The Abusive Novel System Pleads with Me to Resign
Chapter 136

Lien reacted like a scalded cat, his voice so loud that the surrounding prisoners discussing their own affairs all turned to look.

Lu Yu sighed helplessly, "Why don’t you just announce our plans to the whole prison while you're at it?"

Lien ignored the guy’s attempt to shift blame, gritting his teeth as he spat, "Screw off. Go yourself if you want."

"I’ve never stooped to selling my dignity or looks in my life."

"Are you actually trying to cooperate or just picking a fight? I’m not some lackey you can boss around."

The Crown Prince scoffed from the side, "A hardened criminal like you still has principles?"

Lien shot back, "Take a good look at what you’re wearing before you talk to me. Drop the royal act."

Seeing the two about to argue again, Lu Yu quickly intervened, "This isn’t targeting you. You’re just the most suitable for this mission."

"His Highness needs to access the terminal—no one else can do that. As for me, well, I’m not ashamed to admit my disguise as a carpenter was exposed by the warden yesterday."

"Trying to get close to her again so soon would raise suspicion. Besides, she’s clearly more interested in you."

Lien sneered, "Keep spouting nonsense. See if I fall for it."

Lu Yu wore an expression that said ‘you’ll see.’ "I’m good at reading people. I’ve paid close attention every time the warden shows up."

"She looks at you the most—even more than at His Highness."

Lien scoffed, his face flushing with irritation. "Yeah, keep making things up."

Lu Yu pressed, "Don’t believe me? Then tell me, who else gets your treatment?"

"After the riot, everyone was a mess, and in such a serious setting, she still gave you dessert when you asked."

"Ask His Highness if he gets that privilege. Rumor has it he was punished just for drinking coffee in his cell."

"But you? In front of everyone, in the most inappropriate atmosphere—it’s obvious the warden favors you more than the Crown Prince."

The Crown Prince frowned at the word "favor" but didn’t argue.

Lien muttered, "That’s because I had to make ten extra cores."

Lu Yu shrugged. "Whatever you say, but ask anyone here, and they’ll confirm the warden treats you differently."

"Plus, you have skills we don’t."

Lien raised an eyebrow as Lu Yu continued, "Neither His Highness nor I can pull off… ahem… nimble-handed operations like you."

"You’re adaptable. With luck, you might even swipe the warden’s fingerprints—they’ll be useful later."

"So this critical mission falls to you."

But Lien still glared coldly, unsatisfied.

Lu Yu, however, looked confident. At this point, if Lien hadn’t outright refused, it meant he just needed more convincing.

So Lu Yu added, "Lien, we’re working together as equals. No one’s giving orders."

"But you should know our respective strengths. Before I was imprisoned, I laid countless plans and gathered intel on the prison’s secrets and unwritten rules."

"His Highness can command 80% of the prisoners—an unmatched advantage."

"You, on the other hand, were locked up in a hurry. You don’t know the prison well, and your outside preparations are lacking. I’m sure you could catch up given time—hell, your outside connections might even be better than mine."

"But do you really want to waste that much time here?"

Lien’s expression darkened. Lu Yu hadn’t spelled it out, but compared to the two of them, his current assets weren’t strategically significant.

Finally, Lien shot them a resentful look. "I’ll do this once. But if you waste my dignity and still screw up, you’ll regret it."

The Crown Prince remained silent, indifferent, while Lu Yu smiled warmly. "Don’t worry. Just keep the warden distracted."

Originally, Lu Yu had wanted Lien to stir up trouble—knowing the warden’s habit of seizing any excuse to punish them, she’d likely drag him to the interrogation room the second he acted up.

But Lien dismissed the idea with disdain.

Instead, he pressed the call button and summoned a robotic guard. "Tell the warden I want to make a donation."

The guard, having just received new orders that morning, promptly relayed the message.

Sure enough, it wasn’t long before the warden commanded them to bring Lien to her.

Shen Ying was sighing over her dwindling savings—so much money and credit, yet not a single Blood Qi Pill to show for it.

Here, currency conversion was oddly efficient. Maybe because this was a starfaring era, where wealth dwarfed Earth’s by orders of magnitude.

Her fortune was just a drop in the ocean, barely affecting the world’s economy, so the process was dozens of times faster than before.

When Lien was brought in, Shen Ying smiled at the sight of him. "I heard you’re donating to the orbital prison? I’d have thought someone like you wouldn’t need to buy security."

Lien flopped onto the sofa, propping his feet on the table like a tycoon making an investment. "I don’t. Just have too much money burning a hole in my pocket. Wondered what perks the ‘privileged group’ gets."

Shen Ying chuckled. "As you can see, not much different from other prisoners—just guaranteed not to die by accident."

"Though some harmless privileges can be overlooked."

"An extra dessert, lighter workloads, more freedom with contribution points…"

Lien stroked his chin. "So the only useful thing is the contribution points."

"Fine. I’ll donate ten billion. But I don’t need security—can I use the contribution points now?"

Hearing the amount, Shen Ying’s eyes lit up with delight. Studying the man’s obvious intentions, her smile widened.

"Of course. How would you like to use them?"

Lien smirked. "Not much entertainment in this dump. Heard the best bang for your buck is the simulation pod."

"I want a session."

Shen Ying nodded. "No problem."

Lien added, "And I don’t want your pre-programmed worlds. I’ll use my own code."

Her eyes gleamed with amusement. "No problem."

She personally escorted him to the simulation chamber.

Normally, prisoners experienced only the prison’s basic templates—pre-set worlds, fixed identities, ages, and appearances. Beyond that, the system’s realism and adaptive AI made the simulation indistinguishable from reality.

No inmate had ever doubted its authenticity.

Of course, Lien didn’t write the initial code himself. It was given to him by Lu Yu—crafted by a fellow inmate skilled in simulation systems.

He entered the code and lay down inside the pod, saying to Shen Ying, "I request not to hide my initial self-awareness. That’s not a problem, right?"

"Just relaxing a bit. I want to be fully aware that it’s me, Lien, enjoying this."

This wasn’t actually an issue—hiding initial awareness was usually meant to enhance the experience for prisoners—so Shen Ying agreed without hesitation.

Lien entered the simulation world but deliberately resisted the login process at the last moment in his consciousness.

This was part of the program he had input, a slight modification to the login sequence.

So what Shen Ying saw was Lien sitting up just seconds after lying down, complaining, "I can’t get in."

Shen Ying raised an eyebrow. "Oh? This has never happened before. Try again?"

Lien lay back down and repeated the process several times, but each attempt failed.

Finally, he lost his temper. "Warden, I’d think a hundred billion credits should at least buy me this small privilege."

Shen Ying feigned confusion. "But I just checked—everything seems perfectly fine."

"Could it be an issue with the code you brought? It’s not a finalized version, so it might not have properly constructed the simulation world, preventing entry."

Lien scoffed arrogantly. "Impossible. I paid a fortune for this. The seller wouldn’t dare deceive me, and this code has been internally tested. It’s definitely not the problem."

Shen Ying sighed. "Then what do you suggest? You refuse to choose another world."

Lien adopted the entitled air of a high-paying client. "Then I’ll have to trouble the Warden to accompany me inside for an inspection."

"The Sky Prison system can control all internal subsystems, right? If you enter, the system will automatically run diagnostics."

Shen Ying hesitated briefly before reluctantly agreeing. "Fine."

"I’ll go in and see what’s wrong."

She settled into the adjacent simulation pod, synced it with Lien’s, and put on the helmet—

In the next second, a dazzling tunnel of light flashed by, and the login succeeded instantly.

Shen Ying found herself in a vast, open space.

It was an outdoor setting, enveloped by a breathtaking expanse of stars. She stood atop what seemed like a mountain peak, overlooking a distant cityscape glowing with nightlife.

Yet the place was serene, reminiscent of an infinity pool at a luxury mountaintop resort.

The ground was soft, comfortable enough to lie on, and the surroundings exuded the romantic aesthetic of an interstellar era.

Elegant, ambient lighting bathed the entire pool area in a decadent, almost hedonistic glow.

When Shen Ying turned around, she saw an enormous lounging bed before her, where a figure was just sitting up and surveying the environment.

Lien’s gaze was equally unfamiliar with the place—this was his first time entering the simulation space Lu Yu had provided, all part of his ruse to fake a malfunction.

Before he could speak, however, he noticed the Warden’s eyes fixed on him with deep amusement.

Then she teased, "I didn’t realize this was your idea of relaxation in private."

Lien’s heart skipped a beat. Something felt off—why did he sense extra appendages twitching atop his head and behind him whenever his emotions spiked?

Almost like… new organs.

He frantically looked around for a mirror, found one, and froze.

Reflected back at him was a modified version of himself—identical in face but sporting a pair of black cat ears on his head and a sleek black tail swaying unconsciously behind him.

And what the hell was he wearing? The outfit of a pampered, collared pleasure doll.

Lien nearly choked on his fury, gritting his teeth. "Lu Yu, I’m going to kill you."

Shen Ying pretended not to hear, smiling faintly. "Since the login worked, I’ll take my leave now."

Humiliation burned through Lien, but then he remembered—the Crown Prince’s operation was likely underway.

With the Warden isolated inside the simulation, cut off from external signals, their plans would proceed undisturbed.

If she exited now, she might catch them red-handed.

After a tense internal struggle, Lien forced out through clenched teeth, "Wait. There’s… another issue."

Shen Ying: "Oh? What now?"

Suppressing his shame, Lien said, "My tactile feedback is severely dulled."

"There’s no sense of immersion or realism at all."

Shen Ying: "Really? Everything feels normal to me. The mountain breeze, the fragrance of the plants—it’s all vivid."

She gestured toward the most abundant tree species in the surrounding peaks. "This is a specialty of Ami Prime. Its scent changes with the seasons. Right now, it’s early autumn—the aroma is rich and intoxicating, a favorite for couples’ resorts."

"You don’t smell it?"

Damn that horny bastard Lu Yu and his team! What kind of place had they designed?

Not only could he smell it—this cursed body was already reacting.

For a fleeting moment, Lien considered scrapping the entire mission. But he wasn’t the type to abandon a plan over personal discomfort.

Through gritted teeth, he replied, "No, I don’t smell anything."

"Not just that—my skin’s sensitivity is dull too. I can’t even feel the mountain wind."

"Not sure how severe the numbness is. I’ll need someone to test it manually."

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