Chapter 19

“Uh… indeed, it was just an accident.”

Leon looked at his consolingly gentle younger sister and the much-improved complexion on her face, feeling the heavy burden on his heart slightly lift. He chuckled in agreement.

…

That’s right. Yesterday’s incident involving four to five hundred people affected by the out-of-control浸染者 (contaminated individuals), after “the mastermind” was shot dead by Leon and Emma Senior submitted the event report, had already been transformed into an accidental mishap.

According to the Red-haired Bureau Director, beneath the Clearing Bureau Headquarters, there was an item of abnormality with an astonishingly high rank.

Once the employees of the Clearing Bureau completed their cleaning tasks and submitted the event reports, they would trigger the rule of this abnormal item, forcibly rewriting the relevant memories of the majority of those who experienced the event. This incident, for instance, was confused as a gas explosion accident.

In Anna’s memory, the gas pipes of the hospital first cracked, causing the initial explosion. Coincidentally, this explosion shattered the storage room containing anesthetics, allowing large amounts of anesthetic to quickly spread through the ventilation ducts, resulting in the collective unconsciousness of hundreds of patients and medical staff.

The second round of explosions occurred on the sixth floor where the dean’s office was located, as well as on the fourth floor where the special care ward was situated. The dean of the Red Brick Road Hospital was killed instantly, and the special care ward where Anna was located was completely devastated.

Fortunately, she had smelled the leaking gas beforehand and decisively led two nurses to hang out of the window, narrowly saving their lives. However, her leg was cut by falling shards of glass from upstairs, and one nurse suffered serious injuries with multiple joint damages.

Just as the third explosion was about to occur, fortunately, Leon and his colleagues arrived to check on her, promptly shutting off the gas valve, preventing a greater disaster, and saving the lives of hundreds of people in the hospital.

…

Yes, that reportedly super awesome abnormal item even took into account the mental health of the Clearing Bureau employees when covering up the event. It deliberately left behind the “achievements” of Leon and his colleague so that they wouldn’t feel unappreciated after saving lives.

Even more bizarrely, to facilitate the Clearing Bureau’s reporting upwards to claim bonuses, it even supplemented the victims’ memories with the bureau receiving public complaints about excessive fees charged by the Red Brick Road Hospital, emphasizing its thoughtfulness, openness, and humanization, along with a slight hint of shamelessness.

Upon hearing such utterly ridiculous operations, Leon instinctively questioned this abnormal item. Feeling that something so adept at “adapting” clearly possessed its own intelligence, he believed it must have issues and wasn’t simply an object following rules.

However, the response Leon received from the Red-haired Bureau Director was that this abnormal item originally had a brain, and in fact, it itself was essentially a brain.

This memory-twisting high-level abnormal item was originally an ill-prepared deity that descended hastily and got captured alive.

After eliminating it, the Clearing Bureau discovered its remarkable ability in altering memories, so they simply dug out its brain, placed it inside an abnormal item called the “Illusion Vase,” and turned it into a specialized abnormal item for wrapping up large-scale events.

Nevertheless, due to the extreme danger of this thing’s ability to modify group memories, if allowed to be controlled by a single person, it could potentially lead to very severe consequences. Therefore, the activation conditions were extremely stringent, requiring the consent of more than half of the twelve directors. Normally, it remained buried underground, only to be used during exceptionally dangerous situations.

…

So, what exactly constitutes “exceptionally dangerous”? Or more straightforwardly, would someone attempting to attack the Clearing Bureau qualify as “exceptionally dangerous”?

When listening to the Red-haired Bureau Director explain this point, Leon almost immediately thought about the definition of “danger” and resolved a huge doubt—why do the countries in this world allow organizations like the Clearing Bureau to exist, and why do they actively cooperate? They probably don’t want to cooperate but have no choice! After all, just this memory-altering brain of the evil god is enough to give any kingdom with ulterior motives a headache. Who knows what other strange things the Clearing Bureau has hidden throughout its long history?

Through this information, Leon indirectly understood how powerful the Clearing Bureau truly was. He was now certain that he would likely be bound to this mysterious organization for the rest of his life.

Standing on the front line defending humanity, knowing the truth about the world, obtaining abilities far surpassing ordinary people… These alone were already hard to refuse. Not to mention the Clearing Bureau’s excellent treatment and benefits, and it even had formal recognition from the kingdom.

Especially regarding the issue of official status, he heard that in the current matchmaking market of the capital city, whether male or female, anyone with official status was particularly sought after…

“Brother? Brother! What’s wrong with you?”

After calling out to Leon several times without receiving a response, Anna, who was sipping fish soup quietly with small spoonfuls, couldn’t help but blink in confusion.

Looking at her brother who alternated between looking unusually serious and then smiling bashfully, the frail girl thought for a moment before placing the milky white fish soup back on the bedside table. She then raised her right hand, covering her lips which were shiny from grease, and suppressed her voice to cough softly.

“Hmm?”

Upon hearing the muffled cough that had made him worry constantly over the past two years, Leon snapped out of his wandering thoughts instantly, like a reflex.

He hurriedly looked at the girl lying on the bed and, seeing that Anna stopped coughing after just one light cough, he relaxed. He then picked up the bowl of soup from the bedside table, somewhat embarrassedly saying, “I was thinking about work earlier and didn’t pay attention to you… Why did you cough just now? Did you choke? Should I feed you instead?”

“No… um…”

Seeing Leon look over immediately upon hearing her cough, the frail girl felt a faint warmth in her eyes. Shaking her head, she wanted to say she hadn’t choked, but seeing the spoon already brought to her mouth, she decided not to refuse.

Leaning on Leon’s arm, she sat up a little and leaned against the cushion he had brought. Resting against the headboard, the frail girl began drinking the fish soup spooned to her again.

But for some reason, despite having already drunk more than half a bowl of soup on her own, she occasionally lightly coughed a couple of times. Each time, she smiled faintly in response to Leon’s concerned inquiries, then slightly opened her oily lips, contentedly waiting for the next spoonful of fish soup…

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Mom and Dad, are you still watching over me?

If possible, I hope you can make this bowl of soup last a little longer, so that Brother stays with me a bit more. But please don’t make it too much longer; just a few more spoonfuls will do…

“Dub, dub-dub.”

The sound of knuckles tapping against the glass interrupted the frail girl’s prayer.

Both people in the ward looked towards the sound and were quite surprised to find a girl with red-rimmed eyes standing outside the door.

The doll-faced girl appeared to be around the same age as them, about sixteen or seventeen years old. Yet, she wore a mature professional suit and carried a delicate name badge on her chest.

Judging by her appearance, she seemed to have already started working, possibly for several years. However, for some unknown reason, she gave off a strange sense of awkwardness, as if she wasn’t yet accustomed to wearing this outfit.

“I’m from the gas company. I signed the acceptance document for the hospital’s pipeline here, I… I’m sorry!”

After gaining permission from Leon and Anna, the girl with slightly swollen eyes cautiously pushed the door open and walked in. Without saying anything else, she bowed deeply at a ninety-degree angle towards Leon, tearfully saying:

“This entire incident is my fault!

If I had been stricter during the inspection, the pipeline might not have exploded, and your wife wouldn’t have jumped from the building and gotten injured! Please rest assured, I will certainly provide compensation that will satisfy you!”

(End of Chapter)