Chapter 11: I'm Undoubtedly a Law-Abiding Citizen

Time passed day by day.

Three weeks later.

One afternoon.

Chen Yu closed his eyes to relax, leisurely lying on the wooden bunk, listening to instrumental music playing from his phone.

The bunkmate massaged his shoulders, and the fraudster rubbed his legs.

The "Detective Team" from bunks three and four handed him plates of fruit, eagerly delivering them into his occasionally open mouth.

A comfortable bunch.

"Cough. That's enough." Swallowing a grape, Chen Yu cleared his throat and waved his hand. "I'm tired of eating these cheap fruits like bananas, grapes, apples, and oranges every day. Get some durians for tomorrow."

"No problem." The bunkmate raised his hand. "Big bro, leave it to me. I'll make sure they're the freshest."

"Good." Chen Yu didn't even open his eyes but nodded in satisfaction. "Great."

"Big bro." The henchman from bunk four put down the fruit plate and joined the massage team while asking, "When are you going to be executed?"

"Executed my ass!" The bunkmate exploded in anger, slapping the henchman's face hard. "Who dares to execute our boss?"

After a month's time, these intelligent criminals had fully understood Chen Yu's terrifying nature.

Sleeping alone in a separate cell at night!

Eating with the prison guards during the day!

Every few days, the high-ranking officials of the prison system came to warn these inmates not to bully Chen Yu...

What a formidable background!

The bunkmates in the East Zone speculated that behind Chen Yu, there might be a powerful "superhuman." Otherwise, it was impossible to explain how the "world's number one serial killer" could be so carefree in prison.

After all, the "titles" on each person's head couldn't lie!

"Ah." Smacking his lips, Chen Yu finally opened his eyes. "You can stop massaging. Your technique is not good enough."

"Yes, yes, yes." The bald bunkmate nodded repeatedly. "We'll practice more diligently."

Chen Yu said, "Maybe I won't get to enjoy it."

"What... What do you mean?" The bunkmate looked confused.

Chen Yu didn't explain. He stood up, stretched his arms and legs, and loosened his muscles.

The title on his head changed every month.

It had been a month since the last change.

So, in a day or two at most, his title as the "world's number one serial killer" would no longer exist.

If he became an "ordinary person," the police would have to take him out.

"...What a pity." Chen Yu smacked his lips, unsatisfied. He bent down to pick up his phone from the floor, turned off the music, and prepared to leave his cell and take a walk in the prison yard.

    Here, he had a privilege.

Before going to sleep in his "dormitory" every night, he could freely move around for half an hour.

Thinking that the time was about right, Chen Yu pocketed his phone and turned towards the prison cell door.

And as he turned, he saw the middle-aged police officer outside the iron bar door - the deputy director of Hongteng Police Station.

Standing beside him was the prison warden.

"Ah... Hello," Chen Yu felt somewhat awkward for no apparent reason and raised his hand to greet them. "Long time no see."

"Very well," the middle-aged police officer's face darkened. "We let you in for education and reform, but you're actually enjoying it."

Chen Yu smirked. "When did you arrive, bro?"

"I've been here since that kid started dancing for you," the middle-aged police officer pointed directly at a certain inmate inside the cell. "You can even watch their ethnic dance performed by these burly guys?"

"I don't have any girls to watch, so what can I do?" Chen Yu quickly changed the subject and walked to the door. "Anyway, open the door for me."

The warden nodded, and a prison guard stepped forward, pulled out an electronic card, and unlocked the iron gate.

Chen Yu stepped out of the cell, about to say something, when the middle-aged police officer waved his hand, turned around, and coldly said, "Follow me."

Deputy director, warden, and Chen Yu, the three of them kept walking, crossing the entire West Zone of the prison, and arrived at a two-story building not far from the prison gate.

After living there for a month, Chen Yu was quite familiar with the entire prison. When he entered this building, he was suddenly surprised, "Are you taking me away?"

"Do you still want to stay here and retire?" The middle-aged police officer glared at Chen Yu and then politely said to the warden, "Warden, we can proceed with the formalities now."

"Alright. You two sit for a while; I'll take care of it."

The warden left.

The two of them found a random lounge and sat down.

Chen Yu hesitated to speak, "Um... Are we leaving tonight?"

"Don't you want to go out?" the middle-aged police officer replied in a deep voice.

"It's not that," Chen Yu licked his lips. "Mainly because I have plans to have durian tomorrow..."

"Smack!"

The middle-aged police officer got furious and slammed the table hard. "You're damn addicted! Hopeless!"

Chen Yu remained silent.

The middle-aged police officer said, "We're leaving tonight!"

Coincidentally enough, just half a minute after the deputy director's outburst, the title on Chen Yu's head as the "world's number one serial killer" began to fade.

The middle-aged police officer was the first to notice it! After a brief moment of surprise, a burning rage engulfed him.

"You fucking have no shame!"

"Ah?" Chen Yu was bewildered. "What's wrong now?"

"As soon as we mentioned taking you out of prison, your title immediately changed!" The middle-aged police officer clenched his fists, making cracking sounds. "You're going too far with your arrogance!"

"My title has faded?" Chen Yu was surprised. "How coincidental?"

Facing such an infuriating person, the middle-aged police officer resisted the urge to act, gritted his teeth, and tried to remain calm. "Fine. Fine, fine, fine. You haven't had enough of staying here, have you? Alright! As long as you abandon those insane thoughts, behave properly, and change your title, I can communicate with the higher-ups to allow you to take a vacation here for a few days every year."

"Is that really possible?!" Chen Yu was pleasantly surprised.

The color of his title on his head seemed to fade a little more...

The middle-aged police officer remained silent.

After a moment of silence, the middle-aged police officer's anger dissipated, and he wearily rubbed his face.

He now felt that what the deputy director said was right.

This kid indeed had some mental issues.

"If you weren't affected by 'preemptive titles,' I could have shot you multiple times!" The middle-aged police officer spat out fiercely.

"You're right," Chen Yu nodded. "But you don't have the expertise of the prison warden. He said he could shoot me over a thousand times."

Two hours later.

All the release procedures were completed.

They had also made proper arrangements with the public security and government authorities.

Holding the stamped documents from the prison warden, bureau chief, and the secretary of the Qingcheng government office, Chen Yu walked out of the gates of Qingcheng Prison.

"Squeak, squeak," the sound of the iron gates opening was crisp and pleasing. However, Chen Yu felt a sense of regret in his heart.

He hadn't had a chance to bid farewell to his prison mates...

Outside the gate, there were two familiar faces waiting.

It was the male and female police officers who had "arrested" Chen Yu initially.

"Oh?" The female police officer exclaimed in surprise, looking at the title on Chen Yu's head. "Have you been reformed?"

"Nonsense!" The middle-aged police officer pushed Chen Yu. "He simply wanted to stay in prison. As soon as he heard that I was taking him out, he got scared and changed his title."

"Oh, I see," Chen Yu retorted. "How can I control my own title?"

"Your title is a 'preemptive title.' It can change into anything with a single thought from you," the middle-aged police officer's face darkened. "Let me warn you, behave yourself. The 'title' on your head is preemptive, although it cannot convict you, it accurately reflects your thoughts and intentions. I can let it slide once or twice, thinking that you didn't do it intentionally. But if you continue like this, I will have to consider that you're using your 'title' to threaten the police and challenge the law!"

"The director is right," the male police officer also approached, speaking seriously. "You are an innocent citizen, and we can correct you and help you. But once we consider you a troublemaker, I believe you wouldn't want to experience the methods of public security."

"Well, anything I say now will be futile," Chen Yu raised his hand and held up two fingers. "But I swear, I have always been a worthy and law-abiding citizen."

As soon as he finished speaking, the title on his head promptly changed.

From the "world's number one serial killer" to "terrorist."

    Male police officer: "..."

Female police officer: "..."

Middle-aged police officer: "... Is there no end to this?"

…

"Despicable! Absolutely despicable!"

"Going too far! Way too far!"

"Utterly shameless! Lawless!"

"We must report to the central government! It must be reported to the central government!"

With the furious roars of the director in the office of the Qingcheng Public Security Bureau, Chen Yu's unfortunate fate began.

If all the prisoners were to be released...

Although from a "ranking" perspective, being a "terrorist" was much better than being the "world's number one serial killer."

But in the eyes of the authorities, this was even more intolerable.

As for Chen Yu, after being released from prison, he was immediately taken away by comrades from the Human Security Bureau.

Boarding a special car and escorted by three military vehicles, he headed for the capital.

"...It's over."

"Completely over."

Sitting in the back seat of the car, his hands and feet in shackles, Chen Yu's face was gloomy.

It was obvious that he was in for trouble.

Just by looking at the heavily armed soldiers around him, it was clear that he wouldn't be coming out unscathed after entering the capital.

And all of this stemmed from the report of that damned neighbor of his.

"He's done for." Chen Yu clenched his fist. "Not even Jesus can save him, I'm telling you."

"Bang!"

The captain of the soldiers sitting opposite Chen Yu slammed his hand on the roof of the car. "Shut up! Don't cause trouble!"

"Okay, okay." Chen Yu instantly became submissive.

These soldiers had come on orders and were unaware of Chen Yu's "preemptive title." They treated him as a genuine "terrorist" and were very unfriendly.

Qingcheng, located in the central plains.

It wasn't too far from the capital.

Normally, it would take four hours to travel the distance, and the convoy arrived in just four hours.

Entering the city and making several turns, the convoy stopped after ten minutes of driving.

Chen Yu's head was covered with a hood, and he was escorted out of the car.

"Prisoner handover completed!"

After the captain of the soldiers shouted, Chen Yu felt himself being led away.

Through numerous twists and turns and riding an elevator for a while, he was placed in a chair.

"It's made of iron."

Chen Yu could tell with great familiarity.

The chair felt similar to the one he had sat on at the police station...

    The surroundings fell into silence.

After an unknown amount of time, the hood was lifted from Chen Yu's head.

Blinding light instantly swept in, and Chen Yu instinctively closed his eyes to shield them. It took a while for him to gradually adjust to the brightness around him.

Looking around, he saw only one middle-aged man standing in front of him.

"Preemptive title." Their gazes met, and the middle-aged man squinted his eyes. "Terrorist."

"Yes, yes," Chen Yu nodded repeatedly. "It's preemptive, it hasn't happened yet."

"Do you want it to happen?"

"No! I really don't want it to happen!"

"Then why hasn't your title changed?"

"... "After a moment of silence, Chen Yu tentatively asked, "Is it possible that my title... is fake?"

"Throughout the thousands of years of human history, with billions of people, no title has ever been fake. Why are you so special?" The middle-aged man's tone was low. "Are you an evil being?"

Chen Yu was shocked. "No! No, no, I just want to be a terrorist."

The middle-aged man: "..."

"No, I mean, um..." Chen Yu tried to explain, his mind racing, but he couldn't come up with any excuses.

"Have you experienced any trauma?" the middle-aged man asked.

"I... I think I have."

"What kind of trauma?"

"I can't remember..."

"Chen Yu, you need to understand one thing. This is not the grassroots level; this is the Human Security Bureau." The middle-aged man turned and left. "If your title doesn't disappear and your evil thoughts aren't corrected, you'll bear the consequences."

"Bang!"

The door closed tightly, and the middle-aged man left.

Chen Yu remained stunned for a while, deeply sighing, "Fuck him..."

...

Exiting the detention room, the middle-aged man received the file handed to him by his female assistant and flipped through Chen Yu's information. "Have we retrieved all the personnel records Chen Yu has come into contact with in the past five years?"

"Yes," the female assistant nodded. "Including the browser history for each day, which has been exported. It's attached to the file."

"Good." The middle-aged man nodded, flipping through the pages as he said, "Five years is not enough; pull out records for the past ten years."

"Yes, Director."

"...The education at the grassroots level is terrifying." Seeing the previous title in the file as the "world's number one serial killer," the middle-aged director's face twitched. "According to the information, this Chen Yu was a pretty good kid. How did he end up like this after staying at the police station for a few days?"

"... "The female assistant could only remain silent.

Deep down, she had a suggestion to recommend infiltrating all the members of that police station into hostile forces.

Perhaps victory could be achieved without fighting...

Of course, she could only think about it in her heart and would never dare to say it out loud.

    "Clap." Five minutes later, after reviewing all the documents, the middle-aged director gave an order, "Starting from tomorrow, conduct ideological correction on Chen Yu. Wake up at 5 am, after breakfast, engage in morning sessions of moral and ethical education. Study civil law and criminal law in the afternoon. Play positive movies, short dramas, and propaganda films in a loop in the evening. Recite the Three-Character Classic and the Tao Te Ching. Read at least 100,000 words of famous literature and quotes before sleeping. Allocate psychologists to communicate with him during the remaining time."

"Understood, Director."

"At most three days, we have to educate him back."

"Yes!"

...

In the blink of an eye, three days had passed.

Chen Yu hadn't been "educated back" at all!

The title of "Explosive Terrorist" on his head hadn't budged a single word!

"Stubborn" to the point that it shocked the entire security bureau.

"It's terrifying," the middle-aged director shuddered. "Could he have been hypnotized by the enemy using some method?"

"We've brought in individuals with special abilities to examine him; there are no fluctuations of special abilities. There are no signs of hypnosis on the mental level either," the female assistant said with a serious expression.

"It's unbelievable."

"Director, what should we do now?"

"Add another task. Watch three episodes of 'Baby Bus' every day."

After a long silence, the leadership gave this command...

...

Then a week passed.

"Watch five episodes of 'Cardcaptor Sakura'!"

The leadership of the security bureau added to the command.

...

The third week.

"Perhaps we can try playing some songs on a loop, like 'It's All Because You're Too Beautiful' or 'Restless.' Let's try breaking his stubbornness..."

...

The fourth week.

The title on Chen Yu's head remained unchanged.

"Director, should we just eliminate him directly?" the female assistant suggested.

The middle-aged director: "..."

...