Guinaifen watched the Netherworld guards leave and finally relaxed a little. Then she laughed and said, "Did you see that? That big sister's skin was pale as death, and her eyes kept drifting around... Is she even human or is she a ghost?"
"I know. You can try touching her," Stelle said.
"Ah? How does that tell the difference?", Guinaifen looked at Stelle in confusion.
March also couldn't help but look over with a puzzled expression.
Stelle recalled the experience of subduing the Fright Maze with Nero back then. "If you can touch it, it's human. If you can't, it's a ghost."
"But Nero said that if you can touch it, there's nothing to fear because you can beat it up. And if you can't touch it, there's even less to fear because it can't affect you at all."
"But what if it affects you mentally?" March asked.
"Then beat it up!" Stelle immediately replied.
"If I'm being mentally affected, I still can't touch it!" March continued.
"If you're already being affected, why can't you touch it?" Stelle shot back. Then she pulled out Nero's theory. "The moment it can affect you, you can definitely affect it too.
"It's like the front and back of the same sheet of paper. When you can see each other but can't interfere with each other, you must be two parallel lines."
"But when you can see each other and interfere with each other, then you've already become the same line."
After Stelle finished, March and Guinaifen still looked half-confused. They clearly understood it a little, but not completely.
At that moment, Nero spoke up, "You know about ghost walls, right?"
The two nodded.
"As long as you know. For example, in some ghost wall stories, people keep circling the same floor forever, right?"
"According to that logic, the simplest solution is to change the floor sign into the floor you want to go to, then firmly believe the next floor is the one you want."
"Th... then what?" March and Guinaifen quickly asked.
"Then? Then the thing you firmly believe in will collapse into actual reality through the ghost's influence on reality," Nero said.
"Huh?" Guinaifen and March froze.
Putting everything else aside, this kind of explanation that sounded half scientific and half mystical was very much Nero's style.
"Novel. A very interesting viewpoint." Hanya lowered her head and looked at Nero. "But the Heliobi are not ghosts. They are merely one form of ordinary life in this universe."
"But... Nero said that to baseline normal lifeforms, most lifeforms that match the current universe's standard state are also considered ghosts."
Guinaifen suddenly remembered something Nero had said before, so she summarized it and used it now.
Hanya looked at Guinaifen. "..."
A moment later, interest actually appeared on the face of the judge who usually looked completely unmotivated. She nodded and said, "I thought it was just a sudden flash of inspiration."
"I didn't expect it to already be a structured ideology. In that case, there's no need to use any special techniques against the Heliobi. Bare hands alone would be enough."
"True." Nero nodded.
Hanya, "...Up until now, you're the only one capable of that."
Nero blinked at Hanya. "Maybe because I'm the only one who thinks this way in the first place."
Hanya fell silent again. 'What this guy is saying actually seems to make a little sense...'
'But now was not the time to discuss this.' She looked toward Guinaifen. Hanya had clearly heard the girl wondering whether she was human or ghost.
"As for your earlier question... once you enter the Ten-Lords Commission, you may as well consider me one of the dead. This young woman's codename is 'Hanya.'"
"As a judge, I oversee the final duties among the four departments of arrest, shackling, punishment, and interrogation. Therefore, I am not entirely ignorant about you all either."
After speaking, Hanya blinked and looked toward Nero. "Speaking of which, Nero, before this, you took away both the Mirror Holders and Phantylia that the Luofu automatically captured and sent them to your Nero Fragmentum Factory."
"The Ten-Lords Commission sent people to investigate it, and the reports just came back... The Ten-Lords Commission hopes you can also serve as a judge in the Criminal Division... What do you think?"
When she said this, even Hanya, who normally showed no emotion at all, couldn't help but reveal a strange expression.
Looking at Nero before her, she could confidently say this was the prettiest guy she had ever seen.
But this person had somehow created a place like the Nero Fragmentum Factory.
The people sent by the Ten-Lords Commission had already inspected the inside of the factory. She had also read the reports they brought back. That place... honestly felt even more terrifying than Shackling Prison.
She really did not know how such a good-looking guy, such a pure-looking person, could possibly create a place like that.
The Ten-Lords Commission even had the urge to send Hoolay there too. However, matters related to Hoolay were deeply tied to the Foxians, so they couldn't make the decision casually. At the very least, they had to symbolically discuss it and go through the motions first.
After being locked in the Luofu's Shackling Prison for so many years, that Borisin war leader probably wouldn't mind changing prisons. He might even happily move into his new home.
Of course, this wasn't something they could decide on their own. At the very least, they had to go through the motions...
Still, after hearing about Phantylia's current situation, this idea had rooted itself in the minds of the higher-ups as quickly as the Ambrosial Arbor spreading branches.
"No." Facing the Ten-Lords Commission's invitation, Nero shook his head and refused.
He felt things were fine as they were now, free and unrestricted. If he took on another responsibility, wouldn't that mean doing more work?
Hanya nodded. She was not surprised by Nero's choice.
This person ran all over the Xianzhou. Even within the Ten-Lords Commission, most people understood his personality.
In the end, the Ten-Lords Commission only wanted to give him the position of Criminal Division judge so they could use the Nero Fragmentum Factory more legitimately.
But honestly speaking, that factory really was extremely suitable as a punishment tool. Maybe Nero was unexpectedly suited for this.
Facing Nero, Hanya let her thoughts wander briefly before focusing again. She looked toward Guinaifen and recited emotionlessly, "Guinaifen, outworlder, unemployed... entered the Fyxestroll Garden two days ago together with Cloud Knight soldier Sushang."
Guinaifen froze slightly after hearing Hanya describe her that way, then immediately shouted, "Huh? Unemployed?"
"I'm a street performance artist and a streamer who follows trending topics! A streamer! It's a proper job at least!"
But just after Guinaifen finished speaking, Nero tugged on her hand and said, "It's okay. I'm unemployed too."
Guinaifen's expression instantly turned strange as she looked at Nero. "Don't you own a factory?"
Nero froze in place, as if thinking seriously. After blinking a few times, he suddenly seemed to realize something and covered his mouth. "Ah..."
"Even though I always think about throwing annoying people in there, I've been acting like a hands-off boss for so long that I forgot this thing counts as my job."
Guinaifen, "..."
'That's straight-up emotional damage, Nero!'
Across from them, Hanya, Xueyi, and Huohuo looked at each other.
They couldn't help reconsidering the idea of giving Nero the position of Criminal Division judge.
At first glance, it didn't seem to suit Nero very well. But now that they thought about it carefully, it fit him perfectly.
They honestly could not think of anyone in this world more suitable for the position of Criminal Division judge than Nero.
This position practically existed for Nero alone. The loyal position of Criminal Division judge had always been waiting for its beautiful master.