"Your Excellency, Judge?" Kane Marcus, the chief of security in a black police uniform, looked at Judge Ahab who was sitting on the steps of the conference room with some confusion. Ahab turned his back to him, as if looking out the porthole at the starry sky, and seemed to be looking down in thought.

There was no light in the meeting room, and Ahab turned from the dark room, but he was not yet forty years old, but his hair was gray. The light from the distant stars countless light years away, through the filter, through the porthole of the conference room, sprinkled on the judge's slightly lonely face, making his face flickering and unpredictable. It's been months since their former best friend became like this, and Kane has grown accustomed to it, and their relationship has been much more distant since Ahab was elected judge. After all, Kane couldn't sit down against Ahab like Jack and patted Ahab on the shoulder to show encouragement, not to mention that Kane and Ahab's mutual friend Jack was sentenced to death by Ahab himself. Now for Ahab, Kane has more awe in his heart.

"Your Excellency, are you looking for me?" Seeing that Ahab did not respond for a long time, Kane asked again, and at the same time waved his hand, signaling the few followers who had come with him to step away, thinking that Ahab had something important to say to him.

The call from close quarters seemed to work, and Ahab pulled out of his thoughts as he looked up at the retreating guards. Ahab knew that his usually cautious captain seemed to be misunderstood, and he said apologetically, "I'm sorry, Kane, I was thinking about something and fell into a trance...... I'm coming to you this time to find out about the situation of the 'black prison'. ”

After so many years, the resources that could supply nearly 2,000 people for 30 years on the "Ark" have been exhausted, and the total population of the "Ark" is approaching the 4,000 mark, and the leaders have had to take extremely drastic measures to maintain order: the "Ark" has reinstated the death penalty, and the birth of the population is also strictly controlled. Anyone who violates the law, no matter how big or small, will be exiled (to outer space). Juvenile offenders, on the other hand, have an additional opportunity to face a retrial and final conviction when they turn 18.

For the children of the Ark, the vast majority of skills training will end before the age of 14, and the Ark allows children after the age of 12 to pass the assessment to enter the department they want to enter as assistants and other positions. Unless you are particularly outstanding and have been unanimously recognized by the entire department, you cannot become a regular before the age of 20. As for the children who have not passed any departmental examination by the age of 18 (80 per cent), they are arranged by the council, and most of them will fill the vacancies of technician positions, and a small number of them will work as security guards, or be hired as assistants to the engineer's relatives and friends. Because the content of the general assessment is too difficult and the pass rate is too low, many children after the age of 12 will spend the last six years of their lives, and then some children who go too far to commit crimes, because they are under the age of 18, will be imprisoned in cells nicknamed "black cells" until adulthood. At that point, the Ark authorities will evaluate them again to determine whether they are alive or dead (usually dead).

"Including Finn Collins, who was arrested just last week, there are currently 97 prisoners in the black cell...... The eldest children, Finn Collins and Clark Griffin, were 17 years and two months old, and the youngest was Charlotte, who had just turned 13 years ......," Kane reported to Judge Ahab based on the information he had so far.

After a long time, Ahab's tired voice came from the dark room: "Okay, Kane, thank you very much....... Go get busy with you......"

Kane nodded, turned around to leave, and suddenly, a voice came from behind him, "Wait a minute! ”

Ahab stood up against the steps on the ground, "Wait a minute, Kane...... From this month onwards, relatives of juvenile inmates are allowed to visit them once a month. ”

"This ......," Kane hesitated, "it's against the Ark's decrees." ”

Ahab's figure in the room was blurred in the darkness and could not be seen, Kane only saw Ahab waving his hand and signaling Kane to stand back, and the voice came from afar, "I will explain to the council......"

Except for the Ark Convention, which requires a vote of all the people of the Ark, the rest of the day-to-day regulations can be amended by the agreement of the judges and the Parliament. Therefore, Kane nodded, bowed his bow, and then left the conference room that he felt a little depressed.

。。。。。。

The atmosphere in the room was a little awkward, and Vivien sat in the corner of the table, her hands on her cheeks, and just looked at Trist, who had a rare flash of panic in her pale gray eyes.

"Woo~~ Trist, your cooked porridge is so delicious~~Burp~~", Alex burped heartlessly, licking the bottom of the bowl unsatisfied, feeling full of strength. Suddenly, he seemed to think of something, and approached Vivien with some flattery, "By the way, Vivian, have you had breakfast?" Come and try Trist's craft! It's really delicious! ”

This kid has such a big heart! The atmosphere seemed to be even more awkward......

Trist and Vivien moved their eyes to the stone pot at the bottom, their eyes touched, and then they parted again, little Alex couldn't help but shrink his head, and said weakly, "I'm going to wash the dishes......"

Trist twisted his eyebrows, the tribal girl dared to love and hate, the night before, Vivien, who drank and bold, drilled Trist's tent, and swore by the discipline of his own two lives as a human being (single dog), Trist had absolutely no idea about this fifteen-year-old little girl, from verbal refusal ("Love can't be forced, Vivian, you're a good girl"), to rushing away the girl who pounced on her, and then snatching the door out in a panic, riding a horse out of the camp and going to the beach in Silvermoon Bay to relax, Then he was beaten up by some beautiful and dangerous female creature (Trist felt the need to emphasize, it was a sneak attack!). and returned to camp in embarrassment...... Triste's experience that night was colorful and thrilling (he was almost hacked to death by Echo).

Just as he was about to say something to refuse, Trist was hurriedly interrupted by the little girl in front of him: "Trist, I'...... We would all like to ask you to come with us to the training ground for training ......".

The tribe worships the strong, and in the seven days after coming out of the forest, Trist hunted with the warriors of Qinghu Village, winning their affirmation and the worship of the children of Qinghu Village, not to mention the subsequent fact that he saved the entire village alone. The children of the tribe began to train with their elders at a very young age, and when they were fourteen or fifteen years old, they began to participate in some low-risk hunting operations, and when they were sixteen or seventeen years old, when their skills gradually matured, they would gradually participate in the more difficult jungle and farther away from the village to participate in hunting, so as to train and organize and cooperate. The younger children who officially join the hunting party are basically part of the tribal warriors, and they will follow the veteran warriors to take on greater responsibilities, guarding the village, dealing with invaders, guarding the tribal caravan, participating in tribal conflicts, invading other tribes when the tribe is short of food, and so on......

According to the normal way of growth, these children of the Red Maple tribe should participate in training under the leadership of senior warriors, go to the forest near the village to do some low-difficulty hunting, and gradually grow into the pillars of the tribe. However, in the Battle of the Red Maple Grand Canyon and the Siege of Silver Moon Bay, more than 40,000 people of the Red Maple tribe directly lost more than 4,000 soldiers, more than 3,500 people were killed in battle, and more than 500 people were completely incapacitated due to disability...... To add insult to injury, after yesterday's council, the Red Maple Tribe was officially divided, and Elder Lake defected to the Guanghu Tribe with the clansmen who supported him and despaired of the future, and the remaining more than 1,000 warriors, more than 700 people left with their families to follow Elder Lake, and the Red Maple Tribe suddenly fell into a dilemma.