by Pegaz
Chapter 52
*Spoiler*
‘Miles’ cultivated again with four parts of his mind. He then walked up to the door and knocked on it. With his Scan, he found the two people returned to standing on the other side with their backs against the wall. They seemed to be positioned strategically as if the person who emerged would be their next target.
After Miles knocked the door, the person on his left turned his head clockwise and looked at the door. With a drawn-out swipe, he opened a latch and drew open the small window inside the door.
“What?” His voice was cold.
“I’m telling you in advance that I’m opening the door,” Miles said calmly. “I’m not the prisoner. Do not attack.”
As he was speaking, he created two threads and sent them crawling through the opening. Miles used the Memory Manipulation skill, prepping the guards for manipulation. After opening the door, Miles checked them both out with Immortal Eye.
???
Rank: 9
Level: 9
Sin: 28
Status: Memory Manipulated
???
Rank: 9
Level: 9
Sin: 13
Status: Memory Manipulated
“Which way to the special prisoner who was here before Jonathan?” Using the Memory Manipulation’s Voice skill, Miles whispered his question to the guards.
Both men pointed in one direction.
It was the opposite side of the ramp. When he was pushed down the ramp as Jonathan, he recalled being turned to the right. They were pointing to the left of the ramp where Miles was now headed.
He walked through the metal checkpoint and allowed himself to be searched by the guards. Once done, he passed the ramp on his left and walked down the new corridor. He soon arrived at another metal checkpoint.
Anybody he came close to, he used his Memory Manipulation skill on. He had to make sure no one got in his way.
After passing through the final checkpoint, he came to a replica of the cell he’d come from. There was a single door with two guards outside, and from his Scan, he could see there was another guard inside the room, too.
His threads touched the two guards standing to the sides of the door, so they were no longer a problem. Then, he ordered them to open the window to the cell to allow him space to use his threads.
Within moments, he had complete control over those around him in the cell. With ease, he used his threads to destroy the monster cores in the room. Once it was clear, he simply walked into the containment chamber and approached the prisoner, who was also under his control. The door closed with a ‘thud’ behind him.
Using the Memory Manipulation’s Voice skill, he addressed the Rank 9 guard who stood in the room.
“What’s your name?”
“Johann Berkel.”
Miles turned on the Absorb option inside the system and wrapped a rope around Johann. After only a few seconds, Johann had completely withered away, leaving only a pile of clothes and skin. Miles made his nano helmet change shape to look like Johann, placed the skin and clothes inside his Storage Space, and waited for more guards to come.
This time, as guards came pouring into the chamber to investigate, Johann used his threads on every guard he could see through the Scan. He didn’t need to be so careful anymore.
Ten minutes later, the last of the guards departed. Only he and the prisoner in the iron maiden were left inside the room. The room was a replica of the room they placed him inside.
Johann turned on his Immortal Eye and looked at the prisoner.
???
Rank: 9
Level: 9
Sin: 43.2B
Status: Memory Manipulated
Johann’s eyes almost bulged out his eye sockets.
Damn, I had a little more than 30 billion sin points when I blew up a planet, yet this guy got over 11 billion more. Killing this one man makes this entire plan worth it! The rest of the sins I get from killing the prisoners is only a bonus now.
With his Scan, he could see the Life Cuffs on the prisoner’s wrists in the iron maiden.
If he could destroy a planet, he’s got to be powerful. He might even use a different power source than Life Power like I do. But if he uses a different source, why is he still locked up? He could be staying in the prison for a reason, but that isn’t likely. There’s a better chance that he relies solely on Life Power.
He turned off the Absorb option in the system and used his threads to lift the man’s hanging face up. The man’s hair was too long and got in the way, so he made his threads remove the hair from his face.
After moving the hair, Johann could see the man’s details.
He had a large, creased forehead with a long, fleshy nose. His sunken eyes were open but glossed over, as if he was in another place altogether. He had a triangular face and a pointed chin which was almost completely covered by his wiry beard. The hair on his head was a dull white, going from the top of his head and past the iron maiden, spilling onto the floor with no grace whatsoever.
The man seemed to wake from his spell, blinking a few times up at his guard. In the dim light, Johann thought he could see a pair of light brown eyes, but the shadow cast by the prisoner’s sunken brow was too heavy to be certain.
“What’s your name?”
The man laughed and spoke slowly in a hoarse voice.
“What’s wrong with you, Johann?” He grimaced. “It’s been centuries since we last spoke, but I, at least, remember your name.”
Smiling, Johann’s face changed as the mask became earrings.
“I’m not Johann,” John announced. “My name is John and I’m a prisoner who was sentenced to life in this special prison. My room is a replica of yours.”
He waited a moment for the shock to set in, but the prisoner only held his blank stare.
“If you don’t mind, tell me why and how you blew up a planet.” John tilted the man’s jaw higher to get a better look at his face. “I’ll listen to you. I’m here to offer you your last rights. That means if you have any wish you want to be fulfilled, tell me now before I kill you. I will try to fulfil it.”
The man’s face suddenly cracked into a twisted grin, followed by a dry choking sound. It took John a moment to realise it was laughter. He let the prisoner have his fit. After another minute, the man quieted down and addressed John’s question.
“My name is Iwan Veurink,” he said. “I have lost count of how long I’ve been here for. I only know that it’s been so many centuries. As for my story, I don’t feel like telling it. My last rights? How about you release me since that is my only wish.”
Now it was John’s turn to laugh.
“Sorry,” John replied. “That’s one wish I cannot fulfil. You will die today. Nothing can stop that.”
“As expected.” Iwan closed his eyes. “I have no other wish. Get it over with.”
John nodded. He opened the system and turned on the Absorb option. He then created a rope out of all one million threads.
The rope wrapped around the man’s neck and went upwards, over his mouth, nose, and forehead. With his Scan, John could see the man withering. His nails, teeth, and eyes turned to ash and poured inside of the iron maiden.
John checked his system.
Toxin Pool: 189.5B
Sin: 43.2B
He smiled from ear to ear as he saw the sin number. John walked to the iron maiden in the middle of the room and unlocked it. After it opened, John placed Iwan’s remains and clothes into his Storage Space. He then used his Memory Manipulation’s Voice skill and summoned one of the two guards outside the door.
With his Scan, he watched one of the men walk towards him. John took out more nano metal from his Storage Space and created another nano helmet. He placed it on the man as he entered and locked him up inside the iron maiden. Touching the nano helmet with his index finger, he pushed Toxin Power into it to make the man look like Iwan. He got every detail right, including the length of the hair.
/> John made the other man come inside next. He made another nano helmet and disguised that man as Johann.
Now, the special prisoner and his personal guard aren’t missing, only the two guards outside. I’m guessing the two guards’ disappearance will not cause as much of a fuss compared to Iwan and Johann. It’s costing me a bit of nano metal, though.
John then changed his mask to look like one of the guards that came in from outside, then he walked out the door and towards the checkpoint again. Once again, every new guard he encountered along his way was put under the influence of his Memory Manipulation technique.
Before leaving, he stopped by his old cell. The final touch was to disguise another random guard to stand in for Miles, which he did with ease. Then, it was time to leave.
He returned to the middle of the corridor, turned left, and walked up the ramp. There were two guards very 200 feet—new victims of his Memory Manipulation technique. His Scan skill could not go through the big vault door, so he assumed it was airtight.
He used his teleport skill to get on the other side, and as soon as he did, his Scan picked up miles of the prison floor. All around him were prisoners shackled with life cuffs as far as he could see.
They were sitting, eating, talking, walking, and going about their lives. All of them had life cuffs with a long chain on their wrists.
Title: Escape
Chapter 53
A Solution?
John checked all the Rank 9 prisoners in shackles. They each had a few million sins, which was just ripe for the picking. Licking his lips, he created threads and used his Memory Manipulation technique on everybody he came across.
It took over a day to walk the entire floor and make sure he didn’t miss anybody, including the guards. He also destroyed any monster cores hanging on the walls and hiding places. Once he was sure he’d thoroughly placed everybody under his control, he walked to the middle of the floor and used his Memory Manipulation’s Voice skill.
“Everybody come here!” His voice boomed, amplified by his Toxin Power.
It only took twenty minutes for hundreds of people to gather around him. On this floor alone, there were 192 prisoners and 85 guards, each a Rank 9. Once all the Rank 9’s had assembled, it was time to begin.
He ordered the guards to go to one side of the room and face the wall. Then he made a hundred ropes and wrapped around one hundred people at a time. It took over twenty seconds for the one hundred people to die, and each of them left only their clothes and skin. He repeated the same action with the other ninety-two people.
After he’d killed every Rank 9 prisoner, he checked his sin count.
Sin: 44B
So 192 Rank 9 criminals sent to the Adventurers Guild’s prison only amounted to around 780 to 800 million sins. If it wasn’t for Iwan, then this trip might not have had the results I hoped for.
There must be different prisons on this planet rather than building a giant one for everybody. This prison must be for those classed as the most dangerous for each rank and those that pose less threat are elsewhere.
It makes sense as they don’t want millions of Rank 9’s together in one place, where it only takes one person to release the prisoners to end everything as the guards would get slaughtered.
Looking at the guards, he shouted another order.
“Forget what you saw today,” he said. “If you try to remember what happened, you will get such immense pain in your head that you’ll generate the fear of dying. Now get back to work.”
He walked into the elevator and went to the eighth floor.
The eighth floor was the same size as the ninth floor, but there were only Rank 8 prisoners locked up here. Their sin point total wasn’t as high as the Rank 9 total, though. He repeated his actions by using the Memory Manipulation skill and destroying any monster cores he found.
It took another day before he gathered everybody in the middle of the room, and after killing all 328 prisoners, he made sure all 200 guards wouldn’t report what they saw.
Going to the seventh floor, then the sixth, he repeated this pattern all the way to the top floor. After he killed the last prisoner in the whole prison, he took out his leather teleport scroll and placed it on the floor. It was time to leave.
He used his fire element to toss a small ball of fire in the air above him as he stepped on the teleport scroll. After he disappeared, the ball of fire landed on the parchment and burnt it to ashes.
John had no way of knowing for sure if it had worked, so when he appeared inside his room in the cultivation cave, he burned that scroll, too.
He opened the system to check how many sins he’d gathered.
Sin: 50.8B
John laughed at the number.
That should be enough for a while at least. So, on average, I gained about 800-900 million sins per floor. While the lower-ranked prisoners had fewer sins, there were more of them. But all of them put together couldn’t match Iwan. I want to meet more people who have blown up planets! It’s easier than blowing up planets myself.
He went into the fourth tab and looked at the bottom for the transfer option.
50,864,981,600 - Sin 1:100, Time - 17y 6m 7d 3h 36m 56s
Clicking the transfer button, he checked the system again.
Welcome to the Idle System 5.9.
Name: John
Title: Demon
Age: 41
Idlers: 0/616
Skill Points: 5
Life Pool: 1
Toxin Pool: 192.2B
Sin: 51
Time Pool: 17y 6m 7d 3h 36m 56s
Misc List:
Maximum Idlers - Idlers 616/617, +1 Max Idlers - 617/2159, Time - 1mo 14d
Maximum Workers - Idlers 0/617, +1 Idler Workers - 518/2061
He decided not to use the Time Pool for the Maximum Idlers or Maximum Workers skill. He needed to get to Rank 6 and then use it on the new immortality or misc skills.
Walking out of his room, he first paid a visit to Sarah who was still in her coma. He leaned over and kissed her sleeping face, taking a seat alongside her. He told her about his latest adventure.
It’s been almost 4 years since Sarah entered into a coma. If she doesn’t wake up within the next 3 to 5 months, then it isn’t the brain signals keeping her asleep. If this doesn’t work, I have no clue what I can do.
To stop himself from being overcome with helplessness, he went to his farm to do some planting. With a heavy heart, he sewed this year’s batch.
When he was all done, he had a few seeds left over. With an idea in mind, John walked towards the entrance of the cave and flew up a few feet. It was there that he created another drill below him and dug down about a hundred miles. When he was deep enough, he dug out a small cave and created another experimental garden. Three of the leftover seeds found their home there—one of each herb. If they survived and gained more Life Power, he would move the rest of his farm down there.
He dug down for thousands of miles which took a few days to do. He kept hollowing out little caves and planting deeper and deeper into the planet. He eventually ran out of seeds only a few hundred miles away from the outer core where the metal liquid was.
John reckoned if he dug a hole to the metal liquid without closing the gap, the metal liquid could travel up the hole and maybe reach the surface. He wasn’t looking to destroy any other planets currently, so he avoided digging there altogether.
He did, however, teleport the few hundred miles to the metal liquid. All of the skin and clothing of the people he’d killed were deposited and destroyed. The skins belonging to his Rank 8 or 9 victims took much longer to disappear, something he noted with an unexpected knot in his stomach.
Almost a month later, John was playing pool when he heard his system ringing.
Welcome to the Idle System 6.9.
Name: John
Title: Demon
Age: 41
Idlers: 0/616
Skill Points: 5
Life Pool: 2
T
oxin Pool: 200B
Sin: 51
Time Pool: 17y 6m 7d 3h 36m 56s
Immortality List:
Strengthening Branches - Idlers 0/617, Indestructible - 0/9
Misc List:
Maximum Idlers - Idlers 616/617, +1 Max Idlers - 617/2159, Time - 16d 18h 24m 42s
Maximum Workers - Idlers 0/617, +1 Idler Workers - 518/2061
*SPECIAL* Sleep Mode - Idlers 0/617, Cultivation 0/1
Share Slots - Idlers 0/617, Unlimited 0/1
Blood - Idlers 0/617, Attachment 0/1
Element - Idlers 0/617, Wind 0/1
Electric Signal - Idlers 0/617, Reboot 0/1
John noticed the *SPECIAL* skill right away but decided to come back to it. When his eyes came across the Electric Signal skill, his heart skipped more than one beat. He opened it up as quick as possible; the five seconds required to open the information panel felt like years.
Electric Signal:
Reboot: Any damage to the electric signals in the brain will reboot back to normal function after 60 seconds.
John stood there, shocked. The next thing he knew, he was jumping about screaming, cheering, and thanking the system.
After a minute, he had calmed down and used his Time Pool on the Maximum Idlers to finished the skill, but as he was about to place all 617 Idlers into Electric Signal, he had a thought.
The skill levels are from Rank 5 and before the reset, meaning if I place those Idlers back into Maximum Idlers, it should level a lot since it should have reset. If I place them into Electric Signal now, I could use more years in the Time Pool to complete the skill. Did the system try to trick me in wasting my Time Pool?
Calming down, he turned the Continue option on and placed the Idlers back into Maximum Workers. Like he’d predicted, the skill had reset. The system had tried to get him to waste his Time Pool.
After 460 levels, the time increased from one second to two seconds, then doubled for each level. John did the same tactic as before and turned the Continue option off when the time needed went over ten minutes. He did the same thing for Maximum Idlers. After 460 levels, that, too, increased in the amount of time needed. It was double the amount he got from Rank 5, and quadruple the amount from Rank 4.