Chapter 988: 0585 Recruitment and Exposure

“Cough! Cough!”

After clearing his throat loudly to remind his boss to show some decorum, Leon led the dazed girl with emerald eyes into the office piled high with bottles, then introduced:

“Boss, I’ve brought Miss Philia here.”

“Mm, good work, good work.”

Perhaps freed from the shadow of last place, the red-haired boss was in unusually high spirits; after nodding at Philia, she even smiled warmly and praised softly:

“You’re quite lovely, girl, and your soul talent is outstanding—you’re even holding two very powerful special anomalies… hmm… interested in joining our Virgin Division?”

?!

Hearing the red-haired boss’s offer, Leon blinked in surprise, while the emerald-eyed girl asked in astonishment:

“Can I really become a Cleaner?”

“Why not?”

“But… I’m the last direct descendant of the Krook royal family, and I was once a member of the Executioners’ Guild.”

Looking at the smiling red-haired woman across from her, Philia whispered:

“According to your Cleaners’ Bureau’s usual practices, shouldn’t you be closely guarding me, monitoring me, and trying not to let me out of your sight?”

“True.”

The red-haired boss nodded, took a sip from the bottle of tea, and replied calmly:

“But right now, aside from the headquarters, which has sealed itself off, as long as you stay by my side, you’re already in the safest place in the entire Cleaners’ Bureau.”

“…”

Damn… you’re really playing it cool now…

Watching Philia, visibly awed by the red-haired boss’s confidence, her eyes shimmering with admiration, Leon bit his lip, his face twisted into an expression of suppressed discomfort.

Strictly speaking, his boss wasn’t wrong.

Anomalies come in all forms—even the powerful Scorpio Boss had just suffered repeated failures—but his boss, with the Thirty-Two Guards clamped between her teeth and unleashing full firepower without restraint, was effectively endowed with 99.8% resilience.

Even if a dozen people targeted her relentlessly, they might briefly restrain her—only for her to instantly break free; theoretically, there was no way to “quickly eliminate” her. All conspiracies and ambushes would ultimately devolve into a contest of sheer strength.

Considering the [Blood-Red Execution]’s unparalleled physical damage, in a straight-up brawl, few could match her—so she had every right to speak so boldly.

Yet for all her strength, she was also truly insane.

She drank wildly during work hours, owed a massive debt to Senior Emma, and within a week of joining, had already taught Leon how to fabricate expense reports—her bizarre antics were endless.

And Philia, due to her soul coding, already had a somewhat… impaired mind; if she accepted this offer and joined the Virgin Division, only to be further corrupted by her boss’s antics…

…

You brat, behave yourself and don’t ruin my good fortune!

Giving Leon a warning glance, signaling him to drop that strange expression, the red-haired boss adopted her aura of strength and spoke coolly:

“I’ve seen the protection protocols at headquarters—they’re slightly safer than here, but far more cumbersome.

Once under their protection, you’d need to file reports just to take a walk, and even when you sit on the toilet, eight Cleaners would stand guard outside, listening to how many splashes you made today.

But if you join our Virgin Division, while you won’t have complete freedom, you’ll have relative freedom—as long as you don’t leave the capital, no one will bother you much… what do you say? Interested?”

“…”

As long as I don’t leave the capital, I can move freely without surveillance?

Hearing the red-haired boss’s promise, Philia instinctively clenched her skirt, a flicker of longing appearing in her emerald eyes.

Though she’d already mentally prepared herself for a life of total loss of freedom, endlessly watched, who wouldn’t want more freedom?

“I’m interested! I’m very interested!”

Quickly accepting the red-haired boss’s offer, the emerald-eyed girl clenched her tiny fists and asked cautiously:

“But Cleaner work seems dangerous—will the Bureau headquarters really let me stay?”

“Don’t worry, that’s not an issue.”

The red-haired boss waved her hand, confident as ever:

“Their biggest excuse for refusing will be safety—but I’ve already applied to Lord Taurus; your protective anomaly will arrive within two weeks at most.

Besides the basic immortality, you’ll likely get additional protections—forced escape, soul shielding, crisis prediction—and with the two pseudo-time anomalies you’re hiding under your wrists, the chances of you being in danger are already minimal.”

Pseudo-time anomalies?!

Hearing the red-haired boss’s words, Leon’s eyebrows lifted slightly; he turned to look at the emerald-eyed girl, clearly startled—on the lower edges of her palms, just above her wrists, were two tiny, slender “ink dots.”

Upon closer inspection, the dots were revealed to be two miniature “tattoos”—each depicting a long and short gem scepter.

So that’s it…

After recognizing the two tiny tattoos, Leon recalled Andre’s farewell gesture—holding Philia’s hands—and suddenly understood; he mentally clicked his tongue.

No wonder it took me three days to scour Krook Palace and Research Zone One—turns out the Scepters of Time and Division were “painted” onto Philia.

“Don’t worry, no one here will steal your things.”

Smiling at the panicked girl, the red-haired boss added warmly:

“Philia, I have high hopes for your future. With your talent and these anomalies, becoming one of the Twelve Directors may be unlikely—but in twenty or thirty years, becoming a Division Head is certainly within reach.

If you agree to join our Virgin Division, I’ll handle negotiations with headquarters myself—I’ll guarantee you a relatively free environment. All you need to do is nod.”

“I accept! I very much accept!”

Completely won over by the red-haired boss’s offer, the emerald-eyed girl nodded vigorously; after stealing a glance at Leon beside her, she whispered:

“Um… if I join the Virgin Division and have to form a fixed mission team, can I choose my own teammates? Or… can I refuse to be assigned to any fixed team?”

“…”