Chapter 192

Two days later, at dawn, in the Old District of the Capital City, Patriot Avenue.

In the old district streets where hygiene standards were generally not up to par, nighttime security was chaotic, and garbage trucks visited only once a week on average, Patriot Avenue was definitely an exception.

It had garbage trucks passing by every day, special patrol guards assigned by the Public Security Bureau, and walls that were repainted three times a year regularly.

Yes, unlike other streets that would be ignored for twenty or thirty years, even if all the paint peeled off and no one cared, Patriot Avenue not only had dedicated sanitation measures but also its walls were frequently painted luxuriously, clean and tidy, almost unlike a street located in the old district.

As for the reason…

Being a street rebuilt with special funds from the Ministry of Finance to commemorate soldiers who fought valiantly in the defense war, Patriot Avenue was not only the face of the king and parliament but also the residence of many soldiers who were injured and retired six years ago in the war. It was only natural that it should receive some preferential treatment, and no one would question this.

Unfortunately, these preferential treatments in public expenditure seemed unable to solve the widespread poverty of discharged soldiers, and their glorious experiences of fighting for the country could not exempt them from violent beatings by patrol guards when they relieved themselves near walls after drinking.

…

“Stop! Damn it! Pull up your pants!”

After hastily kicking over the drunkard standing by the wall, the two patrolling guards looked at the fresh urine stains steaming down the bright red wall and involuntarily revealed expressions of wanting to cry.

完蛋了，又在自己巡逻的地方出事，薪水怕是要被扣了！看着地上那个 drunk who was kicked halfway through relieving himself, with his pants now heavily stained, the two guards glanced around the empty street and then circled him, gritting their teeth as they began kicking him.

“You damn dog! This wall is painted to commemorate the defense war!”

“This is the third time this week! Damn it! Can’t you go somewhere else?”

“Beat him!”

After kicking for a while and seeing the drunkard curled up without making a sound, the two guards, who were sure to have their salaries docked, still weren’t satisfied. They dragged him over to the urine stain on the wall, threw him a dirty rag, and ordered him with annoyance to clean it up.

But after shakily standing up, the drunkard didn’t pick up the smelly rag on the ground. Instead, he reached into his pocket, grabbed something, moved his throat up and down, coughed out a big lump of yellowish-green phlegm, and spat it toward the freshly painted commemorative wall of the defense war.

Then, with a “ding” sound, a bronze combat medal commemorating participation in the defense war, engraved with a robin feather, landed on the memorial wall alongside the phlegm.

“Patriot Avenue? Hah!”

…

Still, it wasn’t quite enough.

Looking at the watch’s three needles constantly jumping but ultimately stopping in the “human” zone, failing to reach the “anomalous” zone, the old man across the street with a downturned corner of his mouth shook his head and then said to the middle-aged man sitting opposite him at the table: “This guy isn’t bad. He has a painful past and intense emotions. All aspects are very close to meeting the standard to become an anomaly, having the qualifications to let the ‘seed’ sprout.

“But his soul isn’t pure enough; there are too many scattered thoughts. To truly give birth to an anomaly, he needs to experience a more heart-wrenching pain that will completely throw him into the depths of despair…

“Does he have family?”

“Yes.”

After looking at the drunkard being beaten by the two guards, the middle-aged man, whose temples were showing some gray hair, paused for a moment before answering:

“Old Bajins’s wife passed away from illness, but he has a twenty-year-old son who joined us three years ago and is now responsible for purchasing living supplies.”

“Hmm?”

Upon hearing the middle-aged man’s words, the naturally frowning elder raised his eyebrows and asked with interest:

“How is the relationship between father and son?”

“Poor.”

The middle-aged man… or rather, the leader of the rebellion hesitated for a moment and shook his head: “Old Bajins suffered many injuries during the defense war six years ago. His right leg was pierced by nails, and his stomach was damaged by a whale oil bomb dropped by an airship, causing unbearable itching whenever it rained or snowed. He could only alleviate the pain by drinking heavily.

“And the severance pay given by the kingdom wasn’t much, most of which he drank away. So when his wife got liver disease, she couldn’t get treated and died within two years. Afterwards, he drank even more, often beating Xiaoba Jin when drunk, and Xiaoba Jin hated him as a father.”

“That’s really pitiful.”

After pityingly glancing at the drunkard across the street, the Aquarius Director sighed:

“Unfortunately, if only he had a son who wouldn’t give up on him no matter what and continued to take care of him.

“In that case, just by letting the last person unwilling to give up on him express complete disappointment or arranging a small accident for his son to forcibly extinguish the last flicker of hope in his heart, we could use the burst of pain to thoroughly purify his soul.

“Under the washing of despair expanded to the extreme, his soul would be stripped of all impurities, and at a certain moment, only the purest obsession would exist, thereby truly transcending the ordinary realm and successfully entering the threshold of anomaly. But now…”

After looking at the “soul” needle stuck below the anomaly line on the watch, the Aquarius Director shook her head:

“Impossible.

“If it was right after his wife’s death, I might have been able to push him a bit, but after so many years, his soul has already become numb, covered with a thick layer of dust, no longer meeting the conditions to become an anomaly.”

“Is that so…”

Sighing together, the middle-aged man stood up and said:

“Then let’s see the next person. Over the years, I’ve met quite a few people who might become anomalies. Since you came to find me, why don’t we meet them all at once!”

“Sorry, I’m afraid there won’t be enough time.”

After checking another wristwatch, the Aquarius Director shook her head: “There will soon be an internal inquiry targeting me. If I don’t pass the inquiry, I’ll have to undergo memory extraction by the bureau, so I need to return early to prepare. There won’t be time to check each person individually.”

Internal inquiry from the Clearing Bureau? The middle-aged man was stunned upon hearing this, then frowned and asked:

“What happened? Aren’t you one of the twelve most powerful directors? Why are you subject to internal review? Who can review you?”

“Of course, the other directors~”

The Aquarius Director said indifferently: “I’ve done so much outside over the years. Although I’ve always been careful, I haven’t even used my real identity, but I still inevitably left some traces. And the Clearing Bureau is full of talented people, so someone is bound to notice something amiss.

“Or rather, the fact that I’ve made it this long without being questioned is already surprising. Ever since… um… since a major event in the past, the world has become increasingly chaotic in recent years, with many outer gods stirring. As a result, the bureau has lost many capable hands, otherwise I fear I would have been exposed long ago.”

“I don’t know about all this.”

The middle-aged man shook his head and said: “I just want to know when you’ll be back.”

“Maybe in a couple of weeks.”

The Aquarius Director added calmly: “You should be able to guess. For such a large and loose organization like the Clearing Bureau, completing an inquiry of a senior member within a couple of weeks is already surprisingly fast.”

“And if it takes longer?”

“If it takes longer, then I’ll never come back, of course!”

Seemingly remembering something interesting, the Aquarius Director laughed and said:

“The ones initiating this inquiry against me include not only the top three directors in the bureau, but also several directors from the Yellow Path branch offices. If I can’t get through it, I probably won’t even have the chance to run, and will be taken down on the spot.

“Hmm… Let’s say, let’s set two weeks as the limit. If I haven’t returned after two weeks, assume I’ve been killed. At that time, run if you need to run, hide if you need to hide. Anyway, with your level of stealth, there aren’t many people in the bureau who can find your location.”

“…”

You’re really… quite candid…

After clicking his tongue somewhat speechless, the middle-aged man said expressionlessly: “Then let’s wait until you succeed in the inquiry to discuss further. I’ll keep an eye on those people first.”

“Hmm… To inspect the qualifications of those people, it’s not necessarily necessary to wait for me to return.”

After hearing the middle-aged man’s words, the Aquarius Director pondered for a moment, then actually took off the strange wristwatch with six needles on her left wrist and tossed it to the rebel leader.

“This thing is called the [Dream-Seeking Wristwatch]. Its original ability was to realize dreams, but after my modification, it can also check whether a person has the potential to become an anomaly. Just a drop of blood or a strand of hair as a marker is enough.”

While speaking, the Aquarius Director pointed to the cover of the wristwatch and explained the needles: “These six needles are divided into three groups, representing past and future, body and soul, character and emotion. In these three groups, if one needle in each group reaches the range of anomaly, it proves that this person has the qualification to accept the ‘seed’.

“For example, the ‘past’ needle and ’emotion’ needle of the gentleman named Old Bajins across the street both reached the range of anomaly, but the ‘soul’ needle did not meet the standard, so he lacks the condition to make the seed sprout, and thus it’s unlikely for him to become an anomaly.”

Past and future, soul and body, character and emotion?

After carefully memorizing the meanings of these six needles, looking at the strange needles engraved with peculiar patterns in the three groups, the middle-aged man couldn’t help but ask curiously:

“Why is it enough for just one needle in a group to move to become an anomaly?”

“Hmm… It’s a bit hard to explain… Let’s put it this way, you can think of the world as a canvas, and each person as a brush.”

After thinking for a moment, the Aquarius Director dipped her finger in coffee and drew a brown water mark on the tablecloth, then continued explaining:

“A person’s past experiences and future development are the traces he leaves and will leave on the world; owning a unique soul or a wondrous body determines the technique this brush uses when painting, whether it’s realistic or abstract.

“As for character and emotion, the former decides how a person treats the world, and the latter is the feedback a person gives to the world after experiencing it, equivalent to the color traces this brush paints on the canvas.”

Seeing the somewhat confused middle-aged man, the Aquarius Director sighed and said:

“To put it simply, these three groups of needles are probing what kind of painting a person paints on the world, what technique they use, and what kind of pigments they use.

“So if there is one ‘abnormality’ in each of these three groups, it can ensure that the painting created by this brush is also ‘abnormal’. Then I just need to provide a little help, and this abnormal brush will paint a picture named ‘anomaly’…

“Do you understand?”

“Sort of…”

After nodding hesitantly, the middle-aged man asked curiously: “What if all six needles move? What kind of anomalous item could such a person create?”

“If there’s really someone who makes all six needles move…”

The Aquarius Director frowned and said: “That would be a painful past, a great future, a strong body, a pure soul, an obsessive personality, and crazy emotions… Honestly, if you encounter such a person, I suggest you run as fast as possible.”

“Eh?”

“If there’s really such a person, whether they’re good or evil, they are destined to completely change the world and cause unimaginable waves.

“The anomalous items derived from such a person are like paintings created with the most dazzling and wild colors combined with the most unrestrained and fierce brushwork, depicting the utmost beauty… Of course, it might also be a scroll that destroys everything.”

“…”

“In short, change is terrifying, especially for people like you and me who aren’t exactly good guys. Pushing along behind them might result in nine deaths out of ten, and trying to stop the tide facing them will end in certain death.

“So if you really encounter such a person, don’t think too much, and don’t do anything unnecessary. Just run as far away as possible, and that’s it.”

“Alright…”

“Besides, I didn’t just leave this watch with you for nothing.”

After looking at the somewhat dazed middle-aged man, the Aquarius Director lifted her hand, pointing toward the direction of the Public Security Bureau, and said seriously: “In addition to detecting others’ potential to become anomalies, this thing can also help you find the anomalies I created… Don’t forget what you promised me!”

“You mean… the thing in the drawer of that red-haired director?”

“That’s right.”

The Aquarius Director nodded and earnestly instructed: “There’s something very important to me in that woman’s drawer, roughly the shape of a photo.

“Normally, you wouldn’t have the opportunity, but one of the people initiating this inquiry is her, so when the inquiry starts, you can take advantage of her absence and infiltrate the Clearing Bureau through the Otherworld Door.

“Afterward, the needles of the Dream-Seeking Wristwatch will automatically guide you to the photo I want. If you can successfully bring it back to me, I will certainly give you a satisfying reward.”

(End of Chapter)