Chapter 277: Chapter 277 The insatiable criminal_1
A week later, Rose Iron Prison, Warden’s office.
"...The inmates from Cell Block Four request that the library subscribes to magazines like ’Fashion Lady’ and ’Women’s Guild.’" Flandre stood in the office, reading out the requests submitted by the inmates from the core area, to Aiden who was busy at work.
"Denied, the library already subscribes to enough of that sort of magazine. And what’s the point of a bunch of guys who can only wear prison garb looking at so many fashion magazines?" Aiden said without looking up.
"The inmates from Cell Block Five request the addition of croquet equipment on the playground..."
"Denied," Aiden frowned, "They want to play with mallets on the playground? These brainless fellows should really go back to education class."
"Katherine and Anna from Cell Block Six request the purchase of dumbbells, claiming it’s just for exercise..."
"Asking to buy dangerous equipment during their probation period is quite audacious, punish them by having them weed the greenhouse tonight," Aiden replied with a sneer.
"Camilla from Cell Block Nine requests to buy a punching bag to hang in her room, she says it’s been too long since she hit someone, and she needs to vent..."
"Let her hold it in," Aiden sighed.
"Cell Block Eleven, Avansa requests to buy the complete comic series of ’Navy King.’"
"How does she know about that comic?" Aiden asked, surprised as he raised his face.
"Perhaps she saw it in the new magazines in the library," Flandre guessed, "Didn’t you add a collection of comic magazines?"
"Those kinds of comic books are okay, I suppose, approved," Aiden considered it briefly, then nodded in agreement.
"Cell Block Thirteen, Succubus Phyllis states... um..." Flandre hesitated for a moment.
"What’s that girl trying to pull this time?" Aiden frowned.
"She wants to have the vibration crystals removed from the list of contraband and also hopes to distribute one to every cell in the prison, claiming they can effectively soothe the inmates’ stress..."
"Denied," Aiden replied bluntly.
"Should we warn her?"
"Forget it, don’t waste energy on things that are useless," Aiden shook his head, "Just punish her by making her clean the corridors."
...
Three minutes passed, and Flandre finally finished reading all the inmates’ request forms. Meanwhile, Aiden had reviewed all his paperwork, he leaned back in his chair, head tilted back.
"Feels like the inmates’ requests have actually increased," Aiden commented.
Indeed, as the conditions in the prison noticeably improved, the requests from the inmates to the prison administration were not decreasing but increasing.
"Yes," Flandre agreed, "Not surprising, if these people really knew the concept of contentment, they probably wouldn’t have ended up in a place like this."
"A bunch of insatiable birds, seems we’re really feeding them too well," Aiden said, shaking his head pensively, "Anyway, at least the discipline has definitely improved."
"Warden, now isn’t the time to worry about such trivial matters," Flandre said seriously. "That new prisoner transferred from the Empire is arriving tomorrow."
"Indeed," Aiden nodded with a solemn expression.
"Do we really not need to strengthen the prison’s defense measures?" Flandre asked. "After all, our funds are quite abundant at the moment."
Flandre was also well aware of the situation with Annie Drake; after all, much of the data Aiden saw was collected and organized by her.
Having learned of the legendary case in which the Red Shark Pirates broke someone out of the Empire’s capital prison, she couldn’t help worrying about the possibility of this prisoner being abducted from Rose Iron Prison in the future.
But Aiden shook his head: "No need, we have already renovated everything that needed renovation. No matter how many measures we add, it will be futile. Even if we work around the clock, it’s impossible to upgrade the prison to the level of the capital’s prison."
Merely increasing security measures was meaningless, for the power of "authority" took effect against "concepts." Any measure that fell under the purview of authority’s influence could be easily undone by that very authority.
If the Red Shark Pirates were to inscribe in the Wordless Code a rule stating "No constraint on personal freedom," no matter how many measures were added, they would all end up being mere decorations in the end.
"Ah, it’s troubling... What method did they use to break out of prison, anyway?" Flandre fretted.
Aiden knew, but he chose not to say, as there was no point in doing so.
The unique authority as a tool had many limitations, but in terms of the level of power, it seemed to be higher than that of a saint and second only to the master of the corresponding authority.
In other words, if Aiden were to use a divine word whose effect conflicted with a rule on the Wordless Code, The Codex would directly suppress his divine word.
"Looking at the capital prison’s case, at least their jailbreak operation didn’t cause any casualties," Aiden shrugged. "And with the capital prison’s case as a precedent, even if the same issue occurs, the Prison Administration Bureau probably won’t be too harsh on us, I guess."
Melissa had told him that rules directly written on the Wordless Code also had limiting effects on the writer. If the Red Shark Pirates used The Codex to demand that prison guards cannot attack them, then the pirates also couldn’t harm the guards within the domain where the rule was effective.
That was likely the fundamental reason why there were no casualties in such a large-scale jailbreak four years ago.
"Warden, you are already assuming the prisoners will be taken," Flandre looked at Aiden with a sense of helplessness. "If something goes wrong, it’s impossible for us to truly have no problems at all. Moreover, I saw that the pirate group also abducted many other prisoners at the time."
"It is indeed troublesome," Aiden sighed against the back of his chair. "But with no clue right now, there’s no use worrying here. Let’s just wait until the prisoner arrives tomorrow."
"Alright, then I’ll go back to my post," Flandre saluted and left the office.
Aiden picked up his teacup and took a sip of black tea. His immediate work was at a pause, and usually, at such times, he would take a short break by reading the newspaper, but right now, he was not in the mood for that.
Being targeted by the Red Shark Pirates for a jailbreak was indeed a big problem. As the highest authority of Rose Iron Prison, his most important duty was to guard the prisoners here. If someone intended to take a prisoner away, he naturally had to do his utmost to prevent it.
And indeed, he also desired the Wordless Code.
The man known as Mr. Bloodcloth wasn’t just a saint of the "hatred" authority; he also possessed the unique authority of "hatred." Merely becoming a saint of the "order" authority was probably not enough to confront him head-on.
He could only work on devising a strategy before the deadline arrived.
However, before that, he first had to see tomorrow what kind of prisoner Annie Drake really was.
