Moreover, the main thing is—

This fragment of “Grudge Memory” was obtained from the light screen that records convict information.

And based on the characteristics of the light screen, this memory will likely only be presented once.

Jiang Ye naturally and subconsciously felt—

This memory fragment should hold special significance.

So, the message revealed in the memory, “Evil is stronger than good,” perhaps also carries some deeper meaning?

It might even very likely be an intentional hint?

Evil is stronger than good…

Is this suggesting that within this prison environment, he should choose to “specialize” in the dark element?

And the Glyph Pattern Ability corresponding to the “Exile Fruit” happens to be of the dark element.

So, could this “Exile Fruit” actually be a good thing after all?

Of course, people in the group chat also mentioned the “Exile Fruit,” but a bunch of shrewd folks were only asking others if they had the “Exile Fruit” and what effects it had after consumption…

No one proactively revealed any genuinely useful information.

While pondering this in his heart, Jiang Ye also shifted his gaze to his left wrist.

He had used his left hand to press the light screen.

Thus, the prison watch transformed from the light screen was now worn on his left hand.

It looked like an ordinary watch.

The face was a one-inch square, similarly displaying the convict information for “Zhou Qiming,” identical to what was on the light screen.

Of course, right now, the execution time for the death sentence with reprieve had a countdown of only 42 minutes remaining.

Other than that, the entire watch had no other special features.

Also, as mentioned in the group chat, an exit had appeared on the wall where the light screen originally was.

This “exit” was not a door, but simply a square door frame.

Meaning, when he left this prison, he couldn’t “close the door.”

But actually, it didn’t matter, since there was nothing in the prison anyway.

However, this characteristic could be used to identify other prison rooms that originally had occupants…

Thinking this, Jiang Ye walked out from the prison “exit.”

Sure enough, just after exiting the prison, he felt a very distinct gaze firmly locking onto him.

He saw four black mechanical eyeballs floating in the air about a meter away from him.

From four directions above, they were monitoring him comprehensively.

Moreover, in the corridor outside the prison, such mechanical eyeballs were everywhere, slowly moving along the corridor as if patrolling.

Jiang Ye walked a distance in the direction the mechanical eyeballs were “patrolling,” while observing this section of the corridor.

The artistic style of this prison wasn’t the creepy, terrifying kind.

Instead, it seemed like a special prison set in a futuristic, high-tech background. Not only was the interior of the prison pure white.

The corridor outside the prison also had pure white walls, clean and refreshing, appearing to have nothing at all.

There were no apartment corridor door numbers, and no doors.

However, after walking for a while, Jiang Ye saw another “exit.”

Probably, a prison player had walked out from there.

Of course, it could also be some other situation.

Jiang Ye thought for a moment. Since it was anonymous anyway, he also posted a question in the group chat:

[Wanted to ask “our own people,” after you went out, have you entered any other empty prisons? Or has anyone thought about, after the light screen turns into a watch, not going out immediately, and waiting for other players to explore your prison?]

Actually, people in the group had been asking all sorts of questions.

But very few were truly willing to disclose information or answer questions for others.

By emphasizing “our own people,” Jiang Ye seemed at first glance to just be trying to get closer.

But actually, he was hoping for answers from his other clones.

Indeed!

Clearly, previous questions were rarely answered.

His question, positioning himself as “our own people,” was quickly replied to:

[I’ve already walked a pretty long stretch of corridor and also entered those empty prisons with exits. Originally, I also wanted to see if any players might be deliberately waiting in their prisons for others to find them. But every prison I checked was empty!]

[So I strongly suspect—those empty prisons aren’t necessarily ones players have been in!]

[It’s even very likely that we players are spread very far apart! Because I’ve explored quite a large area, but I still haven’t encountered any other players.]

[As for the situation inside the empty prisons…]

[From the outside, the prison appears empty. But after entering the prison, you might trigger events that lead to different “performances.”]

[And how a player handles different events will result in different effects like “Additional Punishment” or “Sentence Reduction.”]

Once this message came out, it naturally sparked discussion among many players.

Mostly, they were asking for details about the “events” triggered in empty prisons.

Some also shamelessly asked if they could reveal how to handle those “events.”

Of course, some more scheming ones expressed skepticism towards this player who suddenly revealed so much information, suspecting ulterior motives.

Jiang Ye, however, was almost certain—

This player who revealed so much information was, with high probability, one of his “own people”!

Not just because this person revealed so much information to him.

More crucially, this person subtly mentioned an idea—

They believed players were spread very far apart, making encounters difficult!

This indicated that this player actually wanted to meet other players.

Very likely, it was Jiang Ye’s clone, searching for other clones!

And the conclusion that players were spread far apart wasn’t drawn just from failing to find players after a lot of exploration.

It was more likely inferred from the fact that the clones weren’t sharing consciousness.

Thinking this, Jiang Ye felt increasingly relieved in his heart.

At least now, he was fairly confident that his clones were just out of contact.

In essence, they were still genuine “own people.”

After temporarily setting down the heavy stone weighing on his heart, and confirming no one in the group had revealed anything about the “events” in empty prisons, he walked towards that empty prison himself.

Pure white corridor, pure white walls, everything looked clean, refreshing, and clear at a glance.

However, when Jiang Ye’s wrist wearing the watch also crossed the “exit” of that prison room.

The “empty prison” he saw before his eyes presented a different scene.

Including himself, he went from standing cautiously to sitting in the driver’s seat of a luxury car.

He was driving?!

No, the car was parked.

In front, a man with an anxious, even tearful expression knelt in front of the car hood, kowtowing frantically.

Jiang Ye suddenly understood—

So this must be the so-called “event” triggered by an empty prison?

And his “performance” in this “event” should be what could trigger effects like “Sentence Reduction”?

Thinking this, Jiang Ye rolled down the side window, preparing to ask the man outside.

He heard the anxious voice of the kneeling, kowtowing man: “My wife is pregnant and hemorrhaging badly, we can’t get a taxi! Please, kind sir, help me, help me take my wife to the hospital!”

As he spoke, the man’s tears streamed down, and he kowtowed even harder.

He didn’t come over to the side window Jiang Ye had opened to speak, but continued blocking the front of the car.

Seeming worried that if he moved, Jiang Ye would just drive away.

And this way of begging clearly wasn’t planning to give way…

If Jiang Ye wanted to leave, he’d have to run the man over.

So, the choice in this “event” seemed simple—

Either, drive forward and run the man over, killing him.

Or, choose to help, and take the man’s wife to the hospital.

Jiang Ye’s first instinct was to just run the man over.

Even though this was a prison, even though he had already been sentenced to “death sentence with reprieve” for “intentional murder”…

The memory fragment obtained from touching the light screen had deeply impressed upon him the concept of “evil is stronger than good.”

That’s why he subconsciously wanted to choose “evil.”

But…

After a moment of thought, he actively got out of the car, went to the man and asked:

“Where’s your wife? Take me to see her.”

The man looked extremely grateful, giving Jiang Ye another hard kowtow.

Then he hurriedly stood up, anxiously saying, “My wife is in that small grove over there, I’ll go carry her over right away!”

Jiang Ye raised an eyebrow.

He had thought the man would lead him to the grove, and then this “event” might have some other twist.

Like good intentions being repaid with evil, him being ambushed in the grove after entering…

Unexpectedly, the man didn’t invite him to the grove.

Actually, by this point, the event was full of weirdness everywhere.

First, why would a pregnant woman and this man appear in this desolate, uninhabited small grove?

Second, why would someone like him, driving a luxury car, drive onto this narrow, remote path barely wide enough for one car?

Finally, the man’s words.

He had just acted like he would die to block Jiang Ye’s luxury car to save his pregnant wife.

But now, going into the grove alone…

Wasn’t he afraid that as soon as he entered the grove, Jiang Ye would drive off alone?

Perhaps these “prison events” didn’t need logic, they only needed to observe his “performance”?

Thinking this, Jiang Ye decided to perform even better.

He grabbed the hand of the man who was about to rush into the grove, saying kindly, “I’ll go with you.”

The man was moved to tears again, repeatedly saying, “You’re such a great person.”

Jiang Ye smiled, not letting go of the man’s wrist.

In reality, he quietly used “Grudge Memory” again.

He didn’t have high hopes.

After all, this man was most likely just an illusory, fake creature in this environment, possibly not meeting the conditions for obtaining a grudge memory.

Yet surprisingly…

After holding the man’s wrist for just 1 second, images of a grudge memory flashed through Jiang Ye’s mind.

This time, the images were finally not like before, either flashing too fast or being blurry.

This time, the images were quite clear, and also…

Hmm, hard to describe.

This memory should be a scene this man had witnessed before.

The scene showed a man and a woman, passionately entangled, vivid and sensual.

And as the scene emerged, emotions surged again in Jiang Ye’s chest.

Humiliation, anger, probably belonging to this man.

The images and emotions quickly faded.

Jiang Ye also quickly followed the man and saw the pregnant woman lying in the small grove.

And the woman’s deathly pale face was unmistakably the female lead from the vivid, sensual scene just now.

Hmm…

Jiang Ye glanced at the man’s face.

He looked very anxious, very distressed, quickly rushing over to pick up the pregnant woman.

Then he kept thanking Jiang Ye, before turning back towards the luxury car.

Jiang Ye led the way, proactively opening the car door first.

But then he ran to the trunk.

While rummaging for something, he said to the constantly thanking man, “No need to thank me, I’m a good person. Good deeds should be done.”

The man grew even more moved: “You will surely be rewarded for your kindness!”

Jiang Ye: “Definitely :)”

As he said this, the giant axe he pulled out from the trunk slammed heavily onto the pregnant woman.

First strike, the belly.

Second strike, the neck.

There was even a third strike, intended for the man…

Yes, Jiang Ye getting out of the car wasn’t to save anyone.

He just felt that simply running the man over was just a mediocre choice between the two options of “save” or “don’t save.”

And he wasn’t content with mediocrity.

So he decided to develop a new option—

Get out of the car and take care of the pregnant woman too.

Originally, he wanted to deal with both the pregnant woman and the man.

He even swung the third strike at the man.

But then, the scene before him went empty.

The man disappeared, the pregnant woman disappeared, the axe in his hand also disappeared…

All that remained was the empty prison and Jiang Ye himself.

Oh, and of course, the four eyeballs staring at him were still there.

Now, the four eyeballs spoke in unison:

[Good people get good rewards! Congratulations on obtaining “Sentence Reduction”!]

[Your Authority Level has been changed to “Guilty Youth”!]

Huh?

Authority Level…

Changed from “Evil Adult” to “Guilty Youth”…

Is that a downgrade or an upgrade?

Jiang Ye glanced at his watch again. The convict information had indeed changed—

[Zhou Qiming]

[Crime: Intentional Murder]

[Sentence: Death Sentence with Reprieve (Countdown 52 minutes)]

The sentence hadn’t changed.

The countdown time had increased.

So the effect of “Sentence Reduction” should mainly be reflected in the change of Authority Level?

Just didn’t know what practical use this Authority Level had.

Someone in the group had asked about it too.

But no one answered.

Jiang Ye also noticed—

After his question as “our own people,” others in the group also asked questions positioning themselves as “our own people,” but received no answers.

This code phrase could clearly only be used once.

Jiang Ye himself didn’t plan to ask again.

And he also didn’t believe everyone calling themselves “our own people” were clones.

So this code phrase just confirmed for him that the clones were fine and still united.

Later, it probably couldn’t be used much.

He hadn’t figured out the use of “Authority Level” yet, and this empty prison had returned to having nothing, with nothing to explore.

So Jiang Ye left the prison from the “exit.”

However, just after exiting, he turned around and went back into this empty prison room.

The result was, of course…

Nothing happened.

An empty room might only trigger an “event” once?

Or maybe it needed time to refresh?

Jiang Ye went out again, then retraced his steps back to his own prison room numbered 414.

The empty room also had nothing happen upon entering and exiting.

Jiang Ye thought for a moment, then started exploring in the opposite direction of the eyeballs’ patrol.

But this time, he directly felt along the corridor walls while exploring.

Wanting to see if those pure white walls without “exits” hid any secrets?

Based on his speculation, there should be a large number of prison rooms on both sides of this corridor.

It’s just that prison rooms are different from apartment rooms.

The “doors” of apartment rooms are clear, so apartment rooms can be clearly identified.

Prison rooms don’t have “doors,” so players can only identify those empty rooms with exits.

But those wall sections without exits should also conceal some prison rooms.

That’s what he thought, so feeling the walls also carried the idea of searching for hidden rooms.

As a result, just a few steps in, a sudden, intense electric shock sensation shot through his wrist wearing the watch!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep