Death Notice

Year 506 of a new era, autumn.

Human Federation, China District, in the capital of the Handan prefecture-level city in the Hebei Province.

“…This is the Hebei Television Channel HDC reporting: In the Hebei’s intermediate court, the Chief Justice has signed the death penalty sentence doc.u.ment. There will be eleven death row prisoners executed today, at 7 p.m. Within the group, the eye-grabbing issue is that the chain murderer, Qin Lun, is also on the death row…”

On the television billboard above the floating roads, the beauty host of the Hebei Television News Channel suddenly appeared. Simultaneously, within the neverending magnetic levitation cars of various styles, the eye-catching breaking news sounded out from the radios in the cars.

After humans on the Earth entered the new era, they formed a united, federation of countries. Production rate got a huge increase and the quality of life was a lot more superior. However, the increase in production rate did not diminish the distance between the rich and the poor. The lack of a vigorous life even promoted wild criminal activities.

The reason why the chain murderer, Qin Lun, attracted such heavy attention was not only because of his ruthless murdering methods and the b.l.o.o.d.y scene of the crime, it was also because in the process of Qin Lun degrading into a murdering demon, he caused extremely huge controversy amongst people.

……

Twelve years ago, there was a terrifying murder case that shook the entire city. It happened on the surface of Hebei’s second layer poor district.

A pair of middle-aged couple were wretchedly killed on Christmas eve. On scene, there was only the unconscious, five year old stepdaughter, Elaine [Yi’Lian], and also the eight year old stepson, Joey [Qiao’Yi], who was sitting within a pool of blood while holding the blade of a scissor in his hand.

After the police’s investigation, all of the evidence on scene clearly showed that Joey was the murderer…

Of course, pointing at an eight year old as a murderer was too outrageous. That case quickly caused huge disputes thorough the China District. The Hendan Child Welfare Organization quickly entered that case and pointed out many evidence of abuse towards Joey and Elaine by the Foster couple.

The Foster couple were a race from Europe and they were immigrants from the North America District. They were not Joey and Elaine’s biological parents.

The siblings were Chinese. The elder brother was Qin Lun, and the younger sister was Qin Mei. Their biological parents died in a car accident. After that, the Foster couple took them in, and their names were changed to Joey Foster and Elaine Foster.

Under the pressure of society and public opinions, the Hebei police transferred the siblings to the child welfare organization. One month later, the sister, Elaine, was taken in by another family. Since Joey carried the suspicion of being a murderer, no family was willing to take him in. The young man changed back to his original name of Qin Lun and kept on staying in the child welfare agency.

The time of four years quickly pa.s.sed by and just as the murder case that shook the federation slowly faded away from people’s memories, another fatal case happened in the child welfare agency that Qin Lun was staying in.

A healthy male nurse’s stomach was cut open and his intestines flowed out. The stated male nurse had past convictions of abusing children and he was strictly warned by the welfare agency. Because that person was a relative with the agency’s director, at that time, he was not driven away from the child welfare agency.

Qin Lun killed in self-defense so he was free from the punishment of the law. However, that issue was as though it opened a Pandora’s box in a certain place in Qin Lun’s heart. He was diagnosed to have schizophrenia by a mental doctor and he walked onto a road of fate that was already determined long ago.

In the next eight years, in a mental hospital, juvenile prison, and supermax prison, the young man Qin Lun ruthlessly murdered dozens of people with different methods. He thoroughly became a true insane murdering demon.

*dong bang* The iron gates that led to section E of the prison automatically opened. Seven tall and well-built jailers walked on the corridor to the prison cell region. Other than the person who led, the four other people behind were heavy-armed jailers who held riot control shields and wore protective hat. The last two jailers were carrying a rectangular pa.s.sword-locked cabinet.

The prisoners imprisoned in section E were heavy-sentenced prisoners. It was different than the other sections that imprisoned light-sentenced prisoners. The jail doors were iron doors that only had a small window for looking inside

Although humans entered the era of s.p.a.ceships, the prisoners in the prisons did not have the qualifications to enjoy the conveniences brought by high technology. Within the jail rooms of the Hebei Supermax Prison, there were no 3D projection entertainment programs. There were no radio stations. There were no green-coloured food that was developed in outer-s.p.a.ce greenhouses.

The prisoners that had been stripped of their civil rights ate synthetic food that had no taste at all. They slept on several hundred year old, ancient-styled, double decker wooden beds. Other than forced labour, the normal, daily activities left for the prisoners was exercising and reading books.

Of course, throwing away the simple and and crude furniture that the prisoners used, the equipment that the Hebei Supermax Prison jailers used were the most advanced, high-tech products. On the ankles of every prisoner, there was a foot chain-style signal emission device. That thing’s exterior was made out of t.i.tanium alloy and it tightly locked onto the ankle with magnetic combination lock. Unless they had the pa.s.sword or if they cut off their foot, there was no way of taking it off.

Every corridor and corner of the prison was filled with monitoring devices. There were even tiny spider machines that patrolled the ventilation ducts and the sewage drainage systems. It could be said to be an inescapable net. From the creation of the Hebei Supermax Prison up until now, in the near hundred or so years of prison history, there was not a single person that successfully escape from prison.

The fluorescent lights were flickering constantly and it made the completely silent corridor a bit eerie. Even the jailers that worked there for a long time was slightly unable to bear the deathly and strange atmosphere of section E.

The seven jailers did not stop in the corridors of section E. Very quickly, they pa.s.sed through multiple iron doors and the arrived at the section E in the middle of section E. The heavy-sentenced criminals’ “luxurious box” for one——the death row section.

After entering the dearth row section, it was clear that the expressions of the seven jailers became strict. A grave atmosphere filled the group. They pa.s.sed through corridors in the death row section and the seven people arrived in the final forbidden area in section E.

The so-called forbidden area of section E had a very small surface area. There were only three confinement rooms in the entire area. The terrain of the forbidden area was a bit lower than the other prison rooms. The pipes for the sewage drainage system gathered there and the fluorescent lights changed into dusky, saffron colour.

The entire environment there was dark, cold, and moist and it emitted faint stench. When the sewage drainage system was under the dusky light, it obstructed a large area and created eerie and frightening shadows. The deathly calmness around made everyone fearful and uneasiness filled their hearts.

The three confinement rooms were used to discipline prisoners that did not follow the prison rules. Prisoners would walk in the dusky corridors from the heavy-sentenced and death row prisoner jail rooms straight to the forbidden section. Even prisoners that did all sorts of criminal activities would be filled with fear. The hearts of those who were slightly worse psychologically would crumble and they would not dare to break the rules of the prison.

In reality, the confinement rooms were not cells that were used normally. Most of the time, they would be empty. However, by the third year that the murdering demon Qin Lun entered the Hebei Supermax Prison and after he killed five of his jail mates and two jailers, he was the first person who was on death row that stayed in a confinement room regularly in the near hundred years of history of the Hebei Supermax Prison.

As they approached the last confinement room, a trace of nervousness appeared on the seven jailers’ faces. They diligently pulled out the electrical police truncheon from their waists.

There was no modernized high-tech pa.s.sword lock on the confinement room. The jailer who led lightly pulled upon the palm-sized window on the iron door and looked into the confinement room.

The section E confinement room was different from other jail cells. It did not have any windows and the only hole for air was as big as a first that connected to the jail cell’s ventilation ducts. The unexpected thing was that not only did the confinement room not have the dump stench as how the corridor outside smelled like, rather, it seemed warm and dry. There was even a fresh and clean dose of fragrance.

On the ceiling of the cell room, there was an embedded, bullet-proof fluorescent light. There were two old-styled rows of bookshelves and paper books were filled on top of them. A desk, a bed, a flush toilet. Not one of those were lacking, and other than the few books on the desk, there was even a wooden Chinese chess set.

A young man who looked thin was sitting in front of the desk with his back against the cell door. He was currently flipping through a thick book in his hand.

The jailer hiddenly breathed a sigh of relief. He took the key on his military belt and inserted it into the keyhole. The heavy cell door was suddenly pulled open, and four heavy-armed jailers carefully bent their waists, held their shields, and entered the confinement room.

“Qin Lun, time is up!” The jailer who led tightly clenched his police truncheon as he yelled in a heavy voice while standing a good three meters away from the young man.

The young man lightly closed his book, and under the bright light, the two big words “Psychological Behavior” appeared on the cover of the book. After carefully looking at the books on the desk and the bookshelves, within the special confinement room, there seemed to be a book system about clinical medical science and psychology.

After closing the book, the young man stood up, put his hands behind his head, and turned around. Under the shine of the light, young man with an ordinary appearance and thin body showed himself in front of the crowd.

The unexpected thing about the murdering demon Qin Lun was that he had a pair of clear and pure eyes. However, perhaps due to the fact that he did not normally meet with sunlight, his skin was white. His pair of hands were special and his fingers were long and pure-white, just like jade. As they looked at him, the murdering demon just seemed like a normal young man who seemed malnourished.

After Qin Lun entered the Hebei Supermax Prison, he made new records by breaking many of the unwritten rules of the prison. He even continuously killed the heavy-sentenced and death row prisoners that shared a cell with him. There were even two jailers that unluckily died in the line of duty.

Qin Lun had a serious psychological injury and he suffered from schizophrenia. The confinement room that scared other prisoners to the point in which they wet themselves had absolutely no use to the murdering demon. After paying the price of many lives, the psychological doctor for the Hebei Supermax Prison suggested giving him a “friendly” environment.

The confinement room that locked Qin Lun had electric heating pipes installed underground. It was used to eliminate moisture and occasionally, air fresheners would be added in the air vents. The jailers even provided books and Chinese chess to Qin Lun to stabilize his mental condition.

In fact, unless Qin Lun was violently agitated by the outside world, under normal circ.u.mstances, his intelligence was even higher than normal people. Starting from the time when the Hebei jailers gave him books to read, after only five years, Qin Lun finished the normal curriculum from primary school to university.

However, when he was eighteen years old and started to learn clinical medical science and psychology, it also gave the jailers a negative effect. It was that no psychological doctor could accurately determine his mental condition.

The jailer who led looked at the murdering demon’s clear eyes and he hiddenly sighed to himself. He raised the black-framed screen that was as thick as paper and started reading out loud.

The cardboard-like black-framed screen had a photonic computer within it and it stored detailed information about Qin Lun. Normally, after the death sentence decision was pa.s.sed down from the federation’s court, the jailers would use the flat photonic computer to announce their judgement order down to the death row prisoners. That was why it was jokingly named as the “Death Notice” by prisoners.

“Qin Lun. Male. Twenty years old. Original name, Joey Foster. The supreme federation court has decided to overrule the death sentence appeal and affirmed with the original sentence. You are charged with the murder of multiple people and you are forever stripped of your civil rights. Today, at 7 p.m., you will be executed!”

Following the clear announcement, two jailers who carried the rectangular cabinet opened it and revealed a set of steel devices. Several jailers took out the steel parts that were like components of a mecha in succession. They put them on Qin Lun, and after a while, a “armored knight” that only revealed its eyes to the world appeared in front of the jailers.

It was a confinement device that was equipped with steam power. The prisoner could only rely on the steam power to slowly walk forward. Even the simple standing required a slow three seconds.

*puchi* As the steel monster bent its knees, it sprayed out a tiny bit of white steam. Qin Lun who wore an iron mask slowly opened his feet apart and walked out of the cell room.

The murdering demon who wore the steam confinement equipment looked just like an amusing, clumsy bear. With four jailers in front of him and behind him, they slowly walked on the corridor of section E.

The heavy footsteps attracted the attention of the people in section E. As they group of people walked, quite a few prisoners tightly stuck on the cell door and coldly stared at Qin Lun and the others.

Was that the boss of the Hebei Supermax Prison? The eyes of the prisoners glittered with complicated light.

“Put the black cloth hood on!” The jailer who led ordered when he saw the final iron door of section E.

……

The Hebei Supermax Prison was a group of towers that were several hundred feet away from the ground. In between the section E tower and the section E tower, there was a huge steel railway that entered the clouds.

The railway looked a bit like a track of a roller coaster going upwards. The higher it went, the steeper the track would be. On the peak of the railway, the slope even reached ninety degrees and it formed a right angle from the bottom. It was one of the core technologies of humans in the new era, the Sky Rail!

The Sky Rail was a type of long-distance delivery device, and it was divided into province level, district level, and planet level. Also, there was the legendary interstellar Sky Rail. There was a sealed delivery cabin underneath the Sky Rail. As the cabin travelled along the Sky Rail, it would accelerate and at the end, it would enter an Ionizing Light State. It would be sent to the layer between the materialistic s.p.a.ce and the antimatter s.p.a.ce——s.p.a.ce warp, and the long-distance delivery of matter would be completed.

There was also a Sky Rail on the other side of the delivery cabin and it was used to accept the cabins. Other than using magnetic floating devices, the humans in the new era would use the Sky Rail for normal cross-province travelling and transportation. Electric trains and pa.s.senger planes were already put up for display in museums.

*chii* The doors to the Sky Rail slide open and a wide and bright modernized tunnel appeared in front of the crowd. When compared to the corridors in the section E cell rooms, it seemed as damp and foul-smelling as sewages.

The jailers led the steam confinement equipment with Qin Lun in it into the delivery cabin for the Sky Rail. At the same time, the black cloth hood was taken off the murdering demon.

The bright eyes revealed in the steel mask slightly moved as they accessed the situation beside them. It was a circular hall, and next to the hall were touch-styled work stations. There was a huge LCD display.

“The delivery target has entered. Activate the particle a.n.a.lysis engine!”

As the group entered the delivery cabin, a soft voice of a female rang out in the hall. It was synthetic voice of the Sky Rail’s photonic computer.

“Particle scan has completed. Confirming the long-distance guiding signal. Thirty second countdown begin…”

“…3, 2, 1! Start delivery!”

After the soft female voice spoke, suddenly, the delivery cabin started to violently shake. A beautiful spiral lit up on the peak of the Hebei Supermax Prison Sky Rail and the delivery cabin that flew up into the air became a shooting star. Instantly, it disappeared in the air and it entered the mysterious s.p.a.ce warp.