You're saying your birthday isn't today? Seriously?
After hearing Leon's doubts, the Black Goat couldn't help but retort,
"Come on, either you remembered wrong, your parents made a mistake, or the person who registered your birthday in the Kingdom messed it up. Your birthday must be today."
"Stop overthinking it, there's no 'but.'"
With certainty, the Black Goat countered,
"Do you think it's more likely that you, your parents, or that registrar got the date wrong, or that a True God made a mistake with the Star Palace alignment for you?"
*Well, that makes sense...*
After recalling his birthday from his past life and confirming it didn't match, Leon had eliminated all possibilities he could think of. He had no choice but to agree with the Black Goat, thinking it must have been his sister who got his birthday wrong. As for why he thought it wasn't himself who was mistaken...
That was obviously because he didn't remember anything at all!
Three years ago when he "arrived," he was a complete blank slate. He didn't even remember his own name until Anna told him.
*Hmm... It's better to ask her again later.*
Although knowing the exact day of his birthday wasn't that important, if he could really use this "Star Atlas Protection" to gain a degraded version of wish-fulfilling abilities on his birthday, then it would be worth confirming.
After making a mental note of this, Leon pulled out a folded piece of parchment from his pocket and started scribbling with a piece of charcoal.
Practice shooting, earn the Badge—reached Bronze
Visit the nurse named Hannah—discovered Happiness Apartment
Buy cigarettes for the Black Goat, earn Devil's Badge—reached silver, but ran out of money and couldn't buy more
Investigate the water pipe incident, try to collect evidence of illegal operation—
Find the Black Goat's "Seven Sheep Tavern"—
*Hmm... Looking at it this way, I've almost completed everything I wanted to do!*
Satisfied, Leon put a checkmark next to the water pipe incident and drew a heart next to the "Sheep Tavern" entry, indicating he had found the whereabouts of Yang Xin. He then squeezed the Witch's Broom with his legs and added three more items to the parchment with the charcoal.
Look into the Ryan Family's blond middle-aged man, gather news about Yang Xin—
Confirm his birthday with Anna, see if he could use the birthday luck next year—
Find a well-connected and bold newspaper, leak the water pipe incident without revealing his identity—
*Hmm... That's it for now!*
After pondering over the parchment for a moment, Leon thoughtfully circled the words "newspaper" with black.
*Just enough time for today, let's visit a few newspapers soon, buy a few papers, and read their news selections. See which one dares to stir things up!*
Even though the document theft at Charl Power Company was no small matter, it was barely a ripple in the ocean of a mega city with over ten million people. The Capital City continued to function smoothly and steadily.
As the sun slowly sank westward, this city, known for being made of "factories, smog, and a sea of people," gradually started to fall silent.
As the din and roar of machines quieted down, countless hardworking and weary industrial workers filed out of the factories. Under the dim streetlights, they trudged home, faces lined with exhaustion...
"Isn't Leon done with work yet?"
Without waiting for Leon, Anna carried her change of clothes and luggage from the hospital back to Veteran Lane. Seeing the dark window of their home's second bedroom, she instinctively bit her lip, pulled out a key, and opened the door.
"It's Sis! Sis is really back!"
"I knew Big Bro wouldn't lie to me!"
Hearing noises at the door, the two little ones initially felt scared. But seeing it was Anna, who had been gone for days, they rushed over, clinging to her leg like koalas, holding on as if letting go would mean she'd escape again.
Dragging two little koalas, she walked forward two steps, working hard to set her luggage on the table. The frail girl, like a mother coming home from work, lovingly patted the heads of her younger siblings and then bent down to give each a kiss, smiling warmly.
"Were you both good while I was gone? Did you cause any trouble for Big Bro?"
Upon hearing Anna's question, the atmosphere in the room tensed up slightly. The two little ones instinctively exchanged a glance. In Melanie's panicked expression, gullible William honestly said,
"We were good, but... uh..."
"No, no! We didn't do anything!"
Seeing her sister's eyes narrow, Melanie turned her small head, glaring fiercely at her dopey brother before admitting reluctantly,
"We weren't causing trouble... It's just Jack and the others were being annoying. They insisted you wouldn't come back, and we got really mad, so we... kind of... played a little prank on them..."
After hearing Melanie's explanation, seeing her sister's aggrieved look, Anna's heart ached slightly, and she reached out to stroke her messy blonde hair.
The fault didn't entirely lie with their mischief; it was partly Anna's own fault.
Before she became ill this time, she had a premonition that she might not come back, so she had arranged with families in the neighborhood, asking them to help cover up the truth so her brother could continue receiving her pension.
Jack was a kid from the alley too, and from one of those families. He probably overheard their parents slip and told during some roughhousing, upsetting Melanie and her brother.
William was quiet and steady, likely just stewing in his anger silently until he could complain after her return. But Melanie, with her cunning and petty nature, must have immediately come up with a plan for revenge, dragging honest William along under the pretense of "protecting his sister," judging by her hesitant demeanor, they must have wreaked havoc in the neighborhood for days.
Pinching her sister's supple cheek, smoother than a boiled egg, the frail girl sighed and shook her head, thinking of how badly they had been scared these last few days. Initially wanting to be gentle, in the end, she hardened her heart and scolded sternly,
"Don't try to trivialize this! Confess truthfully! What have you two little rascals been doing these past few days!
If it's not too serious, I'll take you to apologize tomorrow, and we'll call it even. But if it's worse than last time, no matter the reason, you'll both get a spanking today!"
Hearing Anna's words, Melanie couldn't help but shiver, clutching her dress nervously while her eyes darted around, "Well... if it's not too serious... it might be a bit much, but if it's serious... it's probably not that... mostly... um..."
"Quit with the ums and buts! I knew the minute we shoved horse dung in Jack's mouth, we wouldn't escape a spanking this time!"
Tugging at his still-trying-to-defend-herself sister, little William expertly dropped his pants, exposing his bare butt, and turned to seriously address the wide-eyed sisters behind him.
"Sis, I've calculated. If I'm being spanked, just double the usual amount for me, and as for Melanie... you better make it five times as much as before!"