I! Cleaner!-Chapter 787 - 721: Hesitation, Attempt, and Acceptance

Buzz!

As Princess Veronica's ears turned crimson with Leon's embarrassing declaration, an invisible roar began to rapidly spread in Leon's mind.

Amid the radiant and lustrous ivory light emanating from the badge panel, Leon's consciousness seemed to be yanked out of his body by an invisible hand and was forcefully flattened and spread out, instantly covering the entire square, "linking" up to nearly ten thousand souls.

And this seemed to be just the beginning. The souls within the square and nearby areas became "pillars" for the bridge construction, lifting Leon's expanded consciousness and quickly extending it further afield.

In just a few breaths, Leon's consciousness expanded a thousandfold, almost encompassing the entire Royal Capital and even vaguely "linking" to the Virgin Branch in the government district, where he saw the Red-haired Director staring at a Crystal Ball.

So... even the Virgin Branch, which is affiliated with the police department, counts as a part of Veronica's "assets"?

Before Leon could examine closely, the souls of nearly ten million residents of the Royal Capital linked into his consciousness like scattered stars across the Galaxy, becoming the second batch of pillars, supporting his consciousness to spread even further.

Mountains, rivers, railways, waterways...

Whether natural or man-made, whether living beings or inanimate minerals, everything defined as "assets" linked into Leon's consciousness with that invisible ivory glow, releasing signals that could be "invoked."

Feeling his ever-expanding "vision" and the things he could almost command at will within his consciousness, Leon's soul even had a strange illusion.

At this moment, he truly felt like a "God." Not the kind that could be casually eliminated by the Red-haired Director, but a genuine Dominator of everything.

If he wished, he could, with a wave of his hand, directly mine an untouched mountain, alter river courses with his will, or even empty the large lake east of the Royal Capital and move it above the city, causing a disastrous...

Damn, why am I having such thoughts?

Realizing something seemed off, and with the tiny vessels in his nose breaking under inexplicable pressure, releasing a flow of warm, iron-scented fluid, Leon hurriedly released his arm from the Queen's waist, forcibly interrupting the effect of [The Man Behind the Queen].

As he voluntarily let go, the effect of the Soft Rice Badge ceased, and Leon's previously expansive consciousness was instantly withdrawn from the vast world, reluctantly returning to his mind.

Too dangerous!

Catching his breath rapidly, after recalling the sensation of controlling everything just now, Leon didn't feel eager to try again; instead, a sense of inexplicable resistance surfaced in his heart.

When his consciousness was drawn out by the badge and began spreading outward, his thinking and even "self" within that consciousness were compromised, with self-control waning rapidly.

More dangerously, as more souls "linked" over, his consciousness seemed to suffer from some degree of Contamination, similar to using an abnormal object.

Although none, including the Director, was consciously influencing him, even the unconscious stray thoughts, after being accumulated millions of times, greatly impacted his mind.

Thus, although this badge is surprisingly powerful, the risks are equally high when using it. Mishandling could indeed lead to a loss of self, completely sinking into that feeling of total control.

With the current strength of his soul, it seems the limit is already reached by mobilizing half the Royal Capital. To command the entire Kingdom without losing self would likely require crossing the difference between man and god...

No! Not even becoming a True God might be enough!

"Leon?"

Noticing Leon's body suddenly stiffen, and his breathing turned unusually rapid, Queen Veronica first felt a moment of shyness, but sensing something amiss, she quickly turned around, startled by the paleness of Leon's face.

"Why are you having a nosebleed? And your face looks so pale!"

"It's okay, I'm fine..."

Taking the handkerchief she hastily handed over, after wiping his nosebleed, Leon, whose head was splitting with pain, weakly waved it away:

"I just tested that thing, didn't control the degree on the first use, received too much information, my brain is a bit... um... overloaded, it won't happen next time."

Sigh... as long as you're okay...

Seeing that Leon's complexion indeed gradually improved, Queen Veronica couldn't help but heave a sigh of relief, quickly moving away from Leon, with a hint of concern:

"Leon, are you sure you're okay? Should we see a doctor?"

"No need, I understand my condition; it's just like overthinking, a rest and a nap will do, the parade shouldn't be disrupted, you continue on."

"Alright then..."

Seeing Leon insist that he was fine, Queen Veronica did not press further, simply advising him to inform her immediately if he felt unwell, then urged the coachman to speed up the subsequent journey.

As for Leon, who was a bit dizzy from the impact of the scattered and chaotic consciousness of the numerous citizens of the Royal Capital, he stopped continuing his acknowledgments, leaned back against the carriage seat with eyes closed, and checked his condition.

As he realized quickly enough, his body was fine, except for a headache and a bit of nosebleed, which required no treatment and would recover on its own soon.

However, the impact on his soul was quite severe, as though tens of thousands of different voices were quarreling inside his brain, causing his soul to continuously churn, needing three to five days of rest to calm down, hoping it won't delay matters...

Hmm... wait a moment!

While checking his soul state, Leon discovered something seemed off. He quickly opened the badge panel to search through and finally found some overlooked notifications.

[Warning: Current soul load is too high, please stop activating the badge promptly]

[Warning: To avoid irreversible damage, the badge effect will be forcibly terminated upon descending into a state of confusion]

[The effect of the Colorful Badge "The Man Behind the Queen (Ivory)" has been self-terminated, the current soul load is decreasing, expected to return to normal level in 5 seconds]

[Your soul has adapted to overloading, resulting in slight expansion]

[Your Contamination Value has increased]

[Current Contamination Value: 35.7]

How much? 35.7? And that's slight?

Seeing his Contamination Value surge by over 10 points, Leon's eyes widened involuntarily, and an uncontrollable joy surged in his heart.

Previously, his Contamination Value was only 20.5; though increasing 20 points in three and a half months was an astonishing speed, it was still only mid-level for a Second-level Cleaner.

Now, with a Contamination Value of 35.7, he has crossed the 30-point threshold, successfully stepping into the Level 1 Cleaner realm, and henceforth, when facing the Slaughter King Association, he wouldn't need to fear...

Oh, they average 60 points each, never mind then.

Recalling his adversaries, Leon's smile faded slightly, but his gaze towards the "Soft Rice" badge on the panel suddenly filled with admiration.

Just one "overload," and his Contamination Value increased by 10 points directly! This speed is amazing.

He had quite a few scattered Authorities, with no thresholds until the 60-point Contamination Value, so as long as his soul and body could accommodate the Contamination, devouring more soft rice would allow rapid ascension!

Even though soul overloading impacts him, needing rest even after recovery and unable to use it consecutively, and future effects might not be as impressive, this is already the fastest method he found to raise Contamination Value currently!

Compared to rapidly enhancing Contamination Value, what's a little social death for a hundred or so times?