Previously, it had always been Lien who repeatedly provoked the Crown Prince, but the latter never took this re pirate seriously.
He couldn’t even be bothered to respond to such provocations. Now that he was imprisoned, with a psychic inhibitor clamped around his neck and his formidable close-combat abilities severely restricted, the Crown Prince saw no point in engaging in childish squabbles with soone like him.
But now, his usual composure and rationality had vanished. The humiliation, resentnt, and fury that had been simring since last night erupted the mont he laid eyes on Lien, that troublemaker.
Though the Crown Prince was fastidious and exacting, his combat skills were undeniably formidable, honed through countless battles.
Lien barely had ti to react as a gust of wind, sharp as a blade, shot toward him. Instinctively, he dodged, narrowly avoiding the strike.
Under normal circumstances, the proud Crown Prince would have stopped after a single failed attack, unwilling to lose his dignity further.
But now, restraint was the last thing on his mind. The mont Lien evaded the first strike, the second was already aid at his new position.
Lien, with his wealth of combat experience, knew that with both of them heavily suppressed, actually harming each other would be difficult.
Still, he quickly spotted a weakness—the Crown Prince’s stance was unsteady.
Dodging another attack, he burst into laughter. "What’s this? Just one night apart, and your legs are already this weak?"
"Seems like privilege doesn’t co for free. What did you have to trade for it, Your Highness?"
"Tsk tsk! Back when you were hunting down, sitting pretty in your royal starship sipping cosmic nectar, who’d have thought you’d end up like this over a cup of coffee? How the mighty have fallen."
The Crown Prince nearly lost his mind at the taunts. He despised pointless verbal sparring, but now, the mory of Lien’s pathetic state yesterday fueled his rage.
"Lien, have you forgotten how you were dragged back here like a dead dog yesterday?" he sneered.
"If even these minor dodges make you unsteady, you’re hardly in any position to mock ."
"I heard you were severely punished for hiding an energy core. Once I’m out, I’ll make sure to pull up your punishnt records for a thorough read."
Lien’s face darkened. The dical center was undoubtedly under surveillance, and if this arrogant prince got his hands on that footage…
It seed he’d have to destroy so evidence before escaping.
As they exchanged words, they had already clashed several tis before chanical prison guards sward in, restraining them.
The incident was imdiately reported to the warden.
Shen Ying’s projection appeared before them, her face provoking a flicker of sha and anger in both n.
She had just woken up, her body still aching from last night’s exhaustion.
"Add five core manufacturing quotas to your morning tasks," she said coolly. "And no desserts for today’s als."
Lien imdiately protested. "Why? Desserts are my favorite!"
"He’s the one who attacked . I was just dodging—I didn’t even fight back. You can’t punish for that."
The word "punish" felt oddly uncomfortable on his tongue.
Shen Ying arched a brow. "Fine. Keep your desserts. But your core manufacturing quota is now increased by ten."
"Ten’s too much!" Lien argued.
"Too much?" She smirked. "I know your psychic limits perfectly well. It’s just right."
Lien flushed with anger. Of course she knew.
Yesterday, under the pretense of "correcting" the testing departnt’s miscalculations, she had forced him to push his sensory acuity beyond its limits.
That was why he had been so weak, so humiliatingly carried back for everyone to see.
He shut his mouth, no longer bargaining. The Crown Prince, too, avoided looking at her projection.
Even though she wasn’t physically present, the re sight of her image stirred an unsettling reaction in him.
For the first ti, he was the one avoiding soone’s gaze instead of others cowering under his authority.
The sha of it made him even more unwilling to speak.
And so, the morning’s brawl ended with little consequence. The two joined the stream of prisoners heading to the cafeteria.
After grabbing their als, they found separate seats—only to see Lu Yu, the leader of the cyborg faction, enter with his entourage.
Spotting them, Lu Yu raised an eyebrow and took a seat nearby, his underlings fetching his food.
Though there was so distance between them, the prison’s crowded nature ant the three ford a loose triangle.
Lu Yu glanced at them before addressing Lien. "So, you got caught stealing the energy core yesterday?"
Lien scowled. "How the hell does everyone know about this?"
If the Crown Prince knew, fine—he had his lackeys everywhere. But Lu Yu too? Was the prison leaking like a sieve?
Worst of all, he was the one caught in the net.
Lu Yu chuckled. "Relax, no one else knows. We cyborgs are the prison’s underdogs—we need so advantages to survive."
Lien scoffed. "Underdogs? If the infamous Lu Yu of the Star Seas calls himself that, what hope is there for the rest of us?"
Ignoring the sarcasm, Lu Yu said, "Reputation ans nothing here."
"In this place, even the smallest gain demands ruthless tactics."
"I’m not here to chat, though. I ca to warn you—even with the core, your plan won’t work."
"The combat chs stored in the warehouse are part of the prison’s arsenal. They’re still under the warden’s system control."
"At least so of them are."
Lien stiffened. "What? Are they insane?"
"chs are an extension of the pilot’s body, linked through neural interfaces. You can’t just implant an override system—"
He cut himself off. Outside, ch pilots were elite warriors with formidable psychic strength.
Even civilian models prioritized neural safety—a single malfunction between control systems and the pilot’s mind could bankrupt a company.
Installing a system that overrode the pilot’s authority was like selling a car without seatbelts.
It was common sense.
But this was a prison. Thousands of high-risk convicts—control took precedence over their lives.
Lu Yu nodded. "If the Sky Prison cos under extre military attack, prisoners might be conscripted to pilot chs."
"But only the warden knows which chs are rigged. The guards get safe units, while prisoners get ones slaved to the main system."
"Even if you sohow reach the hangar, if you pick the wrong ch, Shen Ying can seize control the mont you activate it."
The revelation left both Lien and the Crown Prince grim.
How many more secrets like this were hidden in the Sky Prison?
Lu Yu’s sources were a mystery, but if even he didn’t know all the hidden rules…
Every move they thought feasible might be t with a terrifying counterasure waiting for them.
Lien felt a surge of irritation and turned to Lu Yu. "Since you’re so sincere, Boss Lu, why don’t you share your thoughts?"
"You seem to know a lot about the prison—exactly what I need."
Without hesitation, Lien agreed to cooperate with Lu Yu.
Lu Yu smiled, then glanced at the Crown Prince. "And what about Your Highness?"
When the Crown Prince remained silent, Lu Yu wasn’t discouraged. "Of course, the entire empire falls under Your Highness’s jurisdiction. Logically, you’d disdain colluding with prisoners."
"But Your Highness ended up here due to political persecution—a rebellion. We know it, most of the guards know it, but what does it matter? The only one who truly controls this prison, the warden, has no sympathy for Your Highness’s plight."
"Rather than wasting ti here, the empire needs you more than ever."
"After last night’s incident, I believe Your Highness has realized that even if every guard were loyal to you, they still couldn’t oppose the warden. So why not consider a different approach?"
"Your Highness’s authority, my knowledge of the prison, and Lien’s capability—none of these can be missing. Only then do we stand a chance to pry open a crack in the warden’s defenses."
The Crown Prince regarded Lu Yu with a dangerous glint in his eyes. "You really do have eyes and ears everywhere in this prison, don’t you? Even my ti in the lowest level is no secret to you."
Lu Yu didn’t seem apologetic. He rely smiled. "Your Highness needn’t be angry."
"Thanks to you yesterday, I was also sent to the warden and suffered for it."
The Crown Prince knew this well and smirked. "Wasn’t that your own doing?"
Lu Yu didn’t argue. His expression remained composed, unlike the visible frustration on the Crown Prince and Lien’s faces.
Only he knew the lingering sensitivity in his antlers, still swollen and throbbing.
After a mont of silence, the Crown Prince reluctantly agreed to join forces.
Given his arrogance, Lu Yu and Lien were competent—far more useful than most.
And if these two tried to escape afterward? He’d simply hunt them down himself.
Thus, the three ford an alliance.
Lu Yu acted swiftly. "In that case, let’s test one possibility first."
As Lien and the Crown Prince turned to him, he continued, "You must know I’ve incited three prison riots before."
"That wasn’t just to assert dominance—it was also to test the prison’s riot response protocols."
"The prison has different thods for handling violence in different areas. For example, the cafeteria—"
With that, he patted the muscular, horned man beside him.
The man stood up—dark-skinned, silver-haired, his prison uniform torn at the collar, revealing chocolate-toned, enticing muscles.
He strode over to a table of burly inmates. When they looked up, he grinned and drove his fist into one of their faces.
Within seconds, the entire prison erupted into chaos.
Secretary Zhu burst into the warden’s office in a panic.
Finding Shen Ying imrsed in a holographic ga with the "do not disturb" mode activated, he nearly choked on his fury.
Though the Crown Prince had instructed him to delay reporting the riot, his ticulous professionalism couldn’t tolerate such negligence from a superior.
And it was precisely this incompetence that had forced the Crown Prince to ally with prisoners!
Suppressing his thoughts, Secretary Zhu cried out in feigned alarm, "Warden, a riot has broken out in the cafeteria!"
"Niu Xi, the modified inmate, started it. Now everyone’s fighting!"
Shen Ying’s eyes lit up with urgency. "What? There are handso—I an, n fighting?"
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