by Hao Yang
After dinner, Jason was preparing for his big night. Tonight he would fight for the first time in the prison. The fighting ground was right under the watch tower. There was no boxing ring or anything to mark the boundary. Jason had seen three fights since he got here. It was inhuman to say the least. But when he came to think about it, they were not Human anyway. Today he would fight Faty, the big Intinese. He watched Faty fight with a Lysisese about two weeks ago. The Lysisese couldn’t really hurt Faty, because the thick fat absorbed all the momentum. Faty simply waited until his opponent ran out of energy and won in one strike. Jason knew Faty’s weak point was his eyes. But he was only half the height of Faty.
There was still half an hour until the fight, but hundreds of prisoners had gathered near the watchtower. Eiteuoo jostled among those prisoners and wrote down their bets. Luee was standing in the distance. Since Jason punched him last time, Luee was scared and alway kept a distance from Jason.
Jason walked to Geuinm. They had become some kind of friends or the closest thing this prison could offer. Jason always gave the sloth some candies, which pleased Geuinm as well. He got those candies by trading in the gems he stole on the working site.
“Did you bet?” Jason asked easily as he handed a candy to the sloth.
“No.” Geuinm shaked his head.
“Why not?”
“I am not sure how good you are. You might surprise us all.” Geuinm said seriously.
“Oh, I see.” Jason smiled reluctantly.
“Did you bet?” Geuinm asked.
“No. I am broken.” Jason chuckled.
“I didn’t see you practice for the fight.” Geuinm said in a relaxed tone.
“I usually practice while I am doing it.” Jason said easily. He actually didn’t know how to defeat the Faty.
“That is positive.”
Jason saw Faty sitting on the other side of the playground. Dozens of prisoners treated Faty as the king. Some prisoners were holding the tower; some were serving him food; some others were functioning as human-powered cooling fans.
Jason was a little jealous. He was never that popular in his life. When he was a kid, he had some friends, but as he got older, he became more and more aggressive. As a result, his childhood friends were kind of scared of him. When he was in the Human preselection institution, the situation didn’t get better and he only made one friend Erikon.
“It’s time!” A guard shouted.
Jason shook those old memory out of his head and walked to the watchtower. Throngs of prisoners slowly backed off, clearing a path for Jason. Dozens of prisoners were shouting slogans for Faty. The crowd was heating up.
Jason and Faty both stepped into the zone. Some 200 guards were watching them from airborne platforms. Hundreds of flying drones were cycling above the crowd.
“Alright, you guys all know the rule. Fight to death. No time limit. The game is on.” Hwoei shouted.
Faty slowly walked to Jason, his bloated body shaking right and left, his chin dropping over his neck, his mouth opening wide.
Keeping his eyes on Faty, Jason slowly backed off and hit a chair. The crowd broke into laughter.
“Fight, you pussy!”
“Idiot!”
“Come on! Come on!” The crowd was boiling.
Jason gazed at the chair and then glanced over at Faty. He lifted the chair, carried it in front of him and dashed to Faty. When he got close enough, he threw the chair at the ground and then leaped into the air. The moment the chair landed in front of Faty, Jason jumped on it and used it as a springboard. He fired his fist at Faty’s mouth. Faty was too slow to dodge the attack and Jason thrusted his right fist into Faty’s mouth. Faty screamed in pain and bit down hard at Jason’s forearm, but he didn’t forget to protect his eyes. Just at this moment, Jason stabbed his right arm further into Faty’s mouth, grasped the base of his tongue and pulled it outwards. Faty hit Jason with his fists, but Jason didn’t let it go. He kicked on Faty’s midriff and pulled with all his strength. Jason could feel Faty’s teeth were getting loose.
“Aaaaaah.” Jason screamed and used all strength for the final kick. He fell hard on the floor with Faty’s tongue in his hand and some of Faty’s teeth on his right forearm.
Faty slumped on the ground, his body trembling, and blood spewing out of his mouth.
The crowd was dead quiet. Nobody expected it would end this fast.
Jason slowly stood up and stumbled to Faty.
“Bong!” He stepped on Faty’s head and squashed it into pieces.
Most prisoners gazed at Jason in panic. Several of them threw up.
“The game is over. Everyone back to your cell. Now! Your mother fuckers!” Hwoei shouted angrily. He just lost a whole month salary on this bet.
Chapter 133
The lights were off. The bloody smell on the playground dissolved in the seemingly peaceful night. Dozens of drones were flying around leisurely, checking each cell. Jason sat on the bed. He was tired and sore, but he wasn’t sleepy. When he thought about Faty’s death, he didn’t feel sad at all. He didn’t understand why. He told himself that he didn’t have another option except killing Faty. He started to recall all the fights he went through, either with animals or someone else. He remembered he fought a lot when he was in the preselection institution and he didn’t always win. In one of the fights, Erikon came to help him and they both got beaten badly. But the good side was Jason and Erikon became friends since then. There was alway a good side, no matter how fucked up you were. Thinking about this, Jason smiled at himself.
Just at this moment, one guard came near to Jason’s cell and said, “Hey, you, come out.”
The bars slid open and Jason stepped out. Following the guard, Jason walked onto an airborne platform and they flew out of prison block and entered a tunnel. Several minutes later, they came out of the tunnel and landed in the middle of a beautiful garden filled with all kinds of flowers. There were four guards waiting for them. Jason got off the platform and followed the guards to the edge of the garden. There the warden Wy itetn, facing a huge window, was sitting near a table with five guards standing by his side. A guard said something to Wy itetn and Wy itetn turned to Jason and said, “So I saw you fight today.” He motioned Jason to sit next to the table.
“I didn’t hear a question.” Jason said coldly and didn’t sit down.
“Haha, huh, anything to drink?” Wy itetn asked with a hypocritical smile.
“No, thank you.” Jason said coldly.
“You see, I have seen many fighters while I am here. I know the difference between those who was born to kill and those who was trained to kill. You have the talent. You probably think God wouldn’t do such things. Well, this gift is not something God intends, but rather the sum of all unintended wills.” Wy itetn said like an expert.
“That is deep.” Jason said as he flashed a brittle smile.
“Your Earth bound things no longer trust God anymore. What a shame! But don’t blame yourself. We went through the same period as well, but we learned a long time ago that sciences and technologies could only explain things on a material level. Just so you know.”
Jason didn’t say a thing. He was never a fan of God or any other religions.
“I always want to ask you. How you end up here?” Wy itetn asked.
“What do you care?” Jason said easily.
“Maybe you don’t know either.” Wy itetn smiled.
“Does it matter?”
“Not really, I mean as far as I concern, you are just a prisoner who can fight. And let me remind you, if you don’t fight, you will end up dead. You should make an effort to make me like you. In that case, both you and I will enjoy this process.” Wy itetn said proudly.
“I will think about it.” Jason said as he forced a rigid smile.
“I bring you here to tell you the big game will be in three months. If you lost that one, you don’t need to worry I will kill you, you will die before that.” Wy itetn said hastily.
�
��Anything else?”
“No.”
Jason left with guards.
Chapter 134
Klaycon was strolling back and forth near Gloria’s room. He was wondering what Gloria was doing at such late in the night. Jason was no longer here. Ever since he heard that Jason was locked up in prison Listan, he had been keeping an eye on Gloria. Klaycon checked the time. It had passed the midnight.
“What is she doing this late?” Klaycon muttered to himself. He was worried about Gloria, even though he knew no one was threatening her life. Klizan was dead and nobody cared about the love story between Jason and Gloria. Right now the high rank officers in the Glycan selection committee was busy with grabbing the power left by Klizan. Thinking about Klizan, Klaycon realized that he didn’t really miss his grandpa that much.
Gloria walked to Klaycon from behind and said, “What are you doing here?”
“Hi, Gloria, I am waiting for you. I brought you this.” Klaycon said as he handed an exquisite box to her.
Gloria glanced over at the box, but she didn’t take it.
“Where have you been this late?” Klaycon asked caringly.
“Take care of some business.” Gloria said coldly as she opened the door.
“Maybe I can help?” Klaycon asked kindly.
“Save Jason. Do you think you can help?” Gloria said ironically as she rolled her eyes at Klaycon.
Klaycon quickly looked around at the hallway and asked, “Can we talk it inside?”
Gloria let Klaycon in. It was a very small and cramped room barely the size of the restroom in Klaycon’s room.
“It is a nice place. Very cozy.” Klaycon said reluctantly.
Gloria kept an ice face and looked at Klaycon in a cold way.
Klaycon gazed at Gloria, admiring the beautiful curve of her body. It was so smooth and natural, flowing from her face to her feet.
Gloria slowly stood up and took off her uniform, pants and underwear. Now she was standing naked in front of Klaycon, her bodying shining under the light, her medium size breasts high and perky, and her long legs straight like arrows. Klaycon watched her in shock, his hands shivering, his mouth opening wide, his throat burning. .
“If you can save Jason, you can do anything to me!” Gloria said seriously.
Klaycon had imagined this scene so many times that he lost the count. For a second, Klaycon just wanted to jump to Gloria and took her. But he walked to Gloria slowly, looking into her eyes, and asked, “You can do anything?”
“Anything!” Gloria said firmly.
Klaycon let out a long sigh and shouted, “No one can save him. No one!”
Gloria didn’t say a thing and quickly put on her clothes.
“You are going to save Jason?” Klaycon asked in a worried tone.
“That is none of your fucking business!” Gloria said calmly.
“That is prison Listan. The most heavily guarded prison in the universe. You don’t even know where it is.” Klaycon shouted.
“If you can’t help me, fuck off.” Gloria said coldly.
“I can’t let you do this!” Klaycon said hastily as he grabbed Gloria’s shoulder.
Gloria swung a fist to Klaycon’s face, but Klaycon dodged it. He grabbed that fist and yelled, “Why do you do this to yourself?”
“You will never understand.” Gloria said firmly.
“I love you. I have done things for you. Much more than Jason.” Klaycon said emotionally, his eyes filled with tears.
“Oh, really? Tell me about it. Don’t you forget I saved you from that tunnel. We are even!” Gloria said coldly.
“I killed…”
“I don’t care who you killed. Now leave!” Gloria interrupted Klaycon as she pointed at the door.
Klaycon knew this conversation wouldn’t go anywhere. He hesitatingly turned around and walked out, heading back to his room. When he arrived at his room, he saw some 40 girls waiting for him. Ever since he came back, he was even more popular than before. Klaycon smiled at them politely, but he had absolutely no appetite tonight.
Chapter 135
Soon after General Kalan’s victory against Liutein, those generals saved by General Kalan resumed their posts. Since General Klizan was dead, every member in the Joint Commanders of Staff was coveting the chair of offensive department and they quickly got into action and lobbied around. General Klizan had been working hard on that too, but his influence stopped short of affecting the senior members of those powerful families. He was still too young. Even in the family K, Kalan couldn’t take the head position which was succeeded by Klizan’s brother. However, Kalan didn’t give up and gathered supports from the commanders from 23 fleets. Most of them backed up Kalan and it finally landed him a seat in the Joint Commanders of Staff. In the meanwhile, Kalan was still the commander of the Seventh fleet.
It turned out that the competition for the chair of offensive department was so frenzied that the members of Joint Commanders of Staff all agreed that no one should take this position and they should executed the right of the chair together. They decided to spare the royal families, but keep them out of the system. The royal families was no longer the diplomatic face of Glycan. As for Liutein, the Joint Commanders of Staff had labelled him as the most wanted criminal and offered a hefty reward for clues leading to his capture.
Right now General Kalan was heading to Guardian Fleet headquarter. He would discuss with other eight species about the Hylocan issue. This was a preparation meeting before the main conference which the leaders of nine species would attend.
The vessel carrying Klizan slowly touched down on Eva-1. After 20 minutes, Kalan walked in the conference room. Six generals were already there and nobody was talking to anyone. Kalan picked a chair next to the window. He believed Glycan was much greater than all other species and he kind of felt that others species also thought they were the best. They were all wearing their cold and straight faces and waiting impatiently. Kalan knew the rule: the more powerful species you were, the later you could show up. Nowadays, Estian and Oireitan had become as strong as Glycan, if not stronger.
Several minutes later, Estian General Geijoa and Oireitan General Ru aihotr entered the room.
“So I guess we can get started.” Kalan said hastily.
“First, General Kalan, are you sure that fucking Human wore Hylocan queen’s ring?” Geijoa said unhappily.
“What is his name again?” Ru aihotr asked impatiently.
“Yes, we got the ring from him. I have said it many times.” Kalan said calmly.
“Then why Hylocan didn’t come to rescue this Jason Marton?” Geijoa said angrily.
“Patient. It was just more than a month.” Kalan said slowly.
“We are counting on how much the Hylocan queen loves this Human. Is there anything more stupid than this?” Ru aihotr complained.
“This Human was the only lead we have. If you two have better ideas, I am on my ears.” Kalan said ironically as he looked at Geijoa and Ru aihotr.
“Can I speak something for the other six species?” Uainanese General T-Regae said politely.
“Of course. You are one of us.” Geijoa said happily.
Klizan knew what Geijoa meant. Estian, Oireitan and Uainanese were paying for the new vessels for Guardian Fleet. Even though Uainanese didn’t have an arm as strong as Glycan, their economy gave them a strong pull.
“When Estian, Glycan and Oireitan finished their turns to watch the prison, the other six species should combine their forces together and patrol that area.” T-Regae said
“That is fine. But the patrol time won’t change. It will be six months not one month.” Ru aihotr said firmly.
“That is not reasonable. Even though we agree each species only does one month, you have to consider the armed forces we have.” Yaseen General Ihiet said sincerely.
“It is our decision to take turns to send our own fleets to monitor prison Listan.” Geijoa said coldly.
“Yes and we all know the reason, don’t
we? The outdated combat vessels of Guardian Fleet couldn’t even stand up for a fight!” Ihiet said hastily.
“General Ihiet, we need to work together in this case. If you don’t want to put in, everyone’s safety will be in jeopardy.” Ru aihotr said in an official tone.
“We are giving our best. But you need to think about the capability of our armed forces. Estian, Oireitan and Glycan are strong and you three should take more responsibilities.” Ihiet said innocently.
“Who are going to pay?” Ru aihotr asked directly.
Ihiet suddenly lost steam and casted his eyes down.
Kalan knew Ihiet was right. But he also knew the six species were not really involved in the slaughter of Hylocan and that might be the reason why they couldn’t fully commit to this matter.
“That is the way it is. If we don’t work together, then one day Hylocan will come back and you will count on us to defend you.” Ru aihotr said coldly as he pointed at himself.
Kalan flashed a brittle smile.
Later, they discussed the details about monitoring prison Listan and their strategies to the possible attack from Hylocan. At least they all agreed on one thing: the Hylocan was definitely coming back. Estian also pointed out that they lost a squadron of 10 combat vessels about a month ago. The investigation showed that those 10 vessels fired at each other. Except Kalan all generals were worried. Kalan knew this incident from Klaycon and now he was really concerned about the Hylocan eyeball. Thinking about this, Kalan decided to put more effort to find Cruiser General Klizan.
The meeting finished with some surface level agreements. Everyone was watching how much efforts others put in and everyone was calculating how to save their own species and consume the most of other species.
Chapter 136
After talking with Gloria, everyone got their own assignments. Erikon and Lucis were in charge of collecting guard’s information in prison Listan. Sayilin and Orizy would take care of locating the prison. Titainein and Idi were responsible for the vessel and the security layout of the prison.