Chapter 5

Three days later, during a routine work detail, Dominic got into a conflict with another big-name inmate in the prison, Bud Skinner.

Bud had bullied Dominic before as well.

But after what happened to Scarface, he was now scared of Dominic and usually went out of his way to avoid him.

This time, however, the two of them happened to run into each other head-on.

Bud tried to crack a joke to ease the tension, but instead, it completely set Dominic off.

Dominic tackled him to the ground and nearly tore half of his ear off, making the man scream in agony.

Dominic's eyes were bloodshot as he pointed at Bud and roared, "You'd better watch your back. You're gonna pay for this!"

Bud was shaking with rage. That same day, he reached out to several other prison kingpins to figure out what to do about Dominic.

Back then, they were the ones who controlled the prison. Nobody crossed them and lived to regret it.

Now that Dominic had publicly crushed them, they were furious.

What happened made one thing clear: If Dominic wasn't put down, none of them were going to get any peace.

But after endless arguing, they still couldn't come up with a plan.

No one wanted to be the first to poke a madman like Dominic. In the end, all they could agree on was that from now on, they would move together, so no one got picked off alone.

As for Dominic, after two days in solitary confinement, the first thing he did upon returning to his cell was gather his people.

They were all Scarface's former men, now completely under Dominic's control.

Dominic was blunt. He gave them a direct order.

They would deal with Bud at dinner.

At dinnertime, everyone was eating in the cafeteria. Dominic suddenly slammed the table. His men rushed forward at once and surrounded Bud.

Bud was startled and quickly called for his own people to help.

Those who had discussed allying with him also jumped in.

The two sides immediately descended into a full brawl, throwing the cafeteria into chaos.

The guards were shocked and rushed over to restore order.

Taking advantage of the confusion, Dominic quietly slipped into the back kitchen and headed to the spot he had agreed on with Hart.

Hart was already there, carrying a bundle. When he saw Dominic, he smiled.

"Nice work."

Dominic glanced at the bundle in Hart's hand. He said nothing, but a hint of doubt appeared in his eyes.

Hart was in high spirits and didn't notice. He quickly opened a concealed sewer entrance and jumped down with Dominic.

Afterward, he carefully put the hidden cover back in place.

This sewer was a drainage channel filled with filthy wastewater and sewage. The stench was overwhelming.

The tunnel was narrow. Inside, a person had to crawl flat on their stomach.

The wastewater filled about half the tunnel. While crawling, it reached up to the jawline.

If they lowered their body even a little, the filthy water would seep into the corners of their mouth.

It was the dead of winter. The sewage was not only foul but bitterly cold.

Even so, Dominic didn't make a sound and crawled forward as fast as he could.

This was his only chance. No matter what, he had to escape.

Even if he couldn't clear his own name, he had to get justice for his parents.

The crawl was about three miles. Dominic had no idea how long it took. He nearly vomited several times but forced it back each time.

Finally, they heard the sound of flowing water ahead.

Hart was delighted. "We're almost there."

Soon, a faint glow appeared ahead. It was moonlight.

The sewer exit opened right by a riverbank.

However, the opening was sealed with welded iron bars.

Dominic frowned. "How do we get out?"

Hart chuckled. "Relax. I planned ahead. I had someone outside cut through most of these bars already. Push hard, and you can force them open."

Dominic nodded. "Alright. I'll try."

He crawled over, gripped the bars with both hands, and shoved with all his strength.

Sure enough, the bars were not sturdy. Several snapped under the pressure.

At that moment, Hart quietly moved behind Dominic.

A dagger appeared in his hand out of nowhere, his eyes flashing coldly. While Dominic was pushing the bars, Hart drove the blade toward Dominic's heart.

Dominic had no guard up at all. The dagger sank into his body, and he collapsed into the sewage.

Hart sneered, "Kid, your job's done. Since you wanted to die so badly, I'll do you the favor. You're welcome."

With that, Hart stepped forward and began forcing the bars open himself.

Suddenly, there was a loud splash behind him.

Before Hart could react, Dominic lunged forward, pinning him to the ground, a dagger stabbing straight toward his neck.

Hart reacted instantly, raising his arm to block the strike.

At the same time, he countered, grabbing Dominic by the throat.

He twisted Dominic's wrist with a sharp motion and reversed the hold.

Hart sneered, "Clever kid. You even played dead.

"But I taught you everything you know. Do you really think you can beat me—"

Before he could finish, Dominic suddenly flicked his other hand. An object flew toward Hart.

Hart raised his arm to block the object, but he crushed it instead.

A cloud of powder burst out and scattered everywhere.

Hart took the full hit. The powder flew straight into his eyes.

He shut his eyes and wiped his face instinctively. At that moment, a sharp pain hit his lower abdomen. A dagger slid in without a sound.

Hart stumbled backward and fell out of the sewer onto the riverbank.

He stared blankly at the dagger in his stomach, then at Dominic's other hand.

Only then did he realize that Dominic's right hand wasn’t holding a dagger at all. It was a blunt rod.

The weapon Dominic had aimed at his neck earlier was never the dagger.

The real dagger had been in Dominic's left hand the entire time.

Hart coughed several times, blood spilling from his mouth. He stared at Dominic in disbelief.

"H-how did you do that…"

Dominic looked down at him and said slowly, "The first survival rule you taught me. Remember?"

Hart gave a bitter smile. "When something feels off, it probably is."

Dominic nodded calmly. "That's right. I knew something was fishy about this. You and I barely knew each other, but you offered to help me. I knew you had an agenda from the start."

Hart's face went deathly pale. He stared at Dominic and ground his teeth.

"So you had your guard up against me from the very beginning?"

Dominic nodded slowly. "From the moment you taught me that first rule, I was already on guard.

"Or rather, I’ve stopped trusting anyone in this world long ago."