Everything Was Ready

"Tonight… I'm supposed to stay here?"

Bruce looked a bit bewildered as he gazed at the small room before him.

After being led to the Rose Prison by Aiden, he was assigned this room and told to "make do for the tonight".

The single room seemed a bit narrow, but overall, it was relatively clean. There was a single bed fixed against the wall, a cabinet, and a small partitioned toilet. The setup didn't seem much different from the dormitories in a police station.

The notable distinctions were the iron bars on the door, which could only be opened from the outside, and even the windows were sealed off with iron bars.

This was essentially a single-person prison cell.

"Any problems?" Aiden asked, well aware of what he was doing.

"This is… a prison cell, isn't it?"

"Don't overthink it. It's just for one night. Compared to the rest area for prison guards, this cell has a more complete setup." Aiden patted Bruce's back with a smile, then added with a hidden meaning, "And… you'll end up in one sooner or later. It's not a bad idea to get used to it now."

"But…," Bruce still couldn't quite get past the mental hurdle.

"How about I go outside and book a hotel for you? It's really not a big deal…," Aiden gestured in the direction outside, "but I'm not sure if I'll even see you in one piece the next day."

"I'll stay here," Bruce nodded decisively.

he had a vague feeling that someone was secretly following him and Aiden All the way here. There were even a few times he catch glimpse of a mysterious figure quickly disappearing into an alleyway or around a corner when he turned around.

That assassin might have been keeping an eye on him, and for all he knew, the moment he stepped out of the prison, someone might shoot him in the head from the shadows.

In comparison, the prison was actually the safest place.

"This entire area consists of empty cells. You can rest assured, if you need anything, just let the guards know," Aiden said in a seemingly "friendly" manner as he locked Bruce in the cell, then quickly left the cell block and returned to his office.

"Have everything been destroyed?" he immediately asked Evangeline, who was waiting inside the office.

"The clothes have been burned and then buried," Evangeline, now back in prison attire, nodded.

Bruce didn't feel overly paranoid about being followed along the way. In fact, Evangeline had indeed been trailing behind them, following them back to the prison.

"Good job, thank you for your hard work. Go back to your room now," Aiden nodded, then called a night shift guard to escort Evangeline back.

Next, he promptly searched through the filing cabinet in his office, extracting a few prisoner files to peruse. And noted down their identification numbers.

He then summoned a night shift guard. "Bring these three prisoners here. I have some questions for them."

Several minutes later, the three summoned prisoners were gathered in his office, standing in an orderly row.

These three prisoners were all ordinary offenders from outside the core area, ranging in age. Each of them looked tense, evidently worried that being called out by the warden might mean receiving a punishment or a notice of transfer.

"You don't need to be afraid. I've actually called you out today for something good. I have an opportunity for you to earn merits," Aiden said with a calm smile towards them.

"The three of you were imprisoned for illegal transactions or possession related to gold. Recently, the prosecutor's office has been investigating a stolen item and they want our assistance.

It's a rose gold pocket watch, sold on the black market on the afternoon of March 27th.

It was received by a small shop in the Lower district Grayfinger Alley called 'Golden Disk'.

We don't know where it's ended up now. Do any of you have connections to retrieve it? If not, that's fine too. If any of you have connections who can get the people from that shop to testify, that works as well."

He finished looking at the three prisoners back and forth. "If we manage to successfully recover it, I can upgrade that person treatment level by one and even try for a reduction in their sentence."

The faces of the three prisoners visibly softened. Aiden's offer was quite generous.

However, after a few seconds, none of them raised their hand.

Aiden gazed at them for a while, then let out a sigh. "Is that so? No leads, huh? Well then…"

He knew that he couldn't always find someone with relevant connections in his prison. After all, the types of criminals in the women's prison were not as diverse as those in the men's prison.

But at this moment, the oldest among the prisoners, an elderly woman, spoke up. "Warden, I'd like to ask first, if the stolen item is found, will the buyer be held accountable?"

Aiden was momentarily taken aback, then quickly realized that this person might have potential. He immediately responded, "As long as you actively assist in the investigation, there won't be any accountability."

"In that case, perhaps… I have a connection," the old woman spoke slowly. "My son is currently involved in some of the gold business in Grayfinger Alley, and 'Golden Disk' is actually one of the shops we handle… If it's a well-crafted rose gold pocket watch, we usually wouldn't casually melt it down. It might still be in his possession. If needed, I can have him find someone to testify."

Aiden realized that similar stolen items received by many black market shops sometimes ended up in the hands of a few powerful operators who controlled more channels.

He picked up the file of the elderly woman and examined it carefully, then suddenly nodded in realization. "So that's how it is. You took on all the charges yourself in the past, allowing your son to continue with the black market business… No wonder you receive so much monthly allowance."

"Warden, this won't really affect my son, will it?" the old woman still appeared somewhat worried.

"As long as he cooperates in the investigation voluntarily, there won't be a problem. However, he might need to proactively and without compensation hand over the stolen item."

"That's not an issue. I'll make it clear in my letter to him. Warden, if the treatment level is raised, can the number of visitation sessions also be increased?" the old woman asked cautiously.

"Of course," Aiden gave an affirmative response.

"Then I will cooperate, I will definitely cooperate!" the old woman nodded repeatedly.

For these incarcerated individuals, treatment and rights were more substantial than money.

Treatment level not only determined the quality of a prisoner's life in the prison but also decided how many times they could receive visits from family and friends in a week.

Furthermore, those with higher treatment levels could even apply for temporary leaves for family visits. As the warden, Aiden held control over these resources, that are more valuable than money.

Now that the issue of evidence was beginning to make progress, all that remained to prepare was a retrial application written by Veronica.

Everything was ready. It was time to take that final step towards completely defeating the opponent.

Aiden opened the door and instructed the guard on-duty outside.

"Notify the core area to bring in prisoner 3308 from Cell 13,"