In the Ten-Lords Commission.
Perhaps due to long-standing work habits, even during the daytime, the fully enclosed building remained as dim as night.
SFX: click-click, click-click—the sound of high heels echoed through the empty structure.
The source of the footsteps was a pair of pale feet in open-toed heels, nails painted black.
Her exposed legs—unobstructed and uncovered—held faint traces of muscle lines beneath the skin. Their owner's figure was shapely, her face strikingly beautiful. Unfortunately, the lifeless look in her eyes made her whole presence seem dull and stagnant.
But those who knew her understood well—she was no clueless airhead. Quite the opposite. She was one of the four Judges of [Detention, Imprisonment, Punishment, Interrogation], the one responsible for reading the karmic sins of criminals and inscribing retribution with the "Underworld Omen Heavenly Brush"—the Judge of Interrogation: Hanya.
Familiarity guided her movements. Even without a sliver of light, she walked with practiced ease toward her destination.
After some time spent wandering forward, she came to a stop.
Among rows of office doors, one alone leaked a faint, multicolored glow through its cracks.
In a place like the Ten-Lords Commission, it was impossible not to notice something so conspicuous—and that was exactly what she was here for.
"Mrrr…"
On the sofa, a green-haired fox girl whimpered, curling up tightly with her fluffy, flame-colored tail, only her fox-claw-shaped pupils peeking out in terror.
What had frightened her wasn't some ghoul or monster—it was merely a television program.
On-screen, the male protagonist heard knocking at the door. After opening it and glancing around, he saw nothing but a dark and empty hallway.
He scratched his head, confused, and just as he was about to mutter "what the heck," he felt a chill drip onto him from above. Sticky liquid slid down his face and neck. A casual touch revealed what felt like a human head sitting on his shoulder.
He shuddered, spun around, and saw—
"Ah!"
As expected, a face corroded as if melted by acid suddenly filled the screen.
Before the protagonist could even scream, Huohuo shrieked first. Her limbs flailed wildly, and she nearly fell off the couch altogether.
At that moment, a shout erupted from within.
The voice was rude and domineering, but strangely enough, it calmed Huohuo down a little.
"What the heck! Nearly scared the great me to death!"
Bang! In a puff of ghostly fire, an animal head appeared—like a floating spirit, complete with a tall sleeping cap still on its head. Clearly, it had been startled awake.
Tail glanced at the screen once and instantly understood.
"Tch. Watching that low-budget B-grade horror comedy again? If you think watching that'll build courage, you'll never manage it in your whole lifetime. It's like racing a starskiff against a wheelchair—win or lose, you're still embarrassing."
He stared Huohuo down with even greater disappointment. "Besides… you lost."
Huohuo pouted stubbornly. "If it weren't for that 'Calamitous Fate of Chastened Doom' you dumped on me, I'd still be outside living happily right now."
"Hey!" Tail bristled with fury, ready to argue her into the ground.
But before he could get a word out, there was a knock at the door.
"Eh?!" Remembering the scene from the TV just moments ago, Huohuo's fur all but stood on end.
She whimpered, "Tail… save me."
"Ay…" Tail sighed hopelessly. "This is the Ten-Lords Commission. What kind of foul ghost would dare cause trouble here?"
Then he yelled toward the door, "Hey! Who's knocking?!"
A weary female voice drifted through. "It's me, Hanya. I have an urgent assignment for Huohuo. Ah, of course—you can accept it too, so long as Huohuo agrees."
The instant "assignment" was mentioned, Huohuo snatched up the command flag and flung open the door.
Head tilted upward, she looked at the superior who had guided her ever since she first encountered Tail. "Judge Hanya… w-what mission is it? Does it really have to be me?"
"The situation is urgent. Every idle judge and underworld appointee must mobilize."
Despite saying the situation was severe, her tone remained flat—no different from when she announced clocking out.
"Dan Heng from the Alchemy Commission said the Healer Dragon Lady has gone missing. And she may have a spirit pill capable of concealing presence and breath. Ordinary people have no chance of finding her. But with all the chaos in the Luofu lately, too much noise will only alert the spies of the Denizens of Abundance. That would put the Dragon Lady in even greater danger."
After relaying the information, Hanya's tone finally shifted—she sounded faintly impatient.
"So, the Cloud Knights and the Realm-Keeping Commission can't be deployed. Instead, we borrow manpower from the Ten-Lords Commission—loose on the outside, tight on the inside."
"Heh. They're loose, we're tight."
Venting complete, Hanya's expression cooled back into still waters.
"The Healer Dragon Lady is not only a skilled healer—she is also a Vidyadhara Dragon Lord. If anything happens to her, the foundation of the Xianzhou Alliance will shake. The mission is simple: locate the missing Healer Dragon Lady before the enemy does. Understood?"
Having spent years immersed in the Ten-Lords Commission, Huohuo snapped into a perfect salute. "Understood!"
Hanya nodded once. "Go."
"Yes!" Without hesitation, Huohuo snatched the trainee judge's hat from the coat rack, placed it on her head, clutched the command flag, and sprinted out.
Tail shouted after her, "Hey! Do you even know where you're going?! Why are you running that fast?!"
To protect the young High Elder from assassination, every idle resource within the Ten-Lords Commission mobilized at once. Though the Luofu appeared as calm as always, countless hidden eyes opened in the shadows, weaving an invisible web across the entire ship.
And the cause of all this chaos—Bailu—remained blissfully unaware.
Right now, she focused all her attention on learning what kind of Curio she had actually obtained.
This was a Curio with no upper limit. Could something like that really fall into her hands? She had just gotten a golden one—could her luck be this good twice in a row?
As she stared with hopeful but uncertain eyes, Sylvester smiled and nodded. "Of course. Gaining strength based on 'light' is the core ability of the [Ultraman's Heart]. Without that, how could it be called the Heart of Ultra?"
He stated it casually—but Bailu burst into a cheer. Only two words could express the joy bursting out of her chest: "Holy crap!"
She leapt three feet into the air, landed steadily, and spun in circles across the floor in delight. "Yes! Lady Bailu is about to be invincible across the stars!"
As the little one spun around like a grinding wheel, unleashing her joy without restraint…
Sylvester's lips curved faintly. He cleared his throat. "Ahem, but…"
===BREAK===
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