Villain? No, I'll catch up with the protagonist after passing the civil service exam.

"Bang—!"

A giant hand, shrouded in dense, purplish-black yin energy, slammed heavily onto Lu Jingyan's dark desk.

The force was so great that the thermos on the table jumped half a meter high, and even the newly repaired ceiling was covered with a layer of fine dust.

"Lu Jingyan! This is an operation conducted by the Underworld; mortals of the mortal realm must retreat!"

Inside the interrogation room, the lights, which had been flickering, went out completely, leaving only the eerie glow emanating from the judge.

His towering face loomed close to Lu Jingyan's, and his enormous eyes, like copper bells, seemed to burn with the raging flames of hell.

"That female ghost in red is the 'key point of karma' I have designated; she carries a debt from three thousand years of the underworld!"

The judge brandished his pen, which was thicker than an adult's arm, speaking as quickly as if he were reading a death sentence.

"You, a mere bureau chief in the mortal realm, dare to perform a physical exorcism on her without authorization, forcibly sending her into reincarnation?"

"This is a blatant provocation against the balance of Yin and Yang! This is playing with fire and getting burned!"

"Hand over that last wisp of your soul immediately, or I'll take your spirit down for a chat today!"

Faced with a terrifying pressure that would terrify an ordinary person to death on the spot, Lu Jingyan didn't even lift an eyelid.

He simply reached out slowly and deliberately, and precisely retrieved his black coffee from the scrambling pile of office supplies.

She took a small sip, her movements elegant and composed.

"The judge, is that right?"

Lu Jingyan finally raised his head, his deep black eyes revealing an extreme rationality that would give even ghosts and gods a headache.

The golden halo of the rule of law in his eyes flickered slightly, instantly dispelling the chilling atmosphere that permeated the desk area.

"This is the office of the Director of the Comprehensive Management Bureau of Paranormal Phenomena."

Lu Jingyan put down his coffee cup, his voice deep and magnetic, yet carrying an insurmountable sense of judgment.

"If you slam your fist on the table on my turf, I can detain you for 'intentionally damaging state property' and 'violently interfering with official business'."

The judge paused for a moment, seemingly not having heard what Lu Jingyan was saying.

He served as an official for thousands of years, and even ancient emperors had to address him respectfully as "Your Excellency."

This lowly police officer from the mortal realm is actually talking to him about...administrative detention?

"Mortal, have you gone mad? I am discussing cause and effect, the Way of Heaven!"

The judge roared, and the Book of Life and Death in his hand suddenly burst open, releasing a thick cloud of black mist.

"Cause and effect are performance indicators within your underworld; what do they have to do with me?"

Lu Jingyan sneered, pulled a clean sheet of A4 paper and a ballpoint pen from the drawer, and pushed them in front of the judge.

"Now, let's talk about the legal process."

Lu Jingyan put one hand in his pocket, leaned back slightly in his leather chair, and looked as relaxed as if he were receiving a foreign guest from afar.

"First, according to the principle of territorial sovereignty in our country, every inch of land in Jinghai City is under the jurisdiction of the living world."

"As a public official from another dimension who illegally crossed the border without any entry or exit registration, your law enforcement activities here constitute illegal cross-border investigation."

"Secondly, the female ghost in red is suspected of causing trouble, intimidating the public, and damaging a total of 32 public streetlights in the mortal world."

Lu Jingyan's gaze was sharp as a knife, and every word he uttered was piercing.

"She committed a crime in the mortal world, so she must serve her sentence according to the mortal world's Criminal Law and Public Security Administration Punishment Law."

"As for how her soul is disposed of, that's the administrative result of our bureau performing a physical ritual to guide it to the afterlife."

The judge was so angry that his beard trembled wildly, and his pen drew black cracks in the air.

"Outrageous! Yin and Yang are in harmony; the soul returns to the underworld! You are usurping the jurisdiction of the underworld!"

"Robbery? No, this is called upholding judicial independence."

Lu Jingyan tapped the table, his tone growing increasingly cold.

"Your Honor, since you keep claiming to be an official, I will question you according to the rules for public officials."

"Where is your 'Application for Cross-Border Enforcement'? Has your Underworld and the Bureau of the Living World signed an 'Extradition Treaty'?"

"Stop glaring at me and show me your 'Letter of Arrest Cooperation'."

"Without these legal procedures, in my eyes..."

Lu Jingyan paused, a cruel and mocking smile curving his lips.

"You are nothing more than an unregistered person who illegally entered our country carrying weapons of mass destruction."

"I'm not arresting you simply because our current detention cells haven't been expanded to accommodate your size."

A deathly silence fell over the office.

Zhao Tiezhu hid behind the door, clutching two electromagnetic pulse grenades tightly in his hands, his forehead covered in cold sweat.

"Boss, your mouth is even sharper than my Gatling gun."

Zhao Tiezhu swallowed hard and muttered to himself.

"Even the judge dared to ask him for a letter of cooperation. I bet the officials in the underworld have never seen such a stubborn mortal before!"

I've never seen it before.

The judge froze on the spot, unsure whether to lift or put down the heavy judge's pen in his hand.

He served for three thousand years, handling countless souls of the dead.

I've encountered people who talked to him about feelings, people who tried to reason with him, and even people who wanted to bribe him.

But this was the first time he had ever encountered something like this, a judge from the underworld, who needed an official letter!

Official letter? The underworld has never produced those things!

"You...you dare ask me for an official letter?"

The judge laughed in anger, and due to his extreme rage, his purple official robes began to burn fiercely like flames.

"Lu Jingyan! Do you really think I can't deal with you?"

"Cause and effect are cyclical, and retribution is inevitable! Your birth, aging, sickness, and death are all within the reach of my pen!"

The judge suddenly became fierce, violently flipping open the black Book of Life and Death that he was holding in his left hand with his right.

"Splash—"

The pages of the Book of Life and Death flipped wildly, emitting a series of mournful howls.

"I'd like to see just what kind of destiny you, Lu Jingyan, are destined for!"

"If your lifespan has come to an end, I will personally take your soul right here today!"

The judge's eyes were wide open, his right hand holding a judge's pen dipped in a dark green death light, searching for Lu Jingyan's name among the rapidly turning pages.

He wanted to write this arrogant mortal directly into the deepest part of hell.

however.

A second passed.

Ten seconds passed.

The judge's originally ferocious and arrogant expression gradually froze.

His enormous eyes, capable of seeing through past and present lives, now saw a chilling void in the Book of Life and Death.

"This...this is impossible!"

The judge's voice instantly rose eight octaves, carrying a sense of horror as if he had seen a ghost (even though he himself was a ghost).

He frantically pounded on the Book of Life and Death, even wiping it vigorously with his sleeve, his eyes practically popping out of the paper.

"Why...why isn't your name on the Book of Life and Death?"

Lu Jingyan looked at the judge, whose face was full of terror, and slowly put down the black coffee in his hand.

A meaningful smile played on his lips, and his eyes revealed a confident air of being in control of the situation.

"I already said that I am not under the jurisdiction of your old system."

Lu Jingyan stood up, straightened the cuffs of his police uniform, and then took out an ID card that emitted a faint red glow from his pocket.

"What? Still don't understand?"