Coughing and groaning sounds resonated intermittently within the infirmary, attracting over twenty inmates presenting fever and headaches owing to influenza. As for others showing only mild symptoms, they were mostly isolated within their cells. However, due to partial lapses in management across certain areas, some inmates continued their usual doings with masks on.

The inmate who had been notified that he "might not make it" was now lying in the back of the infirmary, an area designated for critical cases, featuring a makeshift operating table for emergency surgeries.

The duty prison doctor wasn’t in the back room caring for the severely ill inmate, because there was no longer a need.

"Dead?" Upon hearing this in the infirmary, Aiden froze in place,

"Yes, the patient was just unconscious and feverish when brought in. I was preparing medicine when suddenly he suffered respiratory failure, there was no time to rescue him!" reported the duty doctor, grimy and disheveled.

"Are you sure he’s completely dead?" Aiden asked as he pushed the door open and walked into the back of the infirmary, "Let me have a look!"

He found it very hard to believe such a thing could happen. Currently, the entire prison was enveloped by the "Wordless Code" domain, and under the rule that "no one shall die," even those with serious illnesses on the brink of death wouldn’t succumb.

Compared to that, the possibility of the prison doctor making a misdiagnosis seemed likelier. Even in Aiden’s original world, where brainwaves could be monitored, asserting brain death required twelve hours of observation. Here, a standard death declaration was made when breathing and heartbeat ceased, coupled with dilated pupils — and this judgement was almost always correct since, at that point, given the medical standards here, there was no chance of revival, unless the person in suspended animation miraculously woke up or the rescuer was blessed with divine power.

And Aiden truly was blessed with divine power; if the person wasn’t dead but life signs ceased due to severe illness, "return" or "law" ought to work. He had rushed over immediately upon receiving the report. It hadn’t even been three minutes since the prison doctor declared the person dead.

Upon entering the back room, Aiden reached out and pulled down the thin cloth covering the supposed corpse’s face, ready to check for vital signs himself.

When he saw the face, Aiden’s mind buzzed.

A frightening, cyanotic face was revealed, clearly the result of coagulated blood.

Unless drugs or a special pathological change were involved, it would take several hours after death for this effect to manifest.

The prison doctor who followed in screamed at the sight, "It wasn’t like this just now!!"

Aiden touched the arm of the body through the cloth and felt an abnormal coldness and stiffness.

Only a few minutes had passed, yet the body had already stiffened completely.

Aiden could only feel the coldness clinging to his hand, spreading rapidly throughout his body, as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.

An unquestionable death, and it revealed the worst possible answer.

Such an odd progression of death, the last time he’d witnessed it was with that servant of the man in the blood-red garments; he died right before Aiden and decomposed on the spot. That was the power of death’s authority, the chilling power of the Death God.

Under the "Wordless Code" domain, no one should die, unless influenced by a higher power.

What now came to Aiden’s mind was the devastating plague that had raged through the Old Lese Kingdom a century earlier, when the Death God sought to snatch the "procreation" authority from the Royal Family and used the epidemic to greatly weaken the kingdom.

At that moment, a guard from the core area approached, bringing along two inmates who couldn’t stop coughing.

"Doctor, these two are complaining that their throats hurt a lot, please prescribe some medicine," the guard called out without any sense of urgency.

When he saw Aiden emerge from the inner room, he quickly saluted, "Greetings, Officer!"

He was a bit startled since his superior’s expression was grim and somewhat terrifying.

Aiden scanned the inmates in the infirmary, nearly thirty of them with severe symptoms, far outnumbered by those with mild symptoms, not to mention those still in the incubation period or asymptomatic prisoners.

The great plague of the Old Lese Kingdom had already reached here.

"Warden, we must report this immediately," Aiden stepped out of the infirmary, with Flandre following beside him.

"We need to write a report, and also get someone from outside to inform the Heretical Inquisition," Aiden instructed gravely, "But we have more pressing matters right now."

"What is it?" Flandre hesitated for a moment.

"Everyone who was just in the meeting is still here, so I’ve informed them directly." Aiden took a deep breath, "Lock down the entire prison, suspend the visiting area until I give permission, nobody is allowed to leave the prison. Shut down the workshops, gather all the prisoners with infectious disease symptoms to the infirmaries of their respective sectors; other prisoners are to return to their cells for isolation and increase the number of staff on cellblock duty. All guards on duty... no, issue facemasks to all prison staff, watch over each other at their posts, and report immediately to me if anyone shows symptoms! Carry out these orders now!"

"Warden, by locking down the entire prison, you mean..." Flandre asked hesitantly, "We can’t leave either?"

"I was very clear, nobody!" Aiden emphasized.

"Suddenly implementing this will cause all sorts of problems!" the head of the first sector protested.

"No issue is more important than life itself. This is a plague, and it’s deliberately unleashed! We must act now, no more questions, just follow my orders before the situation becomes irretrievable!" Aiden was stern, "Additionally, concentrate those with serious symptoms in one place."

He was somewhat aware of what was happening in the prison.

He knew that the plague in the Old Lese Kingdom was orchestrated by the death deity, but he was not aware of the various mechanisms of that plague.

It was clear that the death deity seemed to have the ability to spread his divine power as the carrier in the form of an infectious disease, even to areas outside his own realm.

Once infected with this disease, after going through a cycle of symptoms, one would quickly be led to death by the might of the divine power, akin to a landslide, and the effect of the death itself equated to being killed by the death deity’s "life-taking" power; the Wordless Code was powerless to stop it.

A considerable number of prisoners had already been infected, and as for the guards... although Aiden had repeatedly ordered everyone to take epidemic prevention seriously, not everyone did so adequately, so it was not surprising that some of the guards were infected. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

If the disease spread from this prison, it could be a disaster for the entire Silvertown.

The Wordless Code might not stop death caused by the death deity’s divine power, but if the infectious disease could be cured, perhaps the effectiveness of the divine power could be cut off at the source.

After all, this is outside the death deity’s realm, and his divine power must have its limits. Perhaps the concept of death cannot take effect if the disease does not progress to a late stage!