Chapter 225: 224

224

With the Director of the Cleanup Bureau's verdict, the "Eye of the Sun" in the sky suddenly blazed brighter, its unimaginably intense sunlight cascading like a waterfall directly onto the Aquarius Director.

"Damn it! It's all your fault!"

Amid the stunned expressions of the crowd, the Aquarius Director, drenched in sunlight, did not instantly burn to ash—instead, surrounded by some strange, dust-like substance, he rose to his feet, enduring the searing light, his eyes blazing red as he roared toward the main stage:

"Why did you come back? If you hadn't shown up today! All I needed was one more day!"

You scared the hell out of me—I thought my meddling had been discovered…

Realizing the Aquarius Director's rage wasn't aimed at him but at the Cleanup Bureau Director, Li Ang let out a long breath and quickly shuffled sideways, pressing himself behind the Director, terrified the dying man's last struggles might reach him.

As for the Cleanup Bureau Director's spectral form, his full attention was fixed on the Aquarius Director, so he paid no heed to Li Ang's small maneuver, instead coldly gesturing toward the sun.

"Boom!"

With a sound like a cascading waterfall, the sunlight overhead intensified several-fold, a torrent of brilliant gold crashing down and piercing through the smoke surrounding the Aquarius Director.

As this life-saving anomaly was shattered, the Aquarius Director's body was instantly obliterated—even the scattered ashes were vaporized by sunlight nearly liquefied, leaving only a soul screaming in futile rage.

After glancing at the Aquarius Director's soul and confirming it posed no threat, the Cleanup Bureau Director turned his head toward the Gemini Division Director's seat, as if to give an order, but hesitated, then looked toward the Pisces Division Director's seat.

"Medea, the execution of Aquarius is complete. Your Pisces Division excels at handling souls—take his soul away."

"Retrieve everything: his deeds over the years, his plots against the Watch Palace, the locations of the anomalies he created, and all knowledge of the Aquarius Secret Art."

"Understood."

The Pisces Director, veiled, gave a slight nod and accepted the task. After making the arrangements, the Cleanup Bureau Director turned to look behind him—at Li Ang—and asked:

"You… that… ability… can… you…"

Huh?

Watching the Cleanup Bureau Director suddenly begin "slow motion," his form twisting unnaturally, Li Ang blinked in surprise, then couldn't help asking:

"Director? What's going on?"

"Probably due to Old Earth—time flow there has started slowing again."

The veiled woman, who had walked over from the Pisces Director's seat to retrieve the soul, explained:

"His true body isn't here—it's… in… Old… Earth…"???

Wait, how are you slowing down too?

After glancing in shock at the veiled woman, Li Ang turned back to ask his own Director—only to be utterly stunned: the entire Cleanup Bureau headquarters, including his own Director, had slowed down.

And the slowdown was accelerating—where the veiled woman had previously spoken one word every three seconds, she now hadn't uttered another after over a minute.

…

"I never expected that, with all my preparations so thorough, you'd still ruin this."

With a voice devoid of any inflection, the Gemini Division Director walked forward, passed around the veiled woman blocking his path, and seized the Aquarius Director's soul in his hand.

"Who are you?"

"I am the Gemini Division Director—and also the Aquarius Director… or rather, the vessel holding his original brain."

Pointing to his forehead, the Gemini Division Director pulled out a tiny scale and placed it in his palm, then fixed Li Ang with a calm gaze:

"The one just executed was my true body, a copied brain, and Bolideqingganyubufenlinghun —after all, having my brain licked by the Brain-Eating Demon was excruciating. I didn't want to experience it firsthand, so I devised this method."

"Also, I've thought carefully during this time: though the surgery was a day off and had some error, since the brain in this body wasn't affected, the other version of my brain likely wasn't either."

"So the reason my memories couldn't be fully copied by the Dream Recall Furnace isn't due to the Krook Kingdom's surgery—it's because of the Divine Brain-Eating Demon. And the only person who directly touched it… is you. I'm curious: how did you control it?"

…

…

…

No way—there's a twist?!

Looking at the Gemini Director—or rather, the true Aquarius Director—staring at him expressionlessly, waiting for an answer, Li Ang was utterly numb.

For starters, what the hell are the Cleanup Bureau people even doing?

You guys are so damn powerful—you've captured so many true gods and Xieshen, hollowed out asteroids for your headquarters, even pulled the sun into use—and now you're all frozen? If Aquarius had just been a little more ruthless today, you'd all be wiped out?

"Don't worry—I can't harm them. Not even make contact."

As if sensing Li Ang's thoughts, the Gemini Division Director—or rather, the true Aquarius Director—spoke:

"My ability isn't to slow them—it's to accelerate you and me. We're like two gears peeled away from the 'machine' of the world, able to turn at speeds far exceeding normal time flow."

"But if we make contact with others, these temporarily detached gears will re-engage with the machine and instantly return to normal speed. So while our state is strange, we can't actually do much."

【Through firsthand observation and the user's explanation, you've acquired extensive information on "Time Gap." The Chromatic Badge "Materialist Soul" has activated.】

【Having understood partial rules of "Time Gap," your resistance to it has increased—you can now block lower-level effects.】

Only lower-level… that's still useless!

Looking at the calm, unhurried true Aquarius Director across from him, and realizing he showed no resistance to conversation, Li Ang gritted his teeth, resolved to struggle even if caught:

"If you wanted the soul back, you could just accelerate yourself—why accelerate me too?"

"To obtain information."

Swinging the scale in his hand, the Aquarius Director spoke slowly:

"This is the 'Truth Scale.' If one side offers a secret of sufficient value, then when they ask a question, the other side—no matter how unwilling—must answer with an equivalent secret."

"Why you? First, I'm curious what you did to the Brain-Eating Demon. Second, I want to know about the Kingdom's situation. Third, I want intel on the Virgo Division. Most importantly—you're weak."

"If the one accelerated with me were Olivia or Beverly of the Leo Division, the cost would be enormous—and I might not even defeat them."

"You require little cost, know a lot, carry secrets I find interesting, and once I get the info, you're easiest to handle. So naturally, I chose you."

…

"Hmm… the reason for my two selves, the secret of time acceleration, the Truth Scale's ability, why I chose you… that should be enough."

Placing four uneven weights on the left tray of the small scale, watching the right tray rise high, the Aquarius Director nodded in satisfaction, then turned to Li Ang and asked calmly:

"Your turn. First question: what exactly did you do to that Brain-Eating Demon?"