Chapter 231

So... the Aquarius Secret Art is hopeless, but maybe the Taurus Secret Art could work?

After hearing the Taurus Director's promise, Li Ang couldn't help but feel a surge of joy—the Taurus Secret Art seemed far more valuable than the Aquarius Secret Art.

I remember the Director saying that the Twelve Secret Arts of the Cleanup Bureau are ranked: the Aries Secret Art, called "Anomaly Annihilation," is number one, while the Taurus Director's "Anomalous Forging" ranks second, and the Aquarius Director's "Anomalous Creation" is barely eleventh.

But this ranking isn't based on combat power—it's based on significance to the entire Cleanup Bureau. The Aquarius Secret Art ranks so low because its methods are extreme, its material requirements are too high, it's overly dependent on luck, and its controllability is poor—you might pour in massive resources and get nothing.

The Taurus Secret Art, by contrast, is stable and controllable; even after being simplified and weakened over dozens of generations, it's still used to train craftsmen who forge anomalous objects, producing countless stable anomalies usable by mid- and low-rank cleanup agents. Its importance to the entire Bureau is immense—that's why it ranks second.

Even if its ranking is somewhat inflated, it's still the genuine second-ranked Secret Art!

Setting aside its ability to forge anomalies, if I truly mastered this art and became a "Reserve Taurus Director," my status within the Cleanup Bureau would skyrocket—even if I still held the title of Level-3 Incident Handler, I'd likely gain real influence over many matters!

Indeed, wealth and honor must be sought through risk! I risked being outright killed to face off verbally against the Aquarius Director—and now, is this the moment to reap the rewards?

Amid Li Ang's excited expression, the Taurus Director closed her eyes slightly, and just as before when the Sun's Eye appeared, the Bureau's headquarters darkened again, its outer walls once more turning transparent.

But the ceiling did not split open again—this time, the change occurred at the "waistline" of the headquarters: the Taurus seat, built from over a hundred star-points connected by countless meteor-like arcs of light, rapidly took shape from nothingness.

"This is the full form of the Taurus Star Palace."

Turning to look at the star palace phantom behind her, the Taurus Director gazed at the massive bull figure, its spine bowed low, poised in the stance of a bull ready to charge, and spoke with a touch of nostalgia:

"Taurus lies between Aries and Gemini, the zodiac constellation with the most stars—125 in total. But it has few bright stars: only one first-magnitude star and two fourth-magnitude ones; the rest are dim and hard to locate."

"So when my predecessor taught me how to sense the Star Palace, he specifically told me: if you can't find Taurus, look for the constellation crossed by the ecliptic, the celestial equator, and the galactic plane... I'll pass this tip on to you today—I hope you'll find it useful in the future."

After briefly explaining how to locate the Taurus constellation—indirectly revealing her expectations for Li Ang—the Taurus Director waved her hand slightly behind her. The mighty bull phantom "leapt" off the wall of the headquarters, transforming into an ancient, one-man-tall, crude compass.

"Just touch this area."

Pointing to the section between roughly one and two o'clock on the compass's outer rim, the Taurus Director looked at him with hopeful eyes:

"I can only summon a portion of the Star Palace here—all other areas are phantoms of other star palaces, which you cannot touch... Go on, Li Ang. I hope you can surprise me—and surprise everyone."

"But don't feel pressured—even if you get nothing, it's fine. I can still offer you another reward... Come on, touch it!"

"..."

The Taurus Lady is truly kind—like a benevolent elder. No wonder our Director, such a reckless man, always behaves so obediently before her, listening quietly even when scolded...

Watching the Taurus Director, devoid of any upper-class arrogance, patiently explaining without fatigue, her expression gentle and encouraging, Li Ang felt a quiet warmth in his chest. He let go of his petty calculations, nodded, and reached out to touch the Taurus Star Palace.

【Name: Star Dome Compass Fragment—Ecliptic—Taurus】

【Appearance: A crude compass forged from semi-transparent obsidian, its front inscribed by finger with star maps of all eighty-eight constellations; its back scarred with knife cuts, axe marks, wind erosion, burial stains, frost fusion, and bizarre tooth marks】

【Ability: Star Palace Shift, Ecliptic Radiance, Law Bestowal】

【Cost: The holder's divinity will continuously drain】

【Archive: A relic used by the first-generation Cleanup Bureau members to protect human descendants as they fled from the Old Land. It was shattered by one of the Four Supreme Pillar Gods.】

【The shattered fragments of the Star Dome Compass were later gathered by the first Taurus Director, reforged into the eighty-eight Star Palaces, and placed upon the Sun's orbit, nourished and refined by solar power, in hopes of restoring it to its original state—until today.】

【Evaluation: One of the Cleanup Bureau's most vital trump cards—a doomsday ark usable only by humans from the Old Land. If ever a world-ending crisis strikes and even the Watch Palace's protection is destroyed, this will be humanity's final hope.】

【Contamination Level: Undeterminable; increases with user's proficiency】

"..."

Holy shit!

Even before touching it, Li Ang knew this object must be extraordinary—after all, both the Eighty-Eight Branches and the Twelve Directors were named after Star Palaces; the Star Palaces must be vital to the Cleanup Bureau.

But after seeing—and touching—the Star Palace's "true face," Li Ang's mind went numb, violently shaken by the information he'd just received.

Protectors of human descendants... fleeing from the Old Land... the Cleanup Bureau's trump card... a doomsday ark usable only by humans...

Putting these pieces together, the Star Palace wasn't an anomaly—it was a spaceship. And it was solar-powered, for fuck's sake!

Humans were the aliens here. After escaping from some place called the Old Land, they'd probably had their spaceship—the Star Palace—damaged by one of the "Four Supreme Pillar Gods," forcing them to crash-land on this world... It was just...

Insane!

I just wanted to touch the Star Palace and see if I could sneak in and learn the Anomalous Forging Secret Art—why did the plot suddenly turn into sci-fi?

"Hmm?"

Seeing Li Ang's utterly stunned expression, the Taurus Director turned to him in surprise and asked:

"Li Ang? What did you sense? Why do you look so shocked?"