I bought a prison in the United States.

The solitary confinement cell is located at the deepest part of the cell block, near the north wall of the prison. It was originally a storage room from the orphanage era.

A rectangular space was later divided into four separate, enclosed cells, each only two square meters in size.

The walls are bare concrete, and there are no windows.

The ceiling lights are recessed, with iron grilles welded to the outside of the lampshades.

The light switch is outside and controlled by the guard on duty.

This means that people in solitary confinement cannot control when they are in the light or when they are in the dark.

This deprivation of control over one's most basic needs is more devastating than confinement itself.

Ghost Fang was locked in solitary confinement cell number three.

"Your detention period is 72 hours. I hope you remember today's lesson."

Wade removed his handcuffs, pushed him inside, and then closed the door.

The sound of the iron gate closing was heavy, like the lid being closed on a coffin.

The sound of the lock turning echoed in the narrow corridor.

The old-style spring pin structure uses a thin, long metal piece inserted into the door gap to press against the latch. By prying it upwards three to four millimeters, the latch can be pushed back into the lock body.

This isn't some advanced technology; anyone who's spent a few years on the streets has probably heard about the weaknesses of this old lock.

Wade stood at the door of the solitary confinement cell, looking at Ghost Fang inside through the observation window in the door.

Ghost Fang stood in the center of the solitary confinement cell, raised his head, and smiled at the observation window.

Under the stark white light, his teeth appeared an unnatural bright white, like the fangs of a wild beast.

Wade closed the cover of the observation window.

He turned and walked out of the detention area, where he met Hamon in the corridor.

"Is it closed?"

"It's closed."

Hammon looked at Wade's face:

"What are you thinking about?"

Wade was silent for a moment:

"I'm wondering why he didn't resist."

"Perhaps he knew that resistance was futile."

"No."

Wade shook his head:

"Ghost Fang isn't the kind of person who wouldn't do something just because it's useless."

"He's not taking action because he's already doing something else; he's planning something."

Hamon frowned.

He looked toward the solitary confinement cell at the end of the corridor, where the paint had peeled off the gray iron door, revealing rusted red beneath.

Such an iron gate offers no sense of security to those outside; anyone with a slightly stronger build could easily break it open from the outside.

Hamon said seriously:

"Increase patrols; check the restricted area every half hour."

"It's already been arranged. Whether it works or not depends on whether he's willing to behave."

After Wade finished speaking, he walked down the corridor toward the prison area.

In his brain, the area specifically designed to store unsettling information was expanding.

……

Two o'clock in the afternoon, it's time for outdoor exercise.

The exercise yard is a rectangular open space on the east side of the prison, enclosed by barbed wire, and is about the size of two basketball courts.

The ground was covered with cracked cement slabs, and several clumps of unknown wild grass grew out of the cracks. The leaves were grayish-green with withered yellow edges.

The September sun in Oklahoma was still scorching, making the concrete ground scorching hot, and the air was filled with a dry, dusty smell.

The prisoners were scattered in twos and threes in the exercise yard.

The farce that happened this morning is still being discussed among the prisoners, who are all wondering what the guards are up to.

In any case, Ghost Fang has been dealt with, and they even brought out firearms that they would never normally bring to the prison area.

This means that the rules issued by the new warden are not just empty words.

Everyone decided not to act rashly and to see what would happen after a while.

The sky was a faded blue, with a few white clouds hanging motionless on the horizon, as if nailed there.

Blue Snake sat on a discarded tire in the southeast corner of the exercise yard.

This tire is his fixed spot. He always sits here when he comes to the exercise yard, with his back against the barbed wire and his face facing the entire exercise yard.

This choice of location is exactly the same as Ghost Fang's choice in the cafeteria; no one can approach him from behind.

His men scattered around him, forming a loose semi-circular protective circle.

They were talking in hushed tones in Spanish, and the topic was naturally what had happened that morning.

"Ghost Fang has really been locked up, boss."

There was a hint of satisfaction in his voice.

"He was locked up because he refused to work, which has nothing to do with us."

Blue Snake snorted, took out a cigarette from his pocket, smelled it under his nose, and then tucked it behind his ear.

In prison, smoking a cigarette requires the right time and the right place, neither of which is available now.

Carlos licked his lips:

"But he's inside, and we're outside; this is an opportunity."

Blue Snake turned his head and looked at Carlos.

His eyes were so calm that Carlos involuntarily looked away.

"What opportunity?" Blue Snake asked.

"We can...take his place!"

"His men have lost their backing in the cafeteria, and we..."

Carlos's voice trailed off as he saw that his boss's expression didn't seem happy.

"Fool! You think locking him up will turn him into a headless chicken?"

Blue Serpent interrupted Carlos, clearly displeased with his subordinates' foolishness:

"How long did he serve in prison? Do you think he didn't make arrangements before he went in?"

Carlos shut his mouth.

Blue Snake shifted his gaze from Carlos and turned it back to the exercise yard.

The sunlight cast shadows on his face, making the old scar at the corner of his left eye even more noticeable.

"He got locked up on purpose."

Blue Snake's expression turned serious:

"I've heard that this guy gets locked up once or twice a month. He walks into that solitary confinement cell like he's walking into his own living room."

He looked at the other end of the exercise yard, where two of the "three dogs" were squatting against the wall, smoking and talking.

They looked relaxed, but Blue Snake noticed that Knife's eyes kept glancing toward the window of the solitary confinement cell.

It was a look of waiting for a signal.

"What he's doing inside is what we should be worried about."

Blue Snake removed the cigarette from his ear and put it back in his pocket.

"Those prison guards were foolish enough to think that as long as they locked him up, everything would be fine, and that this would resolve the feud between us."

"Just wait and see, that bastard won't stay quiet forever. We need to be prepared for both possibilities."

"What do you mean by 'two-pronged approach'?" another subordinate asked.

Blue Snake looked at his subordinates and said in a serious tone:

"That new boss is no ordinary businessman. Although he works behind the scenes, he is by no means ignorant about prisons."

"And Ghost Fang, I deliberately provoked him that day, just to force him to make a move."

"But I didn't expect this guy to be even more patient than I thought. Now he's in the shadows while we're in the open, which makes the situation even more troublesome."