Under Asimov's lead, they successfully reached the upper half of the middle ladder—"Pain,"
here, the sinners were managed collectively. Each interval, they were taken to different areas to experience varying degrees of pain, spending at least 20 hours in agony. Sleeping here was an extreme luxury.
Of course,
those imprisoned here were generally the vile sinners of the Old World; for good management and corresponding punishment, the three Great Prison Monks collectively managed the middle layer.
One of the Great Prison Monks was a type with perception ability; his chains resembled fingers, spreading throughout the middle layer,
with finger-like iron chains emerging from the ground or crawling on the walls, and even the fingers of every prison guard working there could become the 'eyes' of that Great Prison Monk.
Asimov, without any hesitation, led Nash all the way to a "Changing Room" where there were no finger-like iron chains.
