Chapter 118: 117 Untitled

Has the bureau located the hostage’s position?

Upon hearing the red-haired bureau chief’s words, Li Ang couldn’t help but pause slightly, then asked with a hint of reluctance:

“Chief, that Holy Spirit from the Golden Scale Cult was originally summoned by the Masseni family—they’re deeply tied to the cult. This is such a rare opportunity, shouldn’t we…?”

“Stop! Stop right there!”

Seeing Li Ang actually plotting something improper, the red-haired bureau chief flinched violently, crossing one hand horizontally and the other vertically in a sharp “stop” gesture.

“Just save the hostages this time! Don’t get involved in anything else! Especially the Masseni family—keep as far away from them as possible!”

After laying out his demand, the red-haired bureau chief rubbed his temples and warned:

“You don’t really think the Lyon family matter is over, do you? Right now, you haven’t even entered the review period, let alone the observation phase. The headquarters’ investigators will arrive in the next few days.”

“If you have any contact with the Masseni family and someone from their household suffers even a minor accident—say, chokes on a sip of water—the intensity of your review will skyrocket again!”

“…“

After experiencing the overwhelming power of the Gold-Rank [I Am the Demon], Li Ang naturally felt greater interest in the Holy Spirit badges, which shared similar effects to the Demon series.

But as the chief said, his suspicions haven’t been fully cleared yet; it’s wiser to proceed cautiously now, to avoid drawing the investigators’ suspicion and inviting unnecessary trouble.

The review will likely end within a week anyway. The Golden Scale Cult won’t collapse overnight, and the Masseni family won’t vanish—better to wait a week!

“I’ll be careful.”

Having listened to the red-haired bureau chief’s advice and promised not to act recklessly, Li Ang picked up his mission slip and was about to leave when he seemed to remember something. He hesitated, then spoke with slight embarrassment:

“Chief, could I take leave next week?”

Though he’d only been employed for a month and change, Li Ang had already taken more leave than actual workdays—and he’d just botched a mission, gone AWOL for over a week, only to return and immediately request leave again. Even he felt it was hard to ask.

But the red-haired bureau chief, accustomed to Li Ang’s “leave-prone” nature, responded with surprising ease, pulling out a notebook and pen from his drawer with a casual air:

“Go ahead, go ahead. Your injuries aren’t fully healed yet, and you haven’t been home since being taken for investigation. Taking leave is normal… How long do you need?”

“Uh… I’m not entirely sure…”

After hesitating, Li Ang asked in return:

“How long does a typical title succession ceremony usually take? Do you know?”

Title succession ceremony?

After thinking for a moment, the red-haired bureau chief replied:

“About one to four days? For counts and below, estates are usually small with little real power—they don’t drag things out. A banquet for guests is enough; it’s over by midday.”

“For higher titles, they’re all major families. A change in their title affects many things—even the royal family sends envoys to observe. There are internal speeches on family history, asset transfers, meetings of clan elders… It’ll take at least three or four days.”

Is it really that complicated…

Hearing this, Li Ang frowned.

“What if you sent away all relatives and guests, just notified the royal family briefly, and nearly all key family members were already dead? How short could it be?”

“Then maybe just one day… but which noble family would do that?”

The red-haired bureau chief, mid-writing the leave form, blinked in surprise and looked up, puzzled:

“And why are you asking this? Are you taking leave to attend a noble family’s succession ceremony?”

“Uh… sort of…”

Scratching his head awkwardly, Li Ang, still unsure how to explain, settled for a tactful reply:

“Chief, do you remember the excuse I used when investigating the Sheep Heart case?”

“Of course—going to the Lyon family to claim kinship. What about it?”

“Nothing much… I succeeded in claiming kinship. More than succeeded—extremely successfully.”

Clenching his fist hesitantly, Li Ang looked at the red-haired bureau chief, who wore a completely baffled expression, and said with resigned weariness:

“Let me put it this way—I’ve now been officially recognized as the Twenty-Ninth Duke of Lionheart. My succession ceremony is next Tuesday.”

“…“

“???“

“!!!“

Shocking! The bureau’s new recruit, barely a month in, is asking for leave to inherit a ducal title?

And worse—the original heir was killed by Li Ang himself! Could he have… done it all to claim the title?

But that doesn’t make sense! Li Ang isn’t that kind of person. Besides, the Lyon family lost dozens of key members due to his “delayed rescue”—they’re on the verge of collapse. Would anyone destroy the Lyon family just to inherit an empty title? But… but…

But how did you end up becoming a duke just by claiming kinship?

Even the seasoned red-haired bureau chief, accustomed to the bizarre, stared wide-eyed at this sudden twist, utterly speechless for several long moments.

After a pause, recovering from the shocking news, the bureau chief spoke with a strange expression:

“You’re not joking, are you?”

“I’m not joking at all—I really am inheriting the title…”

After briefly explaining what he knew, Li Ang sighed:

“I have zero interest in the Lyon family title, but no matter how much I refused, they submitted my name anyway.”

“They even slipped anesthetic into my hospital meals and stationed over twenty guards outside my room. I only escaped after my injuries improved enough to overpower them…”

“…“

No wonder you came back so fast—you weren’t released because Old Charles intervened; you broke out after claiming the title…

The red-haired bureau chief grimaced, his expression complex:

“Why didn’t you tell me this sooner?”

“I wanted to! But when I came back, before I could even speak, you kept pressing me about the Lyon Blood Night. I just finished explaining that, then Senior Tang came in.”

“Then you made me examine Senior Tang, scolded me for risking contact with Bobby Lyon, assigned me a new mission—I never got a chance to speak!”

“…“

It… really was like that?

Recalling the earlier events, the red-haired bureau chief opened his mouth, then asked, bewildered:

“If you escaped, why are you coming to ask me for leave to attend the succession ceremony? And what do you really think about this ducal title?”

“I already told you—I have no interest in the title. As for why I’m asking for leave, it’s because only by attending the ceremony can I have a chance to permanently shed this burden.”

After a brief hesitation, Li Ang said:

“Chief, what if, during the succession ceremony, I announce as Duke that I’m donating all Lyon family assets to the royal family? What would happen?”