A War Between Spies

Even though Yang Yi just told Hank to not touch his belongings, he still threw half a box of cigarettes onto his bed before he left. He also took out his shiv and put it on top of the pile of belongings before covering it with his cloth.

After doing all that with Hank’s knowledge, Yang Yi threw a taunting smile at Hank before leaving the cell with the guard.

Instead of going to the medical center, the guard took Yang Yi to Owen’s office. It turned out that the medical application was nothing more than an excuse for guards to secretly meet up with prisoners.

“How’s your new roommate?” Owen asked as soon as the guard left.

“He’s pretty good as a key.”

“Yes, Key is his nickname, and being a key is what he’s useful for. Now, when do I receive my pay?”

“I’ll pay you right after you let me see the person I need to see,” Yang Yi asserted, “Come on, I thought that’s what we agreed on. You send me to the special zone and I give you the money.”

Owen wiped his forehead anxiously, “I’ll be off my post here after twenty-two days. The payment must arrive before that!”

“Rest assured, I can send the money whenever I want. You just need to do your part.”

“Good,” Owen exhaled in relief, “Listen, I’m going to be replaced by a new guard pretty soon. I swear that I’ll send you to the special zone before that, but you have to promise me that you won’t do anything until after I’ve left for three months. I don’t want anyone to know what went on between us, you got that?”

“Rest assured,” Yang Yi responded sternly, “I am very keen on maintaining my reputation.”

Owen sighed as he looked in another direction, “I can’t make any profit without taking some risks first, and now I’m betting my career on your reputation! I hope that you are a man of your word, I really do. Just don’t do anything that’s harmful to me and I won’t do a thing to you. Now tell me what is that you want to do.”

“You’re saying the plan is for me to tell on Hank? What do I get out of it?” Yang Yi asked.

“You’ll become a hero for stopping a jailbreaking attempt, which means you’ll get a job to work in the special zone. Is that clear enough?”

“Yeah, sounds great,” Yang Yi said without objection, “What happens after that?”

“What do you mean? Anything after is your own business. Listen, this is all that I can do for you. Usually, no one would believe it if you tell them that a prisoner is trying to escape, but Hank has already done it before. And you know what? We guards f.u.c.k.i.n.g hate it when someone tries to break out of prison.”

“So even though you have all the worst murderers and rapists here, the kind of criminals you guys hate the most are the escapees?”

“Of course! We would owe you a great deal if you report someone for trying to break out of prison. Or better yet, try catching him in the act! Suppose that you stopped Hank from trying to break out of prison a second time, I could reward you by having you work in the special zone. No one will suspect us if we do that.”

“Sure, but how do we get Hank to try to break out of prison?”

“We don’t. We use this,” Owen replied as he took out a tiny box from his pocket. The box, which was five millimeters thick, was even smaller than a chewing gum packet.

“This is a disruptor that can jam the cell door’s signal,” Owen explained, “You just put this near the keyhole and it will unlock your cell. It didn’t trigger the alarm system last time someone used it.”

“It is,” Owen said with a smug face, “You know who found the way to break out like this? Hank, he’s one. He made this thing and broke out of this place once before. No guard likes a prisoner who knows how to escape, and I’m no exception. We’ll have him get a taste of his own medicine.”

“You got it,” Yang Yi smiled in response as he put the small box in his pocket, “Hank’s going to feel real pleasant when he finds out that he failed to break out a second time.”

Owen laughed, then pointed a finger towards the ceiling, “Ha! God must’ve blessed me when He decided to send Hank to my care. Alright, everything looks fine for now. Don’t forget your promise and I’ll see you at another time.”

“Sure, Owen. I’ll see you another time,” Yang Yi said, then headed back to his cell cheerfully. This gift he just received might even help him to escape prison for real.

When Yang Yi got back to his cell, he saw that Hank was still standing while facing the wall. It seemed that he really didn’t want to risk angering Yang Yi. However, Yang Yi couldn’t help but think that something was going on while Hank was alone by himself.

Yang Yi opened the pack of cigarettes he left on the bed earlier. While he was doing so, Hank was starting look more anxious than when Yang Yi just came back.

“Did you use my cigarettes?” Yang Yi asked skeptically while he sat on his bed.

“No, sir. I did not.” Hank said in fear.

Without saying anything, Yang Yi got up from his bed and walked to the corner of the cell. After he took away the piece of cloth covering his belongings, Yang Yi picked up a half-full box of cigarettes.

Yang Yi said with a creepy smile on his face, “You’ve got a pretty bad nicotine addiction. That’s four you took from me in such a short time. Or did you hide them somewhere on you?”

Without trying to pretend anymore, Hank immediately dropped on the floor and begged for Yang Yi’s forgiveness.

“I’m so sorry!” Hank apologized regretfully, “I was only going to have one, but I couldn’t help myself! I’m sorry for touching your stuff!”

“What do you think your punishment should be?” Yang Yi asked with a troubled look. He honestly wasn’t sure how bad Hank’s punishment should be.

“Please, don’t hit me!” Hank shouted in tears, “Call me anything you want, but just don’t hit me!”

Yang Yi tilted his head, “You mean I should give you a scolding? No no no, I’m not into scolding people. I like hitting them.”

“Please don’t hit me! I can’t take a beating!” Hank begged as he curled into a fetal position. He was crying even louder now.

Yang Yi hated it when grown men start to cry like children, but he couldn’t bring himself to hit someone behaving this pitifully.

“Fine, I’m not going to hit you,” Yang Yi scratched his head, “Go sleep on the floor until I’m not angry at you anymore.”

Suddenly, the dinner bell rang.

“You won’t be having dinner tonight either. Now go stand in the corner and don’t look anywhere. Let this be a real lesson to you,” Yang Yi commanded, then proceeded to go to dinner.

It didn’t take Yang Yi much time to finish his dinner. After he came back to his cell, he saw that Hank had been standing in the corner the entire time this time.

Yang Yi was hoping to execute Owen’s plans tonight, but he needed to at least test the disruptor first. Seeing that Hank was not moving at all, Yang Yi stood at the cell door and started to take out the disruptor.

It would be a bonus if the disruptor could work without triggering the alarm system, but Owen’s plan would still work whether or not it could open the cell door quietly.

‘Might as well just push Hank out and go from there,’ Yang Yi thought. After all, the plan was just to frame Hank for trying to escape.