The director of Aquarius Branch got injured?

After hearing the female cleaner's words, Leon couldn't help but blink, then internally adjusted the "rank" of this Aquarius Director one notch lower, basically putting him on par with Edward, the director of Scorpio Branch.

Although this situation was quite a special case, with the Slaughter King Association having plenty of complete information and hiding in the shadows to gain the upper hand, it's indeed quite challenging to avoid any issues when playing defense.

But as a Zodiac-level deputy director, it's one thing that the Aquarius Director got held up and couldn't stop them from reaching the Earth's core, but to even get injured by a True God suppressed by the Watcher's Palace is truly hard to justify.

If our red-haired director had been here, not to mention getting injured from an ambush, she would probably laugh three times at the ambusher and then single-handedly catch a dozen True Gods and mess them up.

In short, as weak as Edward.

Unable to hold back his criticism, Leon, under the female cleaner's anxious urging, controlled the Nightmare River to accelerate. Not long after, in a mantle fissure, they found the Aquarius Director with his butt in the air, lying on the ground, coldly licking the ground with his tongue.

Leon: (￣□￣;)

Melly: ＼(º□º l|l)/

The scene before them was so powerful that even though time was pressing, Leon still froze at the fissure's edge for a while before he reacted, turning to the female cleaner beside him and hesitantly asking:

"Are you sure... he's your great uncle?"

"..."

Sure, but what if I don't really want to admit it?

Faced with Leon's oddly perplexed inquiry, the female cleaner bit her small white teeth on her pale pink lower lip repeatedly, and after some inner deliberation, she finally turned her head away with a hum, her dainty and glossy earlobes flushing red.

It's okay, I understand you.

Glancing at the very embarrassed-looking female cleaner, Leon, feeling empathetic, said nothing more, but extended his right hand and lightly patted her back as a gesture of comfort.

As for embarrassing moments, our red-haired director isn't so different. Those creditors sent from the taverns in the Royal Capital have already started coming to collect debts from our Virgin Branch... Well... You'll get used to it.

However, just as Leon and the female cleaner were sharing their empathy, the Aquarius Director, who was busy licking the ground in the fissure, seemed to faintly sense something and suddenly turned his head towards Leon and the female cleaner's direction.

Even though a colorful glow veiled his pupils, preventing him from locking onto Leon and the female cleaner's position, just one cold glance in their direction had Leon and the female cleaner's hearts both pounding, as if they had been stared at by a top predator on the food chain.

"Great uncle!"

Startled by the Aquarius Director's fierce gaze, the female cleaner hurriedly called out:

"It's Melly! You..."

"It's no use."

After glancing at the Aquarius Director's ear and vaguely seeing a faint mist near his earhole, Leon couldn't help but gently shake his head and say:

"Director Baltro seems to have self-sealed his hearing and vision; he can't hear us, we better just..."

"Melly? Is that Melly?"

"?"

Seeing the blue-haired old man in the distance suddenly relax his stern demeanor, changing from full of killing intent to a face full of affection, Leon was momentarily taken aback, and the female cleaner explained somewhat embarrassedly next to him:

"Like my sense of smell, great uncle has a perception-type abnormal object buried in the temporal lobe of his forehead, allowing him to vaguely observe nearby objects in a very special way."

"Oh..."

...

While the two were talking, the blue-haired old man had already gotten up from the ground and quickly rushed out of the mantle fissure, coming in front of them.

"Great uncle!"

Even though she had just thought his actions were somewhat embarrassing, seeing the blue-haired old man's shirt front stained with blood, the female cleaner hurriedly ran over, reached out to support the Aquarius Director's arm, and worriedly complained:

"How did you get hurt? Oh no! Such a large hole!"

"Haha, great uncle is getting old, both my vigilance and reaction speed are not as good as when I was younger and got ambushed."

"Then you..."

"It's nothing, just a blown-out heart, and if you had been any later, my heart probably would have nearly healed."

With a cheerful two-liner and pulling his clothes to cover his chest wound, the Aquarius Director slightly blinked, dissipated the color veil over his eyes, and then focused his gaze on Leon beside him.

"Is this the new Aquarius Director?"

The vertical lines at the center of his eyebrows slightly split open, and the small black and yellow eyeball inside swiftly scanned Leon before the Aquarius Director slightly furrowed his brow, closed his third eye, and said with implied meaning:

"Director, may I ask why you look like this?"

"No need for formal titles; you can just call me Leon. As for this appearance, it's caused by calling upon the Authority of the King of Nightmares.

The Slaughter King Association's illusion and Heart Lake God are preparing to enhance their power using the Heart Lake of nearly a billion souls in Rehe City, and in order to stop them, I had no choice but to summon the Nightmare River first, collecting all the souls in Rehe City..."

Having briefly explained his actions, the debonair nightmare-Leon gave the Aquarius Director a dark smile, then raised his deathly pale, fog-encircled arm, pointing towards the front of the mantle fissure.

"Director Baltro, there was just some movement deep in the Earth's core, and I'm worried the Slaughter King Association is preparing to breach the seal and release the three subterranean tribes of the Stone Marrow World, so why don't we talk as we move?"

"I was thinking the same."

Nodding at Leon, the Aquarius Director seriously reminded:

"But if we continue moving downward, be exceptionally cautious of the snow-failures... which are the illusions set by the Heart Lake God and the illusion. Although his power isn't particularly strong, the illusions he creates are so realistic that even I find it difficult to distinguish real from fake.

The only method I've found so far is to get close and give it a lick with your tongue."

"Ah?"

Hearing this, the female cleaner couldn't help freezing for a moment, then looked at Leon with confusion.

"To determine real and fake, you have to lick it with your tongue?"

"Strictly speaking, it's to perceive with your sense of taste."

Unaware of his grandniece's gaze, the blue-haired old man, puzzled by Leon's unsurprised look, explained:

"The illusions created by the Authority of the illusion and Heart Lake God aren't necessarily all false and might even have physical form, so it's hard to solely rely on the five senses to judge real from fake, and not even intuition is reliable.

However, when he fully exerts his Authority, it requires a certain medium, which should be some part of his own body tissue. These tissues detached from his main body will carry a flavor they shouldn't inherently have from the things he disguises with illusions..."

"A bit salty, right?"