Ball of Nothing

Lunch was satisfying and they gave thanks to the cook who prepared it with a lot of love. Lord Mammon was the first to start the topic while Ruth and Zero continued to enjoy dessert.

"About the work visas, how soon do you want them? I got the rumours going just to understand the reaction of the demons and we have more positive than negative results."

Ruth wasn't surprised. "I only have one concern. Not all these demons who want to apply for the visa have good intentions or are cultivators. It's difficult to justify their presence on Earth. The angels might also object and see it as a ploy by Hell to take over Earth and gather arms against Heaven again."

This was a concern Zero had and he was very happy to know that he talked to Buddha before he came for the meeting. The God of Enlightenment didn't question Zero's intentions when he brought up introducing demons to Nirvana. In fact, Buddha was more than happy to welcome anyone who practices the art of cultivation.

"You don't have to worry about that," Zero smiled at Ruth. "Buddha has that covered. Also, Nirvana and Heaven share a very close connection. If the demons own a second citizenship as a member of Nirvana, these demons will get priority work visa approvals. The approvals will be done by the angels and a proper interview procedure will be arranged for every applicant. The angels have the right to use a truth-telling spell so the demons cannot lie. Of course, I'm not saying all the power goes to the angels. We will be sending our representative from Half Moon Village as well."

Finally, things started to click for Mammon and Ruth. "Is that why you told Amaraline to sell the cafe?"

Mammon didn't mind making a minor loss in business investments when it came to Zero. This child was constantly bringing in changes that Mammon knew was for the better even at the immediate cost of large capital. However, he would keep his word to Baal and support Zero in whatever he needed. As a member of the Onion Union, money could be earned back easily. The members of Zero's shadow army were all influential people. There was much to be gained in the end.

Zero nodded. "Amaraline has the gift to see the future. If trained, she could learn to control it at will to judge if someone was telling the truth or not. This is my guarantee from Half Moon Village. I know the angels have that gift but I'm not sure if demons have that. It would be best if I could find one demon to fill that role so that all three parties can be the judge. There would be fairness."

Mammon thought about it. "If you're talking about demons, the only one with that ability is Lucifer."

Ruth and Zero froze at that. How could they forget? Lucifer's eyes were healed by Zero and now they functioned perfectly.

Zero laughed nervously. "Lucy is very busy, it's best not to disturb him. Is there anyone else? How about someone from somewhere relatively neutral? Someone who doesn't side Heaven or Hell."

After thinking over it for a long time, Zero decided to send messages to three people. His magic teacher replied quicker than Buddha and Enma could and Zero was very pleased with the idea of using a lie detector device that Wesley and Lovina helped to create while testing a new kind of alchemy method.

Zero let Ruth and Mammon know the good news and it was quickly decided that the interview panel will consist of Amaraline, the angels and the lie detector device with some modifications that Zero wanted. Knowing Zero, Ruth had a feeling they were going to see a lie-detecting golem instead of just an operating device.

"How many demons should we limit on Earth at any one time?" Mammon asked. "Ruth and I figured that the easiest way to regulate them would be to issue temporary tattoo marks with tracing magic on their hands. It can act as a proof of their visa while on Earth as long as the mages are educated about it. The mark will automatically teleport them back to the Garden of Roth when their visa expires if they haven't returned on time. Naturally, a penalty will be implemented if they were forcefully deported. This tattoo seal will disappear automatically once they are back in the abyss after their time is up. In fact, Ruth and I had been debating if we should implement travel passes the same way to regulate the traffic at Ten-Path Crossway."

Curious about how the travel visa magic would work, Zero asked if Ruth or Mammon could draw the array for him to study. Mammon replicated it quickly and Zero noticed how it was tied to a Demon Lord's mana.

"Wouldn't this be tiring for the supporting Demon Lord?" he asked.

Mammon shrugged. "We haven't tested it out so we don't really know. However, you don't have to worry about mana exhaustion. This is a collective burden. We're still testing if we could link all the Demon Lord's mana together. Lucifer has a special constitution so we will exclude him for now. However, the archangels have something similar and Beelzebub brought it up a few weeks ago. We should try doing something similar to help Baal out of his coma."

Hearing that his best friend in Hell had a chance of waking up earlier than intended with the new magic, Zero became excited. Needless to say, Zero wanted to be part of the research progress but Ruth stopped him. Mammon was also sure if having Zero on the team would be a good or bad thing. While Zero was an extremely powerful and knowledgeable magician, he was also known to be a troublemaker and walking disaster-zone. Merlin had first-hand experience and Arabesque was never the same again after Zero left. They weren't too sure about involving Zero until the idea was finalised.

"How about we continue to work on these ourselves? With Coux, Qin Yun, Merlin and Lovina helping us there shouldn't be much of a problem. Besides," Ruth reasoned, "the Tree of Life's spriggan has returned."

Reminded about Axel, Zero's eyes lit up. "That's right! I need to see him before I leave."

Heaving an internal sigh of relief, Mammon and Ruth gave each other a look and stood up in unison.

"In that case, we shall continue working on the rest of the preparations needed for the work visa. Hua Tuo should be coming in soon. Please enjoy my portion of dessert while you wait. I'm not a real fan of banana cakes."

Zero didn't stand on ceremony after Mammon declared that his dessert was now Zero's. The doctor waved goodbye to them and left the work visa arrangements in their capable hands while ignoring the torturous session coming up. If he was going to suffer later, he might as well make full use of his remaining time and enjoy the moment while he could.