Hearing the knock, Aiden quickly stood up, deftly retrieved the sealed wine bottle, put it away, and then glanced at Sophie—who had already replaced her existence with "Inmate 1562."
Confirming everything was in order, Aiden called towards the door: "Come in."
Veronica pushed the door open and stepped into the office. She paused slightly upon seeing Inmate 1562 sitting in the chair but quickly turned her attention to her superior.
"What is it?" Aiden asked Veronica.
"Sir, just now... some inmates got into a conflict on the exercise yard, almost came to blows."
"Didn't actually fight yet?"
"No, but the argument was very heated..."
"Just a verbal dispute? Isn't that common?"
If inmates actually fought, reporting it to him was indeed necessary. But ordinary verbal arguments usually just required criticism and education, which the guards on site could handle themselves.
Given the inmates in the Core Block, arguing occasionally wasn't strange.
"The key point is, there were four groups, a total of eleven inmates, who started arguing almost simultaneously in different parts of the yard. The personnel on duty could barely manage. I ended up rushing to the scene to stop them," Veronica continued reporting. "Could it be... someone deliberately arranged it?"
Aiden vaguely realized something and asked, "Did you ask them the reason for the disputes?"
"Well, it was all trivial matters, basically saying a couple of nasty things face-to-face, or ignoring someone while they were talking, things like that," Veronica shook her head. "It sounded... like excuses."
Aiden sighed. "Perhaps they really weren't excuses..."
"Huh?" Veronica didn't understand.
He had realized the reason for the sudden arguments—when he inscribed the "Lying is forbidden" rule just now, he hadn't changed the domain range set by the Codex Anomos.
Meaning, during the few minutes he was talking to Sophie Carter, the "Lying is forbidden" rule had also affected everyone else in the prison.
Many fragile relationships could quickly collapse without the buffer of superficial pleasantries. This was true for the inmates in the Core Block; disagreements could easily escalate to verbal and physical conflict.
Seems I need to be more careful about the potential peripheral effects when using the Codex Anomos in the future...
"Anyway, I understand the situation. It's fine," Aiden waved his hand. "Regarding this, please go inform Franda to transfer this inmate to a Core Block cell. Then come back here; I have something to discuss with you."
Veronica glanced again at the inmate in Aiden's office. Sophie offered her an elegant smile.
"Understood," ultimately, Veronica obeyed her superior's instructions without question.
Shortly after she left to convey the instructions, Franda sent someone to take Inmate 1562 away to handle the transfer procedures.
Then, Veronica returned to the office and tentatively asked Aiden, "Sir, was there something wrong with that inmate just now, or did she commit some offense?"
An inmate from the regular blocks being suddenly transferred to the Core Block usually meant one of two things. Either monitoring revealed the inmate possessed overlooked dangerous traits missed during intake, requiring Core Block containment; or their behavior in the regular block was excessively poor, necessitating being thrown into the Core Block to have their rough edges smoothed out.
"Both, I suppose. Firstly, she does possess special abilities. Secondly, she caused me some trouble," Aiden answered concisely. "Simply put, she has the ability to change her appearance into anyone else... and can ignore the effects of the wards."
"Such an ability exists?" Veronica was surprised, but she always believed Aiden implicitly, so she quickly accepted it. "Then... how should she be handled?"
"Put identification shackles on her, monitor her closely. Assign her cleaning duties within the Core Block for work detail. Otherwise, no leaving her cell without special circumstances! Leaving the cell requires my approval," Aiden instructed. "If the person wearing the identification shackles suddenly changes into someone else, restrain them immediately and notify me. That's it."
"Isn't this handling method..." Veronica asked hesitantly.
"Yes, the same level of treatment as 'Mad Hai Lo'," Aiden nodded. "If she protests, tell her 'this is the best way to ensure her safety.' Say those are my exact words. Her ability is temporarily classified; I'll inform those who need to know. You don't need to tell anyone else."
Veronica suddenly felt a pang of sympathy for this inmate. Most inmates could enjoy relative freedom during afternoon recreation and evening activity times. Staying constantly in a small single cell was actually only slightly better than solitary confinement.
In comparison, "Mad Hai Lo" might have it slightly better, as Hai Lo at least didn't have to work.
"Understood," Veronica saluted in response. Before leaving, she hesitated. "Sir..."
"What is it?"
"Perhaps I'm being nosy, but are you... encountering some trouble?" Veronica asked cautiously.
"Are you referring to that inmate just now? It's alright. Her ability requires attention, but it's not exactly trouble for now..." Aiden replied casually.
Sophie Carter claimed she didn't intend to harm him, nor cause trouble in prison—these were truths spoken under the Codex Anomos's influence. Aiden believed they could tentatively be trusted.
Although she entered prison by fabricating a crime, exposing her using the Codex Anomos wouldn't achieve much—the theft case was fake, but fabricating a case to fool law enforcement was still enough to land her in prison, and since the victim was herself, the sentence would likely be even shorter.
In that case, it was better to just let this woman stay in prison under his control.
The "Smiling Scales" intelligence organization didn't seem fake. For him, aiming to deal with Mr. Blood Robe while simultaneously breaking free from the goddess's control, it did hold certain utility value. Although their asking price was ridiculously high, as long as Sophie Carter was in prison, he had opportunities to extract intelligence directly from her—in fact, he already had an idea about this.
At least for now, Sophie Carter wasn't trouble for him, but rather a good source of intelligence. Before she became a hot potato, letting her stay in prison as she wished was fine.
Just then, Veronica shook her head. "I wasn't talking about that inmate. It's just... recently, I feel like you've been spending more time thinking... and sometimes your expression isn't great. Have you encountered something difficult to resolve?"
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