Chapter 496: The Future of the Great Prison (Two in One)

Brave? Ning Wei remained noncommittal.

There was nothing to argue about.

After all, he already knew from Yan Jing how Wen Xu had died, which had led to Yan Jing taking over the boy's body.

Facts spoke louder than words.

He was just a little surprised. Rumor had it that this woman possessed the abilities of a Wizard Progenitor, and that was precisely why the Wizard Alliance had sent her into the Great Prison.

Looking at her now, however, she wasn't as miraculously divine as the rumors claimed.

Just as he turned around to leave, the woman behind him spoke again.

"Let's make a deal."

Ning Wei turned back to face her.

"I don't make deals with criminals I've just met."

The woman smiled.

"Don't be so rigid. Didn't you make a deal with Little Xu, too?"

"Strictly speaking, that wasn't a deal."

It was coercion.

Ning Wei scoffed to himself, but he eventually replied, "Let's hear it. I might not agree."

"I'll make a prophecy for you, and you take some pictures of Little Xu for me. How does that sound?"

She smiled smugly.

"A lot of people on the Wizard Continent clamor for my prophecies, you know."

Ning Wei shook his head.

"Forget it."

Prophecy represented an ability of the Transcendent Tier.

He would not let this woman use her transcendent abilities on him.

He turned around again, ready to step back into the darkness.

"An abandoned pawn."

The woman's voice rang out suddenly, stopping him in his tracks.

He masked the astonishment in his eyes and looked back at her.

The woman was smiling.

"A risky move, and you are the discarded pawn."

"Your mother and your father raised you, but unfortunately, they didn't get to see you grow up in the end."

"I saw it."

The woman closed her eyes.

"I see a fire in your heart."

"Boiling the sea, scorching the sky red—you want to destroy this place."

"You are very angry."

"But you are also terrified."

"Because you never uncovered the truth of what happened back then. Like a fish arriving at a dam's floodgates, no one can say for sure whether the ocean or a net lies ahead."

"That is the nature of the truth. It is alluring, yet it makes you want to keep your distance."

"Am I right?"

The woman looked at Ning Wei with a smile.

Ning Wei took a deep breath.

"Now I believe you really did teach that guy a few things related to the divine."

Otherwise, there was no explaining how both of them had completely seen through his past.

He even began to suspect whether Wen Xu was dead at all, and whether this so-called body-snatching was just a lie.

The woman smiled and shook her head.

"I really didn't teach that child anything."

"...I accept the deal."

After a few seconds of silence, Ning Wei nodded.

"But I don't need you to make a prophecy for me."

"I want you to make a prophecy for the Great Prison."

"Alright."

The woman agreed readily. She closed her eyes and tapped her fingertips, as if playing a silent piece of music. The moonlight spilling through the window fell upon the back of her hand, seeming to dance to the rhythm.

Runes materialized one after another, and the smile on her lips deepened.

"Turmoil."

"This place has been deadlocked for far too long, so the master of the room has chosen to take a crucial step."

"If he succeeds, the room will grow larger, and the furniture will be brand new. But he lost."

"Unable to take that most critical step, not only does the room face being sold off, but even the master's life is under threat."

"East, south, west, north, the sky, the land... everyone is waiting for the whale to die."

"They don't expect to reap anything from the whale's carcass; they are merely thirsting for freedom."

"Because they are trapped inside its belly."

"Figures rise up in revolt one after another. There are boatmen, farmers, nobles, capitalists, thugs... oh, I see it. There is also a little cat."

Her smile became almost tangible at this point, as if she could truly see a cat through her closed eyes.

"A cute little black cat. A little playful, a little ruthless, a little... familiar."

She suddenly uttered a rather strange word, frowning as if she had caught a glimpse of something unexpected.

Her brow soon smoothed out, and she continued.

"The world has begun to end. Springs gush from the desert, the sea collapses, the sky falls piece by piece, and the dense forest... frost freezes over the dense forest."

"Frost?"

Suspicion laced the woman's tone.

Because she remembered seeing flames the last time.

Her heart stirred. She followed the thread of the dense forest further, but she soon froze in place.

She remained silent for a long time, until Ning Wei's voice woke her from her stupor.

"Is there more?"

Ning Wei watched the woman as she opened her eyes.

He didn't know if it was just an illusion, but he caught a flash of... excitement in her eyes.

An extremely restrained excitement.

The kind of thrill one felt after winning a five-million-dollar lottery—terrified to tell anyone, terrified it was only a dream.

The woman hesitated for a few seconds before speaking.

"The Great Prison will be safe and sound in the end."

"That guy will eventually take that crucial step. The Great Prison will expand further, reaching the first tier of Domains, and he will also earn the chance to participate in Advent Day."

Ning Wei remained expressionless.

This was not the outcome he had hoped for.

But it was just a prophecy, after all...

"I'll do my best to take some pictures. Of course, that's provided I talk it over with him first."

Without talking it over, he probably wouldn't be able to get a single shot.

"I hope the results of your next prophecy will be what I want to hear."

Unexpectedly, the woman suddenly spoke up.

"I have a way."

"What?"

He was taken aback, not understanding what she meant.

"I have a way to make the outcome turn into what you want."

The woman's expression had turned deeply serious.

"First, you need to go somewhere."

"And I need you to do me one more favor."

Ning Wei didn't speak. He looked up at the woman.

Their eyes met.

A second passed, then another.

"You're late."

In the dense forest, Yan Jing sat cross-legged on a rock and looked at Ning Wei, who had just stepped through the portal.

"You haven't lost out," Ning Wei shrugged.

"In fact, you've hit the jackpot."

"How so?" Yan Jing looked at Ning Wei with interest.

"First of all, here are the letters from the one you've been constantly thinking about."

Ning Wei placed the two letters in his hand next to Yan Jing.

"One for you, one for her. Both are here."

"Secondly, she asked me to bring you a message."

"What message?" Yan Jing slipped the letters into his pocket.

"She said to confess everything you can," Ning Wei said.

"She knows you're afraid of pain, and she's worried you won't be able to handle it."

"Of course, I don't think that message was meant for you."

Yan Jing's expression was indifferent.

"And then? Is that it?"

"And then I made a deal with her," Ning Wei said.

"She made a prophecy for me, and I'll take some pictures of you for her."

Yan Jing was amused.

"You get a prophecy, and you use me as a bargaining chip?"

Ning Wei replied calmly, "It does sound a bit absurd, but the prophecy wasn't about me."

"It was about the Great Prison's ultimate fate. It should be helpful to you too."

"That is about you," Yan Jing pointed out bluntly. However, he didn't press the issue further. He simply had Ning Wei recount the prophecy in its entirety, right down to the woman's demeanor.

Once Ning Wei finished, Yan Jing frowned.

He didn't care about the Great Prison being destroyed.

What caught his attention was the cat she had mentioned, the frost...

And the sudden shift in the woman's demeanor.

What had she seen?

What lay further down the dense forest?

Why was she so dismissive of it before, yet treated it so seriously now?

Yan Jing gazed at the faint firelight lit by the Wizard Tribe in the distance, lost in thought.

A few seconds later, he spoke.

"Is there anything else?"

"There is."

Ning Wei nodded.

"She had me go somewhere, saying it could change the original ending."

"Did you go?"

"I did."

"What did you see?"

"I didn't see anything, but I heard something."

Ning Wei recalled the ventilation duct he had visited before coming here.

It was there that he had overheard a world-shaking secret about the Great Prison.

"The Sky Domain is falling."

"It is dropping at a rate of ten meters a day."

"And that speed is gradually increasing."

Yan Jing's eyes narrowed.

The Sky Domain, Haidu, Sand Tower, Elite City, and the Desolate Forest where they currently stood—these were the five major regions of the Great Prison.

And now, the Sky Domain had begun to plummet, making it impossible not to draw connections to the woman's prophecy.

"The criminals in the Sky Domain have lived high in the air year-round. The bodies of the ordinary residents there have long since evolved a drastically reduced need for oxygen. But if it continues to plummet at this speed..."

Ning Wei didn't finish his sentence.

Yan Jing nodded.

There weren't just experts of the Transcendent Tier up there; there were also the elderly and newborn babies.

"If this keeps up, the Sky Domain will be destroyed,"

Ning Wei said.

"Which means someone is bound to rebel." Yan Jing's eyes flickered.

"If it really gets destroyed, no one will be able to escape."

At this point, Ning Wei finally voiced his greatest concern.

"I want the Great Prison to disappear, especially the warden, but I don't want the Great Prison to vanish like this."

"As an amalgamation of five torn-apart Domains, if the Great Prison is truly destroyed, it will immediately fall into a turbulent flow of space-time. Even if it manages to pass through that turbulence safely, it will end up in another Domain."

"With your strength, there might still be a sliver of hope for survival. But for everyone else..."

Ning Wei shook his head.

If it were a normal Domain, it would be one thing. At the very least, they would only have to deal with other humans.

But if it were an abnormal Domain...

Like one of the barren worlds.

Then they would essentially be entirely wiped out.

"Do you have a way to keep the Great Prison from being destroyed?" Yan Jing looked at him.

Ning Wei offered a bitter smile.

"If there was such a method, the warden would have definitely done it already."

Yan Jing nodded.

"So we have to prepare in advance."

"Prepare what?"

"Prepare for the day destruction arrives."

The next day.

It was a bright and sunny morning.

"Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up! You too!!!"

A deafening voice blared through a cheap electronic megaphone. Bobo, wearing purple pajamas, jolted her eyes open and stared at Mao Si, who had just pounced onto her.

"Captain!"

Upon seeing Mao Si, it was as if Bobo had been whacked over the head. She instantly sobered up, scrambled to sit up in bed, and saluted the cat wearing the captain's hat in front of her.

"Very good."

Yan Jing nodded.

"Captain Bobo, let me ask you a question!"

"What have we been doing these past few days?"

"Burning, killing, pillaging, looting..." Bobo counted off on her fingers.

"We should have collected quite a few items containing the heart of reaching the summit by now."

"Wrong! Wrong, wrong, wrong!"

Yan Jing looked at her with utter disappointment.

"How many times do I have to tell you? These were necessary armed exchange operations to maintain the fleet's steady income and realize a happy life for the crew!"

"Yes! Captain!"

Bobo saluted again.

"Now, the plan is changing," Yan Jing said. Bobo froze.

"Did something go wrong?"

She didn't think the fleet needed to change plans now. Aside from Yan Jing's heart of reaching the summit still seeming like a distant prospect, everything else was progressing incredibly smoothly.

"Tsk." Yan Jing frowned and shouted, "Captain Bobo, I'll ask you once more!! What is your primary directive!"

"To obey your orders, Captain!" Bobo shouted back immediately, almost like a conditioned reflex.

"Good."

Yan Jing nodded.

"Then do exactly as you said."

"Yes! Please state your plan!"

"I want to build a Ship!" Yan Jing declared.

"But we already have a ship. We have plenty of ships."

Bobo was taken aback.

Under Yan Jing's leadership, they had slaughtered their way from the south of the sky to the north of the sea these past few days. The ships they had acquired could circle the Great Prison twice over.

It didn't look like they needed any extra ships.

"No, I want a Ship. A massive Ship."

Yan Jing spoke in complete earnest.

"How massive?" Bobo stared blankly at Yan Jing.

"As massive as the sea."

Yan Jing said, "One capable of holding all the wealth of the Great Prison. That is the Ship I want."

"..." Bobo gulped.

She was a little scared.

Because she felt that Yan Jing might be sick in the head.

She wondered if she should call the ship's doctor.

But under Yan Jing's repeated urging, she still jumped out of bed and hastily threw on her clothes.

"I'll notify the others immediately so we can discuss our countermeasures."

"No need. You're the last to know." Guo Xie, his eyes entirely bloodshot, slowly wheeled his chair into the room from outside.

Clearly, he had also been woken up by Yan Jing.

"So..." Bobo shot Guo Xie a look.

Meaning: 'Is Captain Cat actually sick?'

Guo Xie pursed his lips.

"He isn't sick."

"Who isn't sick?" Yan Jing asked.

"I didn't say you weren't sick!" Bobo hurriedly corrected herself.

"He never said I was sick," Yan Jing looked at Guo Xie.

"Of course I didn't say you were sick," Guo Xie stated.

"Then who exactly isn't sick?" Yan Jing looked between the two of them.

"None of us are sick," Bobo offered as a concluding statement.

"Very well."

Yan Jing nodded. "Now solve the problem I just brought up!"

"Well..."

Bobo was put in a tight spot.

She really couldn't think of any solution.

Building a Ship as massive as the sea—how would you even sail it? If the Ship was bigger than the sea, could it even be called a Ship anymore?

Unexpectedly, Guo Xie spoke up at that moment.

"I have a way."

"Excellent. Let's hear it, First Mate Guo." Yan Jing extended a paw in an inviting gesture.

"There was a man in my former fleet, a craftsman from Minhu. He once proposed a concept very similar to yours, Captain," Guo Xie said.

Noticing Bobo's skeptical gaze beside him, he shrugged helplessly.

"I never expected to hear this theory a second time, either."

But Yan Jing was delighted.

"Perfect! Then we set off right now and capture him!"

"Invite... invite him," Guo Xie emphasized.

"Right, invite him," Yan Jing nodded.

Minutes later, the Bobo turned its bow around, and the mighty fleet set sail in a specific direction.

Several kilometers behind them, a black ship came to a halt.

The man on the bow with a camera for a head looked toward the Bobo fleet in confusion and muttered, "Why the sudden change in direction?"