Chapter 615: The Secret of Aquarius (Part 2)

Is this thing... trustworthy?

After hearing the thing's words, Li Ang couldn't help but ponder for a moment, then turned his head to give Senior Jie Rui a questioning glance.

'If we don't stop the 【Stealing Fate's Skill】, could it escape?'

'Impossible. Only anomalies with fate attributes can slip past the Veil of Fate—but don't keep it too long, or even if we don't steal the item, we'll alert the Aquarius Director.'

Then ask more!

Guided by the notion that an enemy's enemy is a friend—or at least a potential ally or conversational partner—Li Ang quickly spoke up:

'What exactly are you? Why were you imprisoned for two thousand years by the Aquarius line?'

'I am not a thing—I am a god! The God of Enlightenment!'

Speaking of his past, the self-proclaimed God of Enlightenment snarled:

'Damn Aquarius Director—he coveted my power to grant enlightenment, tricked me into manifesting, then imprisoned me, drained my flesh and true spirit to forge an Anomaly Seed, and stuffed it into the souls of you insects, using my power to activate your own anomalies!'

?!!!

The flesh and true spirit of a true god? So that's how the Aquarius Director made his Anomaly Seeds!

Upon learning this shocking truth, Li Ang and Jie Rui immediately understood why the 【Stealing Fate's Skill】 had pulled out not the Door of the Other Side, but this imprisoned God of Enlightenment.

Though the Door of the Other Side greatly influenced the fate of middle-aged Joshua, the God of Enlightenment, who provided the Anomaly Seed, had nearly equal weight in shaping his destiny—either could have surfaced.

Moreover, though its name doesn't sound like that of a demon god, from its term for humans and the madness and hatred nearly oozing from its words, after two thousand years of torment, this God of Enlightenment's mental state might be even more extreme than that of a typical demon god.

…

'Your Divine Grace, God of Enlightenment.'

After silently warning himself to treat this mad god's words as mere reference—not absolute truth—Li Ang spoke cautiously:

'Someone in our Cleanup Bureau discovered anomalies tied to the Aquarius Director and is now interrogating him. How much do you know about this generation's Aquarius Director?'

'Huh? Your Cleanup Bureau idiots finally noticed he's off?'

Hearing someone planned to interrogate the Aquarius Director, the God of Enlightenment let out a wild laugh, then said with a mix of delight and mockery:

'Good. I thought you'd only notice once his plan fully succeeded and he replaced Taurus to take the Watch Palace. Didn't expect you still have some smart people in your ranks.'

Watch Palace?!?!?!

At this, Li Ang shuddered violently; Jie Rui's eyes widened in utter disbelief:

'Y-you said what?'

'I said your Cleanup Bureau's Aquarius Director wants to replace Taurus and take the Watch Palace for himself.'

Repeating his words, the God of Enlightenment sneered:

'This generation's Aquarius is distracted, and his combat strength is the weakest in two thousand years—but admit this: in mastering the Aquarius line's 【Anomaly Creation】 art, he's the most profound of all fifteen Aquarius Directors.'

Even after I was drained for two thousand years, with less than one-tenth of my power remaining, he still used my flesh to create countless top-tier anomalies nearly divine in rank. His talent rivals even the first Aquarius.'

After giving his enemy a relatively positive assessment, the God of Enlightenment chuckled:

'The Aquarius line's 【Anomaly Creation】 and the Taurus line's 【Anomaly Forging】 are the most complementary pair among the Cleanup Bureau's Thirteen Secret Arts.'

The former creates anomalies; the latter forges them into stable, usable artifacts by fixing those normally unmanifestable ones—perfectly synergistic.'

And your Cleanup Bureau's Watch Palace? It was the supreme masterpiece created by the first Aquarius and the first Taurus, combining both arts.'

After briefly explaining the origin of the Watch Palace, the God of Enlightenment continued:

'This generation's Aquarius has talent, but under the Watch Palace's protection, true gods cannot manifest. After two thousand years of depletion, high-grade "materials" are scarce, and his own strength is pitiful—he'll never reach the first Aquarius's level. If I'm right, once he realized his ceiling, obsessed with Creation Art, he refused to settle for mediocrity and turned his eyes to the Watch Palace, hoping to glimpse something higher from this supreme masterpiece of Creation Art.'

But the Watch Palace, your most vital trump card, is guarded too tightly—even a Director can't approach it. The only way to get near the Watch Palace is to become the one who occupies it—the Ascended Keeper.'

So about thirty years ago, he began planning to create a composite anomaly, hoping to use it to replace the next Ascended Keeper and gain access to the Watch Palace.'

Wait—replace identity?

Hearing this, Li Ang's breath hitched as he suddenly remembered the photo in the small mirror, and the six-needle wristwatch that, once thrown in, clung to the photo like a wild cat drawn by fishy scent.

This is talking about Anna's 【If Only】!

No wonder he coveted it—no wonder he schemed to frame Senior Emma and gave middle-aged Joshua the wristwatch that could find 【If Only】. This thing lets him… wait—no!

At this thought, Li Ang suddenly realized something he'd overlooked—his pupils shrank violently!

Something's wrong! Senior Emma's enemy wasn't just recently dead!

If you calculate the timeline, the Aquarius Director likely planned to frame her the moment he learned he'd face interrogation—and arranged for middle-aged Joshua, who carried the 【Door of the Other Side】, to steal the photo.

A man about to face internal interrogation, whose own safety is in jeopardy, should prioritize survival first. Even if he had the time to scheme, he wouldn't act so fast—unless he held a trump card, certain he'd survive the interrogation!

Bad! The interrogation led by the Director may face complications!

…

'Senior Jie Rui!'

Sensing something was off, Li Ang turned sharply to the short man beside him, his expression grave:

'If he still has the mental bandwidth to plan this while facing interrogation, the Aquarius Director probably has other tricks up his sleeve!'

'I doubt the materials the Director prepared will fully crush him—we must contact the Central Bureau immediately and send them this information and Joshua!'

'Huh?'

Jie Rui, now alerted by Li Ang's words, also sensed something wrong and nodded grimly:

'You're right—we must contact the Central Bureau right away!'

'…'

'…'

(o_o)?

After waiting a moment without further action, Li Ang couldn't help but urge:

'Senior! Contact the Central Bureau already—what are you waiting for?'

'Huh? You don't know how to contact the Central Bureau?'

'I've only been on the job a month—I'm a Level Three Incident Handler. I don't have the Central Bureau's contact!'

'I'm only Level Two. I don't have it either…'

After staring at each other for a moment, Jie Rui asked with fading hope:

'Didn't the Director leave you any contact info before she left?'

'No… but she said if anything happened, I should find Senior Emma—she could reach her.'

'Senior Emma was taken by the Central Bureau yesterday…'

'…'

'…'

Watching the two fools outside chatter for ages yet have no contact info, the God of Enlightenment, who'd hoped for revenge, was utterly disappointed. He spat violently outward, sneering:

'Two idiots!'

(End of Chapter)