Faced with Leon, who was not only cautious but also quite shameless, the scar-faced director, who had been mooched for five questions, angrily made a rather obscene gesture at him.
Then, his soul suddenly split into two, becoming two identical dark flames that collided, entangled, and strangled each other before abruptly extinguishing with a pop. Simultaneously, his body slumped onto the table.
Although the scar-faced burly man's breathing and heartbeat were still normal, Leon knew very well that his soul was no longer there, and all that remained was a soulless shell.
*Was his method of suicide actually soul eradication? I really couldn't have stopped that.*
Looking at the burly man slumped over the table, Leon shook his head and then carefully activated the Holy Spirit pendant. He cautiously prodded the man's body and, after confirming there wasn't anything that would explode on contact, slowly moved closer and started searching.
Since he didn't know what the "vessel" of the man's anomalous object was, Leon had to rely on his hands to meticulously inspect the burly man's belongings, checking not only the pockets of his clothes and pants but also any place that might have had pockets sewn hiddenly.
However, although he did find some small items, they were all things like ink pens, notebooks, and handkerchiefs, with no items that belonged to the "anomalous range" in sight.
So... was his ability somewhat like the director's [Love Without Memory], carried "within himself" rather than attached to an object?
After frowning and pondering for a while, Leon began to directly touch the burly man's body, and unsurprisingly, once he touched the man's skin, the [Materialist Soul] finally started to flicker.
[Encounter... Materialism... Information]
[Name: Counterfeit Workshop (Replicate, Replace, ?)]
[Ability: After setting a small area as a workshop, it can replicate all non-anomalous objects within range, forcibly replacing the original items. The replaced items will temporarily be transferred to another world.
Due to the previous user's soul being shattered, the third ability is currently undetectable and requires repair or reconstruction for further use.]
[File: One of the numerous functional anomalous objects created by the Aquarius Director in the Purification Bureau to fulfill a wish, temporarily numbered 0116.
Due to the previous user suffering from shameless deception before dying, a large number of resentful soul fragments have been retained. Therefore, it has poor affinity with those untrustworthy or individuals named Leon Laine.]
[Evaluation: A quite excellent ability. Although the upper limit is not high, its concealment is extremely strong, allowing it to perform remarkably well in certain special situations.
After submission to the Purification Bureau and proper handling, an impressive anomalous object can be extracted. Although it has a poor affinity with you, someone might be interested in it.]
[Contamination Value: ?]
*Alright... it seems similar to the [Golden Toad for Wealth Exchange], where both suffered damage due to soul fragmentation, but the extent is not too bad—at least the ability can still be discerned.*
After reading the intelligence provided by the [Materialist Soul], Leon slightly shook his head and then reached into a shopping bag to pet Young Ha's forehead.
"Do me a favor, and put him into the mirror first."
Young Ha, having received the order, wobbly stood on the Black Goat's head, leaned over the edge of the shopping bag to glance at the burly man, then barked at the office window.
The next moment, the real-world burly man instantly vanished, but his reflection leaning over the table in the window became significantly more profound.
Following Young Ha's somewhat chaotic instructions, Leon took out a small mirror and waved it at the window, transferring the burly man into the portable mirror. Afterward, he patted the exhausted Young Ha, stood up, and left the Secret Investigation Bureau director's office without alerting anyone, heading back toward the stairwell.
After the ability of the burly man was lifted, the Secret Investigation Bureau, which had been isolated on another "layer," returned to normal, and the situation in the collapsed dungeon finally drew the attention of the people in the hall.
"Quick! There are still two injured down there! Get them out, fast!"
"Call for a vehicle, someone got hurt by the collapse!"
"That's too slow, just use the Bureau's official car!"
Seeing six or seven dusty injured people, Leon, having just descended to the first floor, instinctively took out the [Plague-Infected Blood Bandage], intending to heal them. However, after glancing at the chaos in the hall, he ultimately gave up on the idea, instead wrapping the bandage back around his hand.
*It's not that I'm lacking the energy to treat them, it's just that there are too many people right now, making it unsuitable to use an anomalous object. It might be better to apply to the Bureau later, see if the medical expenses can be covered, and try to get some compensation. If the Bureau won't cover it, it's fine to deduct it from my own salary, given that the dungeon collapse was my doing...*
As Leon thought about this while using soul vision to check the condition of the injured again, confirming all were lightly injured, he was slightly relieved and then walked over to a policewoman in the corner of the hall.
The policewoman, who had been keeping an eye on the stairwell and had already spotted Leon, limped towards him with a complex expression and asked,
"Someone noticed the situation in the dungeon. The Bureau seems to have suddenly returned to normal, so I brought them up. The director... that person, did you take care of him?"