Enforcer Manual
Chapter 320: The Simple Customs of the Old City District - 1

Chapter 320: Chapter 320: The Simple Customs of the Old City District - 1

"Have you heard? If people live in perpetual darkness, they can devolve into Cavemen,"

"What’s that?"

"A group with short stature, hunched backs, and filled with aggressiveness; if they encounter you, they will throw stones at you."

"Who did you hear that from?"

"Igor, but I haven’t seen him in many days."

...

Walking through the streets of the deep zone, two kids in their teens were discussing the topic of Cavemen.

The architectural style here made Song Lan feel as though he had returned to the year 2020, and there were playgrounds and other facilities that had vanished from the Seventh District.

Slides, sandpits, and some simple climbing equipment.

Kids’ footprints were imprinted on the sand, along with some dried bloodstains—no telling who they belonged to.

In the Seventh District, entertainment for kids of this age usually involved the latest holographic game technology, allowing them to experience a unique world without ever leaving home.

Entertainment in 2166 was incredibly cheap, such that even families living on the poverty line could get their hands on an old holographic helmet, one of the few ways for the poor to alleviate stress and fatigue.

In the deep zone of the Neutral Country, however, Song Lan didn’t see much high-tech equipment; it more closely resembled a city from the year 2020, with scenery all along the way that he was familiar with. Yet, he could always find details in this seemingly harmonious environment that were disturbing upon closer inspection.

For instance, the disappeared Igor, the dried bloodstains in the sand, and the missing person posters on the walls.

He hoped that this was just an overactive imagination, that everything he had seen and heard was merely coincidence.

His mission was straightforward: to traverse the civilian and old city districts to reach the only prison on the outskirts of the deep zone.

According to the map sourced by "Rat," the meaning of the old city district wasn’t about aged buildings, but rather an area designated by the Cavalry specifically for the villains. The suspects would be sent here to fend for themselves, and as long as they didn’t cause too much commotion, the Cavalry wouldn’t intervene much in the law and order of these areas.

The most noticeable difference from the civilian area was that everyone in the old city district was armed.

The busy market area had snack bars and synthetic meat stalls, left side showing goods and price lists, and on the right side, a light machine gun was positioned; the server wore only a dark yellow apron stained with oil, displaying muscles and scars that intimidated customers.

Song Lan took a glance from afar, and without a doubt, the server seemed to be the most ferocious character in the entire shop.

No pretty girls in uniforms, just frighteningly muscular men.

In fact, since entering the old city district, all the women he saw fit this style, shouldering single-soldier rocket launchers during conversations.

Every restaurant was dedicated to providing a home-away-from-home service for their customers.

A delicious synthetic food feast or firearms—you could always purchase whatever you wanted.

In such a place, Song Lan felt like a prison might be a superfluous facility; walking the streets of the old city district, you would probably be embarrassed to greet someone without having several guns at hand.

Other districts had another name for the old city district.

Garbage Disposal Plant.

Normal people were sent to the old city district for only two reasons: either to become someone who dealt with garbage or to become garbage for someone else to dispose of.

Song Lan felt that the local customs here were much "simpler" than they had been in Lu Xiang’s previous times in the Seventeenth District, after all, for the sake of the face of the Foster Family, the prosecutor’s office, and the Law Enforcers, the local criminals here still occasionally cared about keeping up appearances.

So it was hard for him to imagine just what kind of inmate would be sent to this city’s only prison.

But if Lu Xiang’s teacher had been sent to this city and was still alive, then she was most likely locked up in this prison.

He lingered in the bustling market area for a moment and overheard some topics about the prison. The people of the old city district referred to it as "the Dungeon," and all these tough guys, with muscles on their arms bigger than his head, turned pale at the mention of the Dungeon, their voices involuntarily dropping a few notches.

Song Lan was acutely aware that he was controlling a Horn Bug warrior, not venturing here himself.

With his thin arms and legs, he reckoned he would have had a hard time getting safely through this district; the fierce residents of the old city district reminded him of the philosopher Charlie’s famous saying, "In our place, you only get played."

This was true, without the least bit of exaggeration.

Fortunately, although these people were ferocious, they had no unusual interest in insects. He adjusted his mood, made his way through the crowded marketplace, and the southwest corner of the old city district led to the prison known as the Dungeon. Song Lan couldn’t understand the origin of this name, as the prison looked more like a grand castle to him.

The Cavalry guarded the only access road to the prison.

According to the people of the old city district, the Dungeon didn’t offer the option of visitation. If your loved one was sent there, you’d better just wait at home for the outcome, instead of asking around every day, unless you wanted to go in too.

And even those who were released from there after serving their sentence, without exception, came out with mental illnesses.

A short while later, after Song Lan found himself inside the prison, he finally understood the origin of the name "Dungeon."

The prison’s environment could only be described as pitch-dark, with darkness stretching as far as the eye could see, the path ahead indiscernible. The flashlights of the patrolling prison guards were the only sources of light in the prison. A person unfamiliar with the prison’s layout, even if they escaped from their cell, couldn’t tell where they were at all.

Fortunately, to deal with the complex environment, Ge Fu had equipped the Horn Bug warriors with a night vision system, allowing them to see clearly within the Dungeon.

Unlike what they appeared from the outside, the cells inside were dark and cramped, resembling storage rooms; it seemed like inmates were stored in compartments, excellent in soundproofing. Even if someone screamed inside, it wasn’t heard outside.

Song Lan had read in a scientific magazine that spending a long time in the dark could drive one insane. He understood why the people of the old city district said those who served their sentences often came out crazy.

To avoid being detected by surveillance and the prison guards, Song Lan moved carefully through the ventilation ducts and water pipes.

However, it seemed he wasn’t the only intruder in this prison.

When he moved through the water pipes to a relatively open area, an unexpected figure caught his eye.

It was an insect, but it was exhibiting behaviors that were clearly not typical of insects.

It stood upright, using sharp claws to etch incomprehensible characters on the wall, but Song Lan understood the map next to the text.

This fellow species, was it drawing a map of the prison’s layout?

It seemed to notice Song Lan’s arrival, as the map-drawing insect stopped its activity. It aggressively raised its tail pincer in a threatening posture, seemingly wanting to chase away Song Lan, this unwelcome visitor.

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