I will guard the Aquarius Branch to prevent the Slaughter King Association from using a diversion to attack Rehe City; while you continue the pursuit to stop them from unlocking the "Seal" and releasing the Third Earth Tribes from the Stone Marrow Realm?
After pondering the suggestion from the Aquarius Branch Chief for a moment and not finding any obvious flaws, Leon quickly nodded in agreement.
"I have no objections."
"Then let's arrange it this way first!"
Seeing how easily they reached a consensus with Leon, the Aquarius Chief in the mirror couldn't help but smile. He then looked sympathetically at the silently standing female Cleaner by his side, and took the initiative to bid farewell:
"Then I'll be on my way. I'll leave the Aquarius Branch to you!"
"It's not a bother, it's what I should do."
After a few words finalized the action plan and established their respective tasks, the small mirror's smooth surface wavered slightly. The mist that seemed to have seeped into it suddenly cleared, returning to its mirror-like brightness.
Having finished the conversation, Leon looked at the small mirror reflecting the female Cleaner's face, which was clearly overshadowed by an extremely low mood, and couldn't help but frown slightly.
...
It's done.
After observing Leon's face disappearing from the small mirror, the Chief of the Aquarius Branch flashed a satisfied smile.
Suddenly, his slightly cloudy eyes became clear, the loose skin on his face gradually tightened, the dark age spots lightened, and his cheekbones and jawline slightly retracted. The once aggressive face quickly softened, and then...
was firmly covered by a white wolf head mask.
"Are you relieved now?"
Adjusting the wolf head mask so that it fit snugly on his face, Snow Wolf looked up at the Raven Masked Man opposite and said in a calm voice:
"I've already pacified that Food God, he shouldn't be entering the underground passage, we can set off now!"
"..."
"What's the matter?"
Seeing the still hesitant Raven Masked Man, Snow Wolf couldn't help but frown slightly before asking:
"Dongya, besides that Food God, is there something else that concerns you?"
"I'm worried... pretending to be the Aquarius Branch Chief, can you really avoid being discovered?"
The Raven Masked Man expressed doubt:
"Although Leon hasn't been with the Clean-up Bureau for long, he's done quite a bit following the Scarlet Hair Lady and picked up on her suspicious nature entirely. He wouldn't let go of any doubtful pointsโare you sure you haven't given yourself away?"
"Dongya, are you overestimating him a bit?"
Seeing the Raven Masked Man still uneasy at this point, Snow Wolf spoke with slight dissatisfaction:
"I admit he is careful and cautious, even stopping the conversation just to question the fog on the mirror and confirm my identity before continuing the dialogue.
But no matter how vigilant he is, he can't discover everything. Even the personal grandniece of the Aquarius Branch Chief didn't realize I was an impostor. How could an outsider who has never interacted with Baltro see through it?"
"..."
Indeed...
Listening to Snow Wolf's rebuttal, the Raven Masked Man couldn't help but nod subconsciously, feeling a little less anxious.
From the perspective of an observer, Snow Wolf's performance was indeed flawless and his portrayal of the Aquarius Chief's personality could be considered outstanding.
After noticing Leon's suspicion, he immediately cooperated by cleaning the mirror and casually mentioned two anecdotes from the female Cleaner's childhood, gaining the other's trust and temporarily alleviating doubts.
When unexpected situations arose, and the General Clean-up Bureau had already informed the Food God about some of the situation, he seamlessly shifted the conversation, recounting the circumstances of the three Earth Tribes during that time, capturing the character perfectly... at least I didn't notice any flaws.
"Rest assured! He can't do anything now!"
After waiting a while without hearing from the Raven Masked Man, Snow Wolf couldn't suppress his impatience and said:
"Even if Leon is frighteningly shrewd and detects something amiss, we've already entered the molten path, and we're not far from the Earth's core by now.
Everything is set in motion. No matter how smart or ruthless he is, it will take time to catch up. By the time he does, we'll have finished everything and made our escape!"
"You're right."
After nodding in agreement, the Raven Masked Man finally escaped the influence of the Authority of Fear, regaining his composure upon hearing that Leon wouldn't catch up.
However, once his mind returned, he vaguely felt something was off and couldn't help but scrutinize Snow Wolf before him, asking with a hint of confusion:
"Snow Wolf, how do you know..."
"You two... really made it hard to find you!"
A voice brimming with annoyance suddenly rang from behind them, the overwhelming anger in the tone made both of them flinch in fright.
No way? He actually caught up?
Turning back with eyes full of horror, and seeing the blue-haired old man with a grim face in pursuit, the Raven Masked Man exclaimed:
"Snow Wolf? Didn't you lead him away with an illusion? How did he still catch up?"
"I tried my best."
Glancing at the Aquarius Chief behind them, eyes closed and ears covered, even with floral cloths stuffed in his nose, navigating purely by touch, Snow Wolf sighed and said with tightly knitted brows:
"The illusion and fake sounds I left behind indeed could momentarily affect what he sees and hears, but he shut off these senses and relied entirely on touch and intuition to find the wayโwhat could I have done?"
"Then think of something!"
As he instinctively started to run, seeing the blue-haired old man getting closer, Dongya, while rushing desperately, urged anxiously:
"Hurry and think! You must have a plan! If he catches up, it's over!"
"..."
Honestly, when you chose your mask, did you mistakenly take the Moon Boar's? Compared to a cold and sinister Dongya, you seem more like a silly screaming pig!
Seeing his panicked companion, whose mental state crumbled upon Leon's arrival and lost a lot of time, which caused them to get chased by the Aquarius Chief, Snow Wolf sighed again. He reached out and gestured, dividing the increasingly fiery path beneath into two, then pointed to the path on the left.
"Go up! You're safe if you go up!"
"Ah... okay!"
Hearing Snow Wolf's words, the bewildered Raven Masked Man heaved a sigh of relief, quickly following the instructions, and then asked:
"Then what? What should I do next?"
"..."
"Snow Wolf?"
"..."
Realizing something was wrong, Dongya suddenly looked back and was shocked to find that Snow Wolf, who had been by his side, disappeared with a few gentle sways and reappeared far ahead.
Even more terrifyingly, as Snow Wolf moved away, the molten path beneath Dongya wavered, causing everything to spin dramatically.
This seemingly new path leading to the Earth's core was actually spiraling upwards, and with his dual trajectory, the face of the Aquarius Chief, twisted with rage and engulfed in flames of destruction, had already reached him.
"How dare you use illusions to fool me!"
Feeling certain elements moving away, with eyes tightly shut, the Aquarius Chief angrily shouted into the distance:
"Don't run! I must get you... ouch, what the heck?"
