Ant Queen
In the evening, the warden office.
"...Anyway, it's roughly like this. If you go to the riot squad, they probably won't assign you to the factory's surveillance post. They'll only trouble you during free time and when the prisoners are on working"
Aiden sat in the office and handed two documents to Veronica.
"This one is the new set of internal prison management regulations I've introduced, and this one is the chart of prisoner treatment levels, also formulated by me. Take a closer look when you get back."
"Understood," Veronica saluted earnestly and took the documents.
"By the way, can you do night shifts?" Aiden asked seriously.
"Yes, in fact, I'm quite used to working the night shift," Veronica smiled.
Werewolves have some physiological characteristics of nocturnal animals. They have excellent night vision but are more sensitive to strong light than regular humans.
They are more alert at night, enjoy moonlight, and dislike intense sunlight. When she was in the mounted police force, she often worked the night shift.
"That's great!" Aiden clapped his hands happily. "Actually, the night shift is much quieter than the day shift, but we're still a bit short-staffed. Many guards are unwilling to do night shifts, especially those with families."
He picked up the duty watch and looked at it. "So, starting the day after tomorrow, you'll come on duty at five in the afternoon, alright?"
"No problem."
"Then today, you officially reported in the morning. You can check out at the designated time. Thank you for your hard work today."
"It's me who should thank you," Veronica smiled.
Aiden nodded and looked at Veronica, but he noticed that she didn't seem to have any intention of leaving the office.
"What's wrong? Is there anything else?" Aiden took the initiative to ask.
"Well..." Veronica hesitated, "I'm actually a bit curious about that prisoner, 3201, the Tainted Blood Reaper."
"Oh, no wonder you seemed a bit distracted this afternoon. Alright, if you have any questions, feel free to ask," Aiden straightened up.
"What's the deal with that kid? How old is she exactly?" Veronica asked, staring earnestly into Aiden's eyes.
"I don't know... don't look at me like that, it's true that nobody knows. She couldn't even provide her own age during the interrogation and examination when she was arrested. But based on the results, she was probably not more than twelve years old at the time."
"So, you mean, she hasn't even reached fourteen yet!?" Veronica widened her eyes.
Initially, she had suspected that Evangeline might be a few years older than she looked. After all, the active underworld assassin queen was a child not even in her early teens, which was hard to believe.
"Yes, that's why she couldn't be sentenced to death. Otherwise, with Tainted Blood Reaper's record of killings, who knows how many times she would have been sentenced to death," Aiden explained.
"How did she end up like this?" Veronica frowned. "I remember you mentioning before... that she was raised by the assassin organization from birth. Can training alone lead to that level of skill?"
Veronica had heard of the fearsome reputation of the Tainted Blood Reaper. It was said that she could freely alter her appearance, possessed master-level hand-to-hand combat skills, and had monstrous strength capable of effortlessly snapping an adult's neck. She was proficient in nearly all lethal weapons, including firearms, blades, whips, ropes, clubs, concealed weapons, and explosives.
What Even more terrifying was the rumor that her blood carried a deadly poison, a mere shallow cut with a weapon coated in it could be fatal.
Veronica couldn't fathom what kind of training could make a child reach such a level in just a few years.
"Yes, she was groomed by the assassin organization as a tool. But what she went through wasn't just training, it also involved many extremely inhumane experiments," Aiden stated expressionlessly.
"What kind of experiments?" Veronica inquired.
"I'm sorry, but I can't give you the details. The Inquisition Bureau does have some information, but it's all classified. Basically, it involved ingesting and injecting alchemical elixirs, as well as making demonic pacts. Her monstrous strength, shape-shifting ability, and toxic blood were all acquired this way. But the cost was substantial."
"The cost..." Veronica was taken aback.
Aiden remained silent for a moment before speaking again. "Her sense of taste is impaired, she doesn't have any sense of pain, she has memory impairments for certain things, and her lifespan... according to the doctor's examination, even if she continues to receive blood purification treatment, her remaining lifespan won't exceed twenty years, unless there are new breakthroughs in medicine in the future."
Veronica gasped, "What kind of organization could be so cruel?"
Meanwhile, in the prison's small courtyard, after dinner, the core area prisoners were brought out in batches to breathe fresh air and await their turn for showers.
Evangeline was among them. As usual, she returned to the same spot she had spent the afternoon, crouching down to search for traces of ants. She had recently discovered what seemed to be an ant nest nearby.
She quickly found a row of ants, and to her surprise, there was an unexpected find at the end of the ant line - a butterfly with damaged wings, covered by a densely packed swarm of ants.
The butterfly still appeared to be alive, but its time was running out. It no longer had the strength to struggle or resist the bites of the ants, its damaged wings occasionally fluttering weakly.
Just as Evangeline was engrossed in this sight, someone approached her from behind and spoke, "Are you observing the ants?"
Evangeline turned around to see a tall female inmate, bending over and smiling at her - a new face, someone who seemed to have recently arrived in the prison.
"Hmm..." Evangeline responded then turn her face back.
The fact that this inmate initiated a conversation with her was a bit surprising. In this prison, very few inmates would approach her like this.
However, she didn't really pay much attention to others.
But the female inmate didn't back down due to her coldness and continued to chat with her, "Ants, though small, are the top killers among insects. Almost any other insect that ends up with a swarm of ants on them is facing certain death."
Evangeline didn't respond, but the female inmate carried on, "I've heard that all the ants in a colony are the children born to a single ant queen. But for the queen, these children are nothing more than tools."
The female inmate paused for a moment, speaking with a nostalgic tone, "You still like this, Vanee."
Vanee...
Upon hearing this name, Evangeline snapped her head around as if shocked, staring directly at the female inmate.
In her memory, there was only one person who called her by that nickname.
The female inmate wore a loving smile on her face, squinting her eyes as she said to Evangeline, "It's been two years since we last met, you've grown a bit."
As if a part of her memory that had been forcibly disconnected was now being reconnected, something began to surface in the depths of Evangeline mind, aligning the initially unfamiliar face and voice before her.
She suddenly remembered!
"Mom?" She stared blankly at the person in front of her.