Chapter 23: 0019 Don't ask, because it's an explosion (Part 2)_1
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"Hmm... indeed, it really was just an accident."
Watching Wen Yan comforting his sister, whose complexion had clearly improved, Leon felt a slight relief from the burden on his heart and smiled as he concurred.
...
Yes, the uncontrollable Afflicted incident that affected four to five hundred people yesterday turned into an accidental incident after the "main culprit" was shot dead by Leon and Senior Emma submitted the incident report.
According to the red-haired Director, hidden beneath the Purification Bureau Headquarters was an anomalous object of astonishingly high hierarchy.
Once Purification Bureau employees completed their clean-up task and submitted the incident report, the rules of that anomalous object would be triggered, forcibly rewriting most eyewitnesses' related memories. This incident, for instance, was confused with a gas explosion accident.
In the memory of Anna and others, the gas pipeline of the hospital cracked first, causing the first explosion. This explosion happened to shatter the storeroom containing anesthetics, spreading a large amount rapidly through the ventilation ducts, resulting in the collective unconsciousness of hundreds of patients and medical staff.
The subsequent second explosion occurred on the sixth floor, where the director's office was located, and the fourth floor, where the special care ward was. The director of Red Brick Road Hospital was killed immediately, and the special care ward where Anna was also was blown to a mess.
Fortunately, she smelled the gas leak in advance and decisively hung outside the window with two nurses, barely saving her life, though her leg was cut by falling glass from above, and another nurse fell seriously injured with multiple joint injuries.
Just when the third explosion was about to occur, luckily Leon and his colleagues, who came to visit her, arrived in time to shut off the gas valve, preventing a greater disaster, saving the lives of hundreds in the hospital.
...
Yes, that reportedly incredible anomalous object, when "covering up the incident," even considered the mental health of Purification Bureau employees, deliberately leaving Leon and his colleague's "merits" intact so they wouldn't lose balance from saving people but not getting respect.
Even more bizarre, to facilitate the Purification Bureau's report for bonuses, it even supplemented the victims' memories with the detail of the Bureau investigating Red Brick Road Hospital's overcharging issue after receiving public reports, showing a touch of thoughtful humanity and a slight lack of shame.
After hearing about such preposterous operations, Leon, who understood the difference between "program" and "artificial intelligence," almost instinctively questioned this anomalous object, feeling that something so adaptable obviously had its own intelligence, thinking it should have issues, rather than merely functioning strictly according to rules.
However, Leon received the reply from the red-haired Director that this anomalous object inherently had a brain and was simply a brain itself.
This high-level anomalous object capable of distorting memories was originally an Evil God, hastily arrived without adequate preparation and was captured alive.
After its destruction by the Purification Bureau, it was discovered to have exceptional memory alteration abilities, hence its brain was directly extracted and placed into an anomalous object named the Illusion Can, crafted specifically for wrapping up large-scale events.
However, due to its dangerously formidable ability to alter group memories, if left in the hands of an individual, extremely serious consequences might arise, thus the activation conditions are rigorous, requiring more than half agreement from twelve directors before use. Normally, it lies buried underground, running autonomously, only for use in extremely dangerous situations.
...
So, what exactly does extremely dangerous mean? Or, more bluntly, if someone wants to target the Purification Bureau, does that count as extremely dangerous?
When hearing the red-haired Director saying this, Leon almost instantly thought of the definition of "dangerous," unraveling a massive mystery—why would the nations in this world allow organizations like the Purification Bureau to exist? Even actively cooperate?
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They probably are not willing but must cooperate!
After all, just the Brain of the Evil God capable of altering group memory alone is enough for all intrigued kingdoms to take a step back. And God knows how long the history of the Purification Bureau is, what other peculiar things it might be hiding?
Through this news, having indirectly learned how powerful the Purification Bureau really is, Leon was now quite sure he would be bound to this secretive organization for life.
Standing on the front lines guarding humanity, knowing the truth of the world, possessing abilities far beyond ordinary people... just these are already hard to refuse, not to mention Purification Bureau's high treatment, excellent welfare, and even official kingdom establishment.
Especially the establishment, heard in the Capital City's dating market now, those with official establishment, regardless of gender, are particularly attractive...
*Hiss... wait a minute, wasn't I prepared to stay single until death? Why did I suddenly think of dating? Was I triggered by something today? Or, as the Black Goat said, have I reached an age eager to move?*
...
"Brother? Brother! What's wrong with you?"
Shouting several times without getting a response, Anna, sipping fish soup, couldn't help blinking in perplexity.
Watching her brother, whose expressions alternated between severe and somewhat shy, the frail girl thought a while, placing the milky-white fish soup back on the bedside, then lifted her right hand to cover her pink lips, slightly oily from the soup, and coughed lightly in a low, suppressed voice.
"Hmm?"
Hearing this repressed cough that had kept him constantly worried for more than two years, Leon, almost reflexively, instantly snapped out of his wandering thoughts.
He hurriedly glanced at the girl on the bed, relieved only after seeing Anna just gave a light cough with no further sign, then stretched to pick up the soup bowl on the bedside table, saying somewhat embarrassedly,
"I was just thinking about work and didn't attend to you for a moment... Why did you cough just now? Did it go down the wrong way? Should I feed you instead?"
"No... hmm..."
Watching Leon immediately look over hearing the cough, the frail girl's eyes slightly warmed, shaking her head intending to say she hadn't choked, but seeing the spoon already near her mouth, she reconsidered and didn't refuse.
Supporting herself on Leon's arm, shifting back to lean against the cushion he brought over, the frail girl leaned against the bedhead, drinking the spoonfed fish soup in small sips again.
But for some reason, having drunk most of the bowl by herself earlier, she now occasionally let out gentle coughs, then, when questioned with concern by Leon, smiled faintly, nodded, and waited contently for the next spoon of fish soup...
*Mom, Dad, are you watching over me?*
*If possible, I wish you could make this bowl of soup last a bit longer, so that my brother can stay with me a little while more, though not too much longer, just a few more sips will do...*
"Knock, knock."
The sound of knuckles tapping glass interrupted the frail girl's prayers.
The two in the ward looked towards the sound, then surprisingly discovered that a girl with red eyes had arrived outside the door at some unknown time.
The baby-faced girl appeared around the same age as them, likely sixteen or seventeen, but donned a mature professional suit and bore a delicate nameplate on her chest.
Judging by her looks, she might have already started working, possibly even for several years, but for some reason, there was an odd incongruity about her, as if unused to wearing such attire.
"I'm from the gas company. I was the one who signed off on the hospital's pipeline inspection. I... am sorry!"
Upon receiving Leon and Anna's permission, the girl, with slight eye rings and teary eyes, cautiously pushed the door open and entered. Without further ado, she bowed deeply at ninety degrees towards Leon, tearfully saying,
"This whole matter is my fault!
If I had been more rigorous during inspection, the pipeline here might not have exploded, nor would it have caused your wife to jump and get injured! Rest assured, I will ensure satisfactory compensation for you!"
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