Martial Arts Worlds

In the meeting room of the ship, gathered around a round table, Kiernan, Antigone, and some of the ship's crew had gathered.

A map was open on the table, showing the rough region around the Downed Prison, and with a cigarette in his mouth, the ship captain started speaking.

"Downed Prison is located in unpredictable waters. The weather can change abruptly there, so we cannot predict what conditions we will encounter once we get closer.

"Still, we will take you to the prison, hand you to the prison guards, and then leave, but we will stay near.

"There is an abandoned island near the Downed Prison, where we will dock while you are in the prison.

"We will mask the ship to look like a pirate ship belonging to Captain Jack's fleet.

"Once you start breaking out of the prison, we will start heading back over there, and once you are out, we will pick you up and leave."

He let out a puff of smoke and looked at Kiernan, wondering what he was thinking about the plan.

"How will you know when I will start my prison break?"

Kiernan asked curiously.

"With this."

The ship captain grabbed his thumb, pulled it, and ended up dislocating it.

In that moment, one of the crewmates had his eyes glow.

"My crewmate has the ability of Broken Thumb Locater. It might sound silly, but he has the ability to locate anyone with an injured thumb in the nearby area.

"Once you dislocate your thumb, he will know that you are attempting to break out."

The ship captain said.

'…I shouldn't laugh, but maybe my Black Qi wasn't actually a bad ability compared to him. It does have its uses, as he can locate his crewmates easily with that ability, but wow…'

Kiernan thought with a twitching lip.

"You will do your thing inside. If you happen to fail to escape, I need you to dislocate both of your thumbs. If that happens, we will know that you need help."

The ship captain said.

"And then what? I doubt any of you will actually come to the prison to come pick me up."

Kiernan said.

"…We will talk to the Prison Warden that there has been a mistake. That we mistook you for Captain Jack accidentally.

"Of course, for that to work, you cannot get caught trying to break out. If you start to lose hope in terms of breaking out, don't even try."

The ship captain said.

'If I am in the middle of breaking out of the prison and happen to fail, I am in a very bad position, and nobody can help me out. Got that…'

Kiernan nodded, and with the meeting concluded, he walked back to his cabin with Antigone.

"Psst…"

In that moment, Antigone whispered into his ear and opened the door to one of the guest cabins that hasn't been used lately.

Kiernan curiously looked inside and saw a teleportation ceremony circle drawn on the ceiling.

"What…"

"The ship will most likely get chased by the prison guards, and if it comes down to the fact that we cannot escape them in a ship, we will use this ritual to escape."

Antigone said.

"Okay."

Kiernan nodded and went back to his cabin to gather his thoughts. He closed the cabin door to completely isolate himself from the outside world.

"Huff… Huff…"

He closed his eyes, crossed his legs, and started meditating.

…

Downed Prison, Level 6.

Hack! Hack! Hack!

With machetes in hand, the prisoners were cutting down the overgrown vines of the tropical level.

The dangerous flies were buzzing, and the prisoners were desperately trying to avoid them, as there had been people who had died after being bitten by them.

While not all the flies were deadly, some of them carried diseases that were, and thus, it was better to avoid all of them.

"Urgh…"

Julian itched the skin under the heavy metal collar and then swung the machete, slicing through the thick jungle foliage.

There were plenty of prison guards around them, covered in a full-body shielding suit that would protect them from flies.

Unfortunately for the prisoners, they didn't have anything like that, as they were only wearing simple prison uniforms.

"…"

Julian grabbed the machete tightly, side-glanced at one of the prisons, and behind him, saw the closed door.

He for a moment thought about just killing him and trying to go for escape, but then one of the prison guards headed to the door, used a card reader to open it, and as soon as he stepped through, the door closed behind him.

'…I can't escape without a card. Fuck!'

Julian gritted his teeth hatefully.

It initially surprised him that the guards were willing to give prisoners machetes, as they could be used as some serious weapons.

It, however, dawned on him that the prison guards didn't have to worry about them with machetes.

They would easily be able to handle them in case any violence broke out, as they were all Martial Masters and above.

While the collar negated the martial soul's powers completely, and thus, the prisoners were basically Unranked combatants.

'I want to leave this place!'

Julian hacked at the thick branch, failed to cut straight through, and had to make a second attempt, which finally caused it to snap in two.

He picked the two pieces, tossed it into the cartwheel, and kept slicing down the vines.

'If there is a God somewhere out there, please help me get out of this place. I would do anything and everything!'

Julian's lips trembled.

"Hey…"

In that moment, a deep voice sounded behind him, and Julian turned around to see a man close to three meters tall staring down at him.

"You are in my way… Get out of the way, bitch."

"…"

Julian looked at the machete, gritted his teeth, and swung it at him, but the man grabbed his arm, and in one swift motion, twisted it behind his back.

"Argh!"

"Sleep, bitch!"

The man punched him in the face, and for Julian, everything turned dark as if someone turned off the lights.