Chapter Seventy-Three: The Great Escape (Part One)

  Back in the cell, I was still thinking about what Gong Sunyuan said earlier. It seems that my previous thoughts were true, and I was indeed framed, which is why I was sentenced so heavily. The genetic medicine was important, but it wasn't something I intentionally lost, and given the situation at the time, Chen Lao and the others were all clear about it, they shouldn't have thrown me in prison, let alone sentence me to life imprisonment.

  I was waiting for Chen Jing's arrival, so I completely lost sleepiness, just sitting on the bed, quietly waiting.

  Wan's voice came in a timely manner: "Jin Cang, the person you want to see has arrived. Get ready and come with me to meet her immediately."

  I've been ready for a long time, so I quickly stood up and said loudly: "I'm ready, let's go."

  Wan Yi opened the door, put handcuffs on me and brought me into the reception room.

  Through the bulletproof glass, I saw Chen Jing, who seemed to have been away for a long time. Chen Jing looked somewhat haggard and her smile was also very forced: "Jin Cang, I've come to see you, what's there that you want to tell me? Just say it quickly."

  I knew the time for courtesy was limited, so I got straight to the point: "I want to know how I was sentenced to life imprisonment? I was unconscious at that time, what exactly happened?"

  Chen Jing said with some difficulty: "I was also kept in the dark and didn't know what happened at the time. Later, I heard from my grandfather that you yourself admitted to stealing the genetic medicine and selling it to our enemy, the Chiba family of Island Nation. There's your handwritten confession, your fingerprints...and also, they accused you of leading the enemy in a surprise attack on the Hu Long Squad, resulting in heavy casualties, almost wiping out the entire squad..."

  I feel like I've been framed, and with such despicable methods too. I couldn't help but shout: "At that time, I was unconscious, how could I possibly make a confession? And sign my name personally? This... this is all framing me! Chen Jing, did your grandfather ever mention this matter? I... I was unconscious at the time, how could I have done these things? What about Hu Long Lian? Total annihilation? What's going on here?"

  "Hey, don't worry, my grandfather also has some doubts about this. He's helping you find evidence to prove that you're being framed. We're investigating the Hu Long Lian case too, but it takes time, so you have to wait a bit longer. Don't worry, just stay here calmly and wait for our news, we'll get you out of here, trust me, okay?"

  I often take a deep breath, wanting to suppress the anger in my heart. Unfortunately, I was really provoked by those who framed me, and I couldn't help but shout: "Who framed me? I want to find him and settle accounts, find him and take revenge!"

  The guard standing in the waiting room immediately shouted: "No loud noise is allowed inside the waiting room! Otherwise, the visit will be terminated immediately and you will be sent back to your cell."

  I just think the voice of this guard is too harsh, can't help but turn around and shout: "Stop pretending to be a tiger, relying on others' power, I am being framed, why am I locked up here?"

  The guard immediately raised his gun and aimed at me, shouting: "Prisoner Jin Cang, calm down, or I'll shoot!"

  My eyes turned red, I fiercely raised my hand and punched the thick bulletproof glass. Hearing a piercing sound, I felt that my fist was extremely painful, and when I looked down, I saw blood stains on my fist.

  At this moment, Chen Jing suddenly exclaimed and pointed at the bulletproof glass with a look of astonishment. I immediately came back to my senses and hastily asked Chen Jing: "What's wrong?" As soon as my words left my mouth, I also froze in shock. It turned out that on the bulletproof glass which I had punched earlier, there appeared fine cracks all over, just like it had been heavily struck by a heavy object. I couldn't believe this was caused by my punch from earlier, and I hadn't even used much force either. Moreover, my hands were cuffed, so how could I have used any strength?

  Chen Jing looked at the marks on the bulletproof glass and whispered, "Don't make a sound, I'll think of something." As she spoke, she suddenly pulled out her pistol and pointed it at the bulletproof glass where I had just shot a crack, shouting loudly, "What are you glaring at? You lost the gene agent, and now you're looking for trouble! Watch me shoot you dead!" As soon as she finished speaking, I immediately took a step back and lowered my body.

  At the same time, Chen Jing's gun fired three shots in a row, all hitting the crack above. The bulletproof glass that had already cracked was completely shattered, revealing a hole as big as a head.

  The guard was frightened out of his wits, staring blankly at everything, not daring to move. I shouted loudly: "What are you still stunned for? Don't you hurry up and sound the alarm! Do you want to die?"

  The guard finally reacted and immediately sounded the alarm. At this time, Chen Jing pretended to be very scared, turned around and ran, all the way without stopping, and disappeared directly in front of my eyes.

  I was dragged back to the cell by three other guards who rushed in, and Chen Jing probably also successfully "escaped". Back in the cell, I looked at my injured fist and, after being secretly shocked, I couldn't help but wonder: when can my fist break through bulletproof glass? Is this... too unbelievable?

  Before I could think more, Wan Yi's voice had already come: "Jin Cang, are you okay? How could that Chen Jing open fire and want to kill you?"

  I glanced at the door and looked at my Wan Yi, saying helplessly: "She's my girlfriend. When she saw me go to jail, she wanted to break up with me. I didn't agree, so she... Ah, you know, I don't want to say more."

  Wan Yi suddenly said: "Your girlfriend's temper is too big, if it weren't for the bulletproof glass blocking the bullets, you might be... hehe... I didn't mean anything else, don't overthink it."

  I frowned and said, "Nothing, I'm used to it. By the way, can you get me some food over here? I need to recover my strength quickly, or else I won't be able to take care of myself if something happens later."

  It seems you're fine, still thinking about food, nothing's wrong with you.

  So he really went to get me food, actually I just wanted him to leave here a little earlier, so that I could calm down and think about some things.

  I looked at my fist, which still had bloodstains on it, but surprisingly, it didn't hurt much anymore. This seemed a bit unreasonable, but I didn't pay much attention to it. What really puzzled me was that one punch of mine broke the bulletproof glass; I thought maybe it was just a momentary burst of anger that unleashed my hidden potential, giving me such strength.

  Time passed slowly in my thoughts, but this time I felt it went by quickly because I had only sat for a while when I heard Wan Yi calling me: "Come out and get some fresh air, the time to let the wind out has arrived."

  So I walked out of the cell and came to the courtyard. At this time, there were actually many people discussing the fact that Chen Jing shot me yesterday. Even Gong Sunyuan rushed over to me after seeing me and said: "Jin Cang, are you okay? That little girl is too ruthless, she didn't even say a word before shooting at you, such a girlfriend can't be kept!"

  I sighed and said, "What can I do? It's because I like her."

  Gongsun Yuan patted my shoulder with his only remaining right arm, and said sympathetically: "Take care of yourself, ah... poor child!"

  I could only smile bitterly, looking at Wan Yi beside me, feeling that I was really pitiful. They sympathized with me, but didn't know that if Chen Jing knew I slandered her like this, what would she do.

  Gao Ge said loudly: "Jin Cang, you are also the deputy commander of the Dragon Guard Regiment, and you are considered a military officer. How can't you even handle a little girl?"

  I forced a smile and said: "You know nothing, stop talking nonsense. By the way, I'm from the Dragon Guard Regiment, which regiment are you guys from?"

  "Gao Ge loudly said: "I am from the Guard Regiment, Gong Sunyuan is from the Reconnaissance Company, those ten people playing ball over there are all from the 101st Regiment, and the others are a mixed bag, I don't remember them either.""

  I silently took note of Gao Ge's words: "Everyone is a soldier, and we're all one family now. Gong Sunyuan, what rank were you before? You weren't just an ordinary soldier, were you?"

  Gongsun Yuan's face turned red, but he raised his head and puffed out his chest, saying loudly: "Don't underestimate me, I'm the class monitor."

  His words immediately triggered a burst of laughter, the class leader and the soldier were no different, but he still spoke with a straight face, as if being a class leader was some kind of high-ranking official.

  Gao Ge instead raised his hand to stop the people laughing and joking with Gong Sun Yuan: "Don't laugh. Gong Sun Yuan was only promoted to squad leader because he was injured. You should know that everyone in the reconnaissance company is an elite, it's not easy to become a squad leader there."

  Almost everyone nodded in agreement, taking Hoggle's words as fact.

  I also roughly understand the meaning of this sentence. The soldiers in the reconnaissance company are all elites, so to be a squad leader there, you must have special talents that surpass others. All the soldiers say that it is much harder to stand out in the reconnaissance company than anywhere else.

  Gongsun Yuan smiled and said, "There's nothing more to say. In front of the people from Hu Long Lian, our Zhen Cha Lian is just a second-rate team. The real heroes all come from Hu Long Lian, this is a fact that everyone knows."

  Gongsun Yuan's words immediately gained more recognition, and everyone almost unanimously shouted: "Protect the Dragon Guard, Protect the Dragon Guard!"

  My heart skipped a beat, and I immediately spoke out loudly: "Everyone, no matter what our current status is, even if we are all prisoners, we will not forget our own troops. Everyone knows about the Dragon Protection Squad, and everyone thinks that the Dragon Protection Squad is a heroic squad. So let me tell you all, this heroic squad's story, do you all want to hear it?"

  Almost everyone cheered in unison, even the people playing basketball in the 101 squad stopped and gathered around.

  "After everyone calmed down, I said: 'I was the deputy commander of the Dragon Guard before I went to prison. My name is Jin Cang. There were only about 120 people in our Dragon Guard, not a small number, but also not too many. What I want to say now is about the last time we protected the gene medicine.'"

  As soon as the people around me heard that it was about gene medicine, they immediately became spirited and stared at me one by one, just like staring at the real gene medicine, eager to grab it.

  I laughed, and that's exactly what I wanted: "The enemy started with small-scale attacks, but we successfully defeated them all. Later, the enemy used advanced stealth aircraft to airdrop over 100 troops and launched a surprise attack on us. Our northern defense team - the fourth squad was ambushed and suffered more than half casualties, while other squads also suffered losses... We adopted various tactics and successfully blocked the enemy for several hours. Finally, we were forced to retreat into the building where the gene medicine was stored to continue our defense. Unfortunately, I don't know what happened, but we were suddenly ambushed without reason, and our squad leader Sun Heng went missing. I was seriously injured and fainted, and the Dragon Squad was almost completely annihilated..." I spoke in one breath until here, almost unable to hold back my anger again, my voice becoming very hoarse: "But some people took advantage of this opportunity to kick me while I was down, saying that I was a traitor who colluded with the enemy, led them to kill my comrades! They also said that I stole the gene medicine and fabricated my confession while I was unconscious, throwing me into this prison... You are all from military backgrounds, no matter what mistakes you have made or what your current thoughts are. Can you honestly say that our army has ever had such practices? Can such practices calm my heart? Can they be accepted by the world?"

  The people around me fell silent, each of them looking at me as if they wanted to say something but held back.

  I laughed: "What? My story isn't good enough to listen to? Why no reaction at all?"

  Gongsun Yuan was the first to shout loudly: "Jin Cang, your experience is too unfair, I feel wronged for you!"

  Gao Ge also shouted loudly: "This is simply a frame-up, it's a miscarriage of justice!"

  "Return Jin Cang's fairness!" someone shouted loudly at once!

  Someone shouted: "Give Jin Cang a say, or else get out of here!"

  "I shouted loudly: 'I don't want any fairness, I just want them to give me a statement, how was I sentenced to life imprisonment? Can a person who is unconscious make a confession and sign their name with fingerprints? This is naked framing, it's some people taking revenge in the name of justice!'"

  Gongsun Yuan shouted loudly: "We want fairness! Fairness..."

  Then as I had expected, everyone shouted: "Fairness! Fairness! Fairness......"

  Wan Yi looked at me and didn't stop me, but smiled with deep meaning.

  I just smiled and hinted to him that I had no choice but to do it this way either.

  The nearby guards, however, did not think so and assumed we were going to make a collective escape, rushing over in a flurry, some holding guns and others holding batons, with an air of being confronted by a formidable enemy.

  Actually, we never had any intention of escaping. When the guards came over, we voluntarily squatted down and waited to be taken back to our cells.

  At this time, Gong Sunyuan and Xiao Xiao told me: "I will find you tonight."

  I was taken aback and whispered: "Can you open the door of the cell, otherwise how did you come to find me?" On the surface, he just nodded without saying a word.

  I was dragged back to the cell, but Wan Yi didn't leave immediately. Instead, he looked at me and said calmly, "Don't trust others easily, no one here is a fool."

  I nodded: "Thanks for reminding me. Please pass on a message to Old Chen that I'll think of a way to get out as soon as possible."

  For a moment, she was stunned, then smiled and said: "You've found out again. The captain asked me to tell you that he will do his best to rescue you. For the time being, just behave yourself and don't give those people an excuse to harm you again."

  I smiled faintly: "I won't give them another chance."

  Wan Yi nodded slightly and walked out the door. I watched as Wan Yi disappeared from my sight, then looked at my injured fist, gritted my teeth, and punched the wall with all my might.

  A dull thud, a patch of blood on the wall, my fist cracked again, and fresh blood flowed. However, a faint crack appeared on the wall, looking as if it had been drawn with ink.

  I'm shocked by my strength, I don't remember being able to punch through bulletproof glass or walls before. I didn't care about the pain in my fist, looking at the crack on the wall, I couldn't help but think: Have I gotten stronger?

  But as soon as this idea emerged in my mind, I was immediately frightened. To become stronger, one can either train or practice those legendary ancient martial arts, or take genetic medicine. I have never specifically trained before, and even more so, I have not come into contact with any ancient martial arts, so to say, the only reason for me becoming stronger is genetic medicine.

  Did I take gene medicine? But I didn't have it before, what's going on here?

  I recall Chen Jing's astonished expression when she saw me punch through the bulletproof glass, and I also thought of why Chen Jing immediately shot at the glass and shattered it. She was worried that my "superpower" would be discovered by someone with ulterior motives, so she did this.

  Careful Chen Jing had discovered that something was wrong with me from the beginning, but it wasn't good to say so in front of outsiders, so she could only think of this way to help me out.

  I secretly felt grateful to Chen Jing, but immediately thought of a possibility: would I be caught and taken back for dissection and research? After all, I might be the first human being to use gene medicine, it's entirely possible that those genetic experts would take me as a test subject. Thinking of this, I became afraid, and cold sweat flowed down my forehead.

  I sat down involuntarily, then hugged my still slightly aching head and began to think carefully. I couldn't be caught back as a test subject, nor could I stay here waiting for death, I had to find a way out...and get out as soon as possible...

  I looked at my own fist, thinking to myself: My current strength is already sufficient, but if I were to fight head-on, it would still be impossible to defeat the guards with modernized weapons. So I couldn't do it by force, and had to think of a better way.

  Can I find Wan Yi to discuss with him? He is Chen Lao's person, should be able to give me some advice. But he is also a soldier, will he take risks for me, someone who is just an acquaintance?

  I'm not sure about this, so I didn't dare to go find Wan Yi to discuss it. As for Gong Sunyuan and Gao Geer, they themselves are in a difficult situation and can't help me. Unless... I still have to go find Chen Jing, only Chen Jing might be able to really help me. Moreover, I also want to know Chen Jing's thoughts, if she has the heart to help me, she shouldn't tell others about my "abnormal behavior", otherwise, it wouldn't be until now that no one has come to catch me.

  Wan's expression was beyond my expectation, he actually took the initiative to find me and said: "Chen Jing asked me to help you escape from prison, get ready, we will take action tonight."

  I was stunned and didn't speak for a while before saying: "You want to help me escape? This... isn't this a bit bad?"

  Wan Yi smiled: "This is Chen Lao's order, I am just executing it."

  "I thought for a moment and finally nodded: 'Then I'll wait for you to come over tonight.'"

  Wan Yi put down the lunchbox in his hand and said, "Eat it while it's hot, finish eating and take a nap. At 12 o'clock tonight, I'll come to find you on time. That's when our people are on duty, so there shouldn't be any problems. Also, don't attack the wall again, look at it, there are bloodstains all over it, this is not good for you!"

  I smiled wryly and said, "I'll be careful. I'll clean up in a bit and won't leave any traces."

  He smiled with satisfaction and as he was leaving, he pulled out a small dagger from his pocket and whispered "take it".

  I looked at the dagger in my hand, and thought of what Wan Yi had said. I was secretly grateful to him, but also very grateful to Chen Jing. Because these must have been Chen Jing's requests to Chen Lao, otherwise, with Chen Lao's identity and status, it would not be possible for him to think of a way to help me escape from prison.

  I quickly finished my meal and wiped the bloodstains off the wall clean. Once I was sure no one was paying attention to me, I hastily lay down to rest. Tonight's the night for the prison break, and I'm both excited and scared, but as soon as I lay down, I couldn't sleep.

  I tossed and turned on the bed, as the sky gradually darkened outside. I grew more and more tense. I had seen prison breaks on TV before, but now I was actually going to attempt this supposedly extremely difficult feat - it was impossible not to be nervous.