The moment Lu Yu saw this guy, he felt a headache coming on.

He carefully studied Lien's expression as he spoke—the man was cursing up a storm, yet his face showed not a hint of resistance.

Lu Yu nearly laughed in exasperation. Instead of denying it outright, he replied with playful sarcasm, "If you're unwilling, I won’t force you."

"After all, you’ve seen how the last two plans turned out. Sacrifices don’t always guarantee returns."

"So now, I’m very cautious about my comrades’ sacrifices. Everything must be voluntary."

Lien was disgusted by Lu Yu’s righteous speech. He refused to believe this scheming fox could ever be so considerate.

Wasn’t this just another tactic to pressure him into compliance?

Whatever. This team couldn’t function without him. These two idiots thought they were clever, but all they ever did was screw up. Meanwhile, he was the one who always got the job done.

He scoffed and said to Lu Yu, "Cut the act. This is just a transaction. Don’t pretend there’s some nonexistent debt between us."

"I, Lien, am not some petty coward. If this is the sacrifice needed to escape, I’ll do it—no matter how many times it takes."

"As long as it guarantees we get out in the end."

Hearing this, Lu Yu’s disdain deepened. What a performance. He’s practically jumping at the chance.

Never seen someone so eager to throw themselves into the fire—

But halfway through the thought, he realized his own situation. Who was he to judge Lien?

Just as he was about to dismiss the other man, Lien pressed on, "I heard you’re planning something with a mermaid this time."

"Where’d that idea come from? Did you make it up, or did you dig up some intel on the Warden’s preferences?"

"And where’ve you been all this time? That dumb guard said you were taken out."

"What happened?"

Lu Yu shrugged. "What do you think happened? The plan failed, and the Warden extorted me again."

"Sorry to disappoint, but the spare parts scheme didn’t give her any trouble."

Lien and the Crown Prince exchanged a glance. They’d braced themselves for another failure—after all, going toe-to-toe with the Warden required some resilience.

The Crown Prince asked, "How much did she take from you?"

Lu Yu: "Twenty billion in assets, and—"

He glanced toward the coder. "The Warden took me back to my home planet. Saw a lot of… ornamental modified humans there. So—"

Before he could finish, Lien cut in, "So this time, I’m not sacrificing for the mission?"

"I’m just cleaning up your mess?"

Lu Yu smirked, amused. "Why are you so quick to take responsibility?"

"Did I ever say I wanted you to suffer in my place?"

Lien froze, momentarily speechless. He’d been ready to call out Lu Yu’s usual manipulative tactics, but the words died in his throat.

His eyes narrowed, urgency flashing in their depths. "What the hell do you mean? You’re not seriously planning to go yourself, are you?"

For some reason, despite the grim situation, Lu Yu felt a surge of satisfaction at Lien’s reaction.

His smile widened. "That’s what the Warden demanded, at least."

Lien exploded. "Then why the fuck didn’t you fight back?"

"Since when does she get to call the shots like this? Is this a prison or her personal brothel? Does she just pick whoever she wants?"

His emerald eyes darkened, deep and unfathomable like a hidden abyss in the ocean—beautiful yet terrifying. He clapped a hand on Lu Yu’s shoulder, his grin strained.

"You’re not the type to roll over so easily, right?"

"Look at you—the underground pope with influence spanning galaxies, noble status, a master schemer. I remember how much you hated the lab for turning you into a modified human."

Originally designed as nothing more than a plaything.

"You can’t possibly just accept this so-called ‘punishment’ without a fight."

Lu Yu’s gaze flickered. "I don’t want to. But the situation leaves me no choice."

"You know how the Warden operates. If I don’t comply, she’ll make sure I regret refusing her offer."

"I already regretted it once. She gave me a chance, and I didn’t take it. If I had, I could’ve avoided this."

"So now, I don’t dare refuse her again."

Lien snapped, "I don’t agree."

The Crown Prince gave him a look like he was an idiot. "Since when do you get a say? Who asked for your approval?"

Lien turned to the Crown Prince, immediately seizing on another argument. "And you’re just standing there like it’s none of your business?"

"You think you’ll be spared once this door opens?"

"What’s your shield? Your precious royal title? You think she cares? You can’t even contact your own men."

"Want to bet that even if the whole prison formed a wall around you, it wouldn’t matter?"

"People always crave greater thrills. And let’s not pretend she isn’t picking us off one by one."

"If this scheming fox caves, how long do you think it’ll be before she comes for you?"

He shrugged, feigning indifference. "Then again, I get it. You’re powerless. If the mighty Crown Prince wants to grovel for freedom, who am I to judge?"

The Crown Prince’s face twisted at the reminder of the Warden’s earlier proposition. "Screw you. Don’t lump me in with you two degenerates."

Lu Yu and Lien both snorted in contempt.

A second later, Lu Yu felt a pang of bitterness. How much longer could their fragile alliance last?

As Lien opened his mouth to protest again, Lu Yu cut him off impatiently. "Enough. Instead of wasting time stopping me, why not focus on the Warden?"

"If you can make her forget about me, I’ll owe you one."

With that, he walked away under Lien’s resentful glare.

Lu Yu had assumed the coder would need more time, but the next day, the man handed over the program with a proud grin.

"Boss, don’t worry. I pulled an all-nighter. This is my best work yet."

Lu Yu: "…"

You really didn’t have to rush.

But since it was ready, he might as well maximize the opportunity.

He gathered Lien and the Crown Prince. "I’m applying for simulator access today. The Warden will approve it—"

Before he could finish, Lien sneered, "Why announce it like it’s some grand achievement?"

Lu Yu nearly choked on his anger. "Are you fucking serious? At this point, I’m starting to wonder if you even want to escape. Or have you developed feelings?"

After cursing Lien out, he continued, "Since we’ll have the Warden distracted, let’s not waste the time."

"I had him write a program that lets multiple people enter the same simulation."

"Someone on the other side is waiting inside at all times. One of you—preferably His Highness the Crown Prince—should enter that coded world and find a way to establish contact."

The reason for choosing the Crown Prince was simple: if the Warden wasn’t present, no one in the prison would dare refuse a request from the imperial heir.

Using the simulation pod or accessing personal codes—such trivial matters wouldn’t even be questioned.

Lien frowned. "Can the simulation pod bypass the prison system’s restrictions?"

Lu Yu replied, "Yes. The simulation pod is a controlled device and doesn’t have network connectivity."

Typically used for military training and advanced medical purposes, the outside world feared these pods falling into the wrong hands—the potential for misuse was limitless.

Thus, each code was unique, privately held, with no possibility of sharing.

"That’s why I said earlier that our failures weren’t entirely in vain."

"Even though our previous plans collapsed, the Warden allowing us to use our personal codes was the biggest breakthrough."

The Crown Prince agreed the plan was sound. After memorizing the code and the rendezvous phrase, he watched as Lu Yu was escorted to the simulation pod chamber.

When he arrived, Shen Ying hadn’t shown up yet. The mechanical guard informed him he could enter the pod first.

Lu Yu felt a flicker of suspicion but didn’t hesitate. He input the code and lay down inside the pod.

In the next instant, his consciousness materialized in the simulated world.

Unlike the mountain villa from Lien’s previous experience, this time Lu Yu found himself submerged in the deep blue ocean.

Surrounded by a dreamlike crystal palace, he instinctively discovered he could breathe underwater.

Attempting to move forward, he felt the powerful sway of a massive tail.

Looking down, he saw a dazzling, iridescent tail shimmering in the water.

"Nice disguise," a voice remarked from behind.

Lu Yu turned to see none other than the Warden, who had slipped in unnoticed.

She gazed at Lu Yu, admiration clear in her eyes. "My regret over not hiring a mermaid assistant has lessened considerably now."

Lu Yu’s mermaid form surpassed even the most stunning sirens from the bars. His chestnut hair had transformed into silvery-white strands with an ethereal blue sheen.

His antlers had become fins, and his pearl-white tail, shimmering with a kaleidoscope of colors, was breathtakingly surreal.

Yet Lu Yu couldn’t hide his disappointment as he looked at the Warden. "I thought you’d enter as a mermaid too. I was looking forward to it."

Shen Ying chuckled. "I prefer the flexibility of legs."

Then she added, "Well then, Prince of the Deep, would you care to show me around?"

Lu Yu had no room to refuse. Though the exploration was meant to be of the ocean depths, the Warden seemed far more interested in studying his tail.

She questioned everything—the shape of his tail, the hues of his scales, which areas corresponded to which parts of a human’s lower body.

She even asked how mermaids mated, what lay hidden beneath the scales, how stimulation worked, and whether the nerve endings were densely distributed across the tail.

By the end of the "tour," Lu Yu wanted to strangle the programmer. What kind of design was this?

Why did the tail change colors based on stimulation? Especially when pleasure peaked—the scales flushed a vivid pink, leaving him no way to deny his reactions.

Lu Yu found this far more torturous than when his antlers had been polished. For a fleeting moment, he was almost grateful he’d been transformed into a deer instead of a mermaid.

An entire tail covered in erogenous zones—how was anyone supposed to survive this?

Shen Ying was still toying with his tail when the ocean suddenly stirred, the currents growing restless.

Lu Yu frowned. This kind of turbulence wasn’t programmed into the simulation.

He looked up and saw a small boat in the distance, battling the waves.

The storm mercilessly shattered it, and the passenger, helpless against nature’s fury, sank into the depths.

Golden hair fanned out in the water as the figure drifted down toward them.

Lu Yu’s heart plummeted when he recognized the drowning traveler.

It was none other than the Crown Prince, who was supposed to be in another simulation world making contact.