Chapter 435: Escape

"I'm stuck, I need more inspiration to find my rap rhythm!" The Poet's words made an already tense Sun Jack almost lose it and punch him.

"Fuck! You scared me, I thought it was something serious. Speaking of which, did you find your brain, dear?" Sun Jack asked.

The Poet pointed to something behind him, and Sun Jack saw a large canister strapped to his back.

Unlike Sun Jack's proportionate and sleek brain, the Poet's was incredibly swollen, almost filling the canister to the brim, and it was studded with various chips and circuits, some parts even altered to be metallic.

"Are you a hacker? Why are there so many chips?"

"No, most are virtual rhythm game chips. I prefer to play games with multi-line input. What kind of games do you like to play? I have accounts for all of them, can I take you along?"

"No thanks, I know virtual games are really fun these days, but I'm too busy dealing with the real world as it is."

Feeling that Cell Block 3 was still ascending, Sun Jack knew Saotome's plan was still somewhat reliable; at least for now, they were in the same boat, and there was no point in lying to each other in a situation like this.

He looked at the Poet and said, "What do you plan to do after we get out?"

"I plan to upload the poems and raps I've created during this time to the internet for others to enjoy, and also to find more inspiration."

Hearing this, Sun Jack felt a wave of exhaustion; he and this guy were probably never going to be on the same wavelength.

"How about this, after we get out, you hang with me. You did save my life, and as long as I have something to eat, you won't go hungry."

"Okay, which city do you live in?" the Poet asked.

"Metropolis."

The moment Sun Jack mentioned Metropolis, the Poet's expression twisted awkwardly. "Metropolis, huh... Well, I need to think about that."

"What's the matter?"

"I used to live in Metropolis. The security there wasn't great, not even in the affluent mid-mountain areas. Back when I was into rock, I took my band out for a gig, and some asshole mercenaries snuck into my place and stole my entire inspiration collection. It pissed me off. Since that day, I've had a very bad perception of Metropolis."

"Hmm? That story sounds familiar to me," Sun Jack said thoughtfully. He remembered his first job when he had first arrived in Metropolis.

"Can I ask you something presumptuously? Was the security package you ordered for your home equipped with more than a dozen mechanical Black Panthers?"

"Yeah? How did you know?"

"You also modified them with JB?"

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"And you let those Black Panthers assault your bass player? Causing the death of several people?"

"Yeah, how did you... wait a second, that's not it. I need to correct that—they were all willing participants. We were all collecting inspiration for great creation. Wait, no, that's not right. How do you know so much about my home?" The Poet eyed Sun Jack suspiciously.

"Ahem... cough cough, I... I saw it on the news."

Glossing over the details, Sun Jack, clutching his own brain, put an arm around the other man's shoulder.

"Why bother about something so far in the past, rest assured, I now have control over Metropolis, and security is many times stronger than when Holy Grail managed it. That kind of situation will never happen again."

While talking, Sun Jack felt the entire No. 3 prison shake violently—they had reached the sea surface!

"Let's go, that settles it," said Sun Jack, as he began to lead Poet outside.

After searching around for a while, when Sun Jack and his companion found the exit and opened the hatch, the endless blue ocean he imagined was not in front of him. What appeared before him was all sorts of floating plastic waste.

Oil sludge, driftwood, plastic planks, foam, plastic bags—various kinds of floating debris crowded together, covering the entire surface of the sea as far as the eye could see.

As Sun Jack took a breath, he was instantly assaulted by a pungent stench, the extreme odor of rotting fish.

Just smelling it could make one dizzy and nearly suffocate. Sun Jack's ears filled with continuous warnings of air pollution from the system, which also suggested he shut his respiratory system as soon as possible.

Just by looking at the environment, Sun Jack knew it was likely impossible to find any fish in this sea. If he really wanted to find some, he would probably have to resort to those special marine animal brothels.

He had previously stayed only on land, thinking that the land pollution was severe, but he never imagined that the sea was equally polluted. What on earth had the people of The Previous Era done?

"Forget it, let's not think about that now, time to connect to the network."

Sun Jack activated his network search, beginning to look for a connection.

As long as he could get online, as long as he could contact Tapai and the others, everything would start to improve.

However, as he tried various angles, he couldn't find any network at all, not even the faintest signal.

"Hey! What's going on? Saotome? UO?"

Sun Jack knocked on the cold metal surface of No. 3 prison. "I've rescued you all, can't you help me connect to a network? I've run out of options here."

The very next second, Saotome's voice reached Sun Jack's ears, "We don't have it either, this sea area has been shielded." Her voice sounded very grave.

"Shielded? What do you mean by that? We've already made it out, haven't we? Hey?" The next second, Sun Jack suddenly sensed something, and as he looked up abruptly, the sky above him darkened.

A gigantic Spacecraft Carrier broke through the clouds, bearing down on them like Mount Tai, accompanied by a low rumble. One by one, enormous vessels closed in rapidly, completely surrounding the No. 3 prison.

On each of these combat units was the same logo—a circle surrounding a large 'F' in the center.

"Fuck..." Sun Jack gasped, instinctively holding the brain in his arms a bit tighter.

"Hahaha, looks like we won't make it to Metropolis after all, we're about to be locked up again." Poet laughed as he walked to the side, opening his arms to the swarm of Nanoworms approaching.

"Ah! I am inspired again, I want to compose a poem!"

The next second, an exceedingly bright white light illuminated the sky, shooting straight toward the spacecraft carrier.

As an Energy Shield appeared instantly, it met with the light, and the entire sky lit up in an instant.

Right after, Sun Jack saw Tapai's Hover Shuttle speeding towards him across the water's surface at an incredibly fast pace.

The next second, Tapai's voice burst into Sun Jack's ears, "Jack! Asshole! I'm here to rescue you!!"