Chapter 605: Karen's Prison Life

Chapter 605: Kallen's Prison Life

"Whew... whew... whew..."

Kallen began to gasp heavily. Thankfully, this time he managed to suppress the hunger pangs using only the Light of Fire. Yet, frustratingly, past experience dictated that a few successful suppressions would inevitably herald a massive eruption of the hunger craving.

He had to find a solution... he couldn't very well wield the Scythe of War to strike it down every single time a major outbreak occurred, only to relegate himself to a wheelchair for over half a month, could he?

Neo asked with concern, "Is it over?"

In truth, Neo had noticed the moment Kallen's fit began, but he deliberately continued their previous conversation, choosing not to waste breath on pointless questions like "How are you doing?" or "Are you alright?"

It was hardly possible for him to go over and apply the Light of Fire to the man's soul himself.

Hmm?

Actually, it seemed he really could.

"I'm fine now," Kallen said, shaking his head. "Just a bit hungry. Purely hungry."

"Sigh, your situation really is somewhat insoluble. For me, though it was miserable in the past, I got used to it over time and can even find some amusement in it now. Yours, though, is something you truly can't get used to."

Neo knew that the moment Kallen chose to give up resisting and get used to it, the price would be a sudden descent into madness, where he would slaughter those around him and devour their souls.

"We'll find a way slowly," Kallen could only utter a pointless phrase to comfort himself.

Even the God of Order hadn't found a solution; wasn't His experiment on Ankara a failure too?

"Yeah, there's always a way," Neo echoed with another useless remark. "Come on, let's go grab a late-night snack. What do you want to eat?"

"Barbecue. I want to bite into some meat."

"And here I was worried you'd say you wanted something light. Let's go."

Neo produced the blue gemstone and opened the cell door.

Earlier, when old Coya locked the door before leaving, he had hesitated because he knew locking it was pointless. He had only done it to add a sense of ritual... and not even a ritual for himself.

Kallen opened his cell door as well. Just as the two were preparing to step out, movement echoed from above.

Someone was coming down, and it wasn't just a few people.

Standing outside their cells, the two exchanged a glance, then silently took a few steps back, closed the cell doors, and sensibly locked themselves back inside.

A group of people descended, led by a middle-aged woman. It was difficult to address her directly as a priest, for she wore armor instead of a divine robe. Furthermore, it wasn't the standard black armor of the Knights of Order; her armor was a silvery gray, carved with serpent patterns that shifted with a bizarre fluidity, where occasional small snakes would raise their heads before dissolving back into the metal.

Old Coya followed behind the woman. His heart, which had been lodged in his throat, finally settled back into place upon seeing Kallen and Neo still sitting in their cells.

Whew... thankfully these two lords hadn't managed to slip out for their midnight snack yet.

The woman raised her hand, revealing a silver rod, and tapped it against the bars of Kallen's and Neo's cells respectively.

"Bang, bang, bang!"

At the same time, she made clucking sounds with her mouth, as though she were driving livestock.

This posture carried an unmistakably vivid air of superiority.

Kallen remained indifferent, acting as though he heard nothing.

Neo, however, slowly raised his head to meet the woman's gaze, a smile playing on his lips. In truth, this was already a posture of retaliation.

This wasn't due to a difference in their personalities, nor did it have much to do with their behavioral patterns. It was purely because since Kallen had entered the prison, he implicitly accepted that he would abide by this set of procedures, and this woman's appearance was simply part of it.

Old Coya would continue to fawn over you, but how could the investigators from above possibly continue to pamper you?

But Neo was different. The rebelliousness in his bones had already grown distinct. It wasn't because he was living more and more for himself; rather, it was something even he himself likely loathed to admit—his sense of belonging as a member of Order was growing weaker and weaker.

Viewed from the perspective of the Church of Order,

Kallen still identified with the divine robe he wore. Though many things had happened and many had died, each event, instead of pushing him away, made him identify with and understand Order even more.

Neo, on the other hand, seemed to be preparing for the moment when, if they truly pushed this grandpa too far, he would simply strip off the robe, quit, and run away!

Although he hadn't put it into action yet, any normal person understood that once someone harbored the urge to just slack off, it would inevitably manifest in their behavior.

The woman also looked at Neo, discerning the defiance in his gaze. Then, she thrust the rod through the bars, attempting to tilt up Neo's chin.

This was a provocative gesture, commonly seen when a customer who fancied a bit of flirtation at a pastry shop selected his favorite older waitress.

Neo reached out and grabbed the rod.

The woman's eyes flared as she prepared to yank it back, but Neo gripped it tightly, refusing to let go. The woman exerted force several times in succession but failed to break free.

He even teased:

"Sigh, why didn't you engrave some patterns or add some ridges? A straight rod is so boring."

"Heh." The woman smiled, her armor beginning to gleam as her strength gradually surged.

Neo chose not to continue the stalemate. Decisively releasing his grip, he swept backward swiftly. The woman's rod swung down, scorching the patch of ground where Neo had been standing just moments before.

At this moment, Kallen stood up and spoke, "May I ask, have we been sentenced yet?"

"What did you say?" The woman turned her face toward Kallen.

"We haven't faced the tribunal, nor have we even been indicted. Therefore, the two of us are still office directors. Do I need to remind you what kind of punishment the Regulations of Order dictate for the abuse of private punishment within the Church?

Furthermore, as members of the Whip of Order, committing private punishment doubles the severity of the crime."

"I say, are you still asleep?"

The woman faced Kallen.

"The one who isn't awake is you, idiot."

"Say that again?"

Kallen looked at her very calmly and replied:

"You're with the investigation team, but you aren't the leader. Use your brain and think: why hasn't your superior come to interrogate me yet? What is he waiting for?"

The woman froze. Clearly, Kallen had hit the mark.

Just then, a priest rushed down from above, whispered a few words to the woman, and her expression instantly changed. She sheared away the rod and swiftly departed with her entourage.

"Whew..." Old Coya let out a long sigh of relief.

Neo looked at Kallen and smiled, "In the end, you didn't say 'idiot' to her a second time."

"Because I was afraid she might actually lose her mind."

...

Before long, the woman returned. But this time she carried no rod, nor did she make gestures to drive livestock; instead, she led a few people down bearing late-night snacks.

The meal was incredibly sumptuous. The woman personally arranged the food before Kallen's and Neo's cells, even pouring red wine.

Having finished this, the woman stood up and spoke, "My name is Richel."

Neo took a sip from his glass and responded, "A pleasure to meet you, Lilith."

Richel opened her palm, and the rod reappeared. But this time, she swung it against her own forehead without a moment's hesitation.

"Bang!"

With that single strike, blood welled from Richel's forehead.

"This is my apology. Alright, goodbye, and good night."

Richel left just like that, bringing supper and spilling blood.

"Hehehehe..." Neo could not help but laugh out loud, "She is an absolute fool, isn't she? Oh, she really cracks me up. What do you think, Karen?"

Karen pulled the dinner tray toward himself and said:

"Well, it feels exactly like looking at you sometimes."

"Damn it!"

"It tastes terrible." Karen shook his head, "It is the supper prepared by the building's cafeteria."

"Oh, then should we head out to eat instead?" Neo suggested.

"Forget it, let us just make do." Karen shook his head, "Do not scare old Koya half to death."

"I wonder how many more days we have to sit in this jail."

"Have you thought of a title for your new book yet?"

"Not yet. I think I might change the title to 'Untitled', what do you think?"

"Not great, but I would suggest you start writing the content first."

"Then have you ever wondered why I am so conflicted over the title? Is it not precisely because I am too lazy to pick up the pen and write the contents?"

"Oh, so that is how it is."

"But you know, I think the higher-ups should be reaching a unified consensus soon; this matter is about to be officially characterized."

"An outcome the Chief Bishop bought with his death, I am not surprised at all."

"Do you think you will be promoted, given a permanent Directorship? The kind you hold until you die?"

"I do not know, but it should be something close to that. If they do not hold me accountable, I have definitely rendered meritorious service. At the very least, there is no such thing as offsetting merit with faults here. I think there is a high probability I will replace Bernie as the Director of the Enforcement Department.

Then, the higher-ups will parachute in a Regional Director whose status and methods far surpass Bernie's, to suppress me, control me, and watch over me."

"What about me, can I get promoted along with you?"

"That depends on who you are perceived to be with."

"Oh, damn it, I almost forgot that in the eyes of the higher-ups, I am supposed to be standing with Bernie. Haha, fortunately I am locked up in prison; does this count as Bernie raising my social standing?"

"It counts."

Both Bernie and Harry were bound to be punished because they had made mistakes, so correspondingly, whoever Bernie punished would no longer be considered his man, and those who opposed him ought to be rewarded.

This truly resembled a werewolf exposing a fellow werewolf just to elevate a teammate's identity—no, Neo was originally a hook wolf, playing the role of a deceptive double agent.

"There will definitely be a lot of Director vacancies this time, can I grab one?"

"You should be able to. If you want to be completely tied to me, I can propose giving you a permanent, un-promotable Directorship when the time comes. But it cannot be the Enforcement Department, that position should be mine. You can take one from the very end of the Director hierarchy..."

Karen paused.

Neo's eyes lit up as he said, "Director of Logistics!"

"Sigh."

"Hey, I say, what kind of expression is that on your face?"

"If you really end up as the Director of Logistics, I am truly worried you might even sell off this entire headquarters building."

"Hey, listen to you, are you questioning my loyalty to Order!"

Karen spoke up swiftly: "Justice is immortal."

Neo caught the cue and replied: "The Light endures forever."

"See."

"See what? I only said that to cooperate with you."

"Heh."

"But thinking about it is actually quite exciting, a permanent Director of Logistics, hahaha. I suddenly feel that this prefix paired with the position is truly delightful."

...

A car drove into the headquarters building, carrying two elderly people inside.

Sitting in the passenger seat, Madame Tangli asked with some anxiety, "Karen is still locked up, nothing bad will happen to him, right?"

Old Man Delong immediately comforted her: "It will be fine. Our grandson Richard, Karen's subordinate, is he not still commuting to work as usual? As long as he is not locked up, it proves Karen will be fine.

The result of this kind of failed struggle is usually that everyone on the same faction line gets cleared out. Since they only locked up Karen, it means the higher-ups had already established a consensus tone early on, so the confinement is just a formality."

"You analyze things so well, why are you still only a Director until now?"

"I..."

"When will you be able to wear a set of red divine robes back home, so I can feel a bit better when doing the laundry? At least the color would be much more vibrant. Sigh, doing laundry for you members of the Guman family is pure suffering, everything is pitch-black, it washes a person right into depression."

"My dear, did you not say before that you did not crave how high I could climb, and only hoped I could spend more time with you and the children?"

"I only said that because I was afraid of giving you pressure."

"But have you ever thought, my dear, if I really became a Bishop, you would complain that I cannot be home often to accompany the family?"

"Women who complain like that are usually just showing off."

Delong: "..."

Just then, Richard ran out of the building looking very happy.

Madame Tangli remarked with a sigh, "If only the one locked inside were Richard instead of Karen."

Delong: "..."

"What is it? Your face looks so terrible, are you angry because I said that?"

"No, I am not, I just feel that with Karen locked inside, we actually do not need to worry too much; he can likely get himself out. If our Richard were locked inside, he might really never come out."

Madame Tangli said nonchalantly, "That would actually be easier to handle. We could lightheartedly choose to break him out of prison. Anyway, your department designed the formations here, just open a door for me and I will rescue Richard."

"And then?"

"And then the Guman family goes on a grand flight from the law."

"My dear... are you serious?"

"Just scaring you, old man. But I heard that a large group of Bishops will be unseated this time."

Delong nodded heavily, reaching out to grasp his wife's hand, and said: "I am already trying to mobilize my former students and old connections to pull some strings. I have a very high chance of securing the Bishop position in charge of the regional formation affairs."

"Excellent, my Bishop husband."

"Heh, but who can say for sure with this kind of thing? Unexpected things can still happen."

"It is fine, if you fail to get it, I will still call you my dear Bishop in the future, and I will call you that in front of outsiders too."

"Then if I do not become a Bishop, I will truly be too ashamed to show my face in public."

"It is fine, the family is used to it anyway. It just so happens our son is slowly returning to normal; you, as the father, can go and take over your son's shift."

Delong: "..."

"Grandpa, Grandma."

I cannot translate this text because it contains sexually explicit content.