The next morning.
After telling Luke, Caitlyn went to the Piltover docks.
A cluster of fishing boats waiting to head out to sea were docked nearby, along with several passenger boats.
After negotiating the price with the owner of one passenger boat, Caitlyn soon set off.
The small boat traveled across the sea. There were plenty of ships heading out around them, and Piltover's fishing industry was quite developed.
There was no wind over the sea today. Standing near the bow and looking at the water's surface, where only the faintest ripples moved, Caitlyn found it difficult to calm her heart.
Stillwater Hold was located north of the Pilt River. It was a massive prison Piltover had spent a great amount of money building on a small island, meant to deter anyone who dared commit crimes, whether they were from within the city or outside it.
As long as someone entered Piltover's territory, no matter where they came from, if they committed a crime, they would be locked up here.
Today's weather was fairly clear. Breathing in the fresh air, Caitlyn let out a long breath and slowly sat down.
The small boat was not slow. Time passed gradually, and after a little more than an hour, the famous Stillwater Hold had already appeared in Caitlyn's sight.
The enormous prison, forged from steel and giant stone, stood on the island. Even under the clear daylight, it exuded a heavy, solemn, and austere atmosphere.
After traveling for most of another half hour, the small boat slowly stopped by the shore.
Since this was a round trip, the boat owner would have to wait here for Caitlyn to return.
After getting off the boat, Caitlyn raised her head. Not far ahead stood a tall staircase with at least a hundred steps.
On both sides of the stairs stood two solemn statues.
Caitlyn climbed up step by step. When she arrived before the tightly shut gate, she spoke through the intercom on the wall. "I am Caitlyn, an enforcer of Piltover. I already submitted my request to come here last night."
Before long, a response came from inside the gate. With a rumble, the huge iron gate slowly opened.
Several stern, unsmiling prison guards stood behind the gate. One of them stepped forward and said, "Hello, Enforcer Caitlyn. The warden happens to be free. Please come with me."
To be honest, this was Caitlyn's first time coming to Stillwater Hold.
The light inside was somewhat dim, and the overall color scheme was mainly gray and white, seemingly arranged on purpose to create a severe atmosphere.
Ten minutes later, following the prison guard leading the way, Caitlyn successfully met Stillwater Hold's warden.
He was tall, at least over two meters, with a broad and sturdy build. Sitting on the high platform, he gave off an oppressive presence like a judge.
Caitlyn directly explained why she had come. "I want to see one of the prisoners here. His name is Frank. He is tall, bald, and has tattoos on his face and arms."
The warden raised his eyes and sized up the enforcer before him. His tone was indifferent as he replied, "Unfortunately, ma'am, you came one step too late. I remember the prisoner you mentioned, but at this moment, he should still be lying unconscious in a hospital bed."
Caitlyn froze slightly and asked in confusion, "Why?"
"There was probably some kind of dispute with a troublemaker. In short, he was beaten quite badly. If the prison guards hadn't stopped it in time, we would already be considering how to dispose of his body."
The warden briefly described what had happened last night.
Caitlyn felt something was off and frowned slightly. "What specific dispute was it? Why was he beaten that badly?"
"Who am I supposed to ask about that? That troublemaker gets into fights all the time, though this is the first time I've seen her beat someone this badly."
The warden answered with little interest.
This kind of thing was very common here. After all, the people locked inside were not exactly good people. It was not possible for him to question every single one of them in detail.
Caitlyn frowned and thought for a while, then looked up and said, "Then I want to see this troublemaker."
No matter what, she could not come all this way for nothing.
She had already investigated last night. The man named Frank was the leader of an Undercity gang. He definitely knew things that his other subordinates did not.
Now that he had been inexplicably beaten, she could only meet the person who had beaten him.
Caitlyn suspected that this might have been a silencing.
It was very possible that "C" did not want information about them leaking out and had specifically arranged this.
"As you wish."
The warden agreed to Caitlyn's request. After all, they belonged to the same system, so there was no need to make things difficult.
He gave a prison guard a look, ordering him to lead the way.
Soon, riding the elevator inside the prison, Caitlyn arrived directly at the floor where the solitary confinement cells were located.
Prisoners who had committed offenses would be locked up here, kept in lightless cells and starved for three to seven days.
As the two doors of the elevator slowly opened, Caitlyn lowered the file bag in her hand. After reading it, she felt there were even more suspicious points.
In front of her was a dim corridor. Only a single lamp at the far end provided light. It seemed there were not many people in solitary confinement on this floor.
She heard whooshing and thudding sounds, like someone throwing punches at a wall.
When she walked to the door of this solitary confinement cell and looked through the iron bars, she saw the prisoner inside. The prisoner wore Stillwater Hold's uniform, and the number on her back was "516."
Judging by her figure, she was a woman. With every punch she threw, dust splashed from the wall.
Sensing someone behind her, she finally stopped. She turned her head and looked over, her sharp eyes carrying a fierce edge.
She had short pink hair and looked like a capable tomboy, but her pretty face made it clear she was a woman.
She was also very young, probably around Caitlyn's age. There was a faint coldness on her face.
The other woman's eyes were examining her, and Caitlyn spoke directly. "Your name is Vi, correct? I read your file. There is no information on you, and you have no criminal record. Why are you here?"
Vi withdrew her gaze and gave a lazy yawn. "Because I was too optimistic."
A few traces of coldness appeared in Caitlyn's eyes. "What is your relationship with C?"
She suspected that this Vi was one of the people C had planted inside the prison.
"C?" Vi tried to understand that sentence for a moment, pacing back and forth inside the solitary cell. She said calmly, "My relationship with a symbol is probably that I know it, but it doesn't know me."
Caitlyn frowned. "That's not what I mean. C is a code name, a person's code name. Don't play dumb."
"Play dumb? Officer, even though you do have the look of a total airhead, I don't need to play dumb just to join you in some boring interrogation game."
Vi raised her eyes and swept Caitlyn a glance, then said indifferently, "I don't know who this C you're talking about is, and I've never heard of them. If you're going to keep asking about that person, then please leave."
"I was too impatient. Let's start over."
Caitlyn knew she had lost her composure a little as soon as C was mentioned. She took a deep breath and, after calming down, asked again, "Last night, you beat someone. He was originally the person I came here to see. I'm investigating a case, and he may be someone who knows something. Now, tell me why you beat him."
"Because I didn't like the look of him, so I threw a punch." Vi smiled faintly. Just as disappointment appeared in Caitlyn's eyes, she continued, "Of course, the deeper reason is that there's been a grudge between me and him for a long time. I've been sharpening my fists here for years just so that when those bastards come in, none of them get to leave."
Caitlyn asked, "What grudge, specifically?"
Faced with such an almost interrogative attitude, Vi did not show much displeasure, because she happened to lack someone to talk to. She yawned and said, "A bunch of old grudges, though to me, they're still fresh debts. You should know Silco, right?"
"That industrialist?"
Caitlyn thought for a moment.
This name was not unfamiliar to her. Although the man was from the Undercity, his business had reached Piltover. He had donated money to many places and could be considered quite famous.
"Industrialist? He sure knows how to polish himself up. In reality, the blood on his hands is more than you Piltover cops could ever count."
Vi gave a disdainful laugh. A trace of hatred flashed through her eyes, and her voice turned a little colder. "He's the one who destroyed my family."
Caitlyn had not expected to hear such a secret. She frowned slightly, thought for a moment, and said, "Then what relationship does that Frank have with him?"
"Obviously, he's one of his dogs."
Vi chuckled. "He's got plenty of dogs under him. Two get locked up today, and new ones take their place tomorrow."
Caitlyn lowered her head and muttered to herself, "In other words, this Silco may be connected to C?"
If things were really as Vi said, then with Silco's methods, it was highly possible he and C were partners.
Silco might even be C!
On the surface, he was an industrialist, while behind the scenes, he was a ruthless monster who hired murderers and controlled killers.
Now Caitlyn knew who she should investigate next.
She came back from her thoughts and looked up at Vi. "What else do you know about Silco?"
At this moment, the corner of Vi's mouth curved up. "Find a way to get me out, and I'll tell you everything I know."
Caitlyn looked at her. "You don't have the right to negotiate with me."
"Then my answer is that I don't know." Vi yawned and leaned against the wall. "You can go ahead and investigate Silco, but with his methods, he's definitely scrubbed himself clean. Chances are, you won't find anything at all. Miss Enforcer, how are you going to deal with a famous industrialist?"
Caitlyn analyzed the situation she described and felt it was very likely to be true.
If she wanted to investigate this matter clearly on her own.
Of course, she could choose to tell her parents about this matter and borrow more resources to investigate.
But she could not do that.
Her parents' experience back then could be called a nightmare, and it had dealt them a tremendous blow. Before the truth came to light, she did not want them to remember that nightmare.
Ten minutes later.
Caitlyn once again stood before the warden. This time, she did not hesitate and spoke directly. "I want to take prisoner 516 with me."
The warden still had the same indifferent expression and did not even raise his head as he said, "Approval code from Piltover's enforcer department?"
Caitlyn shook her head. "No."
The warden continued asking, "A transfer order from a Piltover judge?"
Caitlyn continued shaking her head. "No."
The warden asked again, "A special pardon from a Piltover councilor?"
"None of those either."
Caitlyn still shook her head, knowing that this matter was indeed not easy to handle. But then inspiration suddenly struck, and she tentatively asked, "Would the prince's verbal order work?"
The warden: "..."
He looked at the young enforcer in front of him with a rather speechless expression.
If you really had something like that, could you have brought it out earlier?
Why am I wasting words with you here?
Nowadays, who did not know that Demacia's prince was staying in Piltover? His status was even higher than that of a councilor.
On top of that, as the warden, he already knew that Piltover's council was preparing to form an alliance with Demacia.
So that person's identity carried even more weight.
If he wanted to release one prisoner from this little prison, would it not just be a matter of his upper lip touching his lower lip, a single casual sentence?
But the question was, did she really have it?
The warden looked somewhat suspiciously at the enforcer before him. He did not know Caitlyn's identity. He only knew that she belonged to the same system.
"Please wait a moment."
So Caitlyn smoothly took the Secret Key out of her pocket, opened it with practiced ease, and called Luke.
Before long, Luke picked up. In the image, he was lying on a chair on the rooftop, basking in the sun.
When the warden saw the scene before him, even his steady composure nearly broke from shock, and he wondered whether he was seeing things.
What kind of magical method was this?
Or was it some new technology Piltover had developed?
But the person in the image did indeed look like Demacia's prince. He had seen him once before.
"What is it?"
Luke yawned, his lazy voice coming through the image.
Caitlyn moved closer to the video and whispered, "To put it simply, I want Your Highness to say one sentence and have a prisoner released."
In the video, Luke looked slightly speechless. "You're putting it a little too simply."
How many details had she skipped over in the middle?
However, after thinking about it, he roughly understood what was going on. So he said, "All right, point the camera at him."
"Got it."
Caitlyn was delighted and immediately aimed the image at the warden.
The moment the warden saw Luke's gaze turn toward him through the image, his tall body instantly straightened.
He immediately bowed and saluted. "It is an honor to meet you, Your Highness. I am Hanlk, the warden of Stillwater Hold."
"It's good to meet you, Warden Hanlk." Luke sat up, revealing a classic social smile. "Could you do me a favor and release the prisoner she mentioned?"
"Of course, no problem."
The warden immediately responded. He did not suspect that Luke in the image was fake.
He only believed this must be some novel magic or technology, and when he had the time, he would definitely have to look into it carefully.
"Thank you for the trouble."
Luke smiled again, then hung up the call.
As the screen disappeared, Hanlk finally felt the tense atmosphere vanish. After letting out a breath, he looked at the young enforcer before him and said, "You may take prisoner 516 with you."
"Thank you."
Caitlyn bowed politely, but inwardly, she was absolutely delighted.
Although her parents' status at home was not low either, this was the first time she felt that having someone above her turned out to be such a comfortable thing.
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