Chapter 617: The Early Inquiry

"..."

Upon hearing her close friend's question, the red-haired Bureau Chief's smile stiffened slightly, and she shot her a sharp, annoyed glare.

Could you not bring up such a miserable topic right when I'm finally in a good mood?

Besides, it's not like I *want* to be ranked last. With only two and a half people left in our branch, managing to clear the anomalies within the Kingdom every single year is already the absolute limit of our efforts.

Furthermore, our performance this year wasn't actually that bad. In the first half, we wiped out over a dozen nests of the Merino Baiyan cult and seized a large batch of anomalous items; in the second half, we even took down a descended Saint.

With those achievements as a foundation, even if we couldn't rank at the top, we should have been comfortably in the middle. Who could have foreseen all these sudden incidents at the end of the year?

"Negligent! Lazy! Shameful!"

While the red-haired Bureau Chief was exchanging glances with her friend, the projection of the Bureau Chief of the entire Cleaning Bureau continued to strike the markers of the bottom-ranked branches, criticizing them with heartfelt grief.

"As the final barrier standing between humanity and the anomalies, you carry the safety of the entire species on your shoulders! Look at these shameful audit results; I feel ashamed for you! Especially the Virgo Branch—how could you possibly have the nerve to smile just now?"

Striking the dung beetle emblem of the Virgo Branch heavily, the Bureau Chief roared in anger.

"The Little Spring and Heavenly Harp branches are one thing—the old Chief of Little Spring just retired, and the new one needs a few years to gain experience; the Heavenly Harp Branch had their main force frozen in a glacier two years ago while dealing with a Polar Remnant raid and still hasn't rescued them. It's understandable that those two branches have poor performance.

But Olivia, how do you explain yourself? In the first half of the year, you and the Dragon Snake Branch conducted a joint suppression operation, but you only caught five Merino White Eye cultists while accidentally knocking out over eighty of your colleagues from the Dragon Snake Branch! What exactly is the Virgo Branch trying to do?"

"Chief, that was just an accident. And it wasn't a joint suppression; our operations just happened to collide."

Hearing this, the red-haired Bureau Chief stood up, feeling aggrieved.

"I took that Merino Baiyan cult operation very seriously. After the General Bureau issued the suppression order, I sent Auntie Auntie Ai Ma, our strongest agent, directly to ensure we completed the task as quickly as possible.

At the time, Emma had already located the cult's gathering spot and deployed her 'Execution Platform' to make the arrests. Who knew the Dragon Snake Branch had an ambush nearby? And their agents were carrying even heavier sins than the cultists performing the ritual, so they were the first to be struck down by collateral damage."

Under the cannibalistic glare of the Dragon Snake Branch Chief, the red-haired Bureau Chief continued her defense with a straight face.

"You know how it is—Emma's Execution Platform triggers based on the severity of one's 'sins,' and it doesn't distinguish between friend and foe. As soon as her platform went up, the Dragon Snake agents were the first to go down, and they were howling louder than anyone else. Emma had no choice but to stop, which allowed the cultists to escape into the dream realm."

Chief, if I were you, instead of blaming Emma for being too heavy-handed, I'd investigate those Dragon Snake agents and see what kind of crimes they've committed to be struck down by the Execution Platform faster than the cultists themselves."

"Fine, we'll count the Merino Baiyan incident as a misunderstanding."

Too lazy to bicker with the red-haired Bureau Chief, the Bureau Chief slapped the dung beetle emblem again and continued his angry questioning.

"What about these incidents at the end of the year? Anomalous attacks happened right under your nose. Even with agents present, over two hundred nobles were killed in one go, paralyzing the Kingdom's road and military affairs for nearly two weeks. How do you explain this?"

"That... the incident at the Laien estate was purely an accident..."

Cursing Li Ang viciously in her heart, the red-haired Bureau Chief bit the bullet and argued.

"Li Ang hadn't even been officially promoted yet; he was just a rookie who hadn't joined for a month. The opponent was a near-God-level Great Demon's heart... well... it was a sudden emergency, there was really no other way.

Besides, the opponent had sealed off the estate, so he couldn't seek support from the branch, but he still managed to protect most of the people and successfully resolved the anomalous event. I believe this shouldn't be considered a dereliction of duty; it should even be commended."

"Heh, you always have an excuse. You actually have the nerve to call failing to clear an anomaly in time—resulting in over two hundred noble casualties—a 'turn of the tide' that 'protected most people.' Your skin is thick enough to be considered an anomalous item itself."

After mocking her, the Bureau Chief's expression softened slightly.

"However, since that Li Ang is a rookie and the situation was special, we can accept this result; consider your branch barely passed... But what about the Royal Family?"

According to our agreements with the various Royal Families, they must provide funding and supplies and unconditionally support our cleaning activities. Branches stationed in these Kingdoms have an obligation to protect the Royal Family and important nobles from anomalous disturbances.

But in your case, first the Princess was attacked by an anomaly and forgotten by the entire Kingdom, and later, when a Virgo Branch agent paid a visit, he got into a verbal altercation with the Prince and beat him up in the reception room for quite a while... And judging by the King's complaint, it seems this isn't the first time he's done something like this?"

"This... this can also be explained."

Mentally adding another black mark against Li Ang, the red-haired Bureau Chief defended herself while facing the strange stares of over eighty colleagues.

"Although Li Ang did have a small conflict with the Prince, the Princess had previously accepted his marriage proposal, so besides being a Virgo Branch agent, he is also a Prince of the Blood of the Kingdom.

Without using any anomalous items, beating his wife's brother a few times over a verbal dispute should be considered an internal matter of the Royal Family and outside the jurisdiction of the Cleaning Bureau.

As for the Princess being attacked, while it is true that our branch was negligent in our defense, it was also a scheme orchestrated from behind the scenes, and they even utilized part of the effects of the 'Illusion Can.' I suspect a Board Member might be involved, which is why I have already submitted an inquiry application to the Bureau."

"Oh?"

Upon hearing this, the Bureau Chief paused slightly, frowning as he asked.

"You're actually preparing to launch an inquiry against a Board Member? Olivia, why didn't I receive a report about such an important matter?"

"This..."

The red-haired Bureau Chief replied awkwardly.

"You received a prompt from the Watchtower Palace and have been hunting the Ancient King of the Remnants for these past years. It had been nearly eight years since your last appearance, so when we submitted the inquiry to the Board, we didn't expect you to be able to project yourself back this year..."

"Was it that you didn't expect me to be able to return, or that you didn't expect me to still be alive?"

The Bureau Chief's projection lowered his head, looked at the Board Members in the seats who were looking rather embarrassed, and let out a cold snort.

"Rest assured, the flow of time in the Land of the Remnants is only one-fiftieth of yours. Even if you all grow old and die, I will still be living just fine!

Heh, I only contacted you all during the year-end review to check on the Bureau's situation; I didn't expect to catch an inquiry against a Board Member... Tell me, Olivia, which Board Member have you caught in the act?"

(End of Chapter)