Chapter 227

"Stop!"

Just as the Water Bearer Director hastily retreated, and the 【Time Gap】 was fully sealed, a flood of dazzling attacks arrived in an instant.

First to appear was an inexplicable sweetness; near where Middle-aged Joshua had "opened the door," it was as if a sugary rain had just fallen, and all manner of desserts sprouted like bamboo shoots after rain, rapidly swelling.

But before these sudden sweets could fully inflate, hundreds of sea-blue tentacles, as thick as an adult's waist, shot out first, thrashing wildly with the force to crush everything, instantly grinding the sweets into multicolored sugar sludge—only to be sliced apart by countless invisible blades, then dissolved into a skyful of misty droplets by swirling pale-pink illusions.

Then came the crimson blood realm, sobbing whispers, golden rivers, nameless rings, pale puppets covered in spines, demonic knee-crawlers with ten weeping eyes, faceless, mouthless martyr corpses, and a snarling evil moon reflected in a pool of emerald water…

As if hosting an absurd exhibition, a flood of unmistakably wrong things appeared in rapid succession at the Water Bearer Director's escape point, brutally destroying the earlier anomalies, only to be torn apart even more viciously by attacks that arrived later.

Finally, the Sun's Eye in the sky suddenly dimmed, and a shadow darker than the deepest night fell, obliterating everything on the main stage—only then did the Cleaning Bureau's myriad attacks cease…

…

Fuck…

Watching the main stage washed clean dozens of times in a second, Leon, who had been yanked away by his director, shuddered violently, his back soaked in cold sweat.

When the 【Door to the Other World】 began closing, Leon had planned to grab two more weights—but his right shoe suddenly turned into a wafer, hundreds of suction-cupped tentacles stealthily emerged around him, and a familiar streak of bright red hair quietly wrapped around his waist.

The director's coming to pull me out… so staying here is dangerous?

Although the 【Time Gap】 wasn't fully sealed and Leon could have easily dodged the red hair to keep collecting weights, out of trust in his director, he didn't move—letting the director's hair coil around him, and then…

He almost didn't make it!

Watching wave after wave of attacks strike down as he was yanked out by the director's red hair alongside the Freckled Prince and Senior Jerry, Leon was immensely grateful he'd resisted his greed.

These ruthless people in the Cleaning Bureau might not catch the accelerated Water Bearer Director, but killing him would be absurdly easy—look at that saturation-style, plow-like assault; if he'd stayed to collect weights, even a thousand lives wouldn't have saved him!

As Leon was still reeling, the red-haired director, having rescued all three, also exhaled deeply, then nodded slightly to the Lion Division director:

"Bevrie, thank you for helping."

"Don't thank me—I almost messed it up."

With a finger tap to Leon's right foot, restoring his shoe from a wafer, Lion Division's director Bevrie apologized slightly:

"I meant to turn you three into sweets—so even if later attacks tore you apart, you could just be remade with a bit more sugar and dough.

But there were more attackers than I expected, even the director summoned 【Solar Shade】 to descend—if you'd truly been turned into sweets, you'd have suffered terribly."

"You deserve thanks."

The red-haired director insisted:

"My reaction speed isn't fast—if you hadn't intervened and blocked some of the summoned 【Sea Tentacles】, I might not have pulled them out intact. This time I owe you… Also, don't think these people went too far."

Here, the red-haired director turned to the three shaken individuals, speaking with weary resignation:

"The first few who attacked—even if they genuinely tried to stop him—held back slightly on their aim toward you, which allowed me to barely pull you out under all that fire.

As for the later attackers, they deliberately avoided you. It's less about stopping him and more about proving loyalty, showing they're not allied with the Water Bearer Director—everyone's just putting on a show."

"…."

After hearing the red-haired director's words, Leon paused to think, then understood immediately.

This incident involved the Watch Palace—it struck the Cleaning Bureau's sacred nerve, compounded by the Twin Division director's sudden "betrayal." No matter how they handle the Water Bearer Director, the "Water Bearer faction" within the bureau will face brutal scrutiny and purge.

So even though these division directors knew their attacks couldn't hit him, they still had to join in—especially those who might have taken bribes from Water Bearer—to declare their break from him and prove their loyalty to headquarters, avoiding future targeting…

Indeed, choosing sides is humanity's eternal problem—even for an organization like the Cleaning Bureau.

…

"Enough!"

Clearly, not just the red-haired director understood this. After sweeping away the black solar shade beside him, the Cleaning Bureau director glared at the division directors—who had done nothing until the moment of crisis but rushed to join the bandwagon—and snapped angrily:

"Stop these useless performances. Right now, the priority is how to handle Water… uh…"

He looked down in disbelief at his feet: a tiny head gnawing his pant leg, another tiny head barking "Wang Wang" at him—a two-headed, fearsome-looking but adorable puppy. The Cleaning Bureau director's face darkened:

"Whose anomaly is this? Get it back!"

"Ah! Mine!"

Frantically shaking a dog bell to recall the ferociously cute pup gnawing the director's shoe, the acting director of Lyra Division stood up, blushing furiously as he apologized repeatedly, then stammered:

"Sorry—we Lyra Division's director and all our senior Level One and Two members are currently frozen in the polar region. I'm the most senior left, so the Star Palace dragged me here to attend…

This… I may be senior, but my strength is mediocre—I only barely reached Stage Two last month. I can't resist the headquarters' suppression on anomalies, so I summoned a puppy just to look respectable. Sorry for the embarrassment, Director."

"…."

So it's Lyra Division—the second-worst performer. No wonder they're so weak…

With a wave of his hand to dismiss her, the Cleaning Bureau director turned to the division ranked first in performance and frowned:

"Olivia, have your people explain—what exactly happened? Why did the Twin Division director suddenly betray us?"