Chapter 80

Some characters... No, to be more precise, a combination of symbols and patterns appeared in Qin Ran's eyes.

Two circular patterns, one large and one small, the larger enclosing the smaller, divided the entire pattern into inner and outer layers. At the center was an extremely abstract pattern, resembling a... scorpion?

Qin Ran was not entirely sure if the pattern was indeed a scorpion.

In fact, looking at the things written or drawn in blood before him, Qin Ran was not even certain if they were symbols or patterns.

As for the characters?

Qin Ran swore he had never seen such characters before.

At least, not in the knowledge he had learned!

"What is this?"

Qin Ran's gaze focused on the position between the two circles.

Here, there were more symbols.

Starting with a regular pentagram and ending with an inverted pentagram.

According to Qin Ran's calculations, there were roughly forty-one symbols in between.

It wasn't that Qin Ran didn't want a more precise number; it was just that these symbols were too unfamiliar and complex, making it impossible for him to distinguish whether they were combined to represent one meaning or paired to represent another.

Qin Ran squatted on the ground, looking at these symbols.

He wanted to find a pattern.

For a full ten minutes.

But in the end, his brows were completely furrowed.

Clearly, Qin Ran had found nothing.

Faced with something completely unfamiliar, summarizing and generalizing was absolutely not something that could be done in just a few minutes, especially when it was extremely complex.

Sigh!

Sighing, Qin Ran stood up and turned to look around.

But he found nothing more.

"Mr. 2567, have you found anything?"

Jack, the prison guard, who was holding a flashlight and covering his nose, immediately asked when he saw Qin Ran stand up.

"Something!"

"How did Kylfen Hodge die?"

Qin Ran did not elaborate on his findings but instead inquired about the death of the previous prisoner in this cell.

"Kylfen Hodge was a madman!"

"Can you imagine someone biting their own wrist and then bleeding themselves?"

"I've been a prison guard at Alcatraz for ten years and have seen countless vicious criminals, but I've never seen anyone as crazy as him!"

Jack's face showed fear when he mentioned Kylfen Hodge.

"Is there more about Kylfen Hodge?"

"Did he have any personal items when he was arrested?"

Qin Ran continued to ask.

"Besides knowing that he was a cult leader who made over a hundred people commit suicide, I don't know much more about him!"

"If I could, I wouldn't even want to know these things!"

"It's just too terrifying!"

"Moreover, he turned himself in, not being arrested!"

Jack shivered as he spoke.

"Turned himself in, not arrested?"

The other's words greatly surprised Qin Ran.

"Yes, that guy was like a rat! We couldn't catch him no matter what!"

"If he hadn't turned himself in, I think he could have continued to evade the law!"

"Of course, it was announced to the public that he was arrested!"

Jack shrugged.

Clearly, this was not a glorious matter.

"Did he bring any items when he turned himself in?"

"Like books or notes?"

Qin Ran was still a bit hopeful.

His curiosity about those symbols and patterns made him want to investigate.

In most cases, knowledge is recorded in books.

So, Kylfen Hodge's personal books and notes might contain information about these symbols and patterns.

Unfortunately, Jack's answer was disappointing.

"No!"

"That guy walked into the police station alone a year ago, with nothing but the clothes on his back, not even a wallet!"

Jack carefully recalled and then answered.

"Do you need to verify this again?"

Jack asked.

"No need!"

"Let's go to the remaining six cells where prisoners committed suicide!"

Qin Ran shook his head.

He didn't think Jack would lie to him about this.

Moreover, even if Kylfen Hodge had notes or books about these symbols and patterns, they would likely have fallen into the hands of others the moment he turned himself in.

After all, there were already 'professionals' like them in this scenario, so it wouldn't be surprising if there were others.

These people would surely have a great interest in the notes and books of a cult leader who could manipulate over a hundred people to commit suicide.

Although, to normal people, Kylfen Hodge was a pitiful schizophrenic.

Of the remaining six cells where prisoners committed suicide, two were also on the third floor.

Three were concentrated on the second floor, and the last one was on the first floor—there were also surveillance cameras on the first and second floors, not as dense as on the third floor, but enough to cover the entire area.

There was nothing special about the distribution of the cells where the suicides occurred.

The search in the first five cells was the same.

Now, Qin Ran had come to the last cell.

Compared to Kylfen Hodge's cell, the cells of these six prisoners were much better—of course, only in comparison to Kylfen Hodge's cell.

Never imagine a room like a hotel's top-tier room.

Because the best cell at Alcatraz is worse than a hotel's toilet.

Just like the best cell at Alcatraz that Jack described.

It only had an additional light fixed to the ceiling, a steel bed frame fixed to the floor, and a toilet with a lid.

There was still no window to see outside.

There was also no sink or anything like that.

"The first floor is for the more obedient prisoners!"

"Sometimes they are allowed to read!"

"But not often!"

Jack explained.

"Hope the books given to them don't depict too much freedom!"

Qin Ran said as he activated [Tracking] again.

"Hopefully!"

"But they deserve it!"

Jack smiled.

He had no sympathy for these prisoners.

Similarly, neither did Qin Ran.

Through Jack's account, Qin Ran had a general understanding of the prisoners here. For example, the cell he was in now was said to house a relatively obedient prisoner, but this relatively obedient prisoner had robbed three banks and killed no fewer than ten innocent people.

In short, every prisoner at Alcatraz was a heinous criminal. Even the one with the lightest charge would be executed ten times over in the Federation.

As for whether there were any innocent ones?

It might happen in other prisons, but at Alcatraz?

Absolutely not.

Because only prisoners with solid evidence were kept here.

This was what Jack said.

Although Qin Ran had some doubts about this.

With [Tracking] activated, Qin Ran, as before, carefully searched the entire cell.

In the enhanced vision, no trace escaped his eyes.

But there was still nothing!

The cell in front of him was very 'clean'!

There was not a single trace left.

Under the bed, behind the toilet, even in the door cracks, Qin Ran had checked all the places where something could be hidden, but found nothing.

It was unclear whether the prisoners had left nothing or if what they left had been cleaned up.

Qin Ran leaned towards the latter.

Jack had already complained more than once about the trouble of cleaning the cells of the suicide prisoners.

"Too clean!"

Qin Ran sighed.

Given the attitude of the guards here, it was impossible for them to clean so thoroughly.

"It has to be clean!"

"Because the warden cleans personally first, then we clean!"

"Finally, the warden checks!"

"Several guards were scolded by the warden for not cleaning properly!"

Jack said with a helpless tone.

"The warden cleans personally?"

Qin Ran was surprised.

This was completely beyond his imagination.

In his impression, the warden was not the type to do such things.

"Yes!"

"‘Those prisoners are scum, but this is my territory, and I don't want them to be as dirty as scum!’ This is a famous quote from the warden here!"

Jack replied.

"Very much in the warden's style!"

Qin Ran nodded and walked out of the cell.

Although he said this, his doubts about the warden grew.

But with no new discoveries, staying longer was pointless.

It would be better to return to his room and ask Lawless about the meaning of those symbols and patterns. Perhaps, with Lawless's experience from the eighth scenario, he would understand them.

There might be some discoveries.

As Qin Ran walked out of the cell, he did not return to the third floor to the east.

Instead, he planned to exit through the west side of the prison area and then return to the east.

However, before he could take a step, the door to the west side of the prison area opened, and a team of five fully armed guards walked in.

They opened the cell doors and let the prisoners out.

Each prisoner was disheveled, reeking, and holding a folded towel—only a towel, no soap or basin.

"Shower?!"

Seeing this, Qin Ran immediately understood.

This was the one chance a week for prisoners to leave their cells: to shower.

"Another shower day!"

Jack, who seemed to have just remembered this day, moved to the side of the corridor and gestured for Qin Ran to do the same.

"This is a rule set by the warden—those without a task must give way to those with a task!"

"Shower day is an important task at Alcatraz—because it's the only day prisoners leave their cells!"

Jack explained and then whispered.

"Indeed, the poisoning incident must have reduced the staff!"

"Originally, it would take at least ten people!"

The poisoning wouldn't have reduced the staff so much.

The real reason for the shortage was that the warden had deployed guards outside Alcatraz to catch Old Tom's possible accomplice.

Qin Ran knew this.

But he couldn't explain it to Jack.

Standing to the side, Qin Ran watched as the cell doors were opened one by one, and the prisoners walked out.

Soon, the iron door of the cell directly in front of Qin Ran was opened.

"Hey, it's great to see the sun!"

A thin, withered old man walked out of the cell.

Unlike the other prisoners, this old man had a smile on his face, stretching lazily in the light, looking very comfortable. The towel was not folded in his hand but draped over his shoulder.

"Huh, a new face?"

The old man saw Qin Ran and exclaimed in surprise.

This action earned him the anger of the guard opening the cell door.

"Shut up, you've missed your chance to shower!"

The guard hit the old man's back with the butt of his gun, causing him to stumble and fall at Qin Ran's feet. Before the old man could stand up, the guard dragged him back into the cell.

A strange expression flashed across Qin Ran's face.

"That guy is a famous thief!"

"If he hadn't escaped too many times, he wouldn't have been sent to Alcatraz!"

Jack explained the old man's identity.

"A famous thief?"

"No wonder!"

Qin Ran felt a sudden realization as he felt a paper ball in his pocket, which had appeared there suddenly.

The old man, known as a famous thief, had seemingly tried to maintain his balance when he fell but had actually slipped the paper ball into Qin Ran's pocket.

Qin Ran had seen the old man's intention just before he touched his pocket but had not stopped him.

A prisoner at Alcatraz putting a paper ball in a stranger's pocket.

What did it mean?

Or, more simply: What was in the paper ball? What was written on it?

An unexpected discovery!

Qin Ran's lips curled slightly.