This night, time seemed to stretch, becoming particularly long and meaningful, filled with an indescribable sense of fulfillment.
The incinerator door opened and closed frequently, like a greedy maw, greedily enjoying this gluttonous feast bite by bite.
Every opening and closing of the door was like merciless chewing, swallowing the fresh processed food into the seemingly forever unfillable abyss of a stomach.
As each corpse was devoured, Feng Mu also reached a consensus with wave after wave of prisoners, planting subtle seeds of deep thought in their minds.
Under the witness of burning corpses, everything appeared bright and sacred, with Feng Mu's guidance like the shadow cast by the flames, leading these prisoners to find a path to hope and vitality.
Time gradually reached dawn.
After finishing the last class for tonight's group of prisoners, Wang Cong, with bloodshot eyes, looked both excited and exhausted at Feng Mu.
He exclaimed, "Feng Mu, we did it, these prisoners are all willing to cooperate with us."
Feng Mu calmly replied, "They're not cooperating with you and me; they're just mistaking us for a lifeline, desperately trying to save themselves."
Wang Cong nodded repeatedly, then asked nervously, "But can they really hold up, the prison guards' electric batons are harder than bones."
Feng Mu's gaze was deep as he said lightly, "Don't worry, the prison guards are merely external oppression; although fierce, an electric baton can only strike one person at a time, whereas the collective behavior of the prisoners is internal supervision, with countless eyes and countless hands that can instantly tear a person to shreds."
Feng Mu habitually touched his forehead with his fingernail, "No matter how fierce the external oppression, it can't compare to the brutality and madness from within their collective, after all, the prisoners understand the prisoners best, and the most brutal often come from their own."
Wang Cong couldn't help but take a deep breath, savoring the absolute ruthlessness in Feng Mu's words, feeling a chill, but he still agreed with a nod.
Feng Mu hadn't fully revealed everything to Wang Cong yet. His certainty wasn't just due to the above judgment of human nature; he also had a backup plan, which he deemed unnecessary to share with Wang Cong.
Wang Cong lightly licked his chapped lips and hesitantly asked,
"So, tonight we can continue, hmm, it seems the first step can soon be completed smoothly. But for the second step, how can I receive more money from the prisoners?"
Feng Mu looked at Wang Cong as if he were an idiot: "You can't collect money from the prisoners; we've just reached an agreement with them, and if you go back on your word now, the whole plan will fall apart."
Wang Cong stood frozen, frowning in confusion, "If I don't collect money from the prisoners, how will I complete my performance?"
Feng Mu gave Wang Cong a meaningful look and said intriguingly, "The warden wants money, but never said it must be collected from the prisoners. You've just been too short-sighted."
Wang Cong's brain went blank, his eyes filled with questions, "If prison guards don't collect money from prisoners, who else can they collect it from?"
Dark glimmers flickered in Feng Mu's eyes; all his groundwork in nurturing and transforming Wang Cong was for this moment.
"The first phase of transformation is complete; now it's time to reveal part of the preliminary plan to Wang Cong, to cultivate his mentality and ability to stand alone." Feng Mu calculated silently in his mind.
He controlled the micro-adjustments of his cheekbones, meticulously crafting his micro-expressions, allowing himself to exude unprecedented excitement and enthusiasm.
"For a long time, the management approach in prison has been to view prisoners as livestock awaiting slaughter, driving them to work diligently for a meager bit of profit while also trying hard to scrape fat off their bodies."
"I'm not saying that this approach doesn't work, but it lacks efficiency, and the concept is too outdated, unable to keep up with the times."
"The warden's new idea of an elimination system is somewhat novel, potentially generating substantial short-term gain, but lacks sustainability, still walking the same old path of killing the goose that lays the golden eggs."
"These methods do not fully exploit the potential treasure that is this prison. Every time I see these valuable prisoners being tortured to death like cheap swine and dogs, my conscience aches unbearably, keeping me up all night."
Wang Cong's mouth fell open in surprise, astounded by Feng Mu's shocking words.
He had initially thought that Feng Mu's talks with the prisoners about reforms for the future were just false promises, but it seemed Feng Mu really meant it.
Wang Cong's teeth chattered, "No, Feng Mu, are you serious?"
Feng Mu nodded solemnly, his gaze like flowing molten lava, and said,
"If we only see prisoners as livestock, how much money could selling their meat bring in, even if we slaughter them all?"
"Instead, if we package them into rare commodities, give them all kinds of labels, and present them to the countless guests outside the prison, even if we take only a little from each guest's wallet each time, it could generate countless profits for the prison."
"Most crucially, the Executive Government cannot endlessly send prisoners to Second Prison, but the number of guests outside the prison can sustainably grow."
Wang Cong listened with partial understanding. Though he did not fully grasp Feng Mu's idea, he couldn't deny the compelling power it carried, and the future Feng Mu sketched was indeed very tempting.
Attracted by the prospect Feng Mu described, Wang Cong held his breath and asked, "So, how do you plan to package prisoners as commodities, and who are you going to sell them to?"
Feng Mu bared a set of sharp white teeth, lowered his voice, and whispered in Wang Cong's ear, "Like this, then this, and like this, what do you think?"
Like a demon whispering, Wang Cong's scalp began to tingle, his eyes widened almost to the point of popping out as he gazed at Feng Mu as if looking at a devil who had descended upon the earth.
It's simply that every word in Feng Mu's proposed plan was overflowing with the outlandish fantasies of a lunatic.
Absolutely horrifying, yet irresistibly enticing, Wang Cong dared not, nor could he afford to, cover his ears. Those verbal glyphs seemed to have a magical power, relentlessly piercing into his eardrums and then irretrievably branding into his brain.
.....