[{"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-23":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},2285859,4472,"Chapter 23: 23 Badge Inventory (Combined)","i-m-the-cleanup-crew-chapter-23",23,"\u003Cp>23 Badge Inventory (Combined)\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Alcohol Country Martyr: Is this alcohol? This is flowing cold fire, a remedy for forgetting sorrow, an oasis in the city, a cure for a painful life, a river with warmth, the solitude boiling at the deepest core of countless cold nights】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Wearing Effect: The higher the alcohol content in your body, the less impact fear, timidity, panic, and other negative emotions have on you.】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【At 0.1 grams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood, this effect reaches its maximum, granting complete immunity to the effects of related negative emotions, but inducing the special state “Intoxicated”】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Intoxicated: Your reaction time increases by 50%, limb coordination decreases by 50%, perception of surrounding environment decreases by 50%, courage increases by 300%】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Advanced Path: After sampling one thousand varieties of “Craft Brew” grade or higher, one hundred varieties of “Fine Brew” grade or higher, ten varieties of “Aged Brew” grade or higher, and one variety of “Intoxicating Brew” grade or higher, this badge will automatically upgrade to the chromatic badge “Soul of Alcohol”.】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Current progress: 117\u002F1000, 7\u002F100, 1\u002F10, 0\u002F1】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Hidden Trait (No Wearing Required): After enduring a hellish drinking bout, your body has adapted to alcohol’s ravages and found its coping mechanism—your alcohol metabolism rate has dramatically increased】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Drank nonstop all night, slept all day, and earned a Gold-rank badge… This… somehow… isn’t entirely unacceptable?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After reading the full effects of 【Alcohol Country Martyr】, Li Ang’s emotions finally calmed down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No wonder it’s a Gold-rank badge—the effect is truly powerful.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though my courage isn’t small, I still felt some fear when facing that hospital that literally “ate people.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Especially the living hell in the first-floor lobby—even observing it through a scope made my heart race and my flesh tremble.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To be honest, if I hadn’t been sniping from afar but had charged in with Senior Emma holding a rifle, in that utterly terrifying scene, I probably wouldn’t have been able to hit anyone face-to-face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But with this Gold-rank badge, as long as I carry a bottle of high-proof liquor, I can drastically reduce the impact of these negative emotions, regaining my composure—and for a job teetering on the edge of life and death, calmness and rationality can save your life at critical moments.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Also, according to Senior Emma, abilities that directly affect the soul—like Black Goat’s—are rare, but not impossible to encounter; given the terrifying scope of the Clearance Bureau’s duties, I might stumble upon one at any moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While this 【Alcohol Country Martyr】 has a limited scope—only immune to fear, timidity, panic, and similar negative emotions—if an opponent’s ability falls within this range, they’ll be directly suppressed to death. Even with such a narrow scope, this is an extremely powerful trump card.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It seems… there’s still much to uncover in the badge system.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Looking at the four slots on the panel, and the seven badges—three Iron, two Bronze, one Gold, one Chromatic—Li Ang fell into deep thought.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of my seven currently activated badges, 【Unemployed Youth】 not only has a confusing ability, but upgrading it requires leaving the Clearance Bureau—not something effort alone can achieve—so I’ll pass for now; 【Probationary Worker】, which upgrades only after two months of employment, is the same.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The remaining 【Reliable Older Brother】 has no advancement path, 【Materialist Soul】 cannot be upgraded further, and while 【Alcohol Country Martyr】 can still advance, I don’t understand alcohol and can’t afford so many fine liquors—I must set it aside for now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So the only ones that might be actively upgraded are 【Devil’s Follower】 and 【Shooting Newbie】.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The former is easiest: just buy a few more packs of “Gao Te” for Black Goat behind the Clearance Bureau’s back; the latter requires live-fire practice—I’ll need to think of a way with the Military Department… wait,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Doesn’t the Police Department also have a shooting range?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Recalling that he’d once seen armed police officers while eating at the Police Department cafeteria, Li Ang turned his thoughts toward the Police Department.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though Clearance Bureau is only nominally subordinate to the Police Department, it’s still officially under their umbrella; to them, I’m at least half one of their own—borrowing their training facilities shouldn’t be a problem, right?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hmm… practicing shooting to level up badges, investigating the Hydropower Company and Road Administration, visiting that middle-aged nurse named Hanna… I’ve only been employed two days, yet I already have so much to do…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Holding his still-dizzy head, pale-faced Li Ang got up and rummaged through the old table beside the bed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a clatter of noise, he found a half-used charcoal stick and some scrap paper, carefully listing everything he needed to do, then folded it neatly and tucked it into his pocket with his wallet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Brother! You’re awake!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps hearing the rustling, a boy with seven-tenths of Li Ang’s facial features but a dim-witted expression peered cautiously through the door crack.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Li Ang up, he immediately rushed in with a delighted face, clinging tightly to his thigh, eyes reddening as he said:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Sister Anna coughed so badly the day before yesterday, her handkerchief turned red, and she hasn’t come back yet. After you came home, you wouldn’t wake up no matter how we called you—I—I thought…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“William! What are you doing!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing the commotion, another girl of similar age, her hair a pale gold, ran over, grabbing the boy’s sleeve and scolding:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Didn’t that red-haired sister say your brother’s just drunk? Drunk, you understand?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It’s just a minor illness like a cold—sleep it off and you’ll be fine, he won’t die! If you keep saying nonsense, I’ll hit you!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After scolding the boy who was half a head taller than her, the girl with Anna’s hair color hesitated, then rushed over and hugged Li Ang’s other leg, head bowed, eyes red:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Big brother… how’s Sister Anna?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Anna is fine. She’s recovered.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Looking at the two children clinging tightly to his thighs, Li Ang’s eyes flickered with guilt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The night before last, Anna suddenly coughed up blood; I hastily left the two of them with neighbors without even a proper farewell, then carried Anna to the hospital, spending a full day in chaos, then joining the Clearance Bureau, encountering an anomaly, and staying up all night again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After resolving the uncontaminated infected, I helped Senior Emma revive the doctors and nurses, moved Anna to a new room and switched her medication—by then, dawn was breaking. I was so exhausted I couldn’t make it home, so I just dozed off on Anna’s hospital bed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When I woke up, I rushed straight back to the Clearance Bureau to report, then requested leave to confirm Anna’s condition before heading home—but then I heard from that boy-faced employee at the Gas Company about a possible anomaly, so I had to rush back to the Clearance Bureau again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sigh… I haven’t slept properly for two days straight, and with everything going on, I didn’t even think to send someone home to reassure them—and after work, I was dragged into a drinking binge, then slept the whole next day.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It’s truly… one family member sick, the other lying down, and I’ve barely been home for over two days—they must be terrified. I’m a terrible older brother…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gently stroking his siblings’ heads, Li Ang sat them beside the bed and leaned down to soothe them softly:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Don’t worry—I asked the doctor yesterday. He said Anna’s condition is stable. Her illness is no longer a problem.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Really?!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing Li Ang’s words, dim-witted William stayed silent, head down, but the livelier girl shot up, face beaming:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So the red-haired sister was telling the truth? Anna will be coming home soon?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ang nodded with a smile:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The doctor says she just needs two more days of rest, then she can go home. As long as she takes her medicine on time, she’ll fully recover in at most three months—and never cough again.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon hearing this good news, the two children were overjoyed, their faces glowing with pure happiness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When they were too young to remember, their parents—both mechanics—had died in the national defense war years ago; their memories of their parents were faint, and Anna had raised them almost entirely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So even though Anna herself was barely sixteen, in these two younger siblings’ hearts, “elder sister as mother” wasn’t an exaggeration—it was reality. Hearing Anna was safe, they were happier than anyone else in the world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After carefully checking their appearance and complexion, confirming they hadn’t been hungry or cold these past two days, Li Ang finally relaxed. He stroked the girl’s golden hair and smiled:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Where’s that red-haired sister? Mei Lan, tell me—when did she leave? What did she say to you?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ah… let me think…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though the youngest, Mei Lan was far sharper than her dim-witted twin brother.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After tilting her head in thought, she counted on her fingers, speaking seriously:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The red-haired sister carried you home, gave the aunt who looked after us a silver wheel, and asked her to take good care of us until you woke up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then she said to give you another day off, that nurses could wait till tomorrow… and she bought me and William really sweet milk candies, and promised to give us new clothes too…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But we didn’t take them!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, the quiet boy couldn’t help but interject:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Brother and Sister always told us! Anyone who offers candy or clothes is a bad person—a child trafficker—never go with them!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So when she said she’d buy us clothes, I glared at her hard and yelled ‘Someone’s kidnapping kids!’—scared her right off!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(⊙_⊙)?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In Li Ang’s expression of three-parts disbelief and seven-parts bewilderment, dim-witted William stood up, thumping his chest proudly:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Brother! I scared off the bad person and protected Mei Lan! Wasn’t that good?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Pfft! How dare you say that!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before Li Ang could speak, the golden-haired girl lunged at him, slapping his forehead with her small hands, yelling angrily:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Idiot! Fool! Big dummy! Stubborn! Wooden head!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Are you stupid?! Can’t you use your brain? Our brother was carried home by her—how could she be bad? Give me back my new clothes!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And if you really thought she was bad, why did you eat the candy? Why did you fight me for it? You’re disgusting!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I… you ate several pieces first!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The dim-witted boy shielded his head with his thin arms, defending himself firmly:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I figured—if you ate the candy and were fine, then it must be safe. If it’s not poisonous, why wouldn’t I eat it?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wow… his logic’s actually solid—but is he an idiot or a genius?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Watching the two siblings chase each other, turning the room into chaos, Li Ang—who’d just been filled with guilt—switched instantly into parental annoyance mode. Holding his still-dizzy head, he waved them off helplessly:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Stop it, already… you two… we’ll have money soon. When my salary comes, I’ll buy you both candy and new clothes!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After promising them the huge reward of two copper wheels, Li Ang finally calmed the two down. He glanced at the dark sky outside and struggled to rise to prepare food.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You’re both starving, right? Brother will cook for you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No need! We already ate!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After shooting a furious look at her idiotic twin, Mei Lan bounced her two golden braids and replied cheerfully:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Even though the idiot William scared her off, the red-haired sister came back quietly later and left us tons of food—enough for our whole family for days. We only came to see you after we finished eating.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes, yes!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Remembering the delicious food, dim-witted William licked his lips and nodded eagerly:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Especially the fried fish and smoked sausage—so, so tasty! We ate a lot!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hmph! You said she was bad—then why did you eat her food? Afraid of being kidnapped?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Not afraid—I waited till you ate first, made sure you were fine, then ate. I didn’t touch your mashed potatoes at all—I’m smart!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I… you’re going to kill me!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Enough, enough!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Watching the two start bickering again, about to launch another round of chaos, Li Ang grabbed each by the arm, rubbing his temples:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then what? You ate so much from her—did you thank her properly?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Of course we did!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After glaring at her foolish twin brother, Melanie tossed her braid and said proudly:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Sister Anna said we’re just poor, not orphans with no parents—we must be polite!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So I thanked the big sister, and I even held William’s head down and made him say it too! But… um… the big sister didn’t seem happy; when I tried to hug her, she just ran off…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As she spoke, as if recalling something she couldn’t understand, Melanie blinked her shiny big eyes and fidgeted with her little dress:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“She said… she doesn’t like children, because once children get familiar with someone, they start seeing them as a mother, then forget them again…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Brother, I didn’t quite get what the big sister meant—why would we forget her after getting familiar with her?”\u003C\u002Fp>",2158,"2026-06-20T03:18:28.556Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","96a33f990c4e420b4f28fc316d2062734de4f211a6ce0cbd4e114bdd47804f6a","i-m-the-cleanup-crew-chapter-24","i-m-the-cleanup-crew-chapter-22",1000,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fi-m-the-cleanup-crew-cover.jpg"]