Chapter 390

“Achoo!!!”

After letting out a third, thunderously loud sneeze, Leon couldn’t help but vigorously rub his nose.

Weird, what was going on today? Why did his nose keep itching like this? Even after blowing his nose forcefully, it still didn’t feel quite right. While waiting for someone in the passenger area of the dock, Leon frowned and glanced at the towering chimneys lining both sides of the river. Just as he was about to find some tissue to blow his nose again, someone lightly patted him on the back.

“Nice seeing you again.”

A tall, thin middle-aged man, who was carrying a large suitcase in his right hand, had quietly appeared behind Leon without even startling the black goat nearby.

After confirming that he hadn’t mistaken the person by looking at Leon’s face, the tall, thin man lifted the top hat on his head with his free left hand, smiled, and greeted him proactively: “Sorry, the ferry is queued up on the other side of the river, two hours later than the schedule… Didn’t make you wait too long, did I?”

“Not at all, Mr. Edward.”

After glancing at the emblem on the suitcase handle which read “Scorpio Division’s emblem,” Leon, following the Red-haired Bureau Director’s suggestion and arriving two hours late to pick him up, politely nodded in acknowledgment and honestly replied, “I just got here myself, so I haven’t waited long.”

“Hehe, that’s good.”

Without asking why the red-haired bureau director hadn’t come to pick him up personally, the tall man took a step forward and walked toward the exit of the waiting area along with the crowd. As he walked, he turned sideways and explained to Leon, who quickly caught up: “It’s not that I intentionally made you wait longer. When I was still a Level 1 Cleaner, I once accompanied the former director on a task to clean up those wayward spirits that escaped from the normal timeline. Unfortunately, a small part of my soul got nibbled away.

Ever since then, my sense of time has been off; I’m always two hours late compared to everyone else.

So if there’s any situation where you want me to arrive on time, you’ll need to adjust the time you tell me by adding two hours in advance. If you want an eight o’clock appointment, you should tell me six o’clock, or else you’ll have to wait two hours for me.”

“I see.”

Leon followed closely behind, nodded, and handed over a pre-adjusted pocket watch, saying, “Before I came, the Bureau Director already informed me in advance and asked me to adjust the watch according to the Capital City’s time for you.”

“Great, very thoughtful~”

With a satisfied expression, the Chief of the Scorpio Division took the pocket watch and replaced the old one hanging on his lapel. For some reason, his mood seemed particularly good. After carefully observing Leon’s expression, he smiled and said:

“The watch is great, and so are you.

Even though you’re just a Level 3 Cleaner, despite knowing that facing the Nightmare King could result in permanent enslavement if we fail, you still chose to stay and fight alongside Olivia.

Let’s not talk about strength for now; the courage and audacity that Cleaners need are certainly up to par, and I admire you… How about joining our Scorpio Division like your seniors?”

“…”

Same old recruitment pitch…

Upon hearing the familiar olive branch extended after exchanging only a few words, Leon’s cheeks involuntarily twitched twice.

During the previous visit to the headquarters, the Chief of the Scorpio Division, Edward, had already tried to poach him right in front of the Red-haired Bureau Director, but Leon managed to dodge it.

According to what the other party said, almost all the cleaners who left the Virgo Subdivision eventually went to him, and the biggest conflict between him and their Bureau Director stemmed from this…

“Sorry, I don’t plan to switch jobs anytime soon.”

Shaking his head slightly this time, Leon didn’t embarrass the other party like last time but politely reminded him:

“Hmm, I understand.”

Upon hearing Leon mention the “main matter,” the Chief of the Scorpio Division’s smile faded slightly. He straightened his hat, picked up the pocket watch hanging from his lapel, and glanced at the needle.

“There’s still half an hour… Have the arrangements after Soulfall Black Abyss descends been discussed with Olivia? Did she tell you?”

“She did.”

Looking at the index finger of the other party opening the luggage buckle, realizing that he was indeed ready, Leon answered with some relief:

“The Bureau Director and three directors at headquarters requested support. The moment Soulfall Black Abyss overlaps with reality, the three directors will shift the headquarters’ position to an appropriate place and briefly project a quarter of the sun’s light for three seconds to burn the approaching Dream Realm and Soulfall Black Abyss.

Once the Dream Realm is scorched open by the sun, the Bureau Director will enter the Dream Realm actively, fully deploy the ‘Crimson Slaughter Hair,’ and block the Dream Realm creatures rushing toward reality with nightmares, minimizing the impact of the Nightmare King’s arrival as much as possible.

Your main responsibility is to guard reality, hunt down the Dream Realm creatures that slip through, and when the Nightmare King arrives, locate its position and try to tie it up for a while. I’ll inform the Bureau Director to assist you in intercepting the Nightmare King.”

“Hmph, a simple and brutal plan… But it’s not bad. I’d rather not join her in entering the Dream Realm.”

Having listened to Leon’s recounting, the tall man snorted disdainfully and immediately turned his head to look at Leon with interest, counter-questioning: “Also, judging from your tone, you’re mainly responsible for staying close to me and relaying messages to her, right?”

“Yes.”

Slightly tilting his head, showing the red hair wrapped around his shoulder to the tall man, Leon cautiously responded:

“The Bureau Director gave me a strand of ‘Crimson Slaughter Hair.’ If you successfully intercept the arriving Nightmare King, she will sense the presence here and directly find us to encircle and kill the Nightmare King together.”

“Is that so? Then I should take a good look first.”

After listening to Leon’s words, the pupil in the right eye of the tall man, just like Leon’s own, eerily moved around before rapidly losing color and turning completely white like the eyeball.

Giving Leon a harsh “white eye,” checking his body and soul, the corner of the tall man’s mouth unconsciously curled upward as he smiled and commented: “According to the latest classification within the Bureau, the ‘Leon Value’ of a Level 3 Cleaner ranges from 1-10 points, while the ‘Leon Value’ of a Level 2 Cleaner ranges from 11-30 points. Your ‘Leon Value’ is approximately 7-8 points.

At your level, you’re pretty decent among Level 3 Cleaners, but further up, you’re nothing special. In front of a Nightmare King with a ‘Leon Value’ exceeding 63 points, you’re no different from an ant on the roadside. Staying here doesn’t make much sense.”

“…”

“Listen to my advice, give me Olivia’s hair, and go wherever you want.”

The tall man extended his right hand calmly and said: “Considering that you’ve only been dealing with anomalous items for a few months and are currently in a high-speed transformation period, at your current contamination rate, you might reach over 30 ‘Leon Points’ in one or two years, and reaching 31 points and above already qualifies as a Level 1 Cleaner.

If you don’t have much potential, dying would be fine, but you’re still a fairly promising talent. Dying before you’ve fully grown is quite wasteful…

Come on, hand over Olivia’s hair. Anyway, whether you participate in this mission or not makes little difference. Instead of letting you die like this, it’s better to preserve a future elite for the Bureau.”