Chapter 31

Seeing An Xiaohai’s shifting expressions, Yang Yuanbing felt deeply conflicted. He knew very well the kind of enemies An Xiaohai was facing, and he felt a sense of helplessness on behalf of the young man in front of him.

“Don’t get too worked up; things may not be as bad as you think. There’s always a way. Anyway, I probably shouldn’t have told you this in the first place, so I’ll be going now.”

After a moment, Yang Yuanbing spoke as he slowly stood up.

“Section Chief Yang, I’d like to ask you a favor,” An Xiaohai said, having regained his composure, his gaze fixed firmly on Yang Yuanbing.

“Tell me. I’m willing to help, but I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to do it.”

“Could you hold back on spreading this information for a while? Just long enough to keep the news from getting out immediately?”

“I can do that, but I won’t be able to hold it off for too long.”

“Half a month—would that work?”

“Well… alright.” Yang Yuanbing finally nodded. Han Jianyong had ordered him to spread the news, so he couldn’t avoid it, but delaying it for half a month shouldn’t be a problem.

“Section Chief Yang… never mind. I won’t go overboard with thanks; I’ll remember this,” An Xiaohai finally allowed himself a slight smile.

Yang Yuanbing nodded, sighing inwardly again as he turned to leave.

In the darkness, An Xiaohai closed his eyes.

Yang Yuanbing’s actions had made things clear: someone was pressuring him to spread this information. Yang Yuanbing couldn’t refuse, but he chose to give An Xiaohai advance warning.

Yang Yuanbing had indeed done him a great favor this time. Regardless of his motives, he had effectively bought An Xiaohai 15 days of preparation time.

As for Liu Jun’s retaliation, An Xiaohai hadn’t ignored the possibility; he just hadn’t taken it too seriously. After all, a disabled man in prison couldn’t cause much trouble. But he hadn’t expected Liu Jun to have two brothers.

In 15 days, Yang Yuanbing would start spreading the news in the prison, and it wouldn’t take long for the information to reach Liu Jun’s brothers. At present, the best person to deal with these two nuisances seemed to be Xu Tianyou.

If Xu Tianyou managed to break out, he wouldn’t be able to appear publicly for some time. He’d be under intense pursuit, so it was unlikely he’d have the energy to deal with Liu Jun’s brothers.

It seemed the pace needed to pick up. The sooner Xu Tianyou was out, the more time they’d have to prepare.

As for the harm Xu Tianyou might bring to his family and friends, there was no time to worry about that now. He could only hope that the police would keep him too busy to meddle in those matters.

An image of the duty roster that Wang Tiejun had brought flashed in An Xiaohai’s mind.

The plan would need some adjustments.

—

Shenhai City’s First Prison is the largest in the entire Haidong Province, holding over 2,000 inmates.

The prison is divided into more than ten areas, with each housing about 150 to 200 inmates. Nearly 400 officers and auxiliary police work various jobs throughout the facility.

Shenhai’s First Prison is also somewhat unique. Unlike other prisons built in the suburbs, it’s situated near the city center, right on the edge of the main urban area.

The prison spans almost 20 square kilometers, backed by Meihua Mountain. Its size is due in large part to this mountain, with residential areas just 500 meters outside its front gate.

The facility has over 20 buildings, including an office building, a dormitory for officers, as well as a canteen, bathhouse, activity center, prison quarters, and workshop areas.

The first ward, where An Xiaohai is held, is a separate two-story building located at the center of the prison complex. It’s neither close to the workshop area nor to the perimeter wall.

To exit the first ward, one must pass through five gates.

The first gate is at the entrance of the first ward. There’s no guard, but it is locked.

The ward is enclosed by a barbed-wire fence with an open line of sight and no hiding places, patrolled by officers every ten minutes.

Passing through this gate leads to the regular prison area.

The second gate is the main entrance to the entire prison ward. It is also locked but has no guards and is patrolled. Beyond this, to the left is the office building, and to the right is the officer dormitory.

The third gate is also locked, leading into a long passage. The walls on either side are made entirely of barbed wire. At the end of the passage is the fourth gate, which is locked but unguarded.

The fifth gate is the main prison gate.

This gate is staffed, but inspections here aren’t particularly strict. Though the first four gates lack guards, they are fully exposed with no blind spots, visible from the watchtowers along the prison wall.

Most crucially, a live surveillance camera monitors the fourth gate, feeding directly to the security control room.

If any officer needs to leave the prison outside of shift-change hours, they must inform the security control room and register. Any unregistered person observed on camera will undergo thorough screening at the main gate.

Getting through these five gates is nearly impossible.

First, one would need keys to the first four gates and a set of normal clothes—preferably a police uniform, as wearing civilian clothing would raise suspicion.

Equally important, all inmates have shaved heads, so one would also need a convincing wig.

Even if one managed to do all of this, they’d still have to disable the security control room’s alarm system or time their exit to coincide with a shift change, blending in with other officers.

Considering everything, escaping here is almost impossible!

As for digging a tunnel, that’s simply unfeasible. Only in movies and TV dramas would such a plan seem possible.

Shenhai City First Prison was built along the edge of Meihua Mountain, where the ground is solid rock. Even with tools, digging a tunnel would take decades.

Moreover, domestic prisons aren’t like foreign ones; they don’t have complex ventilation systems or other structural flaws to exploit. Shenhai’s prison was specifically designed as a prison from the start, and it’s virtually impenetrable.

Even if someone managed to break out, that would only mark the beginning of a grueling journey.

The chances of escaping alive through layers of police, armed forces, local watch groups, and vigilant residents are incredibly slim.

One individual did escape because he happened to time it perfectly, but it was a rare stroke of luck.

Recently, the prison had taken on a project producing steel-reinforced concrete slabs, bringing cement trucks to the workshop area for concrete pouring. During these times, prisoners are kept away from the vicinity.

This person spent three years sawing through the iron bars of a workshop restroom window, which happened to be near where the cement trucks parked.

Seizing the chance, he broke through the already cut window bars right after a cement truck finished pouring, slipping out of the workshop.

Incredibly, he managed to avoid the watchtower’s line of sight and climbed inside the cement mixer, which carried him out of the prison.

But luck turned when, just as he crawled out of the mixer, someone spotted him and turned him over to the police station.

Thus, his entire escape lasted barely an hour.

By the time he was sent back to the first prison, the prison authorities hadn’t even realized he was missing.

Xu Tianyou could theoretically escape this way, but unlike the unlucky guy, Xu Tianyou would have people waiting to help him outside.

However, An Xiaohai doesn’t plan for Xu Tianyou to fully replicate that man’s plan. For one thing, it’s not foolproof, and for another, he needs to use the situation to achieve additional goals.

For instance, he wants to make those two corrupt officers who betrayed him pay, although Xu Tianyou’s safe escape remains the top priority. Any other benefits would just be an added bonus.

“It seems there’s still a lot of preparation work to be done…”