Chapter 154

Shen Yue touched her earphones. After Su Yunan had stuck something on them earlier without Shen Yue's knowing, the earphones would now make a prompt sound for Shen Yue to choose whether to call Su Yunan whenever she touched them with her hand.

Shen Yue understood.

Now she could bother Number 14 whenever she wanted.

Her eyes then fell onto Number 14's left hand. She asked, "What was that thing from earlier?"

Number 14 unconsciously moved his left hand. He had wanted to gloss over it, but in the end he admitted defeat under Shen Yue's calm and waveless gaze. "What I stuck on earlier was the controller for the destruction chips. As long as the controller gets near the earphones, it can transfer ownership. All the inmates in Cell Block 2 have intelligent induction chips implanted in them. As long as the corresponding destruction password is entered with the controller, the chips can be triggered to explode and destroy the target."

Shen Yue nodded. She understood. This was the same as what the Cell Block 2 rule book said.

"Where did you hide the controller?" Although Shen Yue was asking a question, there wasn't a trace of doubt in her tone. Her gaze had even fallen onto Number 14's left arm, as if she already understood everything.

"It was too dangerous to keep it in Cell Block 2 before, so I hid the controller in my body as a precaution."

Shen Yue tilted her head. "What if someone found it and forcefully dug it out?"

Number 14 smiled unconcernedly. "Even in death, I don't want to be controlled by others."

After he finished speaking, Number 14 paused for a bit without waiting for Shen Yue's reply. He directly changed the topic and asked, "Why do you think I won't betray you?"

Shen Yue answered without hesitation. "I trust you."

Just three simple words, spoken softly, yet heavily.

Heavy enough that when these words landed in Number 14's heart, the deafening echo could be clearly heard.

Number 14's pupils contracted slightly. He suddenly didn't dare look at Shen Yue anymore, only leaving behind a "you can call me anytime" before hurriedly leaving, as if escaping.

Shen Yue watched as Number 14 shut the door. She couldn't help but think, why do people trust each other so easily?

Moreover, were the emotions Number 14 displayed truly genuine?

Shen Yue thought about it for a while but had no answer. As usual, she temporarily stored this question in her heart. One day she would figure out the things she didn't currently understand.

Shen Yue's earlier reply to Number 14 was actually incomplete. It was true that she trusted him, but the one she trusted wasn't Number 14. Rather, it was her older sister, Shen Hui.

She believed Shen Hui wouldn't place anything dangerous next to her, so she believed Number 14 wouldn't betray her.

Her trust in Number 14 had nothing to do with Number 14 himself.

Likewise, Number 14's obedience to her was unrelated to her.

Shen Yue opened the door to her cell. Different from Cell Block 1's open and bright rooms, the newcomer cells were cramped and dim, the beds as hard as sleeping right on the floor.

As soon as someone stepped into this room and breathed its air, it was as if they were constantly being corroded by the abyss of despair.

It hurt a lot and was suffocating, yet also inescapable.

Fortunately, she wasn't alone.

"Masha, I'm back."

...

The next day, Shen Yue was awoken by the sound of knocking on her door.

She looked at the unified time displayed in the cell—it was 5:30 AM.

This was the time ordinary inmates needed to assemble, but it didn't apply to those from Cell Block 1 or inmates above floor 30 of each cell block.

The main tasks of Newcomer Building inmates were to figure out how to survive inside the prison. They also didn't need to participate in the 5:30 AM assembly.

This was a disguised form of protection for newcomers, so they wouldn't provoke people they shouldn't during assemblies and get killed instantly.

After being startled awake, Shen Yue quickly regained full consciousness.

She didn't hurry to open the door. Instead, she first connected to Number 14. Number 14's voice sounded very awake without any trace of lingering drowsiness from just having woken up. If she listened carefully, Shen Yue could even hear Number 14's slightly hurried breathing from the earphones, just a little faster than normal.

Number 14 was probably working out.

"Number 14, someone's knocking on my door. Go take a look."

"Okay." The voice from the other end didn't hesitate at all and immediately responded, just like when they were in Cell Block 1— unconditional obedience to all of Shen Yue's commands.

Shen Yue didn't disconnect the call. She wanted to determine Number 14's current location and actions based on the sounds coming from his side.

Strangely though, after Number 14 responded, his side became very quiet.

Finally, after 38 seconds, Shen Yue heard a woman's shriek outside her cell door, followed by Number 14's voice from the earphones saying, "Already restrained her. You can come out now."

Only then did Shen Yue open her room door. She discovered Daniela Goetz pinned under Number 14's foot. Pinned. Under. His foot.

Fortunately he had her pinned facedown by her back and not her face.

Shen Yue silently rejoiced. Fortunately Number 14 had pinned her by the back and not the face, otherwise today's observation progress would be impacted.

Her purpose in bringing Daniela to Cell Block 8 was to further understand the attitudes those men had toward Daniela.

Although Shen Yue had been standing far away yesterday and didn't see the expressions of those inmates when they snatched Daniela's money, based on the translations from her earphones, she noticed the way they spoke to Daniela was different compared to how they treated the other new inmate women.

She wanted to figure out what made Daniela so special, which was why Daniela's face couldn't be injured.

As a friendly boss, Shen Yue was very satisfied with Number 14's understanding of limits. She immediately praised Number 14. "Good job, Number 14."

Number 14 was baffled by the random praise. The strength in his foot inadvertently increased a bit.

Daniela immediately started crying. Her voice was soft yet clear enough not to be incomprehensible. Instead, coupled with her crying tone, she manipulated every sound perfectly—like a stray feather brushing lightly against one's heart, itchy but untouchable.

"It hurts... Can you...move your foot?"

Shen Yue kept looking at Daniela. Her evaluation after hearing this sentence was—how interesting.

Daniela was different than Masha and Big Sister. She looked weak but...also felt powerful in a way.

To figure out this point, Shen Yue squatted down in front of Daniela, looking down expressionlessly at Daniela who still managed to shed tears in a pitifully beautiful way despite being pinned to the floor.

Shen Yue didn't speak, and neither did Number 14. Number 14 didn't even move. He maintained the force pinning Daniela down, not allowing her to get up.

Daniela cried beautifully for a while. Upon seeing Shen Yue just staring at her expressionlessly and Number 14 showing no intention of moving his foot, her cries gradually grew softer.

Sniffling, she asked Shen Yue, "Did I...upset you?"

Shen Yue shook her head. Watching the smooth, pearl-like teardrops falling from Daniela's eyes, she lightly said, "You look very nice when crying. I wanted to watch a little longer."

After speaking, Shen Yue noticed Daniela staring blankly at her instead of crying anymore. Thus, she ordered Number 14 again, "Number 14, use a bit more force. She stopped crying."

As soon as Number 14 heard this, he increased the strength under his foot. Daniela's tears instantly flowed again.

This time from true physically-induced pain.

Shen Yue watched for a while more before standing up. Looking down at Daniela on the floor, she asked, "Although you look nice crying, why did you bring these people here?"

With one line, Daniela's pitiful crying expression instantly changed.

And Number 14 couldn't help but glance at Shen Yue.

So she had noticed too.