"Nero, is it really okay to do this?", On the way to the Divine Strategy Office, Stelle asked this.
Not long ago, they had basically completed this mission and could go inform the Divine Strategy Office first.
But… the way Nero handled things at the end made Stelle feel a bit uneasy.
After all, even she, after so much time exploring and adventuring, had picked up some understanding of so-called etiquette, yet Nero's approach had directly skipped Jing Yuan and handled things on his own.
No matter what, Jing Yuan was the Nero of the Luofu, the one steering this Xianzhou.
The way Nero did things made her feel something was off.
As she spoke, the scene of how Nero had dealt with those from the Disciples of the Sanctus Medicus surfaced again in her mind.
At that time, that Zhixin had been extremely arrogant and confident, wanting to take on all four of them alone.
But unlike Nero's usual confidence, this guy had clearly overestimated his own strength, and unsurprisingly ended up getting beaten thoroughly and satisfyingly.
In the end, Zhixin lay on the ground, bruised and swollen, his eyes unfocused. He let out faint sobbing sounds like a mosquito, completely broken in spirit and no longer speaking.
"No, seriously, with your level you still wanted to fight all four of us!?"
March looked at Zhixin in utter confusion, her question like a steel spear, mercilessly stabbing straight into Zhixin's already crumbling heart.
This person had joined the Disciples of the Sanctus Medicus in the first place because of weak will and impure resolve. Yet after joining, he was still beaten badly by Nero, and also beaten by this group from the Astral Express.
That made his already damaged mind even more unstable, and March's perfectly timed words were like rubbing salt into his wounds, a bit cruel.
Of course, that definitely wasn't the beautiful girl's intention.
From her innocent expression, it was clear she was genuinely confused about what kind of thinking led Zhixin to choose to fight one against four.
Zhixin felt like crying but had no tears left…
Nero, meanwhile, sat sideways in a carefree manner on the Black Cutter, looking at Chrysanthemum, who could still communicate normally, and said, "Let's talk about something, shall we?"
"W-what… what is it…?", Chrysanthemum was panicking, and his mind was a mess right now.
The first thing he realized was, no wonder this guy was so strong, it turned out he was Nero.
That monster who had just returned and crushed Yanqing, the genius of the current Hunt faction.
But then another doubt arose in his mind, everyone said Nero and Jing Yuan had a very good relationship, and Jing Yuan was an emissary of the Hunt.
So why was it that this guy could so openly receive the blessing of the Compassionate Medicine King on a Xianzhou under the gaze of the Hunt, yet the Hunt did nothing about it?
"You joined the Disciples of the Sanctus Medicus because you want immortality, right? From that perspective, you all value your lives a lot. You don't want to die, do you?" Nero asked, looking at Chrysanthemum.
Chrysanthemum looked at Nero in terror, then nodded.
'As expected of a follower of the Hunt, he's trying to kill us right from the start!'
"Alright, I'll give you a chance. Tell me where your boss is right now, and I won't kill you. After all, I'm not really fond of killing." Nero spread his hands, his tone sounding sincere.
"C-can you change it to something else?" Chrysanthemum asked. "I really don't know where the leader is…"
Hearing Chrysanthemum's answer, Nero scratched his head.
Looks like speedrunning the boss isn't possible, but that's fine, they'd run into him sooner or later.
"Then let's change it. Tell me where blueberry and Green Hibiscus are."
Chrysanthemum fell silent, lowering his head as he thought.
He actually did know where those two were…
But… Should he really betray them?
'As expected of a follower of the Hunt, using threats and temptation against me!'
After some careful thought, Chrysanthemum decisively sold out his two teammates.
Survival wasn't shameful.
Stelle shook her head, clearing this somewhat absurd process from her mind.
Then she heard Nero, who was sitting on the Black Cutter flying beside her, reply, "What's the problem? Don't worry, Jing Yuan won't blame me. Besides, I didn't let them escape, I just didn't let them die.
"Not to mention, as followers of Abundance, they've more or less been influenced by that path and gained quite a few benefits."
"Just in terms of physical recovery alone, they're far stronger than ordinary people."
"With such strong recovery ability, it basically means they've got a durable, high-quality body, which also indirectly boosts their physical strength and endurance."
"A group like that is practically born to work! It'd be a waste not to put them to use. Sending them to work at 'Aha' is just making the best use of them, right?"
"Uh… that's exactly the issue." Stelle pressed her lips together, organizing her words. "From the situation, they're our prisoners. Isn't it a bit inappropriate to mistreat prisoners?".
That place really didn't treat employees like people. Though to be fair, most of the employees weren't people, but Fragmentum creatures that had been captured.
Still, with the principle of "if you don't work, there are plenty of Fragmentum creatures who will," even with the blessing of the Path of Abundance, Stelle didn't think those people from the Disciples of the Sanctus Medicus could handle that level of workload.
Even if their bodies could endure it, their minds wouldn't.
It probably wouldn't be long before they ended up like Cocolia, wishing they had just died back then.
But here was the problem, although Nero's Company didn't treat employees like people, and didn't treat Fragmentum creatures like people either… Nero's Company industry was strangely very focused on protecting employees, minimizing death as much as possible.
That Richard they fished out from the space station earlier had already tried to kill himself many times, but every time he was saved… and after being saved, he just went right back to working tirelessly.
The most crucial point was that Nero's Company's workplace was inside the Fragmentum.
Even if someone really died in there, they would leave behind an echo remnant. These remnants retained most of their memories from before death, and as Fragmentum creatures, they would then face the same level of workload as other Fragmentum beings.
Stelle figured that it was only because Bronya was around that Cocolia hadn't tried to kill herself even earlier. And now, after seeing Richard's fate, she had probably completely given up on the idea of suicide.
This was Nero's Company. Not only do you have to work while alive, you still have to work after death.
What kind of company is this in the universe? Even employees would find it terrifying, and even someone like Miss Topaz, a workaholic, wouldn't be able to smile at it.
Offending Nero and being thrown into his Company meant truly reaching a state where you couldn't live and couldn't die.
Those from the Disciples of the Sanctus Medicus had no idea what they were about to face. Stelle still remembered the smiles on their faces when they found out they wouldn't die, they were so happy.
She couldn't help but feel a bit of pity.
'Enjoy it while you can. Once you're sent to Belobog, you won't be smiling anymore.'
'I'll remember your final smiles.'
As someone who knew Nero's Company very well, Stelle had already foreseen the fate of those people.
But Nero, who also knew his company very well, seemed not to understand what she meant at all.
Stelle noticed Nero turn his head back, looking at her with confusion. His gray eyes were clean and beautiful, filled with a kind of simple innocence, "Why do you say I'm torturing prisoners? Sampo's place provides food, drinks, and lodging. Isn't that pretty good for them?"
Stelle opened her mouth, wanting to speak but stopping herself.
Not wanting to shatter the purity and goodness of the boy in front of her, the well-traveled little gray-haired girl decided not to voice her thoughts.
She smiled and nodded at Nero, but inwardly complained, "Sampo's place does provide food, drinks, and lodging, but he also handles killing and beating, and doesn't handle the burial!"
[🎉 Shoutout to Little_Demon, Thanh, WetWatee, Slashdog, Darklouche and Michael for joining p@treon. Thank you very much.🤗]