Warden of the Beast World: Everyone is a Hakimi

Chi Heng's mental strength assessment report appeared on Lu Yu's personal computer on the morning of the sixteenth day after Ye Tang joined the company.

Lu Yu, holding his coffee, read the report twice from beginning to end. The collapse value was 70, the situation had been stable for over forty-eight hours, the mental domain structure was intact, there were no signs of rioting, and no risk of berserk transformation.

According to Article 17 of Chapter 3 of the Empire's Special Imprisonment Management Law, if the mental breakdown value of an inmate in Prison Zero drops below 75 and remains stable for more than 48 hours, the conditions for release are automatically met, and the prison authorities must submit a release application to the military.

Since its establishment, Zero Prison has never used this rule because no inmate has ever been able to reduce their mental breakdown value from over 85.

There wasn't a single one. So when Lu Yu sent Chi Heng's assessment report and release application to the military according to procedure, the military remained silent for a full hour before replying—release approved. Please notify the young clan leader Chi Heng to complete the release procedures within three working days.

Looking at the approval letter, Lu Yu's light amber eyes, behind his gold-rimmed glasses, revealed a rare hint of relief and relaxation.

Although he wasn't sure how Ye Tang had managed it, in any case, Zero Prison finally had its first inmate walk out alive.

This was a landmark event in the history of imperial law and military medicine, and Anning was already urging him to write his thesis. He straightened his military uniform collar and, as the highest-ranking official of Prison Zero, personally went to Observation Zone Four to inform Chi Heng of the news.

Chi Heng was perched on the rocky hill, eating a box of mango crepes. Golden mango flesh nestled between snow-white cream and a paper-thin crepe skin. He used his beak to peck open a small opening, licking away the cream that oozed out, his crimson-gold eyes narrowing into satisfied slits. When he saw Lu Yu enter, he merely lazily raised his wing, not even standing up.

"Young Clan Chief Chiheng," Lu Yu stood ramrod straight, his tone a standard official report, "your mental strength assessment has met the release criteria, and the military has approved your release. Please complete the release procedures within three working days. We have already notified the Vermilion Bird Clan; your clansmen will be—"

Before he could finish speaking, the mental energy monitoring sub-screen next to the box of mango crepes in front of Chi Heng suddenly and silently jumped from 70 to 72. Lu Yu paused for a moment, adjusting his glasses, thinking he had misread it. Then the number jumped from 72 to 73.

"Young clan leader, your breakdown level is..."

"Hmm?" Chi Heng glanced down at the monitoring screen beside him, his tone as casual as if he were commenting on the weather. "Oh, they're up again. Looks like things aren't going well; they're not getting out of prison."

He continued eating the mango crepe without changing his expression, steadily maintaining his breakdown level between 72 and 73, neither too high nor too low, as precisely as if he were adjusting a precision instrument with a bird's beak.

Lu Yu finally understood what the young Vermilion Bird Clan Chief was doing. He remained silent for a few seconds before deciding to get straight to the point. "Young Clan Chief Chi Heng, why don't you want to leave?"

Chi Heng raised his head and answered the question in a tone so matter-of-fact it was almost nonchalant: "My female is here, where am I supposed to go?!"

As he said this, his tail feathers twitched slightly, as if he were proud of the legitimacy of his reasoning.

Lu Yu felt a nerve throbbing near his temple. He took a deep breath, suppressing the countless complaints surging within him, and tried to reason with this empire's number one brute in the most tactful way possible: "Young Clan Leader, does Warden Wild know about this matter?"

"Deer feather" refers to accepting a tail feather. The tradition of using tail feathers as courtship tokens among the Vermilion Bird clan is common knowledge within the imperial nobility. A single tail feather represents a lifelong commitment; accepting it is tantamount to accepting a courtship.

This custom has continued in the empire for over a thousand years and is even written about in elementary school textbooks, but after observing Ye Tang's behavior for half a month, Lu Yu came to a very certain conclusion: Ye Tang was 100% unaware of it.

Her expression when she accepted the crimson tail feathers was far too open. It was a pure "Wow, what beautiful feathers, thank you" openness, completely different from the shyness, solemnity, or emotion that a female should show when accepting tail feathers in the tradition of the Suzaku tribe.

She might even treat that tail feather as a souvenir, like a postcard or fridge magnet bought while traveling. Lu Yu could even imagine that if she asked Ye Tang now, "Do you know what accepting a Vermilion Bird's tail feather means?" her answer would most likely be—"It means he's very generous?"

"Never mind that," Chi Heng's feathers ruffled slightly, a sign that the Vermilion Bird was about to puff itself up. A hint of guilt flashed in his crimson eyes, but he remained defiant. "I have my own rhythm!"

Lu Yu looked at him silently. You have your own rhythm. Your rhythm is to act first and ask questions later, sending Wei Yu out without even knowing what the other party meant, and now you're refusing to leave prison, using tactics like adjusting your breakdown threshold—almost like cheating—to force the prison to comply. What kind of rhythm is this? This is the rhythm of getting on the bus first and buying the ticket later.

"Do you believe I'll burn this house down?" Chi Heng said, tiny sparks already rising from his tail feathers. The sparks landed on the rocky mountain, making a soft hissing sound, and burning a few small red dots on the scorched ground. Lu Yu glanced at the sparks expressionlessly.

He was from the White-tailed Deer clan, not the Vermilion Bird clan; no matter how hard the bones in his antlers were, they couldn't withstand the Vermilion Bird's True Fire. While Chi Heng's threat wasn't serious—probably not—he certainly had the ability to carry it out.

Lu Yu quickly weighed two things in his mind. First, Chi Heng's mental breakdown value was under his own control; he could adjust it back below the release standard at any time, or he could adjust it back above 85 at any time.

The only consequence of kicking him out would be that Zero Prison would have one more S+ level prisoner capable of a genuine riot. Secondly, Ye Tang's attitude towards Chi Heng is positive; she pets his fur, makes him desserts, and calls him Little Firebird, showing absolutely no rejection or fear. Since Chi Heng is already staying here, rather than letting him be a prisoner who could riot at any moment, it's better to…

Lu Yu took out an access card from his pocket. It was black with the emblem of Prison Zero on the front and a gold code on the back.

He quickly operated the computer a few times, setting the card's permissions to "Residential Area Access Permit, Daytime Only, Unarmed Status," and then handed the card to Chi Heng.

"Your access is limited to the living area and public areas. You can use this card to enter any security gate outside the detention area, but you cannot enter the observation areas of other detainees. I will handle things with the military; it will be considered as your voluntary observation in prison. The conditions are—you are not allowed to burn anything, you are not allowed to use force against other detainees, and you are not allowed to cause trouble for Warden Ye."

When Chiheng snatched the access card, his movements were so quick it was as if he was afraid Luyu would change his mind. A smug expression of "planning in motion" appeared on his bird face. When Luyu turned and walked out of Observation Zone 4, he paused in the corridor and raised his hand to rub his temples.

He hired a double-F-rank warden, who within half a month transformed five of the Empire's most dangerous prisoners into mentally stable and radiant individuals. Now, one of them refuses to leave, claiming he wants to pursue her. Can this be included in a thesis? Would Professor Anning believe it? He himself is hardly convinced.