Warden Xiong Ba leaned over the edge of the frost-jade terrace, his scarred lips twisting into a mocking, cruel snarl.
“You want to buy this facility?” Xiong Ba sneered, his laughter rumbling like boulders tumbling down a mountain chute. “You ignorant merchant toad! Under Imperial Penal Code Article Forty-Seven, state prisoners sentenced for high treason cannot be pardoned by silver or gold! There is only one obscure statutory clause in the entire imperial legal code that allows private buyout!”
Xiong Ba turned toward the basalt wall behind his frost-jade throne.
He pulled a heavy, rusted brass lever with a harsh jerk.
CLACK-CLANK!
The basalt floor beside his throne groaned and split apart.
Rising from the subterranean magma chamber, an ancient, ten-foot-tall monolith made of polished black star-crystal locked into place.
The crystal was inscribed with the imperial dragon crest and the solemn blood-seal of the Imperial Ministry of Revenue: the [Imperial Treasury Contract Stone].
