Chapter 54: Chapter 54: Early Action_1
At six o’clock that evening, in the changing room.
"The drugs didn’t arrive?" Ophelia, who was preparing to take off her prison uniform in front of the locker, paused momentarily.
"Yeah. According to the plan, I should have gotten the next batch of drugs tonight," Meiruki, standing beside her, whispered, "But it seems like there’s been a complication now."
"What do you mean?" Ophelia didn’t understand.
"I had arranged for three addicts to smuggle the drugs in with their belongings, and I even bribed the guards along with it," Meiruki said, staring at her locker, "But during the yard time earlier, someone tipped me off that those three were taken away by the guards directly. I’m afraid... the goods have probably been intercepted."
"Didn’t you prepare a diversion?" Ophelia’s eyes widened in disbelief.
"Indeed, I didn’t expect that the warden would counterattack so quickly..." Meiruki’s expression turned grave, "I’ve been outmaneuvered."
The spread of drugs in the prison had alerted the warden, and it was impossible for him not to be vigilant.
She had deliberately arranged a series of diversions to disrupt the guard’s organization.
She didn’t only organize several prisoners to consume drugs that would raise their body temperature, creating the illusion of a collective outbreak, but also instructed twin assassins to attack Avansa, creating a sudden injury incident.
However, what she hadn’t expected was that Aiden not only saw through her tactics but also managed to urgently identify the batch of drugs despite being short-staffed.
"Aren’t you doomed then?" Ophelia’s expression tensed with worry, "If those few spill about you—"
She had already boarded Meiruki’s sinking ship; if Meiruki’s plan were exposed, she would undoubtedly be implicated as well.
But Meiruki calmly interrupted her, "Don’t worry, they won’t confess anytime soon. They’re also involved in the riot plan, which is much more serious than trafficking contraband drugs. Plus, they’ve signed a contract with me..."
"What contract?"
"It’s my unique secret method that can force them to keep their mouths shut about information relating to me."
By consuming the magic potion she had previously smuggled in, Meiruki could temporarily regain her magic power and cast spells.
She controlled secret methods that could lock away memories; in the past, she had always used this technique to manipulate the assassins she had trained, ensuring they could never reveal any information about her. This time, she used the same method to control the prisoners who had sought drugs from her.
"But even if they don’t out you, Aiden has been suspecting you for a while now," Ophelia realized the crux of the problem, "Now that he’s confirmed the existence of the drugs, you’ll definitely be under close surveillance."
"Ah, I suppose so," Meiruki agreed, "Which means we need to start taking action ahead of schedule."
"Get down to business, for real?" Ophelia’s gaze sharpened.
"If the supply line for the drugs is cut off, we don’t have time on our side anymore. If we can’t use the drugs to expand our manpower, waiting will only give the guards time to respond. It’s better to act sooner to catch them off-guard," Meiruki explained.
Meiruki then took off her prison uniform and stealthily handed an item to Ophelia.
Ophelia looked down and saw that it was a small vial containing a dark red liquid.
"This magic potion, made from the blood of several magical beasts, can cause a vampire’s magic power to surge in a short time," Meiruki whispered.
"When?" Ophelia confirmed the plan with her.
"Be prepared tonight. I’ll distribute the drugs to the others. You get the necromancer to feign a report to the warden, then lure him to the visiting room," Meiruki said quietly, "Then I’ll have someone create chaos in the infirmary. When the riot squad is concentrated there, we’ll break out from the cells."
"Didn’t you say before that you planned to break through from the infirmary?"
"No, all the people left at the infirmary are pawns. The real escape route is in the visiting room."
"You can’t be planning to..." Ophelia’s eyes widened slightly.
"Yes, we must gather all the powerhouses to ambush the warden. Only by doing so can we obtain the key to leave the prison," Meiruki narrowed her eyes.
11:30 PM, Warden’s office.
"You can’t figure it out?"
Facing his subordinate’s report, Aiden’s reaction was somewhat astonished.
"Yes, we’ve tried everything," Flandre answered with a grave expression, "They just refuse to talk."
"Are these guys so drugged up that they’ve fried their brains?" Aiden couldn’t help but sneer.
After Veronica had successfully identified drugs among the items brought into the prison, Aiden immediately started investigating starting with these items.
However, contrary to his expectations, the owners of these items, which had drugs concealed in them, were not the prisoner he had been suspecting, number 3340.
These goods had been brought in from the outside, intending to be delivered to three different female prisoners. Without exception, all three were drug addicts.
And according to Megan’s own confession, it was these three who had bribed her to let those items in.
The drugs that were brought in were also quite interesting.
The prison doctor, who was well-versed in pharmacology, found that after preliminary examination, the powders hidden in the items were actually more akin to raw materials for drugs. They would need to go through a series of processes and configurations before they could turn into consumable drugs.
Of course, what kind of drugs could be made would require further testing, but what was certain was that these substances were almost useless in the hands of those who had no knowledge of the field. They had to be in the hands of someone proficient in pharmacology, and none of the three female prisoners had such a background.
In other words, the "drug head" who had been spreading drugs in the prison hadn’t personally stepped in to bribe Megan for supplies this time. Instead, as bait, he used drugs to have his underlings do such tasks.
In their desperation to satisfy their own addictions, these underlings would not refuse the drug head’s demands. After obtaining the raw materials, only the drug head had the expertise to turn them into finished drugs. The person acting as the drug head had no need to worry about these things being hoarded by these petty figures.
Aiden found that his adversary had become unexpectedly cautious this time. Even though he had now rooted out the corrupt elements among the prison guards and caught the underling responsible for bringing in raw materials, he still couldn’t trace the drug head causing trouble in the prison.
Although he strongly suspected prisoner 3340 was the mastermind behind the scenes, he couldn’t move against her without sufficient evidence.
He relied on rules to manage the prison, and order was the foundation of his role as a manager. From his position as a manager, he could not afford to deliberately break the rules of the game.
He trusted Flandre’s interrogation methods as a veteran prison guard. If she couldn’t get results, it would probably be very difficult to pry anything out of their mouths in the short term.
Still, he found it incredibly hard to believe that a few minor characters addicted to drugs could maintain such high loyalty to their drug head who supplied them.
At that moment, a guard knocked on the door and entered the office, saluting Aiden.
"What’s the matter?" Aiden asked straight away.
"A prisoner says they have information regarding the movement of drugs within the prison and wishes to report it to you alone in the meeting room," the guard replied respectfully.
"Which prisoner?"
"Prisoner 3100."
Prisoner 3100 was the number for the Necromancer Asenna, who worked for Aiden.
"Asenna?" Aiden frowned, thought for a moment, and then nodded, "Alright, take her to the meeting room. I’ll be right there."
