Searching for someone in northern Myanmar, and you call that earning tuition fees?

My first impression of Zone K was its noise.

The roar of the generator, the curses of the overseer, and the suppressed sobs of the newcomers.

Su Ming was shoved in the back with an electric baton by a burly man, and along with a dozen other "piglets," was herded into an empty warehouse.

The man's name was A Biao, and he was the "new instructor" here, known for his ruthlessness.

"Listen up, you fucking idiots!" Ah Biao brandished his stun baton, blue sparks flying from the tip. "From today onwards, your lives belong to District K! Forget your names, your past, forget it all! Here, only obedience earns you food! Got it?"

No one dared to speak; the entire room was filled with an overwhelming sense of fear.

Ah Biao watched this scene, snorted coldly, grabbed the bespectacled man hiding in the crowd, and kicked him in the back of the knee.

With a "thump," the bespectacled man knelt down on the ground.

"Are you mute? I'm asking you a question!" Ah Biao grinned maliciously, pressing a stun gun against the bespectacled man's neck.

"I...I understand..." The bespectacled man was so frightened that tears streamed down his face.

"Speak louder!"

"Understood!" came a few scattered responses from the crowd.

Su Ming mingled in the crowd, head down, body trembling slightly, feigning a fearful yet submissive demeanor.

But inside, there was only a cold calm.

The target, Ah Biao, is approximately 182cm tall and weighs 95kg. He is right-handed. He habitually raises his right shoulder, possibly due to a pre-existing injury, which could become a weakness during strenuous activity. The stun gun he carries is a T-8 model, capable of delivering up to 8 volts instantaneously, but its sustained discharge capability is poor, triggering overheat protection after 5 seconds.

The first step in psychological control is to strip away identity, destroy dignity, and instill fear. The methods are brutal, but effective. However, this purely violent management style also generates the most severe backlash. An organization that relies solely on fear to maintain its cohesion indicates internal corruption and a lack of core cohesion.

Next came the body search.

Everyone was required to strip naked and hand over all personal belongings. Cell phones, wallets, ID cards, and even a belt were thrown into a large metal box.

When it was Su Ming's turn, he "reluctantly" handed over his backpack and his old Nokia phone.

The thugs responsible for the body search roughly searched him, and after confirming that he had nothing to hide, they impatiently pushed him aside.

Su Ming obediently covered his head and squatted in the corner, but his peripheral vision kept fixed on the iron box.

The iron box is made of ordinary sheet metal welded together, and the lock is a cross lock. Difficulty of picking: Low. In the woodworking skills my grandfather taught me, making a simple cross lock key only requires a wire and takes less than three minutes.

New employee training takes place in a room known as the "dark room".

The so-called training involved watching various gory videos and listening to "teachers" repeatedly instill the idea that "disobedience will only lead to death."

Su Ming kept his head down the whole time, his shoulders trembling slightly with "fear." In reality, his ears were picking up all the sounds inside and outside the room with astonishing efficiency.

Footsteps could be heard passing by outside the wall.

The two men, each weighing approximately 70 kg, walked with a steady gait and were patrolling guards. They spoke for 17 seconds in the local dialect, mentioning "the big boss" and "new goods." This indicates that senior management of the industrial park were active in the vicinity.

An unusual noise was coming from the room's ventilation vent.

It's a rat. Judging from the sound, the ventilation duct is about 20 centimeters in diameter, leading directly to the outside, but the exit is protected by wire mesh. The wire mesh is so corroded... it could probably be pried open by hand. A backup route.

He could even hear the ongoing telecom fraud in the next room.

"Mom, I've been kidnapped, they're going to break my legs..."

A young male voice, trembling with sobs, delivered an exaggerated performance.

The emotion is wrong. Genuine fear causes the vocal cord muscles to tense, making the voice high-pitched and dry, not strong and resonant like his. A flaw.

After a full day of "training," everyone was in a daze, like zombies.

They were taken to a dormitory—a large communal room converted from a warehouse, with more than thirty bunk beds crammed together, the air thick with the stench of sweat and despair.

There is a camera in the corner of the dormitory, with a flashing red light.

Su Ming lay on the innermost lower bunk, his head covered by the blanket, seemingly asleep.

In his mind, however, he was coldly summarizing.

[Security Assessment for Area K:]

[Physical defenses: High walls, electric fences, and numerous watchtowers create an appearance of fortification. However, the buildings are mostly converted from old industrial plants, with numerous structural weaknesses. For example, the welds on the dormitory windows are severely corroded; a bed frame could easily be used as a lever to pry them open.]

[Personnel and Defense: Approximately 200 guards, working in three shifts, primarily equipped with AK-series rifles and pistols. Patrol routes are fixed, discipline is lax, and there are numerous blind spots and gaps in shift work. Morale is low, with most officers driven by self-interest and exhibiting virtually no loyalty.]

[Logical defense: Zero. Chaotic and disorganized management. Ineffective psychological pressure tactics, a useless monitoring system, and unrestricted internet access for internal personnel...]

Su Ming opened his eyes and chuckled in the darkness.

This is hardly hell.

It's clearly a crooked, dilapidated castle made of building blocks that would collapse at the slightest push.

Just then, the dormitory door was kicked open.

Ah Biao walked in with several thugs, the bright beam of his flashlight sweeping across each of their faces.

"Get the hell up, all of you! Get your tasks assigned!"

Everyone was forced off their beds and stood in a row, trembling with fear.

Ah Biao's gaze finally landed on Su Ming. He looked Su Ming up and down, his frail frame revealing a disdainful sneer.

"You, the college student with glasses," he pointed the stun gun at Su Ming, "looking at you, you probably have trouble even typing. Go work as a porter in the warehouse on the west side, the easiest job. Don't fucking kill me on your first day!"

Su Ming trembled as if he were frightened, and nodded repeatedly.

West warehouse...

His mind instantly recalled the terrain he had observed at dusk.

That's the logistics center for the entire park, where supplies, tools, and waste are all piled up. It's also the highest point in the entire park, offering the best view.

Su Ming lowered his head, concealing the sharp glint in his eyes.

It's true, just when you're sleepy, someone brings you a pillow.

Thank you for the pass, Instructor Abiao.