Chapter 81: The Cards in Hand_1

Chapter 81: Chapter 81: The Cards in Hand_1

"So, you’ve come to seek my wisdom again?" Melifilia said while playing her cards.

"Is that not allowed?" Aiden countered.

"Of course, it’s allowed. To win a game like this, you have to use every card in your hand. I quite like your audacity in using even the gods to your advantage," Melifilia said with a narrowing smile.

Although Aiden hadn’t responded to Carmilla’s proposed deal just then, he had actually been considering making a move against that underworld figure for a while.

He didn’t really care about any gang struggles, Carmilla was put in prison for eight years by her rivals, and that was her own business, but Slyne becoming an undead and entering Rose Iron Prison was a different matter.

Slyne’s son was killed, and then she chose to become undead and deliberately entered Rose Iron Prison to seek vengeance on Carmilla, causing him and the other prison guards no end of trouble.

If Slyne’s quest for revenge was in fact orchestrated by Carlo Bollpo to swindle the compensation money she held, then he was to blame for their current hardships.

In other words, this gang officer was causing them trouble.

Carmilla was vengeful by nature; she said she would kill Carlo once she got out of prison, and she meant it.

Although Aiden hadn’t said so at the time, he wasn’t the type to swallow his pride either.

Just as he once told Jaron Lorton, who had framed Veronica for jail, he was the vengeful type. Whenever someone crossed him, he’d make sure to return the favor.

Now that someone was messing with his prison, he would certainly return the favor doubly.

Moreover, Carlo Bollpo, in his experience dealing with numerous criminals, was also scum of the worst kind, and there was no need to be lenient with such trash.

Having said that, Aiden was quite objective about himself.

In this world, he wasn’t some high and mighty sovereign or a legendary powerhouse that could destroy sky and earth; he was just a prison warden managing a jail.

If he were to release some of his red-level alert criminals, it wouldn’t just be an underworld figure they could kill, they could probably crush a whole gang with ease.

But he definitely couldn’t do that, because if he did, he would be the one ending up in prison next.

In both the underworld and the legitimate world, battles have to follow certain rules. If a gang officer could be taken down so easily, the mounted police would have eradicated the gangs in the old city district already.

"The cards in my hand are, after all, limited," Aiden continued to play, "It’s not my home turf outside the prison, and if I rashly venture into their territory, I might not even know how I die."

He was very clear that inside the prison he managed, he was in a strong position, because it was filled with resources he could utilize, which Meiruki had underestimated, landing her in his grasp.

But outside the prison, it was a different story.

To take the initiative against a gang officer, the battlefield would likely have to move to the enemy’s turf.

One had to realize that gangs were also extremely adept at defending their home ground. In their own territory, their power was everywhere.

To turn this disadvantage around, the only thing he could think of was to make use of the plotting of Melifilia, the goddess of conspiracy.

"I’d advise you not to underestimate the resources at your disposal..." Melifilia said as she drew a card from the deck using her psychokinetic powers, reminding Aiden, "Look, don’t you have someone in your hand right now who could easily shake up the underworld outside?"

"A big shot?" Aiden played a card, his subconscious beginning to search his memory.

He couldn’t think of anyone at the moment. Surely, there were plenty of prisoners in his jail with underworld backgrounds, but they were either insignificant characters or former high-fliers who had long since fallen from grace.

In the men’s prison, there might still be a few big shots whose influence persisted despite being behind bars, but compared to that, the female prison he managed had fewer such inmates.

"Do you need to think so hard? It’s that female prisoner who recently stirred up trouble in your jail, the one you just tamed. I remember her name is..." Seeing that Aiden was drawing a blank, Melifilia simply pointed it out, "Meiruki Slave, right, that’s the name."

At the mention of this, Aiden instantly became alert, "How do you know about Meiruki Slave?"

He had never discussed Meiruki Slave’s prison riot plot with Melifilia—after all, she was one of the prisoners he had to be wary of. Aiden would only provide her with necessary information when he needed to use her.

Of course, he wouldn’t disclose prison intelligence unnecessarily.

The name Meiruki Slave had never even been mentioned in front of Melifilia.

"Don’t underestimate the insight of a deity," Melifilia said with a smile as she played a card, not directly answering Aiden’s question.

Aiden stared at Melifilia, realizing she seemed to have the ability to gather external information.

First, the possibility of others having contact with Melifilia could be ruled out; the impenetrable cell was nearly unbreakable, let alone someone sneaking information under his watch without a trace.

So either Melifilia still retained the power to probe the outside world, or...

Melifilia could read information directly from him.

Either option was something he couldn’t guard against, but it definitely warranted extra caution.

For now, all he could do was follow Melifilia’s lead and ask, "Meiruki Slave isn’t a gangster; she just has close ties with the underworld. She’s only in the business of killing—what can she do?"

To deal with Carlo, the first thing Aiden thought of was to collect evidence of his crimes and hand them over to the cavalry police to deal with him; he couldn’t see how Meiruki Slave could play a role in this process.

"That’s more than enough. A killer who can easily take the lives of big shots is enough to create mistrust within an organization," Melifilia stated calmly, "To destroy a person, you don’t necessarily need the help of their enemies; it could be... their companions!"

Aiden suddenly had a moment of realization. His mind worked quickly, and he immediately grasped the meaning of Melifilia’s words.

But he quickly spotted a problem: "If that’s the case, we’ll have to rely on Avansa’s power again, but it’s not quite right to ask her to do such a thing. And now, her abilities have already..."

"No, you don’t need that girl; you just need her reputation. Besides, didn’t you gain her powers?" Melifilia countered.

"How do you even know about that?" Aiden’s hand paused as he played his card.

"Because I’ve always been paying attention to you," Melifilia said with a meaningful smile, then played her penultimate card, "Alright, UNO!"