Chapter 449

After hearing Leon’s inquiry, the Iron Princess stopped her pondering and let out a mocking laugh before saying,

“I can’t really tell you that person’s name either, but I can also tell you one thing… The one who leaked your file is one of the eighty-seven bureau directors of the Clearing Bureau.”

“…”

Upon hearing the Iron Princess’ words, Leon couldn’t help but make an exasperated sound.

Even though he was just a Level 3 Cleaner, his file involved three incidents at the “True God” level. According to the rules of the Clearing Bureau, files of this level required the authority of a branch director or higher to access.

So from the moment she finished reciting the file, he understood that the intelligence leak on the Clearing Bureau side must have come from one of the remaining eighty-six branch directors, excluding his own director. Therefore, the Iron Princess’ statement actually broadened the scope of possible traitors by one.

“Ho ho.”

Seeing Leon rendered speechless by her answer, the Iron Princess finally let out a sigh of relief, curling the corner of her mouth before lifting her head slightly and saying,

“I’m not taking advantage of you either. You gave me two sentences, so I’ll give you two as well. If you want to know who the traitor in your Clearing Bureau is, go check which recent operation of the Clearing Bureau had the highest loss of manpower!”

The operation with the highest loss of manpower, huh…

Half-believing and half-doubting, Leon noted down this sentence before humming and saying,

“Well then, since there’s still time, do you have any other intel you’d like to exchange?”

“Yes.”

After blinking her glass eyeballs, the Iron Princess spoke,

“In order to achieve my goal, I spent six years preparing for this opportunity. I want to know how long you’ve been preparing for today?”

“…”

How long have I been preparing for today? Hmm… Strictly speaking, this armed coup attempt against the royal palace, I started preparing last Saturday…

“It’s been a while.”

From their previous exchanges, Leon judged that the Iron Princess was rather proud and seemed to seek recognition. He felt that if he told her the truth directly, it might break her spirit. So he ambiguously replied, “Even though I haven’t been in the Clearing Bureau for long, I’ve been seriously preparing for a long time to wait for today’s good opportunity.”

Ah, I see…

After hearing Leon’s response, the Iron Princess immediately improved her mood significantly.

Although the main reason for her failure was due to being betrayed, which was no fault of combat, it would be quite humiliating if she had been easily taken down. Leon’s “importance” gave her considerable comfort.

“Your turn.”

Confirming that she indeed completed a “high-level match,” but ultimately lost because there was an actor in her team, her self-esteem satisfied, the Iron Princess straightforwardly said,

“Ask whatever you want! Even asking two more questions is fine; I’ll answer based on the situation.”

“Then thank you.”

Noticing her attitude had softened considerably, Leon couldn’t help but blink before asking the question he most wanted answered.

“What was your purpose in attacking the royal palace?”

“You’re asking…?”

The Iron Princess couldn’t help but furrow her brows upon hearing this.

“Of course, it’s to kill all members of the royal family. What else could it be?”

“…”

Ah, this… why didn’t you say that earlier?

Hearing the Iron Princess’ response, a hint of regret appeared in Leon’s eyes.

There were plenty of foul-souled things in the royal family, but unfortunately, most of them were related to Veronica, making it hard for him to take action himself. If he had known she was planning this, he would have let her clean up first before capturing her.

“Wait?!?”

Noticing something odd about Leon’s expression, the Iron Princess suddenly realized and suspiciously asked,

“If you didn’t know what my target was, why were you able to prepare the identity of the rebel leader beforehand and bring so many people into the royal palace to block me?”

“Because I’m here to rebel too, who knew you were also planning to cause trouble today?” “You misunderstood.”

Quickly switching on [Performance Master], Leon stabilized his expression and lied through his teeth without changing his face: “Of course I knew your goal was to clean the royal palace, but what I wanted to know wasn’t such a ‘superficial’ goal. What I wanted to know was a more ‘deep’ goal.”

Oh, so that’s what you wanted to ask…

Stabilized by Leon’s unmoved demeanor, the Iron Princess hesitated for a moment before somewhat throwing caution to the wind:

“Anyway, I’m going to die anyway… Let me put it this way! Our goal was to kill…”

“Crack!”

Just like countless predecessors who were about to reveal crucial information and got precisely silenced, the Iron Princess’ body suddenly trembled mid-sentence, and a clear cracking sound came from her chest.

What the heck, that was pretty timely!

Realizing something was wrong, Leon immediately reached out to grab the Iron Princess, ready to extract some more intel while it was hot.

Without a single mistake, the content is inside 69 Book Bar!

However, the Iron Princess’ body instantly shrank, turning into a metal doll slightly taller than a palm within the blink of an eye, leaving Leon grabbing at air. Then it shattered with another crack, scattering all over the floor.

Following that, the old king who had passed out when Leon broke the window began to groan, and a flesh tone appeared on the bodies of the distant iron-plated rebels.

Bad! The princess is still in the Mirror World! Humans can’t stay in there for long! Noticing that the effect of the “Iron Palace” was starting to dissolve, Leon quickly reached for his cufflink, bringing out the princess turned doll, then grabbed the scattered fragments on the ground, successfully getting a handful before they turned to dust.

[Name: Remnants of the King Slayer Three (? , ?, ?)]

[Appearance: A pile of constantly splitting metal shards, continuing to fragment until they completely turn into powder]

[Ability: ?]

[Cost: ?]

[File: An anomalous item that accidentally triggered a word spirit under the deception and guidance of Level 3 Cleaner Leon Lane of the Virgo Subdivision, leading to its complete destruction. Its material, soul, rules… everything composing it was utterly destroyed, even reversing time wouldn’t restore it.]

[Assessment: Judging from the large amount of divinity retained in the residue, the origin of this anomalous item is highly significant, possibly containing the soul or flesh of a True God-level existence.

However, after suffering catastrophic damage from a powerful word spirit, apart from its surging divinity, it has no value left. Using it to create an anomalous item would result in the anomalous item itself fracturing and being damaged due to the residual powerful word spirit.]

[Taint Value: 60]

“…”

Wow, so after all my efforts, aside from two answers whose authenticity is questionable, I’m left with the ashes of a True God-level entity, huh…

Just as Leon was lamenting the speed of the Iron Princess’ silencing while holding her ashes, the real princess lying aside finally regained her ability to move and rushed toward him.

“Leon!”

“Yeah, I’m here.”

Catching the rushing princess, Leon gently consoled her,

“It’s okay, the anomalous item has already been dealt with by me.”

“No, what I mean is…”

“Don’t mention it.”

Embarrassed by the gazes of the distant rebels, Leon quickly covered the princess’ mouth and seriously responded,

“You don’t need to thank me. Just doing your duty in the future will be the biggest… um? Why are you untying my belt?”

“Head! Head!”

After twisting off the hand covering her mouth, the princess blushed red as she pulled at Leon’s belt and urgently said,

“My father is still tied to your waist!”

(End of Chapter)