Chapter 240: 239 It's Her, It's Her, It's Definitely Her

So… you're not here to cause trouble? You're even here to thank me? Then just now…

Looking at Li Ang vigorously shaking her hand, the female journalist suddenly felt her ears turn red with intense shame, remembering her own sarcastic provocation moments ago.

And the person who had successfully gripped her palm was no better off—after reading the information provided by 【Materialist】, Li Ang's pupils instantly shrank to pinpoints!

…

【Name: Untouchable (Flesh, Energy, Soul)】

【Appearance: A pale, delicate female hand that emits a faint white glow at night; impervious to cuts, axes, freezing, burning, witch curses, or any spiritual or mental assault】

【Ability: Untouchable Flesh, Untouchable Energy, Untouchable Soul】

【Cost: Permanent loss of one's original hands】

【File: The hands of a nun who devoted her life to the Hidden God, chosen from birth as one of the ninety-nine "Hidden Ones," her senses utterly sealed and destroyed.】

Though she lived in this world, over her full one-hundred-fifty-year lifespan, she had no contact with it whatsoever except through touch with these hands—truly a "nonexistent Hidden One."

As the nun neared death, her hands were severed by followers of the Hidden Church to be offered to the Hidden God, but the Twin Branch of the Cleanup Bureau arrived just in time, killing every follower in the cult's stronghold and disrupting the sacrifice.

After completing the cleanup mission, the then-director of the Twin Branch found the nameless nun among the pile of corpses behind the altar, and gifted her an "Anomaly Seed," granting her one day and one night of restored senses and perception in exchange for her hands' permanent inability to touch anything.

After the nun's death, the 【Untouchable】 born from her obsession was stored in the Twin Branch's vault; decades later, Level-One Cleanup Agent Nicole Kroman, having lost her original hands in a mission, became its new user—and remains so to this day.】

【Evaluation: An anomaly with both upper and lower limits terrifyingly low; though it resists all contact below True God level, it must be actively activated and extended to block—only those with extraordinary physical conditioning and reflexes can wield its true power.】

【Contamination Level: 28. 】

Twenty-eight-point contamination level! Level-One Cleanup Agent of the Twin Branch!

Seeing the prefix before "Miss Nicole" in the 【Untouchable】 file, Li Ang's mind went suddenly deafeningly loud—many previously incomprehensible things snapped together, the heavy clouds of doubt over his heart clearing instantly.

Of course—given the Water Bearer Director's habit of keeping backup plans, how could he possibly ignore the rebels entirely, letting them fend for themselves under the Red-Haired Woman's nose? He must have arranged a failsafe, in case they truly slipped up and were caught in one net by the Virgin Branch.

And the person he sent as that failsafe was almost certainly the woman before him—Miss Nicole. This female journalist was no rebel member, nor could she possibly be Old Owen's daughter; she was a Level-One Cleanup Agent of the Twin Branch, likely using some anomaly to infiltrate the rebels, just like himself.

Also, when the rebels held their meeting, her absence was surely because she went to eliminate Emma's old enemy, ensuring Emma would be taken away by headquarters; and the thief who broke into the Cleanup Bureau yesterday and stole the fake photo? That was definitely her!

As for evidence…

Observing the fine sweat on the journalist's temple and her overly thick clothing despite the high room temperature, Li Ang's conviction solidified further.

If Miss Nicole were to remove her clothes now, she'd be wrapped head to toe in bandages—she insisted on keeping her shawl tightly wrapped precisely to conceal the wounds carved by the Director's hair!

Also, though her ears were flushed with embarrassment, her face showed no color change—likely she'd applied makeup or used an anomaly to mask the pallor of severe blood loss, matching the thief's condition perfectly.

Finally, the Black Goat once said its tail represented laziness and secrecy—its ability likely erased the lingering traces of its presence, exactly matching yesterday's thief. So…

It's her! It's her! It's definitely her!

Well, I came here just because I saw a familiar name, hoping to probe the last rebel's background—but I ended up uncovering a big fish!

…

"Sorry, I just didn't know how to explain it earlier—might've given you the wrong impression."

After calming his turbulent emotions slightly, Li Ang released the delicate hand with a 28. contamination level, instantly switching to 【Elite Performer】, and smiled warmly as he explained:

"Back then, I didn't even know I was related to the Lyon family. Even now, forced to inherit the dukedom, I never intended to become a proper nobleman—marrying into the royal family was just an excuse to shed the title."

"I see…"

Seeing Li Ang wasn't dwelling on her earlier "nonsense," the shame-stricken journalist felt slightly better, then nodded awkwardly:

"Then… you're really quite unusual… hehe."

"No, I may be unusual, but you're even more so!"

Grabbing the journalist's hands again and shaking them firmly, Li Ang secretly unfastened the clasp on her wrist while speaking with three parts sincerity and seven parts pretense:

"Miss Nicole, do you know how many newspapers and reporters I approached trying to expose this?"

Before she could answer, catching a glimpse of bandages peeking from her sleeve, Li Ang's face lit up with "excitement":

"Nine! Within a single day, I met with nine newspapers—the so-called bold, outspoken papers of the capital—I practically ran them all down, but not one would publish it! Some even tried to arrest me and seize the evidence outright!

This is… utterly dark! Damn the Lyon family! I still get angry just thinking about it!"

"…"

Watching the newly appointed Lionheart Duke rage against the Lyon family, the journalist opened her mouth slightly, as if to speak, but couldn't find the words—so she simply stayed silent and murmured a vague "mm."

"Miss Nicole, I knew you'd despise this too—that's why you helped expose it! Ah! If only I'd found your Sun Newspaper earlier, I wouldn't have gone through all this trouble!"

Hearing her "agreement," Li Ang immediately climbed aboard, lavishing praise on her as the savior of the kingdom's media and the last conscience of the capital's journalism.

With three parts genuine feeling amplified by the 【Elite Performer】, his praise rang utterly sincere—bordering on fanatical adoration—until the journalist could no longer bear it and waved her hands in protest:

"No, no, no! I just happened to be there—I'm nowhere near as great as you say. My reporting… uh… has plenty of flaws."

"Haha, you're being modest—but yes, there are indeed a few minor flaws."

Hearing this, Li Ang seemed to recall something, nodded, and smiled:

"For instance, your articles about me—you only heard secondhand accounts, never got firsthand sources, so there were some small inaccuracies… How about this, Miss Nicole? Would you be interested in doing an exclusive interview with me?"

"Exclusive interview?"

"Yes! An exclusive interview!"

Li Ang smiled:

"Though I inherited the dukedom, I still hold a very special position in a minor department under the Police Bureau. When you have time in a couple of days, would you be willing to come interview me there?"