Chapter 224

“Shit! All your fault!”

Amidst the astonished expressions of the crowd, Aquarius Director who was directly bathed in sunlight didn’t instantly turn to ashes as expected. Instead, surrounded by some strange mist-like substance, she stood up under the scorching sun and glared fiercely at the main platform, roaring with bloodshot eyes:

“Why did you come back? If only you hadn’t shown up today! We just needed one more day!”

You startled me, I thought my tampering had been discovered…

Realizing that Aquarius Director’s roar wasn’t aimed at him but at the Clearing Bureau Director, Leon on the main platform immediately let out a sigh of relief and hurriedly moved aside, trying his best to hide behind the Clearing Bureau Director, fearing that Aquarius Director’s death throes might involve him.

As for the illusory shadow of the Clearing Bureau Director, all attention was on Aquarius Director, so there was no time to care about Leon’s small actions. He then coldly gestured toward the sun.

“Boom!”

With a sound akin to a waterfall crashing, the sunlight suddenly became several times brighter, and a golden torrent crashed down, completely piercing through the mist around Aquarius Director.

And with the destruction of this life-saving anomalous item, Aquarius Director’s physical body was instantly annihilated without a trace, even the scattered ashes were burned away by the almost liquid sunshine, leaving only a soul filled with resentment screaming on the spot.

Glancing at Aquarius Director’s soul and confirming there were no issues, the Clearing Bureau Director turned his head toward the position of Gemini Division Director, seemingly wanting to give some instructions. But after hesitating for a moment, he looked at the Twin-fish Bureau Director’s position instead.

“Medea, the execution of Aquarius is complete. Your division is skilled at handling souls, so take Aquarius’ soul away. Besides her actions over the years and plans against the Watchtower Palace, try to find out the locations of the anomalous items she created and the knowledge of Aquarius Secret Art.”

“Understood.”

The veiled Twin-fish Bureau Director nodded slightly, accepting the task. After making the arrangements, the Clearing Bureau Director actually turned to look at Leon behind him and asked:

“You…that…ability…can…not…”

Huh? Watching the Clearing Bureau Director suddenly “slow down,” his figure involuntarily distorting, Leon couldn’t help but be slightly stunned and couldn’t resist asking:

“Director? What’s wrong?”

“Probably due to the old soil, the time flow rate over there has started slowing down again.”

The veiled woman who left the Twin-fish Bureau seat and was preparing to take away Aquarius’ soul explained,

“The Director’s true self isn’t here, but…is…in…the…old…soil…”

???

What? You’re slowing down too?

Surprised at the veiled woman’s glance, Leon turned around to ask his director but was shocked to find that not only his director but the entire headquarters of the Clearing Bureau had slowed down.

And the degree of this slowdown was accelerating continuously. The veiled woman who could originally say a word every three seconds now, after more than half a minute, still couldn’t utter the next word.

…

“I really didn’t expect that despite my thorough preparations, you managed to mess things up.”

Accompanied by a voice without any fluctuations, the Gemini Division Director slowly walked over and bypassed the veiled woman standing in front of Leon, grabbing Aquarius Director’s soul in his hand.

“I am the Gemini Division Director, and also the real Aquarius Director… or rather, the container holding his original brain.”

Pointing to his brow, the Gemini Division Director took out a small balance scale and stared at Leon indifferently: “The one who was executed earlier was my true flesh, a copied brain, and detached emotions and part of the soul. Since being licked by the brain-eating demon hurts too much, I really didn’t want to experience it personally, so I came up with this method.

Besides, during this period, I carefully considered. Although there was a difference of a day, the surgery effect had some errors, but since the brain placed in this body hasn’t been affected, the brain of the other me should also not be affected too much.

So the reason why the memories of the other me cannot be fully replicated by the Dream Recall Furnace is probably not because of the surgery from the Crocodile Kingdom, but still lies with the True God-class Brain-Eating Demon. And the only person who directly touched that thing is you… I’m curious, how exactly did you control it?”

“…”

“…”

“…”

Forget it, there’s still a twist? Looking at the expressionless Gemini Division Director waiting for his answer… or rather, the real Aquarius Director, Leon was truly baffled.

Not to mention anything else, what were the people from the Clearing Bureau doing? You guys are so badass, catching countless True Gods and Evil Gods, hollowing out asteroids to make headquarters, even pulling the sun into play when necessary. Why are you all slowed down now? If Aquarius had been a bit crueler today, the Clearing Bureau would have been wiped out!

“Rest assured, I can’t harm them, nor can I even make contact.”

Seemingly understanding Leon’s thoughts, the Gemini Division Director… or rather, the real Aquarius Director said:

“My ability isn’t to slow them down, but to speed you and me up. Our current state is like two gears stripped from the ‘machine’ called the world, so we can rotate far faster than normal time flow.

But if we ever come into contact with others, the temporarily detached gears will re-engage and immediately return to their original speed. So although our current state is peculiar, we can’t actually do much.”

[By observing firsthand and listening to the user’s explanation, you’ve gained substantial information about the “Temporal Rift.” The colored badge “Materialist Soul (Bright Red)” has been activated.

Due to understanding part of the rules of the “Temporal Rift,” your resistance to this anomalous item has increased, and you can now block lower-level effects.]

Only lower level… this isn’t very helpful! Looking at the calm real Aquarius Director opposite, realizing he seemed unresistant to exchanging words, driven by the thought that even if caught, he’d still struggle a bit, Leon gritted his teeth and asked: “If you wanted to retrieve the soul, you could just accelerate yourself. Why accelerate me too?”

“Of course, it’s to obtain intelligence.”

Shaking the balance scale in his hand, Aquarius Director leisurely said: “This thing is called the ‘Truth Scale.’ As long as one party reveals a sufficiently valuable secret, when they start questioning, the other party, no matter how unwilling, must truthfully answer an equivalent secret.

As for why I chose you, first, I’m curious about what you did to the brain-eating demon, second, I want to know the situation in the kingdom, third, I want to investigate the Virgo Subdivision, and most importantly, because you’re weak.

If the person accelerated with me was Olivia or Beverly from the Leo Bureau, not only would the consumption be astonishingly high, but I might not even win against them.

You require less consumption, know a lot, possess secrets I’m interested in, and after obtaining intelligence, you’re the easiest to deal with. So naturally, I chose you.”

“…”

“Hmm… Two reasons for me, the secret of time acceleration, the ability of the Truth Scale, and why I chose you… these added together should be about right.”

Placing four differently sized weights on the left side of the small scale and seeing the right tray rise high, Aquarius Director couldn’t help but nod satisfied, then looked at Leon and calmly asked: “Your turn, first question, what exactly did you do to that brain-eating demon?”

(End of Chapter)