Chapter 1643: Scale

"You wait a moment."

Not noticing the abnormality behind him, Leon, who was trying his best to clean up the Ophiuchus Director, hugged Queen Aili'er's waist with his right hand and said without looking back:

"I haven't finished here yet, you first..."

When he was halfway through his words, seemingly discovering something wrong, Leon's back tightened, and then he turned his head fiercely by instinct.

However, even if he reacted, he was ultimately a step too late. The bronze throat whistle in the red-haired Bureau Chief's mouth sounded first, and the dream-like whistle sound poured into Leon's ears like silk threads, dragging his will into the dreamland for the second time.

Success!

Looking at Leon, whose eyes closed rapidly in shock and anger, "Prince Vernon" couldn't help but let out a long breath, and then fell straight backward.

In the astonished gaze of the old Emperor and Queen Aili'er, a blurry light shadow of exquisite and convex figure penetrated from Prince Vernon's body, swayed slightly a few times, then condensed into shape, turning into a familiar... not very familiar, but a beautiful face he had seen in a portrait before.

"Aunt..."

"Great-Aunt..."

"Don't call me that! I was already expelled from the royal family!"

After glaring at the little Queen who wanted to call her Great-Aunt, the red-haired Bureau Chief grabbed Leon, who had lost consciousness, and wanted to pry open his hand that was hugging Queen

Forget it...

Judging that using any more force might injure Leon's arm, the red-haired Director couldn't help but shake her head helplessly. Then, at the very moment Leon's eyeballs were darting around and he was about to wake up, she pried his mouth open in advance and poured in a bottle of potion with a suspicious color.

"Cough..."

Because he had already been sent over once before, Leon's second trip to the Dream Realm today was surprisingly short; the moment he landed, he exerted all his strength to rush back, breaking through with the familiarity of someone who had done it many times before.

After spitting out the residual potion in his mouth that tasted like pickled mustard greens, the Prince, who had been sneak-attacked and was unable to move, couldn't help but have his face darken as he looked at the red-haired Director before him.

"Mirror Reflection? That thing that can swap positions with a reflection?"

"Correct~"

The red-haired Director, whose light and shadow on her body were a bit strange, with the light and dark positions not quite harmonizing with the surroundings, and who had also changed into a different set of clothes, nodded and then said with a smile:

"Although I left that mirror in the warehouse and didn't bring it with me, I specifically went to the warehouse to look at it before setting off, left this reflection, and then brought this reflection over... Don't move!"

After patiently answering Leon's question, the red-haired Director leaned over, poured the remaining potion in the bottle into her palm, and began to smear it on Leon's face.

"So stinky! What are you smearing on me?"

"Separation potion I asked Senior Amien for before I came~"

After shaking the suspicious little bottle in her hand, the red-haired Director, whose mood seemed quite good, said with a smile:

"The function of this thing is to prevent consciousness from controlling the flesh. It certainly wouldn't work on you in a normal state, but when your consciousness briefly leaves your body, this thing can take effect on you. I estimate that after using this bottle, it will allow your consciousness and flesh to separate for two or three days, enough to keep you well-behaved for a few days."

"..."

Good grief... She's actually better prepared than I am!

After smelling the suspicious liquid on his face that tasted like expired durian, Leon couldn't help but ask with a dark face:

"So you had it all planned out from the beginning, that you were going to use this set of things to deal with me?"

"I don't have any prophecy-type anomalous objects, so how could I know which trap you would fall for? These are just an insurance policy I left behind on the side."

The red-haired Director shook her head, then smiled slightly at the others in the room. Whether it was the old King or the other Princesses, they were all stunned by her brilliant smile, and then they all followed in Prince Vernon's footsteps, their eyes instantly losing focus, and they collapsed one after another with a thud.

After directly knocking everyone out, the red-haired Director looked back at Leon, her expression quite emotional as she said:

"Although I knew you were difficult to deal with, I didn't expect you to be this difficult... If I hadn't left this reflection on Vernon in advance and taken the opportunity while sending you into the Dream Realm for the first time to directly shift my true body over, I really might not have been able to subdue you."

"..."

Then I really should thank you for your high regard!

After rolling his eyes at the red-haired Director, Leon said ungraciously:

"Since you prepared the method to deal with me early on, why didn't you make a move at the beginning? Why did you have to drag it out until now?"

"You think too highly of me; it's not that easy to deal with you..."

The red-haired Director blinked upon hearing this, then said with no small amount of headache:

"Your suspicion is really not just ordinarily heavy. From the moment you got off the airship, you maintained the 【Heart Lake】 authority. Everyone who approached you was repeatedly checked. Under such strict defenses, I really didn't have the confidence to subdue you.

Moreover, the difficulty of defeating you and capturing you are completely different things, especially those strange and bizarre trump cards you have. I still haven't fully figured them out. If I had made a move casually, heaven knows if you would have suddenly used some method to run away.

And as for those mission files you submitted in the past, I have studied every single one of them carefully. I don't know how many people have demonstrated to me what the consequences would be if you discovered a problem and ran away. How could I be so stupid as to make a move without absolute certainty?"

When she reached this point, the red-haired Director paused slightly, then said with a smile:

"Just as I said to you just now, I had actually prepared to give up on this plan, but after you hugged little Ariel, I don't know if it was because you couldn't spare the focus to use your authority, or if you felt you had already won, but you slowly relaxed your defenses.

Even after being sent into the Dream Realm by me for the first time, you even relaxed the 【Heart Lake】 authority you had been maintaining and completely stopped checking people who approached you. Otherwise, I really might not have had the opportunity to make a move.

So don't be discouraged. You didn't lose to me this time; you just lost to your own carelessness~"

"..."

"Alright, don't be depressed. Didn't you also prepare a bunch of things aimed at me? I'm just returning the favor a little bit."

After making a gesture of "a tiny bit," the red-haired Director, looking at Leon who was still holding Queen Ariel and whose face didn't look very good, dragged over a chair and sat down. Then, gazing at Leon's expression, she comforted him with a smile:

"I understand you, just as you understand me. Although I don't want you to get involved, I could still guess that you would definitely come to find me, so I had to prepare to deal with you in advance.

And although you are a genius seen once in a thousand years, the time you've spent in the Bureau of Cleanup is still too short, and you haven't fought enough times with cleanup agents. It's perfectly normal to trip up on these small details. Take it slow in the future~"

"Fine, I admit it this time."

After closing his eyes slightly, Leon glanced at the smiling red-haired Director, then said with a stiff face:

"So how do you plan to deal with me? Just leave me like this, waiting until the Watchtower is weakened to the point of allowing a True God to descend? Waiting until everyone in the East Calavin Kingdom is resurrected?"

"..."

Upon hearing this, the smile on the red-haired Director's face couldn't help but fade slightly. After being silent for a while, she couldn't help but ask back:

"Is my intention that obvious?"

"It's much more obvious than that!" Leon curled his lips and said:

"Although the Ophiuchus Director's strength is not bad, with his brain, it's impossible for him to incite you to rebel. It's only possible that he proposed a condition you couldn't refuse, and since I've already eaten the Wine God's bead, the only remaining condition you couldn't refuse is the original East Calavin Kingdom."

"You still have the nerve to mention it!"

Upon hearing this, the red-haired Director couldn't help but stand up with a start, her face slightly flushed as she demanded:

"Do you know what you destroyed? That was something that could produce infinite fine wine... Forget it..."

After biting her lower lip hard, the red-haired Director, whose painful memories had been stirred up, took two deep breaths, sat back down in the chair, and asked with a drooping face:

"Why did you eat... I mean, what is your view on the Wine God... Ah ah ah!"

After screaming while clutching her head, the red-haired Director pinched her own thigh hard, then gritted her teeth and said:

"I mean, that bead you... Ah ah ah! Forget it, you must know what I want to ask! You say it yourself!"

"Fine."

After glancing at the somewhat frantic red-haired Director, Leon opened his mouth and silently blew a breath of wine vapor at her.

"Huff, you don't want the Bureau of Cleanup to know, which proves that the Bureau of Cleanup doesn't want this to happen; huff, you don't want me to know, which proves that I also don't want this to happen; huff, after gathering these conditions, what you are preparing to do is not hard to guess. You... what are you doing? Sit down!"

!

Tilting his only movable head backward and trying to pull a little distance away, Leon, the incarnation of fine wine, said with a straight face and a threat:

"It's no use for you to come over! I've already figured out how to use the Wine God's bead. As long as I don't want to, even if you wring my whole body dry, I guarantee you won't be able to squeeze out a single drop of wine!"

"..."

"Come on, it's negotiation time again."

After opening his mouth and blowing the thickest breath of wine vapor, Leon, who was still holding Queen Ariel, raised the corners of his mouth, imitated the red-haired Director's appearance just now, and said with a smile:

"Next, it's my turn to ask you. For every question you answer, I'll turn a bottle of water into fine wine, how about that? Huff!"

"..."

"I've already been caught by you, what else do you have to worry about? Huff huff!"

Using his only movable head to draw a circle, indicating that only his head could move now and he had no ability to resist, Leon put away the smile the red-haired Director had personally taught him, and said with a sincere face:

"You really won this time. With my current state, no matter what you want to do, I can't stop you. Now, my only thought is just wanting to know what will happen in the future... Huff huff huff!"

"..."

"Besides, no matter what you and the Ophiuchus Director are planning, it will definitely take some time to succeed. Then you will at least have to lock me up for two or three days or even longer. In such a long time, we should always chat about something, right? Huff huff huff huff huff huff!"

"Stop huffing!"

Dizzied by the rich and mellow wine vapor, the red-haired Director retreated seven or eight steps with her chair. In the end, she still couldn't block the harassment of the wine bug, so she had to glare at Leon fiercely, then pursed her lips and hummed:

"You ask the questions first! I'll decide whether to answer based on the situation!"

Understood, you'll decide how much wine to exchange based on the content of the questions, right?

After nodding at the red-haired Director and revealing a smile of "understanding is long live," Leon sent an instruction to You Ha in the Mirror World, telling it not to stamp the "Provisional Notice on Canceling the Decision to Expel Olivia Farolan from the Royal Family" for the time being. Then, gazing into the red-haired Director's eyes, he asked earnestly:

"Then I'll ask the first question... Will you die?"

"?!!!"

"Or I can change the way I ask."

Looking at the red-haired Director whose expression had slightly stalled, Leon, who already had a count in his heart, narrowed his eyes and said:

"The Watchtower not being weakened, the citizens of the East Calavin Kingdom being resurrected... Are you planning to use your own life to exchange for these two results at the same time?"

"..."

"Very good, I have already gotten your answer... Bring the water."

Looking at the silent red-haired Director in front of him, Leon shook his head slightly, took a sip from the water cup that You Ha had sent to his mouth from the Mirror World, and then, biting the edge of the cup, used the strength of his teeth and neck to fling a whole cup of fine wine emitting a mellow aroma over.

However, strangely, the red-haired Director, who had always been addicted to alcohol, did not reach out to catch it, but let the cup containing the clear wine fall, shattering into pieces on the floor with a snap.

"Leon..."

After calling Leon's name, the red-haired Director looked at the wine splashed everywhere on the floor and asked with helplessness in her eyes:

"My intention... is it that obvious?"

"It's much more obvious than that."

After answering this same question with a calm expression, Leon gazed at the red-haired Director's lowered eyes and said in a steady voice:

"You said it yourself just now, I understand you, just as you understand me.

And although you like to hold grudges, have double standards in doing things, especially love to tease people, drink alcohol during work hours, have a habit of not paying back debts, and have an abnormally low moral concept... but you are indeed a good cleanup agent, that's true.

Resurrecting the citizens of the East Calavin Kingdom is indeed a condition you cannot refuse, but if the price for making up for this regret is weakening the Watchtower, allowing True Gods to descend into the world at will, and causing a large number of casualties in the world, then you would definitely not agree."

"..."

Thank you for your evaluation of me... It would be even better if you hadn't taken the opportunity to lecture me!

After hearing Leon's words, a warmth surged in the red-haired Director's heart, but it also stung a bit. She couldn't help but shake her head and say:

"But didn't I still stand on the opposite side of you? How did you know that I would be like what you thought..."

"I understand you, just as you understand me."

After repeating this sentence again, Leon said with certainty:

"I know very well where your bottom line is. The only situation that could make you stand on the Ophiuchus Director's side is if the two things of resurrecting the citizens and protecting the Watchtower were placed on the same end of the scale, and the other end, which is bound to be lifted high, can be replaced by other weights.

Considering that you even wanted to hide it from me and refused to communicate the truth with me in advance—the 'Ophiuchus Director behavior'—it proves that you believe that even if you told me the truth, I would likely not agree with your plan.

And the only 'new weight' I can think of that meets these conditions is your life! You are preparing to place yourself on the scale, becoming the end that is destined to head toward destruction!"

(End of chapter)