Chapter 633: The Secret of the Star Palace

So... Aquarius Art is hopeless, but Taurus Art might actually work?

After hearing the Taurus Director's promise, Li Ang couldn't help but feel a surge of joy—Taurus Art seemed far more valuable than Aquarius Art.

I remember the Director saying the Twelve Arts of the Cleanup Bureau are ranked: Aries Art, called "Anomaly Annihilation," is first; Taurus Director's "Anomaly Forging" is second; while Aquarius Director's "Anomaly Creation" is barely eleventh.

But this ranking isn't based on combat power—it's based on significance to the entire Cleanup Bureau. Aquarius Art ranks so low because its methods are extreme, its material demands are excessive, it's overly dependent on luck, and its controllability is poor—you might pour in massive resources and get nothing.

Taurus Art, by contrast, is stable and controllable; even after being simplified and weakened over dozens of generations, it's still used to train craftsmen who forge anomalous objects, producing countless stable anomalies usable by mid- and low-rank cleanup agents—its value to the entire Bureau is immense, which is why it ranks second.

Even if its ranking is somewhat inflated, it's still the genuine second-ranked Art!

Setting aside its ability to forge anomalies, if I truly master this Art and become a "Reserve Taurus Director," my status within the Cleanup Bureau will skyrocket—even if I still hold the title of Level-3 Incident Handler, I'll likely have a voice in many matters!

Indeed, wealth and honor must be sought through risk! I took the risk of being outright killed to face off verbally against the Aquarius Director—and now, is this the moment to reap the rewards?

Amid Li Ang's excited expression, the Taurus Director closed her eyes slightly, and just as before when the Sun's Eye appeared, the Bureau's headquarters darkened again, its outer walls turning transparent once more.

But the ceiling did not split open again—this time, the change occurred at the "waistline" position of the Taurus Seat: a phantom bull, built from over a hundred star-points connected by countless meteor-like arcs, rapidly materialized from nothing.

"This is the full form of the Taurus Star Palace."

Turning to look at the phantom Star Palace behind her, the Taurus Director gazed at the massive bull, its spine bowed and horns poised as if ready to charge, and spoke with nostalgia:

"Taurus lies between Aries and Gemini, the zodiac constellation with the most stars—125 in total. But it has few bright stars: only one first-magnitude star and two fourth-magnitude stars; the rest are dim and hard to locate."

"So when my predecessor taught me how to sense the Star Palace, he specifically told me: if you can't find Taurus, look for the constellation crossed by the ecliptic, celestial equator, and galactic plane... I pass this tip on to you today—I hope you'll find it useful in the future."

After briefly explaining how to locate Taurus, subtly revealing her expectations for Li Ang, the Taurus Director waved her hand slightly behind her—the mighty bull phantom leapt from the Bureau's wall, transforming into an ancient, one-man-tall, crude compass.

"Just touch this area."

Pointing to the section between roughly one and two o'clock on the compass's outer rim, the Taurus Director looked at him with hopeful eyes:

"I can only summon a portion of the Star Palace here—every other area is the phantom of another Star Palace, which you cannot touch... Go on, Li Ang. I hope you can surprise me—and surprise everyone."

"But don't feel pressured—even if you get nothing, it's fine. I can still offer you another reward... Go on, touch it!"

"..."

The Taurus Lady is truly kind—like a benevolent elder. No wonder our Director, such a reckless fellow, always behaves so obediently before her, taking reprimands without protest...

Watching the Taurus Director, devoid of any upper-class arrogance, patiently explaining and encouraging him with gentle eyes, Li Ang felt a warmth in his chest, let go of his petty calculations, nodded, and reached out to touch the Taurus Star Palace.

【Name: Fragment of the Star Compass—Ecliptic—Taurus (Star Palace, Solar Wheel, Law)】 【Appearance: A crude compass forged from semi-transparent obsidian, its front inscribed with finger-drawn star maps of all eighty-eight constellations, its back scarred with knife cuts, wind erosion, frost damage, scorch marks, and bizarre tooth gnawing marks】

【Ability: Star Palace Shift, Ecliptic Radiance, Law Bestowal】

【Cost: The holder's divinity will continuously drain】

【Archive: A sacred relic used by the first-generation Cleanup Bureau members to protect human descendants as they fled from the Old Land. Shattered by one of the Four Supreme Pillar Gods.】

【The shattered fragments of the Star Compass were later gathered by the first Taurus Director, reforged into eighty-eight Star Palaces, and placed upon the Solar Track, nourished and refined by the Solar Wheel's power, in hopes of restoring it to its original state—until today.】

【Evaluation: One of the Cleanup Bureau's most vital trump cards—a doomsday ark usable only by humans from the Old Land. If a world-ending crisis ever strikes and even the Watch Palace's protection is destroyed, this will be humanity's final hope.】

【Contamination Level: Undeterminable; increases with user's proficiency】

"..."

Holy shit!

Even before touching it, Li Ang knew this thing must be extraordinary—after all, the Eighty-Eight Branches and Twelve Directors were all named after Star Palaces; Star Palaces must be vital to the Cleanup Bureau.

But after seeing—and touching—the Star Palace's "true face," Li Ang's mind went numb, violently shaken by the information flooding in.

Protectors of human descendants... fleeing from the Old Land... the Cleanup Bureau's trump card... a doomsday ark usable only by humans...

Putting these together, the Star Palace wasn't an anomaly—it was a spaceship. And it was solar-powered, for fuck's sake!

And humans were the aliens here—after escaping from some place called the Old Land, we probably had our spaceship—the Star Palace—damaged by one of the "Four Supreme Pillar Gods," forcing us to crash-land on this world... This is...

Insane!

I just wanted to touch the Star Palace and see if I could sneak in and learn Anomaly Forging—why did the plot suddenly turn into sci-fi?

"Hmm?"

Seeing Li Ang's utterly stunned expression, the Taurus Director glanced over, puzzled:

"Li Ang? What did you sense? Why do you look so strange?"

(End of Chapter)