Chapter 393: 393 Exposure

This is what?

Watching the black-gold beetles crawl onto the foreheads of the people and settle down, then feeling the one crawling up his own trouser leg, Hearing Li Ang, who felt goosebumps rising all over his back, couldn't help but ask:

"These bugs..."

"These bugs are the insurance I prepared for this operation."

Looking at Hearing Li Ang, who was full of resistance, a smile full of malice appeared on the tall, thin man's face. For the first time since meeting Hearing Li Ang, he answered with a smile:

"Their name is 'Brain-Eating Magic Worms.' They will directly devour the target's brain, completely preventing the target from dreaming, and will multiply infinitely after devouring the brain."

"???"

"Think about it. Isn't the most troublesome thing about the Nightmare King that it can move infinitely within human dreams?"

Looking at Hearing Li Ang, whose eyes had widened sharply, the Director of the Scorpio Branch said unhurriedly:

"But dreams are things that require a brain to be had. As long as it enters someone's dream, I will let the 'Brain-Eating Magic Worms' eat their brain, and the Nightmare King will be forced out of the dream.

Or even more simply, I can just eat the brains of everyone who might have nightmares in advance, so there's no need to worry about the entire kingdom having nightmares after it descends."

"..."

Because people without brains can't dream, so in order to avoid having nightmares for the rest of their lives, you're just going to eat everyone's brains in advance?

You really are a little genius!

With his cheeks twitching slightly, Hearing Li Ang decisively reached out his finger and poked the black-gold beetle that was crawling toward his head.

【Name: Dream-Eating Alien Beetle (Dream-Eating, Fission)】

【Appearance: A strange beetle of the order Coleoptera, family Scarabaeidae, with a black shell like baked lacquer and brilliant gold back wings. The pattern on its abdomen resembles a screaming human face, and its size is similar to the fingernail of an adult male's thumb.】

【Ability: Devour dreams, fission and multiply】

【Cost: An anomalous object that can only be used once in a lifetime. After using this anomalous object to issue an order to the queen beetle, one enters into an irrevocable contract with the queen beetle. The user's dreams for the rest of their life will be used as food to feed the queen beetle of the Dream-Eating Alien Beetle.】

【File: The second-generation Director of the Scorpio Branch of the Cleanup Bureau fed it with the corpse of the dream-world god "Dream-Dropper." It has the special ability to devour the dreams of living beings, and as long as there are people dreaming, it can multiply almost infinitely.

Four hundred years ago, the Scorpio Branch's warehouse was burglarized. Two Dream-Eating Alien Beetle larvae were stolen and multiplied to nearly a hundred million within 32 hours, devouring one-fifteenth of the world's dreams that day, and were still splitting rapidly.

To resolve this containment breach, the Cleanup Bureau had to mobilize heavily... causing damage... imposing restrictions... receiving requests for aid... forced activation... carrying...】

【Evaluation: The nemesis of dream-world creatures, an anomalous object the Nightmare King dreams of destroying. If you could collect all the queen and larvae beetles and deliver them to the dream world to the Nightmare King, it would be willing to kowtow to you for a hundred years.】

【Infection Value: 60.1】

"..."

Damn, it was just a bluff! You scared me!

After reading the file on the 【Dream-Eating Alien Beetle】, Hearing Li Ang let out a long breath and loosened his grip on the 【Desire-Dream Invader】. Noticing his movement, the tall, thin man sneered, his eyes filled with mockery:

"What's wrong? Are you afraid of having your brain eaten? If you're afraid, just ask me, and I can take the Brain-Eating Magic Worms back and spare your brain."

"..."

This guy is really annoying...

Looking at the tall, thin man who was full of schadenfreude and clearly derived great pleasure from teasing him, Hearing Li Ang's cheeks twitched, and he decisively shut his mouth.

Forget it... let him tease me if he wants. Although this guy's mouth is a bit foul, he did bring an anomalous object specifically targeting the dream world. Based on this item alone, he can be considered the MVP of this operation. As long as the people of the kingdom are safe, it doesn't matter if I get insulted a few times.

Sss... This kid's ability is probably not simple...

Watching Hearing Li Ang poke the beetle on his shoulder, let out a long breath, and then pretend not to hear him and stop paying attention to him, the Director of the Scorpio Branch narrowed his eyes.

According to the anomalous object records reported by that red-haired woman, the core anomalous object of Hearing Li Ang, a Level 3 Cleaner, is named 【Forced Information Acquisition】, which can forcibly acquire a portion of information about an anomalous object through touch.

When touching weaker anomalous objects, the information acquired is very complete, but the more powerful the anomalous object touched, the less information can be acquired, sometimes none at all. It's just a decent auxiliary ability.

However, although the 【Dream-Eating Alien Beetle】 has no lethality, is only effective against dream-world creatures, and has other limitations, making its serial number very high at 057, its status is not low at all.

It cannot be driven without crossing the threshold of a True God, making it a genuine True God-level anomalous object.

Yet, facing something of this level, this kid just poked it with his finger and his tense body relaxed. If his guess was correct, he must have identified the lie about the "Brain-Eating Magic Worms" by acquiring information about the 【Dream-Eating Alien Beetle】.

Being able to acquire information about a True God-level anomalous object with a light touch—the status of his so-called 【Forced Information Acquisition】 ability is likely much higher than what that red-haired woman reported!

"What's wrong?"

Finding that the tall, thin man had turned his head and was staring at him, Hearing Li Ang blinked vigilantly, but still asked politely:

"Mr. Edward, do you have any questions for me?"

"..."

Questions, of course, he had, and quite a few.

Staring into Hearing Li Ang's eyes, he found that Hearing Li Ang's gaze toward him had become slightly friendlier than at the beginning. The tall, thin man pondered for a moment, suspecting that Hearing Li Ang likely already knew the cost of using the 【Dream-Eating Alien Beetle】, hence the slight change in attitude.

So, overall, this kid's innate anomalous object has a very high status. Although he is still a bit green and lacks defensiveness, unable to hide his emotions, he seems to have a promising future...

No! He's already quite good!

After weighing Hearing Li Ang's resume, the tall, thin man was surprised to find that what that nightmare said earlier wasn't entirely bullshit.

Not to mention anything else, this kid had only joined the Cleanup Bureau for two months and already had an infection level in the upper-middle range for a Level 3 Cleaner. He would likely reach the threshold of a Level 2 Cleaner with another month or two of cultivation.

Plus, he had records of solo-defeating a Holy Spirit, exposing the conspiracy of the Aquarius Director, and surviving in the hands of a Director. For a newcomer, this level was already as outstanding as it could get!

After re-evaluating Hearing Li Ang's "value," the Director of the Scorpio Branch pondered for a moment, then reached out to rub his stiff face. With a calm expression, he patted Hearing Li Ang on the shoulder, his demeanor slightly kinder:

"Nothing... I just thought about it and found that what that nightmare said earlier actually made a lot of sense. For example, for a Cleaner, the most important thing is not current strength, but the courage and guts to face a powerful enemy directly.

You knew you might be permanently enslaved by the Nightmare King, yet you still dared to stay and fight side-by-side with me. That is truly remarkable. My earlier comment about you being a burden was a bit excessive."

"..."???????????