Chapter 268: 267: A Letter from Taurus and……

【Dear Little Li Ang.

Once again, thank you for everything you have done for the Cleanup Bureau, and indeed for all of humanity. I take this opportunity to send you my warmest regards, and to mention a few things to you.

First, I must sincerely apologize to you: the Wine God's bead I previously promised you cannot be delivered as agreed.

Originally, when I agreed to your request to borrow the bead, I had planned to make the trip myself and bring it to you in person. However, I am now unable to leave the Headquarters, and given my understanding of Olivia, if someone else were sent to deliver the bead, her temperament would surely drive her to seize it by force.

To avoid such a situation, I had no choice but to ask the Pisces Director to use a secret art of the Pisces lineage to calculate how many times you would use the Wine God's bead after obtaining it, and then pre-soak the corresponding wines and send them over in advance. I hope this result is to your satisfaction.

Secondly, although it is not yet complete, you have indeed simultaneously mastered the secret arts of both the Taurus and Aquarius palaces, which will certainly require a large amount of materials for practice.

Therefore, in addition to the one thousand one hundred and eleven bottles of wine, I have also had someone bring along some anomalous materials for you to practice with, as well as several of my notebooks written back when I was first learning the Taurus secret arts. They should be of some help to your training.

Lastly, I won't bother with phrases like looking forward to seeing you again in the near future. After all, you should have already learned from Olivia about the decision I and the other two Directors made, so the Palace Ascension Ceremony half a year from now has been cancelled. The meeting at Headquarters two days ago should have been the last time we see each other.

On a certain day half a year from now, I will ascend directly from Headquarters into the Watcher Palace, using my soul to light a torch in the endless long night and illuminate the road ahead for you all.

Best regards.

Taurus Director

Postscript: After I finished writing this letter, the Pisces Director also reviewed your file and became very interested in you.

He believes that your ability to forcibly obtain anomalous intelligence is very similar in effect to the Pisces lineage's "Anomaly Observation" secret art, and therefore thinks you may have received the recognition of the Pisces Star Palace, possessing the qualifications to fully study the Pisces secret arts. After I ascend, you may go pay him a visit.】

……

So that's how it is……

After finishing reading the letter that had been delivered along with the wine, Li Ang could not help but feel a sudden flash of understanding.

No wonder the bead he had been promised had been directly turned into over a thousand bottles of pre-soaked wine — it was because the Taurus Director had been worried that the red-haired Director would "take a desperate risk" and seize it by force.

Hmm… you really can't deny it, based on his understanding of the Director's integrity, the probability of her actually doing something like that was really not small. One could only say the Taurus Director understood the Director well, and was still such a good person — not only sending materials and notebooks, but even helping him obtain the chance to learn the Pisces secret arts… uh…

Just as Li Ang was holding the letter, sighing in admiration of the Taurus Director's reliability and generosity, for some reason a sudden chill ran through his heart. And when he turned his head with his hair standing on end, he found his own Director standing there holding a letter, glaring at him through gritted teeth.

"Uh… Director, you don't actually have to look at me like that."

Stung by the red-haired Director's man-eating gaze, Li Ang's throat bobbed, and he forced a smile as he said:

"When I drink, I only taste it — one small sip from each bottle is enough. You… you really shouldn't glare at me like that. I really only drink one sip, and the rest is all yours, alright?"

"All mine… I wish I could actually drink it!"

Hearing Li Ang's words, the red-haired Director could not help but bite her lip, and then her eye-rims suddenly reddened. Pointing at the mountain of wine bottles piled beside her, she said with a face full of grief and indignation:

"All these wines have been pre-cast with a Word Spirit secret art — they only taste like wine in your mouth; in anyone else's mouth they're just plain water. Even if I drink them, it's a waste!"

"……"

6

After hearing the red-haired Director's words, Li Ang could not help but click his tongue speechlessly, and then silently gave the Taurus Director a thumbs-up in his heart.

Just as the Aquarius lineage had the auxiliary secret art "God-Suppressing Interlocking Fingers," specifically used to restrain a true god's physical body in order to extract the materials needed for "Anomaly Creation," the Taurus lineage also had several auxiliary secret arts to complement its main secret art "Anomaly Forging."

What his own Director had run into was most likely the Taurus lineage's "Master-Recognizing Word Spirit," which could add an "anti-theft lock" layer to an anomalous object — anyone who did not meet the conditions could not properly invoke it. The 【Twelve Ant Nest】 upstairs in the Virgin Branch Bureau had been locked down by this very secret art.

And yet a secret art capable of locking down even numbered-class anomalous objects had been used to lock down some ordinary wine — the Taurus Director really was bringing a cannon to bear on a mosquito — making a fuss taken to the absolute extreme.

"Well… then there's really nothing I can do about it…"

Never having expected the Taurus Director to go to such lengths, Li Ang, unable to help, could only spread his hands helplessly, cast a sympathetic glance at the red-haired Director who was on the verge of tears, and then hurriedly carried crate after crate of wine into the storage room on the first floor.

Meanwhile, the red-haired Director stood dejectedly to one side, staring at all this fine wine she could only look at but not drink, her stomach continuously bubbling up sour gas.

Should I make things a little difficult for him? Or find some pretext to dock his pay?

Watching Li Ang, who looked just like a diligent little squirrel, constantly carrying crate after crate of fine wine into the house, the red-haired Director's gaze grew ever more resentful — and at the same time, ever more dangerous.

Although it wasn't Li Ang's fault that she couldn't drink these fine wines, in the past she had treated him to drinks so many times, the tavern's bill had stretched on so long, and whenever she had anything good she always thought of this bastard. Yet now he was hogging it all to himself — he drank while she watched, he got drunk while she drooled…

If she didn't do something about it, she probably wouldn't sleep well for the rest of the month!

……

"Phew… that red-haired woman looks like she's about to burst."

After Li Ang had finished carrying all the wine and firmly shut the storage room's big door, Heishanyang poked its head out from the lightbulb glass in the storage room and, still shaken, urged:

"Kid, let me tell you, she's actually quite decent to the people in your bureau, but she's also more than a little petty. You'd better keep a low profile these next couple of days!"

"……"

Indeed, so much fine wine had passed through her hands, yet she couldn't even get a sip — the Director's grudge was so thick it was about to solidify…

Hearing Heishanyang's advice, Li Ang could not help but nod helplessly, conceding the point. He then twisted open a bottle of wine and, in an affectedly refined manner, took a small sip.

There was no helping it — although he felt a bit guilty toward the Director, once he finished these thousand sips of wine, his 【Martyr of the Wine Kingdom】 would be promoted, becoming his second colored badge 【Immortal of the Wine】. Besides, he wasn't the one who had cast the Word Spirit, so it really wasn't his fault for being unfair… mm… worthy of the Wine God's bead, this wine really is excellent.

After summoning up tremendous willpower to suppress the urge to drain it in one gulp, Li Ang silently screwed the cap back on the bottle, then opened the next one. While trying his best to keep his expression from looking too pleased, and burdened by the guilt of "hogging it all" behind the Director's back, he tilted his head back and took a big swig.

Mm, truly fragrant.