Don't Engage in Netherworld Activities in the Mortal World!

"So this is why your redemption ended within a quarter of an hour?"

Ghostface Fox sighed.

Jiang Lu couldn't help but defend himself while making gestures to help the others understand better:

"You can't blame me, he was a black man, and when I saw him, he was tied to a pillar just like Jesus, I don't know who could resist the urge not to drive a nail through his forehead."

"Moreover, he was clearly an irredeemable criminal! A criminal who needed me to have a chance of entering heaven! Yet he dared to provocatively challenge me, confident and without fear. Pity he miscalculated this time, I didn't plan on giving him that chance."

"Besides, he reached out and pawed at me! That's the part I find most unbearable!"

"Wasn't he tied to a pillar? How could he reach out and paw at you?" Heavy Cannon frowned deeply.

Liudao seemed to guess something and asked with a hint of hesitation, "Did you also drive nails into his hands?"

"Hmm... I remembered that Jesus was nailed through the palms only after I finished nailing his forehead..." Jiang Lu's eyes drifted, "Sorry for being illiterate..."

"..."

The trio didn't know what to say for a moment.

Each of them had made full use of the three hours they had been given, and when they came out, they saw Jiang Lu sitting on the floor of the records room, reading prisoner files as if they were novels.

You managed to do it so quickly? Could it be that a high charm score even speeds this up?... Ghostface Fox thought this and asked, only to be told by Jiang Lu that the soul of the prisoner was damaged, thus he was ejected from the prison and had been sitting here for over two hours already.

Jiang Lu's heart wasn't at ease either.

Anyone who has been to a foot wash knows that once friends enter their individual rooms, the race starts.

When you emerge and see that everyone else is still washing, but you're the only one done and waiting on the couch in the lobby, you surely won't feel good about it.

Regrettably, Jiang Lu was quite straightforward. The correct response in such a situation would be to say with a smile, even if you've been waiting for half an hour, "What a coincidence, I had just sat down and you are already finished," the moment the second person comes out.

Fortunately, the merits of redemption are calculated separately, so even though Ghostface Fox and the others found the situation bizarre, in the end, they didn't criticize Jiang Lu, as their own tasks had gone smoothly.

At that point, Ghostface Fox remembered something: "Did your approval rating change at all?"

Without even looking at his bracelet, Jiang Lu was very certain: "No change, I checked as soon as I came out."

He spread his hands and continued, "I don't think this should be included in the criteria for approval rating. The Messenger said we should not be picky by any means, we could use any method for redemption, so I guess that the indicator must include a defect rate, and one or two damaged souls probably won't matter much."

The Messenger did indeed say that extreme measures might be used, but it sounds like you wanted to kill the prisoner by any means necessary...

"Defect rate, you think this is a factory, huh?" Heavy Cannon couldn't help but remark.

Still sitting on the ground with his legs crossed and chin propped on his hand, Jiang Lu replied listlessly, "Isn't this just an assembly line that sends souls to heaven? No fundamentally different from those historical schools with force-feeding education, or talent agencies creating stars. As long as they get into heaven, it doesn't matter who they are, right?"

Heavy Cannon was startled, at a loss for words.

When you put it that way... it does seem somewhat similar...

Ghostface Fox's heart chilled, feeling as if Jiang Lu awoke him from a dream with a single phrase.

He was a little scared but also excited as he said:

"Do you think it's possible that this is the secret of the Dark Tower?"

"?" Jiang Lu glanced at him.

I was just talking nonsense to show off, how did you make sense of it?

Not only Jiang Lu was surprised, the other two were also curiously looking at Ghostface Fox.

"Consider this, the God of Redemption oversees all redemption, so theoretically, His duty should be to save all beings. Yet the current reality contradicts His responsibilities."

Ghostface Fox licked his slightly dry lips, tired from the intensive discussion with the prisoner, and explained:

"What's actually happening is that the Dark Tower has morphed from a prison that reforms and redeems criminals into a place that only turns out souls with sufficient qualifications for heaven. Do you get what I mean? The original intention has changed!"

Heavy Cannon and Liudao appeared contemplative.

Unable to explore the upper levels, never having seen the so-called God of Redemption, and considering this paradox, everything, upon careful thought, did indeed seem suspicious.

Suddenly, Jiang Lu raised his hand.

"Jiang, what's your view?" Ghostface Fox looked expectantly at this teammate who had surprised him time and again.

Jiang Lu shook his head, "My legs are numb, someone help me up."

"..." Ghostface Fox's expression froze.

Fortunately, Heavy Cannon became his spokesperson, "Damn it!"

...

During the return to the supervisor's hall, Jiang Lu had learned from the other three their respective progress in redemption.

All three had managed to have the prisoners acknowledge their views, even starting to confess and repent for their sins, nearly succeeding; they just needed one final push to smoothly complete a task performance.

After comparing processes, everyone expressed confidence in Jiang Lu achieving the same level, provided he was willing to be cooperative.

Heavy Cannon even relaxed a bit, "Although we can only choose one person each time and can't choose the same person two days in a row, redeeming one person twice adds up to completing three objectives in a week, with a day to spare for rest."

However, Ghostface Fox wasn't as relaxed, "Don't forget our mainline task, why are you truly taking on a supervisor's role?"

With that, he urged everyone to remove the wristbands from their hands, placing them on the tea table in the center of the hall. Then, while vigilantly observing changes in goodwill levels, he resumed the earlier discussion.

"So, I have an idea."

Ghostface Fox looked seriously at Jiang Lu, "I hope you, Jiang, can try to reach out to the messenger for us. No matter how much we guess here, it's useless; we must find evidence or clues, and the only link between us and the God of Redemption is the messenger."

"Why me?" Jiang Lu felt puzzled.

"Because you have the highest level of goodwill; theoretically, as long as you don't do anything clearly against the Black Tower's rules, there shouldn't be any trouble," Ghostface Fox explained.

A rare seriousness appeared in Jiang Lu's eyes.

Are you kidding me, "theoretically"... Whose theory? Yours? Are you responsible if something goes wrong?

"I think it's unwise."

Unexpectedly, before Jiang Lu could decide how to reply, Willow Blade took the initiative to speak up.

"Why?"

"When it comes to Black Tower's policies, we're definitely touching on core matters; it's not as simple as you make it sound. If we probe rashly, Jiang could be in danger," Willow Blade said concisely.

Heavy Cannon also seemed to disapprove of the proposal, "I agree."

This surprised Jiang Lu.

He hadn't expected someone who had barely interacted with him, and another who had consistently been hostile, to speak up for him now. Meanwhile, Ghostface Fox, who had seemingly looked out for him, was the one pitching the idea.

A man's face may be known, but not his heart.

Perhaps sensing Jiang Lu assessing his gaze, Heavy Cannon snorted, "Who knows if your death will drag us down?"

Oh, that's more like it.

Jiang Lu was satisfied.

"Don't get me wrong." Seeing there was more to Willow Blade's words, Ghostface Fox hurried to explain, "I didn't mean to conceal risks as Willow Blade suggested. It's a necessary move. Jiang is the only one among us with a breakthrough level of goodwill and also has experience in increasing it. I just think he's the best choice to represent us and contact the messenger."

Jiang Lu felt a bit troubled.

In fact, he also thought it was important to make as many attempts as possible, especially with the opportunity for a one-on-one interaction with an entity from the Spirit Realm, where he could make a significant impact.

But Willow Blade's words did hit home.

Especially since he had a clear understanding of himself, he didn't know if by taking action, he might inadvertently create a big mess.

Looking at Ghostface Fox's earnest gaze, and the encouraging expression that seemed to signal the coexistence of risk and reward, Jiang Lu wanted to say: I'm not afraid of danger for myself, I have resurrection coins. I'm worried for you all.

"I..."

Just as he was about to speak, to give everyone a heads-up, all four wristbands emitted a sound simultaneously—

[The current time is 23:59. There is one minute left before the Black Tower enters curfew. All supervisors must return to their rooms before then, or they will be treated as a threat and cast into the lower-level jail!]