Chapter 225

Through… pure materialism… Due to initially understanding the activation rules of the “Scales of Truth,” your resistance to this anomalous item has increased, and you’re now able to shield yourself from its general effects.

As the badge system in his ear chimed with a notification, Leon felt a sudden jolt through his body, as if he’d momentarily lost control of himself, generating an unimaginable urge to confess.

“I touched… that divine-rank Brain-eating Demon’s… butt…”

With Leon’s words hanging in the air, the first weight finally appeared on the highly tilted right pan of the [Scales of Truth]. However, this weight, no larger than a grain of rice, managed to press the pan down by a small notch.

Strange, something so trivial could produce a weight, and it was even acknowledged by the Scales of Truth? Looking at the unexpected weight, Aquarius Director couldn’t help but furrow her brows, once again sensing that her plans were veering off course, and things were slowly slipping out of her control.

There are too many strange aspects about Leon. Should I switch to someone else for questioning? As Aquarius Director contemplated whether or not to eliminate Leon, she saw a weight the size of a red date suddenly drop, instantly leveling the previously tilted Scales of Truth.

“Using the Demon Badge… directly… obtained control over the divine-rank Brain-eating Demon.”

A Demon Badge? What is that thing? Watching just the vague name carry a weight equivalent to four of her secrets, Aquarius Director’s eyes immediately lit up despite her hesitation to change targets earlier.

“What is the Demon Badge as an anomalous item? And what does it do?”

“The Demon Badge… isn’t an anomalous item… its effect is… direct control over all demonic anomalies with a fallen attribute…”

Not being an anomaly itself but capable of controlling all demon anomalies? There’s such an unreasonable thing?! After hearing the specific effects of the Demon Badge, Aquarius Director couldn’t help but take a sharp intake of breath. Just as she was about to ask more questions, she noticed the Scales of Truth had completely shifted, and her side of the pan was now raised high due to a weight the size of a duck egg.

“…”

Trouble… If I keep asking, I’ll probably have to divulge some significant secrets myself. Is it worth it? But Aquarius Director’s hesitation only lasted a moment.

In front of something that allows a Level 3 Cleaner to forcibly control a True God-level anomaly, taking a little risk is worth it. Even if there’s a temporary leak, it doesn’t matter as long as I eliminate him immediately after the deal. A dead man knows plenty, but he’ll keep secrets well enough! “What I’m about to say is the way for anyone meeting certain conditions to directly ascend to the Watchtower Palace… To fully replace Taurus Director, I created six extremely high-ranking anomalous items that can work together.

“The effects of these six anomalous items are: invasion of the flesh, simulation of the soul, replication of personality, imitation of emotion, substitution of the past, and prediction of the future.

Because the flesh, soul, personality, emotions, past, and future… these six aspects already cover everything about a person.

If I use Taurus Director’s flesh; have the same soul, emotions, and personality as her; and even have the exact same past and future, then even the mighty Watchtower Palace would have to recognize me as Taurus Director.”

“Plop.”

An egg-sized weight fell, causing the right pan of the Scales of Truth to rise sharply. Still worried it wasn’t enough, Aquarius Director continued:

“The entire rebellion group was formed to achieve this goal. The anomalous item for capturing the flesh is in Luke’s hands; the one for copying the soul belonged to that Barton you killed; the one for predicting the future is Nathan’s Otherworld Door; the one for imitating emotions is on Oliver, whose face constantly changes expressions; as for personality, it originates from memories and experiences. By having Phoebe completely erase my memories and Lucy implant Taurus’ memories, we can basically simulate Taurus Director’s personality.

Among these six anomalous items, only the one that can replace the past and forcibly modify reality is somewhat troublesome. I tried it over ten times without success, but recently I found it — it’s your sister’s photo…”

…

After rapidly spilling a bunch of secrets, seeing the left pan pressed to its limit, Aquarius Director couldn’t help but nod satisfactorily before looking at Leon with enthusiasm: “Your turn, what exactly is that Demon Badge…”

“I have other valuable secrets besides the badge!”

Before Aquarius Director could finish her question, Leon, who had initially figured out the rules of the [Scales of Truth], mimicked her tone and preemptively opened with a flicker in his eyes:

“What I’m about to say is a social science theory that, free from the influence of anomalous items, is sufficient to change the world — a guiding ideology for creating new political systems beyond kingdoms and federations, along with a fairly complete corresponding theoretical system.

“If starting from historical materialism, the development of society is determined by the economic base, changes in economic forms will inevitably lead to social transformations, and progress and transformation in society are achieved through struggles among classes…”

“????”

What on earth are you talking about??? Although each word seemed roughly understandable, when put together, it made absolutely no sense. Aquarius Director was stunned.

But what startled her even more was that as Leon continued speaking, a crimson weight larger than a watermelon appeared on the right pan of the Scales of Truth, not only reversing the positions but also causing the scales to groan uncontrollably!

So… what he said was actually true?! Just a few sentences, and they really had the power to change the world?! At this point, the Scales of Truth held methods to ascend to the Watchtower Palace on one side and knowledge claimed to change the world on the other. Under the pressure of two “world-class” secrets, the Scales began violently trembling, seemingly ready to explode at any moment.

Never expecting Leon to harbor secrets of this level, facing this unprecedented bizarre situation and feeling her strength being drained like floodwaters, Aquarius Director, who had always acted with perfect composure, finally showed signs of panic, her lips trembling as she roared: “Damn it! You… shut up! I don’t want this! Shut up!”

No way! Never! Seeing Aquarius Director staggering and barely standing, Leon, who had finally found his chance to turn the tables, couldn’t help but feel elated and continued reciting frantically.

Apart from bearing the terrifying consumption of the [Scales of Truth] weighing two world-class secrets, to achieve balance in value, Aquarius Director had no choice but to reveal one secret after another, no matter how unwilling.

“Clearing Bureau’s numbered anomalous item catalog…”

“The whereabouts of the Ophiuchus Division Director after the Ophiuchus Erosion Incident…”

“The initiation method of the Water Bottle lineage’s anomalous creation secret art…”

“The location and control method of the Inspiration God…”

“The principle and practice process of the God Fork Technique…”

As one of the twelve directors of the Clearing Bureau, Aquarius Director had likely been in office for close to a hundred years, possessing numerous secrets. Though lacking in quality, the quantity was certainly abundant.

And as her lips flapped rapidly, one weight after another appeared on the left pan. Leon, whose familiarity with Ma Zhe was only half-baked, immediately felt the urge to confess again and kept increasing the stakes.

“The surplus value theory holds that exploitation in capitalist societies stems from the surplus value created by laborers…”

“The royal family of the Crocodile Kingdom has been placed under house arrest by mechanical intelligences, and those currently running the kingdom are merely…”

“Society develops continuously, and social reforms aim to resolve internal contradictions and inequalities within society…”

“The members of the Gemini Division have been completely controlled, except for one person who escaped, and now…”

With both parties gritting their teeth and continuously adding weights, neither Leon nor Aquarius Director understood what the other was saying anymore. They could only follow the fluctuating urges to confess, their worn-out lips moving ceaselessly as they poured out information with bulging veins.

Compared to Leon, who only needed to reveal secrets, Aquarius Director, who also had to bear the consumption of the [Scales of Truth], paid a significantly higher price. Even though she still had many secrets left, she was already so drained she could barely stand, collapsing onto the ground.

Just as Leon was overjoyed and prepared to pursue victory, a fatal problem arose… he had nothing left to say.

Damn it! The exam syllabus only covers the first five chapters, and I haven’t memorized the rest yet!!!

“The Nightmare Black Sect summoned the Soulfall Black Abyss, which will briefly overlap with the kingdom, during which everyone will…”

“…”

“In addition to Nathan, I’ve arranged other contingencies to attack the Virgo Subdivision…”

“…”

“?!”

After revealing two secrets without receiving a response, Aquarius Director finally noticed Leon’s pause. Seeing that he seemed to have run out of things to say, the severely weakened Aquarius Director became greatly invigorated, scrambling to her feet with a grotesque expression as she glared at Leon.

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You damn dog! I chose to question you thinking it would save some energy, but this Level 3 Cleaner harbored secrets of this level, nearly killing me!

And worst of all, I couldn’t understand a thing he said! If I had known it would end like this, I should’ve forced Olivia faster and fought while asking her! With regret and anger distorting her features, Aquarius Director didn’t pull out any anomalous items but instead extended her bony hands and lunged at Leon, apparently intending to strangle him to death!

In this critical moment, Leon’s mind flashed, dodged the staggering lunge, and shouted at the top of his lungs:

“What I’m about to say is the arrangement order of the basic elements constituting the material world according to atomic number, chemical properties, and periodic laws!

“Hydrogen, Helium, Lithium, Beryllium, Boron, Carbon, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Fluorine, Neon; Sodium, Magnesium, Aluminum, Silicon, Phosphorus, Sulfur, Chlorine, Argon, Potassium, Calcium…”

“????”

What the hell is this thing?!?!

Under the impact of the periodic table, Aquarius Director couldn’t help but turn around in shock and was horrified to see another enormous weight appear on the right pan of the Scales of Truth.

Even though this weight looked slightly unstable, with varying degrees of damage and parts that seemed inconsistent, given its volume larger than a rice cooker, it still counted as a “world-class” secret!

Besides the previous one, he can come up with another secret of the same level? What the hell does this guy do?! Staring at this second world-class weight, Aquarius Director was utterly stupefied, turning back to look at Leon who was still reciting, incredulously shouting: “How the hell did you…”

Aquarius Director’s shocked shout was cut short when the Scales of Truth, weighed down by the equivalent of four “world-class” secrets, let out a cracking sound and exploded with a loud bang, scattering countless precious weights everywhere! “Wow!”

At the instant the Scales of Truth was crushed, Aquarius Director seemed to suffer unimaginable injuries, spitting out a large mouthful of black blood and even some fragments of internal organs.

As the user was injured, the [Time Gap] used to accelerate them both finally collapsed. With a sensation akin to gears meshing, the world that had been moving painfully slow gradually sped up.

Bad!

Noticing the changes and the gazes of various Clearing Bureau members gradually focusing on them, Aquarius Director couldn’t help but tremble violently. Covered in blood, she leapt up and lunged toward the nearest “world-class” weight.

Although she couldn’t understand it, since it could crush the Scales of Truth, the stuff this damn guy said must be valuable!

Leon reacted and chased after her, trying to stop her before the [Time Gap] ended, but unfortunately, his anomalous items were suppressed by the asteroid and couldn’t activate, and his physical capabilities were far inferior.

Thus, after less than a few seconds of struggle, Leon was kicked away by the bleeding Aquarius Director and landed on several other weights.

“Secret Anomalous Creation Art comes from…”

“Society develops continuously…”

“Foundation of the God Fork Technique…”

The moment Leon touched them, these three weights vanished instantly, transforming into vast amounts of knowledge flooding his mind.

On the other side, Aquarius Director touched the weight carrying the periodic table but couldn’t comprehend it no matter what, so she clutched this invaluable world-class secret and staggered toward the Clearing Bureau Director… or rather, the unconscious Nathan behind him.

“Open the door!!!”

With a blood-flecked shout, the unconscious middle-aged Joshua inexplicably raised his hand, and an invisible door opened before him!

Finally… Finally…

Looking at the doorway leading to her secret base outside, Aquarius Director, who thought she was fully prepared but encountered failure after failure, almost cried.

Just as she threw the middle-aged Joshua inside and prepared to deliver a few parting threats, she saw Leon swing the crimson watermelon-sized weight and smash it onto the back of her head.

This is the power of Ma Zhe’s first five chapters! A brutal hit from XX-ism knocked down the heavily injured Aquarius Director. Worried about being dragged into the door by her, Leon didn’t dare to continue fighting and turned and ran without hesitation.

The similarly awakened Aquarius Director narrowly missed grabbing Leon, tearing only a piece of his clothing.

Tsk… Such a slippery kid!

Seeing the [Time Gap] nearing its end, Aquarius Director dared not pursue further, casting a venomous glance at Leon before retreating into the Otherworld Door and hastily evacuating from the Clearing Bureau headquarters.

What Aquarius Director didn’t notice was that Leon’s blow to the back of her head wasn’t purely out of frustration. A bright red strand of hair had taken advantage of this perfect opportunity and was stealthily tossed into her collar…

(End of Chapter)