I! Cleaner!-Chapter 721 - 656: Each with Their Schemes

"..."

Under the glaring eyes of the Red-haired Director, the Aquarius Director did not continue speaking; instead, he drew a blade to slice through the void before him, carving open a rift leading to the Virgin Branch.

The Scarlet Hair Lady of the Virgin Branch is a Cleaner with virtually no weaknesses. Currently, there is no method to bypass the [Thirty-two Guardians] crafted by the Director of Taurus, truly harming her.

But no matter how powerful or tightly protected the abnormal object is, it ultimately relies on its own energy as fuel to function perfectly, and that is her only weakness.

The Leon Value of the Scarlet Hair Lady is not infinite. When she is fully driving the [Slaughter Blood Hair], the power she can allocate to the [Thirty-two Guardians] naturally reduces sharply, almost to nothing.

Lacking the driving power of her up to 70-point Leon Value, no matter how many tricks the [Thirty-two Guardians] can guard against, it’s ultimately just a mid-to-high level abnormal object; breaking it would be all too easy.

"Wait a moment!"

Seeing the Aquarius Director seemingly wanting to leave, the Raven Masked Man couldn’t help but call out to him, then looked at the Red-haired Director whose soul was partially separated, unable even to speak, and asked with hesitation yet eagerness:

"Aquarius! Are you just going to leave like this? Aren’t you going to do something more?"

"No, I have other matters to attend to."

Glancing at the Raven Masked Man, the Aquarius Director let out a faint chuckle, comprehending his meaning. He then stepped into the space rift before him, disappearing instantly, leaving only a voice as cool as the line of frost in his words.

"Whatever you want to do, don’t ask me; just take action yourself."

It was you who said it!

Upon hearing the Aquarius Director’s response, the Raven Masked Man was suddenly elated. As the current Director of the Virgin Branch, ranking stably among the top five forces in the Clean-up Bureau, the Scarlet Hair Lady naturally had a name in the Slaughter King Association.

If he could seize this major opportunity and finish her off by chance, it might be an accomplishment greater than eliminating a royal family!

Rubbing his hands with excitement... shrugging his shoulders, the Raven Masked Man, with only stumps of arms left, circled around the frowning and silent Red-haired Director like a goofy seal... then circled around again... and once more...

But still dared not make a move.

The Raven Masked Man was willing to swear by his Authority that he truly wasn’t just cowardly or fearing death. It was mainly due to her renowned reputation; this True God before him had eliminated more than a few, if not too many to count on one hand.

Though she seemed unable to act with millions of souls gripping her, if she encountered true life-threatening danger, and was compelled to release one or two million souls to free part of her hair, considering his current severely weakened condition...

Guaranteed death!

Despite the high possibility of being counter-attacked and killed, with the achievement of "killing the Scarlet Hair Lady" right before him, as the God of Chaos and Calamity, the Raven Masked Man ultimately could not resist the temptation, raising his seal-like arms.

"Ssss"

Accompanied by a slight hiss like a leak, the Raven Masked Man’s right arm disintegrated, turning into a small stream of fine wind-blown sand, which awkwardly brushed past the neck of the Red-haired Director.

Yet even with her soul forcibly separated, the Red-haired Director’s body still leaned back slightly, successfully evading the threat to her throat. Unfortunately, she only avoided half, as the sand glanced her below the collarbone, corroding a twenty-centimeter-long, thumb-wide hideous wound.

"Stop!"

Coming upon that ghastly wound with flesh twisted inside out, Leon, whose soul was nearly blasted apart by the power of the King of Nightmares, could not refrain from an angry shout, then gritted his teeth, shouting to the Red-haired Director:

"Let me go! Quickly release me!"

Don’t be foolish; it’s not about releasing you.

Moved by Leon’s request to "abandon himself," the Red-haired Director could not help but silently close her eyes in helplessness.

It’s not just you that I’ve seized, but also the people from the Virgin Branch, three deputy directors almost True God level, and three Level 1 Cleaners with over 50 Leon. Their "weight" is not lighter than yours! 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Fortunately, the capacity of this Masked Man has been significantly depleted earlier and has dropped from True God strength, finding it hard to directly harm my soul.

As long as I sustain a certain amount of injury, I can temporarily release the souls of those three fools, briefly activate [Thirty-two Guardians] to heal my body, hence not having to worry about being finished by him.

Moreover, since Lyra broke the Aquarius’ plan, the headquarters received advance notice. The Sagittarius Director has always been monitoring the situation here, and even if I haven’t managed to notify him, such was the commotion he must have noticed, reinforcements should arrive soon!

...

"Hmm?"

Seemingly sensing something amiss, the silver-haired old lady lying in a crystal coffin suddenly opened her eyes and inquired anxiously:

"Andrew, I suddenly feel a little uneasy... Is something wrong on Olivia’s side?"

"Rest assured."

Upon hearing the Director of Taurus’s inquiry, sitting cross-legged in front of a mirror, the Sagittarius Director waved his hand without turning his head, maintaining a calm voice:

"I have been watching all along, nothing has happened at the Virgin Branch."

"It’s good that nothing happened..."

Upon receiving the Sagittarius Director’s reply, the Director of Taurus in the crystal coffin couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief, then softly expressed some disappointment:

"By the way, can Olivia really not come? You know, in my heart, she’s almost like a daughter to me; I truly hope to see her once more before ascending the throne."

"But she really cannot come."

Shaking his head as he faced away from the Director of Taurus, the Sagittarius Director spoke with some helplessness:

"Joan, you are more aware than I am of how long I’ve prepared for this plan, how many costs I have borne. Aquarius knows us too well. No matter how much preparation we do, gaps will always be found.

In such circumstances, only by deceiving even our people can we completely fool him, and now, everyone, including all eighty-some deputy directors, believes you will ascend the throne in ten days. Yet, you are directly ascending today, before all the deputy directors are fully in place..."

"Alright, I know!"

Closing her eyes with a headache, the Director of Taurus sighed and said:

"Ascending ten days early ensures my safety, allows Aquarius to fail in his attempt, and allows for the mass extermination of the Slaughter King Association’s personnel. After all, bypassing the Watcher’s Palace and forcing descent requires quite some time, so even if they see my ascension, they wouldn’t have time to withdraw.

Moreover, after my ascension, with these assembled deputy directors at HQ, you’ll lead them in targeting the members of the Slaughter King Association who descended. Hopefully, this would secure two or three generations of peace...

Andrew, you’ve repeated this so many times that I’ve memorized it! I understand you are right, but I genuinely want to see Olivia, she..."

"She will understand."

Interrupting the Director of Taurus’s words, looking at the millions of souls held by the Scarlet Hair in the mirror, the Sagittarius Director closed his eyes, his facial muscles slightly clenched, then spoke calmly:

"Joan, the greatest danger has passed. You can start ascending the throne now!"