[Name: Beyond the Gate (Gate, Space, Escape)]

    [Appearance: No physical form, manifests as a strange door with an indefinite width and height, unknown thickness, and material and style not easily determined. The only feature that can be confirmed about this anomalous object is the softwood plaque with strange nail-carved words "I really want to escape" that always appears on the door frame it parasitizes.]

    [Ability: Parasitic door frame, space traversal, crisis diversion]

    [Cost: Before the placed "door" disappears, a part of your power will be permanently occupied, or you will lose everything, becoming a wanderer seeking the Other World''s arrival]

    [File: The anomalous object of the rebel leader "Nathan," Eerily crafted by the Aquarius Director of the Purification Bureau to fulfill desires, it is one of many utility-type anomalous objects tentatively numbered 0001.

    As part of the Aquarius Director''s proudest creation, to ensure its safety, it was forcibly fused with another anomalous object called "Escape Plaque," granting the holder an exceptionally strong escape ability.

    Due to the powerful effect of "Beyond the Gate," which can transfer regardless of distance, even after several years of strict royal kingdom pursuits, the rebels, numbering over a thousand, had never been truly exposed, until they caught the attention of Virgin Branch cleaner Leon Laine during an attack...]

    [Evaluation: Possesses a potent ability to freely traverse all doors in the Capital City and can unconditionally activate in a crisis to instantly take the holder away, making it nearly uncatchable.

    Additionally, when initiated by the first user, Joshua Robine, this anomalous object will reveal its true form, becoming the "Gate of the Other World" capable of temporarily connecting to the future.]

    [Contamination Value: 0.1]

    Damn, it''s watertight...

    Looking at the item description laden with terms like "escape," "crisis transfer," and "uncatchable," Leon clicked his tongue in his heart at the thought of this "Any Door," temporarily dismissing the idea of snagging it.

    *All he could say was that, whether it was his own director who wasn''t drunk or that old silver coin of an Aquarius Director, those who climbed high in the Purification Bureau seemed to handle things with heads and tails well-protected, unwilling to leave even a needle-thin loophole for others.*

    *Thinking about it carefully, it was indeed reasonable. After all, if they were truly careless in handling matters, without enough contingencies, let alone rising to a high rank in the Purification Bureau, they likely would have fallen within their first few months of joining with its ten percent annual death rate. Among these people, the incautious were the exceptions.*

    *Well... even if he probably wouldn''t end up with this extremely useful anomalous object, this trip had led to finding another hidden prince, meeting that "grandfather and granddaughter" pair with memory abilities, and obtaining plenty of intelligence. With three lurking targets nearly completed, it seemed the net could finally be drawn.*

    Reluctantly withdrawing his hand from Beyond the Gate, Leon reached into his bosom to tap on the small mirror, signaling for Young Ha to hold onto the valley terrain map he had sketched yesterday, or rather the location map of the rebel base, and to rush back to the bureau to gather reinforcements. Then, amidst the surprised gazes of everyone, he turned back to his position.

    "Nathan, your ability, should be foresight of the future, right?"

    After voicing his "deduction," Leon glanced at the middle-aged man with a grim face above the main seat while secretly switching out the Elite Performer badge, revealing an expression of extreme disappointment.

    *"It''s unfortunate; no matter what you saw in the future, I still think that your command over us has led to a series of serious mistakes."*

    ...

    *If yesterday he had called for reinforcements, it should have been the director himself to reel in the net. But the director had now likely headed to the main bureau to question the Aquarius, so senior Emma should be holding the fort at the bureau.*

    *And because the rebel''s base wasn''t in the Capital City, but in this remote valley far from the Capital City, senior Emma would need some time to arrive. Accounting for Young Ha''s time to run back to report through the Mirror World, it would likely take about forty to fifty minutes.*

    *What Leon needed to do now was to find a way to hold everyone present, especially the middle-aged man leader and that grandparent pair with memory ability, for these forty to fifty minutes for senior Emma to apprehend them, thereby fully completing the set infiltration targets.*

    Having confirmed his task was to buy time, Leon, not waiting for the middle-aged man to retort, shockingly declared, "I don''t know what kind of future you saw or why you attacked the Boarding Tower, but I clearly know one thing: if we continue to act on your command, it will only lead us into another failure!" sea??h thё Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "..."

    "What do you know?"

    Hearing "Little Baskin''s" very assertive assessment, the middle-aged man, who had been holding back for long, couldn''t help but feel a surge of anger, stood up, glaring at Leon, and spoke, "You don''t have the slightest idea of the kind of future I''ve seen! If you don''t do as I say, then Crolock... oof…"

    Mid-sentence, the middle-aged man paused slightly, then stroked his temples before slumping back into his seat, angrily reprimanding, "You understand nothing at all!"

    "I do understand."

    Catching the anger he successfully provoked and sneaking it back into the small mirror, Leon, having played his hand, observed the rather flustered middle-aged man, first eyeing the areas where his hair had turned significantly whiter, then calmly inquired, "Nathan, if I''m not mistaken, it seems you can''t directly tell us about the future, or you''ll rapidly age, or even die... Am I correct?"

    "Correct!"

    Affected by the Black Goat''s violent anger aura, which temporarily lowered his intelligence by thirty percent, the middle-aged Joshua admitted the guess directly. At this moment, his heart was only set ablaze with rage, forcibly suppressing the urge to curse, and instead, with eyes full of malice, questioned, "Since you believe I can see the future, why do you still doubt my decisions?"

    "Simple, I''m not questioning the future you see, but questioning your judgment about the future, or to put it more bluntly, I''m questioning you as a person."

    In the bewilderment of the rebels, "Little Baskin," who had just joined the core rebel team, actually stood up, gazing at the middle-aged man leader with utmost sincerity, and said, "Nathan, I''m sorry, but I don''t think you have the talent of a leader. Even if you can see the future, you can''t make the best judgment based on the information... and I''m pretty sure I''m not the only one who thinks so."

    After saying this, Leon looked around, slightly bowed, and said, "Everyone, I apologize... Those who think I''m right and believe Nathan doesn''t have the talent to be a leader, please bow to me."

    ?!!!

    Completely unprepared for "Little Baskin''s" dispute with the leader to involve themselves, caught off guard, the rebels, under the influence of Prince of Lutung''s power, stood up unanimously, performing a standard bow to Leon.

    The only two who didn''t bow in the entire room were the sleeping little Phoebe, who had dozed off at some point on the table, and the bald woman as a staunch "leader faction."

    But the more crucial point was, upon seeing everyone "agree" with Little Baskin''s words that Nathan wasn''t a competent leader, the bald woman, with a face full of shock, hesitated for a moment, then also due to "internal turmoil," bent her waist.

    "You... impossible! You''re lying!"

    Seeing one after another acknowledging Leon''s statement and indeed bowing to him, the rebels couldn''t help exhibiting intense eye-shaking, but quickly realized, glaring at Leon, saying, "The conditions for your power''s activation are surely not convincing others! I have always been correct in the past! Even when movements didn''t succeed, they ended without losses! I''m a superb... at least a competent leader! They... they shouldn''t think this way!"

    "Alright then..."

    Upon hearing this, Leon didn''t argue but rather looked at him with slight pity, then nodded compliantly, "If thinking like that makes you feel a bit better... then let''s say I lied to you."

    "..."

    *After being collectively "betrayed" before his face, surely even if he escaped from senior Emma''s hands later, he wouldn''t think of taking others with him to flee, right?*

    *Seeing the middle-aged man''s self-confidence being severely battered, stymied by an unprecedented "betrayal," and in case he still clung to any hope of taking others to escape, Leon decided to add more fuel to the fire.*

    "I can actually grasp why everyone thinks this way."

    In the bewildered expressions of the rebels, Leon sighed, directly voicing what they wanted to express, "Nathan, you don''t understand that we who willingly joined the rebels don''t want to succeed in every attack. Instead, we want to see a truly better future!

    Here, future doesn''t mean the kind of future you see, but everything is truly changing! It''s everyone''s future, even the whole kingdom''s future moving towards a better direction, but what have you given us?"

    Pausing a bit here, Leon allowed everyone to align their thoughts with his, but without giving much time, immediately asserted, "Attack! Attack! And more attacks!"

    "Attacking merchants, attacking officials, attacking nobles, attacking the royal family... you don''t understand how to lead progress better; all you know is to initiate one meaningless destruction after another!

    In the years you''ve led the rebels... sorry, I tried not to use a derogatory term, but thought long and hard that ''rebels'' best suits our absolutely meaningless actions over these years."

    A thorough questioning regarding the "rationality" of the rebel''s existence turned the middle-aged Joshua''s face blue, and the habitually incisive Leon, leveraging the effectiveness of the Elite Performer, dolefully jabbed further, "After all these years of diligent assaults, are those greedy factory owners more charitable? Are the corrupt lethargic officials more efficient? Have the arrogant nobles restrained themselves? Has the ineffectual royal family changed?

    If none of these happened, then what did you attack? Only capable of leading us to ''successful'' destruction everywhere, but failing in all other aspects—how do you dare to claim to be a competent leader?

    Nathan, do you understand now why people are reluctant to keep following you?"