At the same time, the group that left followed Bayer to the newly built prison.
The moment they saw the place, everyone froze in unison.
Prison? When did that appear?
Once they realized it had happened in just that short moment, Li Xingteng said in surprise, "This territory is way too efficient!"
They were still wondering if they'd have to assign people to watch the captives, what a waste of manpower! But now with a prison, it's much more manageable.
Wonder what it looks like inside?
With this, it'll be a real boost to the territory's stability.
Yet another day feeling proud of the territory—the functions keep getting more complete!
Compared to Li Xingteng and the others' delight, Yu Ziming's group seemed relieved instead.
They had thought they'd be kicked out of the territory! Getting kicked out would be truly the end.
Locked up then, fine—there's no way they could keep them locked up forever.
Their previously anxious expressions eased a little.
Bayer caught their reaction and sneered silently to himself.
Soon after, Zhou Zhengping, Li Xingteng and their group led Yu Ziming and his people after Bayer into the prison.
As soon as they entered, right in front of them was a two-story building. In the middle there was only a small patch of open ground. Surrounding it were cell after cell—each cell with only one side barred, making the most of every inch of space; standing inside, a sense of claustrophobia hit them immediately.
Staring at those small, gloomy cells, Yu Ziming and the others' faces relaxed further—this place sure beat the wilderness, and soon they'd be able to get some proper rest inside.
"Stuff all of them into one cell," Bayer ordered after glancing around.
"One cell?" Li Xingteng was a bit surprised, but the next moment, seeing the dangerous look in Bayer's eyes, he quickly told his people to do as ordered.
Then, one by one, they began shoving everyone into the same cell.
"Aren't there a bunch of cells? Why not spread them out a bit?"
"It's way too crowded, we can't even move!"
"I can barely breathe!"
"..."
Listening to their complaints, Bayer said expressionlessly, "Prisoners who break territory rules don't have the right to negotiate."
The small space was soon jam-packed with dozens of people; the whole cell was so crammed, there didn't seem to be any room left.
With a loud bang as the door closed, everyone inside felt even more suffocated.
What made it worse was that in these conditions, their experience points were dropping steadily.
[Experience Points -1]
[Experience Points -1]
[...]
"Why are our experience points dropping?" Yu Ziming couldn't help but speak out loud.
Life Value was their lifeline, but Experience Points were just as crucial.
If their experience points drop, so does their level; once their level drops, how do they survive in this world?
On top of that, the crush of people made it hard to even breathe.
It was only then that Yu Ziming and the others realized just how harsh this prison punishment really was for them.
Looking at the emotionless Bayer, Yu Ziming pinned his hopes on Li Xingteng and Zhou Zhengping.
"We really know we were wrong. We promise never to rob again. We're all compatriots! Please give us another chance, we really don't dare do it again!"
"Yeah! We won't do it again!"
"Give us one more chance! At least we broke the rules before they were set."
"If we lose all our experience points, we won't survive either."
"..."
The pleas for mercy came one after another.
Li Xingteng and Zhou Zhengping exchanged a glance, unable to help themselves.
At that moment they finally understood why Yu Ziming's group hadn't cared when they saw the prison earlier.
Obviously, if they'd been locked in separate cells, to people used to wandering the wild, it wasn't really a punishment.
But squeezing everyone into one cell, plus the loss of experience points—now that finally touched their nerves.
Secretly gloating, they played dumb and pretended not to hear.
If those two did that, the rest followed suit even more.
Seeing that begging Zhou Zhengping and his crew wasn't working, Yu Ziming's group turned their pleading eyes to Bayer, wailing and begging for mercy.
Seeing that they really seemed afraid, Bayer finally spoke up slowly, "I can let you out, but you'll have to do what I say. If you perform well, I'll consider reducing your time in the cell and maybe even move you to another room."
"We promise—we'll do our best," Yu Ziming and the group hurriedly assured.