The Highest Bounty

Rose could not believe it when she saw the message from Gu Ding. She immediately contacted First Mate Cavill.

 Cavill immediately picked up the call. “Something the matter, Big Sis Rose?”

 “Did the fella Cain escape from prison?” Rose asked directly.

 Cain took over the receiver. “Big Sis, it’s me…”

 “You’ve really escaped?” Rose was surprised when she heard Cain’s voice.

 “Something happened at the prison. The prison system suffered a total collapse, and that kid Gu Ding got me out just like that.” Cain laughed heartily.

 1The two of them chatted for a while more before they ended the call.

 Rose knew that Gu Ding’s message was true. At the same time, she had some doubts. It was too much of a coincidence that the Cerulean Prison system suffered a collapse on Gu Ding’s first day at work. She had watched Gu Ding grow from a little baby and she did not know when Gu Ding learned how to hack networked systems.

 Rose immediately replied to Gu Ding’s message. “Grand reopening of Rose Tavern tonight. Come to work on time. If you’re late, I’ll deduct half of your wages!”

 1When it was time to work, Gu Ding returned to Rose Tavern as though nothing had happened. There were fewer people entering and exiting the tavern, though he could hear the bustle from far away.

 When Gu Ding stepped into the tavern, Auntie Roastbeef and the rest were already sitting in a circle with their mugs raised in celebration of something. Rose saw Gu Ding enter through the door and waved at him to sit down on a chair next to her.

 Gu Ding surveyed the scene and saw that it was the only vacant seat in the tavern. He furrowed his brows as he walked over and sat down.

 Martini the bartender handed him a glass of milca. On normal days, Auntie Roastbeef would be cursing under her breath if she saw someone ordering a non-alcoholic drink from the bar. Unexpectedly, she did not say anything today. She lifted up the mug in her hand and smiled. “Congratulations to Lil Cain for breaking out of prison. Drink whatever you want tonight, I’ll just put it on Cain’s tab. He can pay all of it plus interest when he drops by next year.”

 

Everyone raised their mugs with cheer. At present, there were some outsiders in the tavern. There was no need to announce Gu Ding’s exploits to everyone because that might bring trouble to Gu Ding. That was why no one in the tavern mentioned him.

 The happy party lasted until the wee hours before all the customers left. Auntie Roastbeef, who had downed several kegs of ale, did not seem the slightest bit drunk. She filled everyone’s mugs once again with ale and pointed her mug at Gu Ding. “Cain had already told me what happened. I, Rose Ginger, thank you on behalf of all of my mates!”

 All the staff of Rose Tavern also raised their mugs.

 Gu Ding only smiled and said nothing. He downed his glass of milca.

 The other people in Rose Tavern also poured the strong ale down their throats while laughing.

 Without Neptune’s intervention, the prisons in Skyriver Sector quickly restored order and the virus was contained in a few hours.

 What Gu Ding did not know was that this incident had caused quite a stir in the Skyriver Prison Headquarters, but it had also raised the attention of the Federation Government.

 More than eighty percent of the escaped inmates were recaptured within a day. On Cerule, the two escapees that Gu Ding saw at the entrance were recaptured as well. The Cerulean Prison counted the number of escapees still at large and found that there were three. The most notorious of them was Cain, the space pirate who had a bounty of three hundred million Star Credits to his head and was about to be executed.

 3In the next afternoon, the system in Fertilia Prison had been restored, Pearson had no intention of staying on that planet for too long. He knew that many other prison systems were under the same attack, and he knew that his nemesis Cain had escaped from the Cerulean Prison. He unwillingly arrived at Cerule and started an investigation of the incident.

 The investigation lasted until late in the night. The moon shone cold light on the Cerulean Prison.

 For most of the night, painful cries and agonized begging could be heard in the interrogation room. After interrogating the final escapee, Pearson with his flabby face exited the interrogation room door.

 Two prison guards propped an inmate out of the room. The inmate almost looked inhuman from the torture. All the fingers on his hands were broken and none of his fingernails were intact. His naked upper body had more than ten burn scars from being jolted by a strong electric current. His trousers were still damp and smelled of panic urine.

 2After leaving the interrogation room, Pearson dialed the number of the chief warden of the Cerulean prison. As the deputy chief warden of the Headquarters, he held higher authority than chief wardens of branch prisons.

 It was half-past three in the morning. Old Henry was sleeping soundly when his communicator roused him from his sleep. As the chief warden of the Cerulean Prison, he was directly responsible for the virus attack on the prison system. He had worked the whole day and had only gotten home some time after midnight.

 He had only slept for a few hours before he was rudely woken up. He picked up the receiver and was about to deliver some choice curse words before he heard Pearson’s voice in his ear. He immediately covered his mouth as sweat broke out on his forehead.

 Pearson was the deputy chief warden from the Headquarters and was considered his superior. Most importantly, he never forgot a grudge.

 Old Henry was in the prison system for more than thirty years and knew Pearson decently well. He had attended a meeting in Headquarters seven or eight years ago. Back then, the chief warden of a branch prison had laughed when he saw Pearson’s comical appearance for the first time. Not only was the branch chief warden fired within a month, but he was also framed with a mountain of evidence of corruption and was sent to the sexual deviants wing in the Prison Headquarters. That chief warden could not stand the mistreatment in prison and committed suicide within the week.

 “I’ve heard that you have recently recruited an intern named Gu Ding?” Pearson’s voice sounded cold.

 “An intern?” Old Henry was confused but immediately recalled that it was indeed the case. “Oh, I remember now. He’s a student from the graduating class in the Basic Military Academy. I’ve seen his resume. He’s outstanding.”

 “I want all his information now.” Pearson’s voice sounded equally cold.

 “N… Now?” Old Henry was reluctant to leave his house when he saw the time on the wall clock displaying 3.41 am.

 “Unless you would like me to wait for another five hours and nineteen minutes?” Pearson’s interrogative voice made him sound even colder.

 Old Henry shuddered. “Coming right away!”

 “Who’s that? And what’s the time?” His wife woke up when Old Henry rose from the bed.

 “Something happened at the prison. I’ll just be out for a while.” Old Henry squeezed a smile. He immediately dressed up, kissed his wife’s forehead and quickly stepped out.

 When Old Henry arrived at his office, Pearson was already sitting in his seat. His legs were propped on the table and in his hand was a photo of Old Henry and his wife.

 1Old Henry frowned. “The resume is in the bottom drawer.”

 He walked to his table and pressed his finger on the fingerprint lock on the table surface. The drawer unlocked after the identity verification. He retrieved Gu Ding’s resume from the bottom drawer and handed it to Pearson. “Something happened to this kid?”

 Pearson did not reply. He set the picture frame on the table, then flipped through Gu Ding’s resume. After a while, he narrowed his already bean-small eyes. “Rose Tavern? Who runs it?”

 “It’s Rose Ginger and her former crewmates.” Old Henry did not hide the fact.

 “Rose Ginger? Of the Rose Pirates? Former leader to Cain?” A flash of coldness appeared in Pearson’s eyes.

 “Yes.” Old Henry nodded. “The bounty on Rose Ginger and her mates had been lifted more than twenty years ago by the Federation Government ever since they disbanded. They’ve been staying on Cerule all this while and the Federation Army never found any trouble with them.”

 “Pirates will forever be pirates. That’s something in their DNA.” Pearson tossed Gu Ding’s resume heavily on the table. “Inform the Skyriver Sector of the Federation Government. Get them to haul this Gu Ding kid to the federal court after breakfast.”

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