Chapter 78: 77 Watchtower

77 Watchtower

The Contamination Value is actually 48 points?

After reading the information provided by 【Materialism】, Li Ang couldn't help but pause slightly and cast an inquiring look at the red-haired Director.

Didn't they say before that even choosing the first option would only yield a Contamination Value of 45, and the third option at most 42? Why is it so much higher now?

"..."

Why are you looking at me? Hurry up and thank her!

Receiving Li Ang's gaze, the red-haired Director couldn't help but glare at him again, then put her hands behind her back and secretly hooked her fingers toward Li Ang's neck.

"Ah?"

After his neck was pulled down slightly by her hair, Li Ang immediately understood the red-haired Director's hint. He hurriedly bowed, his face full of sincerity, and thanked her:

"Thank you for your teachings, Director. I will definitely not let down the Director's expectations, nor will I let down this anomalous object you crafted with your own hands!"

"Why so formal again... sigh..."

Easily seeing through the red-haired Director's little trick, the silver-haired old woman couldn't help but glare at her, then smiled helplessly:

"Really... if I had known it would turn out like this, I would have applied for identity confidentiality. Now it's troublesome everywhere I go, with all this bowing and greeting..."

"Bowing and greeting are everyone's voluntary actions; they are respect from the bottom of their hearts."

Hearing the silver-haired old woman's words, the red-haired Director, who usually wasn't very serious, straightened her body this time and said earnestly:

"Director Jin Juan, whether it's past achievements or the choices you will make in the future, this respect is what you deserve."

"Perhaps... but it is truly troublesome..."

Responding listlessly, the silver-haired old woman stood up from the sofa and said goodbye:

"Then that's it, Olivia. I just came to deliver something today and see how your Sixth Branch is doing. Since everything is normal, I won't disturb you anymore."

"You are too kind."

The red-haired Director bowed respectfully, then secretly tugged at Li Ang, pulling him back with her. Watching Director Jin Juan, who looked no different from an ordinary old woman, she hunched her back and walked toward the second-floor window, then disappeared without warning, as if stepping into another world.

"..."

No wonder I didn't see any footprints; so none of you use the stairs...

After a flash of realization, seeing the director of such high status leave, Li Ang, who had been bursting with questions, finally couldn't help but ask:

"Just now, that person..."

"That is one of the twelve directors, the current Jin Juan Director, and also the master most skilled at crafting anomalous objects in the Bureau."

After briefly explaining the old woman's identity, the red-haired Director said with some emotion:

"I originally thought it would be good to have a master craftsman preside over the forging, but I didn't expect Director Jin Juan to happen to be free. Not only did she take over the forging work, but she even delivered it personally after finishing. Your luck is truly good."

So... is it because this master craftsman forged it that the Contamination Value is so much higher than expected?

Nodding in realization, Li Ang stole a glance at her expression and then continued to ask:

"Director, are the twelve directors very powerful? How do they compare to you?"

"You misunderstood."

Glancing at Li Ang, the red-haired Director shook her head:

"The reason I asked you to show her respect is not because of how powerful her strength is, nor because of how high her status is, but because of genuine admiration.

In at most one year, Director Jin Juan will voluntarily abandon her physical body and become part of the 【Watchtower】."

"Watchtower?"

"It is an anomalous object crafted by the Cleaning Bureau, hanging high outside our world. As for its specific function, it is just as its name suggests: it exists as the watcher for all humanity and is the strongest and final barrier protecting this world."

After briefly explaining the function of the 【Watchtower】, the red-haired Director said with a complex look in her eyes:

"Only individuals who love humanity from the bottom of their hearts can be chosen by the Watchtower. Once they choose to accept the calling, they will be stripped of their physical bodies and the vast majority of their emotions, leaving only the purest will to watch over humanity, and be led into the Watchtower.

And Director Jin Juan has already accepted the calling. Within a year, she will go to the Watchtower outside the world to preside over it, monitor those huge disasters that threaten the human world, and sit in the dead void, watching until even her last remaining will is ruthlessly erased by time."

This is watching? Are you sure it's not a variant of a life sentence?

After hearing the red-haired Director's explanation, Li Ang just imagined it along with her words and felt a tightness in his chest.

Leaving the colorful world and the family that supports each other, sitting alone in the dead void indefinitely until even the will is completely swallowed by loneliness—for any intelligent creature, this is a form of extreme torture.

"Must it be so painful?"

Thinking of the silver-haired old woman's gentle and kind face, Li Ang couldn't bear what she was about to face and couldn't help but ask:

"This anomalous object was made by the Bureau, right? Can't it be modified slightly so that people take turns sitting in the Watchtower? At least change shifts?"

"No."

The red-haired Director sighed:

"Only the extreme will be remembered, only the paranoid dare to move forward, only the crazy can understand greatness... This is a widely circulated saying in the Bureau.

My understanding of it is that whether it is positive love or reverence, or negative hatred or unwillingness, only these most extreme and purest things can truly influence the world and give birth to corresponding 'anomalous' existences."

When she said this, the red-haired Director paused, then looked up at the sky outside the window, her tone lingering:

"The existence of that 【Watchtower】 follows such rules. Its calling is not mandatory at all; there is even a full ten-year preparation period before ascending the tower. During this period, you can regret it at any time, and no one will remember that you were ever chosen.

Most people in the Bureau think these ten years are just a cooling-off period for the chosen, but I feel that whether it is the eternal watching of extreme pain afterward or these ten years of weighing and consideration, it is actually the process by which the 【Watchtower】 acquires power—a selection and purification of the watching will.

Only a pure will that knows the desperate future it will face and can safely give up at any time, yet still resolutely moves forward, can nurture that infinite greatness that runs through the past and future and is enough to protect all humanity."

So that's how it is...

Finally figuring out why the usually unbridled Director was so "obedient" today, Li Ang took a deep breath involuntarily, and his eyes revealed deep reverence.

Even without mentioning the matter of crafting an anomalous object for him, as one of the humans protected by the 【Watchtower】, that silver-haired old woman deserved his respect.

Mmm... Watchtower... I really didn't expect the Cleaning Bureau to hold such a great thing...

"Buzz..."

【By earnestly listening to the relevant account, you have obtained a large amount of intelligence regarding the "Watchtower", and the exotic badge "Materialist Soul (Crimson)" has been activated.

Because you learned of the existence of the "Watchtower", understood the source of its power, and learned part of its operating rules, your resistance to this anomalous object has increased significantly, and you are now able to shield yourself from general levels of influence.】

"..."??? ===== CHAPTER 79 =====