I think that you should check the length of @_ and if it is 1, then make sure that that one item is not only a reference but a refernce to an array.

sub regardless {
  return unless @_;
  my @array = @_;
  if (@array == 1) {
    my $ref = ref($array[0]);
    if ($ref) {
      return unless ($ref eq 'ARRAY');
      @array = @{$array[0]};
    }
  }
  return wantarray ? @array : \@array;
}
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