[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-i-m-the-cleanup-crew":3,"chapter-i-m-the-cleanup-crew-i-m-the-cleanup-crew-chapter-168":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","I'm the Cleanup Crew!",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2286004,4472,"Chapter 168","i-m-the-cleanup-crew-chapter-168",168,"\u003Cp>“I saw it with my own eyes.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Through the telescope in his hand, the middle-aged man sighed, his expression both relieved and complex, as he explained:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The anomaly I possess is called the [Door to the Other World]. Besides being able to open behind any door in the capital, allowing you to enter the base at any time, it can also open doors to the future.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What?!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing the middle-aged man explain his ability for the first time, the bald woman stared at him in shock, her eyes wide with awe as she asked:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The future? You mean the future I’m thinking of?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes, exactly the future you’re thinking of—and that future can be changed. Everything I do after learning the future alters its shape. For instance, that slingshot shot you just fired? That’s the ‘answer’ I found in the future.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After glancing toward the Ryan Estate, the middle-aged man with streaks of gray at his temples spoke with a complicated gaze:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That Clearance Bureau agent is… terrifyingly cautious. He handles everything flawlessly. Any slightest disturbance, and he immediately uses that infuriating ability to shield himself and the Princess—leaving not even a sliver of opportunity.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Do you know? Whether it was ambush, assassination, poisoning, or explosives—I tried eighty-odd times yesterday with versions of you from the future. I switched over a dozen strategies, but every single time he evaded it. Not once could I kill him outright.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The two closest attempts: once, we launched a full-scale assault, sparing no cost to corner him—only for him to activate a lethal hair. Everyone except me and the Phoebe sisters died instantly, with zero resistance. He only suffered minor injuries.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The second time, I sent Phoebe, suffering from amnesia, to get close to him and touch him—making everyone forget his existence. But he merely touched Phoebe’s hand, and everyone’s memories began slowly returning. In the end, we still couldn’t touch him.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After recalling his “battle of wits” with “Prince Leon,” the middle-aged man turned to the bald woman, who had been stunned silent, and sighed helplessly:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“His ability is truly disgusting—almost no weaknesses… I can’t imagine what he’s endured to become this cautious, as if someone’s always waiting to kill him.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“….”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Uh… well, it seems he really didn’t overestimate the threat—you tried to kill him eighty times in one night. If he weren’t this cautious, he’d be dead already.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Though his ability is powerful, you still found an opening in the end. So clearly, your ability is even stronger!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Giving her “relentlessly murderous” leader a look of disgust, the bald woman said excitedly:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“By the way, boss! You can see the future?! With this power, aren’t you invincible? You could do anything you want!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The middle-aged man’s demeanor seemed strange. He wiped away sudden tears from his eyes, then shook his head with a melancholy tone:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if you can see the future infinitely, you still might not be able to change it—because some problems are destined to have no answers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This… boss, I don’t understand…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Simply put: some things, even if you know they’ll happen, you still lack the power to change them—like the future of this kingdom.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After glancing at the dazed bald woman, the middle-aged man hesitated slightly, then smiled with a touch of release as he explained:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Do you know? The last time we assassinated the Princess—we actually succeeded.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Huh?!!?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s true. When I crossed through the [Door to the Other World] into the future, I had Luke control the Princess’s attendant and successfully killed her. But shortly after her death, my future self managed to send back a message.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My future self said that even in a future without the Princess, the kingdom was not saved—only changed from total collapse to a lingering, dying state.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“And because I softened for a moment, after stepping out of the future’s door, I slightly altered the plan—making the attendant controlled by Luke choose a different post, deliberately abandoning the chance to assassinate her.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But because I softened at the moment, after stepping back from the Door to the Future, I slightly altered my plan—having the guard under Luke’s control choose a different posting position, voluntarily forfeiting that chance at a successful assassination.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing that the failed assassination was actually deliberately abandoned by her own leader, the stunned bald woman froze, then lunged forward, grabbing his shoulders, veins bulging as she shouted:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Why?! Why?! And more importantly—she’s the Princess! You’re a rebel! You’re telling me you softened?! What the hell are you talking about?!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I couldn’t help it. She’s my sister.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I can’t help being soft—she’s my sister after all.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wiping tears with the back of his hand, he smudged off the foundation used to conceal his face, revealing several irregularly shaped freckles that looked like smudges of dirt. His eyes were filled with complexity as he said:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If not for her, I would have been killed in the capital during the second year of the war. Since the kingdom’s fate is equally tragic—with or without her—how could I bring myself to kill her?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If it weren’t for her, I would have been killed in the capital during the second year of the war. Since the kingdom’s fate is equally tragic whether she lives or dies, how could I bring myself to kill her?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So the rebel leader… is actually the kingdom’s prince? I… what the hell have I been doing all this time?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Looking at the middle-aged man’s weathered face and those unmistakable freckles, the bald woman felt blood rush to her head, nearly going mad as she stammered:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You’re Joshua? That idiot prince? Impossible! You? You?!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I already said it—my ability is called the [Door to the Other World].”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gazing at the distant Ryan Estate, the middle-aged man’s eyes were hollow as he said:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“A powerful anomaly that lets you freely observe the future must demand an unparalleled price. And the price I paid is tied to the name of this ability.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Having suffered thirty years from the kingdom’s destruction, I chose to step through the Door to the Other World, abandoning everything I had—no family, no past, not even a future anymore.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Now, I am merely a ghost wandering the Other World. Even if I gain the chance to save the kingdom and alter every regret, every changed regret has nothing to do with me anymore. That is the price of using the [Door to the Other World].”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I am now merely a ghost wandering the Otherworld. Even though I gained the chance to save the kingdom and undo all my regrets, every changed regret now means nothing to me—that is the price of using the Door to the Otherworld.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After explaining the truth of his ability, the middle-aged man wiped his tears and bowed slightly, his expression apologetic toward the utterly twisted expression on the bald woman’s face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Sorry. I intended to take this secret to my grave. But in a few minutes, my sister—the Princess—will vanish from everyone’s memory, even mine. I couldn’t hold back—I needed to confide in someone before my memories fade.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’m sorry—I originally planned to take this secret to my grave, but in just a few minutes, Sister… the Princess will vanish from everyone’s memory, and even I will forget her. I simply couldn’t hold back—I wanted to confide in someone while my memories were still whole.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pinching the bald woman’s mouth shut, the middle-aged man sprinkled strange powder inside, then said to her terrified face:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Don’t worry—it’s not poison. It’s ground-up powder from Phoebe’s fingernails. At this dosage, it’ll only erase about an hour of your memory.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Just sleep for a bit—that’s all. And thank you for listening to my secret. Saying it all out… I feel better.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Don’t worry—I didn’t give you poison. It’s powder ground from Phoebe’s fingernails; at this dosage, it’ll only rob you of about an hour’s memory.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Watching the middle-aged man before her, his face filled with apology and gratitude, the bald woman struggled twice but couldn’t break free—her mouth still pinched shut, unable to curse. She could only glare with furious eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You feel better! But now I’m the one suffering! Let go of me, you bastard! Fuck!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The bald woman stared at the middle-aged man before her, who thanked her with an apologetic expression. She struggled twice but couldn’t break free; her mouth was pinched shut, so she couldn’t curse—she could only glare with furious eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You’re feeling much better now! But now I’m the one suffering! Let go of me, you beast! Fuck!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Damn it!\u003C\u002Fp>",1423,"2026-06-20T03:18:28.556Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","43417e849844bd3fa03a26d033523e5bbffd4c84fdc31a41771bede59d084f76","i-m-the-cleanup-crew-chapter-169","i-m-the-cleanup-crew-chapter-167",1000,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fi-m-the-cleanup-crew-cover.jpg"]