Chapter 37: Chapter 37 Ant Queen_1
As evening approached, the warden’s office.
"...So that’s essentially it. If you join the riot squad, you probably won’t be assigned to the factory work supervision post. You’ll mainly be bothered only during times for airing the prisoners and when they’re working," Aiden sat in the office, passing two documents to Veronica, "This one is the new set of internal management regulations I’ve introduced for the prison, and this one is the inmate treatment grade chart that I’ve also devised. Take it back and have a good look."
"Understood," Veronica saluted earnestly and then took the documents.
"By the way, are you able to work the night shift?" Aiden asked seriously.
"Yes, in fact, I’m actually more accustomed to working nights," Veronica replied with a smile.
Werewolves possess some of the physiological traits of nocturnal animals, with excellent night vision, but less tolerance to bright light than ordinary people, more spirited at night, fond of moonlight, not of harsh sunlight. During her time with the mounted police, she often worked nights.
"That’s great!" Aiden clapped his hands happily, "Actually, the night shift is a lot more relaxed than the day shift, but we’re still short-handed. Many of the guards are unwilling to take the night shift, especially those with families."
He picked up the duty schedule and looked at it: "So, starting the day after tomorrow, you’ll be on duty starting at five in the afternoon, is that okay?"
"No problem."
"Since you reported this morning, you can clock out when it’s time now. You’ve worked hard today."
"It’s I who have made you work hard," Veronica said with a smile.
Aiden nodded, looked at Veronica, but noticed she didn’t seem to intend to leave the office.
"What’s the matter? Is there something else?" Aiden took the initiative to ask.
"It’s just..." Veronica hesitated, "Actually, I’m a bit concerned about that prisoner 3201, The Filthblood Reaper."
"Oh, no wonder you seemed a bit distracted this afternoon. Alright, go ahead and ask whatever it is you want to," Aiden said, sitting up straight.
"What exactly is the situation with that child? How old is she really?" Veronica asked earnestly, staring into Aiden’s eyes.
"I don’t know... Don’t look at me like that; no one really knows. Even she herself can’t report her own age, but based on the interrogation and examination results at the time of her capture, she was probably not older than twelve years of age."
"So, you’re saying she’s not even fourteen yet?" Veronica widened her eyes.
She had suspected that Avansa might be several years older than she appeared; after all, the notion that the kingpin of assassins active in the underworld was just over ten years old was too incredible to believe.
"That’s right, which is why she can’t be sentenced to death. Otherwise, with The Filthblood Reaper’s murder record, who knows how many times she could be sentenced to death."
"How did she end up like this?" Veronica frowned, "I remember you saying before... she was raised from birth by a killer organization. Can just training achieve that level?"
She had heard of The Filthblood Reaper’s notoriety, the legend that could freely change her shape and appearance, possessing master-level hand-to-hand combat skills and monstrous strength able to easily break an adult’s neck, proficient in nearly all lethal weapons including firearms, blades, whips, ropes, sticks, and explosives.
Even more terrifying was the rumour that her blood carried a deadly poison, a mere drop on a weapon and a shallow cut enough to kill.
Veronica couldn’t imagine what kind of training could bring a child to such a level in just a few years.
"Yes, she was cultivated as a tool by a killer organization. But what she went through wasn’t just training; there were also many extremely inhumane experiments," Aiden said with an expressionless face.
"What kind of experiment?"
"Unfortunately, I cannot tell you the details, but the Heretic Inquisition does have some intelligence, all of which is confidential. Basically, it involves ingesting and injecting alchemical magic potions, as well as signing demonic pacts. Her brute strength, shapeshifting ability, and the toxic nature of her blood all stem from these. But the price she paid was steep."
"The price..." Veronica faltered.
Aiden was silent for a while before he spoke, "Her sense of taste is impaired and she has completely lost her sense of pain. She has memory disorders towards certain specific things, and her lifespan... According to the doctor’s examination, even with continuous blood purification treatment, her remaining lifespan won’t exceed twenty years, unless there’s a new breakthrough in medical science in the future."
Upon hearing this, Veronica gasped in shock, "What kind of organization could be so cruel?"
Meanwhile, in the prison’s small yard, the core area inmates were allowed into the yard in batches after dinner to breathe fresh air and wait for their baths.
Avansa was among them, and, as usual, she returned to the same spot she had been in that afternoon and squatted down to search for traces of ants—she’d recently discovered an ant nest nearby.
She quickly found a line of ants, and there was an unexpected find—at the end of the ant column, there was a butterfly with damaged wings, covered by a dense swarm of ants.
The butterfly seemed to be alive, but it was close to death. It was powerless to struggle or fight against the biting of the ants, with only its damaged wings occasionally opening and closing slowly.
As Avansa watched with interest, someone from behind spoke to her, "Are you observing the ants?"
Turning her head, Avansa saw a tall female prisoner bending over with a smile, looking at her—she was a new face, apparently a recent arrival.
"Hmm..." Avansa hummed a response and then turned her face back.
This inmate’s initiation of conversation surprised her slightly—there were hardly any inmates in this prison who would talk to her like this.
However, she wasn’t concerned with the thoughts of others.
But the woman didn’t shrink back from her coolness, and continued to make idle talk, "Ants may be small, but they are top killers among insects. Nearly all insects have no chance once covered by a group of ants."
Avansa ignored her, but the woman went on, "I heard that all the ants in an anthill are the children of the same queen ant, but to the queen ant, these children are just her tools."
The woman paused, then with a reminiscent tone, she said, "You still like this as before, Vannie."
Vannie...
Hearing this name, Avansa turned around abruptly, staring directly at the woman.
In her memory, there was only one person who called her by that nickname.
With a loving smile on her face, the woman squinted at Avansa and said, "It’s been two years, and you’ve grown a bit."
As if the disconnected parts of her memory were forcibly reconnected, Avansa felt impressions deep in her mind gradually surfacing, merging with the initially unfamiliar face and voice of the woman in front of her.
She suddenly remembered!
"Mom?" she stared blankly at the person in front of her.
