Pelican Bay State Prison wasn't an ordinary prison. It was one of the supermax prisons in the United States.
This was because Pelican Bay State Prison had the largest number of felons imprisoned there. Those who were imprisoned at Pelican Bay were criminals who had committed felonies like murder. There were also drug dealers, gang members and other serious criminals.1
Although there were more than eighteen thousand inmates in the Los Angeles prison, the prisoners there had only committed misdemeanors. These inmates would be released after a month or two. Although there were still quite a number of them who served longer sentences of a few years, they weren't real felons.
The Pelican Bay had about three thousand inmates. Out of that number, at least a thousand of them were serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole. Of the remaining inmates, more than half of them were serving a sentence of more than fifteen years. Only a small minority of them had a sentence of five years or less.
One could only imagine what sort of people were imprisoned at Pelican Bay. When Yang Yi thought about how he would be associating with the most vicious gang members and criminals in the United States, it would have been a lie if he said he wasn't afraid.
Yang Yi finally understand what it meant to have a sense of crisis. It would have been weird for him not to have this feeling since he was set to be imprisoned in a supermax prison.
Needless to say, Pelican Bay would definitely be a university for American criminals. Those amateur gang members who had been serving there would seem like they had been enrolled in a prestigious university for crime. They would enter the prison for stealing but would come out with the competency to commit murder or arson. It was for this very reason that Pelican Bay was deemed a criminal's university.
When he reached that point, Yang Yi couldn't continue any further with his line of thought. The wood had been turned into a boat and the rice had turned into porridge already. Even if he was terrified and would like to back out, Danny would still force him into the prison.
Did he feel regret?
There was no reason to.
Was he afraid?
Not at all.
Although that was exactly what Yang Yi continued to tell himself, he was just deceiving himself. Given that he was supposed to enter such a godforsaken place, it would be strange if there were no regrets or if he wasn't afraid.
Thus, Yang Yi could only suppress the momentary urge he had to run away.
Yang Yi's hair style wasn't anything special but he was very fond of it. With a pair of scissors, Danny had haphazardly trimmed Yang Yi's hair. His new hair style looked like his hair had been gnawed by a dog.
Although Yang Yi was still wearing the same clothes as before, his hands were now secured by a pair of handcuffs.
"There are here!" Raymond who was in the driver's seat said something softly before turning back to look at Yang Yi and said, "You should get ready to get out. Keep in mind what you should do and say. I wish you the best of luck!"
Yang Yi sighed dispiritedly. A police car came into view and they stopped right next to it. Soon after, a police officer stepped out of the car and surveyed the surroundings. He then opened the car's back door and dragged a handcuffed young man out of it.
"Get down and step into the police car. Goodbye."
Danny had spoken those words so plainly. Since Raymond had stepped out of the car, Yang Yi faced Danny with a look full of grief and indignation and weakly said, "Captain, I would like to say…"
"There's no need to thank me. I did earn a hundred and fifty thousand dollars, after all."
"You're such a bastard!"
Yang Yi immediately left the car after cursing at Danny.
The Asian who was pulled out of the police car was the person Yang Yi was going to be replacing, Benjamin Park.
When they brushed past each other, Benjamin Park's expression was wild with joy whereas Yang Yi was looking utterly wretched.
Although Benjamin Park didn't pay any attention to him, Yang Yi was actually scrutinizing him. Soon after, the police officer grabbed Yang Yi's arm and shoved him straight into the police car.
After Raymond and the police officer made a few hand gestures at each other, they went back to their own cars. Both cars quickly left in opposite directions.
The police officer who was seated next to the driver gave Yang Yi a menacing look and firmly said, "You should know how to behave. Remember this, if you actually dare to blather out what shouldn't be said, you will have a horrible end."
Yang Yi kept his head down and said nothing. He only nodded in acknowledgement.
The police officer didn't say anything else. The police car immediately sped off the moment they left the street where the switch had taken place. After they arrived at the detention center, Yang Yi was directed towards a prisoner transport bus instead of being brought inside.
He was all alone when he boarded the bus. He was dragged towards the last row of the seat by the police officer who had made the exchange just a few minutes ago.
"Listen properly. I will be overseeing you until you are inside the prison. You should sit here obediently and not speak. Do you understand me?"
"I understand."
Yang Yi was very obedient since there was no reason for him to resist. Moreover, it was pointless for him to even resist.
After the police officer left, Yang Yi couldn't help but feel anxious while sitting in the back. To ease his anxiety, Yang Yi started to pay attention to the criminals who were about to come onboard.
The prisoner transportation bus didn't look much different from a regular school bus. Besides the paint on the outside not being the same, the only other irregularity was the wire mesh installed on the windows.
Less than five minutes later, a group of criminals started boarding the bus while being escorted by an even larger group of police officers.
The first criminal who got onboard was tall and bulky. Not only was his body covered in tattoos, his face was also covered in bizarre patterns. Yang Yi was unable to determine his ethnicity. He was definitely not a Black or White man. He was probably Latino.
When he saw someone was already on the bus, the man covered in tattoos started to glare at him as if Yang Yi owed him money. After the police officer gave him a nudge from the back, he took a seat in the first row.
The rest of the criminals continued to board the bus. There were five Black men, three Latin men and a White man. There was also Yang Yi, an Asian man.
In total, there were ten people onboard including Yang Yi. Although the prison transport bus could hold at least thirty people, no other criminals were boarded after. Yang Yi ended up sitting in the back row on his own.
Excluding the driver, there were another four police officers armed with shotguns. Lastly, a chubby police officer climbed onto the bus and took a glance at those on board. With his hands on his hips, he announced loudly, "I'm warning you guys. Don't make any unnecessary movements. Also, don't cause trouble. You will learn what the consequences are if you cause trouble. This will be the only warning."
Yang Yi's identity was special. He was here as a substitute. So, he was arranged to seat in the back to ensure a certain distance from the rest of the criminals.
From a certain perspective, Yang Yi was being given preferential treatment since he was isolated from the rest of the criminals. This was good for Yang Yi since he had never been to prison before and he had never imagined he would ever go to prison.
The criminals on the bus naturally formed their own little group. The five Black men were divided into two groups. Three of them immediately started chatting the moment they sat down on the bus. They were cracking rather vulgar jokes. The remaining two sat together and were quietly discussing something. It was apparent the three Latin men didn't know each other before but they were happily chatting after just a short while.
The only person who paid Yang Yi any attention was the white man. He kept taking quick glances at Yang Yi from time to time. He seemed to be rather agitated and was looking for someone to help calm his nerves. It was unfortunate that he was the only white man onboard and it was rather obvious Yang Yi wouldn't be sitting with him.
Looking at all the criminals on the bus, Yang Yi suddenly had the feeling that regardless of how long he would have to stay in prison, the days he spent there would certainly not be pleasant.
Chapter Notes:1 Crime is divided into three category: Felony, Infraction & Misdemeanor. You can read more about it here : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...