Chapter 1405: Chapter 1243: The Son’s Lie (Part 2)
"In a world without the existence of the dead, it’s very hard for the Graveyard Dominator’s will to reach over. Plus, Fredri might not have left yet. If he goes there in person, there’s a good chance he’ll get ambushed, so we still need to give it some time."
"Then we’ll investigate it ourselves!"
The Scorpio Director couldn’t help standing up and saying:
"Tell him to stop investigating and just hurry up and move that damned graveyard over here. I can take a few Cleaners who aren’t afraid of dying to investigate in his place. Even if that Number One really hasn’t left yet, at worst I’m the only one who dies!"
"Don’t rush. It’s fine to check over there a bit later."
Leon opened his mouth to explain:
"Before the Graveyard Dominator left, he told me that because of the resistance from the remaining wills of all the various Root refugees, Fredri’s absorption speed absolutely won’t be fast. She probably hasn’t even fully mastered the Root she grabbed last time.
If she’s gotten a new Root this time, she’ll definitely be in a hurry to keep absorbing it. She absolutely won’t stay in the Hanging Horn Star Gorge or the Spirit realm for long. As long as you wait a bit before heading out, the chances of running into her will drop sharply.
Besides, with Fredri’s methods, any truly key information that actually touches on her will definitely be destroyed at the first possible moment. Even if you did manage to find something, there’s no way you’d get the intel back here, so there’s really no need to rush over.
Rather than losing people over information we’re doomed not to obtain, it’s more important to hurry up and scour the other material planes and migrate every race we can bring over... Lord Taurus!"
After talking the itching-to-move Scorpio Director down, Leon let go of the redheaded son in his arms, who had finally calmed down, then turned his head to look at the Taurus Director and said:
"Next, I’ll trouble you to stay at the sub-bureau, keep using the Compass to monitor the situation in the other material planes, and also try to see if you can contact the Hanging Star Dominator and the others. If anything comes up, please be sure to inform me immediately."
"All right."
After nodding and agreeing to Leon’s request, the Taurus Director thought for a moment, then said:
"Director, the material plane that belongs to Number One should be connected to the other end of the Source God Platform. We shouldn’t go there, and we can’t go there. And for now we also can’t go to the Hanging Horn Star Gorge, the Ancestral Land of Ten Thousand Spirits, or the Sublimation Extreme.
Excluding the Abyssal Sea, the Hundred Thousand Evils Abyss, the Pure White Holy Land, and those few planes that are already merging with the present world, what the Bureau can still help you with are these four planes: Not-Enough-Village, the Boundless Wilds, Shepherd’s Plain, and Sunshine Mulberry Forest.
Not counting me, Cancer, Ophiuchus and the others who can’t leave because of our missions, the remaining eight Directors can cover one plane per two people, each taking two elite Cleaner squads. We’ll try to migrate all the races from those planes to the present world as soon as possible... Do you think this arrangement works?"
"It works!"
After listening carefully to the Taurus Director’s proposal, Leon’s expression relaxed a bit, then he smiled and said:
"Then let’s go with that. You’re much more familiar with the Bureau’s situation than I am, so I’ll have to trouble you to put in some extra thought."
"It’s what I should do... Mm... Leon."
Glancing at the little redhead in Leon’s arms who was blinking his big eyes, the Taurus Director, having finished discussing official business, held back again and again... but in the end still couldn’t hold it in. Her expression was a little strained as she lowered her voice:
"I know this is your private business, and as an outsider I shouldn’t meddle, but this... this is just a bit too much, isn’t it?"
"Cough, cough, cough!"
He hadn’t expected the usually all-business Taurus Director to still be hung up on this at this point. Leon hurriedly coughed twice and started desperately brainstorming, wondering how he could possibly bluff his way out of it.
But right then, the little redhead who had been behaving for quite a while suddenly reached out and tugged Leon’s sleeve, looking up at him with clear black-and-white eyes and sending him a question.
Father, your meeting is over, right? Then can I talk now?
You can, you can! Of course you can!
Facing his son who had come to the rescue at this exact moment of life and death, Leon couldn’t help letting out a long breath of relief, then looked at him with a face full of fatherly love and signaled with his eyes:
"What’s wrong? Do you... need to go to the bathroom?"
"?"
After glancing at his biological dad, who was waggling his eyebrows at him, the little redhead’s brows—which were practically a copy of Leon’s—lifted ever so slightly. He instantly understood his old man’s "pee-escape" invitation and sensibly nodded along:
"Yeah, I had a bit too much to drink just now. I want to go pee."
"..."
Seeing the Taurus Director’s gaze suddenly sharpen like a knife, Leon silently opened his mouth, then could only force out an awkward smile.
Can you not tack on extra backstory?! Next time just say you need the bathroom!
"You kid, always putting anything in your mouth. Ahahaha... I’ll just step out first then..."
Utterly unable to withstand the Taurus Director’s "I’m cursing you out in my heart" stare, Leon gave two dry laughs, then decisively slipped out of the Taurus Star Palace with his dad-pitfalling redhead in his arms before she could snatch the child.
"You trying to mess with me?"
After running out with the little redhead who had just set him up, Leon, who had long since felt something was off, picked the little brat up and gave him a shake, narrowing his eyes as he questioned:
"Don’t tell me you didn’t do it on purpose. When you were making a fuss about coming along with me, I already felt something was wrong... Talk! What exactly are you trying to pull?"
"Father, you’ve misunderstood."
The little redhead said with a perfectly straight face:
"Over on my side, things are different from yours. Before I was even born, Grandma over there was already gone. I could only listen to Mom describe what she was like. So I switched with the me from this side, just to come here and see Grandma once."
"..."
So that’s how it is?
Looking at his redheaded son’s moist eyes, which held a trace of sorrow as if he were remembering someone, Leon’s expression softened a little. The hand that had been about to pinch the kid’s butt relaxed unconsciously.
Come to think of it, not every timeline is guaranteed to lead to a "good ending." On the timeline this kid came from, Lord Taurus probably ran into some kind of danger, so the kid... Wait a second! You coming to see the Taurus Director has nothing to do with you deliberately screwing me over, does it?
"Playing the pity card won’t work!"
Leon grabbed his redheaded son’s little butt and hardened his heart, saying with a cold face:
"Don’t bat those eyes. Even if you keep acting cute, I’m not going soft! And playing dumb won’t work either. All these tricks are leftovers from when your Aunt Melanie was your age! You definitely did this on purpose!"
"No, I didn’t, I just..."
"You did! You absolutely did!"
Watching his son’s little head shake like a rattle drum, lying with about seventy percent of the red-haired Director’s flair, Leon took a deep breath, tightened his grip just a bit, and asked darkly:
"Did you pull this stunt because you wanted Lord Taurus to get the wrong idea about me and Olivia? And the drinking act was fake too, right? Even if Olivia really let you touch alcohol, Anna would definitely keep an eye on you. There’s no way I believe you’d dare drink like that!
So you went out of your way to act that outrageous so that Lord Taurus wouldn’t be able to stand it, and she’d go confront Olivia in private, and then... she’d think of some way to push me and Olivia together?"
"..."
"..."
"Hehe~"
Hehe my ass! You little brat!
Watching his son let out a dry chuckle and then bolt, his head of red hair quickly turning black, Leon immediately felt a surge of toothache and knew he had probably guessed right.
Thinking back on it now, it was probably not just him. That son who suddenly came to report that the Graveyard Dominator wanted to grab the Underworld sub-bureau was most likely lying too.
As for the goal... it probably wasn’t that different from this redhead’s: to get me stationed at the Underworld sub-bureau, living with Emma day and night for five months, and then find a way to push me and Emma together. That’s really...
You can only say that while none of these sons would actually harm him, not a single one of them had anything good in mind. They all had their own agendas, and when it came to lying, they had one scheme on top of another. Who knows who they learned it from.
"This time you’re actually you, right?"
After taking a look at the son who had reopened his eyes, Leon said a bit wearily:
"How about we set up a secret code only you know the answer to? Based on the moral standards you’ve just demonstrated, I have a feeling there’ll definitely be other yous impersonating you in the future, tricking me into doing all sorts of nonsense..."
"Father, listen to me!"
Ignoring Leon’s request for a code, the son—who’d just come back from who-knows-which world—kept a straight little face and earnestly reminded him:
"Someone’s going to come to you for help very soon. You can save them or not, it’s up to you. But whether you save them or not, you absolutely have to bring my Uncle Taurus along. Don’t you dare forget!"
