At two in the morning, the door to the single-occupant cell unlocked.
Yang Ming sprang up from the bed vigilantly, frowning at the door that had opened a slight crack.
A black card was slipped in, and then the door closed once again.
Yang Ming's ears twitched lightly, the snoring from various cells audible, along with the fading sound of light footsteps.
After quite a wait, Ming cautiously approached the door to pick up the card.
The material of the object was unknown, cold to the touch. On the back was a sticky note that read "Pad Six."
Yang Ming placed the card on the door lock, and the familiar click sounded, the electronic door unlocking by itself...
Oh, was this a clear invitation for him to break out of prison at will?
Were those schemers behind the scenes that impatient?
He had only been in this solitary cell for six or seven hours, hadn't even enjoyed the private bathroom a few times!
Yang Ming pressed his ear against the door to listen carefully, and after confirming there was no one outside, he quietly pushed the door open.
He looked up to find that the guard post, which should have been manned, was eerily empty; overhead, two miniature cameras were slowly rotating, aiming right at his forehead.
This detail confirmed Yang Ming's suspicion.
Chief Gulipa wanted him to make contact with Kolev, to use this card to open the adjacent cell and then leave with Kolev to Pad Six?
Pfft, only a fool would believe that.
Yang Ming could almost hear the whispered conversations of the guards hidden in the shadows, could see the Chief's sinister smile.
But for Yang Ming, this was also an opportunity to make direct contact with Kolev.
He hugged the wall to the next cell and spotted the metal nameplate on it.
"He's a villain of the worst sort."
"He's killed countless, a fearsome pirate."
"He must spend the rest of his 'Life' here."
"One must never let their guard down with him."
For some reason, Yang Ming felt a flicker of anticipation at this moment.
He imagined seeing a ferocious man standing atop a mountain of corpses, dark red mechanical prosthetics emitting faint electric arcs.
Suddenly, the electronic lock in front of Yang Ming displayed a green unlock signal, yet Ming had not used the black card in his hand.
The door had been opened from the inside!
Yang Ming immediately moved to hide on the right side.
The door of cell 625 opened a crack, a warm yellow glow spilling out. Ming peered through the slit, only to see a...
Eh, this was the grand pirate he had been searching for over a week?
The man was a skinny old fellow with whitening sideburns and hair knotted into tufts, clear indicators of his poor personal hygiene. His light green striped pajamas and the cartoon-character-adorned sleeping cap were quite unique.
If Ming had to compare, he looked somewhat like a shrunken version of the cinematic figure "Gandalf."
Of course, more attention-grabbing than the old man was the other black card in his hands, along with the paper magazine featuring a half-naked girl on the cover that he held.
The old man spotted Yang Ming, and their eyes briefly met.
The alloy door slammed shut, the electronic lock securing itself once more.
Yang Ming used his card to unlock the door and burst in.
The old man snatched off his cartoon sleeping cap and, with a casual air, braced himself with one hand against the wall, raising an eyebrow at Ming.
"Hey, kid, you need something?"
"Kolev? Leader of the Black Dragon Pirate Group?" Ming asked.
The old man paused for a moment: "Yes, that's me."
His gaze suddenly sharpened, fixating on the black card in Ming's hand: "Wow, you've got one too."
"Someone arranged for me to break out," Ming stated, "but I think it's a trap."
"It's definitely a trap, they love doing this! They give you seemingly favorable conditions, making you commit to the fact of an escape, so they can legitimately take you down."
The old man clicked his tongue, folding his arms in front of him as if the posture gave him some sense of confidence.
"Listen to me, kid, the interstellar court doesn't have any death penalties, everything here is transparent, under surveillance of various nations. As long as you play by the rules, they have no ways to target you.
"They dare not poison us; that would provoke a joint investigative team. They can't directly harm us here; that would draw the ire of human rights activists everywhere and affect their funding.
"Only escape, deemed an immediate threat to the life and safety of the guards, gives them the right to kill any prisoner.
"Your card – and of course, I have one too – it's just a trap meant to lure us to our doom."
"I agree with your point," Ming said with a smile, "so why did you try to leave just now?"
Kolev hemmed and hawed, muttering, "A beast that has tasted freedom won't willingly walk into its grave."
Ming's opinion of the old man improved slightly.
But this Kolev... barely over 1.6 meters tall, sporting flabby muscles and a potbelly, he didn't look at all combat-capable.
Kolev said, "Wait a second, that style of military trousers... you're from Sherman?"
Kolev stroked his bushy beard, chuckling: "Those noble ladies from Sherman do have nice skin, indeed."
"Do you want to leave this place?" Ming asked.