Chapter 749: This Is Unfair

Now if you were me…

After hearing Emma's question, Li Ang couldn't help but let out a deep sigh.

If you were in my place, then between him and me, one of us definitely wouldn't be alive today—this kind of deep hatred leaves not the slightest room for reconciliation.

Also, I finally understand why even the all-powerful Director has no way to help with your situation.

"Senior Emma."

Looking at the three children frantically fleeing as a mother bird chased them away from her nest in the half-ruined garden, Li Ang asked softly:

"You never sought revenge before—was it because the Bureau had rules against it?"

"Mm…"

Emma, watching the three children, slightly pressed her lips together and said:

"Unlike you, who voluntarily joined the Cleanup Bureau, those of us who joined through the 'Pardon Statute' are bound by special Word-Spell constraints, pledging not to use any anomalous objects we acquire to retaliate against our former 'enemies.'

If it weren't for the special circumstances of the Branch Office and Olivia's guarantee on my behalf, someone like me—with such a high likelihood of revenge—would have been forcibly relocated away from my homeland and banned from ever returning.

This is one of the conditions the various kingdoms agreed to in order to cooperate with the Cleanup Bureau, providing full financial and intelligence support, even granting temporary troop deployment authority—even for a Level One Cleanup Agent."

"I see…"

After hearing Emma's answer, Li Ang's eyebrows involuntarily furrowed slightly.

…

The reason the Cleanup Bureau, despite its immense power, imposed such a "humiliating" rule wasn't hard to guess.

Considering that most anomalous objects are born amid extremism and suffering, and that Cleanup Agents, long exposed to such contamination, are inherently unstable mentally, once they gain sufficient power, the likelihood of them turning back to seek revenge is virtually one hundred percent.

Take Senior Emma as an example: without this rule, neither the Royal Family nor the Golden Cuckoo Marquis would have allowed her to grow stronger slowly within the Bureau, only to one day wipe them all out—they would have killed her the moment they discovered her anomalous object.

Immortality is an extremely rare special anomaly; most Cleanup Agents' bodies are only slightly stronger than ordinary people's. Without special protective anomalies, a single bullet to a vital point still means instant death.

Without this seemingly absurd rule, many highly promising anomalies and agents would have been eliminated before they could grow, causing the Bureau's available manpower to plummet drastically.

It's even more likely that, in the past when the rules were still immature, numerous preemptive "root-and-branch" eliminations had already occurred, causing severe consequences—prompting the Bureau to establish this rule to ensure its own survival.

But conversely, this binding rule, while protecting many Cleanup Agents, likely also protects plenty of scum.

Recalling the file on the 【Sin of the Treasure Flower】 and the record of little Ellie's "accidental drowning," Li Ang's eyes narrowed slightly, as if something inside him had begun to burn.

"Senior Emma."

After touching the cufflink holding his sniper rifle, Li Ang couldn't help but ask:

"You've trained with a sniper rifle despite having a long-range anomaly—does that mean you're trying to…"

"Yes. Exactly what you think."

Standing at the garden entrance, Emma, her dress covered in dirt and her body streaked with grass leaves—once a delicate porcelain doll, now a filthy little mud monkey, yet smiling with pure joy—looked at her daughter with tender affection and admitted:

"Because of the Word-Spell constraint, I cannot use any anomaly against that man, so I specifically trained with firearms. I once wanted you to help me, hoping to use your Soul Vision to lock onto his position from afar and end it all—but Olivia talked me out of it for now.

I'm sorry, Li Ang. I shouldn't have dragged you into this.

If I'd truly done it back then, even if you knew nothing, you'd still have been investigated. Olivia was right—I was already blinded by hatred."

"It's fine. None of that happened anyway…"

Shaking his head slightly, Li Ang looked at the three children in the garden and said softly, his expression complex:

"Senior Emma, if you complete your revenge, what will the cost be?"

"I'll likely lose all my anomalies and be forcibly sent to the Death Realm."

Emma said calmly:

"According to the regulations, if a Branch Director violates this statute, they may still perform three extremely lethal cleanup missions as a reprieve; for any agent below Branch Director level, it's execution."

Branch Director?

Hearing this, Li Ang's expression shifted slightly as he asked:

"Have you ever considered…"

"Waiting until I become Branch Director before seeking revenge, to avoid immediate execution?"

Emma said calmly:

"I've thought of that path—or rather, except for the time I realized Ellie wasn't truly my daughter, but merely a reflection of my wish, I've always planned to do exactly that.

Though Ellie isn't truly alive, she still carries my daughter's soul. I simply can't bear to lose her again, and I'm willing to endure for her sake. But…"

Glancing back toward the main manor house, Emma gave a self-deprecating smile.

"I guess I'm not as good at enduring as I thought."

…

That… is the Golden Cuckoo family crest?!

Following Emma's gaze, Li Ang was stunned to see the emerald-green Golden Cuckoo crest on the second-floor wall, and workers dismantling the walls adorned with Treasure Flower patterns.

Theoretically, the Golden Cuckoo and Treasure Flower families had close ties, intermarrying frequently over the past two centuries. Even the Golden Cuckoo Marquis himself gained control over the northern trade routes through these marital alliances.

Thus, with the Treasure Flower nobility either dead or exiled, from a bloodline perspective, he truly has the right to inherit the Treasure Flower Manor—his succession rank is nearly equal to Senior Emma's.

But if what Senior Emma says is true—that the Golden Cuckoo family was the primary perpetrator behind the Treasure Flower family's destruction—how could they possibly have the audacity to move in?

And… aren't you just asking for death?

Seeing Emma's palm grow cold and her usually gentle eyes filled with icy murderous intent, Li Ang closed his eyes slightly, his scalp prickling from the Golden Cuckoo family's outrageous audacity.

If the Golden Cuckoo family hadn't shown up so brazenly, Ellie's existence might have allowed Senior Emma to keep enduring—until she became Branch Director. But now, the Golden Cuckoo family seems determined to usurp the estate, moving their entire household into the Treasure Flower manor. This is… the family that destroyed her home not only wandering in front of her eyes, but openly occupying her very house. No one could swallow this insult!

If it weren't for Emma's Word-Spell binding preventing her from using anomalies, every cockroach in your cabinets would be dragged to the gallows!

"I can drive them out!"

Golden Cuckoo family occupying the manor = Emma can't hold back revenge = violates Cleanup Bureau rules = Emma will be executed!

The moment this equation formed in his mind, Li Ang immediately proposed:

"Senior Emma, just hold on a little longer—I'll go find the King…"

"No need."

Before Li Ang could finish, Emma refused, her expression calm:

"Li Ang, for Ellie's sake, I've endured six full years. But now, I truly can't endure any longer."

"But you're already a Level One agent—if only a Branch Director position opens up…"

"The Central Bureau is sealed. Without a Board appointment, even if a vacancy exists, I can't fill it. And even if one did open, it wouldn't necessarily go to me."

Looking tenderly at her daughter, who was holding Melanie's hand and showing her the flowers she'd planted, Emma said softly:

"Besides, this manor means nothing to me. All those once-beautiful memories now turn to pain the moment I think of how it ended.

I've stayed here only because Ellie can't leave it—she can only exist within this manor, saturated with my memories. Otherwise, I would have moved away long ago."

Hearing this, Li Ang took a deep breath, slightly frustrated as he insisted:

"I said I can drive them out! You can still live here with Ellie—just wait until the Central Bureau reopens in six months…"

"Li Ang, that's not the point."

Squeezing Li Ang's clenched hand gently, Emma said softly:

"When I first learned the Golden Cuckoo family planned to move in, I too considered driving them out and pretending nothing happened, continuing to wait as before. But after a full day of thought, I realized the truth.

There are many Level One agents with strength equal to mine and more seniority. Even if a vacancy opens, it's unlikely to go to me. So although it seems like just one step away, the real chance to act may still be twenty or thirty years—or longer—away."

"Li Ang, I really can't wait any longer."

Gazing at the emerald-green Golden Cuckoo crest on the manor wall, as if making a final decision, Emma's shimmering eyes settled into unwavering calm:

"Do you remember the only Death Crow that ever approached me?

My sister's crow. She was a bit older than Ellie is now, but born frail, her body tiny—she looked almost the same age as Ellie does now."

Looking back at the three children playing in the half-ruined garden, then recalling the little girl who used to run joyfully toward her along the garden's stone path, Emma said gently:

"My mother was always ill, bedridden since I was young. My father was rigid and distant. So she grew up clinging to me.

Before that event happened, I often spent time with her in this garden. That small greenhouse just torn down—right up front—I had it built for her. It was her favorite place.

She was far more lively than Ellie is now, just like today's Ellie. She loved birds and flowers, and she loved drawing bright, ugly pictures with crayons. Perhaps Ellie likes them because they come from my longing for her…"

Here, Emma fell silent for a moment, then spoke:

"But she's dead. She was strangled before me. Her body lay beside my mother's. And in less than two weeks, it will be her tenth birthday."

"…"

"She was only nine years old. She never committed a single wrong. Yet her life ended that day—forever, with no future."

"But the one who truly committed the crime lives on without guilt, moves boldly into her home, tears down her house, and erases every trace of her existence."

"And that man who truly deserves to die? He'll live another twenty or thirty years—until he's old, frail, and has forgotten even what he did—before he finally faces his judgment."

Turning her gaze from the emerald-green Golden Cuckoo crest on the wall, Emma looked at Li Ang beside her, her voice calm and resolute:

"This is unfair!"

"…"

In Li Ang's speechless silence, Emma lowered her gaze and said calmly:

"Perhaps from the beginning, I vaguely knew Ellie wasn't the real Ellie. But because I clung to this last warmth, I deceived myself for six years with the excuse of endurance—and was cowardly for six years.

Now, I will do what I should have done six years ago.

As a daughter, I will kill him for my parents! As a mother, I will kill him for Ellie, who was drowned! As the last of the Treasure Flower, I will kill him for all those clan members who could have been saved!

"…"

…

How could you possibly reason with this?

Watching Emma beside him, no longer filled with fury, now calm again, Li Ang felt a chill settle in his heart.

If Senior Emma had merely been provoked by the Golden Cuckoo family's actions and acted on a momentary rage, I could still try to persuade her—to endure a little longer for Ellie's sake.

But judging by Elder Emma's demeanor, after her initial anger passed and she spent a day thinking, she had calmed down—she truly understood now, and had decided what she must do; nothing could stop her anymore.

"What about Ellie?"

Holding on to his last hope, Li Ang tried to remind her:

"You said yourself that Ellie will grow up—couldn't you wait just a little longer, until she's a bit older, at least…"

"Li Ang, you said you'd respect my choices."

"..."

"I know you're right—in the presence of better options, I may not need to do this. But I've waited six full years. I truly don't want to wait any longer."

Smiling gently at Li Ang, Emma reached out and smoothed his furrowed brow, softly pleading:

"Let's drop this topic for now. Let's forget those troubling things, and help Ellie have a birthday without regrets, all right?"

(End of Chapter)