Chapter 760: Questions and Speculations

「……」

What do you mean, "your Emma"? Are you implying there's something between you two?

"What are you imagining?"

Seeing the strange, shocked look in Leon's eyes, the red-haired director quickly released his collar and snapped:

"Emma and I are friends! Best friends! Uh… besides that, she's also my biggest creditor, and that's it—nothing else!"

"Oh…"

"Oh what?"

Seeing Leon's look of sudden understanding, and remembering the scandalous Marquis's lake suicide, the red-haired director's anger flared. She glared at him:

"You bastard—you're a genius at pretending to be clueless!"

"And you said, 'With William and Melanie helping, it'll be fine'… Pfft! Emma practically wrote her feelings on her face—I don't believe you didn't see what she was trying to say!"

"…"

"Answer me now! Tell me straight—what do you really feel for Emma?"

"And what about that female cop from the Secret Investigation Bureau who eats lunch with you every noon? And Princess Veronica, who's officially engaged to you? What are you going to do about them?"

"…"

Looks like the 【Master of Performance】 doesn't work too well on the director either…

After a slightly awkward laugh, Leon scratched his head and said:

"I'm just friends with Isla—we met by fighting first. As for the princess, I've always wanted to break off the engagement, but she always talked me out of it. I tried three times and failed each time."

"And the reason I pretended not to understand just now was mainly because of the princess…"

"After all, no matter how things really stand, there is still a formal engagement between us. If I haven't cleared it up yet and… uh… it just feels wrong…"

Wow, who knew you were so in sync with the demonic anomaly—and yet your moral standards are surprisingly high?

After studying Leon's expression and confirming he wasn't lying, the red-haired director's tone softened slightly. She narrowed her eyes and warned:

"I don't care who you end up choosing, but as Emma's best friend, you'd better handle this properly—don't hurt her again. Or I won't hesitate to make your life hell."

"Wait, I don't want to hurt Senior Emma either, but isn't this you abusing your power for personal revenge?"

"Yes, I'm taking revenge! So what? If you're not satisfied, go complain to headquarters!"

"…"

Not to mention whether complaining would even work—the headquarters is over seventy thousand kilometers above ground. How am I supposed to get up there?

After watching Leon's utterly speechless expression, the red-haired director, having vented much of her frustration, hesitated briefly, then whispered:

"Also… I actually don't want you to be with Emma."

"Huh?"

Hearing the director's words, Leon froze for a moment. His mind involuntarily slipped into memory mode, recalling his deep bond with the red-haired director—their matching tastes… uh… their drunken toasts—and the warm, fiery kiss in the Death Realm.

Does this mean… sss… does the director have feelings for me too? Am I secretly some kind of legendary beauty?

"Emma's connection to the Death Realm is far deeper than you imagine—it's not just about the 【Sin of Baohua】."

"In all these years, she's been the only Cleanser below the True God level who can freely enter and exit the Death Realm and sign a pact with its True God. Even little Ellie has some issues…"

The red-haired director frowned deeply:

"Leon, I won't hide it from you—when the Baohua family fell, I specifically monitored the situation there."

"Do you know? If Emma hadn't entrusted Ellie to someone else and accidentally escaped from the Death Realm, the Baohua family members who died beneath that tree would've been exactly nine hundred and ninety-nine. That number troubled me deeply…"

"Huh? What's wrong? Why aren't you speaking?"

"…"

Because I just had a sudden thought—I thought… I thought you might be trying to compete with Senior Emma for me… How could I say that out loud?

Suppressing the overwhelming shame with the effect of the 【Master of Performance】, Leon—self-satisfied, down-headed man—took a deep breath and said calmly:

"I just didn't realize there were hidden details… But Director, I've already encountered both Senior Emma's 【Sin of Baohua】 and little Ellie's 【Grief of Baohua】. I saw no suspicious records. Could you be overthinking this?"

"Probably not."

The red-haired director shook her head:

"Leon, remember—as a Cleanser, rely on your abilities, but never trust them alone!"

"I've carefully cross-referenced your ability's reports. Most of what you see are only files directly related to the anomalies themselves. Very little mentions anything outside the anomaly. So it's only a reference—not a decisive judgment."

"For example, I ask you: Emma's escape from the Death Realm triggered the 【Sin of Baohua】. But the Death Realm's gate is guarded by the three-headed dog. How did she pass it? Did your ability mention that?"

"This… it didn't…"

Hearing this, Leon stiffened slightly, his brow furrowing.

"But in other anomaly descriptions, I've read that the Dog God usually sleeps while guarding the gate, and sometimes briefly leaves to hunt. Could it just be coincidence?"

"Then why did it happen to coincide exactly with Emma?"

The red-haired director said sternly:

"Why did that dog leave precisely when nine hundred and ninety-nine souls of the same bloodline, with identical causes of death, gathered their shared grief and resentment together?"

"And that number—nine hundred and ninety-nine—is especially significant!"

Here, the red-haired director sighed:

"I reviewed the records. Before execution, about eleven hundred and four Baohua members were imprisoned. But in the half-month before execution, exactly one hundred and five died—leaving precisely nine hundred and ninety-nine."

"Numbers like nine hundred and ninety-nine, seven, thirteen, six, three, one hundred eleven—they're all tied to rituals in mysticism. Never ignore them."

"Nine hundred and ninety-nine specifically relates to 'Descent.' Given this deliberate number, combined with Emma's unusually close ties to the Death Realm, I can't help but suspect more."

"After all, the Baohua family was destroyed during the Ice Realm's invasion. The massive deaths that followed the war served as perfect nourishment for whatever entity sought to descend from the Death Realm."

"…"

Now that you put it like that… it's not impossible…

Recalling the Baohua family's fate, Leon nodded gravely.

At first glance, the tragedy seemed caused solely by Renard's ambition—with no hidden hand. But the coincidence was too perfect.

If the trade route had been handed to someone else, if the Baohua family had received word in time, if the spy hadn't been Renard, or if the royal family had tried negotiating before acting—any of those changes would've altered the outcome. Yet every time, the worst possible result occurred.

So… could the Baohua family's destruction be more complicated than it seems?

"Director."

After calling out to the red-haired director, Leon frowned and said:

"Have you shared these suspicions with Senior Emma?"

"How?"

After a weary retort, the red-haired director sighed:

"Even if I had proof, how could I tell her that some Death Realm sovereign might be secretly manipulating events, using all her clan's lives to complete a ritual?"

"Right now, she still has hope for revenge. If I told her the truth—that a Death Realm sovereign might be behind the Baohua incident—Emma would never be happy again."

"Besides, that Gold Crow Marquis may be a complete scumbag, but he did take Ellie away—spared her from dying beneath the redwood tree. Maybe that's what broke the Descent ritual."

"So if my guess is right—if a Death Realm sovereign truly wanted to descend—then he might've saved half the capital's people without even knowing it…"

(End of Chapter)