Chapter 382

Not... what the hell did he dream up?

Looking at the capital, obliterated by a single blow from the golden-haired Leon, leaving not even ruins behind, the veteran investigator's lips twitched violently.

The female reporter beside him, sensing something was wrong, had hurried back into the range of the 【Dream Lantern】, avoiding that strike—and she was now pale with terror.

Even if it was a fabricated dream, the destructive power to erase an entire city in an instant was absurdly excessive—far beyond what many numbered anomalies could achieve. Was he supposed to fight this guy with his bare head?

"Why are you hiding?"

After unleashing a furious barrage at the two cowering within the lantern's range and realizing every attack vanished the moment it touched the lantern's glow, Leon understood the area around the lantern was a "safe zone," so he stopped the pointless assault and instead sneered loudly:

"You promised to spare my life! Is this how you keep your promise?"

"..."

"You said all I had was an empty shell? Then come out and prove it~"

"..."

"Don't be a coward—come out right now! I'll even let you use one hand!"

"..."

What good would letting them use one hand do? Without the safe zone marked by the 【Dream Lantern】, they'd already been erased along with the capital after that one blow!

Watching Leon, golden light blazing all over his body, hurtling wildly through the sky at terrifying speed, mocking them as he flew, the veteran investigator's face darkened. He grimly shook the 【Dream Lantern】 again, preparing to exit this absurd dream as quickly as possible.

That damn bastard—what bizarre setting did he give himself? Not only did he destroy the capital with one strike, but even while flying, he left sonic booms trailing behind him! And judging by his movements, if his reaction speed weren't the limiting factor, he could've moved even faster.

Can't fight him! This guy is truly unfightable!

"Don't leave~"

Seeing the veteran investigator huddled inside the "safe zone," frantically shaking the lantern, Leon simply landed and, through the lantern's glow, warmly invited:

"Come out and play? Don't worry—I won't kick your balls this time!"???

Damn it, you dare bring that up again?

Hearing the female reporter's breath suddenly catch, the veteran investigator's face flushed slightly. He gritted his teeth:

"If this weren't your dream, a level-three cleaner like you wouldn't even—"

"I don't deserve it."

Without hesitation, Leon admitted he was no match—and grinned through the dim lantern curtain as he lifted his leg slightly:

"But I did kick your balls."

"..."

"That was back at the Virgin Branch!"

Feeling the female reporter's increasingly strange gaze, the veteran investigator took a deep breath, then spoke with cold eyes:

"If Blood-Haired Lady weren't nearby, and I feared exposing my identity too soon, I—"

"I kicked you more than once."

"..."

Damn it, I shouldn't have even spoken to him in the first place!

Watching Leon outside the lantern's veil, smirking and lifting his leg in suggestive mock-kicks, the veteran investigator shut his eyes tight, then sharply shook the lantern. The capital, reduced to flat rubble by Leon, trembled faintly.

Stay calm. Don't let him provoke you!

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His soul was severely damaged; his remaining options were few. He must preserve his power to contain the most dangerous Blood-Haired Lady—cannot waste it on this bastard, and certainly not on a false dream.

"We'll meet again!"

After a cold glance at Leon, the veteran investigator twisted the handle of the 【Dream Lantern】, shifting the flame representing Leon's dream away from the lamp's center.

"Three days."

As the golden-urchin-haired version of Leon was about to vanish along with the capital, the veteran investigator said flatly:

"What happened today—if you tell Blood-Haired Lady, fine. But in three days, I'll make everything... you?!"

"Let me touch you!"

Stepping into the lantern's glow, Leon's hair instantly turned black. Before the veteran investigator's stunned expression, he slapped the old man's wrinkled forehead hard.

"Terrible texture... bye!"

As the veteran investigator's eyes widened, fumbling for a crimson token from his pocket to stop him, Leon immediately relaxed his suppression of self-awareness. Following the increasingly furious curses of the Black Goat, he forcibly tore himself out of the dream.

"You fucking idiot! Wake up already!"

"Shit! You sleep like a dead pig!"

"I'm fucking done! Bring the kettle!"

"You're still smiling! I'll make you sorry!"

"You're the one who told us to wake you up if anything's wrong—so you better wait! We... cough cough cough—finally awake."

Seeing Leon finally open his eyes on the carpet, the Black Goat let out a long breath, then quietly signaled the puppy to hide the already-opened kettle, and said with feigned concern:

"We noticed your soul was off—we feared you'd been ambushed. Thank goodness nothing happened... Who's watching Joshua's dream? And how do you feel now?"

"..."

I feel fine... but if I hadn't woken up, were you planning to pour boiling water on me?

He glared at it silently—after all, he'd ordered them to wake him immediately if anything was wrong—then rolled off the carpet and grabbed the goat's head.

"No time to explain... Go! Back to the Bureau!"???

"What's wrong?"

As Leon hurriedly dragged the goat's head out of Joshua's bedroom, the confused goat asked:

"What did you dream? Why the rush?"

"Can't wait! I just realized—the Aquarius Director is still alive! And he's that old investigator I kicked in the balls!"

"Huh?"

"That's impossible!"

Hearing Aquarius Director was still alive, the red-haired Director, awakened from sleep, shook her head, frowning deeply:

"I saw it with my own eyes—Aquarius Director's soul descended deep into the Death Realm. Even if he didn't die completely, he couldn't return anytime soon... I even severed part of his soul to make you that pair of gloves."

"The Aquarius Director you saw was real—but he was only one part of the true Aquarius Director!"

Recalling the information he'd touched from Aquarius Director's forehead, Leon explained gravely:

"Aquarius Director's soul split into good and evil long ago. The part we've interacted with was his evil, obsessive, unrestrained side.

The part carrying his goodness and compassion—his more positive traits—joined the Cleanup Bureau under another identity: that old investigator named Camus."