Chapter 537

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Chapter 537: The Escapee (5)

Taking three prisoners and escaping the prison.

One of them was one-legged, so it was impossible to just shove the guards aside and run.

In other words, it meant a frontal breakthrough.

-If we get caught again, the punishment will be even harsher.

Mantero voiced his concern as he looked at the guards already filling the corridor.

Then the thief Kejen shook his handcuffs and added.

-You think only we’ll be in trouble? You won’t get away unscathed. You’ll probably be locked up with us.

Supported by Mantero, Koatu moved his mechanical jaw and spoke.

-But we won’t stay locked up for long. For killing the warden, the prison will demand the death penalty.

“…What?”

And even during the trial, they wouldn’t be confined here in Black Iron Prison—that was Koatu’s explanation.

-This place is the royal family’s trash dump. The goal isn’t to kill prisoners, just to make prison life miserable.

“So you’re saying other prisons are built to kill prisoners?”

-Let’s call it implied intent. Either way, if you get caught here, you’ll be sent to a very different kind of prison.

The kind where you might die during your sentence.

At that moment, Yeongwoo remembered.

‘Wasn’t the universe’s conviction mortality rate 84%?’

Of course, someday he might end up in prison, but today wasn’t that day.

“I need to make money. So I won’t be going to prison today.”

Then Kejen pointed to the sky and said.

-That’s not for you to decide. Whether we end up back in our cells or not, only the records know.

But Yeongwoo disagreed.

“No. I decide what happens. Typesetter only writes down what I’ve chosen.”

As he stepped forward, the entire underground block, filled with guards, issued a metallic warning.

《Escape is a grave crime! Prisoners, surrender immediately!》

Then they tossed something at Yeongwoo’s feet.

Clank.

「High-Power Suppressor」 - Legendary Tool

【Equipment Catalog Neutralized】

【Combat Ability -60%】

It was a pair of handcuffs.

They were telling him to cuff himself and surrender.

“Crazy bastards.”

Yeongwoo picked up the cuffs, then swung Bastard threateningly and stepped forward.

Clack!

“The warden’s already dead. Do you think you’ll be any different? Anyone who turns back now gets to live.”

He gave them a genuine warning, but not a single guard fled.

They were relying on sheer numbers.

So Yeongwoo reluctantly looked back at the others.

“You can at least keep up behind me, right? Don’t fall behind.”

The three nodded in turn, and Yeongwoo raised his voice to the sky.

“|l|-Resham-429-110-6839-22! Can you do it right now?”

He was calling for artillery from General Kim Younghyeom.

And soon—

Shooooom!

A piercing sound split the air above the prison.

KWA-BOOOOOM!

The whole underground shook as a laser strike hit the Black Iron Prison’s fortress.

‘As expected, breaking through the building itself is too much…’

Still, the sudden bombardment threw everything into chaos, and Yeongwoo seized the chance to charge forward.

“Run, all of you!”

With the three escapees at his back.

Crasssh!

As he surged ahead, the guards filling the corridor swung their blades.

-Grab them!

-Execute them on the spot if necessary!

-Restraint units, fire suppression rounds!

But Yeongwoo’s Bastard moved first.

Swaaaash!

With a single slash, every guard’s blade in front of him was cut clean in half.

-What—?

-How—?

Shocked guards dropped their broken hilts, and Yeongwoo rammed his body through the gap.

Thud!

A body slam.

The prisoners behind him were the most stunned.

-If you’ve got that kind of strength, why not just cut through them all with your sword?

Kejen asked breathlessly, chasing behind.

Yeongwoo kneed a guard blocking the path and answered.

Thud!

“If I kill all these guards, who’s going to deal with the fallout later?”

Of course, if necessary, he would kill.

But unlike the warden, the ordinary guards were laughably weak—at least by Yeongwoo’s standards.

And if he killed them all, not only would he be branded a fugitive, but his karma would skyrocket.

“Helping you break out is bad enough karma already. I don’t need more.”

-A villain worrying about karma management…?

Kejen muttered in disbelief.

Yeongwoo just shook his head.

“How could a sparrow understand the will of a phoenix?”

He raised Aratubank and deflected the suppression rounds flying his way.

Clink clink!

“But this is getting annoying.”

He holstered Bastard, then summoned a weapon that would humiliate the guards most.

Fwoooosh!

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The late warden’s signature weapon, 「Gatekeeper」, appeared in his hands.

「Gatekeeper」 - Legendary Great Hammer

【Warden's Duty】

【Sturdy Prison】

【Warden's Duty】

| # While in the prison, all combat abilities increase by 15%.

【Sturdy Prison】

| # Holds the status of a myth while inside the prison.

“Hyaaaaah!”

As Yeongwoo hefted the massive hammer, the guards finally faltered.

-What—?

-Is that… Gatekeeper?

-Careful!

Its monstrous size and the authority it symbolized shattered their morale.

“Out of the way! You think I’m swinging this because I can’t kill you?”

And because it was a blunt weapon without a blade, it was perfectly suited for Yeongwoo, who preferred to avoid needless killing.

Smaaash!

Just by swinging it side to side, guards were sent flying.

Some even instinctively backed off just to avoid it.

At last, they broke through the center of the block, and even the guards at the exit began to recoil.

The three escapees gaped.

-The guards… are letting us through?

Kejen muttered in disbelief.

Of course, it wasn’t that the guards had willingly stepped aside.

They simply had no choice.

Smaaash!

Yeongwoo’s hammer rose again, battering down those who still blocked the way.

‘We’re almost at the courtyard. Is the escape shuttle ready?’

○ Yes, I can launch it now. But there’s one problem.

‘What?’

○ Mortars are mounted at the base of the courtyard towers. If we don’t deal with them, the shuttle will be destroyed on arrival.

‘Damn… Can’t we blast them with the main cannon?’

○ That would level the entire courtyard.

He nodded grimly.

‘Fine. Send the shuttle. I’ll handle the mortars.’

○ Understood. Dispatching now.

As the exchange ended, a flood of daylight finally reached them.

Fwoooosh!

They had reached the courtyard.

-Wow…

-My god.

-Outside? Is this outside?

The escapees sighed in awe, while Yeongwoo pulled out the whistle hanging from his neck.

“The shuttle will drop here soon. Get in one by one.”

Even as he said it, a mortar shell exploded in the courtyard.

Whiiiiiiish—KWA-BOOOOM!

-What… what shuttle?

“Damn it, just wait.”

Yeongwoo blew the whistle.

The world dimmed, and the sky split open.

KRAAACK!

And as always—

―Yaaaaaaah!

Yeongtae and the five friends came crashing down, whooping with excitement.

BOOOOOM!

Right into the shellfire-ridden courtyard.

“You all know what to do, right? Clear those things so we can escape.”

No need to point—the mortars were already pounding the ground all around them.

―Not once do these shells ever land in a clean spot.

At Kim Younghyeom’s grumble, the friends scattered to hunt down the mortars.

And soon, four escape shuttles dropped into the courtyard.

Swoooosh!

Seeing them, Mantero asked nervously.

-Uh… why are there only four?

“What do you mean? There are four of us.”

-Then what about… them?

He pointed at the friends smashing mortars across the courtyard.

“Oh, them? They’ll leave the same way they came.”

-…What?

KWA-BOOOM!

One of the shuttles slammed into the ground, and Yeongwoo waved them forward.

“Get in, or stay here forever!”

The shuttle’s front hatch opened wide, and Yeongwoo sprinted for the farthest one.

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He dove inside.

Meanwhile, Mantero was helping Koatu aboard another shuttle, while Kejen had already closed the hatch of his.

‘That bastard’s fast…’

Yeongwoo thought as he watched.

Finally, Mantero leapt into the last shuttle, pale-faced.

“We’re all in! Let’s go home!”

Once everyone was aboard, Earth’s voice echoed in the cabins.

「Emergency recall will now commence.」

Then a pillar of white light engulfed the shuttles, linking directly to the Earthship.

And then—

Fwoooosh!

The four shuttles shot upward, streaking through Lesham’s atmosphere at blazing speed.

「Welcome aboard the Earthship, dear criminals!」

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