Era of Magic and Martial Arts-Chapter 314 - 298: Breaking All Pretenses

Just as Qian Huan finished speaking, his phone rang.

His heart sank, and he quickly picked up the phone and glanced at it. The screen displayed a note from the head of the prison system.

Qian Huan’s face immediately became incredibly grim, and his gaze involuntarily flicked to Zhao Xing, with countless thoughts flashing through his mind.

Then, Qian Huan took a deep breath, cleared his throat, and attempted to make his voice sound more calm and confident before slowly answering the call.

Almost not giving Qian Huan a chance to speak, a barrage of scolding came from the other end of the phone.

The scolding on the phone was full of anger; even though Qian Huan had already turned the volume down very low, the voice still pierced through the receiver and faintly reached the eardrums of everyone in the room.

Qian Huan’s fingers clenched tightly around the phone case, his face extremely unpleasant:

"Let me explain, there must be some internal sabotage behind the riot in Death Row, otherwise..."

The scolding interrupted Qian Huan’s explanation:

"I don’t want to hear this, you are the warden of the Second Prison, any problems that arise are your fault. I only have one question for you: how many prison guards have died in Death Row, and how many are still alive?"

The big screen showed death every second, the blood from the dungeons almost seeping out of the screen. How could Qian Huan distinguish how much of that blood belonged to prisoners and how much to the hijacked prison guards?

Anyway, the sound of machine guns never ceased.

Qian Huan could only give a vague answer: "Half of the prison guards have sacrificed, and half have been hijacked, but likely..."

The voice on the phone rudely interrupted Qian Huan, angrily saying:

"Don’t tell me likely, remember, I don’t care what method you use, none of the remaining prison guards can die, they all need to be rescued alive for me.

If not, you don’t need to explain to me, go explain to the families of those sacrificed prison guards, go explain to the Executive Government, go explain to the media reporters."

The angry voice echoed in the room, with everyone looking at Qian Huan’s expression in different ways.

Only Zhao Xing, with his back to Qian Huan, continued watching the bloodbath on the big screen without blinking, seemingly absorbed into the screen, ignoring all the external sounds.

Qian Huan felt immense pressure, just as he expected, this mess was going to be thrown onto him indiscriminately.

Qian Huan cursed inwardly: "Damn bureaucratic style, all pompous words, but none take responsibility."

Qian Huan’s brows furrowed into a knot, gritting his teeth, he said into the phone:

"I can’t do it; I will never compromise and bow to any prisoner. I believe the prison guards hijacked in Death Row share the same belief with me."

The scolding voice on the other end of the phone was stunned:

"Do you know what you’re doing? Young man, you’d better think carefully before speaking, this isn’t the commercial game you played in Celestial Light Capital, you have to be responsible for every life in your words."

Qian Huan, enraged, laughed sarcastically, his eyes glittering coldly:

"Of course, I am the warden of the Second Prison, I am the one responsible for it, and as you said, I don’t need to explain to you."

With that said, without waiting for any reaction from the other end, he gripped and twisted the phone, deforming it, the voice on the phone instantly choking, only producing sporadic buzzing sounds.

Qian Huan’s face was extremely cold, and everyone in the room kept silent in fear.

Hanging up this call was tantamount to tearing open relations with the upper echelons of the prison system. Qian Huan understood that the upcoming struggle would be even more bloody and brutal.

"Damn it, hateful bureaucratic attitude, truly impossible to sit at a table and eat with them," Qian Huan thought fiercely. He initially wanted to be a bit more moderate, but now it seemed he was too naive.

His eyes scanned the room’s occupants menacingly and said sharply:

"No compromise, no submission, no negotiation, understand?"

The management of Second Prison turned pale collectively, they naturally heard that the warden was not only talking to the prisoners but was also speaking to all of them.

"This time, it seems like real change is coming to the Second Prison."

The same thought arose in everyone’s mind simultaneously. They had different thoughts, some waiting to see a joke, thinking the warden didn’t know his limits, others considered switching sides and betting big, while some were ambitious, scheming to usurp.

The monitor screen was soaked with blood, and the air outside the screen was brewing a cold and bloody storm.

Qian Huan’s gaze finally fell on Feng Mu, his voice low and hoarse:

"Feng Mu, go investigate, anyone in the Second Prison, if you need them, you can make them cooperate with you. If you encounter any difficulties or needs during the investigation, you can come to me. I only want one truth, quickly, and before Secretary Hou comes for inspection next week, find out the truth."

Listening to the warden’s extremely firm support, everyone in the room shivered and all glanced at Feng Mu, some with contemplative looks, and some with derisive smirks, viewing Feng Mu as if seeing a dead man.

Zhao Xing’s expression slightly changed, with a bit of doubt in his heart: "Secretary Hou is coming to inspect the prison next week? What’s the situation?"

Feng Mu didn’t care about their looks and thoughts; he solemnly saluted Qian Huan, then walked over to the technical prison guard and said in a voice not too loud but just enough for everyone in the room to hear:

"I need the surveillance footage from Death Row for the last 48 hours, can you sort it out and help me check it together?"

Technical prison guard Liu Yi swallowed nervously, the oppressive atmosphere in the room made him shudder uncontrollably, with only one thought in his mind: to leave this suffocating place as soon as possible.

His gaze involuntarily turned to Feng Mu; in this stifling room, only Feng Mu, who had just assisted and spoken to him gently, could make him feel a bit of safety and warmth.

Then, Liu Yi felt like Feng Mu heard his inner plea and extended an olive branch of help to him.

Liu Yi raised his head, nodding eagerly to Feng Mu, and quietly replied: "Okay, thank you."

Feng Mu was slightly stunned, not understanding why Liu Yi was expressing gratitude towards him, as the other party was likely to be entangled in a dangerous whirlpool.

But, Feng Mu respected others’ privacy and thoughts and did not inquire but rather accepted Liu Yi’s gratitude comfortably.

Feng Mu patted the other’s shoulder with one hand, showing a polite and gentle smile:

"Don’t worry, you organize the footage and copy it out first, I will go investigate now. When you’re done, come directly to me."

....

More than an hour later.

Inside an office.

Liu Yi was moving the progress bar of the surveillance footage with focus, suddenly, he hit the pause button abruptly, as if discovering something suspicious.

He widened his eyes and replayed it twice carefully, confirming that he hadn’t seen it wrong, then immediately said to Feng Mu sitting beside him:

"Feng Mu, I’ve found something. This person might be a problem!!!"