Chapter 449: Clearance Bureau Ranks

Don't touch! Even if it were truly yours, I still wouldn't want it, okay? You're really something…

After being half-tested, half-teased, Li Ang couldn't help but glare at the Red-haired Woman, feeling the Black Goat's evaluation of her was indeed accurate.

When she has alcohol, she's a drunken fool; when she doesn't, she's a cruel prankster—either drunk and making a spectacle of herself to entertain others, or sober and scheming to amuse herself at others' expense; in short, she's never at peace for a moment.

By the way, her office has been so clean these past two days—where are all the empty bottles?

…

Is he… looking for the empty bottles I finished drinking?

Watching Li Ang keep glancing behind his desk as if searching for something, the Red-haired Woman's heart clenched tightly at the memory of that binge that left her drowning in debt, her gaze toward him turning dangerous as she smiled faintly:

"What? Didn't get the upper hand and now you won't leave?"

"Uh… you're joking, I just have something I want to ask."

Hearing her words, Li Ang snapped back to reality, clenched his fist secretly, and asked with serious expression:

"If we confirm the Black Goat's heart is in the Lyon family, after completing the mission and recovering it, could I possibly gain the right to use its heart?"

"Hmm… that's hard to say—it depends on your luck.

If you didn't personally recover the anomaly, and you want to reclaim it later, you'll first need to see if anyone of higher rank wants to compete with you… or let me put it this way!"

After thinking for a moment, the Red-haired Woman picked up her dip pen, found the back of a discarded document, and swiftly drew five circles from top to bottom.

"If these five circles represent our Clearance Bureau's ranks, then the top one is the Director and the twelve Directors."

"Though the Director holds half a rank above the twelve Directors, if more than half of the Directors reach consensus, they can veto the Director's proposals; if three-quarters agree, they can even remove him—so the Director and the Directors are roughly the same level."

The pen tip moved downward, jabbed the second circle, leaving a large ink blot, and the Red-haired Woman continued:

"Next are the eighty-seven branch offices. You know what the zodiac constellations are, right? Our twelve zodiac branch offices are major divisions; the other seventy-five are minor divisions.

Major division directors are generally stronger than minor division directors and hold half a rank higher, but overall they're still considered roughly the same level.

Beyond the first-level Directors and second-level Branch Directors, the remaining three circles are you—first, second, and third-level Anomaly Handlers."

Writing a "1" inside the third circle, the Red-haired Woman smiled sweetly:

"First is the Level-One Disaster Handler. Those assigned here are usually the top employees of each division—superior specialists capable of leading teams alone to handle large-scale disasters.

When vacancies arise among the seventy-five minor division directors, the most outstanding of these top employees can be directly promoted upon approval by the Directors—Emma is currently at this level."

Senior Emma… a top employee?

Hearing the familiar name, Li Ang froze slightly, feeling a strange sensation like seeing a childhood classmate on television.

Emma had always struck him as a cautious, gentle, reliable senior—hardly the image of a high-performing specialist, especially since her first mission with him nearly ended in disaster…

"Little Li Ang~ You don't think Emma is weak, do you?" As if sensing his thoughts, the Red-haired Woman tapped the "1" in the circle with her pen tip and smiled:

"The hospital incident went wrong because the opponent was backed by a true god—his base rank was too high, and she was infected first, triggering the core rules of his ability, rendering her carried anomalies useless, which is why she got caught.

Second, her main anomalies are too large to fit in the Bureau's standard containers, so she keeps them stacked in her office and only takes them out when needed. During the hospital mission, she barely used one percent of her power.

Since you already have a forced information-gathering ability, when she returns, have her take you to see her collection—you'll stop doubting her Level-One Disaster Handler status."

All of that… in her office? Anomalies?!

After hearing the Red-haired Woman's explanation, Li Ang recalled what he'd seen outside Emma's office window, his pupils contracting sharply.

Bandages, coffins, nail boards, scalpels, skull-crushers, crosses, iron maidens, execution platforms, skeletal specimens, scythes with curved handles… that room had at least thirty or forty items, if not fifty!

And in the corner of her office, there were several old boxes that occasionally made strange noises—no telling how many small anomalies they contained… Good grief! How many anomalies does Senior Emma even have?!

I knew it—this would shock you!

Watching Li Ang's stunned expression, the Red-haired Woman's lips curled with satisfaction as she continued cheerfully:

"As for the remaining Level-Two Crisis Handlers and Level-Three Accident Handlers… just think of them as senior staff and regular staff.

According to Clearance Bureau rules, a team of one senior staff member and five regular staff can handle certain low-capacity regional crises—but you, you won't have the chance to join such group missions."

"Huh? Why not?"

"Because although we're a major division, due to things I did in the past, most of the staff have already left—we can't even muster enough people for group missions… Haven't you noticed most offices on the first floor are empty?"

With a helpless shrug, the Red-haired Woman took a sip of… water, then sighed regretfully:

"We still have two Level-One top employees, but Level-Two and Level-Three staff are scarce—fewer than ten in total.

More precisely, we have nine Level-Two Crisis Handlers and one Level-Three Accident Handler."

Nine Level-Two and one Level-Three… so I'm the only regular staff member?!

By this point, Li Ang had completely forgotten what he originally wanted to ask, and couldn't help but blurt out in disbelief:

"Our office building has seven floors! You managed to empty six floors in one go… Director! What exactly did you do back then?!"

"Things any person in my position must do—though perhaps they were cruel, and understandably hard to accept… Also, you're mistaken about one thing."

Turning his gaze away to the window, the Red-haired Woman stared at the withered willow outside, her expression calm as she stated:

"The top six floors aren't empty—they're now filled with my anomalies."

(End of Chapter)