Chapter 402

Through the increasingly thin red web, Leon strained to look at the gaunt giant enveloped in a haze of gray mist. It seemed that in the fractured crown atop its head, he glimpsed his own face filled with doubt and uncertainty.

“It’s me! It came for me!”

Even without any evidence to support his guess, upon noticing the gaunt face seemingly aimed at him and the abyss sinking deeper into the Nightmare King’s eye sockets, Leon instinctively confirmed that the target was absolutely him, no mistake!

“How much longer?”

Sensing the approaching danger, Leon couldn’t help but take a deep breath and then tensely urged: “Hurry up! Tell me quickly! How much longer until you can bring him out!”

“…”

After hearing Leon’s question, the Snow Maiden who had been forced to sell herself gave him a glare, then tightly pursed her lips, refusing to speak.

Though you’ve got my body, you’ll never have my heart!

“…”

Damn! Looks like the [Unjust Snake Contract] can only make her work, utilizing the abilities of an anomalous item, but it can’t completely dominate her will, making her do everything I say.

Realizing that the Snow Maiden refused to cooperate, Leon took another deep breath, forcing himself to calm down as he began desperately thinking about the current situation.

The Scorpion Bureau Director won’t be out for a while, but the Nightmare King will break free soon.

If I stay in reality, even though I could save myself with [Wine Immortal], I still wouldn’t be able to stop it from spreading nightmares to sleeping humans or even drag me forcibly into the Dream Realm for eternal servitude.

After all, [Wine Immortal]’s duration is limited, and it only ensures my safety, not necessarily immunity to methods that don’t cause direct harm.

So there’s only one path left!

…

“Don’t bother looking anymore!”

After slapping the back of the Snow Maiden’s head, through physical contact, Leon updated the previous order.

“Open the passage to the nightmare, send me in first!”

“???”

“Hey! Isn’t this what you want?”

In the shocked gaze of the Scorpion Bureau Director, standing at the edge of the passage leading to the sixth level of nightmares, Leon pulled out the bottle he had previously given him, filled with the remaining [Dream-Eating Anomalies], shook it towards the gray misty giant in the night sky, and shouted loudly:

“If you want them, follow me in! The mother bug of the [Dream-Eating Anomalies] is inside the dream!”

Worried about misjudging his “priority” in the Nightmare King’s mind and whether it was as high as he thought, to ensure it would follow, Leon decisively raised the stakes: “But you’d better hurry up. Once I fully arrive, if you linger outside for more than a second, I’ll immediately start running, making you unable to find me forever, and every day I’ll throw a batch of larvae into the Dream Realm, then tell the other sovereigns of the Dream Realm that it’s all because of you!

In the future, if you fail to exterminate them just once, these bugs can infinitely proliferate, devouring half the Dream Realm in one go! Whether I can do it or not, you can try me!”

After completing the provocation, under the hollow-eyed gaze of the Nightmare King, Leon dragged the reluctant Snow Maiden and leaped into the passage leading to the sixth level of nightmares!

To come up with such a method… This kid is truly a born Cleaner!

Looking at Leon, holding the bottle containing the [Dream-Eating Anomalies], initiating a threat against the Nightmare King, then using himself as bait and jumping into the sixth level of nightmares, the Scorpion Bureau Director’s dog face instantly showed a strong approving expression.

At first, I merely valued his talent and potential, barely having a bit of appreciation for talent, but now it’s pure admiration!

Despite the complete failure of the original plan, he remains calm and rational; his resilient nature in not giving up when trapped in a dead end, seeking ways out; his quick analysis of the situation, weighing pros and cons, finding possibly the only answer—his sharpness and wisdom…

Not to mention the powerful anomalies he has on hand, and his outstanding potential that’s about to reach Level 2 in two months—among the hundreds of cleaners in the entire Scorpio Division, there isn’t a single person who can match him! Rare! Too damn rare! After thinking for 0.0001 seconds with the dog brain, the Scorpio Bureau Director made an immediate decision.

Screw Olivia! Does that drunkard deserve to bow to me? Keeping someone like this in the Virgo Subdivision is like throwing gold into shit—it’s wasteful. Instead of having Olivia bow and apologize, it’s better to change the condition, and after everything is over, ask her to transfer this perfect subordinate to me! Hmm… saying ‘perfect’ might not be entirely accurate. Though this guy is very outstanding, he does have a few minor flaws… like he’s not meticulous enough.

“Woof!”

Seeing the passage closed before he could enter, the dog-bodied Scorpio Bureau Director couldn’t help but bark loudly.

“Woof woof woof! You son of a bitch went in alone? You should’ve thought to bring me along too! Woof woof woof!”

…

“Gulping gulping gulping… phew!”

After spitting out the accidentally swallowed briny seawater, the corpse of the Swamp King Snake trembled slightly, then suddenly opened its eyes, fearfully raising its head out of the sea.

“Not… is this guy crazy?”

Looking up at the upper layer of dreams shattered by explosions, the Swamp King Snake, with most of its tail chopped off and its body not yet fully recovered, couldn’t help but bitterly complain to the others:

Before we accepted this task, didn’t that damn Aquarius Director say that as long as we let the other side know that breaking free would require a significant cost, they would give up struggling and obediently remain confined? Why did he fight so hard?

“That’s right!”

Upon hearing the Swamp King Snake’s complaint, the other four Nightmares who revived it couldn’t help but vent their grievances.

“Do you believe his lies?”

“We might have been tricked.”

“Damn humans, every last one of them is a liar!”

“My desert has been burned through three times!”

After wriggling its massive body covered in bright red blisters, the Sand Dune Giant Worm bared its mouth full of ring-shaped fangs, sighing with lingering fear:

“At first, I thought diving deep into the sand would be safe, but he set fire, turning over a hundred meters of sand into glass, scalding me to death inside!”

“My situation is similar…”

Lifting its enormous whale fin and pointing to a nearby large area of black rocks, the Green Tide Sea Monster sighed:

“Last time, he drew out magma from the seabed, burning a small island, literally boiling me alive… And you? How’s your dream realm doing?”

After hearing the Green Tide Sea Monster’s inquiry, the Bark Giant, whose body was blackened on one side with everything below the chest carbonized, couldn’t help but laugh bitterly.

“I’m a Face Forest Essence! A forest essence! Meeting a pyromaniac, that’s just asking to be used as firewood! My Mist Deep Forest can now be renamed Mist Fire Pit!”

“Alas…”

After listening to their colleagues’ complaints, the Pestilence Girl, with six short swords piercing her belly and covered in scars, sighed deeply, full of regret:

“If only I had known how bad it would get, I should’ve swapped tasks with the Snow Maiden at the beginning. Her assignment was better… dealing with a Level 3 Cleaner who just joined the Cleaning Bureau shouldn’t have been too difficult for her, right?”

(End of Chapter)