I bought a prison in the United States.

Foster made no move to respond to Randy.

In fact, he wasn't sure what he was still hoping for—to get out of prison.

At his age, with six years left in his sentence, the most likely outcome is that he will die of old age in prison.

But he still held onto hope, and this "hope" at least gave him the will to live for a short time.

Foster continued eating his bread, his gaze falling on the grayish-white oatmeal porridge in his bowl, as if he were seeing his younger self.

Craig stopped Randy from asking any further questions with a look.

At the other end of the cafeteria, the "mayor" sat in his usual spot, facing the entire cafeteria.

The choice of this position is exactly the same as "Ghost Fang", but the meaning is completely different.

The "Demon Fang" was chosen in that position to defend against attacks.

The mayor chose this position to control the overall situation.

He was observing who was sitting with whom, who was absent today, and whose expression was different from usual.

He would analyze these things and create a more accurate dynamic map of the prison in his mind than the roll call board of the prison guards.

Marcus has been in this prison for six years and has seen at least two hundred prisoners come and go.

Some were released after serving their sentences, some were transferred to other prisons, and some died in their cells.

He died of natural causes, committed suicide, and was murdered once.

Everyone's coming and going is within his observation range.

He wasn't a prison representative appointed by the prison; there was no such position in the prison handbook.

But among the prisoners, his position was more secure than his job title in the manual, the only difference being that Ringo wouldn't pay him a salary.

New prisoners will be told:

"If you need anything, contact Marcus."

If you have a dispute with another prisoner, go to Marcus.

If you don't understand the rules in prison, go find Marcus.

If you want something but don't know how to ask, go to Marcus.

He handles these things in a very gentle way.

Most of the time, it's just a matter of saying a few words, bringing both sides together, and letting them talk things out.

Sometimes he needs to negotiate with the prison guards, as someone who has been there for a relatively long time.

He became very close to the prison guard Hobbs and often used him to bring things from outside the prison in.

This is also why the prisoners respect the "mayor"—connections and resources are the most important things in prison.

Warden Harmon knew his role, so he turned a blind eye to some of his informal activities.

It's a delicate balance.

The official power in the prison rests with the warden and prison guards.

The informal power in the prison is held by "Ghost Fang" and "Mayor".

The former has guns and batons, the latter has information and influence.

The two powers mostly do not interfere with each other, occasionally have friction, and rarely have direct conflict.

However, the atmosphere in the cafeteria today was more tense than usual.

The reason is that he was sitting at one of the three tables in the middle.

The person with "Ghost Fang" is sitting at the table on the left.

Four people, including himself and "three dogs".

They ate breakfast in silence, no one spoke, but the silence itself was oppressive.

It was like the calm before a storm, like a harbinger of something about to happen.

Two tables away to the right, another group of people were sitting.

Five Latino prisoners, led by a drug dealer nicknamed "Blue Snake".

His real name is Hector Saldiwa, and he has a blue rattlesnake tattooed on his left arm.

That was the logo of a Mexican drug cartel, which is why the prisoners called him "Blue Snake".

He and "Ghost Fang" come from the same world, but not the same organization.

The relationship between the 18th Street gang in Los Angeles and Mexican drug cartels is complex, involving cooperation, competition, betrayal, and revenge.

These grudges extended from the streets to the prisons, and from California to Oklahoma.

"Blue Snake" is about ten years older than "Ghost Fang," around thirty-five or thirty-six years old.

His face was rounder, his body stronger, and his skin dark brown.

There was an old scar at the corner of his left eye, extending from his brow bone to his cheekbone, as if something had scratched it.

There are several stories circulating among the prisoners about the origin of that scar, but the views are far more illustrious than those of old Foster.

The most common theory is that it was left behind during a gunfight with anti-drug police at the border, according to his subordinates.

Blue Snake is very proud of the scars on his face, but he doesn't explain them.

In this matter, he and Foster have the same strategy: to keep the story ambiguous and let people scare themselves by guessing.

At that moment, he was stirring the oatmeal porridge in the bowl with a plastic spoon, but his eyes were not on the porridge.

He was watching "Ghost Fang".

"Ghost Fang" is also watching him.

Their eyes met in the air, like two snakes facing off in the grass.

Neither side made a sound or took any action, but the air in the entire cafeteria became thick with the silence of the confrontation.

The surrounding prisoners sensed it, and even Randy sensed it.

He stopped chewing and unconsciously shrank closer to Craig.

Craig frowned, and alarm bells were ringing in his mind.

His hands, hidden under the table, clenched unconsciously.

But across from him, Foster seemed unaffected, the old prisoner continuing to shovel the soggy bread into his mouth at the same rhythm, seemingly oblivious to everything happening around him.

But Craig knew that Foster must have noticed.

Someone who has lived in this place for nearly twenty years could not possibly be unaware of the gunpowder smell in the air.

He simply chose not to react.

This is a survival strategy.

When you can't stop a storm, the best thing to do is crouch down, protect your head, wait for it to pass, and pray that the storm won't hit you.

Wade stood at the cafeteria entrance, holding a coffee cup in his hand.

He also saw the eye contact between the two groups of people.

However, he did not act rashly, because he knew that going between the two groups at this time would only make things worse.

He has been here for eight years and has witnessed similar scenes at least a dozen times.

Sometimes conflicts erupt, and sometimes they subside on their own.

Judging when to intervene and when to wait is the most important skill of a veteran prison guard.

Coffey walked over to him and asked in a low voice:

"Should we call someone?"

"Wait a minute."

Wade took a sip of coffee:

"They're just glaring at each other, waiting until a real fight breaks out before they talk."

Although Coffey hesitated, he still listened to Wade because he knew that Wade's judgments were often accurate.

If "Ghost Fang" and "Blue Snake" start fighting here, the cafeteria will have to close, and they will enforce the measures.

But because the "mayor" was also sitting there, his eyes were fixed on the two tables.

Wade didn't think a riot would happen because most prisoners were more willing to listen to the "mayor," and the probability of conflict would be greatly increased if he wasn't there.