Chapter 370: Collaboration

"Hello."

Not only was Miller not physically imposing in the slightest, his demeanor was also far more benevolent than that of the other inmates in the Radiation Gang, and he nodded at Adam, gesturing for him to reveal the purpose of his visit.

Adam repeated what he had said to the man with the skin deformity, and Miller was silent for a while before asking, "How do you plan to accomplish that?"

"The key is the Desert Gang. As long as we can get rid of them, the rest will naturally fall into place. The Desert Gang has laid claim to the majority of the labor points being produced in the factory, and even though the Survival of the Fittest faction has been transferred here, they haven't been here long enough to be able to truly contend with the Desert Gang. Labor points are the key to surviving in this prison."

𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

"Get rid of the Desert Gang? That's not going to be so easy." If this were an easy task, Miller would've done it himself long ago. "Not only do they have the most members out of any faction, they have ties with all of the wardens and even the chief warden. Even if we can get rid of them, the wardens will still draw more people from the other areas of the prison. No one wants to see a bunch of mutant freaks taking over an area."

"Freaks" was the term that Miller used to refer to the members of his own faction.

This was a very discriminatory term, and if anyone outside of their faction dared to refer to them as such, the consequences were going to be extremely severe.

Just as Miller had said, no one would want to see an area fall under the control of a faction of mutated freaks.

All human societies were governed by rules, even societies in prison, the Radiation Gang was simply too volatile and unpredictable to be entrusted with the task of running such a society.

The chief warden could allow the Desert Gang to do whatever they pleased in the prison because its members were willing and able to carry out the tasks assigned to them by the wardens. However, the members of the Radiation Gang were different. Many of them were unable to control their bodies and emotions, and if control over the third area were entrusted to them, things could quickly spiral out of control.

Adam had already considered everything that Miller could think of, and he nodded in response.

"That may have been true in the past, but it's no longer the case now."

Before Miller had a chance to ask any questions, Adam continued, "As you just said, the Desert Gang is able to run this place because it has the most members and close ties with the wardens. However, its numbers advantage has been diminished by the arrival of the new faction. As for the wardens, why do you think they transferred members of another faction into our area?"

Miller remained silent as he looked into Adam's eyes, and a short while later, he nodded to express his agreement with Adam's thought process. The fact that the wardens had transferred another faction into this area was a clear indication that they wanted to stir up conflict between the factions.

"Even if the Desert Gang and the Survival of the Fittest faction didn't exist, there would still be other factions taking their place. Darvaza Prison has never been short of people or factions. I hear that the environment in the outside world is very oppressive nowadays.

“Due to the existence of Mechguard, crime rates have been quite low, but there are more and more extremely heinous crimes taking place. Overall, the number of crimes has decreased, but the severity of the crimes has increased."

"You're concerned that even if those two factions were eliminated, your Radiation Gang still wouldn't be able to take over the third area, is that right?"

"That's right, but you seem to have a plan prepared," Miller replied. "Go on."

Adam took a deep breath. He knew that his survival depended on whether he would be able to convince Miller to accept his plan.

Since his awakening, he had come to understand that in order to accomplish something significant, one had to recognize the value of collaboration and working with others.

In the initial phase of his new life, Adam had to rely on the pawn shop and Red Spider for his survival.

In order to improve as an adapter, he had to work with his fellow students from Layton Academy.

In Shadow City, he had struck a deal with the director.

After returning to Sandrise City, he had used the northern congress to propel his own meteoric rise.

Even in prison, he was relying on Thilan to supply him with useful information.

Collaboration was vital for achievement, but similarly, in order to establish collaborative relationships, something had to be given up. Thilan, the northern congress, and the pawn shop had all lent Adam their power, but only because they could get something from him in return.

In this situation, Adam knew that what was most important here was for him to express to Miller what he could bring to the Radiation Gang, and he also had to convince Miller to believe in his plan.

"There's going to be a massive riot in the prison soon. I'm sure you can sense it just like I can. The wardens will orchestrate a conflict between the Desert Gang and the Survival of the Fittest faction. Do you know why they're planning this?"

"Is it all just to kill you? Why? Are you some type of important figure in the outside world? According to my knowledge, only the deaths of high-level politicians in prison need to be covered up like this."

"I'm not a politician, but I am quite renowned in Sandrise City. It's a simple task for you to verify this claim. I hear that the Asian Gang is very good at gathering information, you can just go ask them if I'm telling the truth."

Adam was revealing his status in the outside world as a basis for what he was about to say next.

"Given how renowned I am in the outside world, regardless of which side comes out in this riot and whether the wardens achieve their objective, the incident will attract attention from journalists in the outside world. What do you think will happen after that?"

"I'm not sure, but at the very least, they most likely won't be sending any other factions here in the near future."

There was clearly more interest in Miller's eyes as he was speaking now.

"When is this riot going to start?"

"I don't know. For now, I only know that it's going to happen soon."

Time was required for Thilan to send information to him from the outside world.

Even if an order were to be sent down from the chief warden, only an approximate time frame could be determined. For example, the instruction could be something like "make a move this week".

The exact timing depended on how the Desert Gang was going to carry out the plan.

"The exact time that the riot breaks out is something that I'll have to find out from the Desert Gang. I've already been accepted into the Desert Gang, but they're very wary of me, so the amount of information that I'm able to obtain is very limited."

"We don't have any moles in the Desert Gang."

Due to their physical traits, members of the Radiation Gang stuck out like sore thumbs, so there was no way for Miller to plant any of his people in the rival factions.

"We have to employ the services of professionals in this matter. The Asian Gang doesn't have many members, nor is it on very good terms with the wardens. The only reason it's been able to survive to this point is because of its ability to gather intelligence. We can approach them with the same proposal.

“After all, it'll benefit them as well if the Desert Gang disappears. With more resources freed up, even if they'll only be able to receive 20% to 30% of the resources previously claimed by the Desert Gang, that would still be worth the risk for them."

"Will those newcomers really act according to the script?" Miller asked.

"You don't have to worry about that. The members of the Survival of the Fittest faction are the easiest people to rile up in the prison. The philosophy that they champion means that they have to rise to every challenge, and that's why they were transferred to this area in the first place. As long as a riot breaks out, they'll be sure to join in."

Adam had considered all possible variables in this situation.

As long as everything went according to plan, not only would he be able to survive this riot unscathed, he would be able to enhance his own reputation even further.