I stared at John Chou in shock. The Ghost Ancestor had already said that John Chou's speculation was completely correct, but this was the first time I'd ever heard of such a thing—countless time-spaces could be stacked like this. Then I thought again: Abyssal Hell is constructed from a fragment of illusion, a space where countless things are mixed and entangled.
The Ghost Sovereigns' expressions mirrored my own—utter shock, except for Yvonne May, whose face remained unchanged. At that moment, John Chou walked toward her.
"So, in the end, this is only my conjecture. But I came up with it because of your power, Miss Yvonne May. That's why I wanted to confirm it with you."
Yvonne May quietly stared at John Chou, and Yuna Ji quickly approached.
"Yvonne, is that really how it is? What exactly is going on? I've always been puzzled by how you could lock onto time and see what's going to happen in the future. Even back then, when I was a child, I chased after you hoping you'd stay, but you still left. If you had stayed then..."
"Yuna, that's enough. The past is the past. No matter what I could see or know, I won't reveal anything. But I can tell everyone, John Chou's conjecture is correct—this place is indeed formed by countless overlapping time-spaces."
John Chou laughed loudly, while Redmond clenched his fists in fury.
"That old bastard, Fifth Tribunal Yama, how could he do this to us? What's his goal? We could've just compromised, gathered our strength, and escaped later. Instead, he dumped us in this godforsaken place."
"Would you really bow to someone else's authority, Redmond?"
John Chou asked, and Redmond curled his lip, letting out a cold snort.
"It's just making the best of a bad situation. What's the big deal? Working under Yama isn't the end of the world. Once the time is right, I'll definitely make my escape."
John Chou sneered and shook his head.
"There's no way they'd let us work under Yama from the start. More likely, we'd be under the Judges, or even lower. Besides, once you're under control, escaping is almost impossible."
John Chou continued, speculating that the Ten Judges of the Underworld Court must have noticed the special powers of the seven Ghost Sovereigns. That's why, during their capture, so many Hell's Sentinels and several Underworld Marshals were dispatched. According to Underworld Court regulations, after being sent down, they must first go to the Fifth Tribunal for judgment before being assigned to the appropriate hell.
They must have been noticed by the Underworld Court while they were still causing trouble in the living world, which is why the capture was so resolute.
"Yuna Ji, what exactly did Quentin Kue say to you at the time? Stop hiding it."
John Chou glared at Yuna Ji. She immediately clung to Yvonne May's arm and shook her head.
"I've already said everything I needed to say."
"Yuna Ji, at this point, there's really no need for this anymore. I know you want to keep something back, but now there's no point. If you naively believe the Underworld Court will honor any agreements with you, you're gravely mistaken."
Yuna Ji's gaze flickered—she was clearly hiding something from the other Ghost Sovereigns.
"You bitch, don’t push it. If it weren’t for…"
"Enough! You’re all so noisy."
Mona Ouyang snapped awake, glaring irritably at the other Ghost Sovereigns. John Chou responded with a cold smile.
"If I had to guess, what you discussed with Quentin Kue was probably our powers. You told him about us. At first, the Underworld Court didn’t care about us—only Quentin Kue wanted to catch us, but without Yama’s permission, he couldn’t do anything in the living world. That’s why he helped you so often. Yuna Ji, ever since you spoke to Quentin Kue privately, the Underworld Court started paying attention and plotting our capture. The Yamas obviously wouldn’t let our powers slip away. So, what did Quentin Kue promise you, Yuna Ji?"
Yuna Ji forced a nervous smile, which seemed to confirm John Chou’s suspicions. Redmond stomped over, grabbing her by the arm.
"You bitch, tell us what kind of deal you made with Quentin Kue. We’re all stuck here because of you. You…"
A hand stopped Redmond—Yvonne May shook her head.
"At this point, it’s pointless to say anything."
John Chou smiled and began to speak.
The reason the Fifth Tribunal Yama had Hell's Registrars escort them on a roundabout route was probably to stretch out the time. The longer it took, the harder it would be to pinpoint their location in Abyssal Hell’s time-space. John Chou had already questioned some of the souls that entered, and as a Hell's Registrar, they answered truthfully.
There really is a direct path to Abyssal Hell, but once inside, the Hell's Registrars sometimes make the souls wait—usually about a minute. For ghosts, the concept of time is vague, since time means nothing to them.
So, by piecing together the memories of some ghosts, John Chou roughly understood the timing. Each batch of souls enters at different times, but the path's length is the same. If you walk at a steady pace, it takes about ten minutes to get here.
"Do you remember how long we walked?"
John Chou asked. Basil Bertram thought for a moment before answering.
"About ten hours."
John Chou nodded.
"It's impossible to know the exact time, so the only one who knows the time-space position of this Abyssal Hell is probably the Fifth Tribunal Yama. The marks on us are likely controlled by him, letting him track the timeline. He won't let the other Yamas use us—he knows we won't behave and doesn't want trouble. There's another clue: this place is a stack of misaligned time-spaces."
I realized that both ghosts and Hell's Registrars here only have memories from the past seven days. The time-space disorder must cause this, with each loop lasting seven days. Now I understand why there are so many skeletons but so few souls—the numbers don't match.
The time-space here is misaligned, rotating every seven days, so no one can retain memories beyond that. Only some repetitive actions, like drinking and eating, might be remembered, but the details are lost.
"John Chou, your deduction is impressive. To pull off something like this—even a Yama might not be able to…"
Redmond quickly spoke up—what John Chou said matched my own thoughts.
"The King of Reincarnation—he’s probably the only one with that kind of power."
"And what about our memories? You said memories here only last seven days, so why do ours remain?"
Yuna Ji asked, puzzled, but John Chou just shook his head.
"That can only be explained by the special powers within our bodies. The rest we’ll have to figure out slowly."
I understood immediately. The Wraithlord beside me kept laughing.
"So their primal instincts are finally awakening?"
I asked. The Wraithlord nodded.
"This place is built from illusion, so it’s extremely difficult for ghosts to awaken their instincts—almost impossible. Most instinctive ghosts are born that way, chosen by instinct before they die. When they arrive in this part of Abyssal Hell, their instincts start to respond."
Redmond was furious, baring his teeth in frustration as he asked.
"So, what do you think we should do now?"
"Just as I said—focus on refining your powers here. Haven’t you felt it? Lately, there’s something calling from deep inside."
As soon as John Chou finished speaking, all the Ghost Sovereigns’ expressions changed.
"Now we need to keep training our powers. When we can handle all the Hell's Registrars here, we’ll also need to secure the entrance. Right, Basil Bertram?"
Basil Bertram nodded.
"It might take a while, but I think it’s possible to break the ghost array at the entrance."
John Chou nodded and continued.
"Then there’s the mark on us, and our own skeletons. Finding them in this misaligned time-space could take forever."
"This is a real pain. Can’t we get rid of it?"
Redmond looked at his chest. John Chou shook his head.
"Did you not understand what I just said? Or is your intelligence really at a child’s level?"
Redmond charged forward, but John Chou reached out, his hand passing right through Redmond’s body. Redmond clutched his mouth, and all the Ghost Sovereigns stared in surprise at John Chou.
"How did you do that?"
Redmond asked in disbelief. John Chou had turned his ghostly body into mist, passing through Redmond, and then rematerialized his hand to slap Redmond’s cheek.
"With your intelligence, I can’t explain it. I’ve mastered my own technique—what about you all? I bet everyone except the kid behind me has figured something out."
Redmond stood there awkwardly, his shock bringing him back to his senses.
"I told you a long time ago, Redmond—you’re too weak."
Redmond gritted his teeth, unwilling to admit it.
"Just you wait. You think I can’t do something so simple?"
Yuna Ji walked over, squeezing between the two of them.
"Alright, alright, everyone has their strengths. John Chou, you really are something—none of us are as smart as you. I didn’t accomplish anything this week."