Chapter 642: It

So... you're not here to cause trouble? You're even here to thank me? Then what I just did...

Looking at Leon vigorously shaking her hand, the female journalist suddenly felt her ears turn red with intense shame, remembering her earlier sarcastic provocation.

And the person who had successfully grasped her palm was no better off—after reading the information provided by 【Materialism】, Leon's pupils instantly shrank in shock!

【Name: Non-Touch (Flesh, Energy, Soul)】

【Appearance: A pale, delicate female hand that emits a faint white glow at night; immune to cuts, axe blows, freezing, burning, voodoo curses, and any spiritual or mental assault】

【Ability: Non-touch of flesh, non-touch of energy, non-touch of soul】

【Cost: Permanent loss of one's original hands】

【File: The hands of a nun who devoted her life to the Hidden God, chosen from birth as one of the ninety-nine "Hidden Ones," her senses utterly sealed and destroyed.】

Though she lived in this world, over her full one hundred and fifty years of life, she had no contact with it whatsoever except through touch with these hands—truly a "non-existent Hidden One."】

As the nun neared death, her hands were severed by followers of the Hidden Church to be offered to the Hidden God, but the Twin Branch of the Cleanup Bureau arrived just in time, killing every follower in the cult's stronghold and disrupting the sacrifice.】

After completing the cleanup mission, the then-director of the Twin Branch found the nameless nun among the corpses behind the altar and gifted her an "Anomaly Seed," granting her one full day and night of restored senses and perception in exchange for her hands' permanent inability to touch anything.】

After the nun's death, the 【Non-Touch】 born from her obsession was stored in the Twin Branch's vault; decades later, Level-One Cleanup Agent Nicole Coroman, having lost her original hands during a mission, became its new user—and remains so to this day.】

【Evaluation: An anomaly with terrifyingly low upper and lower limits; though it resists all contact below True Divinity, it must be actively activated and extended to block—only those with extraordinary physical conditioning and reflexes can wield its true power.】

【Contamination Level: 28.1】

Twenty-eight-point contamination level! Level-One Cleanup Agent of the Twin Branch!

Seeing the prefix before "Miss Nicole" in the 【Non-Touch】 file, Leon's mind suddenly rang like a bell—many previously confusing matters instantly connected, the heavy clouds of doubt over his heart clearing abruptly.

Of course—given the Water Bearer Director's habit of keeping backup plans, how could he possibly ignore the rebels entirely, letting them fend for themselves under the Red-Haired Director's nose? He must have arranged a failsafe, just in case they were truly exposed and wiped out by the Virgin Branch.

And the person he sent as that failsafe was almost certainly the woman before him—Miss Nicole. This journalist was never a rebel member, nor could she possibly be Old Owen's daughter; she was a Level-One Cleanup Agent of the Twin Branch, likely using some anomaly to infiltrate the rebels, just like me.

Also, when the rebels held their meeting, her absence was surely because she went to eliminate Emma's enemy, ensuring Emma would be taken away by headquarters—and the person who broke into the Cleanup Bureau yesterday and stole the fake photo? Definitely her!

As for proof...

Observing the fine sweat on the journalist's temple and her overly thick clothing despite the high room temperature, Leon's conviction solidified further.

If Miss Nicole were to remove her clothes now, she'd be wrapped head to toe in bandages—her insistence on keeping the shawl tightly wrapped was to conceal the wounds carved into her skin by the Director's hair!

Moreover, though her ears were flushed with embarrassment, her face showed no color change—likely due to makeup or an anomaly masking her pallor from blood loss, matching the thief's condition perfectly.

Finally, the Black Goat once said its tail represented laziness and secrecy—its ability likely erased traces left behind by its body, exactly matching the thief's behavior yesterday. So... it's her! It's her! It's definitely her!

Well, I came here just because I saw a familiar name, intending to probe the last rebel's background—but I ended up uncovering a big fish!

"Sorry, I didn't know how to explain it just now, and I may have misled you."

After calming his turbulent emotions slightly, Leon released the delicate hand with a 28.1 contamination level, instantly switching to 【Elite Performer】, and smiled warmly as he explained:

"Back then, I didn't even know about my connection to the Lyon family. Even now, forced to inherit the dukedom, I never intended to become a proper nobleman—marrying into the royal family was just an excuse to shed the title."

"I see..."

Seeing Leon didn't press her over her earlier "nonsense," the embarrassed journalist felt slightly better and nodded awkwardly:

"Then... you're really quite unusual... hehe."

"No, I may be unusual, but you're even more so!"

Grabbing the journalist's hands again and shaking them firmly, Leon secretly unfastened the cuff on her wrist while speaking with three parts sincerity and seven parts pretense:

"Miss Nicole, do you know how many newspapers and reporters I approached to expose this?"

Before she could answer, Leon—having glimpsed a corner of bandages in her sleeve—burst out with "excitement":

"Nine! Within a single day, I met with nine newspapers! I visited nearly every major and minor paper in the capital that claimed to speak truth—but not one would publish it! Some even tried to arrest me and seize the evidence outright!"

This is... utterly dark! Damn the Lyon family! Just thinking about it still makes me furious!"

"..."

Watching the newly appointed Lionheart Duke rage against the Lyon family, the journalist opened her mouth slightly, as if to speak, but couldn't find the words—so she simply stayed silent and murmured a vague "mm-hmm."

"Miss Nicole, I knew you'd despise this too—that's why you helped expose it! Oh! If only I'd found your Sun Newspaper sooner, I wouldn't have gone through all this trouble!"

Hearing her "agreement," Leon immediately climbed aboard, lavishing praise on her as the savior of the kingdom's media and the last conscience of the capital's journalism.

With three parts genuine feeling amplified by the 【Elite Performer】, his compliments rang utterly sincere—so much so that he nearly crossed into fanatical adoration, until the journalist could no longer bear it and waved her hands in protest:

"No, no, no! I just happened to be there—I'm nowhere near as great as you say. My reporting... uh... still has many flaws."

"Haha, you're too modest, though your flaws are indeed just a tiny bit."

Leon, as if recalling something, nodded and smiled:

"For instance, your articles about me—you only heard secondhand accounts and never obtained firsthand information, so there were minor inaccuracies... How about this, Miss Nicole? Would you be interested in doing an exclusive interview with me?"

"Exclusive interview?"

"Yes! An exclusive interview!"

Leon smiled:

"Though I've inherited the dukedom, I still hold a very special position in a minor department under the Police Bureau. When you're free in a couple of days, would you be willing to come interview me there?"

(End of Chapter)