Chapter 631

Glancing at Leon with a furrowed brow, the Red-haired Bureau Director waved a hand and said,

“Excluding the… uh… eleven out of twelve zodiac sub-division directors, aren’t there also non-zodiac subdivision directors?”

“According to Archer Director’s arrangements, before we zodiac bureau directors were summoned to headquarters, among the remaining seventy-plus smaller subdivisions, eighteen subdivision directors would be reassigned temporarily to hold down the six kingdoms in our stead.”

Ah, so that’s how it is…

Having listened to the Red-haired Bureau Director’s explanation, Leon finally understood Archer Director’s plan.

In short, this was a variant of ‘Tian Ji’s Horse Race’. The Clearing Bureau was gathering big-bureau directors to headquarter to guard against the Aquarius Director, while sending small-bureau directors to guard the larger areas against the Execution King Assembly. Finally, they’d directly abandon defenses for some smaller subdivisions.

Facing an opponent like the Aquarius Director, who was at “half-step Pillar Deity Great Perfection” level, the non-zodiac bureau directors lacked the skill to provide much help, so only the zodiac bureau directors were called to headquarters.

Though most small-bureau directors were only around sixty points in strength, the Execution King Assembly was hindered by the Watchtower Palace, making it quite difficult to even send down a True God. Overall combat power wouldn’t be too high; three True God-level subdivision directors should suffice to handle things.

Lastly, although the various smaller subdivisions were abandoned, the Execution King Assembly aimed to sever ties with the twelve royal families, not cause maximum harm to humans. The city-states and human settlements protected by these smaller subdivisions weren’t within their target range anyway, so this adjustment worked perfectly.

But… since this plan seemed so fitting, why did the director say the situation looked very bleak?

…

“Because this plan isn’t as stable as it appears. Mainly, those small-subdivision directors might not be able to hold down the six kingdoms…”

Seeing Leon’s confusion, the Red-haired Bureau Director sighed helplessly,

“Let me explain it this way: my strength hasn’t truly reached Pillar Deity level. I need the Star Palace’s enhancement to temporarily cross that threshold. Many small-bureau directors are the same. They heavily rely on the Star Palace’s enhancement, which has a limited range.

For example, the Virgo Star Palace’s enhancement only works effectively within most of the kingdom’s territory. I’m only at Pillar Deity level within my own ‘jurisdiction.’ Outside the Star Palace’s range, its enhancement effect on me would greatly diminish.”

Once outside the “jurisdiction” range, the Star Palace’s enhancement effect weakens, huh?

At this point, Leon couldn’t help but frown, recalling the two times he’d met the Scorpion Bureau Director.

Whether it was during the battle against the Nightmare King or the investigation mission in Crocodile Kingdom, his impression and performance indeed felt far weaker than expected. He could be trapped by six Nightmare Ambassadors for a long time and almost got into trouble in Crocodile Kingdom.

But if that’s true, considering his own director’s grudgeful nature, he probably would’ve been beaten up already, leaving no chance to argue. So his seeming incompetence must have had a lot to do with the lack of Star Palace enhancement.

“Can’t the Star Palace’s range be adjusted at all?”

After pondering for a bit, Leon couldn’t resist asking,

“The Virgo Star Palace’s enhancement range, since it’s restricted to the kingdom’s territory, shouldn’t it be possible to adjust it slightly? Like lowering the intensity a bit and increasing the enhancement range…”

“Almost impossible.”

The Red-haired Bureau Director sipped some tea and sighed,

“Little Leon~ you’ve misunderstood one thing. It’s not that the Virgo Star Palace’s enhancement range is restricted to the kingdom’s territory; rather, the entire kingdom is built within the Virgo Star Palace’s enhancement range.

But the Sun is too far away, right?

After understanding a bit more about how the Star Palaces work, Leon couldn’t help but furrow his brows.

Even with the Watchtower Palace’s suppression, it’s hard for the Execution King Assembly to directly bring down a True God. However, those “strong Holy Spirits” and “Great Demons,” like the peak Black Goat, who have reached 59.9 taint values, aren’t that difficult to infiltrate.

Without the Star Palace’s enhancement, many of these “substitute” small-bureau directors can’t reach True God level. Facing the Execution King Assembly, they lose positional suppression, and being in the dark while we’re in the light, they can only passively defend.

So if enough “strong Holy Spirits” descend, the situation will indeed turn out as the director judged: those “substituted” division directors will struggle to hold the six kingdoms.

“Then can we continue to…”

“We can’t keep mobilizing more people.”

The Red-haired Bureau Director, familiar with Leon, guessed what he wanted to say from just the sound and shook his head in advance: “In theory, we could mobilize all small subdivision directors to the six kingdoms, with twelve subdivision directors guarding one large kingdom. But doing so would cause greater harm, leading to more loss of control. The current arrangement is already the limit.”

If we can’t add more people… how about reducing the targets to protect?

His eyes flickering slightly, Leon opened his mouth:

“One mistake in content inside 69 book bar seen!

“I remember in the twelve kingdoms…”

“You can’t deliberately let a few royal families with more evil deeds slip through, because if even one or two more royal families go extinct, True Gods will be able to freely descend into the present world. Moreover, selecting one heir from each of the six royal families and taking them away early for protection won’t work either. There are countless ways to bypass protection and curse the target forcibly. Phelia isn’t afraid of this because she’s just ‘born’ not too long ago and hasn’t left too many traces in the world. Plus, her home, Crocodile Kingdom, has already been completely ruined by you. Even if the Execution King Assembly wants to curse her, they can’t find materials to use as anchors.”

“Then we might as well…”

“It’s also impossible to fake the deaths, induce long sleeps, seal, or send members of the royal families to the Deathscape… none of these methods work.”

“…”

Good grief, you’ve blocked every path, haven’t you?

With Leon’s utterly speechless expression, the Red-haired Bureau Director listed over a dozen “methods” and then swiftly rejected each one, concluding helplessly: “In short, the bureau has basically discussed all potentially effective methods. Even ridiculous ideas like hypnotizing all humans to forget who the royal families are have been proposed more than once.

But these methods are either impractical or come with higher costs. After everyone discussed it in circles, it turned out that the relatively safest method is to send me and the other five zodiac bureau directors to the headquarters.”

“But this method isn’t safe anymore…”

“?”

Confused by the Red-haired Bureau Director’s expression, Leon explained the discovery made by Damaged Miss and then spoke with a pained face:

“According to what Layla overheard in the conspiracy, on the day Honorable Taurus ascends the palace, Aquarius won’t even go to headquarters but will instead launch a surprise attack on our Virgo Subdivision!”

(End of Chapter)