Chapter 229

“Alright…”

Looking at the Taurus Director’s resolute expression, the Red-haired Bureau Director couldn’t help but sigh. She completely dismissed her unrealistic idea and instead said hesitantly, “Can you at least adjust our annual performance ranking? If this event is counted, our Virgo Bureau should be close to first place, right?”

“Hmm… How about we count it for next year?”

Completely not expecting this request, the Taurus Director hesitated a moment before replying, “The performance stone slab has already been issued, and the only Bureau Director with authority to adjust rankings isn’t here. Changing it now would be incredibly troublesome…”

“Then can we add a note instead? Like changing our division’s name temporarily?”

“What? Add a note?”

“Just change our name from ‘Virgo Subdivision’ to ‘Virgo Subdivision (Actually First).'”

Unable to endure the humiliation of working hard all year only to rank last, the Red-haired Bureau Director proposed hopefully: “If we could change our name to ‘Virgo Subdivision (Actually First),’ then on the performance stone slab, it would show as ’87th, Virgo Subdivision (Actually First)’—so we wouldn’t officially be last… Would that work?”

“…”

I didn’t know you’d come up with such a bizarre method…

Speechless, the Taurus Director opened her mouth but decided that refusing this “hero” would feel wrong. With a sigh, she reluctantly nodded, allowing the temporary renaming of the Virgo Subdivision.

When the Red-haired Bureau Director excitedly grabbed a chisel to modify the performance stone slab, the Taurus Director turned to the Bureau Director of Leo Division and asked,

“You, Beverly?”

“My request is the same as always.”

Having thought it through beforehand, Beverly cheerfully requested, “I hope you can find someone to replace me as director for a month so I can go to the Divine Realm of the Sweet Food God and have them make me pastries for a whole month!”

“Alright, you can leave tomorrow.”

After hearing the nearly identical requests from these two food-loving powerhouses, the Taurus Director couldn’t help but chuckle softly, immediately agreeing. She then looked at Leon with a kind gaze and asked, “What about you, Leon? What do you want?”

Upon hearing this, Leon hesitated for a moment before tentatively asking, “Can I make several requests?”

“Of course.”

Unlike the two directors whose indulgence in food had made them indifferent to other desires—with seventy points of taint value—Leon, being merely a level-three rookie, wanted nothing more than to quickly enhance his strength.

He already possessed plenty of powerful anomalous items, even ones he hadn’t fully utilized yet, and increasing his taint value wasn’t something that happened overnight. The only thing left was to upgrade his badge and the secret art he’d just obtained. So…

“My first request is… Could I borrow the bead of the Wine God?”

Seeing the slight furrowing of the Taurus Director’s eyebrows, Leon hurriedly explained, “I’m not asking for it on behalf of the director; I just want to taste the wine myself. And I definitely won’t overdo it—just one sip of each type of wine brewed.”

“One sip of each? Why only one sip?” The Taurus Director asked curiously.

Because just one sip would be enough to complete the recording, allowing the [Martyr of Liquor] badge to advance.

Looking at the golden brilliance of the [Martyr of Liquor] on his badge interface, Leon felt a surge of anticipation.

To upgrade the gold-level [Martyr of Liquor], he needed to taste one thousand types of “craft beer,” one hundred types of “fine wine,” ten types of “premium liquor,” and one type of “legendary brew.”

This condition was extremely challenging. Even though he’d accompanied the director multiple times, they hadn’t managed to complete even a tenth of it. But if that Wine God bead really was that magical, perhaps he could fill up the [Martyr of Liquor] in one go and directly upgrade it to the unique badge [Immortal Drinker]. That would be a unique badge!

“In fact, I also like drinking, but I don’t like getting drunk. I just want to taste the flavors, so one sip per type is enough!”

Eager to obtain his second unique badge, Leon worried about being dragged down by his alcoholic director and thus swore earnestly, “Lady Taurus! You don’t need to worry; I promise this time I’ll only drink it myself and definitely won’t share it with the director! Not even a single drop!”

“…”

Watching Leon, who without hesitation betrayed Olivia, the Taurus Director sighed involuntarily.

Alas… He seemed like such a good kid before, but falling under Olivia’s influence has corrupted him.

Now his physical constitution is average, and his alcohol tolerance is low, but once his body improves, he might become another big drinker rivaling Olivia…

“Alright…”

Rubbing her temples with a headache, the Taurus Director said helplessly,

“You must absolutely keep your word and not give any to Olivia. She really needs to quit drinking; continuing like this will eventually cause problems.”

“Uh-huh! I promise not to give her a single drop!”

“That’s settled then… I’ll send the bead over in a few days… Any other requests?”

“For my second request… I want to touch the Aquarius Star Palace.”

“???”

Seeing the Taurus Director suddenly become serious, Leon quickly explained,

“You know, my ability is to gain information through touch, and I recently learned some knowledge about anomalous creation secret arts. So…”

“So you want to try touching it to see if you can figure out how to gain the palace’s approval and learn the Aquarius secret art?”

After roughly understanding Leon’s intention, the Taurus Director hesitated, saying, “This is somewhat complicated… The star palaces carrying the twelve secret arts are enormous and part of the Yellow Path. They usually orbit the Sun, and there’s no way you could reach them.

Although directors can summon a small portion of the corresponding star palace using their authority, these things have very high status—though they’re not as high as the Watchtower Palace, they still surpass most True Gods. Are you sure you can handle touching it?”

“Though I’m uncertain, I still want to try…”

Knowing the Taurus Director was genuinely a saintly person willing to silently sacrifice herself for humanity, Leon revealed a bit more, testing the waters, “Lady Taurus, I believe my anomalous item may have an exceptionally high status, and there’s a chance I can discover something useful.

And I suspect we don’t have complete information about the star palaces within the Bureau? If I manage to uncover something, it might allow more people to master the secret arts, which would be beneficial.”

“…”

That’s true…

“Fine! I agree!”

After pondering for a while, the Taurus Director slowly nodded, convinced by Leon’s proposal. Then she seriously said,

“The corresponding star palace can only be summoned by its respective director. Since Aquarius has defected and its palace is sealed by the Bureau Director, I can only summon a part of the Taurus Star Palace for you to try touching.

Leon, if you truly discover a way to learn the corresponding secret art without the star palace’s approval, I can’t guarantee teaching you the other secret arts, but for the ‘Abnormal Blacksmithing’ secret art of the Taurus lineage, I promise to teach you everything you can learn!”