Chapter 756: Follow-up and

Royal Gazette: "Golden Juanhoujueshishi ， Daianwanghouchuxidaonian "

Critic's Report: "Murdered or Stricken by Conscience? The Cause of Golden Juanhoujue 's Death Remains a Mystery"

Daily Essentials: "Golden Juanhoujue Yesterday Drowned in the Lake; Before Jumping, He Shouted 'I Am Guilty!'"

Corner Alley News: "Turned to the Prince Less Than a Week Ago, Now Found Dead at Home—Was Golden Juanhoujue Really Suicidal?"

The Sun: "Revenge of the Vengeful Spirit? Golden Juan Family Sentinel: I Was Knocked Out by a Wild Cat That Night!"

"..."

Not bad—reactions match what I expected.

After discarding the wildly divergent The Sun, Leon, who had worked through the entire night the day before and slept well upon returning home, opened the door to his office at the Clearance Bureau.

In unusually high spirits, he indulged himself with a cup of black tea, sipping slowly as he flipped through the remaining newspapers.

The sudden drowning of Golden Juanhoujue, newly appointed Secretary of Taxation and second only to the Minister of Finance, was no minor matter.

Though titled "Secretary," the position held immense real power: it involved shaping economic policy, regulating commercial taxes, overseeing market stability, and serving as foreign economic advisor.

This seemingly unimportant post ranked as a second-tier official in the Kingdom's five-tier bureaucratic hierarchy—only below the Prime Minister and the heads of ministries.

The mysterious death of such a high-ranking official triggered a seismic shock in the capital's political circles.

Especially those who had once supported Princess Wei but recently drifted toward Prince Joshua due to the Queen and Minister of Finance's maneuvering—each trembled with dread, suspecting this tragedy might be Princess Veronica's "warning." Even those uninvolved were deeply curious.

Knowing what the public wanted, major newspapers naturally rushed out special editions, flooding the airwaves with sensational reports on Golden Juanhoujue 's death—rumors spread like wildfire.

As the architect of this event, Leon considered all reports accurate except The Sun, which exaggerated terror and turned the incident into "The Vengeful Spirit of Bao Hua."

Especially The Royal Gazette, with its vast resources, directly Jinzhu ed Cuiyu Manor, interviewed everyone present that night, and accurately recounted every detail—except his own existence.

According to The Royal Gazette, Golden Juanhoujue worked late into the night, then dozed off at his desk until dawn; his secretary dared not disturb him, merely draped a coat over him before retreating to the side room to rest.

But when, at just after ten in the morning, the secretary noticed the marquis still asleep, his face unnaturally pale and trembling slightly, he could no longer hold back and woke him.

Upon seeing the secretary's face, the awakened Golden Juanhoujue let out a desperate scream, shoved the secretary to the ground, then sprinted down the corridor to the staircase, tumbling down the stairs while shouting "I am guilty!" and leaping into the lake clutching a large stone.

When they pulled him out, frantically scrambling to ensure he died fast enough, his mouth and nose were packed with waterweed, and his body was entangled in it everywhere—but his expression was not grotesque; instead, it bore a faint, strange sense of release.

"You're a genius!"

After Leon finished reading the paper, the illiterate goat head on his desk chuckled happily:

"At one minute per lap, you left him sleeping for over four more hours, waking and falling back into your dream hundreds of times, each time jolted awake and chased straight to the lake."

And you used the secretary's face—when he woke up and saw the secretary leaning over him with concern, his first instinct was to flee and jump again."

"After all, if he moved too slowly, he'd be dragged back to Bao Hua Manor and subjected to nine hundred more executions… Wahaha! Art! This is pure execution art!"

After lavishing Leon with praise, the black goat still felt it wasn't enough, clicking his tongue in awe:

"You, boy, are a born demon! You didn't even touch him—just answered his door, tapped the red cross, and he spent the whole night in nightmares, then woke up and jumped into the lake himself."

Even the Clearance Bureau's investigators couldn't dig up what a dead man dreamed—especially since you were already home asleep when he jumped, and even worked overtime that night, writing piles of reports. Who could possibly trace it back to you?"

"Tsk tsk tsk—we're growing fonder of you every day. Too bad you only took out one yesterday. If only you could..."

"Enough. If you can't keep your mouth shut, go back to the Mirror World."

Leon glared at the chattering goat and snapped:

"Do you think Clearance Bureau investigators are fools? We already pulled this stunt once at Lyne's house—if we do it again, even the dumbest will suspect me!"

"Alright, alright, I'll shut up, I'll shut up!"

Seeing Leon raise his hand toward him, terrified of being sent back to the Mirror World to serve as a diaper for Little Ha, the goat clamped his mouth shut.

But his bad habit resurfaced soon after; he couldn't help whispering again:

"I'm just saying—your new anomaly is incredibly useful. Might not work well against other anomalies, but against ordinary people? Just make a sound and they're done."

"You've got so many people you want gone. Why not work for the red-haired woman at the Clearance Bureau by day, then go out at night and take care of your own business? What do you think?"

"Not at all."

After carefully reviewing all the newspapers and confirming no suspicion could possibly point to him, Leon replied coldly:

"Never mind whether the Clearance Bureau might catch on—given the Kingdom's current state, even if I killed a thousand evil men, a thousand-and-first would rise. Murder alone solves nothing."

"Had this not been such an exceptional case, I wouldn't have acted directly—even if I knew, I'd have sought evidence and handed him over to the Police Department or the Princess. Relying too much on violence is dangerous."

The goat sighed in disappointment, scowling:

"Tsk… so inefficient!"

Hearing the goat's complaint, Leon sneered:

"Hah—if you were Anomaly 001, I'd gladly act right now: kill every bastard, force everyone to obey my rules… But are you?"

"We… we still have great potential! Once we recover what we lost, we'll at least be… oh right!"

After stammering for a moment, the goat's eyes suddenly gleamed:

"The Sun's female reporter! Our tail's still with her! You're powerful now—let's go get it back!"

"Shh! Quiet!"

Hearing familiar footsteps, Leon clamped his hand over the goat's mouth, silencing its babble, while using the goat's soul vision to glimpse the familiar soul approaching outside the door.

"Tap. Tap-tap."

After a light knock, Emma outside bit her lip, forcing down her turbulent emotions, and spoke in a trembling, soft voice:

"Leon… are you in? I'd like to talk to you."

(End of Chapter)