Twenty Seven Years

  Chapter 157 Be honest with each other and look forward to the future

   "Ahem!" Hearing Keating's question, Verak immediately choked on the rice. He put down the lunch box, quickly took a few sips of water, and then regained his strength, "What did you say?"

   "Do you want to know the whereabouts of the gold?" Keating had a gentle voice and a kind face.

  Verak smiled, a little confused about Keating's meaning: "You asked that on your own initiative, and it sounds like you are willing to tell me the location. But why? Why did you tell me?"

  He vaguely has some answers.

   Keating did this based on what he did during his time in prison.

  He has created too many miracles, bringing light and hope to the prisoners who are in darkness. The key victory of today's football game not only woke up the prisoners from the oppression, but also completely moved Keating.

Keating looked directly at the overwhelmed Veraker: "I think the time we spent together is a process of learning from each other. You have learned a lot from me, and I have also learned things from you that I have never felt before. I have kept this secret for two years, and I think it is time to let the second person know. You can see it as a kind of entrustment, a reward for your willingness to take me out of here, or as me alone Bearing the pressure for too long, I hope someone can share some."

   "Are you not afraid that I will spend it?" Verak said with a smile.

"This money has not belonged since Ravel's death. If you can really leave here one day, then of course you can dispose of it as you like." Keating knew that Verac was joking, but he still replied seriously, "Otherwise, What’s the use of having more money that can’t be spent?”

Verak maintained a stiff smile. He never thought that one day Keating would take the initiative to tell him the location of the gold, and he had no intention of actually prying out clues from Keating, so he didn't know what to do now: " I...I am very honored, not because of the money, but because this should be a complete heart-to-heart for you."

   "Yes, other than that, I have nothing to hide from you." Keating said.

"Actually, I don't think you need to repay me. Without your cooperation, the escape plan would not have made any progress. So in the end, I should repay you. It's a pity that I have nothing to offer, only Do your best to escape from prison." Verak said sincerely, "In addition, I have something to hide from you. I...have a big secret, but I don't think it makes sense to mention it...More likely because of inexplicable I don’t want to bring it up, it’s very contradictory.”

   After deliberation, Veraker decided to open his heart when Keating was willing to have no reservations with him.

"It seems that we have something to talk tonight." Keating glanced outside the cell, lowered his voice, and easily told the secret that countless people wanted to know, "Gold is indeed in the old South York City, the capital of Dunman. , but not in the middle of nowhere, but in the cellar of the Quinn's Tavern in Via Mandrin in the city center."

   "Will it be too conspicuous?" Verak thought it would be unwise to transport such a large amount of gold to a crowded place in the city center and hide it.

Keating understood Verac's thoughts: "Everyone thinks so, gold is safe. At that time, we secretly transported the gold to the wine cellar through wine barrels, because the Quinn Tavern and I and Ravel were both It has nothing to do with it, and we were very cautious when transporting it, so it has not been discovered."

   "You actually own the Quinn's Tavern?" Verac asked.

"I opened it with Ravel decades ago, so that he would have a place like home when he came to Old South York as a guest, and also through this tavern to earn money for my travels around the world when I was young. .Later I was going to move to Laizein to assist Ravel in governing, so I handed over the tavern to another friend." Keating told about his youth, "I never thought that as soon as I went to Laizein, I would go back to the tavern. I have never been back, and I have gradually lost contact with that friend. It was not until Ravel’s regime was about to be overthrown that we thought of him when we were considering where the gold would be safely shipped.”

   "There has been no contact for decades. Is it dangerous for you to entrust the gold to him?" Veraker worried that time and money would change Keating's friends just like they changed Dempsey.

Keating nodded: "Ravel is very worried about this. He only intends to use this tavern as a transit point to bring the gold back to him after he is safe, so he specially sent me to keep an eye on it to avoid accidents. But Before I could pass, I was caught here."

   "That is to say, you don't know what is happening to the gold now? It may still be in the wine cellar, or it may have been taken by your friends decades ago." Verac said.

   "Yes." Keating didn't deny it.

"I hope your friend will keep his promise." From the point of view of Keating's friend, Veraker is imprisoned in Daymans Prison and has no hope of leaving in his life. He will undoubtedly be concerned about the gold in the wine cellar .

Keating pursed his lips and gave a helpless wry smile, and then said: "Do you think it's ridiculous? Even I can't ensure that the gold is safe. This is one of the reasons why I have never redeemed my freedom by telling the whereabouts of the gold. , if the gold has been embezzled long ago, I will have nothing to rely on."

"What's so ridiculous about this." Verak shook his head and said sincerely, "Whenever you have the opportunity, you can't just sit back and watch the situation evolve to this point. Moreover, your friends may not be interested in gold, and you may still waiting for your return."

   "Well." Keating didn't think too much about this matter, he had thought enough in the past two years, "This is my business, tell me your secret."

  Villac couldn't help but took a deep breath, organized his words, and prepared to tell Keating about his experience from beginning to end.

  He pinched off the unexplainable rebirth and only told two people about it. One is his best friend Nord, and the other is Boyin who regards him as his best friend. The final result of the two narrations was not pleasant, after all, it was concealing and deceiving others. Veracre was slightly worried that Keating would be as angry as Nord and Boyne.

"I... am not actually Thomas Chris. My real name is Moster Verak. I come from the small border town of Blessie, a poor area in Zward City." After saying the most difficult beginning, Wei Lak was relieved, "I used to be a steelworker, and then I became a photographer by chance. A few months ago, on July 15th, because of my appearance, the Thomas family from Laizein found me. I, took me and two friends who were drinking with me to Laizein overnight, and used it to pretend to be Thomas Chris who was brutally killed for participating in the rebellion against the government."

   Verak spoke slowly.

   Keating's eyes widened.

  He felt that Veraker was hiding a huge secret, but he didn't expect it to be so big that it would overturn his cognition.

"I know that I am just a tool of the Thomas family, a tool to prevent them from being suspected and affected by the government. Therefore, I have always obeyed them willingly. I am secretly saving money, and I am always ready to escape from Lezein and start a new life. ..." Veraker talked about deceiving Colin at the beginning, and it took two hours to talk about Colin's death because of him. He was finally infected by the Equality Society and "Equality", and by sacrificing himself, he helped Boine escape from the government The part of the Ministry of Security building, "After Boyne left, the head of Bressian's intelligence organization 'Dark Reef' quickly discovered something was wrong, and sent me here the next day."

   "My God..." Keating shook his head slightly, unable to believe that such a tortuous thing happened to Verak before he was imprisoned in Daymans Prison.

"I said I don't want to mention this matter, I just don't want to face it." After finishing speaking, Verak let out a long sigh of relief, leaning against the wall, a little depressed, "I don't know if it's too late for me to wake up now, I don't know If I leave here one day and return to Leizein, will they accept me?"

   Keating was still speechless, digesting a huge amount of information bit by bit.

  In his opinion, Verak experienced more things in just over three months than ordinary people in their lifetime.

  These things have honed a former slum photographer who lived at a loss into an excellent leader. From standing in the shadow of Chris to profit, to accomplishing Chris with regrets, and becoming himself, it is simply a miracle.

   "Like a story." Keating commented on Verac's secret.

"Indeed. Sometimes when I think about it, I think it's just a dream. I don't understand how this kind of thing happened to me, and how I managed to change so many people and so many things." Verak's own shock was not the slightest bit No less than others.

"Are you worried that you won't be able to reintegrate into the equality society with your true identity? After all, you deceived them, stole their money, and killed Boyne's good friend Colin." The impact of Verak's secret was too strong. Strong, Keating couldn't calm down for a long time.

  Verak was silent for a few seconds, and nodded at Keating: "They must hate me very much. I pretended to be the president of the Equality Association, and I prioritized myself in every decision I made."

"I don't think so. You had many opportunities to leave, but you didn't do it. You said you came to your senses because of Colin's death, but I don't think it happened overnight. Your transformation has already begun. From what you advocate The Equality Association should be armed. You have already integrated into them since you won a huge sum of nearly 10 million gold grams for them, and when the Equality Association faced a crisis and you gave up the best opportunity to leave Laizein in order to stabilize the people. Complete integration The final step is for you to be honest with Boyin, explain your true identity, and help him regain his freedom at the cost of sacrificing yourself in order to express repentance."

  Verak has been troubled by this matter for a long time.

  He was looking forward to leaving here, to open up a new world with the group of people in the Equality Society openly and aboveboard. But he was extremely afraid, afraid that he would not be recognized by them after he went back.

"They may be like you think, after you go back, they will resist everything about you and not allow you to become a member of the Equality Society." Keating said, "But you can't feel that your ideals are in vain because of this. They Your recognition is very important, but it has nothing to do with your ideals. Even if they don't treat you as their own, you can fight side by side silently like in prison."

   "I really want...to become friends with them in the most authentic way." Verak smiled bleakly, "I really want to consider for the Equality Council and give them advice."

"Leaving the prison is only the first hardship you face. After crossing this mountain, there will be other troubles behind you." Keating wanted to pat Verak on the shoulder and give him some encouragement, but they were far away from each other. A little far, "The advice I can give you is to continue to be honest with each other, everything about you will be seen by them, and if they are really pursuing that equal, free, and inclusive world, they will not give up on you. "

  Verak adjusted his mood. No matter what, he had to leave the prison and face those people in the Equality Society again: "I will, teacher."

   "Although I don't know what will happen after leaving, I have no doubts that you will do what you want to do." Keating pointed at Verak's heart, "Depend on your belief, rely on your persistence."

   Feeling his heart beating vigorously, Verak smiled knowingly.

  As long as he is alive, there is still hope.

"It's getting late, let's rest." It was already late at night after sharing the secrets with each other, Keating urged Verak, who had exhausted a lot of energy today and had a lot of injuries, to rest, "I don't know what will happen tomorrow, we have to Keep your spirits up and get ready.”

   "Yeah." Verak lay down.

  The lights in the cell had long been turned off, and there were snores from other cells around.

   After Veraker and Keating lay down, they didn't close their eyes tacitly, looking at the ceiling in the dark, as if they could see the brilliant starry sky through the ceiling.

   "Teacher? Are you asleep?"

   "No, what's the matter?"

"Have you ever thought about what it will be like the day we leave here?" Verak's eyes were bright, and he looked forward to that day with a smile, "I think it will be a good day. The gun passed through one iron gate after another, getting farther and farther away from the prison, and getting closer and closer to the outside..."

Keating continued: "I've seen enough of this ghostly place. At that time, I will definitely escape from the island all the way without looking back. At sea, we can choose the next place to go, or go to Laizein first, and see the equality meeting." people. Either go to the Old South Treaty and receive the gold."

  Villac rested his arms behind his head: "The Equality Council is still more important. The gold has been stored for two years anyway, so it's not bad for a few days."

   "Well, let's go to Laizein first." Keating said.

   "We are gone, and the gold is gone. Lecter must have been chasing us all the way, and wept when he found out that he couldn't catch us." Verac couldn't help chuckling when he thought of Lecter's funny appearance.

   Keating laughed too.

  In the lonely night, the two in Cell 208 were not alone.

  (end of this chapter)