The primary principle of the prison was maintaining its secrecy, which made the process of receiving inmates particularly unique.
The prison would first send coordinates in advance, and upon receiving them, headquarters would use wormhole jumps to deliver the prisoner transport ship to the designated location within five minutes.
If no prisoner arrived within that window, the prison would assume an exposure risk and immediately depart.
This meant even headquarters only received the coordinates five minutes beforehand—no one except the warden had advance notice.
As a result, the cost of transporting prisoners was exorbitant, but every criminal in this spaceborne prison was worth it.
Before boarding the transport ship, prisoners were subjected to multiple layers of security, strictly controlled by headquarters.
Even if someone managed to infiltrate, the limited capacity of the transport ship and the prison’s firepower would eliminate any intruders instantly.
As for external reinforcements—five minutes wasn’t enough time to deploy anything.
At this moment, Shen Ying watched as the docking bay absorbed two prisoner transport ships.
The ship doors opened, and robotic guards boarded first to conduct inspections, eliminating risks before unlocking the prison’s entry gate.
Then, the human guards pushed out the criminals, each restrained in floating space chairs—though the chairs themselves hovered effortlessly.
The guards only needed to guide them.
Shen Ying stood there in her warden’s uniform. In the original story, the female lead had just taken over this high-ranking position on the same day they were receiving such high-profile criminals.
She would have been tense, lacking confidence but forcing herself to appear authoritative—standing rigidly, not daring to relax for even a second.
But Shen Ying felt no sense of responsibility or pressure. Though her posture was correct, she exuded an air of laziness.
Her secretary couldn’t help glancing at her several times—was this young warden really so composed?
Given the identities of today’s two criminals and the trouble they represented, even the old warden would’ve had a headache.
The floating chair on the left reached Shen Ying first.
A guard injected the prisoner with a stimulant, and the man awoke from sedation.
Unlike most people, who would be disoriented upon regaining consciousness, his eyes snapped open instantly—sharp and alert, as if he’d never been unconscious at all, merely biding his time.
His hair was slightly long, black and wavy, catching the indoor light with a faint sheen like polished ebony.
His skin was unnaturally pale, as if he’d never seen sunlight, yet it didn’t look sickly—more like cold, flawless jade.
And then there were his eyes—bright jade green, the color of the finest imperial-grade emeralds.
Despite his delicate, almost ethereal beauty, his presence was overwhelmingly violent. The moment he opened his eyes, a suffocating aura of bloodlust spread like a tangible force.
The nearest guard paled, breaking into a cold sweat.
The secretary couldn’t help muttering, "As expected of the most notorious pirate in the universe. Even with a suppressor, his psychic presence is this overwhelming."
Shen Ying took the file handed to her and read aloud, "Lien, captain of the White Stone Pirates, 3S-class wanted criminal galaxy-wide, bounty: 2 billion."
She whistled. "At this rate, my salary would take centuries to match that."
The secretary added, "That’s just the official bounty. The black market offers even higher."
A voice cut in, "The black market’s stingy too—just a few times more."
"Only a hundred billion? Who do they take me for? If they’d offered more, I’d have tied myself up and pulled a scam."
Shen Ying turned toward the voice. The metal suppressor on Lien’s mouth had been removed, revealing his full face—a sharp nose, a defined jawline, and lips so pale they almost blended into his cold complexion.
His eyes gleamed with amusement as he studied her.
Shen Ying said, "I didn’t order the restraints removed."
Lien scoffed. "You think this junk could hold me?"
"Though I didn’t expect my welcoming committee to be such a delicate little warden."
"Did you go this far just to make my prison experience pleasant?"
The secretary frowned, glancing at Shen Ying’s unthreatening appearance, and opened his mouth to reprimand him—
But Shen Ying just smiled. "Prison experience? So the White Stone captain doesn’t plan on staying long."
"That doesn’t match your sentence. Let’s see—" She flipped through the file. "It says here you’re in for ten thousand years."
Lien grinned. "When you’ve stolen enough, numbers under a billion stop meaning anything. What’s the difference between ten thousand years and a day?"
Shen Ying chuckled. "The first of over two hundred major charges listed is hijacking a military weapons transport ship. The firepower you stole was enough to wage a Class-C war."
"I remember the news—they said the transport ship exploded. So you just took everything?"
Her naive remark exposed her inexperience. The secretary winced, and even Lien’s eyebrow twitched.
He said flippantly, "That’s the military for you—stingy bastards. I stole hundreds of billions in weapons, and they only put up 20 billion for my head."
"Even that pig was more generous."
Of course, only he could say that. The weapons had been under heavy guard, and no ordinary mercenary group could’ve captured him.
A 20-billion bounty—just for information—was already one of the highest in history.
But as Shen Ying read further, she found the "pig" he mentioned:
"Hima Planet’s Grand Duke. Star Calendar 4377, July 15. His domain’s wealth was plundered in a sudden raid by the White Stone Pirates, leaving the Duke bankrupt."
Lien immediately interjected, "Fake. I only took his antique collection, precious metals, weapons stockpile, high-grade medical supplies, and a 200-billion transfer."
"That pig definitely inflated his losses for insurance and noble subsidies. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have casually put up over a hundred billion for my bounty."
Shen Ying nodded. "True. The records say the Duke was forced to transfer 500 billion."
The financial system of the interstellar era was nothing like what Shen Ying had known. In modern times, moving hundreds of billions would’ve drawn attention instantly—let alone transferring it to an unknown account in minutes.
Lien cursed under his breath. "Damn. Three hundred billion extra? That’s easier than robbing people the hard way."
Shen Ying then asked, "Where’s the money?"
Lien blinked. "What?"
"The 200 billion you stole."
The question caught him off guard. This inexperienced warden didn’t seem like the type to care about such things.
Maybe her superiors were pressuring her to extract the location of his hidden spoils.
He smirked lazily. "Spent it. Two hundred billion? Gone in two ships and a few mechs."
Shen Ying sighed. Of course there wouldn’t be such an easy loophole for her.
Shaking her head, she muttered, "Deadbeat."
Lien’s eyes narrowed. "What did you just say?"
Shen Ying ignored him, turning to the guards instead. "Notify the prison—no new inmates for the next year."
"The prison is initiating its internal circulation system. During this period, all external supplies will be suspended, and we'll operate on reserve inventory."
The prison had been running for many years and had accumulated considerable supplies. Unless faced with extreme emergencies, the stored resources combined with the recycling ecosystem would allow the prison to survive independently in the vast universe for several years.
As soon as she said this, Lien's expression changed. He seemed to have misjudged the warden.
The irregular supplies and reception of prisoners were the only channels connecting the prison to the outside world. While the warden had appeared naive and inexperienced before, she was now making decisive actions.
It was worth noting that despite this space prison's high degree of autonomy, it was still under Imperial jurisdiction. Unless there was a situation of significant magnitude, cutting off contact with the outside world would face considerable pressure.
Yet this young warden had made such a decision right after meeting him?
This was going to be troublesome.
Despite his racing thoughts, Lien said aloud: "Are you that reluctant to part with me, dear warden?"
"If possible, I wouldn't mind dating you somewhere outside the prison."
Shen Ying smiled and replied: "You seem very confident about getting out, even knowing the prison no longer has any vulnerabilities?"
Lien maintained his casual demeanor: "You think this is enough to imprison me? This place is full of holes. I could break out with just a piece of wire."
Shen Ying: "You mean this?"
As she spoke, a metallic gleam appeared between her fingers - a hair-thin needle made of a precious metal rare even in the entire universe.
The composition was extremely rare and special, unknown to most people. This metal had a unique property of mimicking organic structures, making it undetectable by scanning devices.
Lien's expression drastically changed as he watched Shen Ying open her palm, revealing not just the needle but several other tiny objects.
They made crisp sounds as they fell to the ground.
Shen Ying looked at him and said: "These trinkets won't break you out of prison."
After his expression changed several times, Lien finally gritted his teeth and asked: "When did you search my entire body?"
Before Shen Ying could respond, her secretary nearly choked on his saliva at this question.
He looked at Shen Ying with incredible disbelief in his eyes.
Shen Ying spoke to him: "It seems the people at headquarters are no longer clean."
"Send the report later. I'm sure the higher-ups will agree."
This was certain. If he had any objections to the warden's decision to cut communications earlier but hadn't voiced them in front of the high-risk prisoner, now it was clear that the warden's decision was necessary.
Headquarters had been infiltrated, allowing Lien to bring in so many items.
Who knows what might be smuggled in next time.
Shen Ying walked over to Lien, patted his shoulder, and whispered in his ear:
"Left big toe nail."
"After all, your beauty needs a bit of protection."
Lien's pupils contracted at these words. Coming from anyone else, this might have sounded generous, but to him, it was the ultimate humiliation.
His expression became extremely unpleasant, losing all previous composure.
Just as he was about to speak, Shen Ying asked her secretary: "How was someone capable of robbing military forces and planetary governors captured?"
The secretary quickly responded: "Indeed, the White Stone Pirates were highly mobile, well-equipped, and fought cunningly."
"The military failed to capture him several times, but eventually someone set a trap to lure him in."
"Unfortunately, he reacted too quickly. In the end, he used himself as bait, tied up most of the attacking forces, and the majority of his pirate group still managed to escape."
Shen Ying nodded, ignoring Lien's suddenly darkening expression.
She asked: "Who was in charge of that operation?"
After all, it wasn't just anyone who could capture one of the male protagonists.
Then, a voice came from nearby: "I was."
Shen Ying and the secretary turned to see the other high-risk prisoner, the Crown Prince, who had not only regained consciousness but had also freed himself from his restraints and stood up from the space chair. Still wearing his white royal garments, he carried himself with an air of authority.
He didn't look like a prisoner at all, but rather like a supreme leader conducting an inspection.
