Upon arriving at the Iron Fist gang's headquarters, Khai saw a horrifying and disgusting sight, where many human and monster heads were impaled on the Esave fence.
They were then taken and forced to change into the clothes provided in the designated room. The clothes given to them were similar to those typically worn by prisoners in jail, complete with a number.
After the prisoners finished changing into their clothes, they were then placed into a prison created by the gangsters.
They were put into individual cells according to the numbers on their shirts.
Ilyas and Khai were placed in the same cell.
"When did a prison get built in a shopping mall?" Khai asked, bewildered.
A old man who lived in front of their cell answered Khai's question.
"This prison was built by the Iron Fist gang after the disaster happened." The old man replied in a calm voice.
Khai looked at a man who appeared to be around 70 years old, with graying hair and fine lines on his face, lying in the cell in front of them.
The old man asked Ilyas and Khai a few questions.
"Are you two outsiders?" The old man asked.
"Ah... greetings... uncle... grandpa?"
"Hahahaha. My name is Chen Li. Just call me whatever you like..."
"Okay, Tok Chen." Khai replied.
"You rude kid, I'm not finished speaking yet."
"I'm from Antara Gapi. My friend here is from Serendah. Both of us were on our way to Teluk Intan." Khai answered.
"Oh. Haish... how unfortunate for both of you. You had to pass through this place and run into these mindless gangsters." Said Tok Chen.
A prison guard who overheard this walked up to Tok Chen's cell.
"Hey, old man. Why don't you repeat what you just said?" The prison guard challenged.
"Heh... that's right, isn't it? You are all societal piece of crap who do not deserve to exist in this world. The only reason you are gaining power here is due to the sudden disaster." Grandpa Chen spoke mockingly.
That made the prison guard furious. He opened Tok Chen's cell and beat him with a baton, injuring him severely.
He once again challenged Grandpa Chen to repeat his previous remarks against the Iron Fist gang.
He thought that Tok Chen wouldn't dare to repeat his words after being hit so hard, but instead, Tok Chen mocked him with even harsher words, which only fueled the prison guard's anger further.
The other prisoners who witnessed this could only close their eyes and ears. None of them wanted to be beaten like Tok Chen.
Khai, who saw this, tried to stop the prison guard, but was stopped by Ilyas.
Ilyas explained that this was the law that prevailed here, where the strong would rule, while the weak would be oppressed.
After a few minutes, the prison guard stopped beating Tok Chen, who was lying in his cell, badly injured and covered with bruises.
The prison guard warned the other prisoners to keep their mouths shut if they didn't want to be beaten like Tok Chen. He then left with a satisfied look on his face.
Khai asked about Tok Chen's condition. Tok Chen reassured Khai, who looked worried, by saying that the prison guard's blows felt like being bitten by ants.
A few minutes later, another prison guard arrived and opened each of the cells. The prisoners looked confused.
"TIME TO WORK. ANYONE WHO IS 10 MINUTES LATE TO WORK WILL BE PUNISHED OR KILLED!"
Upon hearing this, all the prisoners ran in a rush, out of their cells, not wanting to be killed.
Only Ilyas, Khai, and Tok Chen walked calmly among the other prisoners.
"Grandpa Chen, what kind of work are they talking about?" Khai asked.
"You'll find out once you see it for yourself," Replied Tok Chen.
The prisoners came out of their cells one by one. They were then gathered in the field and divided into groups.
Ilyas and Khai are in the same group, along with Tok Chen and two other detainees named Ira and Alicia.
After everyone received their respective groups, Mamat and Khan came to give instructions to each group.
"Greetings, everyone!" Mamat shouted.
No one answered Mamat's greeting, making him feel annoyed. Mamat took out a pistol from his pants pocket and shot one of the detainees dead.
All the prisoners gathered there screamed in fear. Mamat greeted the prisoners again.
"Greetings, everyone!!" Mamat shouted again.
"GREETINGS!!"
"Ha... now I can hear your voice. I thought you all were mute. Alright, listen carefully. I will say it only once and I won't repeat what I said..."
"... Anyone who doesn't pay attention or still asks what you should do..."
Mamat raised his gun to the sky and fired, causing the prisoners to panic.
"That's the answer. I want each group to go out and gather useful items like food, drinks, and medicines..."
"... I don't care where you guys take those things from..."
"... You all have until 9:30 PM..."
"... Whoever collects the most will have one wish granted by the leader of the Iron Fist gang..."
"... But anyone who returns without bringing anything back will be killed, and their body will be made into food for the monsters out there."
The prisoners felt fear upon hearing this. However, they were also reluctant to leave the shopping mall because they were afraid of the demigons and other monsters outside.
"Hey! Did I say leave tomorrow? MOVE NOW!!"
The prisoners, in desperation, ran out of the shopping mall and went to search for useful items.
"Hey Mat. Didn't you tell them about that?" Khan asked.
"Heh! If I told them about that, where's the fun in it?" Mamat replied, his smile twisted with malice, eagerly awaiting some entertainment.
Ilyas, Khai, Tok Chen, Ira, and Alicia searched for items in a ruined convenience store.
When they entered, they saw the body of a woman holding the body of a baby. Seeing this caused both of the girls to become hysterical and vomit outside the convenience store.
Ilyas and Khai are searching for items on the upper floor while Tok Chen, Ira, and Alicia are searching for items on the lower floor.
"Il, why are there no guards watching us while we are looking for things? Aren't they afraid that we might escape?" Khai asked, after noticing that there were no guards following them.
"They actually know we would try to escape from here when we noticed there were no guards watching each group..."
"... That's why they have placed their members at every exit point in this area. If they see a detainee trying to escape from here, they won't hesitate to kill them."
"Why didn't they tell us earlier at the field?" Khai asked once again.
"For fun."
Ilyas and Khai found some food and drinks. They went downstairs to check on Tok Chen, Ira, and Alicia.
Tok Chen and Ira were still gathering some useful items, while Alicia was nowhere to be seen.
"Tok Chen. Where's Alicia?" Khai asked.
"After she saw there were no guards nearby, Alicia tried to escape..."
"...Even though I warned her, she was stubborn and went off to escape."
Suddenly, the sound of gunshots rang out not far from where they were. It wasn't just one or two shots, but more than 50 shots fired by members of the Iron Fist gang at the prisoners who tried to escape, including Alicia.
This made the other prisoners, who had initially thought about escaping, reconsider their plans.
Tok Chen already knew what had happened because he was one of the longest-serving prisoners there.
The clock showed 9:00 PM. Ilyas, Khai, Tok Chen, and Ira had gathered a lot of useful items.
They returned to the Iron Fist gang's headquarters. Before they were allowed inside, their belongings were checked.
Some prisoners were brutally killed after the guards checked the items in their bags and found only stones and other useless items.
It was Ilyas' group's turn to be checked. Ira felt nervous, hoping they could get past the guards safely. The guard then asked Ilyas' group.
"Who is the leader of this group?"
Ira quickly pointed to Ilyas.
The guard then asked Ilyas to meet the leader of the Iron Fist gang, while Khai, Tok Chen, and Ira were instructed to return to their cells.
The guard led Ilyas to the room of their gang leader. Once they reached the door of the Iron Fist gang leader's office, the guard told Ilyas to enter.
Before entering the room, the guard warned Ilyas.
"Hey kid. You'd better watch your words in front of the boss."
Ilyas ignored the guard's warning and entered the Iron Fist gang leader's room.