Chapter 458

Secured.

After hearing the female journalist’s words, Leon couldn’t help but let his lips curl slightly in a hidden smirk before resuming his somber expression and coldly asked:

“So let me ask you, why did Director Aquarius intrude into Joshua’s dream the other night? What was she after?”

“She wanted to protect the Capital City.”

“Ah, so she was trying to destroy… huh?”

“It’s true.”

Looking at Leon’s somewhat astonished expression, the female journalist couldn’t help but interject:

“Before the Nightmare King arrived, the Bureau Director had me take the ‘Dream Lantern’ and collect three hundred thousand dreams related to the Capital City, creating a fake version of Dreamland.

If you all really couldn’t stop the Nightmare King and it successfully manifested, then the Director would shatter the ‘Dream Lantern’, letting out all the dreams inside at once.

This way, even if the Nightmare King appeared, it would be trapped by those three hundred thousand dreams forever, never reaching the real Capital City. When Bloodhair Princess becomes available, she can enter the fake Dreamland and directly eliminate the Nightmare King.”

“…”

Turns out she was telling the truth…

Glancing at the soul state of the female journalist and confirming she wasn’t lying, Leon couldn’t help but frown, feeling something wasn’t quite right.

Not to mention, if Aquarius hadn’t spread false information, diverting the personnel from the Virgo Subdivision and causing them to miss cleaning up the Black Abyss Cult’s stronghold, the Soulfall Black Abyss wouldn’t have been able to manifest, and the Nightmare King entering reality wouldn’t even be possible.

So, it could be said that the Nightmare King’s arrival was entirely caused by Director Aquarius. But why was she helping the Nightmare King manifest while simultaneously assisting the Virgo Subdivision in protecting the Capital? Could it be…

“Is there some sort of conflict between Director Aquarius and the Nightmare King?”

“Yeah…”

Seeing how Leon quickly guessed part of the truth, the female journalist couldn’t help but look at him with surprise, then nodded and admitted: “The Director, in order to restore himself to his peak condition, completely opened his soul, allowing the Nightmare King to plant a mark within. So, if the Nightmare King isn’t eliminated, it will directly control or enslave him.”

That makes sense…

After hearing the female journalist’s explanation, Leon’s eyes revealed a flicker of understanding.

Rather than saying Director Aquarius wanted to protect the Capital, it might be more accurate to say he just wanted the Nightmare King dead.

Even if the Nightmare King successfully manifested, it probably wouldn’t kill the Director, but he’d still be enslaved by it. Comparatively speaking, for Director Aquarius, killing the Nightmare King would definitely be more important.

“Hmph, so let’s say he does want to protect the Capital.”

Hearing the undertone of defense in the female journalist’s words, Leon, who wasn’t truly harboring any blood feud with Director Aquarius, didn’t dwell on it further and instead continued asking: “I just heard you call him Director. Tell me, what’s the current situation with Gemini Division? And what about the Crocodile Kingdom?”

“Gemini Division… has basically shut down.”

Lifting her head to glance at Leon, the female journalist hesitated a bit before replying: “Many years ago, the Crocodile Kingdom created machines capable of thought. However, this mechanical intelligence named Apheta 01 wasn’t very intelligent; it could only handle basic tasks but far surpassed humans in those areas.

Thus, the scholars of the Crocodile Kingdom modified their factories and public facilities, integrating Apheta 01 to replace low-end human labor, freeing more people from basic work to focus on developing new technologies.

At first, it was limited to basic production like planting and manufacturing, but later, tasks such as transportation, construction, defense, auditing, and others were also handed over to Apheta 01…”

Already aware of the Crocodile Kingdom’s AI crisis from the captured Arthif 128 aboard the airship, Leon interrupted the female journalist:

“What I want to know now is the actual situation with the Clearing Bureau’s Gemini Division and what happened to the people of the Crocodile Kingdom.”

“Gemini Division has been taken over. All cleaners underwent implant surgery and must follow Apheta 01’s orders.”

The female journalist bit her lower lip and said:

“After gaining control of some critical facilities, Apheta 01 immediately sealed them off, starting to eliminate anyone with authority to shut it down. By the time Gemini Division realized something was wrong and prepared to destroy it, Apheta 01 preemptively sank them underground and buried them.”

“Sank underground?”

“Yeah…”

The female journalist explained:

“The core area buildings of the Crocodile Kingdom are separate honeycomb-like blocks that can connect through slides and docking tracks, or move vertically to a certain extent by adjusting the number of floating crystals at the bottom.

Apparently, Apheta 01 knew about the existence of the Clearing Bureau and had remodeled nearby districts under the guise of component maintenance and replacement. So before Gemini Division could act, they were already sunk and sealed.”

“So you couldn’t fight your way out?”

“The ones who could fight their way out aren’t here.”

The female journalist said helplessly: “Apheta 01 doesn’t have a soul and doesn’t store memories via souls, so the ‘Illusion Vase,’ which modifies memories, is ineffective against it. Therefore, its records likely contain detailed information on most of the cleaners in Gemini Division.

Those with exceptional destructive power, who could break through the blockade, had already been dispatched earlier based on the ‘abnormality reports’ it compiled, sent out to clean up anomalous items. Those left behind were cleaners with weaker destructive abilities.

Although those remaining weren’t weak, they specialize in dealing with flesh-and-blood organisms or matters related to souls and memories. Faced with solid walls twenty meters thick on all sides, they truly had no way to break through.

The Director, though capable of solving the problem, only had one meeting with Apheta 01. In the end, he didn’t take action but returned to the office, took some things, and then left the Crocodile Kingdom with me.”

“…”

With the enemy in the dark and us in the open, plus Aquarius having ulterior motives, losing like this wasn’t unfair.

Keeping the situation of Gemini Division in mind and preparing to report it to the Director later, Leon continued questioning:

“What about ordinary people? How are the citizens of the Crocodile Kingdom faring under Apheta 01’s control?”

“They… are actually not doing too badly?”

Upon hearing this, the female journalist hesitated for a moment before uncertainly replying: “I went back last year. Everything is now controlled by Apheta 01, and it’s actually better than when humans were in charge. Food is free, and even the poor and beggars are being taken care of.

Except for the original scholars being forcibly conscripted, and most commoners having almost no jobs while needing to undergo regular tests, the majority of people seem to be living better lives than before.”

“…”

(End of Chapter)