At this moment, Qingdeng's body, driven by "Godly Speed ​​+ 4", started to act consciously.

Turn sideways, step forward, and move in one go, smoothly and smoothly.

thump!

Something hit hard where Qingdeng was just standing.

After taking a closer look, it turned out to be a piece of wood as big as an adult's fist, with burning flames still attached to it.

Qingdeng looked up and saw that a piece of the ceiling diagonally above his head was missing.

Just now, there was a sneak attack on Qingdeng, and there were pieces of the ceiling.

Through the gap exposed by the collapse, the scene on the upper level can be seen - a red patch.

The light of the burning flames and the shadows of the tongues of fire formed a hellish scene. The heat wave carried sparks and thick smoke and penetrated through the gap in the ceiling, further increasing the temperature around Qingden.

Under the firelight, Qingdeng's face looked even more gloomy.

——The ceiling can no longer hold up...

There was a constant "squeaking" sound from the top of the head, and pieces of the ceiling began to fall... Every situation unfolding in front of Qingdeng pointed to the same fact: the time left for Qingdeng has already passed.

Not much more.

If he didn't try to escape from the cell quickly, he would be crushed to death by the collapsed ceiling before he was roasted or choked to death!

Qingdeng's searching gaze scanned every corner of the cell again.

--This is……?

Qingdeng's eyes were firmly fixed on the commode placed in the corner of the room.

The toilets provided by Kodenma-machi Lao Yashiki are just wooden buckets that can be seen everywhere in the market.

The outer hoop of the barrel has an iron ring used to tighten the barrel.

——Iron circle...

Qingdeng's eyes gradually became sharper.

——Give it a try!

Qingdeng rushed to the toilet in three steps at a time, pulled out the iron ring on the bucket, and cut it into two wires each 5 centimeters long.

Then, Qingdeng returned to the cell door and poked half of his head and his arms, each holding a wire, through the gap between the bars.

"call……"

Qingden let out a long breath.

As the remaining air in the lungs was expelled bit by bit, the anxious look that had been swaying in Qingden's eyes since just now quickly disappeared.

The moment he regained his composure, Qingdeng inserted the two wires in his hand into the keyhole of the door lock.

While reviewing in his mind the lock-picking skills and knowledge he has learned so far from Sasaki, he meticulously begins the lock-picking operation in a race against death and against time!

"Hey hey hey, who are you...?"

Kyoutaro Miyabe listened to Seito's advice, covered his mouth and nose with a cloth soaked in water, and lowered his body to the ground.

Looking at Seito who was trying to pick the lock, Kyoutarou Miyabe's eyes slowly opened wide, as if he had seen something strange.

——Tsk... Damn it, I can't see clearly...

For the first time in his life, Qingden hated his head for growing too big.

Even though he tried his best, he could still only squeeze half of his head out of the prison.

The obstruction of his vision made it completely impossible for him to see the internal structure of the copper lock. He could only touch and feel it with his fingers, and tried blindly bit by bit.

The whisper of sparks exploding came to my ears.

I feel the heat wave getting stronger and stronger behind me.

The tip of my nose smelled an increasingly choking stench and thick smoke.

Danger is imminent.

Adrenaline is pumping.

The heart was beating fast and hard, as if it would burst in the next second due to being unable to withstand the pressure.

It was obvious that his body was instinctively reacting violently, but Qingdeng's consciousness and spirit were exceptionally calm.

"Gathering God" is being activated... All he can see at this moment is the iron wire in his hand and the copper lock on the cell door.

The limited field of vision, the lack of easy access to tools... these factors made it difficult for Qingdeng to exert his own abilities, and the difficulty of opening locks skyrocketed.

Fail, fail, fail again, fail again...

But no matter how many times he failed, Qingdeng was never discouraged and never stopped... Correction, it should be said that Qingdeng no longer has the concept of "discourage".

If he doesn't open the cell door quickly, there will be only one way to die. Driven by this thought, Qingdeng, who has no way out, fights and fails again and again, but he fails again and again.

How long has passed? I don’t know. Qingdeng has lost his sense of time.

After trying for an unknown number of times, Qingden suddenly felt a strange vibration transmitted from the keyhole to his fingers.

Qingdeng's eyes suddenly condensed.

Without any need to think, Qingden immediately fiddled with the lock according to the feeling he just felt.

Katcha, kacha, kacha, kacha...

The sound of the wire moving in the keyhole became the only sound Qingdeng could hear clearly.

The vibration felt by the fingers became stronger and stronger.

Just when the intensity of this shaking feeling reached its peak—clang—the copper lock opened and fell to the ground.

Also falling to the ground was Qingdeng's body.

Almost at the same moment when he successfully pried open the copper lock, before Qingdeng could show his expression of joy, his feet took action first.

He jumped forward and pushed open the cell door which finally opened.

The unstoppable body and the copper lock fell to the ground in no particular order.

At this time, Qingdeng heard a loud "rumbling" sound behind him.

Dust and smoke billowed.

Countless sparks flew across the sky like fireflies.

Qingdeng turned around and looked back. It turned out that the ceiling of his cell had collapsed.

The ceiling, which was burning with raging fire, came down and turned into the floor of Qingdeng's cell in an instant.

If Qingdeng's speed in opening the lock had been even a little slower, he would have been crushed into a meat pie by now.

——What a critical moment...

Qingdeng let out a sigh of relief and grinned.

Successfully escaping from the cell - this is certainly worthy of joy, but now is not the time to celebrate.

He has just left the cell. He has not changed yet. He is still in the fire scene and in danger of losing his life if he is not careful.

"Kyoutaro Miyabe! Are you still alive?" Aoto climbed up and asked loudly in the direction of Kyoutaro Miyabe's cell.

At some unknown moment, a huge wooden beam fell between Aoto's cell and Kyotaro Miyabe's cell.

Collapsed wooden beams obstructed the view.

Qingdeng raised his eyes and saw waves of flames and thick smoke filling his field of vision.

"Is he dead..."

Qingden pursed his lips.

The person I had been chatting with today died in such an unexplained way... The changes in the world are really unpredictable.

Aoborimoto also thought about trying to rescue Kyotaro Miyabe.

Now it seems that this is no longer necessary.

"Where is the way out?"

Qingden tightened the wet cloth on his face and looked around, looking for a way out.

The raging fire and the burned-down ceilings and walls changed the surrounding terrain beyond recognition.

Qingdeng could only rely on the memory he had when he was escorted to prison, while exploring and moving forward.

——Heh... It would be a hell of a joke to have the squad leader transformed from a thief into a sea of ​​​​fire...

Qingden suddenly realized that he was an incredibly optimistic person.

At this time, I still have time to laugh at myself.

The predecessors of the Huo Fu Thief Kai were the "Huo Fu Kai", which specialized in catching arsonists, and the "Thief Kai", which specialized in catching thieves.

In order to integrate resources and other considerations, the shogunate merged the two teams - and the "Fire Pay Thieves Kai", which specialized in catching arsonists and thieves, was born.
To be continued...