"So it was just something that went missing... What a scare!"
Looking at the director's office, which seemed to have been ransacked by someone unknown, Leon, who had been momentarily frightened, let out a sigh of relief. He then looked somewhat speechlessly at Senior Jerry, who had "falsely reported a military situation."
After receiving a note from Senior Jerry, Leon, worried that something serious had really happened, stopped the carriage halfway and didn't even ask for the remaining fare. He then hurriedly entered a small alley, mounted the Witch's Broom, and flew back to the bureau under the cover of night.
As a result, after rushing back, he found that it was just a false alarm. Except for the director's office, which seemed to have been burgled, nothing unusual had happened.
*Come to think of it...*
*When Senior Jerry and I left, there was no one else at the bureau. The Princess and Anna, who were temporarily staying there, had already returned early to the Happiness Apartment. Besides the missing items, nothing else could possibly be wrong.*
"Leon, this time it's not just about missing items."
Noticing that Leon seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, Senior Jerry shook his head slightly, then pointed to the pile of empty wine bottles in the office with a solemn expression,
"Look there. The thief who sneaked in when the bureau was empty definitely isn't ordinary!"
Hearing Senior Jerry's words, Leon was slightly taken aback. As he followed the direction indicated by Jerry, he found the "target" and his expression instantly turned serious.
There lay a few striking long red hairs in the pile of wine bottles, trying hard to float upward but resembling someone without bones. No matter how hard they tried, they could only twist slightly and couldn't "stand" up from the ground...
Damn, that was the director's hair!
As a powerful anomalous object numbered 013, these few strands of [Slaughter Blood Hair] were a bit weak. They weren't like the reinforced ones on himself, which could block the God of Enlightenment from escaping with just one strand.
But even if they weren't reinforced, they were part of a numbered anomalous object. No matter how strong they were, their hierarchy definitely surpassed the threshold of the True God. At the very least, Level Two and Three Cleaners absolutely couldn't handle them.
Anyone capable of taking care of these strands of hair likely had a skill level similar to Senior Emma. They should be at the First Level Cleaner level and, if caught off guard, could also easily deal with Jerry and him!
And this meant that if he and Senior Jerry hadn't gone to see Prince Freckles and been shifted to the headquarters by Star Palace, they would have run into this incredibly skilled thief! If the reinforced hair on himself couldn't withstand the thief's ability...
Then they would be dead!
"Honestly, I owe you one this time."
Looking at the fluttering red hair on the ground, Senior Jerry took a deep breath and, with lingering fear, said to Leon,
"If you hadn't suggested going to see that prince and insisted that I go with you, I would definitely have stayed at the bureau myself. If this thief were one of those ruthless types, I'd probably be dead by now."
*It wasn't just you who almost died...*
Entering the director's office, Leon cautiously checked around. After finding half a bloody handprint on the windowsill, he let out a long sigh of relief with his eyes full of gratitude.
If he hadn't been careful enough, letting the Princess and Anna return to the Happiness Apartment when leaving the Purification Bureau, who knew if they would have been in danger?
And because of his "overcautiousness," not only was there no loss of life, but he also received another piece of good news.
Looking in the direction of the bloody handprint, Leon found a large amount of sprayed blood on the outer wall of the office building and the grass outside the window, which slightly relieved his tense expression.
Although this thief was strong enough to subdue the director's hair, they weren't unscathed. They seemed to have been fiercely cut several times by the [Slaughter Blood Hair]. Judging by the terrifying amount of blood, they were probably half-dead, so there was no worry about them returning anytime soon.
As for the thief's origins and purpose...
Standing two meters away, using the power of the [Holy Spirit Pendant], Leon cautiously rummaged through the director's drawers and couldn't help but show a knowing look on his face.
Just as he expected, the "fake photo" the director replicated had already been taken.
It seemed that the Aquarius Director, who was accustomed to multiple layers of security, not only arranged for middle-aged Joshua as a backup but also sent another wave of people to retrieve the photo after finding a way to send Senior Emma away.
Originally, the Aquarius Director's plan might have been to let this thief temporarily deal with the director's possible backup, then have middle-aged Joshua retrieve the photo, and both would use the Beyond the Gate for a quick escape, completing the theft without a hitch.
However, Leon caught middle-aged Joshua in advance, letting down the thief. After waiting in vain for Joshua, noticing the Purification Bureau was not guarded and boldly broke into the director's office, rummaging through the drawer for the photo, barely escaping being killed by those strands of hair, exceeding the Aquarius Director's orders.
Yet, unfortunately, all he took was the director's prepared fake photo. The thief's efforts were utterly in vain.
Using the hand formed by the [Holy Spirit Pendant] to pick up a few blood hair strands in the grass outside the window and placing them with the ones on the wine bottle pile, Leon turned to Senior Jerry and cautiously asked,
"Senior Jerry, do you think your friends can...?"
Knowing what Leon wanted to ask, Senior Jerry shook his head helplessly,
"This person likely has an anomalous object capable of handling their aura. Anything leaving the body loses its scent, even the blood. The ants followed the blood trail for two streets but couldn't track him any further."
*Indeed... I didn't smell anything upon entering, or I wouldn't have missed the hair on the ground.*
Moving to the window, Leon slightly sniffed and found that even with such a terrifying amount of blood outside, there wasn't any lingering blood smell. He sighed, abandoning the thought of capturing the thief while they were injured.
Since the thief was so well-prepared, he could only wait for the director to return and hope things would stay calm in the coming days, without any more mishaps... Oh, right, he still had to visit the post office across from The Sun News tomorrow to renew her newspaper subscriptions.
Shaking his head helplessly, Leon opened the side drawer of the director's desk, searched the document area, and took out all the newspapers and magazines inside.
The Sun News, Daily News, Royal Mail News...
Charming Focus, Weapon Industry, Wine Traveler, Boys' Little Thoughts...
The newspapers and magazines the director asked him to renew should be these... Hmm... wait!
Flipping through the thick stack of newspapers, Leon couldn't help but show a suspicious look when he found only a few pages of The Sun News had been clipped.
*If I remember correctly, the positions clipped on these newspapers happened to be where my published photos appeared those two times.*