Marvel: The Alchemist Just Wants a Peaceful Life...

The disintegration of the Russian bear and its escape from Tarkov, one big and one small, are the best examples of this.

When the captain heard Tony's news, he was quite upset. Who would have thought that such a secret prison for serious criminals would adopt the management methods of a disorderly prison?

"Why don't we just activate Plan B? Since it's all chaos anyway, why not just storm in head-on?"

Looking at the location display on his arm, Tony thought for a moment and then gave his opinion to the captain. If he had known that the prison was such a chaotic place, there would have been no need for a group of people to gather together and waste countless brain cells to come up with a plan.

Fortunately, Sherlock still had some rationality. He glared at Tony with annoyance and almost gritted his teeth as he refuted Tony's idea over the communication.

"Impossible! Even if it really is a chaotic prison, I must live up to the plan that took so much effort to devise!"

Heaven knows how long Sherlock had been memorizing the blueprints and formulas for digging a tunnel to get closer to Alexei's cell, and now he's making Sherlock abandon his plans?

Grandma!

After saying that, Sherlock was about to start his alchemy, but this time, before Sherlock's hands could even touch the ground, Tony suddenly pulled him up again.

?

Looking at Sherlock with a huge question mark above his head, Tony scratched his head awkwardly, trying to suppress the image of Sherlock leading Zhao Weike to dig a tunnel to rescue him, before speaking to Sherlock in a more tactful way.

"Calm down, Sherlock, you must stay calm. Don't forget we're going to infiltrate 'secretly'."

Upon hearing Tony's words, everyone's eyes immediately turned to him. Clearly, there seemed to be a story between Tony and Sherlock that they were unaware of.

Compared to the situation here, Zhao Weike on Black Widow's side didn't look too good after hearing Tony's rather 'tactful' hint. He felt like he was being attacked by dead memories.

Fortunately, Zhao Weike was wearing a hood at the time, so no one would notice that his expression was off.

As for Sherlock, Tony's reminder brought him to his senses a bit. To be honest, if Tony hadn't reminded him, Sherlock really was planning to replicate his actions in the Middle East.

Don't forget, the Middle East is a desert, it's very hot, while this place is the Arctic Circle!

If Tony hadn't reminded him, Sherlock himself might have experienced what it felt like to be hit by the Captain's "Frozen" treatment.

Of course, although Sherlock realized what had happened in his mind, he certainly wouldn't admit that he had almost done something stupid. After hearing Tony's instructions, Sherlock rolled his eyes at Tony in annoyance before slapping the ground.

It must be said that with Tony's reminder, Sherlock's side was much more stable, at least they didn't have the same situation as Zhao Weike being forced to do a water slide.

The four of them descended little by little, as if they were on an elevator, with the alchemy being activated. Sherlock was constantly calculating the depth. Once the predetermined depth was reached, Sherlock stopped the downward alchemy and began digging forward instead.

With alchemical abilities, the hard frozen soil was practically no different from tofu in the face of alchemy. In just a short while, the group could already faintly hear the bustling conversations inside the prison.

After exchanging glances, Sherlock stopped his alchemy and took out four hats from his four-dimensional pocket, distributing them to everyone present.

The captain and Tony looked at the ugly hat in their hands with some confusion, while Yelena looked at the hat with excitement.

"I know! I know! Stone hat! It's a stone hat, right?"

Seeing Yelena's excited expression, Sherlock felt that his positive feelings towards Yelena, Black Widow's sister, were gradually crumbling. Of course, he still had to offer some reminders.

"It's just a replica. Its essence is to reduce its presence. It can't be as completely ignored as a real stone hat! So even if you wear a hat, it's best to keep a low profile."

After Sherlock explained the function of the stone hat, he put it on first. Combined with Sherlock's explanation and his demonstration of putting on the hat first, the remaining three people understood the function of the stone hat almost instantly.

Well, while the effect isn't as amazing as the original, it's still pretty good.

The moment Sherlock put on the hat, the three people present had a strange feeling, as if they would subconsciously ignore Sherlock's presence. Although they could still see Sherlock, as soon as they looked away from him, they would forget his existence in the blink of an eye.

Looking at the stone hat in her hand, Yelena's expression was incredibly complex. In the end, she sighed and put on the hat like Sherlock.

"If this thing can be widely adopted, the infiltration courses in special agent training will probably be canceled outright."

Yelena's complaints didn't attract the attention of the other three people present, since none of them were interested in the special agent training.

Seeing that everyone had put on the stone hats, Sherlock took out the time travel ring from his four-dimensional pocket and led everyone into the secret prison for hardened criminals in the Great Mao.

As soon as you enter, an unpleasant odor hits you. The dark, damp smell mixed with body odor and mold is almost the first impression you get upon entering. This is followed by a sense of chaos and disorder.

This cell, which should have been Alexei's, was now completely empty except for the wooden planks nailed to the wall that served as a bed; there wasn't even a simple blanket.

Inside the cell, there was an unfortunate fellow wearing only a pair of pants, huddled on the cold wooden board, shivering.

It is clear that due to geographical reasons and disorderly management, almost everything has become hard currency in this chaotic and resource-scarce prison, especially clothing and food.

The unfortunate guy huddled in bed either had his clothes sold out or was being targeted for some unforgivable crime.

Sherlock and his group, on the other hand, showed no sympathy for the situation. After everyone had arrived at the cell, Sherlock put away his time-travel ring and followed behind the captain to begin touring the secret prison.

Chapter 244 Prison Break 2

So-called disorderly prisons are simply prisons where prisoners are self-governing, and San Pedro Prison is a typical example of this.

However, this place is undoubtedly more orderly than San Pedro Prison. After all, Russia is not Bolivia, where prison guards are just watchdogs.

Here, the prison guards are undoubtedly the most powerful people in the entire prison, after all, they control the hard currency here: clothing and food!

The reason why this semi-autonomous prison, where prisoners live in a state of disarray and do not interfere with the prison guards, is quite simple. The Russians' operational and management capabilities are one aspect, but another is that too many people with special identities are imprisoned here.

Alexei was undoubtedly one of them.

The most direct feeling of walking through this disorderly prison can be described in two words: filthy and chaotic!

After all, you can't expect these prisoners to be able to keep themselves clean, can you? Moreover, in a place like this, let alone keeping the environment clean, even keeping oneself clean is extremely difficult.

Here, food that can provide heat and clothing that can keep warm are undoubtedly the most important things. Even a rag is an extremely important item for keeping warm, so naturally no one would really waste such an important resource.

As the group walked through the prison, prisoners would occasionally pass by them. Most of the prisoners were thin and ragged, since at this time of day, those wandering around the prison area rather than the central area were mostly the 'lower class' of prisoners.

The closer they got to the central area where Alexei was located, the cleaner the environment became, and even the prisoners' clothes began to get thicker.

Although people often looked puzzled when they saw the four of them along the way, they quickly forgot about it after turning their heads away, thanks to the effect of the stone hat.

As the group approached the central area of ​​the prison, the environment began to warm up, at least the damn damp and cold feeling they had when they first entered the prison was gone.

When everyone arrived at the central area where Alexei had located, they were still speechless with astonishment at the sight before them.

If the area where those prison cells were located could only be considered a slum, then this central area could be described as a luxurious commercial district.

This central area was converted from a courtyard, with a spiral staircase in the middle forming passageways to each level.

The group of people were actually located in the middle of the courtyard. The higher up they went, the colder it got, while the lower down they went, the warmer it became, to say the least, luxurious.

At the very bottom of the courtyard, the light actually allows you to vaguely see what's underneath.

At the very bottom of this courtyard were clothes, rags, and even underwear or bedding, roughly sewn together to form 'tents', while in the middle of the tents were some 'stalls'.

Clearly, the lowest part of this courtyard is the most central 'commercial area' in the entire prison, and also the comfort zone where the prison's highest-ranking 'leaders' reside.

Even though it was already dark and the prison's interior lighting had dimmed, the area under the courtyard was still brightly lit and bustling with activity.

Looking down at the bustling 'commercial district', the four of them felt a little numb.

After all, the stone hats they were wearing weren't genuine stone hats, so they probably wouldn't have attracted attention walking through those relatively sparsely populated 'residential areas'.

But if we go to that bustling 'commercial district' below, we might get spotted.

Given the Stone Hats' current abilities, once they are discovered, their functions will be rendered useless. Their attire, so different from that of the prisoners, will surely cause a riot throughout the prison.

If this attracts the attention of the prison guards, things will get complicated, which is something nobody wants to see.

Left with no other option, the four of them briefly discussed the matter and decided to resort to the safest, albeit the most rudimentary, method to resolve the current situation.

Wait!

After all, this is a prison. Even if this core area becomes relatively wealthy thanks to the support of the entire prison, it still cannot escape the reality of resource scarcity.

Therefore, the group was absolutely certain that this core area was definitely not like the area outside the prison, where people stayed up all night.

And in fact, their guess was correct.

After waiting for nearly four hours, the lights in the core area gradually dimmed, and the crowd that had gathered together began to disperse in twos and threes, leaving only a few of the highest-ranking people to go into their tents to rest.

Some of the underlings could only sit on the benches next to the core area, where the restaurant should have been, either to rest or to keep watch.

Although the beds here might not be as comfortable as those in the cells above, the temperature and environment here are far superior. Therefore, even the benches are enough to satisfy the henchmen.

The four people on the stairs witnessed firsthand the emperor-like life Alexei lived there.

With physical abilities similar to the captain, Alexei was practically the strongest king in the entire prison ward, living in a lawless environment where the law of the jungle prevailed.

As the 'king' of the prison block, Alexei's life here wasn't exactly luxurious, but it wasn't bad either.

The largest tent in the core area below belongs to Alexei!

While they were waiting, everyone clearly saw Alexei dominating the core area, enjoying not only meat but also wine brewed by the prisoners!

Compared to the emaciated prisoners on the upper floors who were tortured by hunger and cold, Alexei here was actually quite plump!

Despite his somewhat balding hair, unkempt beard, and sickly pale skin from prolonged lack of sunlight, Alexei was undoubtedly living the best life among the other prisoners.

The four men watched almost helplessly as Alexei got drunk, then laughed and scratched his backside as he walked into his tent.

Seeing that Alexei, their target, was finally ready to settle down and go to sleep, Tony, somewhat wearily, stood up, leaning on the railing at the edge of the stairs. He looked at his captain beside him and said earnestly.

"Promise me, Captain, you'll go to bed early and get up early and keep exercising from now on, okay? I don't want our Captain America to end up looking like that guy below!"

Upon hearing Tony's complaints, the captain rolled his eyes so hard they almost reached the sky, but his facial expression perfectly mirrored Tony's, his disdain completely undisguised.

The captain silently vowed to himself that he would never become like Alexei, the goofball below. Absolutely not!

Just as the captain was secretly encouraging himself, Sherlock quietly said something behind the two of them.

"Who knows, maybe that's what the captain will look like in his middle age. Midlife crisis, you know? You know what I mean, Tony."

Hearing Sherlock speak in that chilling tone, both Captain America and Tony felt a chill run down their spines. They exchanged a glance and saw a resolute look in each other's eyes.

Go back and fucking keep exercising!

Even if you're going to be a beast of burden, be a defatted beast of burden!

Yelena, however, silently covered her face as she listened to the conversation between the three men beside her. To be honest, Yelena was now starting to regret pointing out Alexei's location.

This 'dad' is really too embarrassing!

Chapter 245 Prison Break 3

Fortunately, because of the dim lighting, none of the three noticed Yelena's little actions. The three of them whispered and bickered as they made their way to the central area below.

When everyone descended the last step of the staircase leading to the central area, they were still slightly shocked by the sight before them, even though they were mentally prepared.

Directly in front of the stairs is a kitchen nestled within the wall. The entire kitchen is spacious and bright, and it doesn't look like a prison kitchen at all, but more like the back kitchen of a restaurant.

Most importantly, compared to the surrounding environment which is predominantly black, the entire kitchen is bright white, and the view inside through the huge display window is unobstructed, clean, tidy, and everything is in perfect order.

At the entrance to the kitchen, there was a bench, and a fat man covered in grease sat on it with an air of nonchalance, holding a bottle of wine and a sausage, looking every bit like a chef.

He was cursing and yelling at his subordinates who were still busy in the kitchen, while constantly giving them orders.

Strangely, despite the kitchen being quite large, the group of subordinates were all gathered in one corner, constantly busy with something.

Fortunately, everyone in the group had good eyesight, and in just a short while they figured out what the group was busy with. It was simple: they were just making breakfast.

It's worth mentioning the ingredients for this breakfast; those things have a special name outside: food waste!

That's right, the ingredients those guys busy making breakfast are kitchen waste! Leftover bones are coated with a thick batter and deep-fried again, while swill-like things are dumped directly into a big pot and the swill is masked with strong-flavored seasonings.

They wouldn't even let the swill bucket go to waste. Using the residual grease inside, they'd add some not-so-clean water and throw in a few bones with no meat on them. Once the water boiled, a pot of bone broth would be ready.

It's obvious that this stuff made from kitchen waste isn't the food for the core area. If I'm not mistaken, it's probably what the ragged lower class eats.

Despite the disgusted expressions on everyone's faces, no one said anything.

This already shows that Alexei still had a conscience. At least he ensured that the poor people wouldn't starve to death. Compared to the chaotic prisons in other places that completely disregarded the lives of others and even charged for urination, Alexei was already a rather 'benevolent' 'king'.

As everyone turned and walked towards the cluster of tents, they realized that they were still somewhat 'young' after all.

Apart from Alexei's largest tent, the rest of the tents weren't really tents; to be precise, they were more like stalls.

Most importantly, the stall sells a wide variety of things, you name it.

Cigarettes, bootleg liquor, food, clothes, mattresses, toilet paper, and all sorts of other odds and ends were sold. The most outrageous items were even televisions and generator heaters.

Of course, besides stalls selling goods, there are also stalls selling services, such as tattoo parlors, beauty salons, and even stalls selling themselves.

The numerous stalls gathered in this central area have formed their own system.

And most importantly, these stalls clearly have powerful backers, and even Alexei, the 'king,' might have to follow his own set of rules here.

Otherwise, those seemingly ordinary but absolutely luxurious items in this environment wouldn't just be on the stall; they should be inside Alexei's tent!

The four people on site were seeing the so-called disorderly prison for the first time, which was quite an eye-opener. After a brief visit, they headed towards Alexei's tent.

When they arrived at the entrance of Alexei's tent, Yelena hesitated for a moment. She didn't immediately lift the tent flap, but instead took a deep breath at the entrance before lifting the flap and leading the four people inside.