"What the heck?"

    Listening to the prompt in his ear and seeing the red badge suddenly flashing on the panel, Leon couldn''t help but be slightly stunned.

    According to the Red-haired Director, the role of the Watcher''s Palace was to monitor and control potential world-ending crises and notify the Purification Bureau in advance.

    Now that he used the resistance provided by Materialism to block part of its monitoring, didn''t that mean he had successfully bypassed the Purification Bureau''s strongest defense and achieved the prerequisite for world destruction?

    *Hiss... This feeling was indeed... a bit weird...*

    ...

    "Leon?"

    After waiting for a long time without hearing him speak, the Red-haired Director couldn''t help but raise an eyebrow, then reached out to pat Leon''s arm, extending her hand with an expectant look on her face.

    "Weren''t you saying you brought me a good bottle of wine? Where''s the wine?"

    "..."

    So, the thing about quitting drinking was just nonsense, wasn''t it?

    Hearing the Red-haired Director''s inquiry, Leon''s attention was pulled back from the Watcher''s Palace, and he retorted somewhat speechlessly,

    "When His Excellency Taurus hadn''t left earlier, weren''t you saying you quit drinking? Hasn''t it been less than five minutes since then?"

    "In front of Taurus His Excellency, I am the Director of the Virgin Sanitation Bureau, but in front of you, I am a drinking buddy with whom you''ve had a hearty session. These are two different matters~"

    After finishing her classic catchphrase, the Red-haired Director extended her hand forward again. Her five slender fingers deftly twirled up and down, and she urged with a mischievous smile,

    "Quick, quick! I can smell the wine on you, you must have brought some up here! Hurry and let me have a taste~"

    "..."

    *You''re really beyond saving...*

    Seeing the face full of impatience, looking ready to pounce over to do a body search, Leon had no choice but to reach into his coat and take out the little bottle prepared for the Martyr of the Wine Country, handing it over.

    *Just that little bit...*

    Taking the small bottle disappointedly, the Red-haired Director unscrewed it and drank up the slightly warm alcohol in a single gulp. Smacking her lips for more, she then looked over with hopeful eyes again.

    "Is there more?"

    "Yes!"

    Although the Red-haired Director could be tricky at times, she had always taken good care of Leon, and since he was planning to ask her for help, he wouldn''t be stingy with benefits. Gritting his teeth and stamping his feet, he made a ruthless promise,

    "After work today, I can invite you for another drink..."

    "Stop right there!"

    Hearing Leon''s words, the Red-haired Director''s expression suddenly changed. She instinctively touched her wallet, looking at him with full caution,

    "What exactly do you want?"

    "Huh?"

    Stunned by her odd reaction, Leon repeated, hesitating a bit,

    "Did you hear me wrong? I just said, after work today, I can invite you for more drinks..."

    "I''m not going!"

    Recalling Leon''s terribly lousy drinking behavior, the Red-haired Director, equipped with past lessons, moved her throat up and down with difficulty and firmly refused,

    "If you have something to say, just say it directly. If it can be done, I will generally agree, but if I take a benefit from you before handling it, then the nature of the matter changes!"

    "…"

    *Oh wow... you really are such a principled person? Then who was the one who taught me how to scam the field expenses on my second day at work?*

    Although Leon very much wanted to ask the Red-haired Director if she''d taken the wrong medication today, with rent due this week and tuition for his younger siblings, saving some wine money for household expenses was naturally welcome. Thus, after organizing his words a bit, he directly shared his troubles.

    "Here''s the thing, last night..."

    After briefly talking about Anna''s situation, Leon scratched the back of his head awkwardly and made his request,

    "My sister... has a stubborn personality, and I''m a bit worried she might become fixated, so I wanted to go to the Police Department''s file bureau to look at our family file.

    If possible, it would be best to investigate that photo and the photography studio it came from to see if I can find out what exactly she''s worried about."

    "That''s simple."

    Bringing Leon downstairs and back to her office, the Red-haired Director rummaged through her cabinet filled with empty wine bottles, pulled out a crumpled notebook, scribbled something in it, and then handed it over.

    "This is a clearance slip book the Police Department gave me back in the day. With this, you can go to the archive office of the headquarters building, and you should be able to freely access files at the administrative level and below."

    "Thank you, Director!"

    After expressing his heartfelt gratitude, Leon was ready to leave with the clearance slip when the Red-haired Director called him back.

    "Wait a moment, looking at the files a few minutes later won''t make a difference."

    Pointing to Leon''s right hand gripping the necklace, the Red-haired Director adjusted with a playful grin,

    "Little Lyon~ you''ve just acquired an Anomalous Object with a Leon Value almost reaching fifty! The main anomalous objects of many small bureau directors might only be around your level. Don''t you want to test how strong it is?"

    Trying was naturally desired, but... here?

    Seeing the office full of empty wine bottles and places where the wall plaster had started to peel, Leon thought the venue might not be quite suitable, but with the Red-haired Director backing him up, he figured he''d needn''t worry about damaging public property. Thus, he nodded,

    "Of course I do... How should I test it?"

    "Very simple."

    Tearing off a red hair and controlling it to float over the table, the Red-haired Director rested her chin on her hand, eyes full of interest,

    "Taurus His Excellency briefly told me about the rules for that thing, and all you need to do is use... hmm... about enough energy for a light jog over a kilometer as currency to purchase a single mental slash.

    For the slash target, just aim at the hair on the table for now. Once I''ve felt the power of the slash, I should be able to directly tell you its approximate strength."

    "Okay!"

    Nodding in agreement and indicating that he remembered the test rules, Leon took a deep breath, then unclasped the golden toad pendant, hanging it around his neck.

    "Zzz..."

    [Acquired and equipped the Anomalous Object "Holy Spirit Pendant," successfully activating the bronze badge "Devout Believer."]

    [Devout Believer (Bronze): After personally witnessing the arrival of the Holy Spirit and having a friendly conversation with it, your unique beliefs and devout faith received heartfelt recognition from the Holy Spirit.] S~ea??h the n??el Fire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    [Equipped Effect: Improves affinity with Anomalous Objects marked as "Divine," slightly reduces the usage cost while significantly enhancing effect.]

    [Advancement Route: Equip and use the "Holy Spirit Pendant," and after exterminating ten heretics of the non-Balanced Gold Sect''s followers, this badge will automatically advance to the Silver Badge "Practitioner," current progress 0/10.]

    [Hidden Traits (No Need to Equip): As a devout follower, your soul is steadfast and pure, easily garnering favor from certain orderly existences.]

    [Your Contamination Value has increased.]

    [Current Contamination Value: 1.1]