Chapter 147

After the tipsiness began to wear off, the Red-haired Bureau Director regained a bit of their usual “wise and mighty” appearance. Even while closed-eyed and curled up in Leon’s arms, they still guessed his thoughts and softly explained: “At its peak, it was indeed the strongest great demon beneath the True Gods, but it was too greedy. Unlike other demons who focused on one or two concepts, it chose seven supreme sins all at once, hoping to leapfrog into becoming the top-tier Nightmare King.”

“Though its talent was outstanding enough to touch upon all seven sin-level concepts simultaneously, its rank was still lacking—it couldn’t master all seven sins at once, so its individual abilities were extremely diluted.”

“Most anomalous items at the same level specialize in one concept or have one main and one auxiliary. Its seven concepts had nearly equal strength, making it normal that its upper limit couldn’t compare with others. Or rather, considering how scattered its abilities are, it’s already impressive that it managed to squeeze into the top hundred just because of its exceptional talent.”

So that’s what happened…

Recalling the situation of the Black Goat, Leon couldn’t help but show a look of realization in his eyes, but soon shook his head.

“But it’s still in the top hundred. The higher the ranking, the greater the difficulty must be. Director, you’ve got number 004 and number 013. Even if I gathered all the parts… uh… collected all the components of the Black Goat, I’d still fall far short.”

Upon hearing Leon’s words, the Red-haired Bureau Director couldn’t help but open their eyes and glance back at him.

Yes, an anomalous item that could only make it into the top hundred isn’t comparable to number 004, the “Twelve Anthills,” or number 013, the “Lustful Blood Hair.” But would anyone else immediately think of comparing themselves to me?

“It’s not necessarily inferior.”

Without exposing Leon’s unintentionally revealed “ambition,” the Red-haired Bureau Director snuggled further into the warm embrace behind them, then closed their eyes again and calmly narrated:

“The numbering of anomalous items can change. The original number of the item numbered 013 was actually 116. After some events involving me, it became anomaly number 013.”

From 116 to 013? Such a huge improvement!

Upon hearing the Red-haired Bureau Director’s words, Leon couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow, full of curiosity as he asked, “Jumping over a hundred ranks directly… What did you do, Director?”

What did I do…

The Red-haired Bureau Director shook their head upon hearing this, didn’t answer Leon’s question, but instead slightly turned their body, reaching into Leon’s collar and untying the hair around his neck. Then, holding the end of the red strand, they lightly tapped Leon’s fingertip.

[Name: Lustful Blood Hair – 941026 (Slaughter, Crimson)]

[Appearance: A bright red strand of hair; when rubbed carefully with the soul, one can perceive a faint bloody smell, along with the curses and insults filled with resentment from an old man.]

[Ability: Slaughter Proliferation, Crimson Domain]

[Cost: While your mind remains clear, you will endlessly suffer from the insults of those you kill.]

[File: After the failure of the Crimson Lord’s descent, the previous Taurus Director gathered its remains and created this growth-type anomalous item. For every human the holder kills, a new controllable crimson long hair is generated.

Due to the strict growth conditions, even after being nurtured by two holders for a total of 120 years, the quantity of Lustful Blood Hairs had barely broken ten thousand, making the effects displayed disproportionate to the precious materials consumed. This anomalous item was once considered a complete failure.

However, during the Ophiuchus Erosion Incident, the third holder of Lustful Blood Hair, Olivia, was forced to use the anomalous item “Thirteen Anthills,” completely destroying the Clearing Bureau’s Ophiuchus Division and the Eastern Karlevin Kingdom. Overnight, the quantity of blood hairs surged to 129,600,000, roughly equivalent to the total population of the Eastern Karlevin Kingdom before its destruction.]

[Evaluation: This is the most dangerous and terrifying anomalous item you’ve encountered so far. If the holder wishes, within five seconds, they could slaughter all living beings in the Capital City.]

[Taint Value: Indeterminate, increases with the simultaneous activation of more blood hairs.]

!?!!! 129,600,000… people?!?!

“Looks like you’ve figured out the answer.”

Feeling Leon’s suddenly stiffened body and the involuntary loosening of his arms, the Red-haired Bureau Director sighed softly, gently pushed away Leon’s arm, left the long-lost warmth of the embrace, sat up on the sofa, and said calmly: “Do you want to leave the Virgo Bureau?”

Gazing at Leon’s shocked eyes, the Red-haired Bureau Director, whose cheeks still carried a slight flush from alcohol, softly suggested:

“If you’d like to work somewhere else, Beverly, the director of Leo Subdivision, and I are quite familiar, and she’s very interested in your abilities. I can recommend you there, and the treatment will be guaranteed to be the same as here.

She has a penchant for eating pastries, but nothing outrageous in her history—she’s a thoroughly decent person. You should be able to live comfortably there…”

“Director.”

Interrupting the Red-haired Bureau Director, Leon hesitated and asked, “Is the Thirteen Anthills… the anomalous item numbered 004? What’s the relationship between the Eastern Karlevin Kingdom and the Northern Karlevin Kingdom? And what exactly is the Ophiuchus Erosion Incident?”

“These things…”

Staring at Leon for a moment, the Red-haired Bureau Director’s lips moved slightly, then turned their head slightly to explain sequentially: “Thirteen Anthills… after the disappearance of the Eastern Karlevin Kingdom, it’s now called [Twelve Anthills], corresponding to the remaining twelve kingdoms. Its ability, you should be able to guess without me saying it.

As for the Eastern Karlevin Kingdom… the current Karlevin Kingdom used to be called Western Karlevin Kingdom, separated by a river from where the Eastern Karlevin Kingdom originally stood.

And the Ophiuchus Erosion Incident refers to a rebellion initiated by the Ophiuchus Division of the Eastern Karlevin Kingdom. The division director attempted to sacrifice the entire Eastern Karlevin Kingdom to ascend to godhood and transform half the world into his divine realm.

Unwilling to accept this outcome, after nine rounds of voting among the twelve directors, four abstained and eight approved, deciding to destroy the Eastern Karlevin Kingdom first using the [Thirteen Anthills] to thwart his plan. I was the executor responsible for carrying it out.

After that, the Thirteen Anthills became Twelve Anthills, which I’ve overseen until now. The number of Clearing Bureau divisions also decreased from 88 to 87, and internal investigations and control have become increasingly stringent. Any behavior slightly crossing the line will be severely punished…”

I see…

After listening to the Red-haired Bureau Director’s explanation, Leon finally pieced together the general outline and looked somewhat complexly, saying:

“So those people cursing you upstairs… were the ones who initially…”

“That’s exactly what you’re thinking…”

Vaguely responding, the Red-haired Bureau Director avoided his gaze and continued somberly: “All the original members of the Virgo Bureau left after that incident. It wasn’t their fault; after all, with over a hundred million hanging over their heads… um… Leon, if you can’t accept this and want to leave, I understand your feelings.”

“…”

Sitting on the spacious sofa, facing the Red-haired Bureau Director silently for a while, Leon didn’t say whether he would leave but softly asked: “Director, may I ask you a question?”

Hearing Leon’s words, a flicker of surprise crossed the Red-haired Bureau Director’s eyes, but they still nodded:

“Ask.”

“Suppose there’s a train about to pass through a fork in the tracks…”

After briefly recalling, Leon opened his mouth and said,

“I…”

Subconsciously clenching his fists, the Red-haired Bureau Director didn’t answer immediately but bit her lips and countered, “Are you talking about my situation? But these two situations aren’t the same…”

“So, would you pull the lever to let it hit the one person who wouldn’t have died otherwise, or let it continue and hit the twelve people?”

Leon persisted in asking.

“I… I don’t know.”

“You wouldn’t know.”

Leon nodded and said gently,

“Because you’re not that person. The directors who voted are that person. You’re just the lever being held.”

“…”

“Thank you for comforting me…”

Seeing that Leon seemed ready to console her, the Red-haired Bureau Director forced a smile, then said with a dim look in her eyes:

“But these two incidents really are different. I’m not just a puppet following orders. I had the ability to refuse pulling the ‘lever,’ but I didn’t refuse and ended up doing it myself…”

“If you had refused, you would just be a passerby holding a plunger, and someone else would take your place with a new lever, sending the train down the path with only one person tied.”

“…”

“Director, sometimes people shouldn’t think of themselves as being too important.”

“…”

After waiting for a while, seeing the Red-haired Bureau Director still tightly pursed her lips and maintained silence, Leon shook his head and said: “I won’t say things like ‘your choice was right’ or ‘they were going to die eventually anyway, better to die in your hands to save others,’ or ‘you were supposed to do it.’

Because if I were from the Eastern Karlevin Kingdom, I would curse you fiercely upstairs, louder than anyone else, and curse the entire Clearing Bureau, hoping you all get run over by carriages tomorrow and crushed on the spot several times.

But now, since I’m one of the twelve bound to the original track, genuinely saved by your choice, I don’t have the right to curse you. Neither do those predecessors who left the bureau—they can choose to leave you, but they don’t have the right to criticize you.”

“There are people who’ve tried to console me, but no one has ever said it like you…”

Shaking her head with a strange expression, looking at Leon, who was weak in power but seemed to have a stronger heart than herself, the Red-haired Bureau Director couldn’t help but look at him and asked:

“What would you do if you were in my position? Would you let the train continue and hit the twelve people tied to the tracks?”

“I’d try to find the person who tied them first, then shove their head into the train’s boiler.”

“How can you cheat like that?”

“No cheating, that’s what I truly think.”

Leon shook his head, meeting the Red-haired Bureau Director’s slightly reproachful gaze seriously: “Director, I’m someone who lacks security. To be honest, since knowing the truth of this world, I’ve started craving power, desperately craving it!

And the main reason I pursue power is so that when faced with such problems, I have the ability to directly kill the scum who ties people, avoiding these kinds of moral dilemmas with no correct answers.”

“And if after doing everything you can, you still encounter such a problem?”

“In that case…”

Leon hesitated upon hearing this, then took something out of his pocket and showed it to the Red-haired Bureau Director.

“See where my family is tied, and I’ll just divert the train to the other side, then endure the curses of those hundred million people, drink daily like you, so I don’t feel bad when sober.”

“…”

Looking at the small bottle in Leon’s hand, the Red-haired Bureau Director couldn’t help but shake her head speechlessly, somewhat amused and exasperated:

“Aren’t you just like me? You’re really…”

“Yes, we’re the same.”

After unscrewing the cap and taking a sip, Leon smiled helplessly:

“Since you’ve done your best but still can’t solve the problem, what else can you do? Though escaping might be shameful, it’s useful, isn’t it?”

“Yes! It’s really useful!”

Seeing the shiny little bottle in Leon’s hand, the Red-haired Bureau Director’s eyes involuntarily curved, laughing along with him. Her still slightly flushed smile was like a rhododendron blooming in a garden.

The curses in her ears remained crazily piercing, the heavy pressure in her heart was still as oppressive as dark clouds, and the deep guilt that had been tormenting her was still sharp and cold, like a weapon cutting into her flesh, without any sign of lessening.

But for some reason, she suddenly wasn’t so afraid anymore. If she had to find a reason, it might be that someone not only respected her choice but also acknowledged her weakness and escape.

Hmm… In moments like this, you really should have a drink! Snatching the small bottle from Leon’s hand, she tilted her long neck back and drank it all in one gulp. Licking the slightly spicy liquor from her lips, she threw the empty bottle aside and, emboldened by the alcohol, loudly invited him: “I just borrowed money from Emma today! Let’s go! I’ll treat you to drinks! The most expensive ones!”

…

The people at the Virgo Subdivision are really… too much!

After knocking on the door for a long time without getting a response, the two investigators saw, through the window of the Bureau Director’s office, piles of empty bottles on the floor and a man and woman sleeping soundly under blankets on the table. They couldn’t help but shake their heads, then took out their survey forms, wrote a few lines, and marked two big red Xs.

The Bureau Director leads by drinking excessively! Indulging all night! Suspected inappropriate relationships within the bureau! Regardless of the matters related to the Leon Blood Night, the ratings for conduct and business performance must be severely reduced!(End of Chapter)