Evan didn’t panic. He weaponized his fear instead.

  “You idiot. You brain?dead moron.”

  “If you drain me dry and kill me, have you even thought about how you’re going to open the detention gate?”

  The Vampire sneered. “You told us all we had to do was—”

  He stopped mid?sentence.

  Because the realization finally hit him.

  The detention gate was nearly indestructible and could only be opened from the outside, requiring a guard captain’s fingerprint and a password. And the captain always checked the interior through the window before unlocking it.

  Evan’s original plan had been simple: Let the Ghoul control Liam Zhao’s corpse to trick the guard into opening the gate.

  But now?

  Liam’s face was caved in. Most of his blood had been drained. He looked like a dried husk.

  There was no way that corpse could pass for a living person anymore.

  Which meant only one of the three of them could impersonate Liam.

  The Vampire was too tall and broad. The Ghoul was too thin and sickly. Only Evan — who shared Liam’s exact face and build — could pull it off.

  But only if he wasn’t drained into a corpse himself.

  The Vampire immediately stopped absorbing his blood.

  Evan didn’t waste time. “Open the cell doors first.”

  In Evan’s escape plan, killing Liam was essential — they needed a corpse to press the button on the control console.

  The console was fifty meters away. Only the Ghoul’s corpse?control ability could operate it.

  His ability came from a rare third?tier beast, the Umbral Cat, whose touch could reanimate corpses and bind them to its will. After absorbing its extract, the Ghoul had inherited that power.

  But he needed physical contact with the corpse to activate it — impossible from inside his cell.

  Evan had already prepared for that.

  The Ghoul bit his finger and extended it through the window. The Vampire manipulated the blood flowing from the wound, stretching it into a thin crimson thread that snaked across the floor and touched Liam’s corpse.

  Stolen story; please report.

  Blood was part of the Ghoul’s body — that counted as contact.

  A moment later, Liam Zhao’s corpse jerked, then slowly pushed itself upright, moving stiffly like a puppet.

  It worked.

  All three escapees grinned.

  They already had the guard captain’s fingerprint. Now they had a corpse to operate the console.

  The Vampire grabbed one of Liam’s fingers, scraped off the original fingerprint, and reshaped the spilled blood into a new one — the captain’s.

  Under the Ghoul’s control, Liam’s corpse staggered toward the console.

  Moments later, the cell doors clicked open one by one.

  Evan, the Vampire, and the Ghoul rushed out.

  Evan immediately snatched the Wailing Skull from the floor. The Vampire’s eyes flashed with murderous intent — but he held back.

  The Ghoul guided the corpse back to them, then released control.

  Evan dragged Liam’s body into his own cell.

  Up close, the stench hit him harder — a mix of heavy perfume and something rotten underneath.

  Already rotting? Impossible.

  Then it clicked.

  Liam had drenched himself in perfume to mask the smell.

  What was he hiding? Some disease? Some infection?

  No time to think.

  Evan stripped Liam’s clothes off, then removed his own prison uniform.

  He wasn’t doing this out of boredom. He was swapping outfits.

  He wasn’t just escaping.

  He was replacing Liam Zhao.

  “Rest easy,” Evan murmured. “I’ll take good care of your billions.”

  He removed Liam’s sunglasses and put them on, then gently closed Liam’s dead, wide?open eyes.

  Outside, the Vampire made a throat?slitting gesture at the Ghoul.

  Kill Evan now. Use his corpse instead.

  The Ghoul shook his head. A corpse moved stiffly and couldn’t speak — too risky. They were already halfway to freedom; he wouldn’t gamble it.

  The Vampire clicked his tongue but backed off.

  A moment later, Evan stepped out wearing Liam’s clothes.

  Both criminals froze.

  The fit was perfect — uncannily perfect. For a moment, they thought Liam had risen from the dead.

  If Liam hadn’t worn a mask and sunglasses earlier, they would’ve realized the truth: Evan and Liam looked exactly the same.

  “Perfect. No guard will ever notice,” the Ghoul whispered.

  Their confidence soared.

  Liam’s clothes were intact, the bloodstains gone thanks to the Vampire. Only a tiny puncture in the mask remained — barely noticeable.

  “Hurry,” Evan ordered, striding toward the detention gate.

  The Vampire and the Ghoul crouched low and followed.

  They had countless questions about tonight’s events, but now wasn’t the time.

  They moved down the corridor, turned a corner — the gate was just ahead.

  The two criminals stopped at the bend. If they went any farther, the guard captain could see them through the window.

  They crouched in the shadows, ready to sprint the moment the gate opened.

  Evan walked calmly to the door and knocked.

  The guard captain peered inside, looked Evan up and down, then glanced behind him.

  Satisfied, he began entering the code.

  Beep. Beep. Beep.

  Each tone tightened the trio’s nerves.

  Finally — the lock clicked.

  The door began to open.

  The Vampire and the Ghoul exploded into motion, leaping forward like predators.

  Once they got through that door, the escape was practically guaranteed. Only one Chrysalis?tier guard was stationed outside — no match for them.

  As for Evan?

  If they trampled him on the way out, so what? He was useless now.

  But then they saw it.

  Evan, still facing the door, had one hand behind his back.

  In that hand was a small skull.

  Its hollow eye sockets were aimed directly at them.

  The Wailing Skull.