Unlike Zhang Yong, who was technically on the level of being untouchable, Yang Yi still had to resort to intimidation tactics in order to protect himself in prison.

Sure, Yang Yi was now a capable fighter, but what truly mattered was not how threatening he looked on the outside. Even with the rapid improvement he had made over the last year, Yang Yi still had a long way to go before he could afford to not have his guard up whenever he interacted with a stranger.

If Yang Yi was as good as Zhang Yong, he might even be Hank's friend right now. However, that's obviously not what was happening.

Hank did a pretty good job avoiding a beating from Yang Yi. As soon as he noticed the amount of food Yang Yi had, Hank immediately understood Yang Yi wasn't someone who could be taken lightly.

If it weren't for Hank's quick shift in attitude, Yang Yi was going to give him much more to do than just Asian squats. After all, Hank was trying to belittle Yang Yi just then by trying to sleep at the bottom of the bunk bed.

In fact, doing Asian squats already seemed like quite a bad punishment for Hank. Not only was he in pain from standing in a low position, Hank was also having trouble just trying to keep his balance.

Anyway, Yang Yi was asking Hank about his nickname Key. Judging from the sound of it, Yang Yi assumed Hank to be some sort of thief.

Yes, I'm good at opening locks. I can open anything that has a lock on it, Hank answered in a shaky voice. His legs couldn't stop wobbling while he tried to stay still on the ground.

Tell me something. Why did you break out of prison? And why were you caught right after you escaped?

Can you let me talk while I stand? Please, I can't hold on with these shackles on me.

Just keep holding. Make it short and I'll let you stand up pretty soon, Yang Yi said ruthlessly.

Oh shit, Hank cursed to himself quietly, then paused for a bit while he tried to think of a way to tell his story.

Basically, Hank said in agitation, I came back to jail because I realized that the whole thing was a conspiracy. They were trying to let me escape so they could kill me after I got out of here. I didn't want to die right away, so I turned myself in at the closest police station and came back to this prison.

You can stand up now, Yang Yi commanded. He now had a rough idea of Hank's character.

You really have an an eccentric way of punishing others, Hank smiled painfully as he quickly stood up and wiped away his sweat. Yang Yi, however, still had the same stern expression on him.

Now tell me, why were you sent to prison? Yang Yi continued the interrogation. Even though Hank was now standing up, it seemed that Yang Yi wasn't going any easier on him.

After wiping his sweat, Hank continued to talk as he leaned himself against a wall.

I went inside this really fancy house in Los Angeles last Autumn. Without triggering the security system at all, I managed to find a safe and stole twenty grand worth of cash, three paintings and some other valuable items from it. If I remember correctly, the paintings were worth two million and four hundred grand, the jewelry one hundred and there was also a watch that was worth a hundred grand. I also stole a laptop since I didn't want to spend my own money on it.

Geez, after stealing that much, you still had to save yourself the cost of buying a laptop... Yang Yi said in awe. He couldn't fathom how someone this good at stealing money could also be so stingy at the same time.

I know I can be a bit greedy at times, Hank said in a slightly regretful voice, but you know, I might as well not waste anything while I was at it.

Anyway, Hank shrugged his shoulders, I received eight hundred grand in total for selling all that stuff I got and then after I was done, I remembered that laptop I stole. When I opened it, I found out that the laptop had a pretty interesting porno video stored inside it. There was a video of a senator having an orgy with sixteen different chicks at the same time. All the girls in it were pretty hot, but the senator was the only dude in it. With a discovery this shocking, I did the only natural thing - I uploaded the video to a public porn website.

That's pretty impressive, Yang Yi complimented despite shaking his head in disapproval of Hank's decision. Why did you decide to upload the video?

I just hate rich guys, Hank replied with a slightly displeased look.

Well, that's a pretty fucking dumb way to project your apathy. What happened next?

After four months, which by then I thought everything was over, a friend of mine told me that he found a good target for me. It was a nice house with a lot of artworks in it and since I've always had a thing for artworks, I went there immediately and man - I knew it was a trap the moment I took a step inside that house. There were no surveillance, no alarm, and the safe was just sitting in the most visible spot in the house. I wanted to leave, but the police had already surrounded me.

What happened then? Couldn't they just kill you if you fell into their trap?

I was already on the ground when the police got in. Since they had their law enforcement cameras on, they couldn't just kill me if I had my hands behind my back the entire time. You've got to admit that I was pretty smart for not giving them the chance to kill me for supposedly resisting arrest.

Keep going.

Then they seized my house and took away all the artworks I had. God damn it! All that hard work for nothing in the end

You stole those, Yang Yi narrowed his eyes in disbelief.

Apparently this petty thief, or a mad genius, rather, honestly believed that his skill in stealing somehow let him gain ownership over the things he stole.

Those were masterpieces I stole with my talents and that was my money! Fucking hell! It was five million in total

Alright, stop your whining, Yang Yi commanded, now tell me about how you escaped this prison.

They milked all the money I had and tried to give me a life sentence, but what they didn't know was that I had a lawyer with me in case something like this happened. Like I said before, my lawyer did a great job of reducing the length of my sentence. Now, maybe I should've been satisfied with what I got and maybe I should've just stayed here for a bit longer, but I happened to find a way to escape this place a few days ago. What happened next is no secret: I basically utilized my lockpicking skills and marched my way out of here.

You escaped a prison that easily?

Of course it's not easy, but back to the story. After I left prison, I thought about going to this secret hideout I had in Los Angeles City, but one question quickly came to me: what if those assholes out there were trying to let me escape so that they could, you know, just kill me?

That's a fairly reasonable assumption.

So, what I did was confess to the nearest police station I could find. There were probably at least four of them trying to shoot me in the head before I got to the police station, but I still managed to reach the police station and surrendered myself. So even though my sentence was extended by four years, it was much better than just dropping dead somewhere, you get me?

Yang Yi nodded in approval, You are pretty good at making decisions during times of crisis, I'll give you that. I don't even know if I should call you an idiot or a genius now. Maybe a smart idiot?

I guess anyone can be too confident sometimes, Hank shrugged his shoulders again, In the end, we are all humans. We can't be correct all the time and I'm no exception. That being said, I'm not an idiot.

Yang Yi shook his head, then took a step closer to Hank.

No, you are an idiot. Yang Yi suddenly stared at Hank, If you're not an idiot, maybe you should've asked someone who I am before you got here. You know what? I think I'm starting to understand why you're back in prison now.