The aerial prison was vast—unsurprising given that the future population numbered in the tens of billions, scattered across various planets to form a sprawling Galactic Empire. With such a massive population, the number of absolute scumbags was naturally staggering.
Even with the prison's strict admission criteria, it still housed thousands of inmates. Add to that the staff from various departments and the confidential research teams who had joined due to the facility's secrecy, and the aerial prison's population neared ten thousand—larger than some small towns.
The centralized cafeteria, designed to feed so many at once, was equally massive, with numerous food distribution windows.
Everyone's attention was fixed on the new top dog, so when Crown Prince and Lien suddenly appeared as fresh faces, only those nearby noticed their unfamiliarity and paid them little mind.
The Crown Prince and Lien despised each other, so they didn’t sit together—though they weren’t far apart either.
Lien adapted quickly, digging into his meal as soon as he received it, seemingly enjoying it.
The Crown Prince, however, eyed the food placed before him by a guard with disdain, his brow furrowed. Just as the guard was about to offer to prepare something special for him, the Crown Prince surprisingly picked up a fork.
Before long, a commotion erupted around them, and many inmates paused their eating.
The Crown Prince looked up to see a group descending from the second floor, stopping at a vantage point overlooking the entire dining hall.
At the forefront was the female warden.
An older guard rapped the metal railing, signaling for silence.
After briefly addressing the passing of the former warden due to illness, he solemnly introduced the new leader:
"Starting today, Warden Shen will assume full authority over the aerial prison as its highest-ranking official, chief executive, and controller of the prison system."
"Let's give her a round of applause!"
The prison erupted in cheers—not out of respect for the guard captain, but because the new warden was young and beautiful.
The applause carried more lewd enthusiasm than reverence, punctuated by whistles and jeers.
The top prison bosses exchanged fleeting glances across their territories, each seeing the same eagerness in the others' eyes.
A young, delicate beauty—no, calling her a woman at her age was almost a stretch.
A ruthless criminal underworld and a seemingly helpless warden—what could be more thrilling?
One faction leader, a tattooed bald man, shouted with piercing volume, "Warden, what’s your relationship with Warden Shen?"
Shen Ying faced the malice radiating from thousands of inmates with the same detached demeanor of someone just going through the motions to clock out.
But those nearby, like Secretary Zhu and the guard captain, could sense her indifference.
Shen Ying replied to the tattooed man, "The former warden was my father."
The bald man laughed, unsurprised, his gaze lingering on her with undisguised lust.
His stare was a form of pressure as he sneered, "Figures. I’ve seen you in Warden Shen’s office."
"His desk was covered in photos of you—slender, fair, like a ripe peach."
"Whenever the old man lectured me alone, all I could think about was how I’d fuck his daughter."
"HAHAHAHA—"
The Crown Prince and Lien also paused their meals, watching Shen Ying with amusement.
But Shen Ying showed no sign of offense. She nodded and addressed the bald man, "I’ve actually been concerned about inmates’… basic needs."
"Sentences here start at two hundred years. The chances of leaving alive are slim. Given that prisoners will spend the rest of their lives here, certain issues deserve attention."
Her words only fueled the inmates’ excitement. The bald man’s lackeys started shouting for the warden to "address their reasonable demands."
Then Shen Ying announced, "That’s why I’ve decided to activate the time-simulation pods—open to all inmates."
A prison where inmates were locked away until death had to offer some hope. Otherwise, the despair of never returning to society would lead to daily suicides or riots.
For most prisoners, the simulation pods were their only hope. Each year, based on behavior scores, they could earn time inside.
One hour in the pod, but within that hour, they could forget their prisoner identities and live as equals in a virtual world, even earning "vacations" based on performance.
The highest reward allowed an inmate to live as a billionaire for ten years. Until awakening, they’d never doubt their identity or the world’s reality.
The catch? The virtual world was set a thousand years in the past, on an Earth where technology was primitive, and humanity’s farthest reach was the moon.
If the crowd had initially heckled to humiliate Shen Ying, her "compromise" now had them gloating.
The tattooed bald man was practically hailed as a hero by those around him.
But the next moment, the warden called out his number—
"1069, you’ll be the first beneficiary of this new policy."
"Next, you’ll spend an hour in the simulation pod, fully indulging your sexual desires while experiencing a thirty-year career as a male prostitute."
Her gaze darkened. "Don’t worry—for lasting effect, we won’t even administer memory-dulling drugs afterward."
"This beautiful memory will stay with you for the rest of your life. I guarantee that after tonight, the sight of your cellmate dropping his pants will make you instinctively bend over."
The once-rowdy cafeteria fell dead silent. The tattooed man turned pale, his earlier bravado gone.
The simulator wasn’t some downgraded tech—the public didn’t even know the Empire had developed such a thing.
Until now, the machine had only been used for rewards and hope, never inspiring fear.
But today, everyone realized: if it could give you heaven, it could also drag you through hell.
The bald man shot to his feet. "No! That’s against the rules!"
Thirty years as a prostitute? No memory suppression?
The only risk of the machine was that virtual experiences could reshape one’s personality, so post-session memory dampening was standard.
Without it, he knew thirty simulated years would obliterate who he was.
Shen Ying replied lazily, "I am the rules."
Her eyes swept over the crowd.
No one had expected this seemingly harmless young woman to destroy a man so utterly—with just a few words, in the cruelest, most humiliating way possible.
Shen Ying felt no remorse for her ruthlessness. The moment the bald man challenged her, the prison system had fed her his file: a serial rapist and murderer of women, including dozens of minors.
The tattoos on his head depicted a Christmas tree—each ornament modeled after a victim’s personal belongings.
This punishment suited him perfectly.
The mechanical prison guards dragged away the bald man, who was screaming wildly and begging for mercy through his tears. Everyone knew that when he returned, he would be a completely different person.
He might retain some semblance of rationality, but his psyche would undoubtedly be imprinted with decades of experience as an x-industry worker.
Just then, they heard the warden speak again—
"My father was a strict warden, but also a man of noble character and a true gentleman."
"Even when dealing with scum like you, he upheld the highest standards of integrity in managing this prison."
"He was a great man, the architect of the Sky Prison, ensuring that filth like you would never seep back into society and plague the people."
"He dedicated his entire life to this cause, practically imprisoning himself here for decades. A man of ideals, free from vulgar desires."
Shen Ying’s lips curled into a smile that sent chills down their spines—
"But I’m not him!"
"As you can see, I’m just an immature, narrow-minded little girl who lacks vision and lets her emotions dictate her actions."
"Now I’ve inherited a big box of toys, and I’m brimming with curiosity—eager to explore all the new ways to play with them."
Her words made many shudder. Was the bald man’s fate just the beginning?
The suffocating silence stretched on, with most prisoners shrinking into themselves, trying to disappear.
After what felt like an eternity, the warden suddenly clapped her hands, her expression brightening unnervingly.
"Oh, right! I’m not the only one starting today. We also have Secretary Zhu, who’ll be handling administrative affairs."
"Let’s all give Secretary Zhu a warm welcome."
The room immediately erupted into disciplined, thunderous applause—more like a military salute than a group of criminals greeting a newcomer.
Secretary Zhu waved awkwardly under the scrutiny.
Satisfied, Shen Ying turned and strode out of the cafeteria.
Secretary Zhu hurried after her. Only once they were out of sight did the prisoners stop clapping, their hands stinging.
Few could bring themselves to eat after that. They huddled in small groups, whispering—some discussing the new warden, others dreading what was to come, and a few morbidly curious whether the bald man would really come back with an uncontrollable urge to bend over for anyone.
The faction leaders, however, were already thinking ahead, ignoring their underlings as they plotted silently.
The only ones seemingly unaffected were the newly arrived Crown Prince and Lien.
Convinced they’d be out soon, they brushed off the others’ worries as irrelevant.
Meanwhile, among the genetically modified inmates, a bat-eared, winged man sidled up to another with antlers and deer-like ears.
In a hushed voice, he reported, "Boss, I overheard Warden Shen telling Old Bao to find someone skilled in woodworking—something about designing new office decor."
The antlered man, Lu Yu, had long, light brown hair and an ethereal beauty. His features were elegant and gentle, but one glance into his sharp eyes made people forget any inappropriate thoughts about his delicate ears and antlers.
Without hesitation, Lu Yu said, "Tell Old Bao I’m a woodworker."
Bat-Ears blinked. "Huh? Since when do you know woodworking, Boss?"
Lu Yu smirked. "Since tomorrow."
