A cold light source and a sealed space. This was clearly a completely sealed metal room.
The room wasn't large, only about 30 square meters, but it had all the necessary living facilities. At the very least, there were tables, chairs, sofas, beds, and cabinets. A young and handsome man was sitting cross-legged on the bed with his eyes closed.
On the opposite sofa, two burly men were glaring at him like tigers eyeing their prey.
"Mr. Xin, it's going to be a year soon!" one of the men with a scar on his face said coldly.
Xin Jie didn't open his eyes. "I know!"
"Our boss is giving you special treatment!"
The other burly man with a hooked nose didn't look too good either. "In Fomalhaut Prison, your room is the only room with special treatment for prisoners."
Xin Jie suddenly laughed. "But the question is, what crime did I commit?"
The scarred man sighed and said, "Mr. Xin, in fact, for you, this is something that you can easily do. Why don't you do it?"
Xin Jie opened his eyes. "No one can unravel Lord Grassroots Empire's lock-on program."
The scarred man smiled darkly. "Mr. Xin, you're too humble. We've investigated very clearly. You've been in close contact with the Grassroots Empire on the dark net for many years. Looking at you, you're only about 40 years old. In the Federal Empire, who in their 40s can reach the level of a data master?"
Xin Jie laughed. "How can that prove anything?"
The hooked nose said sternly, "Enough. Boss Yan only gave you one year. You have to remove it even if you don't want to. Otherwise, you're dead. We don't care if we kill another data master. If you don't want to cooperate, then you're no different from a dead man."
Xin Jie couldn't be bothered to say anything more. He simply closed his eyes and rested.
The scarred man and the hooked nose looked at each other. The meaning in their eyes was obvious. Since the last grace period was over, then do as Boss Yan said and kill Xin Jie.
With a "ka" sound, a sharp blade popped out of the hooked nose's sleeve. He slowly got up and walked to the other side.
Seeing Xin Jie remain motionless, the hook-nosed man couldn't help but sneer, "Boy, you're quite calm. If you have any last wishes before you die, you might as well tell us. It's not impossible to leave your corpse intact. If you change your mind now, it's not too late."
Xin Jie suddenly smiled again. This time, the expression on his face was chic and strange. It was his unique smile. "According to my calculations, you have three minutes left."
The hook-nosed man and the scarred man were stunned at the same time. What did that mean?
Xin Jie smiled and said, "According to my calculations, there is an 85.6% chance that you will die in this cell. This will happen in three minutes."
The hook-nosed man and the scar-faced man burst into laughter. The hook-nosed man stepped forward with a sinister grin. "I've seen a lot of people who are about to die, but I've rarely met someone like you who has no capital but still insists on speaking tough words."
Xin Jie smiled and said, "You'll meet him soon."
As soon as he said that, the light in the room suddenly turned red, flashing rhythmically. At the same time, there was a loud buzzing sound. The system's voice actually sounded at this time. "All members, please pay attention. A suspicious unit has been detected entering prison 108 …"
How many years had it been since this alarm sounded? The scar-faced man and the hook-nosed man wondered if their ears were playing tricks on them. Prison 108, which was guarded to the point where even mosquitoes couldn't fly in, had actually been broken in. For a moment, the two men's eyes turned to Xin Jie. Could it be this kid's doing?
"Turn off the closed-circuit system in this room, cut off the connection to the mainframe system, and keep an eye on him!"
The scar-faced man reacted quickly. His intuition told him that the intruder was most likely related to Xin Jie. If they cut off the surveillance and control now, no one would be able to open this cell. It wouldn't be too late to restore the connection after the intruder was captured alive.
However, although the idea was good, they never imagined that the intruder would be so direct and violent.
With a muffled bang, the alloy door of the room seemed to have received a heavy blow from the outside. A large piece of the blue door panel immediately protruded.
The scar-faced man and the hook-nosed man looked at each other again. This time, their eyes were full of shock. This was a steel door made of 128 yuan alloy. What kind of thing could make it bulge out from the impact?
The two men were still in shock when the door made another muffled bang. The protruding piece was completely deformed, like a round bun.
"Be careful!" The scar-faced man said decisively.
There was no need for his reminder. The hook-nosed man had already retreated to the side of the bed.
"Boom!" The alloy door couldn't withstand the heavy blow from the outside and collapsed directly. A man and a woman walked in through the smoke and dust that filled the air.
Xin Jie's lips curled into a gentle smile because he saw Ding Meng again.
"Who is it?" The hook-nosed man shouted sternly.
Ding Meng completely ignored his existence. He took the initiative to step forward and sighed. "Fortunately, it's better this time than last time. Your limbs are still intact."
Xin Jie smiled. "The boss of this place is quite smart. He didn't touch me."
Ding Meng also smiled. "Then I'll give him some face and not cause trouble for him …"
Every time the two of them met, they would talk and laugh, calm and collected. This made the two men who were being ignored feel extremely embarrassed. The hook-nosed man didn't waste any time. He suddenly rushed forward, and the wrist blade in his hand immediately slashed out with a cold glint.
Unfortunately, this cold glint died prematurely. Su Xia, who was beside Ding Meng, suddenly slashed a palm at the hook-nosed man's neck. The hook-nosed man collapsed to the ground like a pile of mud.
At this moment, the scar-faced man's hair stood on end. The hook-nosed man was a combat master, but he was actually slashed to the ground by a palm strike. It seemed like he wasn't even breathing. Was he dead?
At this moment, the scar-faced man no longer had any doubts. He quickly ran out of the door.
Both he and the hook-nosed man were light speed users, so they felt that they were fast enough. Unfortunately, there was someone even faster here.
Su Xia's figure flashed after him like lightning. The scar-faced man also knew that someone was coming from behind. He stopped abruptly, leaned back, and raised his hand. The wrist blade in his hand slammed into Su Xia's chest.
This was a dangerous move. It looked like Su Xia was sending herself to the edge of his blade.
However, it was all in vain. Su Xia's speed didn't slow down at all. With a crisp crack, the scar-faced man's wrist was broken, and the wrist blade in his hand fell into Su Xia's hand. Su Xia swept past the scar-faced man's body like a gust of wind. After the wind passed, the wrist blade accurately stabbed into the scar-faced man's heart. He didn't even have time to scream before he died on the spot.
From the moment the hook-nosed man collapsed to the moment the scar-faced man collapsed, the entire process didn't even take five seconds. It was so fast that Xin Jie finally noticed the woman wearing the bat mask. "I'm so jealous of you!"
Ding Meng said, "Oh?"
Xin Jie laughed. "Wherever you go, it seems like there's never a lack of women around you."
Ding Meng couldn't help but laugh. "When did you become so nosy? This is Sister Xia, one of us. Without her help, I wouldn't have been able to find this place."
As they talked, the three of them had already walked out of the door. Outside was a long and narrow metal corridor, similar to the one on a starship. However, the energy devices on both sides of the corridor had been activated. Countless densely packed energy beams covered the entire corridor like a spiderweb. It was obvious that this was specially set up by the control center to prevent criminals from escaping. Indeed, even a mosquito wouldn't be able to fly out.
If this were in the past, Ding Meng would have had a headache. However, these defensive measures were like child's toys to him now. Ding Meng didn't say a word as he walked straight into the corridor, allowing the countless rays to hit him.
"Ping — ping — ping —"
These colorful rays looked like they were burning him, but in fact, they didn't even set Ding Meng's clothes on fire. This was the Diamond Starfusing Art absorbing the energy from these technologies. It was equivalent to charging him with energy.
Xin Jie couldn't help but laugh. "I've long said that you're a freak."
Su Xia's gaze was also a little dazed. These energy beams were quite powerful. She could also take them head-on like Ding Meng, but she couldn't do it for too long. She had to retreat after a minute or two at most, or her body would be in danger of being burned.
However, Ding Meng was like the sun. He stood there perfectly fine and even had the mood to talk. "You've been trapped here for a year. What kind of command did they want you to remove?"
Xin Jie sighed. "Do you know who the top organizations in outer space are in the main star system?"
Ding Meng could only shake his head. The various information in Xiao Ai's database didn't have any detailed records of the Fertile Chalk System.
Xin Jie said, "There are a total of four top organizations. They are the Unyielding Troops, the Heavenly Dragon Troops, the Swift Lightning Forces, and the Shining Spirit Army."
Ding Meng curiously asked, "What do they say?"
Xin Jie said, "The Unyielding Troops have a certain amount of imperial military lineage and are famous for their tough style. The Swift Lightning Forces have always been fast and pervasive. They are a very famous exploration force in outer space. As for the Shining Spirit Army, they are a concentration camp for hackers. They are active in the International Space Network and the Dark Net."
Ding Meng asked, "Then what about the Heavenly Dragon Troops?"
Xin Jie frowned. "The Heavenly Dragon Mercenaries are notorious. They have always plundered the planets in outer space and exploited the refugees. They don't differentiate between good and bad missions. As long as there's money to be earned, they are mercenary."
"In that case, this organization doesn't seem to be good people!" Ding Meng muttered. Xin Jie sighed.
"More than ten years ago, a famous technical expert appeared on the International Space Network. This person's codename was Grassroots Empire. For some reason, he specifically went against the Heavenly Dragon Troops. He paralyzed the Heavenly Dragon Troops' fleet system, took control of their bank accounts, and even hacked into their headquarters and branch systems. This caused the Heavenly Dragon Troops to be unable to operate. In the past ten years, the Heavenly Dragon Troops have been completely scattered. Every time Grassroots Empire made a move, he would leave his own unique green leaf mark to warn all mercenary forces active in outer space not to act rashly. Therefore, these four organizations have been going back and forth. In the end, they ended up in the Fertile Chalk System. It feels like they are at the end of the road."
Ding Meng smiled. "I admire this Grassroots Empire. I wonder who he is?"