Inside the dim room, the outdoor break ended earlier than usual. The Eldians returned and each sat or lay down in their designated spots, continuing their meaningless daze or dozing off.
Martin sat in the corner, his heart still heavy with pain and despair at the thought of being sent to Paradise tomorrow. Suddenly, he looked up at the locked door, then turned to glance at the empty space beside him.
"That kid..."
Rayan had always sat next to him, but now his side was empty.
The door was locked. A sudden chill ran down Martin's spine. He reached behind him for the dagger hidden under his buttocks, but it was gone.
His expression changed several times, from anger to deep contemplation, and then gradually twisted into a wildly joyful smile. He suddenly stood up and lunged at the door, pounding on it with all his strength.
Bang bang bang. Bang bang bang. Bang bang bang.
The other Eldians in the room frowned at him, not understanding what he was doing.
Click.
The sound of the lock opening came from outside, and the door was kicked open. Martin, unable to move away in time, was slammed to the ground by the force of the door, his nose hitting hard against the floor, blood immediately gushing out.
"Damn it!" The Marleyan soldier who entered held a whip and without a word lashed it across Martin's body, snarling, "What are you banging on the door for? Do you want to be whipped to death?"
"No no no!" Martin, even while being whipped, grinned with blood staining his teeth. "I want to report something! Someone escaped! That kid escaped!"
"What?!"
The Marleyan soldier's face twisted with shock. Escape was a serious matter. He immediately grabbed Martin by the collar and dragged him outside, urgently questioning as they moved, "When did this happen?"
"Just now just now! Right after the outdoor break! When we came back, that kid was already gone! He must have run away!"
"Damn it!"
The soldier yanked Martin along with one hand while pulling out a walkie talkie with the other, shouting into it, "Something bad! A damn Eldian has escaped!"
---
One minute earlier.
Step step step. Hum hum hum hum. Hum hum.
In the guardhouse, a bored guard lounged back in his chair, reading a newspaper, crossing his legs, and humming a little tune. Life was easy for him. All he had to do was open and close the gate. As for dealing with Eldians, that was the soldiers' business.
"Wow, the Ent car dropped in price again! No way, I am definitely going to persuade my wife to get one when I get home. A man without a car is not a man..." he muttered to himself. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a child walking toward the gate with a very low hat brim.
"Hey you little brat over there!" the guard called out, quickly folding his newspaper and leaning out the window. "What are you doing?"
"It is scary here. I want to go home," the child answered timidly.
"Tch. Whose kid are you? Bringing a brat to a place like this..." The guard glanced at the military uniform the boy wore and the fear in his eyes. He figured the kid must have been frightened by the soldiers' brutal treatment of the Eldians.
"Show me your pass."
"It is with my dad!"
The guard hesitated, then waved his hand. "Forget it. Go on. Do not come here again. This is no place for kids like you. And remember whatever you saw, those Eldians are devils. It is never wrong to treat devils however you want. Understand?"
"Oh!"
The child quickly exited through the gate, turned the corner, and immediately leaned against the wall, panting heavily. He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and unclenched the hand that had been gripping a pistol hidden in his pocket.
"Good. Was not discovered," Rayan whispered to himself. To be honest, when the guard had asked him for a pass, he had been a second away from drawing his gun. Luckily, the guard was not too diligent. Of course, his clothes and appearance helped too.
After all, who would expect an Eldian child to steal a Marleyan military uniform and walk straight out through the front gate?
But escaping the internment camp was only the beginning. He could not afford to let his guard down yet.
Rayan knew that sooner or later, someone from the room would report his escape. Human nature was like that. They could not stand to see others succeed, especially those they were not close to. Besides, Marley had deliberately introduced a policy to prevent Eldians from uniting. Any Eldian who reported another with malicious intent would earn the title of Honorary Marleyan.
Naturally, many Eldians would betray their own for that prize.
He slapped his cheeks lightly to stay alert. Marleyan soldiers still roamed nearby. Rayan kept his head down and quickened his pace, heading toward the nearby port.
He had barely gotten a few blocks away when a shrill alarm suddenly echoed across the internment camp.
"Someone has escaped. Repeat. Someone has escaped."
"The target is a thirteen year old boy. Height approximately one meter fifty."
"The target has a sharp weapon and may be disguised in military uniform."
The voice blared loudly through every speaker. The guard in the guardhouse, who had been dreaming about his new car, froze for several seconds before realizing the truth. His face twisted in rage as he roared.
"Damn brat!"
All the Marleyan soldiers inside the internment camp mobilized at once. Chaos broke out everywhere.
Meanwhile, Martin had been dragged into a large room filled with high ranking Marleyan officers. As soon as he saw them, his legs gave out and he collapsed onto the floor, trembling all over.
"What is your name?" asked a stern officer standing at the front. His voice was cold and his hands were clenched tightly behind his back as though barely containing his fury.
"Reporting, sir. My name is Martin. Martin Lewis."
"You were the one who reported it. That kid always stayed next to you."
"Yes, sir," Martin stammered, cold sweat pouring down his face.
He could not understand it. A child had escaped. So what? Before, when someone escaped, they would send a couple of trucks to chase after them. Why now were all the soldiers in the camp gathered as if the world was ending?
But it did not matter. He had reported it. He had made a contribution. As long as he was granted Honorary Marleyan status, he would not have to go to Paradise.
Martin licked his dry lips and continued desperately, "Officer, although I sat next to him, I had no idea about his escape plan! I knew nothing! As soon as I realized he was missing after the outdoor break, I immediately reported it!"
The officer was silent for a moment, then asked, "Do you know what that boy did before escaping?"
"Wh-what..." Martin stuttered.
"He killed someone."
"Ah! Was it a noble Marleyan he killed? That hateful brat! Officers, you must catch him and punish him severely!"
"He killed my son," the officer said flatly.
Martin froze, then slowly looked up, realizing with horror that the man he had been speaking to was Major General Moustafa, the commander of the entire internment camp.
"I am very sorry about your son... I... I..."
"What are you trying to say?"
Martin forced a trembling smile. "According to Marley's system, my report... it should make me an Honorary Marleyan, right? I am willing to join the army, to serve Marley loyally..."
Before he could finish, Moustafa's hand moved to the hilt of the saber at his waist.
"Major General, you cannot —" Martin began desperately, but the blade flashed.
Thump thump thump.
Martin's head rolled across the floor, stopping with an expression of stunned disbelief still frozen on his face, his eyes wide open even in death.
Clang.
Moustafa threw the saber to the ground. The rage he had been suppressing finally exploded. His face flushed red and the veins in his neck bulged as he bellowed furiously.
"Find him! Find that damn brat! I will personally cut him into pieces!"
"Yes sir!"
---------------
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