Chapter 637: Future Clouds

Faced with Leon's two choices, the Freckled Prince muster up rare defiance.

He chose neither to hand over the intelligence nor to take Leon's slap outright—instead, relying on his own courage, he carved out a third path…

He took a beating first, then cried as he handed over the future intelligence.

What on earth did you think you were accomplishing?

Watching Joshua, his nose and tears smeared across his face, still clutching his swollen cheek and glaring at him with bitter resentment, Leon sighed, feeling he'd gone just a little too far this time.

Though he now bore the title of prince and went around provoking trouble, the Freckled Prince was actually younger than his sister Anna, hadn't grown a single whisker, and was undeniably still a half-grown child; to beat him with force and even steal his "possessions" was truly immoral.

But this concerned the future of so many in the kingdom, possibly even the safety of Watch Palace and the survival of all humanity—such vital intelligence could not be overlooked… Next time Joshua had another outburst, I'll hold back and spare him one beating—consider it an advance payment for this one!

As the Freckled Prince began sobbing while copying down the information, Senior Jerry had already returned to the Bureau. Having made his "advance payment" decision, Leon took out the Ram's Head, asked Joshua a few questions, confirmed the intelligence was genuine, then immediately pulled out the 【Infected Blood Band】, wrapped it around Joshua's face to reduce the swelling, and hurried out of the Wang Palace, hailed a carriage, and headed straight for the Cleanup Bureau.

…

So that's how it was…

On the carriage, Leon unfolded Joshua's copied future intelligence, skimmed it quickly, and finally understood why the future kingdom had refused to cooperate with the Krok Kingdom, rejecting their request for joint development of "mineral resources," and ultimately been invaded.

Because the Krok Kingdom's scouts had mistaken the so-called "energy minerals" discovered by the kingdom—not for minerals at all, but for dozens of underground lava rivers stretching over a hundred kilometers, and eleven extinct volcanoes scattered across two counties of the kingdom.

Leon's own home county, Lyne, and the wool-famous Merino County both sat atop a special "hotspot" in the crust, possessing nearly infinite geothermal energy; if these volcanoes were fully exploited, they could satisfy over eighty percent of the Krok Kingdom's energy needs.

But the problem was, the Krok Kingdom's proposed extraction method was unimaginably brutal—it required reopening all eleven extinct volcanoes and even multiple deliberate detonations!

If the kingdom truly agreed to cooperate with the Krok Kingdom, not only would residents of both counties need mass relocation, but the volcanic ash and smoke spewed from the eruptions would, carried by monsoons, spread westward across most of the kingdom.

Following that, not only would Lyne and Merino Counties become uninhabitable, but tens of thousands of farms and pastures across the entire kingdom would suffer catastrophic drops in yield—or total crop failure—triggering a prolonged, widespread famine lasting years.

In addition, the detonations and subsequent extraction would likely cause intermittent earthquakes and large-scale ground collapses; given such consequences, no matter how much the Krok Kingdom offered, the kingdom could never agree.

So… one side was determined to seize these underground energy sources, while the other could never accept the consequences of extraction—core interests clashed, leaving only one option: resort to force, settle it with fists.

Though the Krok Kingdom had a tiny population, its fists were far harder than the kingdom's could ever be; once the "exchange" began, the outcome was certain to be one-sided—the kingdom had virtually no capacity to resist on a large battlefield, and after the Princess, the most steadfast resistance leader, was killed, it nearly collapsed entirely, teetering on the brink of annihilation.

After reading the news regarding the Krok Kingdom's invasion, Leon's confusion about the future eased slightly.

No wonder the middle-aged Joshua didn't flee at that time but stubbornly negotiated with him amid rebel encirclement, hoping to persuade him to attack the Boarding Tower and kill the Krok Kingdom's scouts—because it was the only method he could conceive that might possibly prevent this future. And now it seemed he really had to go to the Boarding Tower; even if he didn't kill the Krok scouts as middle-aged Joshua suggested, he'd have to bring the Phoebe sisters, who could alter memories, to prevent the "mineral" intelligence from reaching the Krok Kingdom and triggering the subsequent invasion.

Also…

Looking at the dark future recorded by the Freckled Prince—where smoke choked the sky and ash blanketed the land, the kingdom's population halved, and nearly sixty percent suffered from lung diseases—Leon's brow knotted deeply.

Since this future had truly occurred, it meant the Cleanup Bureau had not intervened, strictly adhering to its agreements with the kingdoms: only handling anomalies, never interfering where no anomaly existed.

Given what Leon had seen today—the scattered, independent operations of each branch, the near-total disorganization without large-scale actions—it was entirely plausible this outcome had occurred.

Not to mention the branch directors, deeply tainted by anomalies and no longer seeming fully human; even the few directors present showed chilling indifference toward Water Bearer Director's secret mass casualties.

The only one who might have cared, Taurus Director, was due to be promoted next year; so by the time the Krok Kingdom invaded, the only ones likely to pay attention would be Virgo Branch and Gemini Branch.

But judging from Water Bearer Director's brain-swap surgery, Gemini Branch seemed "extremely close" to the Krok Kingdom—unlikely to intervene. So…

Where was the Director? What was the Director doing?

After pondering his own Director's behavior, Leon's brow tightened further.

Though the Director was eccentric, liked to tease people when he had no alcohol, and lost his mind when drunk, he was undeniably a "kind-hearted" man; even if he couldn't directly intervene, he wouldn't just sit idle.

Yet in Joshua's written future, Virgo Branch was almost entirely absent—even Water Bearer Director, who hadn't replaced Taurus Director, had appeared several times—but Leon's own Director seemed to have vanished without a trace, never appearing at all, as if Virgo Branch had never existed.

Knowing the Director as he did, this was impossible—so… in that future without Leon, had the kingdom suffered some catastrophic large-scale event that left Virgo Branch decimated, perhaps…

"Woof! Woof woof!"

As Leon clutched the Freckled Prince's intelligence, pondering what had gone wrong, a frantic dog bark rang in his ear.

Leon turned in surprise and saw Jerry's senior's beloved dog… or rather, Ms. Lisa, this adult golden retriever, had poked her head through the carriage window and shoved a hastily scribbled note into his hand.

'Come back quickly—the Bureau is in trouble!'

?!!!

(End of Chapter)