Chapter 5 Imprisonment and Sentencing

Claire sensed the fear in Sarah's heart.

Sarah's muscles were tense all over, her face completely pale.

"Hey, Sarah, listen to me." Claire forced an exaggerated smile, leaned close to her ear, and spoke in a light, teasing tone. "You know why pigeons in Asteria never get lost? Because once they fly into the wrong neighborhood, homeless people catch them and turn them into roasted meat."

It was an absurd, boring joke, not funny at all. Claire was trying to break the oppressive silence in the van and calm Sarah's nerves.

But Sarah didn't laugh. She couldn't even manage a smile.

The van gradually slowed down.

Through the window, a massive gray complex of buildings came into view. This was the maximum security prison on the outskirts of Asteria.

Thick concrete walls blocked out most of the sunlight. Watchtowers stood tall with heavy weapons mounted on top. High-voltage barbed wire wound around the walls, gleaming coldly under the gloomy sky.

A heavy sense of oppression hit them head-on, making it hard to breathe.

Sarah's heart sank. Her palms were soaked with cold sweat. She kept rubbing the numbered uniform in her hands until the fabric wrinkled.

She knew in her heart that she had run out of options.

The van passed through the prison gates. They went through three or four security checkpoints, each round of inspection particularly strict.

After the body search, Sarah and Claire followed the burly tattooed man into a spacious central assembly hall.

The harsh white lights overhead were especially glaring, and Sarah squinted.

The hall was already packed. Forty-nine young girls stood in rows. When Sarah and Claire joined the formation, all fifty-one spots were filled.

The tattooed man strode onto the platform at the front. His cold presence silenced the entire room, and everyone's eyes fixed on him.

"Listen carefully to every rule that follows," his hoarse voice echoed through the hall's microphone, completely devoid of warmth.

"Voluntarily pair with an inmate. Strictly follow all prison management regulations. Do not provoke inmates. Escape is forbidden. Weekly psychological and behavioral reports on your paired subject must be submitted on time."

He paused, his gaze sweeping slowly across everyone below.

"Once the agreement is signed, all terms take effect immediately. According to the latest requirements, everyone must stay here for a full three months. No early withdrawal is allowed."

After hearing the rules, quite a few girls in the audience showed no fear—instead, their eyes lit up with excitement. They gathered in small groups, whispering to each other, their words full of anticipation.

"Oh my god, this is just like some kind of alternative romantic adventure."

"I'm really curious what kind of person I'll be assigned to—hopefully a muscular gang leader."

Driven by novelty and curiosity, these girls were treating the heavily guarded prison like a romantic game.

Only Sarah stood alone in a corner, cold sweat running down her back. In her eyes, everything happening was both absurd and cruel.

This was a prison holding serious criminals, not an amusement park where you could come and go as you pleased.

"Quiet!" The tattooed man slammed his fist on the podium. "Now we'll call roll by number and verify everyone's identity information."

"Number one . . ."

"Number two . . ."

The roll call continued.

At the same time, the iron doors around the hall were pushed open one after another. Dozens of guards in black uniforms quickly entered, carrying batons and with firearms on their hips. They soon surrounded all the girls in the center of the hall.

A stern, cold atmosphere descended like a giant net, enveloping the entire space. The invisible pressure choked everyone's breathing. The girls who had been laughing and chatting moments ago instantly fell silent, no one daring to make a sound.

"Number fifty, Claire."

"Here," Claire answered loudly.

"Number fifty-one, special recruit, Sarah."

"Here," Sarah said, her voice trembling.

The roll call ended. A guard who appeared quite senior, holding a file folder, walked directly to Sarah. He looked down at the information about the number fifty-one special recruit. The moment he saw the content, his brow furrowed sharply. Clear surprise and shock appeared on his previously stern face.

He looked at Sarah's thin, frail frame, his lips moving as if he wanted to say something. Then he turned aside, lowered his voice, and began talking with the colleague beside him who was responsible for checking the list.

The two were extremely close to Sarah. She held her breath, every nerve tense, catching every word of their low conversation.

"What's going on here? Number fifty-one, Sarah, isn't on the original list of fifty recruits at all. She shouldn't have entered the core pairing program." The on-duty guard's tone was full of confusion.

The colleague beside him quickly glanced around and lowered his voice even more. "Don't ask too many questions, and don't meddle. This spot was specially approved by upper management, arranged at the last minute."

"Why was she specifically arranged to come in?"

"The inmate she's being paired with has an extremely deep background, with influence everywhere. His father is a top figure in Asteria's underground gangs—the entire prison management doesn't dare disobey orders from above. This girl, to put it bluntly, is just a sacrificial lamb they pushed forward."

Those whispered words exploded like a bombshell in Sarah's mind, shattering her last bit of composure.

She had grown up in a poor small town, only wanting to avoid Percy's violence each day, knowing nothing about prison power struggles or underground gang hierarchies. Based purely on instinct, she imagined the other person must be a dangerous individual with a fierce face, a violent temperament, and hands stained with blood.

Fear continued to magnify. Sarah's hands and feet turned ice-cold, her legs trembling slightly beyond her control.

She thought desperately—everyone else would at least be assigned to ordinary serious criminals. Even if the situation was dangerous, there would still be a glimmer of hope. Only she had been forcibly arranged by some invisible force, plunging into the most dangerous abyss in this already perilous place.

Claire stood not far away. She noticed Sarah's pale face and that she was on the verge of collapse. She immediately reached out, quietly grasped Sarah's hand, and squeezed her palm firmly. Claire tried to comfort her with a look, promising to stay close.

But Sarah looked into Claire's eyes and knew better. Once they entered here, everyone would be separated and taken away to pair with their respective inmates. No matter how deep their friendship, Claire couldn't share even half of the danger for her. In this cage sealed by high walls and wire mesh, she could only face that mysterious, powerful inmate alone.

At that moment, the two guards finished their private conversation.

The guard snapped shut the file folder and looked up expressionlessly at the trembling Sarah. He slowly spoke, preparing to publicly announce the name of her paired inmate and the crimes he had committed.

Sarah's heartbeat stopped, her entire body frozen in place. She stared intently at the guard's moving lips, as if waiting for a verdict that would determine her fate.

She even desperately wondered whether, once the cell door closed, she could survive even one day in this place.