Chapter 180: Match Difficulty Dropped?

Zhou Hu didn't merely fail to disappoint Qian Huan — he truly, absolutely failed to disappoint Qian Huan.

The moment Feng Mu returned to No. 1 Prison District with Li Bashan and stepped into the District Chief's Office, Zhou Hu rushed up almost impatiently, getting right in their faces.

Zhou Hu sat sprawled on the sofa, face fierce as he glared at Li Bashan: "You bypassed me and sent the resume straight to the Prison Warden — do you still have me, this District Chief, in your eyes?"

Li Bashan stood there, face wooden without a ripple, droning: "I submitted it to you, you didn't approve it!"

Zhou Hu was choked for a moment, then laughed from extreme anger: "I didn't approve it so you reported upward?"

Li Bashan didn't nod, just gave a flat "Hmm."

He hadn't realized he was talking back to Zhou Hu; he was simply stating the facts as they happened.

Little did he know, the more he acted this way, to onlookers this breezy, casual attitude was a million times more infuriating than direct insubordination.

The damage was ten thousand times stronger than abusive backtalk.

Zhou Hu's face turned iron-blue in an instant; he felt a contempt unlike any before.

His face flushed dark red; he violently whipped out the electric baton at his waist, fingers tightening — the baton instantly erupted with crackling electric sparks.

However, just as he raised the baton preparing to swing it down, Ma Xuan quickly stepped forward, hurriedly intercepting him, gripping Zhou Hu's wrist with desperate strength.

Ma Xuan forced his voice low, tone carrying a trace of urgency and admonition: "

Big Brother, Li Bashan isn't a prisoner — if you hit him, that's assaulting a colleague, a serious violation of prison regulations. If the Prison Warden finds out, he'll definitely seize the chance to lash out at us."

Ma Xuan carefully snatched away the baton, then switched off the voltage, coldly glaring at Li Bashan — his eyes seeming to warn him not to provoke the District Chief again, otherwise even the Prison Warden wouldn't arrive in time to save you.

Li Bashan treated it as unseen, face still calm as water, neither angry nor annoyed, even a trace of puzzlement showing in his eyes — he had only spoken the truth, how did it make Zhou Hu jump with rage?

Seeing he couldn't intimidate Li Bashan, Ma Xuan also felt a secret headache; no way around it, Li Bashan merely stood there, and that mountain-like oppressive pressure was truly impossible to ignore.

He even suspected that if the District Chief had truly brought that baton down just now, the one lying dead on the ground might not necessarily have been Li Bashan.

"This guy won't yield to soft or hard tactics, fears nothing, brain seems to have only one track — no wonder the Prison Warden uses him as a sharp knife; he's indeed troublesome to handle." Ma Xuan mused silently.

Seeing Li Bashan still unmoved, Zhou Hu's face darkened blacker than coal.

His gaze swept past Li Bashan to Feng Mu standing behind him — whether in build or presence, far slighter by comparison.

A sinister, ruthless look emerged on Zhou Hu's face, voice eerily cold: "Feng Mu, is it?!"

Feng Mu stepped out from behind Li Bashan, stood at attention and answered; his attitude wasn't exactly fearful, but brow and eyes were submissive — by comparison, he gave the impression of being far easier to manipulate.

"Yes, District Chief, I am Feng Mu, reporting for duty today!" Feng Mu replied neither servile nor overbearing, properly and correctly.

Zhou Hu coldly laughed, looked at Chang Wei: "Since this newcomer took your nephew's spot, I'll hand him to you to train — treat him like your nephew, teach him well all the rules of our prison."

Li Bashan's face sank, droning: "I request Feng Mu be assigned to B District; I'll teach him the prison rules."

Hearing this, Chang Wei seemed to have heard an utterly absurd joke, mouth corner twitching, revealing a mocking smile, voice carrying ridicule and disdain:

"You haven't even figured out the rules yourself, don't go harming the new guy."

Zhou Hu meanwhile glared at Li Bashan, sneering: "In what capacity are you speaking to me?"

Li Bashan answered truthfully: "I am B District's District Chief."

Zhou Hu cut off his words indisputably, tone cold and hard: "From this moment on, you are no longer District Chief. Don't think because you defected to the Prison Warden, I can't do anything to you."

"Right now I'll re-teach you the rules of our No. 1 Prison District — that is, within No. 1 Prison District, no one may question my decisions, only obey."

"Otherwise you can go cry to the Prison Warden and file a transfer request — but before that, Prison Guard Li Bashan, get out of my office immediately."

Li Bashan took it in stride; he truly didn't care about being stripped of his post — the District Chief's status certainly let him better protect his junior apprentice brother, but without it, no matter.

Feng Mu's pupils shrank, a flash of killing intent crossing his eyes, while inwardly he murmured:

"Haven't encountered this kind of villain who writes 'bad guy' right on his face in a long time — feels like suddenly dropping back to Newbie Village, matching into a Bronze Match, feels pretty good."

Feng Mu recalled — since his debut killing and sacrificing, the events he'd been caught up in, the main opponents matched were either the Green Wolf Gang, the E Corpse Teaching, or the Puppet Mother's evil dependents.

Originally the Green Wolf Gang was just a local gang, but couldn't help that a 【Destiny】 maniac was mixed inside, causing the starting difficulty to sharply pitch high.

Secondly the E Corpse Teaching and Puppet Mother dependents were respectively a cult and evil god dependents.

These opponents — whether martial power, intellect, or background — all fell into the High-Level Match category; even if there was some moisture, not much.

But,

the few right now...

"Feel like their tier is even lower than Feng Yuhuai's — uh, wait, I shouldn't insult Feng Yuhuai, my foolish sister has already sneakily infiltrated the High-Level Match, her tier can't be counted as low anymore."

Feng Mu coldly laughed inside, face betraying nothing as he said to Li Bashan: "Senior Brother rest assured, I'm fine — since the prison rules are such, I'll obey the District Chief's arrangement."

Actually, Feng Mu truly didn't want to be assigned under Senior Brother's eyelids either — that way, some of his methods would be harder to deploy.

"Good!" Seeing his junior apprentice brother's mind was made up, Li Bashan nodded, face calm as he turned and left the District Chief's office.

Zhou Hu watched Li Bashan's departing back, coldly snorted, then looked at Feng Mu, irritably waving a hand: "Chang Wei, take him away."

Chang Wei led Feng Mu toward A District.

On a long corridor emitting a cold, gloomy air, Chang Wei walked ahead with head lowered, Feng Mu following close behind, spaced one body length apart.

Just as they were about to pass through the Access Control System, Chang Wei suddenly stopped, turned his head with a dark face: "Feng Mu, do you know — this position was originally my nephew's quota, yet now it's fallen on your head."

Feng Mu feigned shock, brows slightly furrowed, eyes holding a trace of puzzlement, he asked: "Did District Chief Chang's nephew encounter some problem?"

Chang Wei's gaze locked dead on Feng Mu, mouth corner hooking a ferocious smile, voice carrying mockery: "Stop play-acting — this matter benefits you most, you'd know nothing about it?"

Feng Mu's expression calm as dead water, his gaze firm and sincere, tone serious as he said:

"District Chief Chang misunderstands — I don't even know your nephew; if District Chief Chang truly doesn't believe me, I'm willing to swear on my Master-Apprentice reputation — whatever problem your nephew has, it absolutely has nothing to do with me."

(End of Chapter)