Chapter 193

Two days later, in the early morning, Old City District, Patriot Avenue.

In the Old City District streets where sanitary conditions are generally not up to standard, night security is chaotic, and garbage trucks visit on average once a week, Patriot Avenue is definitely an exception.

It has a garbage truck that passes by once a day, patrol guards specially assigned by the Police Department, and walls that are regularly whitewashed three times a year.

Yes, unlike other streets that generally don't have anyone to care about for twenty or thirty years, even if the wall paint is all gone, Patriot Avenue not only has special sanitary measures, but even the walls are frequently luxuriously whitewashed. It is so neat and clean that it doesn't look like a street located in the Old City District at all.

As for the reason...

As a street rebuilt with special funding from the Ministry of Finance to commemorate the soldiers who fought bravely in the War of Defense, Patriot Avenue is not only the face of the King and Parliament, but also the residence of a large number of wounded soldiers from the war six years ago. It is reasonable that it should receive some preferential treatment. No one would question this.

The pity is that these preferential treatments in public expenditure seem to be unable to solve the widespread poverty of the discharged soldiers, and the glorious experience of fighting for the country cannot exempt them from the violent beating of patrol guards when they urinate near the walls after drinking.

……

"Stop! Damn it! Pull up your pants!"

After hurriedly kicking down the drunkard standing by the wall, looking at the fresh urine stains flowing hot on the fiery red wall, the two patrol guards couldn't help but show a look of wanting to cry.

Finished, how is it in the place where I patrol again? The salary is afraid that it will be deducted again!

Looking at the drunkard who was kicked down when he was halfway through urinating, his pants directly stained, the two guards looked at the empty street around them, couldn't help but surround him, and kicked and beat the drunkard with gritted teeth.

"Dog thing! This is a wall whitewashed to commemorate the War of Defense!"

"This is the third time this week! Damn it! Can't you go urinate somewhere else?"

"Beat him!"

After kicking and beating for a while, looking at the drunkard who curled up and didn't make a sound, the two guards who were bound to have their salaries deducted still didn't vent their anger, directly dragged him to the urine stains on the wall, threw him a piece of broken rag, and ordered him to wipe the urine stains clean with full annoyance.

But after the drunkard stood up tremblingly, he didn't pick up the rag on the ground that smelled of urine, but reached into his pants pocket and grabbed something, then his throat moved up and down, and he spat a ball of thick yellow-green phlegm towards the brightly whitewashed wall.

Immediately after, accompanied by a light "ding" sound, an iron combat memorial medal printed with a robin feather, which could only be obtained by participating in the War of Defense, was "spat" onto the memorial wall of the War of Defense together with that phlegm.

"Patriot Avenue? Heh!"

……

Pity, still a little short.

Looking at the hands of the watch jumping constantly, but finally stopping in the "human" zone and failing to successfully reach the "abnormal" zone, the old man on the opposite side of the street with drooping corners of his mouth shook his head, then said to the middle-aged man opposite the table:

"This person is not bad. He has a painful past and intense emotions, and in all aspects, he is very close to the standard of becoming an abnormal. He has the qualification to let the seed 'sprout'."

"But his soul is not pure enough. He has too many messy distracting thoughts. To become a true abnormal, he still needs to experience a more unforgettable pain, a despair that completely knocks him into the abyss..."

"Does he have family?"

"Yes."

Looking at the drunkard who was kicked and beaten by the two guards, the middle-aged man with some white hair appearing on his temples was silent for a moment, then answered:

"Old Ba Jin Si's wife died of illness, but he has a twenty-year-old son who joined us three years ago and is now responsible for the procurement of daily necessities."

"Oh?"

Hearing the middle-aged man's words, the old man with a natural crying face raised his eyelids and said with great interest:

"How is their father-son relationship?"

"Very bad."

The middle-aged man... or the leader of the rebels hesitated, shook his head and said:

"Old Ba Jin Si suffered a lot of injuries in the War of Defense six years ago. His right leg was pierced by a nail gun, and his stomach was also injured by a whale oil bomb dropped from an airship, causing him to have unbearable numbness and itching in rainy and snowy weather, so he could only drink alcohol to relieve pain all year round."

"And the discharge money given by the Kingdom was not much, and most of it was drunk away by him, so his wife got liver disease and couldn't be treated, and she died in less than two years. Later, he drank even more fiercely, and even beat Xiao Ba Jin Si after getting drunk. And Xiao Ba Jin Si also hated his father extremely."

"That's really pitiful."

After looking at the drunkard across the street with pity, the Aquarius Director sighed:

"Pity, if he had a son who was unwilling to give up on him no matter what and continued to try hard to take care of him, that would be fine."

"In that case, as long as the last person who was unwilling to give up on him expressed complete disappointment in him, or designed a small accident for his son, forcibly extinguishing the last bit of light in his heart, he could use the erupting pain to completely refine his soul."

"And under the washing of despair that expanded to the extreme, his soul would be stripped of all impurities, and at a certain moment, only the purest obsession would exist, and by this, he would truly break away from the category of ordinary people and successfully cross the threshold of abnormal. But now..."

Looking at the "soul" needle on the watch that was stuck below the abnormal line, the Aquarius Director shook his head:

"Impossible."

"If it were when his wife just died, maybe I would have a chance to push him. But after so many years, his soul has become completely numb, covered with a thick layer of dust, and no longer meets the conditions for becoming an abnormal."

"I see..."

After sighing together, the middle-aged man stood up:

"Then let's go see the next person. I have met quite a few people who might become abnormal over the years. It's rare for you to come over to find me, so let's just see them all together!"

"Sorry, I'm afraid it's too late."

After looking at the watch on the other hand, the Aquarius Director shook his head:

"There will be an internal questioning about me soon. If I don't pass the questioning, I will have to accept the memory reading of the Bureau, so I must go back to prepare in advance. I don't have time to look at them one by one."

Internal questioning of the Cleaning Bureau?

The middle-aged man was stunned upon hearing this, then frowned and asked:

"How did this happen? Aren't you one of the twelve directors with the greatest power? Why would you still be subjected to internal review? Who can review you?"

"Of course it's other directors~"

The Aquarius Director said indifferently:

"I have done so many things outside these years. Although I have always been very careful and haven't even used my true face, it is inevitable that I will leave some traces. There are many talented people in the Cleaning Bureau, and there will always be people who can detect that something is wrong."

"Or rather, being able to hold on until today to be questioned has already exceeded my expectations. Since the Snake Bearer... um... since a certain big event in the past, the world has become more and more chaotic in recent years, and many outer gods are ready to move, causing the Bureau to lose many good hands. Otherwise, I'm afraid I would have been exposed long ago."

"……"

"I don't know these things."

The middle-aged man shook his head:

"I just want to know, about when can you come back?"

"Fast, one or two weeks."

The Aquarius Director added indifferently:

"You should be able to guess that for an organization as huge and loose as the Cleaning Bureau, being able to complete the questioning of high-level members within one or two weeks is already surprisingly fast."

"Then what about slow?"

"If it's slow, of course, it's never coming back!"

Seeming to think of something interesting, the Aquarius Director laughed:

"The people initiating the questioning of me this time not only include the top three directors in the Bureau, but even several directors of the Zodiac branches. If I can't survive it, I'm afraid I won't even have the qualification to run, and will be directly taken down on the spot."

"Um... having said that, let's take two weeks as the limit. If I haven't returned after two weeks, you can assume I've already been slaughtered. By then, run if you should run, hide if you should hide. Anyway, with the concealment of your ability, there really aren't many people in the Bureau who can find your location."

"……"

You are really... frank enough...

After clicking his tongue speechlessly, the middle-aged man said expressionlessly:

"Then let's talk about it after you pass the questioning and come back! I will watch those people first."

"Um... if you want to check the qualifications of those people, you don't necessarily have to wait for me to come back."

Hearing the middle-aged man's words, the Aquarius Director pondered for a moment, then actually took off the strange watch with six hands on his left wrist and threw it to the rebel leader.

"This thing is called 【Dream-Seeking Watch】. Its original ability was used to realize dreams, but after my modification, this thing can also check whether a person has the potential to become an abnormal. Just a drop of blood or hair is enough as a marker."

While speaking, the Aquarius Director pointed his finger at the watch cover and explained to the hands below:

"These six hands are divided into three groups, representing past and future, body and soul, personality and emotion. And if each of these three groups of hands reaches the abnormal range, it proves that this person has the qualification to accept the 'seed'."

"Like Mr. Old Ba Jin Si opposite, his 'past' hand and 'emotion' hand reached the abnormal range, but the 'soul' hand didn't meet the standard, so he still lacks the conditions for the seed to sprout, and it is unlikely to become an abnormal."

Past future, soul body, personality emotion?

After seriously remembering the meaning of these six hands, looking at these three groups of strange hands engraved with wonderful patterns, the middle-aged man couldn't help but ask suspiciously:

"Why is it enough for one to move in a group to become an abnormal?"

"Um... it's a bit hard to explain... let's do this. You can understand the world as a canvas, and understand everyone as a pen."

The Aquarius Director thought for a moment, then dipped his finger in coffee and drew a coffee-colored water mark on the tablecloth, then continued to explain:

"A person's past experience and his future development are the brushstrokes he has drawn and will draw on the world. And having a unique soul or a wonderful body determines the technique used by this pen when painting on the world, whether it is realistic or abstract."

"As for personality and emotion, the former determines how a person treats the world, and the latter is what kind of feedback a person will give to the world after experiencing the world, which is equivalent to what color marks this pen draws on the canvas."

Looking at the middle-aged man who was a bit confused, the Aquarius Director sighed:

"Simply put, these three groups of hands are exploring what kind of painting a person is drawing on the world, what technique is used to draw, and what kind of pigment is used to draw."

"So in these three groups of hands, if each has a kind of 'abnormal', it can guarantee that the painting drawn by this pen is also 'abnormal'. By then, I only need to provide a little help, and this abnormal pen can draw a scroll called 'abnormal'..."

"Do you understand?"

"Roughly understand..."

Nodding with not enough confidence, the middle-aged man asked curiously:

"Then what if all six hands move? What kind of abnormal object can such a person catalyze?"

"If someone really makes all six hands move..."

The Aquarius Director frowned:

"That is a painful past, a great future, a strong body, a pure soul, a paranoid personality, crazy emotions... speaking of reason, if you meet such a person, I suggest you'd better run as soon as possible."

"Ah?"

"If there really is such a person, whether he is kind or evil, he is destined to completely change the world,"

"and set off an incomparably terrible wave."

"The abnormal object derived from this kind of person is like the most gorgeous and crazy color, combined with the most wanton and wild brushwork, drawing an extremely magnificent scroll... of course, it could also be a picture scroll that destroys everything."

"……"

"In short, change is terrible. For people like you and me who are not good things, it is even more so. Following behind him to push the waves, I estimate it will be nine deaths and one life. Standing opposite him to try to stop the tide, the result is ten deaths and no life."

"So if you really meet such a person, don't think about extra things, and don't do extra things. Just hide as far as you can and that's it."

"Alright..."

"In addition, this watch is not placed with you for nothing."

After looking at the middle-aged man who was a bit stunned, the Aquarius Director raised his hand, pointed in the direction of the Police Department, and said seriously:

"Besides checking other people's qualifications to become abnormal, this thing can also help you find the abnormal objects I created... Don't forget what you promised me!"

"Are you saying... the thing in that red-haired Director's drawer?"

"Right."

The Aquarius Director nodded and urged seriously:

"There is a thing that is very important to me, which is placed in that woman's drawer. The appearance is probably a photo."

"Usually, you don't have a chance, but the person who initiated the questioning of me this time includes her, so when the questioning begins, you can take advantage of her absence to sneak into the Cleaning Bureau through 【Gate of the Other World】."

"Next, the hands of 【Dream-Seeking Watch】 will automatically take you to find the photo I want. If you can successfully bring it back and hand it to me, I will definitely give you a satisfactory reward."