CR CH5

Chapter 5: The New Prison

Clack—clack—

Unhurried footsteps echoed through the cavernous, vacant prison corridor.

Ling Kongmiao had tied his long hair back loosely, idly twirling a pair of handcuffs in his hand. By contrast, Jiang Tianji trailed behind him without daring so much as to breathe loudly, looking thoroughly timid and skittish—as though he truly were a criminal serving time.

He looked around uneasily. The area was stark and deserted, devoid of any inmates.

Heavy mechanical bulkheads sealed shut behind them in slow succession. Clearing the final layer of iris recognition, Ling Kongmiao brought him to a halt before a cell.

He reached out, tapping a few prompts on the wall-mounted virtual interface. The defensive laser grid fencing off the doorway dissolved. Ling Kongmiao tapped the doorframe with the handcuffs, gesturing for Jiang Tianji to step inside.

Instead, Jiang Tianji walked straight up to him, shoulders slumping and brows drooping as he begrudgingly held out both wrists.

Leaning against the doorframe, Ling Kongmiao paused, looking at the young man with an expression of pure, unadulterated disbelief.

Jiang Tianji held his hands up in the air for a good while. Seeing no reaction, a faint flicker of indignation actually crossed his face.

Ling Kongmiao: “What’s the meaning of this?”

Jiang Tianji blinked, looking down at the cuffs in the man’s grip, completely oblivious. “Aren’t you going to cuff me?”

“Why on earth would I cuff you?”

If you’re not going to cuff me, why dangle them in your hand the entire damn way?

Daring to feel outraged but not daring to speak out, Jiang Tianji mumbled an explanation, “I just saw you carrying them the whole trip.”

“They were for in case you decided to resist along the way. If you feel like it’s a wasted opportunity, I can escort you back and we can walk it again.”

Jiang Tianji sheepishly withdrew his hands, an embarrassed flush creeping from his cheeks all the way down his neck.

Ling Kongmiao’s tone always carried a faint, half-mocking cadence—his words walked a thin line between dry teasing and shameless bullying.

Before today, Jiang Tianji had pictured Ling Kongmiao as aloof, stern, and unapproachable.

Looking up at those half-smiling eyes, Jiang Tianji flushed until his neck turned crimson. In the end, he retreated into the cell without a word and sat down with his back turned to him. Then, remembering that the man was an exalted Chief after all, he forced himself to swivel back around and bowed politely.

“Thank you for your trouble today.”

The youth possessed striking features—sharp brows and bright, starry eyes, a distinctly eye-catching brand of handsome. If not for having so many shifting expressions, he could easily have passed for the aloof, icy type. He was tall and lean, standing roughly 185 centimeters, yet at this moment he looked utterly comical, every petty inner thought painted across his face.

Ling Kongmiao scoffed softly. In the military, that sort of naivety was never an asset.

“In the military, superiors are addressed as ‘Sir.’ Starting tomorrow, you will officially become a member of the Z01 Basic Unit. This isn’t school. Rein in your slack habits. When receiving an order from a superior, the only acceptable answer is ‘Sir, yes, sir.’ Understood?”

Jiang Tianji instinctively pressed his lips together.

Ling Kongmiao’s gaze chilled instantly. “Answer me.”

Jiang Tianji: “…Yes, sir.”

Ling Kongmiao offered no further words. He locked the cell and departed down the corridor.

Once the footsteps faded into absolute silence, a sudden wave of cold washed over Jiang Tianji. Taking off his outer layer, he realized he had forgotten to return the combat jacket.

Forget it, deal with it tomorrow.

Wilting like an unwatered sprout, Jiang Tianji crawled onto the bunk, wrapped himself in the quilt, and sniffled quietly.

His mind was a tangled mess. His thoughts drifted from home to school, from his mom to his roommates, and ultimately landed on the campus cafeteria. Honestly speaking, the Federal Military Academy’s food was top-tier; countless students from other academies frequently posted on the interstellar forums begging for meal runs, promising generous payment.

The academy’s Agricultural Research Department bred new varieties of aquatic vegetables every day, yielding flavors uniquely fresh across the entire Federation.

At this thought, Jiang Tianji’s stomach let out a long, resonant growl.

“…”

Hungry, exhausted, and wallowing in self-pity.

Jiang Tianji pulled the quilt tighter and buried his face beneath it.

Meanwhile, at the General Affairs Division.

Ling Kongmiao clipped the handcuffs back to the rear of his tactical belt. The instant he stepped into the shared office lounge, numerous gazes locked onto him.

Looking neither left nor right, he walked over to his desk. Just as he unscrewed his water flask, he caught sight of several subordinates whispering out of the corner of his eye.

“Captain.”

Aileen blinked her pretty eyes and leaned in to pry. “What’s the story with that kid today? Taking care of something like this is clearly the job of the basic units downstairs. You never pay attention to this kind of routine affair.”

Several squad members appeared to be minding their own business, but their ears were practically twitching.

Tang Min immediately jumped in, dropping pointed hints: “Today was just a coincidence. The Boss was inspecting the basic units and happened to glance at an anomaly alert. At first it was nothing, but the moment he caught the specific dorm details and the name logged by the system, his expression totally flipped. I’m telling you—”

Ling Kongmiao cast a cool glance over them. “Are all of you that free?”

The group dropped their heads instantly, feigning deafness. Ling Kongmiao didn’t elaborate, heading straight for the archives room.

The crew exchanged looks, unable to hide their disappointment.

Before they could resume gossiping, however, the door to the archives swung open again. In a flash, everyone sat straight with eyes lowered to their screens, putting on an act of consummate professional focus.

“You lot,” Ling Kongmiao walked over unhurriedly, a hint of hesitation in his voice. “Do you have any snacks? Something substantial to hold over an empty stomach.”

“Wait, Captain, you actually get snack cravings?”

Tang Min yanked open his desk drawer without missing a beat, revealing an assortment wide enough to rival a convenience store.

Seeing that Ling Kongmiao didn’t deny it, even the taciturn Ye couldn’t resist looking up.

“Captain, haven’t you eaten?”

“Mm,” Ling Kongmiao hummed vaguely, too lazy to explain.

He couldn’t make heads or tails of the flashy packaging, so he randomly snatched two that looked reasonably dense and filling.

Throughout this, Zhao Hengyi chattered away beside him, rattling off a rapid-fire barrage of jokes and blunders from recent training drills. His voice was naturally booming, yet he insisted on leaning right next to Ling Kongmiao’s ear to talk.

With a headache brewing from the racket, Ling Kongmiao grabbed the two items and turned toward the exit.

Cut off mid-sentence, Zhao Hengyi called out regretfully, “Boss, you’re not eating here?”

Ling Kongmiao stopped in his tracks, turning to give him an indescribable look.

“Zhao Hengyi, no wonder your mother finds you exhausting.”

“Hey! Boss, that hurts! How could you—”

Ignoring the dramatic wailing behind him, Ling Kongmiao strode off toward the New Prison.

The New Prison had not yet opened to external staff; access credentials were held strictly by high-ranking officers and technical personnel.

“Identity verified.”

The mechanical bulkhead activated and slid open smoothly.

An unidentified flying object zipped over—a palm-sized sphere. Its designer seemed to have possessed an eccentric sense of humor, outfitting its top with a pair of soft pink bunny ears.

“Greetings, Chief Ling. Xiao Tuan is at your service.”

Ling Kongmiao kept walking, dismissing it offhandedly: “Mm, thanks.”

“How may I assist you?”

“Be quiet.”

“…”

Xiao Tuan seemed to process the instruction for a second. A mouth gradually materialized on the spherical display, which then snapped into an “X.” It quietly floated along behind Ling Kongmiao.

The prison consisted solely of monotone silver-gray alloy—orderly, pristine, yet tinged with a persistent, inescapable heaviness.

Jiang Tianji’s case was quite peculiar: rare delayed differentiation coupled with pheromone perception impairment, entering the military without the standard protocol, and entirely clueless about his surroundings.

The medical summary Dr. He transmitted indicated no immediate abnormalities. He merely needed regular inhibitor injections. Moreover, laboratory tests revealed he was indeed repulsed by other Alphas’ pheromones; further details awaited in-depth analysis from the Research Institute.

Predictable enough. Ling Kongmiao raised a hand to scan his credentials and unlock the cell, only to hear the sound of sniffling from within.

Poor little thing.

Amused, he paused. Out of basic humanitarian decency and consideration, he tapped lightly on the door twice.

Beep, beep—

Recognizing the commanding officer’s clearance, the door initiated an automatic open sequence.

Looking up, Ling Kongmiao caught sight of Jiang Tianji scrambling off the bunk in a flustered tumble, looking thoroughly disheveled.

The youth first rubbed his face briskly with a sleeve, then awkwardly smoothed down his rumpled clothes, dropping his head to greet him in a muted voice.

“Sir.”

Ling Kongmiao tossed the snacks toward him. Jiang Tianji caught them in a clumsy fumble, looking up in sheer confusion.

“When you hear the drill muster siren tomorrow morning, report to Training Ground Sector 1. After drills conclude, the presiding officer will inform you of your dorm assignment. If there’s anything you don’t understand, ask your squad leader.”

Ling Kongmiao reached out, plucked the hovering Xiao Tuan out of midair, and tossed it into Jiang Tianji’s arms.

“Get your head straight tonight. You can ask it any basic questions.”

Jiang Tianji stared at the AI sprite in his arms—its electronic eyes currently swirling in dizzying spirals—and replied hesitantly.

“Understood.”

Ling Kongmiao nodded, turning to leave, when a tentative call sounded from behind.

“Um, Sir…”

He turned back to meet Jiang Tianji’s hesitant gaze. The youth seemed to lose his nerve the moment their eyes met, dropping his head to fiddle with the snack wrappers while letting out a dry chuckle.

“Nothing, sir. Safe travels. Thank you for your trouble today.”

Ling Kongmiao did not leave immediately. He watched him for a long, silent moment. Only when Jiang Tianji felt his knees turning weak and cold sweat prickling across his brow did the officer finally turn and walk away without a word.

Jiang Tianji let out a heartfelt sigh of relief, collapsing onto the bunk. He found himself in a staring contest with the little orb resting docilely in his lap.

After a moment of silence, two suspicious patches of blush popped up on Xiao Tuan’s screen, and its eyes snapped from spiral rings into a cheerful wink.

“Biometrics recognized… Greetings, Squad Member Jiang Tianji. I am the Artificial Intelligence, Xiao Tuan.”

Jiang Tianji: “…Hello.”