The prison guard knocked on the door, and after a brief pause, the office door slid open automatically. Lu Yu followed the guard into the highest command center of the prison.
The warden's office was spacious—so much so that Lu Yu couldn't take it all in at a glance—but he didn’t let his eyes wander to survey the surroundings.
Because the warden was right in front of him, seated behind his desk, openly watching a movie on his terminal like it was the most natural thing in the world.
The 9D holographic projection was shrinking in size, suggesting that before they’d entered, the entire room had been engulfed by the film, immersing the warden in a cinematic experience.
Even after their arrival, the warden showed no intention of pausing. He merely glanced at Lu Yu, as if surprised by the man’s striking appearance—so striking, in fact, that it nearly outshone the movie’s leading man.
Then, Lu Yu heard the warden say to the guard, "I asked for a carpenter skilled in handcrafted woodwork. Are you sure you didn’t misunderstand?"
"It’s only my first day on the job. This kind of misunderstanding doesn’t look great, you know."
Shen Ying was just teasing, but to his surprise, the guard’s expression flickered with unease before quickly recomposing himself into a stern demeanor.
"Warden, you must be joking," the guard said. "Prisoner 3053 is renowned throughout the facility for his manual skills."
In less than half a year since his incarceration, he had beaten and maimed countless inmates, single-handedly shifting the power dynamics among the prison population.
"His greatest hobby is leading fellow inmates in creative inventions."
Despite strict regulations and the difficulty of obtaining materials, he had engineered countless deadly weapons.
"Even the previous warden held him in high regard. He’s the reason many of the prison’s policies were… optimized and reformed."
In just a few months, the man had incited at least three riots to assert his dominance, forcing the former warden to revise certain protocols.
The guard concluded, "Prisoner 3053 is indeed the right man for the warden’s task."
Shen Ying nodded, as if convinced by the guard’s argument. Then his gaze settled on Lu Yu.
Modern imaging technology could flawlessly replicate a person’s three-dimensional appearance, but no camera could capture the breathtaking impact of seeing him in person.
Lu Yu had been crafted as a luxury plaything, and the finest of such commodities possessed a presence so overwhelming that it made everyone else fade into the background.
Even in the plain prison uniform, he radiated brilliance. His antlers, like the masterful strokes of an ancient painting, were so exquisitely shaped they might as well have been works of art.
Perhaps for practicality while working, he had loosely braided his long hair and draped it over his left shoulder.
A faint smile played on his lips, making him appear beautiful, harmless—even domestic.
First, there had been the untamable pirate. Then, the arrogant crown prince. And now, this enigmatic deer-like beauty.
Shen Ying knew he’d come to the right place.
Keeping his expression neutral, he asked, "Can you restore old furniture?"
Lu Yu smiled. "Of course. My woodworking skills began with repairing my family’s old furniture."
"What can I do for the warden?"
Shen Ying gestured toward a long storage table in the corner of the room. "Start with refinishing that. No major parts can be replaced, and you’ll do the work right here."
Lu Yu glanced at the table and asked, "Understood. May I inspect it first?"
Shen Ying gestured for him to proceed, and Lu Yu approached the storage table. Carefully moving aside the items on top, he began examining it closely.
The warden's request clearly showed his attachment to these old pieces of furniture. However, if they were merely items from his father's office, they shouldn’t warrant such meticulous care.
Upon closer inspection, Lu Yu found small, deliberately made notches on the table legs—something that couldn’t have originated within the Sky Prison.
The former warden wouldn’t have idly crouched under the table to carve at its legs, visitors wouldn’t wander around freely, and improper cleaning was out of the question—the Sky Prison had the most precise cleaning robots.
It was obvious that this table, and likely many other furnishings here, had been used elsewhere before being brought to the prison.
Having reached this conclusion, Lu Yu began disassembling and polishing the storage table.
Meanwhile, the warden continued watching movies, no different from any other office slacker skimming through their salary.
By midday, various department heads started knocking on the door.
"Warden, you still haven’t signed the prison waste disposal request."
"Warden, the update for Pipeline Three hasn’t been approved."
"Warden, the R&D department’s request for supplementary materials—"
Shen Ying, annoyed, finally waved them off. "Don’t bring these matters to me. Aside from security, combat operations, and external communications, all administrative affairs go to Secretary Zhu."
"But—"
The department heads hesitated, only for Shen Ying to add, "Isn’t Secretary Zhu eager to help His Highness the Crown Prince out of his predicament? Giving him work will ease his mind."
"Don’t worry about it."
The managers were stunned. It was true—ever since the Crown Prince’s imprisonment, the prison had become a hotbed of undercurrents.
Many in leadership were supporters of the Crown Prince, especially since the former warden had been one of his men. The remaining neutral faction, while not openly taking sides, wouldn’t interfere either.
Even those aligned with opposing forces dared not act recklessly given the tangled state of affairs.
Secretary Zhu, as an outspoken loyalist, was undoubtedly scheming under the warden’s nose to aid the Crown Prince.
But such things weren’t supposed to be stated outright.
The department heads retreated awkwardly, not daring to bother the warden with trivial matters again.
Lu Yu, who had been quietly working on carpentry in the office, was equally surprised.
He hadn’t paid much attention to the warden’s joking remark when he arrived, but now it seemed far from a simple jest.
Recalling the prison guard’s reaction earlier, Lu Yu understood why he had been chosen so easily.
Though he held some influence in prison, he couldn’t outright command the guards. His initial plan had been to eliminate any potential competitors if the guards didn’t pick him—the "skilled carpenter"—for the job.
Yet this time, the guard had agreed the moment he volunteered, without even a proper assessment.
Now it was clear—those concerned about the Crown Prince’s predicament were more than happy to use Lu Yu’s beauty as a distraction for the warden.
And the warden? He was fully aware, even openly acknowledging it, while giving them some leeway.
In just one night, the supposedly tranquil Sky Prison had become far more interesting. And then there was Lien, who hadn’t even shown his hand yet.
Lu Yu didn’t believe a man like him would sit idle. It seemed he’d have to step up his game too.
With that thought, Lu Yu discovered a hidden compartment inside the dismantled table.
Inside, he pulled out an antique pocket watch from a bygone era.
Even in this age of advanced technology, many still held a sense of ceremony toward the vessels of time.
Lu Yu glanced sideways at the warden, who was fully engrossed in the movie, then turned away to inspect the pocket watch.
The hands had stopped moving. Lu Yu opened it up and found the issue wasn’t serious.
Truth be told, the prison guards’ description of him wasn’t exaggerated—he was exceptionally skilled with his hands, especially in repairing and modifying machinery. He could even assemble a mech in minutes.
Fixing a pocket watch took him less than ten seconds.
Once the hands began ticking normally again, Lu Yu placed the watch back into the hidden compartment. Turning to Shen Ying, he asked, "Warden, may I open this compartment?"
"Perhaps the previous warden left something inside. If it’s convenient, could you verify it first?"
Hearing this, Shen Ying looked up at Lu Yu, then rose and walked over to him.
Lu Yu showed her the compartment, and as Shen Ying peered inside, a flood of memories surfaced.
Her expression softened slightly as she pulled the compartment open herself, revealing a silver antique pocket watch nestled within.
Shen Ying stared at the watch for a long moment before sighing. "Nothing important. I was the one who put it there."
Though he had suspected as much, Lu Yu feigned confusion. "You did? But I heard the warden hadn’t been here before yesterday."
Shen Ying replied calmly, "Of course. I put it there as a child, back when these furnishings weren’t even here."
Her father, the former warden, had devoted himself to designing the airborne prison. To ease his longing for family, he had taken many pieces of home furniture to decorate his living quarters in the prison.
Shen Ying traced the watch’s cover with her fingers. "I remember accidentally breaking it and hiding it here out of fear of being scolded. I never imagined it would end up in this place."
As she spoke, she opened the watch and saw the hands moving smoothly, emitting a soft tick-tock.
Shen Ying froze. Whether it was a trick of the light or not, Lu Yu even caught a fleeting glimmer of moisture in her eyes.
His voice softened, carrying a soothing and trustworthy tone. "It seems he knew—and he fixed it."
"Did he not want you to be afraid? What a clumsy father. He could’ve just held the watch and told you he wouldn’t blame you."
At that moment, not just the original owner of these memories, but even Shen Ying—who had merely inherited them—felt her nose sting.
The former warden had indeed been a clumsy man. He had never played or joked with his daughter, always stern and rigid.
Yet even such an intimidating father had tried his best to comfort her in his own way.
He must have guessed she was afraid when she hid the watch, so he pretended not to know, quietly repairing it so she’d feel relieved when she found it intact later.
The remark was so piercingly insightful that it would’ve been unnatural for Shen Ying not to break down in tears.
Shen Ying felt it wouldn’t do to ruin the moment—a man of such high caliber rarely exerted himself like this.
So she lowered her head, closed her eyes, and pressed the watch against her forehead.
After a pause, she opened her eyes to see Lu Yu looking slightly flustered. "Did I say something wrong?"
Seeing the crack in the warden’s defenses, Lu Yu didn’t press his advantage further.
Instead, he tactfully suggested, "Warden, should we call it a day with the repairs for now?"
The warden, however, replied, "No, keep going."
Lu Yu raised an eyebrow inwardly—exactly as expected.
A woman who acted with ruthless decisiveness, utterly unfazed even when facing the Crown Prince's aggressive faction—how could she possibly tolerate her own vulnerability? Accept kindness from a prisoner?
Lu Yu continued his carpentry work, but noticing how tightly the warden clutched the pocket watch in her hand, he understood. Her heart was in turmoil—longing, guilt, regret—all stirred up by "her father's tenderness," leaving her unable to calm down.
The conflict between yearning and stubborn pride was tearing her apart. She would only grow more restless and agitated.
And he, the only living person in her line of sight—
Sure enough, it wasn’t long before the warden, who had long stopped paying attention to the movie, suddenly spoke up. "You were right earlier."
"Why didn’t he just tell me he wouldn’t blame me anymore? He loved this watch so much."
"Just because I couldn’t find it for a single day, he left it untouched for all these years."
(
