Chapter 410: Anomaly

Consistent with job duties… wait, did I ever ask about the Cleaning Bureau's job duties?

It was as if the condensation on the glass had been wiped clean, or as if the curtain blocking the theater stage had been pulled back—the forgotten "job duties" mysteriously breached the red-haired woman's smiling barrier and surfaced from deep within Li Ang's mind.

Soul-siphoning interdimensional demons, mad gods seeking to descend upon wills, radical deities preparing to seize the world, peculiar entities born from human obsessions, undead wraiths escaped from normal time… sss…

Beads of sweat, nearly instantaneous, crawled across Li Ang's face; with every recalled detail of the red-haired woman's job description, the sweat grew denser on his skin.

A near-instinctive intuition kept warning Li Ang—the beautiful yet dangerous red-haired woman was very likely not just teasing him.

Just as Li Ang strained to recall the Cleaning Bureau's duties, trying to gauge how dangerous this "uncontrolled contaminant" might be, Anna, equally uneasy in expression, was wheeled in by two nurses.

"Brother?"

Seeing Li Ang in the intensive care ward, the pale girl seemed to find her anchor; her tense expression subtly relaxed, and she blurted out urgently:

"Cough… they must've mixed up the names! Cough cough… we can't afford the ICU fees, but no matter how I explained, they… cough cough cough… Brother! Please talk to them for me! We… cough cough cough cough…"

"Don't worry—they didn't get the wrong person!"

Hearing Anna's agonizing coughs, Li Ang, still sweating, sprang up and rushed over in three strides, helping the two nurses maneuver the struggling girl onto the bed, then soothed her gently:

"I got the job I went for yesterday—I'm now an Incident Handler under the Police Force, with annual medical reimbursement quotas; we won't spend family money!"

Got the job? And it sounds like a royal government position?

Anna's face lit up with joy; a flush of excitement bloomed on her pale cheeks, her eyes sparkling as if she wanted to say something.

But the next second she realized—given her brother's current circumstances, landing a good job was nearly impossible; yet the hospital's attitude was too real to fake… then…

"Brother… tell me the truth!"

With strength she didn't know she had, the pale girl gripped the bed rail and forced herself upright, glaring at Li Ang:

"You… cough… you didn't take some dangerous job to pay for my treatment, did you? You… you… cough cough cough cough!"

"Not dangerous! Not dangerous at all! I'm perfectly safe!"

"Liar!"

Hearing Li Ang's explanation, the pale girl grew even more frantic; she covered her mouth and nose as she coughed, gripping the rail and snapping:

"If you hadn't taken some life-threatening job, where… cough cough cough… where would you get the money for an ICU… cough cough cough cough…"

"Stop talking when you're like this!"

Holding Anna's shoulders, Li Ang forcibly pushed her back onto the bed, her face flushed from coughing, then hurriedly explained:

"My job really isn't dangerous. The reason the benefits are so good is because there's no vacation—I must be on call year-round, respond immediately when called, and it's extremely grueling."

He pulled out the "Dung Beetle Mom Certificate," unfolded it, and showed the title "Level-3 Incident Handler," then spoke with solemn sincerity:

"See the job title? Incident Handler! My work falls under the Cleaning Bureau under the Police Force—normally I'm mainly… uh… mainly responsible for investigating and cleaning up crime scenes and accidents.

For example, if there's a serial dismemberment case or a mass traffic accident, I have to clean up the blood-soaked, flesh-mangled messes—something that would make an ordinary person vomit just by looking!

The job is exhausting, filthy, and terrifying, so few people want it—which is why the pay is excellent… Are you reassured now?"

Cleaning Bureau? Cleaning up bloody crime scenes?

After hearing her brother's explanation, the pale girl hesitated, then asked skeptically:

"Really?"

"Really!"

Not wanting to tell her he'd joined a secret department where death was always a possibility, Li Ang raised his right hand firmly and swore:

"If I'm lying to you, I'll remain a bachelor my whole life, never find…"

"Brother! Don't say that, cough…"

She gripped Li Ang's arm and pinched hard, forcing him to swallow the rest of his words; the thin, worried girl finally relaxed.

Cleaning up blood-soaked crime scenes wasn't a good job, but it was far better than mining in the smelting furnaces or selling oneself as a test subject for drugs—after all, what choice did their family have now?

Though under the relatively dangerous Police Force, the department was the Cleaning Bureau—its name sounded similar to the Sanitation Bureau; likely just a logistics post. Aside from being filthy, exhausting, and frightening, her brother probably wouldn't face real danger… still… it's all my fault for dragging you down.

She bit her colorless lip hard, then gripped Li Ang's hand, head bowed in apology:

"Brother, when we get back to Veteran Lane, if anyone asks about your job, just say you work for the Police Force. Don't mention the dismemberments—or any of the actual duties."

"Huh? Why?"

"Because you still need to get married."

Tenderly clutching her brother's hand, the thin girl worriedly said:

"Cleaning up corpses isn't shameful if you earn your own living, but it's still… if word gets out, no decent family will want you."

"…."

Looking at his sister—physically so ill, yet still fretting over his marriage prospects—Li Ang couldn't help but grimace.

Forget it! Who'd marry someone like me?

Given the Cleaning Bureau's insane job scope, if I ever actually encounter even one of those things, I'm done. So instead of wondering who'd marry me, I should be wondering who'd marry me after I'm dead…

"Mm-hmm, I'm not stupid—I won't say a word."

Knowing his own life could end at any moment, Li Ang had long given up on marriage—to avoid dooming someone else. But he had no need to tell Anna that.

Watching his sister clearly storing this away in her mind, Li Ang smiled and promised:

"Don't worry about my marriage—I'll find you the best sister-in-law when the time comes."

After soothing Anna with a few words, Li Ang, still preoccupied with the "uncontrolled contaminant," took a deep breath and turned to the nurse:

"Excuse me, where's that… fuller-figured doctor? Didn't he come with you?"

"The head doctor originally planned to come with us."

Hearing Li Ang's question, the nurse—who'd been briefed by the fat chief—immediately apologized:

"But halfway here, the hospital's emergency alarm rang, and a large batch of critical patients arrived—there must've been some major public incident.

According to hospital policy, all department heads and above must respond immediately; the chief had to rush over first…

But don't worry—he told us before leaving that your sister will receive the very best treatment!"

Major public incident… could it be connected to that "uncontrolled contaminant"?

Recalling the Cleaning Bureau's insane job scope, Li Ang's expression tightened; instinctively, he wanted to grab Anna and run, to keep her out of danger.

But seeing the IV tube in her arm and her extremely frail condition, he hesitated, then pulled a nurse aside into the hallway and whispered:

"How's my sister's condition? Can I turn off the IV and take her home for a bit?"

"This… it's probably best not to."

The nurse looked troubled:

"The chief knew you'd ask about her condition, so he specifically told us about your sister's status.

Because your sister stopped her medication for two months, three-quarters of her right lung have been destroyed by alchemical fumes, and her left lung is also badly damaged. Only continuous intravenous cell supplements have barely stabilized her.

If you stop treatment now and take her home, delaying care could mean losing her entire right lung—her expected lifespan would plummet, and even slight movement afterward would…" "Where are you going?"

"I'm going home to get something! Go back and watch her—no matter what happens outside, don't leave the room!"

(End of Chapter)