character, you will give up cooperating with Lecter, who often does not believe in his words.
, turn around and go to him, which will eliminate Lecter's threat to him."
"Then if Lecter chooses to return by then, and I will continue to cooperate with him, the time should be extended, leaving us with a lot of room for maneuver." Verak breathed a sigh of relief. Adel's plan included his choice.
, as long as he doesn't do what Adel thinks, Adel's plan will come to nothing.
"Well, it seems that Adel at least doesn't have too much suspicion about you, doesn't associate you with other prisoners, and thinks that you just want to get out of prison as soon as possible through gold." Keating summarized another piece of good news.
The crisis was over, and Verak lay on the bed with peace of mind: "In that case, let's go all out to promote the frontal jailbreak plan. If we win the game, Dawn will reach in-depth cooperation with us as agreed, and we have gathered everyone's strength
You may not be able to find a way to break the situation in the end. If you can't find it, stabilize Lecter and Adel's situation and find a way out through a backup plan."
——
infirmary
Lecter was in a coma for about six or seven hours before he faintly woke up: "Where is the person..."
"Deputy Warden." The doctor, who had just recently treated the injuries of more than 300 prison guards and prisoners, heard Lecter's weak call and quickly cheered up and came over.
Lecter's head was still in pain. He endured the pain and turned slightly, looking at the doctor: "Who wins..."
"Are you talking about the football match? They said the prisoners won seven to four." The doctor truthfully reported what he heard.
After learning that the prison guard had lost the game, and anticipating the difficult situation that would follow, Lecter closed his eyes to suppress his anger: "Where is Adel?"
"I don't know. Should the warden be in the office?" the doctor said.
"Call him over, I want to see him." Lecter couldn't move yet, so he had to drag the doctor to call Adel.
Now that the situation has reversed, he must have a good talk with Adel.
"Okay, I'll notify the prison guards outside and ask them to pass your message to the warden." The doctor immediately walked out the door.
"Wait." Lecter stopped the doctor who was about to go out, "Forget it, don't call Adel."
"That……"
Lecter thought for a while and then said: "Ask the prison guards to bring prisoner No. 8196, Thomas Chris."
"Is he the one who comes to apply medicine every noon?"