Chapter 6: 6 Level-3 Handler

6 Level 3 Processor

This hidden trait… Scapegoat?

Staring at the glaring word "Dismissed," Hearing Li Ang—who had only just crawled out of "hell"—couldn't help but shudder. Instinctively, he tried to remove the badge, but received the feedback "Temporarily cannot be removed," and could only give up helplessly, switching to silently praying in his heart.

Heaven protect us—during these two months before this badge upgrades to Bronze, please don't let anything major happen at the Cleanup Bureau. My whole family is counting on this job to turn our lives around, and there's still my sister Anna's illness…

Right! Anna!

Thinking of his sister still waiting for treatment on a hospital bed, Hearing Li Ang—who had just completed his onboarding—hurriedly took a leave, then rushed out of the Cleanup Bureau, preparing to use the newly acquired benefits to get Anna better treatment.

And after he hurried away, Hearing Heishanyang, who had been silently observing all along, clicked his tongue twice, and said to the red-haired woman with eyes full of schadenfreude:

"Heh! You don't even want him to know what the Cleanup Bureau's work involves—guess you're not planning to let him take part in missions, huh?

What's the deal? You saw the kid's already cornered, took pity on him, and decided to lend a hand?"

"No."

Pulling out another bottle of liquor from god-knows-where, and taking a big gulp with her head tipped back, the red-haired woman restrained the smile on her face and said indifferently:

"The more 'truth' we humans come into contact with, the deeper the contamination from the dark side we suffer, and the easier our scent draws new anomalies.

Hearing Li Ang's talent is quite good, but the Bureau is short-staffed right now, and there's no way to assign someone to protect him constantly. I've temporarily blocked off that portion of his memory so that he won't be sought out by anomalies.

As for the specific work content, once we find a contamination item suited for him, it'll be plenty soon enough to tell him then."

Pull the other one—that kid's got jackshit for talent!

Not believing the red-haired woman's explanation at all, Hearing Heishanyang said dismissively:

"Cut the crap! Sure, he withstood our 【Whisper of Corruption】, but that doesn't mean his willpower is anything special. The kid's just relatively rational by nature, and his moral compass is a bit stronger than the average person's, that's all.

If you ask me, a guy like him—whose fighting spirit's been almost completely ground flat, who's gotten used to being obedient like a sheep—isn't even as good as those death-row inmates who can only serve as cannon fodder. He probably won't even make it through his first mission."

"He'll make it through."

Not telling Hearing Heishanyang about the "anomaly" Hearing Li Ang possessed, the red-haired woman took another big swig of ale, then said calmly:

"For the first few missions I can take him along with me, and Auntie Ai Ma's assignment is almost wrapped up too—she should be back around tonight.

After that, if I have the time, I'll take him myself; if I'm busy, I'll have Auntie Ai Ma cover for me, until he's able to stand on his own."

Good lord, this much coddling? What do you see in this kid?

"Don't you dare pull anything stupid!"

Hearing Heishanyang frowned, his face full of displeasure:

"The Cleanup Bureau's performance is always calculated by the number of full-time members. Our Sixth Bureau is currently ranked second-to-last, and the year-end review is in two months. You're recruiting this big dead weight at a time like this? Worried you won't end up dead last yourself?"

"Mind your own business."

"I can't be bothered to!"

Hearing Heishanyang curled his lip:

"The people you've killed are more than I've seen in my entire life, so I've actually always quite admired you—except when you go around handing out goodwill willy-nilly.

As the most frenzied executioner in the entire Cleanup Bureau, wouldn't it be better if you just stuck to your own damn job? Why do you have to play the bleeding heart? Do you have any idea how disgusting you look when you're being charitable?"

"Oh."

"…"

"Tch… you don't really think pulling that kid up by his bootstraps is gonna save his life, do you?"

Watching the red-haired woman drink with an utterly indifferent expression, clearly too lazy to bother with him, Hearing Heishanyang couldn't help but darken his face,

and couldn't resist opening his mouth to taunt:

"I know humans like the back of my hoof. If you're struggling in the darkness the whole time, you can still barely hold on by leaning on the numbness you've gotten used to. But now you've dragged him up onto dry land and let him see what it's like under the sun—and once that happens, there's no going back.

When the year-end review comes around and he can't pass and gets held accountable, leading to him being cleared out too, and he personally feels the disparity of falling from heaven back into hell, that kid might just go crazy on the spot. He might even end up like that 'someone' from back then, resenting you for why you had to pull him up by his bootstraps…

Oh right, what was it that 'someone' said back then?"

Striding brazenly into the dim office and dropping himself onto the sofa padded with thick cushions, Hearing Heishanyang crossed his legs, and, right in front of the silent red-haired woman, raised a front hoof and mimicked in a teasing tone:

"I hate it! Olivia! I hate you!

I could have kept on enduring the darkness—so why did you drag me out into the sunlight and let me know how a person is supposed to live?"

"Squeak!"

The moment Hearing Heishanyang finished speaking, the ear-grating scrape of a blade across bone rang out.

As if sliced apart thousands of times in an instant by countless thin, sharp blades, Hearing Heishanyang—who had his front hoof raised—was torn to pieces in the blink of an eye, with various parts clattering and scattering all over the floor.

But strangely, even though Hearing Heishanyang had been reduced to mutton offal, not a single whiff of blood appeared in the office. The woman behind the desk also maintained her original posture, as if nothing had happened, taking big gulps from the ale in her hand.

Only, her bright red hair had suddenly dimmed quite a bit in color, and at the slightly curled ends—which lacked proper care—a faint, eerie crimson had silently seeped in.

"I've warned you many times not to say my name directly."

Tossing aside the empty liquor bottle that had somehow already been drained dry, the red-haired woman crooked a finger toward the sofa, and a sheep's head with its mouth sewn shut by red threads floated over and was placed neatly on her desk.

After exchanging a glance with Hearing Heishanyang on the desk—whose eyes were full of shock and fury—the red-haired woman named Olivia shook her head and said:

"Considering you did a decent job last time, I allowed you to move around the Bureau freely, but now it seems this look suits you better after all.

Also, I'm planning to take some time off to head to Wales County soon, to properly investigate what actually happened back then, and why you're afraid of men from Wales County.

Until I get back, just stay like this! Once I've figured out exactly what you're afraid of, I'll let you thoroughly enjoy the price of running your mouth!"

"Mm? Mmm! MMM!!!"

……

Unaware of what had happened after he left, Hearing Li Ang—who had rushed back to the hospital—hurriedly knocked open the door of the respiratory department's office, and, before the department head—who was packing up to leave—clocked out, presented his brand-new credentials that hadn't even warmed to his touch yet.

The Sixth Cleanup Bureau? Does the Ministry of Police have a department like this? And what kind of position is a Level-3 Incident Handler?

Taking the credentials Hearing Li Ang handed over and flipping through them with half-belief, the chubby department head—who had been full of doubt just moments ago—suddenly couldn't help but stiffen his expression once he recognized several special markings.

The Kingdom's public service personnel system is divided into five grades in total. From top to bottom, they are: Executive Grade, Administrative Grade, Clerical Grade, Assistant Grade, and Miscellaneous Grade.

A department head of the respiratory section at a lower-level hospital like himself barely counts as upper-tier within the Miscellaneous Grade. If he plays his cards right in another twenty-something years when he's about to retire, he might just have a shot at scraping into the tail end of the Assistant Grade.

But this skinny young man in front of him, wearing an old coat, was already an Assistant-level public official, and his treatment was directly set at the Clerk-level standard! Such a person would likely be promoted again after three or five years of grinding, directly squeezing into the ranks of Clerk-level public officials.

Damn! Doesn't that put him on the same level as our Dean?

Looking at the young man who was probably not even twenty, the Fat Director's eyes could not help but reveal deep envy, along with a hint of jealousy hidden extremely deep.

Hearing Li Ang, a surname identical to that of the Lionheart Duke, combined with an Assistant-level public official position at under twenty years old, meant there was no need to ask about his background; he must be from that famous great noble family, and most likely a direct lineage with abundant resources.

I had worked hard in the institute for over twenty years, and my greatest hope was merely to muddle through to an Assistant-level public official position before retirement, yet this person is already at the forefront of the Assistant level in his teens, sitting directly at the end of my lifetime dream, and can even stretch out half a butt further—where the hell does one go to reason with this?

After cursing a damn connection-based hire and mentally tagging the other as someone absolutely not to be offended, the layers of flesh folds on the Fat Director's face unfolded like a flower; he rubbed his hands and, with a beaming smile, said to Hearing Li Ang:

"Mr. Hearing Li Ang, may I ask if there is somewhere you are uncomfortable?"

"It is not me; it is my sister."

After briefly explaining Anna's situation, before Hearing Li Ang had even made a request, the pot-bellied Fat Director proactively offered to transfer her immediately to the best ward, equipped with the best potions, and even patted his chest to guarantee that he, this Director, would personally follow up, ensuring Miss Anna received the highest level of treatment in the entire Royal Capital.

Slightly uncomfortable with the Fat Director's excessive enthusiasm, Hearing Li Ang suppressed the awkwardness in his heart, managed to exchange a few pleasantries with him, and then, guided by the nurse, arrived early to sit on the soft sofa in the special care ward, waiting for the nurses to push Anna over.

Sitting alone in the quiet, clean ward, looking at the new hospital bed in front of him covered with a white sheet, Hearing Li Ang, sitting upright on the sofa, could not help but feel a strange sensation of things remaining while people change.

From the moment I gripped the scalpel and rushed out of the hospital until now, less than an hour had passed, yet the Path's Predicament that had once forced my entire family to the brink of despair had already been resolved.

Not only was there a solution for my sister's illness, but my family, who had just been struggling bitterly at the bottom of the Royal Capital, could now live a decent life on my salary; the cost of all this was merely...

Hmm? What was the cost again... Hiss! It's hot! It's hot!!!

Hearing Li Ang, who was deep in thought trying to recall exactly what cost he had paid, suddenly felt a burning pain sharply transmit through the skin of his chest; the dung beetle girl badge representing the Sixth Cleaning Bureau suddenly emitted terrifying heat like a branding iron, searing him fiercely through three layers of clothing.

【A loss-of-control contaminant matching the work content has appeared; the Iron Badge "Probationary" has activated; your work efficiency has received a slight increase】