CHAPTER 409: CHAPTER 349: THE PERFECT SCHEME! (2)

"" "Aunt Emma is a good person, Ellie is too, but big brother, you also need to take care of yourself, okay? You still have to buy me... a-choo... buy me a doll... whew... and always take care of me in the future... No excuses allowed..."

"..."

As expected, even though the [Performance Master’s] ability was powerful, its effect wasn’t great on those too familiar with oneself; it was easy for them to notice the differences from the usual.

Looking at his sister, who was snoring again in his arms while clutching tightly to his clothing with her little hands, Leon couldn’t help but shake his head, and then he slightly curled up his lips.

"Yes, big brother guarantees it."

...

"Tap tap tap"

"Toot..."

Amidst the tapping of hooves and the long, sharp whistle, a carriage with its boiler puffing white steam slowly pulled over to the roadside.

"Number 35, Bridge Street, Happiness Apartment."

After handing over the fare he had prepared to the coachman, Leon stepped onto the carriage step and laid the sleeping Melanie on the seat, then lifted William, who was leaning against his leg, onto the coach, turning around with a hint of apology,

"Anna, today I’ll first..."

"I know."

Pulling herself onto the coach and placing the sleeping Melanie on her lap, Anna interrupted Leon, biting her lip slightly,

"Sister Emma is a good person, but you’re my only brother. You... I won’t stop you from doing what you want, but remember to stay safe."

"..."

So you noticed too...

Seeing the mixed encouragement and worry in Anna’s eyes, and Melanie who was frowning in her sleep in her arms, Leon felt warmth blooming in his heart and let out a thoughtful "Mm."

It seemed that although the [Performance Master] might fool an unfamiliar True God, it was always a poorly executed act easily discerned by his family, who knew him well and spent every day with him.

"Huh?"

At this moment, William, who was leaning against the seat back, tried hard to open his sleepy eyes, his little face full of confusion, and asked,

"What’s going on? What’s big brother going to do?"

"..."

Mm... but that’s assuming the family isn’t really dazed from sleep, or their emotional intelligence isn’t lacking.

"Nothing."

Ruffling his younger brother’s tousled little head, Leon replied with a smile,

"Big brother isn’t going home today, I’m going to do something that if I don’t do now, I’ll definitely regret later."

"Oh, I see."

Nodding his head with understanding, William tried hard to open his eyes, his little face full of serious encouragement for Leon,

"Go for it, big brother! I read in ’The Great Emperor’s Biography’ that a real man doesn’t fear before doing things, and doesn’t regret afterward!"

What a load of nonsense...

"Just go back to sleep!"

Facing the words of advice from William, who was almost too sleepy to keep track of the conversation and went off-topic, Leon couldn’t help but laugh and scold, then raised his hand to close the carriage door, bidding farewell to his brother and sister.

After checking the time, Leon suppressed the smile on his face, walked out of Redwood Avenue, and waved at another carriage waiting by the roadside.

"To the Municipal District, to the Police Department!"

"Sure!"

...

The carriage, also waiting at the Redwood Avenue junction, had earlier seen Leon’s family preparing to catch a ride. It was just a step behind, losing out to a closer carriage.

Originally thinking that this fare was hopeless, it turned out the family didn’t all board together, leaving one behind who intended to head to the distant Municipal District at night, quite a pleasant surprise indeed.

"One Silver Wheel for the trip... Please hop on!"

Accepting the Silver Wheel pre-paid by Leon, the coachman, who got an unexpected big fare before getting off work, cheerfully started a conversation,

"Are you a civil servant at the Police Department?"

Leon, whose steps felt a bit light, boarded the carriage and nodded,

"Yes, I am."

"Heading there so late... is it overtime?"

"Yes, exactly."

"Oh dear, having a case this late, your work at the Police Department is really tough!"

The quite chatty coachman slightly turned his head, glancing at the calm-faced passenger whose silhouette was a bit blurred in the night, and deliberately brightened the small lamp inside the carriage, enthusiastically continuing,

"Speaking of cases, The Sun News recently added a special column on unsolved cases, with a female reporter named Nicole digging up all the mysterious cases over the years in the Kingdom, bringing each to light and causing quite a stir. Are you heading back because of her?"

"Yes, that’s exactly it."

"Ahaha, she has certainly troubled you a lot. From what I’ve heard from other Police Department passengers I’ve driven..."

"Toot..."

The sharp and long whistle sounded again, temporarily covering up the slightly noisy chatter from the coachman. The steam carriage carrying Leon pulled away from the roadside, heading towards the Municipal District.

Meanwhile, another Leon left by the roadside watched the "him" sitting upright in the carriage returning for overtime and nodded in satisfaction.

To outperform the Taurus Director, the third generation Director had indeed gone all out in creating the Anomalous Object for himself. With the materials upgraded from Holy Spirit fragments to a True God’s weapon, the new main battle Anomalous Object’s effects were fully upgraded.

Compared to the [Holy Spirit Pendant] that truly altered matter with spirit, the [Nightmare Invader] used the Dreamrealm’s power to erode reality. Although it needed a "dreaming person" as a bridge to exert its erosive powers on reality, the consumption was far less.

Back when it was still the [Holy Spirit Pendant], merely briefly transforming hard stone bricks into a quagmire nearly drained Leon’s strength, and could only be maintained for a very short few seconds before reverting.

Now, after merely chatting with the coachman for a couple of sentences, and expending roughly 1.5 Contamination Value worth of power, he successfully used the coachman’s soul as a bridge to pull a dream named "Leon going back for overtime" into reality.

Only the coachman could clearly see the existence of "Dream Leon", appearing to others as merely a hazy shadow, but it still genuinely existed, even getting off at the Police Department to work a whole night shift at the Purification Bureau until it disappeared the next day when the coachman woke up.

And being the [Nightmare Invader] that created "Dream Leon" with just a few words, not only was the activation subtle, the power consumption low, and the effect duration long, but its functionality far exceeded the [Holy Spirit Pendant] produced by Taurus Director, notwithstanding the slight decrease in maximum destructive power.

The second-best Forge Master of Anomalous Objects, the third generation Director truly lived up to his reputation!

Quietly giving a thumbs-up to the square-headed old man in his heart, Leon turned on his heel with a somewhat drifting gait, walking opposite the direction of the steam carriage, concentrating on how to proceed shortly.

After all, while one might act out of anger, one must think thoroughly before acting, at the very least considering the consequences, or else it would be genuinely foolish!

Not to mention, if the Marquis Golden Lark suddenly dropped dead, the first reaction from headquarters would definitely be to question Senior Emma, likely turning their attention to himself as well.

Facing the [Nightmare Invader], reformed from a True God’s weapon with high Hierarchy, the investigators from headquarters surely couldn’t detect it. After all, if they could handle such matters, they wouldn’t be mere investigators.

With those internal investigators’ average level, they might at most find slight shock effects on the coachman’s soul, providing no concrete evidence.

And these insufficient suspicions would offer wiggle room to wriggle out during any internal disputes, plus the "me" who left in the carriage and genuinely worked an entire shift at the bureau could help circumvent more basic lie detection methods.

After overcoming those points, all he would need to do is hold his ground.

With the trust of the Director and the Taurus Director, as well as the major accomplishment of exposing the Aquarius’s plot and securing the Watcher’s Palace, he practically was protected by a "halo" now. If there was no solid evidence, just a few suspicions, it was highly unlikely someone would persistently pursue him.

And if anyone tried to pursue him relentlessly, he planned to find a reason to retaliate, pushing them to go lick brains with the God Tier Brain-Eating Demon!

As for what reason to fabricate... wasn’t it ready-made?

Whoever dared to suspect him, they would clearly be an agent who had received benefits from the Aquarius Director, scheming to persecute the heroes!

Mission accomplished!