Chapter 1 This is My Escape Route_1

Late at night, Silvertown, Rose Iron Prison.

A hundred meters outside the prison, in a small grove, a slender and pale hand suddenly burst through the rock and soil from underground.

"We've broken through! Hahaha, finally broken through, this old lady has escaped!" The pale-faced woman pushed her way out of the ground, utterly disregardful of the prison uniform that now clung to her, covered in dirt, "Aiden, you moron, you think you can keep this old lady locked up? This is the escape route I crafted, no way you're outsmarting me, Ophelia!"

The Vampire Prince Ophelia, one of the top criminals closely monitored by the Rose Iron Prison, had secretly dug for two whole years while her powers were sealed, and at last, today, she saw the sky again... oh no, the moonlight!

Aah, this is the full moon outside the prison, this is the air of freedom outside the prison...

Freed from the sealing barrier of Rose Iron Prison, the powers belonging to the kin of the night once again filled her entire being.

Ophelia stood under the night sky, took a deep breath with delight, spread her arms wide, and looked up as she let out a jubilant howl to the moon above: "Wryyyyyyyyy!!"

"Haven't even gotten far from your escape and you're making such a racket—are you afraid I won't be able to find you?" A lazy male voice came unexpectedly from behind her, "You jailbreakers get worse with each generation."

Ophelia shivered, her whole body jolting with fear, and she hurriedly turned around.

With a click, a blazing white flash stung Ophelia's eyes.

She instinctively closed her eyes for a moment, and when she reopened them, she saw a young man in a uniform kneeling on the ground, holding a camera pointed at her under the moonlight.

"You sure took your time coming out, I've been waiting for ages," the young man greeted her nonchalantly.

"You! You, you, you... Aiden!?" Ophelia cried out in panic.

"Call me the warden. It's been two years since I was transferred here from the Heresy Tribunal, and you still can't remember the rules?" The young man rose slowly, brushing the dust off his trousers.

"What are you doing here, you scoundrel!?"

"Of course, I came specifically to catch you and take you back; it's my job. Ophelia, you still have ninety-eight years on your sentence," Aiden replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"Why... how did you discover I had escaped?" Ophelia's eyes widened in disbelief.

Aiden chuckled, "Well, actually, we knew about your escape plan the moment you started digging this tunnel from beneath the toilet in your cell two years ago. We've been monitoring your progress ever since."

"That's impossible!!"

"Come on, use your brain a bit, will you? You're a vampire; you don't even need to use the restroom, yet you spent over two hours a day in the toilet stall. What else could you be doing but digging a tunnel? Did you think we wouldn't suspect anything?" Aiden shrugged, "Every day when you were out getting some air and tossing out the chipped-away rocks, we'd check your room to see how far you'd dug."

"Then why did you wait until now to capture me?" As the truth of her wasted two years came to light, Ophelia felt close to breaking down.

"First of all, it was, of course, to teach you a lesson. And second, for fun," Aiden revealed a mischievous smile and shook the camera he held in his hand at Ophelia, "Look at this, the grand Vampire Prince burrowing like a mole underground, then emerging covered in dirt—it's a sight to see!"

"Bastard, I'll kill you!" Ophelia, driven by a mix of embarrassment and fury, unleashed a formidable killing intent from her blood-red eyes.

"Oh? Your jailbreak has already been exposed and you still want to break through by force?" Aiden squinted slightly, "You haven't forgotten who it was that captured and threw you into this formidable Rose Iron Prison, have you?"

In an instant, the deep-rooted fear in Ophelia's memory was awakened. It was this man who had captured her all by himself and threw her into this terrifying place.

As she wavered, a large-caliber handgun quietly pressed against the back of Ophelia's head out of nowhere.

Only then did Ophelia realize someone was standing behind her; she turned her head slightly and saw a diminutive girl standing there, her slender left hand holding a disproportionately lethal firearm steady, and in her other hand, a curved knife. Her eyes were as still as still water, reflecting no hint of emotion.

"Aren't you... Tainted Avansa?"

Ophelia was taken aback, as she recognized the girl—"Tainted Avansa," prisoner number 3201, a top-tier criminal like herself marked with a red danger level, once the number one genius assassin in the underworld, now imprisoned for murder.

"What are you doing here? Why are you helping this man?" Ophelia felt somewhat confused.

"..."

Avansa did not speak. Instead, Aiden answered for her, "I picked some capable individuals among the prisoners and secured a degree of special pardon for them. In exchange, they work for me and help maintain order in this prison."

More shadowy figures appeared in the woods, and as Ophelia looked around, she suddenly felt a chill run down her spine—

The witch Daili, the Necromancer Asenna, including Avansa, a total of three female prisoners, all well-known red alert level dangerous criminals in the Rose Iron Prison.

"Damn it, why are you serving as lackeys for this man? Are you content with spending your lives in this prison?" Ophelia yelled, "If you have any shred of dignity left as powerhouses, then join forces with me to kill this man and regain our freedom!"

However, none of them responded. It was Aiden who finally spoke up, "Don't bother, each of them has willingly signed a demon contract with me. If anyone tries to escape, I can execute them with a flick of my finger. On the other hand, if they work for me, I can ensure they are treated well in prison."

Ophelia was dumbfounded.

"So, what's your choice, vampire? Will you go back to your cell quietly," Aiden stared at Ophelia and asked, "or are you preparing to fight us?"

"I, I..." Ophelia suddenly lost her composure.

Breaking out from the hands of three female prisoners whose strength rivaled her own, while also dealing with this man who had once utterly defeated her in her prime, was an extremely slim possibility.

But to submit to this man's tyranny would be like throwing her dignity as a vampire prince into a sewer. To give up the freedom within her grasp, to stoop to confinement in a human jail as a prisoner, how could she swallow such indignity?

Give me liberty or give me death! Damned humans, never underestimate the pride of a vampire prince!

After struggling internally, she lifted her face to meet Aiden's eyes, gathered her energy, and prepared to utter her resounding words—

"If you dare to strike, after we catch you this time I'll tie you to a cross, stuff your mouth full of garlic, and throw you into the sun to roast for a day," Aiden suddenly interjected.

"I just came out to enjoy the moon and was going to go back in, why do you have to threaten me like that!" Ophelia instantly changed her face, putting on a pitiful look.

Indeed, a forced breakout was too far-fetched, better to lay low and strategize for the long term. As long as the green mountains stand, there would be no lack of firewood—it wasn't because she was afraid...

Aiden stared at her for a while, then rolled his eyes and let out a sigh, lifting his hand to point at the hole she'd dug: "Get in there yourself, don't waste time."

"Oh..." Ophelia shrank her neck and moved slowly to the entrance of the hole, reluctantly beginning to crawl inside.

"Hurry up, or I'll start pouring Holy Water in there!" Aiden frowned and urged, making a gesture to Avansa.

Avansa nodded in understanding, raised her foot, and kicked Ophelia right in the buttocks, sending her tumbling into the hole.

After Ophelia disappeared into the hole, Aiden turned to Daili and instructed, "Fill in this tunnel and add a seal."

"As you command, Warden," the bewitchingly dressed witch in a wide-brimmed wizard's hat bowed elegantly, then began to cast a spell with her wand.

"Warden, that was the last prisoner attempting escape today," the intellectual-looking Necromancer pushed her glasses up on her nose and reported calmly to Aiden.

"Good, then let's do a final inspection of the cells and call it a night."

Aiden, in an orderly fashion, picked up the military cap that matched his uniform and placed it on his head, leading the female prisoners towards the direction of the prison.