Chapter 549 - 484: One Third - I! Cleaner! - NovelsTime

I! Cleaner!

Chapter 549 - 484: One Third

Author: I! Cleaner!
updatedAt: 2025-08-20

CHAPTER 549: CHAPTER 484: ONE THIRD

"So... you came running to me?"

Standing in the hallway of the Happiness Apartments, having just listened to the threats from the Crolock ambassador as relayed by the female police officer, Leon couldn’t help touching his cufflinks, then evasively said:

"But I’m on vacation right now. If you want me to help find something, you should report it to the Clean-up Bureau and wait for three business days..."

"Bah, stop evading!"

Seeing Leon trying to muddle through, the infuriated female officer stomped her foot and then whispered angrily:

"I’ve already figured it out, the ones who attacked the Boarding Tower were you!

Others might not know, but I’m quite clear. Those who assaulted the Boarding Tower carried real documents and uniforms that were all taken from the reserve vault of the Secret Investigation Bureau, and right before that, you happened to ask me for a clearance slip!"

"..."

Indeed, the truth is out...

Seeing the female officer, who was working overtime frantically since the Boarding Tower incident, with eyes darkened like a national treasure, Leon felt a small pang of guilt in his heart, then coughed lightly and awkwardly explained:

"Well... sorry about that, but there was a reason for keeping this from you..."

"I don’t care about your reasons, you have what the Crolock Kingdom wants, don’t you?"

Pulling Leon by the collar, the female officer said agitatedly in a low voice:

"I know you wouldn’t mess around, you must have a reason for doing this, so the Police Department, while having traced the reserve vault, hasn’t exposed this matter. I’ve been covering for you all along, but what do you say now?

Even though I don’t understand international relations, I do know how important the Crolock Kingdom’s technology is. Now that the Police Department can’t find the culprits of the Boarding Tower attack, they’re getting anxious for sanctions. What should the Kingdom do?"

"Don’t worry, let me think."

Patting the back of the female officer’s hand to show comfort, Leon furrowed his eyebrows and analyzed the current situation.

The Crolock Kingdom suddenly posed a threat, likely after handling the Sky Clipper wreckage, realizing that Atifei-128 had been taken away, and since they couldn’t find its whereabouts, they had no choice but to apply official pressure on the Kingdom.

For the Kingdom in a weak position, the best solution now is to hand over Atifei-128, but the issue is that this thing absolutely cannot be returned; its "brain" likely contains the Kingdom’s energy exploration records.

If it is handed back, exposing myself is a minor concern; what’s crucial is that the revelation of the Kingdom’s "volcanic energy" situation would leave the Crolock Kingdom likely to opt for waging war, which would be a most fatal blow to the Kingdom that has just begun to have some vitality, so...

"Indeed, I have the item, but I absolutely cannot return it to them."

?!

Upon hearing the first half of the sentence where Leon admitted possession, the female officer let out a sigh of relief, but before finishing it, Leon’s latter words caught it back in her throat.

"The explanation for the reason is a bit complicated... In simple terms, not returning the item would mean sanctions for the Kingdom, but returning it would lead to war between the two countries."

After roughly explaining the reason for not returning the item, Leon attempted to comfort the somewhat baffled female officer:

"Additionally, concerning the sanctions, there’s really no need to worry too much; the situation in Crolock Kingdom is a bit special, the Clean-up Bureau is preparing to investigate, and once the investigation is completed, action will be taken."

...

"The bureau probably won’t act directly."

After providing an unexpected answer and seeing Leon’s somewhat bewildered expression, the red-haired director helplessly reminded:

"Although the Crolock Kingdom’s issue is significant, Mr. Taurus soon needs to ascend to the palace. At the very least, for the coming month, everything must yield to this; the bureau’s intention is to focus on investigation first, then make a decision once the situation is confirmed."

"That’s not urgent either."

Leon pondered for a moment and said:

"Anyway, in a little over a month, Mr. Taurus can successfully ascend. One or two months of sanctions won’t be much for the Kingdom."

"Not just one or two months, it might be half a year, or even longer."

???

"Because the problem with the royal family affects not only the Crolock Kingdom but isn’t good to act rashly; they might wait until the situation is thoroughly cleared up before addressing it all at once."

The red-haired director explained:

"Leon, during your vacation days, the Sagittarius Director had each branch carry out a self-inspection, discovering that besides Crolock Kingdom, there are others..."

"Hold on!"

Upon hearing the red-haired director’s words, Leon couldn’t help but interrupt:

"Having each branch perform self-inspections? Didn’t the tin doll say there’s another traitor in our bureau? What if news leaks during the self-inspection?"

"Don’t worry, this kind of low-level mistake, the bureau won’t commit... Well... generally won’t commit."

After somewhat unconfidently adding this, the red-haired director said:

"Back when you exposed Aquarius Director and found out he was also the director of the Gemini branch, all eleven directors of the Zodiac Branch Office, myself included, underwent certain checks, and employed two numbered abnormal objects for temporary Word Spirit constraint.

Due to the high consumption of using those two items, Word Spirit constraint slots were limited. The small branches not part of Zodiac might still be uncertain, but we major branch directors can at least ensure loyalty, for if even that couldn’t be guaranteed, the Clean-up Bureau wouldn’t have endured until now."

"..."

What an insight from the bureau... But may I ask, which bureau did the Gemini branch’s director betray? The Clean-up Bureau? Handling Bureau? Certainly not us, right?

"Ahem... Anyway, after the Zodiac Branch Office responsible for guarding The Twelve Kingdoms did an internal self-inspection, they found not just Crolock Kingdom has issues, but there’s a total of four royal families with problems."

"Huh?!!!"

In Leon’s utterly shocked expression, the red-haired director said equally helplessly:

"The King Ship of Thousand Sails Maritime Country Seo has been completely turned into a ghost ship; once exposed to full moonlight, everyone aboard instantly turns into ghosts. If it weren’t for the King Ship anchored in Moon Barren Sea under year-round fog, it might have been doomed long ago;

There’s a problem with Witch Kingdom Mithfala too. The royal lineage there is passed down single-handedly, the current Grand Witch is already over 130 years old and likely to die soon, but her only daughter has disappeared, leaving behind just a fake, making it impossible to confirm if she’s alive or not."

"..."

"Trouble also arose for Twin Kingdoms Carleighwen. Historically, the Eastern and Western Carleighwen Kingdoms had completely different faiths, worshiping light and darkness separately. With Eastern Carleighwen Kingdom’s downfall due to the Ophiuchus Sub-bureau incident, the Luminous Church worshiping light should have ceased.

But lately, the church unexpectedly emerged, mingling with West Carlay Wen Kingdom’s native Abysmal Church, attempting a revision of the national church to restore the former Eastern Carleighwen Kingdom within West Carlay Wen Kingdom, with a significant possibility of targeting the royal family."

"..."

So, counting the City of Machinery Crolock that erupted with an Intelligence Crisis, out of the entire twelve kingdoms in the world, already a third has been infiltrated? What are the twelve Zodiac Branch Office even doing?

Totally unprecedented! Even when the Clean-up Bureau claims never to make low-level errors... Indeed, low-level errors are seldom committed, but aren’t they committing ones that are critically dire?

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