Chapter 14: 14 Turn Back Again (Combined)

14 Turn Back Again (Combined)

Anna!!!

In the instant the slender girl plummeted, Leon, observing from across the building through his scope, felt as if he had been plunged into ice.

At that moment, the concept of death hadn’t even crossed his mind—his consciousness went utterly blank, his heart seized as if gripped by an invisible hand, cutting off all blood flow, his limbs stiffening into numb, lifeless blocks.

The entire world fell utterly silent, everything frozen on the pale, helpless face of the girl, lips tightly pressed, falling helplessly—Leon could only watch, eyes wide with despair, as his sister plunged from the heights.

“Boom!!!”

A deafening roar echoed down half the street, followed by the shattering crash of vast expanses of glass and the low, piercing screech of metal deforming under immense force.

More than half the hospital’s windows were shattered outright by the impact; the fourth-floor exterior wall absorbed a massive blow, its embedded metal frame bending and jutting outward, hurling bricks and stones in all directions, turning the street below into a ruin.

Yet to Leon’s wild relief, Anna—just moments ago hurtling downward—now hung suspended between the first floor and the ground.

Though she had fainted from the impact and likely suffered lacerations on her thigh from flying glass, Leon could still see her chest rising and falling violently through the scope—she was alive, at least.

Thank you… thank you! I owe you my life!

But as Leon stared in delight at Anna being slowly lowered to the ground, silently thanking the Bandage Woman for her reliability, the Black Goat narrowed his eyes and frowned:

‘Bad. This is trouble.’

That’s right!

Hearing the Black Goat’s words, Leon jolted awake—he realized: the impact point had been Anna’s room! The Bandage Woman was still inside!

Though the Bandage Woman had caught Anna, proving she was alive and her soul stable, could she possibly have survived such a massive collision unscathed?

‘I’m not saying Emma’s in danger—relax! That Bandage Woman’s survival ability ranks among the best in the Cleanup Bureau. Even if you died, she might not.’

Sensing Leon’s soul’s disturbance, the Black Goat shook his head and explained:

What I mean is, this incident isn't normal. That corrupted individual likely didn't appear by accident—he probably knows about the Cleanup Bureau.

Now that you mention it… it really does seem so!

Leon’s expression hardened—he too sensed something off.

Whether it was the hospital gaining a soul the moment the Bandage Woman stepped in, or the collision occurring precisely when she was dangling Anna out the window, unable to dodge—everything felt too deliberate, as if the attack had been tailored specifically for her.

So… could there be accomplices? Am I not safe even out here?

Watching the older nurse carry Anna away after unhooking her from the curtain, Leon suppressed his urge to flee, still scanning for the soul of the corrupted individual, and gritted his teeth:

‘Do you… do we in the Cleanup Bureau have any enemies?’

‘Plenty.’

The Black Goat grinned, snorting:

‘Demon-corrupted, Xieshenjinranzhe , True God Moonfolk, Prehistoric ones—I can’t even count your enemies! If they united, even ten times your strength wouldn’t save you!’

But good news: your enemies aren’t allies either—they hate each other even more.

The moment one side looks like it’s winning, another group secretly sabotages it, even openly betraying its weaknesses to the Cleanup Bureau—so for now, you’re still safe.’

After explaining the Cleanup Bureau’s precarious position, seeing Leon’s worsening expression, the Black Goat chuckled:

‘Enough. Those matters are beyond your current station. Focus on your job.

As for Emma—she’s a veteran. She’s already sensed something’s wrong. Just track those souls. When you’re needed, pull the trigger.’

…

Indeed, this corrupted individual was suspicious!

Even earlier than the Black Goat suspected, the moment the bolt snapped and the metal cabinet slammed toward her, the Bandage Woman had already realized it.

She had ascended from the lobby to the fourth floor without a single anomaly—until the precise moment she was rescuing Leon’s sister, unable to dodge.

So this corrupted individual knew of the Cleanup Bureau, understood that ordinary attacks were useless against her, and chose this exact moment to strike.

Yet even knowing his intent, she didn’t release her grip or dodge—she stood firm, absorbing the full impact without a word.

The blow bent her thigh bone backward and crushed her lumbar spine out of alignment; she collapsed helplessly onto the tilted windowsill.

Dead?

Somehow, the young nurse, who had moments ago been trapped against the wall, pleading desperately for rescue, had now grown calm, watching the Bandage Woman with detached indifference.

Multiple fractures, unfocused eyes, chest caved in by the stone windowsill, bandages scattered everywhere—she was surely dead.

Like a strange gecko, she slithered upward along the wall, emerging from the inner wall beside the sill, then walked over, using her bloody, mangled right hand to remove the Bandage Woman’s mask and test her breath.

Definitely dead.

With distaste, she discarded the bloodstained crow mask—then noticed, with surprise, that even in death, the Bandage Woman’s hand still gripped the curtain tightly, knuckles white, refusing to loosen.

Hmph… with her physical condition, she could’ve jumped out and lived—yet she didn’t even dodge… pathetic stubbornness.

Glancing down, she saw the older nurse frantically unhooking the curtain, then sneered, picking up a large shard of glass from the sill and hurling it downward.

‘So it’s you!’

Just as the glass shard was about to leave her hand, a calm voice came from behind her.

In her horrified gaze, the scattered bandages on the floor surged upward like serpents finding prey, wrapping tightly around her arms and wrenching them violently in the opposite direction of their joints!

‘Squeak!’

‘Aaaah!!!’

Watching the young nurse’s limbs dislocated, her body twisted into a ball by the bandages, the Bandage Woman shook her head:

‘You’ve got ideas setting a trap like this—but your methods are crude.’

She pushed against the cabinet with one hand, flinging the three-hundred-pound weapon away, then rose slowly, methodically resetting her displaced bones.

Even her chest, caved in by the windowsill, slowly expanded with each steady breath—had it not been for the bloodstains still on her bandages, she looked untouched.

‘Hey, you led them to jump out the window, didn’t you? This plan’s half-decent—but full of holes.’

She crouched beside the nurse-ball, pulled the bandage from her mouth, and asked calmly:

‘You’re too easy to expose—you don’t have the brains to set up a kill trap like this. Someone taught you this.

Listen, stupid. If you don’t want pain, tell me who’s behind you.’

‘Hah… hahaha!’

Gasping for breath, the captured nurse glared at the Bandage Woman, face twisted in fury:

‘You’re the real fool! You think you’ve caught me? This woman’s just a puppet I control—you’re finished!’

As if to prove it, her expression suddenly shifted—first confusion at being bound, then agony as pain surged through her limbs; she screamed half a sound before collapsing unconscious from the pain.

Wrong person?

The Bandage Woman raised an eyebrow, about to test whether the nurse was faking—when heavy footsteps suddenly echoed outside the ICU room.

‘Now do you believe me?’

Walking through the sea of patients, the fat head doctor who had assigned Anna to the ICU stopped outside the room and sneered:

‘Everyone in this hospital is my tool! I can control them at will! You don’t even know who I am—you can’t catch me!

And, stupid woman, look down at your feet!’

He pointed to the Bandage Woman’s legs, already sunk below ground level, then lifted his double chin with smug pride:

‘Besides controlling this hospital, my true ability is swallowing infected people. Within this hospital’s range, once infected, no one can resist its consumption.

Understand? I didn’t attack you before—not because I couldn’t, but because you wore the protective mask. But now you’ve lost it. You’re finished!’

‘…’

After six years of caution, had she finally slipped up?

Watching the fat doctor laugh, the Bandage Woman—her lower half swallowed—felt her legs immobile, and sighed in frustration.

She could tear him apart in a second—but as he said, these weren’t his true body. Doing so would be meaningless. She’d been outmaneuvered.

She could’ve used her bandages to block him—but to lure him out, she chose to rely on her immortality and take the hit. Instead, she grabbed a decoy and lost the mask that blocked his power. How stupid.

Hmm… besides luring him out, she’d chosen to endure the blow to feign vulnerability, to make that rookie owe her a favor for future help.

Now she’d overplayed it—she’d likely have to ask him for backup. When the Director found out in three days, he’d laugh himself sick…

Weary, she shook her head, too annoyed to speak, closed her eyes, and refused to engage—but the fat doctor wasn’t done. He brought in several other doctors and nurses, standing outside the room, sneering one by one:

‘You think you’re clever? You’re an idiot!’

‘There are five hundred people here. When I absorb them all, my power will grow stronger!’

‘Heh, you want to know who’s targeting your Cleanup Bureau?’

‘I’ll tell you—no fear! The one preparing to strike is a great True God!’

Hm?

Hearing this, the Bandage Woman—who had planned to shut down for three days until rescue came—flicked her eyelids open, elated.

This fool… even dumber than she expected!

Blabbing about his ability’s range was bad enough—but revealing his patron? Honestly, the True God who chose him would probably kill him himself if he knew how stupid he was.

Unaware his intelligence had just hit rock bottom in the Bandage Woman’s eyes, the fat doctor loomed over his half-swallowed opponent, raised his arms triumphantly like embracing the sun, and declared with fanatical zeal:

‘Listen, stupid woman! My god was born from chaos…’

Just as the Bandage Woman strained her ears to catch this vital intelligence, the expressions of the dozen doctors and nurses before her froze—then, as if receiving a command, they all collapsed simultaneously. Her lower body, bound in the floor, was suddenly ‘spat’ out.

When she looked up, dazed, a piercing sonic boom echoed from the rooftop of the mall across the hospital…

‘Bang!’

…

‘Kid, that was a solid shot!’

Watching the dark soul on the hospital’s sixth floor vanish instantly, the Black Goat licked his lips enviously, then grinned:

‘Three hundred meters and you still nailed it—you might have a real talent for shooting!’

Talent… I’ve got none. This shot hit only because the Bandage Woman already adjusted the position for me, cutting the aiming difficulty in half—and the other half? External aid.

He silently shook his head, attributing it to good luck, then looked up at his badge slot—the two badges emitting gray-black light had just dimmed.

The efficiency bonus from 【Probationary Worker】 combined with the accuracy boost from 【Shooting Newbie】 seemed to produce more than the sum of its parts.

In the instant before he fired, both badges activated simultaneously, and his hand, as if guided by instinct, slightly depressed the barrel, lifting it by about two millimeters.

That tiny upward adjustment caused the nail projectile, which might have only wounded the target, to rise just enough—striking a fatal blow.

As for how he knew who the target was…

‘This infiltrator probably isn’t very bright.’

After glancing regretfully at the spot where the evil soul had dissolved, the Black Goat couldn’t help but chuckle:

‘This fool doesn’t realize that when he controls someone, the soul’s resonance of the controlled person becomes identical to his own.’

If he’d only controlled one person, it might’ve been manageable—even if he focused only on dark souls, sifting him out from six or seven hundred would’ve been difficult.’

‘But he kept doing it over and over—even forcing those people to gather around Emma… Senior, creating a whole crowd of souls with identical resonances. That was just too obvious.’

Taking up the Black Goat’s thread, Li Ang, recalling the absurd scene just moments ago, couldn’t help but press his lips together, then added seriously:

‘Once we find all the souls with matching resonances, the only one who never went to the fourth floor must be the real infiltrator… By the way, I remember you said the Cleanup Bureau has performance metrics?’

‘Yes! And there are extra benefits!’

The Black Goat nodded eagerly; if it still had a body, it would’ve given Li Ang a thumbs-up with a grin.

‘You’ve only been on the job three hours, and under our guidance, you’ve successfully identified and eliminated an infiltrator—even rescued a trapped veteran employee. The reward will be huge!’

‘Besides, ha ha! We’ve cooperated so well this time, handled everything cleanly and efficiently— even that red-haired bitch can’t help but treat us a little better now, right?’