Chapter 349: The Plan is Set!
Chapter 349: The Plan is Set!
"Thank you, Leon."
After spending the entire day with William and Melanie, and only managing to eat two bites of cake before dozing off, Emma affectionately picked up Ellie, gently rubbing her head against the little girl's.
"Ellie loves the fireworks you gave her. Not only is this her happiest birthday, but it's also the happiest day I've had in years. Having such a joyful ending means there are no regrets."
"It's nothing. Ellie is such a lovable child, and I like her very much too."
Hearing Emma's words, which sounded like a farewell, Leon, who had also made up his mind, didn't try to persuade her further. Instead, he calmly asked in a low voice:
"Senior Emma, are you prepared? Even if the Bureau exiles you to the Dead Realm, are you still determined to go with him?"
"Hmm..."
Emma glanced at Leon apologetically and then nodded slightly, her eyes filled with seriousness.
"All my clan members are in the Dead Realm—my father, mother, grandfather... they're all still in the City of Regret. I should have been with them six years ago. Now, I'm just going to where I should have gone long ago."
"I see... Since you've made up your mind, I won't stop you."
Looking at William, who was still trying to eat cake but kept poking his fork into his nose, and Melanie, who was already curled up in Anna's arms, snoring with her little nose scrunched up, Leon switched on his 【Master of Performance】 skill and sighed dramatically, bidding farewell with a somber tone:
"Senior Emma, then... goodbye."
Seeing the desolation and loneliness in Leon's eyes, along with a hint of unspoken regret, as if he were bidding farewell to something precious, Emma's heart tightened, and she almost blurted out words of persuasion.
However, the pain and regret of the past six years, nearly two thousand days and nights, and the sharpened hatred forged in that torment prevented her from speaking. The almost-uttered promise turned into a similarly dry and low farewell.
"Goodbye."
After hearing her response, the last traces of emotion faded from Leon's eyes. He nodded slightly and smiled bitterly, then stood up from the table and took Melanie from Anna's arms.
"Anna, let's go."
"Okay, I'll call for the carriage."
After spending the whole day together, although Leon and Emma had been avoiding conversation, the perceptive Anna had sensed the unusual atmosphere between them. To respect their feelings, she took William's hand and left the cottage ahead of them.
Emma, after tucking Ellie back into her room and gently covering her with a blanket, silently escorted Leon out of the cottage. She wrapped her arms around his waist and gave him a soft, warm hug. With apologetic eyes, she whispered:
"I won't see you off... Leon, I... If only I had met you sooner."
"..."
It's not too late, at least not yet!
After a deep glance at her, Leon didn't respond. Instead, he waved his hand and carried the still-snoring Melanie, walking down the stone path in the garden.
"Since you're awake, come down and walk by yourself."
"..."
"Don't pretend."
After walking for a while, Leon couldn't help but stop and pat Melanie's tightly clenched little bottom. Annoyed, he said:
"Who sleeps with their legs so tense? And snoring louder than breathing? If you're going to pretend, at least do it convincingly!"
"Oh..."
Caught in her act, Melanie, who had been squinting and trying to hold back her laughter, opened her big, spinning eyes. She looked at Leon cautiously and then hugged his neck coquettishly, whispering:
"Big Brother, about Aunt Emma... I mean, won't we be able to come and play with Ellie in the future?"
You're such a little rascal!
Seeing that she had clearly understood something, perhaps even guessing that Emma was bidding her a permanent farewell, Leon couldn't help but pinch her little nose in exasperation.
"Don't guess! Your Aunt Emma won't have any problems. When you and William aren't in school, you can still come and play with Ellie!"
"Oh..."
Melanie responded with a hesitant 'oh' and blinked her big, watery eyes, looking curious as she asked:
"Big Brother, is Aunt Emma... grateful that I helped Ellie celebrate her birthday, so she hugged you out of excitement? Is there anything else... Oh, right!"
At this point, Leon narrowed his eyes in a very 'Director-like' manner and, uncharacteristically, threatened:
"When we get back, if Anna asks, you didn't see or hear anything..."
"Hear what?"
Melanie blinked her big eyes.
“I was just dreaming that Big Brother bought me a new doll, and when I woke up, I was already in the carriage!”
Well, she’s even trying to extort me!
Leon gave a wry look to the opportunistic Melanie and said with a scowl:
“Alright, I’ll buy you one! But there will absolutely be no next time! You really are...”
“Big Brother is the best~”
With a giggle, Melanie kissed Leon’s cheek and, after a day of play, couldn’t help but yawn. She then closed her big eyes, curled up in Leon’s arms like a kitten, and murmured softly in her sleep:
“Aunt Emma is a good person, and Sister Ellie is too, but Big Brother, you have to take care of yourself too. You still have to buy... sniff... buy dolls for me... sigh... and continue to take care of me... no cheating...”
“...”
Indeed, the ability of the [Master of Performance] is powerful, but for people who know him too well, its effects aren’t very good. They can easily tell the difference from his usual self.
Seeing his sister, who had fallen asleep again but was still tightly gripping his shirt, Leon couldn’t help but shake his head and then slightly curl his lips.
“Yeah, Big Brother promises.”
...
“Clippity-clop”
“Beep...”
With the clippity-clop of the hooves and the long whistle of the steam, a carriage with a boiler emitting white steam slowly pulled up to the roadside.
“Bridge Street 35, Happiness Apartments.”
After taking out the fare he had prepared and handing it to the carriage driver, Leon stepped onto the carriage step, gently placed the soundly sleeping Melanie on the seat, and then lifted William, who was leaning on his leg, onto the carriage. He then turned around and said with a slight apology:
“Anna, I’ll...”
“Understood.”
Pulling the handle and getting into the carriage, Anna interrupted Leon and, with a slight bite to her lip, said:
“Sister Emma is a good person, but I only have one brother. You... whatever you want to do, I won’t stop you, but please be careful.”
“...”
So you noticed too...
Looking at Anna’s eyes, which were half encouraging and half worried, and then at Melanie, who was frowning in her sleep in her arms, Leon felt a warm feeling in his heart and couldn’t help but sigh.
It seems that even the [Master of Performance] can fool a stranger, but for family who know him well and are familiar with his personality, it’s always a performance that can be easily seen through.
“Huh?”
At that moment, William, leaning against the seat back, struggled to open his sleepy eyes and asked with a puzzled look:
“What’s going on? What’s Big Brother going to do?”
“...”
Hmm... but the precondition is that the family isn’t really confused or has low emotional intelligence.
“Nothing.”
Rubbing his little brother’s head, Leon smiled and replied:
“Big Brother isn’t going home today. I’m going to do something that I would definitely regret if I didn’t do it now.”
“I understand.”
Nodding with a look of understanding, William struggled to open his eyes and, with a serious face, encouraged Leon:
“Go for it, Big Brother! I read in The Emperor’s Biography that a true man doesn’t fear before he acts and doesn’t regret after he acts!”
What a mess...
“Go back to sleep!”
Faced with the clearly off-topic motivational words from the extremely sleepy William, Leon couldn’t help but laugh and scold him. Then, he lifted his hand to close the carriage door, bidding farewell to his younger brother and sister.
After looking up at the sky, Leon reined in his smile, stepped out of Redwood Avenue, and waved to another carriage waiting by the roadside.
“To the Municipality, Police Department!”
“Sure thing!”
...
This carriage, which had been waiting at the intersection of Redwood Avenue, had already seen the Leon family preparing to take a ride. However, it was slightly slower and was beaten by a closer carriage.
Originally, he thought this business was lost, but unexpectedly, the family didn’t all get into the same carriage. One was left behind, and they were heading to the distant Municipality at night, which was indeed a pleasant surprise.
“Fare is one silver wheel... please get in!”
After receiving the silver wheel Leon had prepaid, the carriage driver, who had unexpectedly landed a big job just before his shift ended, smiled broadly and chatted:
“Sir, are you a public official at the Police Department?”
Leon, feeling a bit light-headed, got into the carriage and nodded:
“Yes, I am.”
"You're working so late… Is it an emergency shift?"
"Yeah, that's right."
"Oh dear, you have a case this late, the Police Department sure has it tough!"
The chatty carriage driver turned slightly, glancing at the passenger behind him, whose expression was calm and slightly blurred by the night. He deliberately brightened the small lamp inside the carriage and continued to engage in the talkative nature of a "taxi driver," enthusiastically striking up a conversation.
"Speaking of cases, the Sun Herald recently published a special edition on unsolved cases. There's a female reporter named Nicole who dug up all the kingdom's cold cases over the years and caused quite a stir. You're not going back to work because of her, are you?"
"Yes, that's exactly it."
"Ahaha, she's really giving you a hard time. I heard from other Police Department customers I drove before..."
"Toot..."
The sharp, prolonged whistle sounded again, temporarily drowning out the driver's somewhat noisy conversation. The box-style steam carriage carried Lyon away from the roadside, heading towards the Municipality.
Lyon, left behind by the carriage, looked at the "himself" sitting stiffly in the carriage and returning to work overtime. He nodded in satisfaction.
To beat the Taurus Director, the Third Generation Director put in a lot of effort when creating the anomaly for himself, and with the materials upgraded from a Saint Spirit fragment to a True God's weapon, the effect of the new primary anomaly had been comprehensively enhanced.
Compared to the Saint Spirit Pendant, which directly altered reality with the power of the mind, the Desire Invader, which invaded reality through the power of the dream realm, required a "dreamer" as a conduit to exert its influence. However, the consumption of power was significantly reduced.
When it was still the Saint Spirit Pendant, merely turning hard stone bricks into a mud pit for a brief moment almost depleted its power, and it could only be maintained for a few short seconds before being modified back.
But now, after just a few words with the carriage driver, and paying a cost of around one Immersion Value, he successfully borrowed the driver's soul as a conduit, pulling out a dream character named "Lyon returning to the Bureau for overtime."
This "Dream Lyon" was only visible to the carriage driver, appearing as a vague shadow to others, but it was indeed a real existence. It would even get off the carriage at the Police Department and work an entire night shift until the driver woke up the next day.
The Desire Invader, created with just a few words, not only had a similarly discreet trigger, but also consumed very little power and had a long-lasting effect. Even though its killing power had been reduced, its functionality far surpassed that of the Saint Spirit Pendant crafted by the Taurus Director.
Indeed, the Second's best anomaly blacksmith, the Third Generation Director, was truly skilled!
In her mind, she silently praised the old man with the square head, and her footsteps became a bit unsteady as she turned and walked in the opposite direction of the steam carriage, contemplating how to proceed.
After all, one could act out of anger, but before acting, one must first think it through. At the very least, one should understand the consequences of their actions; otherwise, that would be truly foolish!
Not to mention, if that Golden Cuckoo Marquis, who should have died long ago, suddenly passed away, the Bureau's first reaction would surely be to seek out Senior Emma. They would likely also pay attention to her.
When faced with the Desire Invader, a True God's weapon with a high position, the Bureau's investigators would not be able to detect it. After all, if they could handle such matters, they wouldn't be investigators.
With the average capabilities of the internal investigators, they could only discover that the carriage driver's soul had experienced a slight shock, and they would not obtain any concrete evidence.
These insufficient doubts provided her with room to argue with the Bureau, and the "herself" who left with the carriage and actually worked an entire night shift would also help her pass those more basic lie detection methods.
Once these were passed, all she needed to do was endure.
With the trust of the Director and the Taurus Director, as well as the recent success in exposing the Aquarius conspiracy and preserving the Watchtower Palace, she was now protected by a "halo." Without concrete evidence, it was unlikely that anyone would persistently pursue mere doubts.
And if someone still insisted on causing trouble, she would find a reason to bite back and bring them along to have their brains licked by a God-ranked Brain-Eating Demon! As for the reason... wasn't it right there?
Anyone who dares to suspect me will be accused of taking bribes from Director Aquarius, attempting to persecute a meritorious spy!
Plan approved!
(End of Chapter)
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