I! Cleaner!

"Okay..."

Before he even started to complain, the "His Majesty the King" preemptively blocked his attempt, making the head of Research Area 1 choke back his words. He speculated that His Majesty might be dissatisfied with his recent progress, and hurriedly reported:

"Right, Your Majesty, the fifteen main research projects in Area 1 have been relatively stable in progress lately. However, the four projects concerning artificial souls, aging delay, memory transfusion, and mental materialization are still unchanged for now, just like before..."

"Hmm, I understand."

After listening to the report from the head of Research Area 1, Prince Andre nodded from his lounge chair and continued in a stern, authoritative tone:

"Compared to the other eleven projects, these four are indeed more challenging. Not only are they not very related to what you've learned in the past, but the timeline for their commencement has been short too. Only after capturing those Cleaners recently did the research slightly get on track. I can understand the lack of progress for now."

Whew... It seems I've managed to pass.

Just as the head of Research Area 1 was secretly breathing a sigh of relief, the tone of the "His Majesty the King" subtly shifted, tapping the armrest twice forcefully, speaking with notable dissatisfaction:

"But what about the other studies? Why are they only stable?

How much energy have I allocated over the years? How much budget support have I given you? Each time, the answer you give me is that progress is stable, but in the end? Why is there none that you can present?"

"..."

Bad luck... Should've known better than to complain...

Facing the stern questioning of "His Majesty the King," the back of the head of Research Area 1 faintly showed signs of sweat, but he could only respond with grit:

"Well... as you know, Your Majesty, each of the fifteen research projects in Area 1 is a grand study. If any achieves substantive results, it will be worthy of an added day of festivity in the calendar of our Crolock Kingdom.

For research of this magnitude, it's certainly not feasible to see results in a short time. The timeframe generally spans decades and might need several generations to maintain before yielding even minimal results, so..."

"So while I'm alive, chances are slim that any of these research projects will come to fruition, right?"

"That... can't be said for certain..."

After stealthily wiping sweat from his forehead, the head of Research Area 1 said awkwardly:

"Many studies in Research Areas 2-18, although not as significant as those in Area 1, share correlations. If those related studies achieve significant breakthroughs, the progress of our Area 1 may also leap forward significantly."

"Then tell me, how many more steps must you take to have even one project implemented before I die?"

"Well... the progress of research isn't precise enough to quantify, so it's hard to say, but I estimate many more steps are needed..."

"Fine, then you keep on taking those steps!"

After tiring out the head of Research Area 1, Prince Andre felt relieved and casually crossed his legs, speaking leisurely:

"Research can wait; tell me, how are the preparations Andre ordered you to make?"

"Everything's ready!"

Seeing that His Majesty eventually stopped hounding about research progress and asked something he could confidently answer, the head of Research Area 1 immediately let out a long breath and eagerly replied:

"When those people from the Kingdom of Orleson arrived on the second day, we had already replaced the spray system's chemicals in the city, swapping the original insecticide and nutrient agent with adrenaline counter-agents soaked in the blood flesh of Gods.

The two Cleaners who hijacked Atifei-01 arrived later, and the effects aren't sure yet, but the Cleaners from the Kingdom of Orleson, having been sprayed for over a week, already can't raise their reflex speed to inhuman levels.

Moreover, in all eight hundred sixty-four districts of both levels of the kingdom, we've placed stance stones extracted from abnormal objects, corresponding to each location. If attacked, the power will be directly dispersed across all districts, ensuring no significant destruction occurs!"

"Hmm, this task is indeed done well."

After hearing the report from the head of Research Area 1, Prince Andre nodded with satisfaction and lazily spoke with authority:

"Go focus on your research, aim to present at least one or two results before I die.

If you can accomplish that, everything will be negotiable. But if you can't, then on the day of my death, you, the head of Area 1, will join me in the Realm of the Dead, to keep working and show me the results!"

"Good... okay..."

Under the threat from "His Majesty the King" to either deliver results or come along, the neck of the head of Research Area 1 felt chilly, and he agreed meekly, not daring to speak further.

After the whole area grew silent, Prince Andre on the lounge chair released his hand, and the metal piece hanging at the end of the copper wire shot back swiftly into the hidden compartment on the other side of the bookshelf.

That person really is... somewhat capable, yet increasingly irritating.

Glancing at the hidden compartment on the bookshelf, ensuring it was completely shut and wouldn't be discovered, Prince Andre could not help but sigh, then laid his legs on the footrest and leaned back in contemplation.

The hardest part of dealing with Cleaners isn't their bizarre abilities. After all, apart from a few who can destroy a city in a short time, most Cleaners' destructive power is merely moderate.

Moreover, with the Crolock Kingdom's far superior technological level compared to other countries, it wouldn't be much harder to destroy a city if one were to deploy the products from the military industrial sectors. Facing a confrontation with a Zodiac Branch Director, we might not necessarily lose.

The problem, however, lies with those Zodiac Branch-level Cleaners mastering such destructive power individually, being way more flexible than a corp of mobilized hot weapons.

Coupled with those bizarre abnormal objects, if they desire to infiltrate and perform some actions, it's true that you wouldn't even know where to block them. After all, you can't just aim the guns at the entire Crolock Kingdom and just cleanse it, right?

So either simply leave them alone and pretend they don't exist, or deliver an all-out strike when the time comes, ensuring a decisive attack when action is unavoidable.

As for whether action is necessary now...

After frowning and pondering for a while, Prince Andre stood up and walked to the balcony, searched the shelf beside him twice, and found a black owl mask covered in dust, pressing it forcefully onto his face.

Phew...

A smoky haze spread across, revealing the familiar bone long table in the fog-covered strange space, but it was different from before; the positions around the table were mostly empty, with only two silhouettes drawn in.

"Are you... Black Owl?"

Identifying the mask on the opposite side, the hooded figure behind Prince Andre lifted his head, revealing a masked snake face.

"What's up? Did you come across something suddenly?"

"I need reinforcements."

After succinctly stating his request, Andre, behind the Black Owl mask, said:

"Xue Xiao has been captured by the Clean-up Bureau, and now is the time to act. My arrangements might not work against the Zodiac Director, so I hope you can provide support to help me kill the Scorpio Branch's Director!"