Chapter 299: Chapter 299 Time to Counterattack_1
Standing at the assembly point, Veronica’s eyes widened. Although the sound coming from deep within the corridor was faint, her ears still vaguely caught Aiden’s voice.
"Move out!" she commanded with a sweeping gesture, leading the riot squad directly towards the depths of the corridor.
At this time, in the prison core area, Cell 12, Daili and Presia were standing at the cell door, looking towards the direction of the main gate of the block.
"Those guys blocking the corridor outside have suddenly gone quiet," Daili remarked.
At that moment, Camilla next door burst out laughing, "Ha, I can already hear the warden’s voice. Those folks are screwed!"
"More importantly, Daili, did you hear it?" Presia whispered to Daili, "Do you feel like we just... heard Qiqimora’s voice?"
"I did indeed," Daili confirmed.
In the corridor outside the core area’s main gate, an eerie silence enveloped the place, as the female escapees and pirates alike stared dumbfounded at Aiden, who had appeared out of nowhere in their midst.
"Why so quiet all of a sudden? Wasn’t it quite lively just a moment ago?" Aiden asked, smiling as he looked around at everyone, as composed as if he had always been part of this frenzy.
The female convicts screamed in terror, and the pirates, including Navi, immediately distanced themselves from him, hands pressing on their weapons—it was a reflex action; they hadn’t forgotten the "no harm" rule, but the unexpected appearance of the enemy leader among them without any warning gave them an intense sense of crisis.
Annie, leaning against her father, was too shocked to speak, while Navi pointed at Aiden in disbelief and asked, "You... where did you pop out from!?"
"I’ve been waiting here for you for a long time," Aiden said, leaning on his cane and moving beside Qiqimora, who was facing the crowd with no sign of feeling threatened, "After you arrived, I have been right by your side, accompanying you on your visit."
"How can that be?" Navi couldn’t comprehend; they hadn’t seen even a strand of Aiden’s hair before his sudden appearance.
Just then, Veronica’s riot squad rushed around the corner of the corridor, coming face-to-face with Aiden.
"Chief!!" Veronica and her squad members all showed expressions of great relief.
"You’ve endured patiently for so long, now we can begin to counterattack," Aiden said, showing an approving smile to his subordinates, and then began to issue orders decisively, "Announce to all units to start sweeping the prison interiors for intruders, with permission to shoot to kill on sight. The treasury side has been secured by me; I’ll handle things here, and you take care of the other areas!"
"Understood!!" Those who received the orders acted immediately, none of them doubting that Aiden alone could handle the group ahead.
However, right before turning away, Veronica couldn’t help but take a couple of extra glances at the woman dressed like a movie star standing next to the warden.
Although filled with curiosity about the woman’s identity, ultimately, she still put the most immediate task first and quickly led her team away from the scene.
At that moment, Navi Drake finally calmed down and, focusing on Aiden, said, "You say you’re going to handle this place by yourself, stopping us?"
"Is there a problem?" Aiden turned around.
"What are you planning to do?" Navi squinted, meanwhile pressing his hand against his chest.
He could feel that The Codex was still wrapped inside his shirt; he had always tied The Codex firmly to his chest, and this undestroyable Codex could also serve as a protective breastplate over his vitals.
With "no harm" and "no restraint of personal liberty" decreed by The Codex, all means to restrict their departure from the prison were already out of the question.
"Like this!" Suddenly, Aiden drew his gun with lightning speed and shot Navi Drake in the leg.
"Ah!!" Navi exclaimed in pain, nearly tumbling to the ground.
"Dad!?" Annie quickly supported her father.
The pirates were in an uproar, having grown accustomed to the captain’s so-called "Poseidon’s Blessing" (as Navi Drake claimed)—a power that should have made it impossible for anyone to attack when it was in effect!
Navi inhaled sharply in agony, staring incredulously at the wound on his leg.
How could this be possible? How could this person have shot him, defying The Codex, which even he as the holder couldn’t go against?
He pressed on his chest again, still clearly feeling the book’s presence.
At that moment, Aiden mysteriously opened his uniform collar and took out a thick book: "Are you looking for... this?"
Navi and Annie were both petrified on the spot, feeling a chill run down from head to toe.
That was the Wordless Code that Navi Drake had been holding.
Aiden directly turned to a certain page in The Codex, where four lines of text were written; the first three lines read:
Direct or indirect intentional harm to others is prohibited, offenders will be corporally punished.
Restricting the personal freedom of others by any means is prohibited, offenders will be imprisoned.
Any tracking or surveillance actions are prohibited, offenders will be subjected to Exile.
These three lines appeared faded, with incomplete and crumbling lettering, and they were fading away at a visible speed, as if being absorbed by the pages.
Then the fourth line, written with completely different handwriting, stated clearly:
"The above rules are abolished, effective immediately."
Navi watched helplessly as the rules he had set were abolished and then frantically reached into his collar in search of The Codex hidden at his chest.
It was only then that he realized the rope that had tightly bound The Codex to his body had long since come loose.
He violently pulled out the book and took a good look at it—the cover was clearly stamped with the gold lettering "Cadarria State Criminal Law."
"Carrying the state’s Criminal Law with you at all times, you’re quite the studious pirate," Aiden laughed, then quickly dropped his smile, "But didn’t you see in the Criminal Law? Jailbreaking... is a capital crime!"
Suddenly, Navi pulled out the gun at his waist, aiming decisively at Aiden’s head, but Aiden, who was prepared, simply shifted his wrist slightly and immediately knocked the gun from Navi’s hand.
"Fire! Kill him!!" Navi ordered loudly, not caring about his right hand that had been hit by the bullet.
Since the rules had become invalid, the fight had degenerated into a brutal battle of the survival of the fittest, and no matter how good this man’s gun skills were, he couldn’t possibly deal with over a dozen guns at once.
The pirates started pulling out their guns one after another, and guns of various models roared in succession then... nothing happened.
Aiden stood there unharmed, not a single bullet had hit him.
It was as if all the bullets had never left their chambers; the pirates were shocked to find that the gun smoke bursting out of the handguns was immediately sucked back in, as though time had reversed.
"Close gate number three," Aiden commanded.
The iron gate installed in the corridor descended from above, separating Aiden from the jailbreak group, also trapping these people inside completely.
