Chapter 638: Burglary and Renewal

It was just something stolen… scared me half to death!

Looking at the chief's office, rumpled by some unknown intruder, Li Ang let out a long breath of relief, then gave Senior Jery, who had falsely raised the alarm, a dry, exasperated glance.

After receiving Senior Jery's note, Li Ang feared something dire had happened, immediately halted the carriage halfway, abandoned the remaining fare, and dashed into an alley, leaping onto the Witch's Broom to fly back to the Bureau under cover of night.

But after rushing back, he discovered it was all a false alarm—no other anomalies occurred, aside from the chief's office having been burgled.

Come to think of it…

When he and Senior Jery left, no one else remained at the Bureau; Princess Wang Nuwei and Anna had already returned to Happy Apartments in advance. Aside from something being stolen, nothing else could possibly have happened.

"Li Ang, this isn't just about something being stolen."

Noticing Li Ang seemed to relax, Senior Jery shook his head slightly, then pointed toward the pile of empty bottles in the office, his expression grave:

"Look over there—the intruder who slipped in while the Bureau was empty? He's no ordinary thief."

Hearing Senior Jery's words, Li Ang froze slightly. Once he followed the direction of his gaze and spotted the "target," his expression instantly turned serious.

Simply put: several long, vivid red hairs lay amid the bottles, struggling to rise, yet like a boneless corpse, no matter how hard they writhed, they couldn't lift off the ground at all…

These were the chief's hairs!

As a powerful anomaly item numbered 013, these 【Blood of Slaughter Hair】 were weak—unlike the reinforced strand on his own body, which could single-handedly repel the Enlightened God attempting to flee.

But even as a non-reinforced variant, they were still part of a numbered anomaly item; regardless of their raw power, their ontological rank surpassed the threshold of true divinity—level two or three Cleaners were utterly incapable of handling them.

The person who could subdue these hairs must be on par with Emma Senior—likely a level one Cleaner. If he struck with forethought against unprepared targets, he could easily eliminate both Li Ang and Senior Jery!

Which meant, had he and Senior Jery not gone to seek the Freckled Prince and been teleported to Headquarters by the Star Palace, they would have run straight into this astonishingly powerful thief! If even his reinforced strand couldn't withstand the thief's ability…

They'd be dead.

…

"Honestly, I owe you one this time."

Watching the red hairs fluttering above the floor, Senior Jery drew a deep breath, his voice tinged with lingering dread as he spoke to Li Ang:

"If you hadn't suggested going after that prince—and insisted I come along—I'd have stayed behind alone. If this thief were the cruel type, I'd probably be cold by now."

It wasn't just you who nearly died…

Entering the chief's office and carefully inspecting it, Li Ang found half a bloodstained handprint along the outer edge of the windowsill, and let out a relieved sigh.

Had he not been cautious enough to send Princess Wang Nuwei and Anna back to Happy Apartments before leaving the Cleaner Bureau, who knew what danger they might have faced?

Thanks to his "excessive caution," no one had been harmed—and there was another positive development.

Following the trail of the bloodstain, Li Ang found copious splatters of blood on the building's outer wall and in the grass outside the window. His tense expression eased slightly. Though the thief was strong enough to subdue the chief's hairs, he hadn't escaped unscathed—he'd clearly been slashed repeatedly by the 【Blood of Slaughter Hair】. Given the terrifying volume of blood, he'd likely lost most of his life force and wouldn't dare return anytime soon.

As for the thief's identity and motive…

Standing two meters away, Li Ang cautiously rummaged through the chief's drawers using the power of the 【Sacred Pendant】, and a look of understanding crossed his face.

As expected, the "fake photo" the chief had duplicated had been taken.

It seemed Water-Bearer Director, in his habit of layered precautions, after arranging to move Emma Senior out, had not only set up the middle-aged Joshua as a backup—but also dispatched another group to retrieve the photo.

Water-Bearer Director likely intended for this thief to deal with any lingering traps the chief might have left, then let middle-aged Joshua take the photo, with both escaping swiftly via the Door to the Other Side, completing the theft without a scratch.

But middle-aged Joshua was caught early by Li Ang, leaving the thief waiting in vain. Seeing the Bureau unguarded, the thief gritted his teeth and broke into the chief's office, found the photo in the drawer, paid the price of nearly being cut to death by these hairs, and overfulfilled Water-Bearer Director's orders.

Too bad—he'd only taken the fake photo the chief had prepared. The thief had made a wasted trip.

Using a hand formed by the 【Sacred Pendant】, Li Ang retrieved several bloodied hairs from the grass outside the window and placed them beside the ones near the bottles. Then he turned to Senior Jery beside him and asked tentatively:

"Senior Jery, could your friends…"

"They won't find him."

Knowing what Li Ang meant to ask, Senior Jery shook his head helplessly:

"He's carrying an anomaly item that erases traces—anything removed from his body loses all scent. Even these bloodstains—ants followed the trail for two streets, then lost it completely."

True… when I first came in, I smelled nothing at all—otherwise I'd have spotted the hairs on the floor.

Leaning near the window and sniffing faintly, Li Ang realized that despite the massive blood loss outside, not a trace of scent remained. He sighed, abandoning the idea of tracking the wounded thief down immediately.

Since the thief was so thoroughly prepared, they could only wait for the chief's return. Hopefully the next two days will pass quietly—no more mishaps… Oh right, tomorrow I still need to go to the post office across from The Sun to renew the newspaper subscription for her.

With a weary shake of his head, Li Ang opened the side drawer of the chief's desk, rummaged through the files, and pulled out all the newspapers and magazines inside.

The Sun, Daily Essentials, Royal Gazette…

Glamour Focus, Arms Industry, Wine Traveler, The Boy's Secret Thoughts…

These must be the publications the chief asked me to renew… hmm… wait!

Flipping through the thick stack, Li Ang noticed only a few copies of The Sun had been cut—his expression turned suspicious.

If I remember right, the sections cut from these papers… were exactly the two photos I published?

(End of Chapter)