As if time were reversing, at the moment the Red Gold Dagger pierced the heart, the scattered bubbles in the sky instantly reassembled, condensing the hunched figure of the Pisces Director.
What a careless mistake...
After glancing at the blade protruding from his chest, the Pisces Director closed his eyes slightly and then, without futile struggle, sat cross-legged slowly under the support of a strong hand.
"Your courage... is as great as ever."
With a gentle smile, the Aquarius Director, looking only in his thirties, slightly rotated his wrist gripping the dagger, and then warmly said to the Pisces Director, who was trembling all over:
"Don’t bother doing anything unnecessary. Since I dared to come directly, there’s no way I’d let you get the news out."
Hearing this, the Pisces Director nodded, recalled the bubble wrapping his tongue, and then calmly asked:
"So, why did you risk so much to sneak into the Dream Realm? It’s not just to stab me out of anger, is it?"
"I wouldn’t be that bored."
The Aquarius Director shook his head, smiling, and said:
"Taurus is about to ascend to the palace. If I don’t deal with you first, even if I succeed in killing Taurus, I still won’t be able to ascend. As long as you can open [Bubble Shadow Cove] in time, everything I’ve done will turn into bubbles."
"Cough... cough, cough! So... what’s the point of stabbing me?"
After coughing painfully several times with his hand covering his mouth, the Pisces Director wiped the bloodstains on his palm onto his robe, then said expressionlessly:
"Even though I was careless and gave you an opening, once you pull the knife out, the fact that you stabbed me will immediately turn into bubbles, and even the torn clothes will be as good as new. You... cough, cough, cough! You still can’t do anything!"
"Your mouth is still so stubborn."
"It’s not stubbornness, but the truth."
After another fit of intense coughing, the Pisces Director coldly said:
"The truth now is that with the Aquarius Astropalace temporarily sealed off, you no longer have the ability to kill me. If I hadn’t been distracted, you wouldn’t have even had the chance to ambush me!"
Not arguing this point with the Pisces Director, the Aquarius Director maintained the "backstab" posture, sat down behind the Pisces Director, and pointed at Leon, who was wreaking havoc in the Dream Realm, asking with a smile:
"See the knife in his hand? I gave it to him; and when he was swallowed by the Death Hound guard and nearly digested, I was the one who saved him."
The Pisces Director coldly said:
"You don’t mean to tell me that this Leon, who exposed your plans in public and nearly killed you twice, is actually your man, do you?"
"Where’s your imagination going?"
The Aquarius Director waved dismissively and said:
"How could he be my man? He belongs to no one."
"Literal meaning." Chapters first released on novel✦fire.net
While vigorously gouging the Pisces Director’s heart, the Aquarius Director explained with a smile:
"Although this person is a Cleaner, he doesn’t necessarily side with the Clean-up Bureau. He has some very stubborn beliefs that accept almost no compromise, and he will only ever do what he wants to do.
He chose to be a Cleaner and help you deal with me simply because his beliefs partially align with yours. But if, on a particular matter, my choice aligns more closely with his, he will turn to me without hesitation."
With disdain, the Pisces Director sneered and commented disdainfully:
"Poor provocation... you don’t think that after hearing your argument, I would start to fear him or even take action against him, do you?
There are plenty who joined the Clean-up Bureau for selfish reasons, seeing the Cleaner identity merely as a means to gain power. If we fretted over each one, more than half of the Cleaners should be driven away!"
"Well... you do have a point."
After hearing the Pisces Director’s rebuttal, the Aquarius Director thoughtfully nodded his head.
"Indeed, within our Clean-up Bureau, many do not take the ’protecting humanity’ tenet seriously. Leon, though peculiar, when it comes to motives and desired actions, may not be worse than those people."
Seemingly fed up with the endless "riddles," the Pisces Director, his chest soaked with blood, first coughed violently twice and then said impatiently:
"My [Bubble Shadow Cove] has never been closed. In your current state, there’s no way you can kill me. Even if you dare to move a step away from me, I can immediately break free and you can’t do anything to me!
The same goes for these Cleaners attending the promotion exam. They are here only in consciousness, and they are all inside the fragments of [Paradise Lost]. Once I break free, I can immediately send their consciousness back.
If I wasn’t confident in dealing with your attack, this promotion exam would have been postponed long ago. Currently, you can’t touch me, and you can’t touch any of these Cleaners either!"
"Rest assured, though I was nearly killed by the bureau, I’m not so resentful as to want to destroy the Clean-up Bureau, it’s just that..."
After seeing Leon cut down over three hundred people, and with no one daring to advance for quite some time, the Aquarius Director couldn’t help but shake his head.