Chapter 174

"Zachariah, long time no see." Victoria, dressed in a guard's uniform, walked up to Zachariah and greeted him.

Zachariah looked surprised. "Didn't expect you to join Celestial Prison. Weren't you aiming to get into FBI headquarters management?"

The arrogance Victoria used to carry was gone. She just smiled calmly. "Back when I was in Atlanta, I realized I had a lot to learn, so I figured I'd get some real experience here first."

"By the time you're done here, you'll probably think the FBI is beneath you." Zachariah laughed with a hint of bitterness.

"We'll see when the time comes. For now, I'm pretty happy with life here." Victoria shifted her gaze to Soren. "Isn't this the head of the Bennett family?"

"That's him. He colluded with some people and did some seriously nasty things. On your Warden's orders, he's to be held here." Zachariah pushed the man forward.

"A daughter of the Gonzalez family working as a prison guard in a place like this. You've really embarrassed all of us from the great families."

That caught Victoria off guard. She thought back to what she had said to William, and felt a wave of helplessness wash over her.

Now she finally understood why William hadn't argued back when she said those things. There was simply no need to.

"Mr. Bennett — no, Soren. You're a prisoner here now. I hope you can handle what's coming." Victoria waved her hand and walked off with a few guards to escort him away.

Zachariah watched them go, then handed the list to Tyrant beside him. "Mr. Tyrant, has she really settled in here?"

"She's got more talent than you'd think, especially when it comes to making people suffer. Want to see for yourself?" Tyrant signed his name on the document.

Zachariah's eyes lit up and he stepped forward. "My favorite junior has grown, of course I want to see."

The two of them took the documents and headed toward the interrogation room.

Calling it an interrogation room was generous — it was really just a chamber full of bloodstains and torture tools. The room had two levels: the lower one for actual interrogation, and the upper one for observation.

"Want to go up to the second floor?" Tyrant asked.

Zachariah waved it off. "What's the fun in that?" He pushed open the door to the interrogation room. Soren was already strapped to a blood-soaked chair.

"This is more like it. The FBI is too clean — so clean it makes me want to paint the walls red." Zachariah took a deep breath, not even trying to hide his urge to kill.

"That's exactly why the Warden said you'd fit right in here." Tyrant crossed his arms and turned to Victoria. "You can start."

Victoria nodded. "Alright." She picked up a steel nail and slowly walked toward Soren.

"What could a little girl like you possibly do? If you want anything out of me, you'd better bring those two over there—"

The nail drove straight through Soren's eyeball and ripped it out.

Blood poured from the empty socket, and the searing pain made Soren scream on the spot.

"Are you insane? This is torture! You can't—" Before his screams could die down, a new wave of agony hit his wrist.

A sharp blade had been driven straight through it, and Victoria was already sprinkling chili powder into the wound.

Zachariah nodded with clear satisfaction. "Rough around the edges, sure, but for a beginner, that's pretty impressive."

Watching this, he genuinely couldn't hold back. He was itching to step in and show Victoria a thing or two himself.

Tyrant knew exactly what Zachariah was thinking. "Why not come work with us? I could set something up for you."

"I'd love to, but those old guys at the FBI would never let me go." Zachariah sighed.

"The Warden and I could go ask for you personally. You think they'd dare say no?" The corner of Tyrant's mouth curled up. "We even got Victoria transferred over. You think you're worth less than her?"

Just then, Victoria's voice came from across the room.

"Reporting in — he's lost consciousness."

"That's exactly what I mean about your technique. Send him to the medical ward. He's got a five-hundred-year sentence. He can't die this fast." Tyrant waved his hand, signaling the guards outside to move in.

They came in quickly and took Soren away.

Victoria walked over to the two of them and asked seriously, "If it were William — I mean, the Warden — what would he do differently?"

"No idea. He's on a completely different level from us." Tyrant answered with a helpless shrug.

Zachariah nodded in agreement. "Exactly. He's far more powerful than any of us realize. What he shows on the surface is probably just the tip of the iceberg."

"Is that so? Looks like I've still got a lot to learn." Victoria thought for a moment, then bowed to them. "I'll go take care of the paperwork then."

"She does admin work?" Zachariah asked, caught off guard.

Tyrant grinned. "So do I."

"Never would've guessed. The legendary Tyrant — the guy who supposedly punched a bear to death — does desk work." Zachariah laughed dryly.

Tyrant's identity and background were a mystery, but his strength was anything but. The story went that he'd once gone alone into the mountains to track down a fugitive hiding deep in the wilderness. He came back with the half-dead criminal — and a bear he'd killed with his bare hands.

One punch. Skull crushed. The bear's hide now served as a rug in William's office.

The only person who probably knew who Tyrant really was, was William.

Zachariah looked Tyrant up and down, taking in that massive build, and couldn't help saying, "I still don't know how Mr. Brown found you. If you were with the FBI, we'd probably be a whole different organization by now."

"The FBI did invite me once. Want to know what I said?" Tyrant's mouth curved into a smile. "Beat me, and I'll go with you."

"And?" Zachariah asked, then immediately realized it was a stupid question.

The fact that Tyrant was still standing here said everything.

And now that he thought about it, he vaguely remembered something — a team of the FBI's top operatives had all gone out on a mission together, and when they came back, every single one of them spent a year recovering from their injuries.

Seemed like that had something to do with Tyrant.

Tyrant said nothing. He turned and walked toward the office. "Mr. McCarthy, you know the rules here. It's getting late. Time for you to go."

"Kicking me out already? Ruthless." Zachariah clasped his hands behind his back and strolled toward the helipad. "Anything you want me to tell William?"

"No." They had barely finished talking when a helicopter suddenly took off, drawing both of their attention.

"Deputy Warden — we've got a problem! A prisoner has escaped!"