Odd Containment Specialist.

Chapter 1142 Seven-Day Mini-Holiday (4K)

Xia Shou pretended not to understand and walked towards the office area on his own. Alice followed closely behind Xia Shou like a personal attendant, attracting the attention of many people along the way.

There are quite a few people in the Control Bureau who know Xia Shou, but because of the Control Bureau's rapid elimination mechanism, the turnover of personnel is extremely fast.

Aside from a few people who have been paying close attention to him, most people rely on certain distinctive features to identify him. Therefore, in the eyes of most people in the Control Bureau, Xia Shou is a man with a beautiful possessing spirit following him.

But now, Alice has become a real person, and the visual experience of Alice in her real state is completely different from that of Alice in the possessed state.

It's impossible for such a stunning blind woman not to turn heads in the bureau.

When Natsumori pushed open the door to the third department, the first thing he saw was Kirigakure Goro, who looked much fatter than yesterday, writing a report.

Baihe and Moying were both absent, and Kehen was also in the office, which was unusual for him, but he was sleeping on his desk, perhaps because he had stayed up all night.

Against the wall, there was a folding bed where Jiang Wengao, wearing an eye mask, was fast asleep. Meanwhile, behind a pile of documents in another corner, the sound of Li Ming typing away on a keyboard could be heard.

Su Yue isn't in the office; perhaps she's doing a live stream?

Well, that girl's always hanging around him, distracting him.

By the way, where's Wei Yu?

Wei Yu has been missing since yesterday. Given her usual behavior, she should have come looking for him yesterday.

It wasn't that he wanted that, but after being apart for so long, he really missed her.

She used to be there when nothing was wrong, but now she's not there when he should be. He's always surrounded by the minister or Alice, which is making him very upset.

Ugh... I feel like I'm already getting a headache before I even start working. What will my life be like from now on? Why does it feel a little scary?
Xia Shou settled down at his workstation, and as soon as he sat down, Wu Yin Goro across from him began to chatter on about his experiences on this mission.

Xia Shou gave perfunctory replies, his ears receiving the information while his mind was occupied with other things.

Xia, are you even listening to me?

"I'm listening. It's great news that you've managed to subdue the abnormal entity sealed within your body. I'll treat you to a celebration when you're on vacation, and I'll book the best restaurant." Xia Shou casually brushed it off, while simultaneously throwing out his effective money tactic.

However, Goro Kirigakure wasn't buying it: "No! Is that the point? You've completely missed the point I was talking about! It's the Lucky Dice! I stole their legacy ninja tool from Amegakure, and from now on, I'm the true God of Gamblers!"

"Oh."

"Tsk, it's no fun talking to you." Goro looked annoyed, but continued to mutter to himself, "Anyway, I've made up my mind. Now that Namaru is taken care of, I don't want anything more from the department head. After I pay back the money I owe the department head, I'll resign and go back to my hometown to marry Ms. Kamiya."

Xia Shou paused, mouse in hand, and casually asked, "How much money do you owe?"

"It's only about thirty million."

Xia Shou couldn't help but laugh out loud, thinking that Fatty really had the talent to be a crosstalk comedian.

"What are you laughing at? With this die, thirty million is a piece of cake! Just you wait and see, I'm going to be the first to jump out of this fire pit~"
Ah, before coming back this time, I went to see Ms. Kamiya again. Ms. Kamiya is so beautiful. Thinking about spending the rest of my life with Ms. Kamiya makes me feel even more lucky.

Xia, I hope you'll find true love soon. Love is truly the most beautiful thing in the world.

"Hehe... Hey, Xiao Li, besides the work I've already accumulated, what else has the minister assigned me?" Xia Shou ignored this clown and shouted loudly at the mountain of documents.

Li Ming's voice immediately came from behind the mountain of documents:

"Just hand over your previous projects to Fatty. The minister said she has special arrangements for you and will talk to you about it personally later."

"Is that so?" Xia Shou took the coffee Alice had brewed and pondered it carefully.

Then, he glanced at Jiang Wengao, who was still sleeping.

The issues from the Scarred Era should have been resolved by now, right?
Sprite was destroyed, the Heart of the Rending King was also destroyed, and even Vero has now been contained.

Although Zhang Heping is still on the run somewhere, he shouldn't be able to cause any trouble.

However, while there's no problem with the King of Rift, the situation with the former Perpetual Calendar has always been unsettling.

The leader of the Six-Eyed Cult, along with the two brothers from the British royal family and Kanae, went to the historical context connected to Angang's family.

Although Angang Heiyue said that the seven-pronged door had been opened by Yinmingzi, the Control Bureau was still at a loss about the altar in the shrine for two days after taking over Angang's family.

Having just finished reading the book, his mind was not yet clear, but now, reflecting on Yin Mingzi's actions, he could discover many suspicious points.

First, Yin Mingzi kidnapped Daniel for Daniel's book launch ceremony, and she did indeed get her hands on it.

It's important to know that Daniel never reached a binding contract with Yinmingzi in the end, which means... Yinmingzi could actually kill Daniel.

But instead, she sent Daniel back, as if hoping he would come out of the book.

“The former Wan Nian Li was Lin Zhong Ma’s man. If Lin Zhong Ma wanted to oppose Mo Shi, then Yin Ming Zi’s actions would make sense,” Xia Shou muttered to himself.

Upon closer analysis, the Six Eyes Cult is not 100% an enemy.

Admittedly, the Six Eyes Cult's desire to facilitate the ascension of the previous ten-thousand-year calendar conflicted with the Control Bureau's stance.

However, if we elevate our perspective and ignore the potential impact and damage a proxy might cause in the future, and consider the act of killing a god, then... the ascension of a pre-eternal calendar is not entirely unacceptable.

Jin Fenglong clearly stated last time that if the Demon Poems were allowed to continue to exist, then humanity would inevitably face extinction.

If the birth of a proxy could prevent human extinction, the Bureau of Control would likely become the biggest supporter of the former perpetual calendar.

However, this is just speculation without evidence, and no one knows the true purpose of the Six Eyes Cult.

Moreover... I always feel that there are some things I haven't thought through clearly.

"Of course you haven't thought it through, because you've never liked using your brain since you were little."

A young voice suddenly rang out beside Xia Shou.

Xia Shou almost instinctively looked in the direction from which the sound came.

He recognized the voice, but it couldn't possibly be here!
Because that was Shangguan Yan's voice when he was young!
He turned his head and saw eighteen-year-old Shangguan Yan standing against the wall, wearing a high school uniform, smiling at him with narrowed eyes.

how is this possible! !
Xia Shou's eyes widened in shock.

At the same time, Xia Shou also noticed that no one else in the office had noticed the young Shangguan Yan!
Holy crap! It's delusional disorder!
Xia Shou looked up at Alice standing beside him, and Alice looked back at him with a puzzled expression.

Alice can't see it either?
That's why I didn't remind him immediately?
Alice, no longer in her possessed state, no longer had the ability to automatically alert him to the hallucination. Instead, he reacted to the hallucination due to past habits.

"Crack!"

The office door was pushed open, and Shangguan Yan, with a small ponytail and dressed in a smart black suit, walked into the room. Xia Shou saw the young Shangguan Yan from high school and the adult Shangguan Yan standing side by side in front of him.

"Xia, what are you daydreaming about?" Shangguan Yan, with that enigmatic smile, raised his hand and pointed at Xia Shou's forehead. "Come to my office."

After saying that, Shangguan Yan walked into the minister's office.

In Xia Shou's illusion, the young Shangguan Yan raised an eyebrow slightly: "Come with me! Maybe it'll be one-on-one tutoring like when we were in school."

Xia Shou was panicking inside, but he pretended to be calm and continued his previous strategy, pretending that he could not see the illusion.

He got up and went into the minister's office, where Shangguan Yan was sitting calmly flipping through a report.

"Modis said that you have a slight psychological problem. The last psychological test showed that your desires have changed slightly."

"But Modis told me that not much has changed!"

"But things have changed. Of course, I have a lot of faith in you, so I won't take Mordis's advice. However, you'd better consult Jin Fenglong. You two have a good relationship, don't you?"

Xia Shou nodded thoughtfully, thinking that he really needed to have a good talk with Jin Fenglong. Whether it was delusional disorder or the influence of the life in the book, it had a great impact on him.

"Although this mission was very complicated, it was ultimately resolved satisfactorily. The Sprite incident has been sealed by the higher-ups and marked as an SS-level case."

You performed exceptionally well in this mission, and the Council of Scepters has high hopes for you, granting you limited confidentiality. So, for now, you can rest assured that your secrets, whether it's the Dead Record Notes or your special ability, are known only to a select few.

Of course, the director, Modis, and Qiao Xin all knew about the existence of the Dead Record Notes. There was nothing that could be done about it, because you were crippled by Vero's bite and no longer had the normal ability to keep secrets.

The entire book procurement plan involves a large number of people. Without these insiders, the plan would be extremely difficult to implement, so... there's no other way.

However, they will keep it a secret; they have all made this promise under the witness of the waning moon.

Besides, you are quite capable and have great research value; the director and Mordis both value you highly.

As long as you continue to perform well, I'll handle the other minor issues.

"Thank you, Minister." Xia Shou sighed wearily.

This is the best possible outcome. In fact, Xia Shou didn't expect the secret of recording the notes to be kept forever.

If it were when he first joined the department, then for the Bureau of Control, the value of his death-taking notes outweighed his personal value, and he could indeed have been killed.

But now, he has become quite valuable to the Bureau of Control. Even if he has the Dead Records, the Bureau of Control would not do anything to him in order to forcibly divide the records.

As long as the most crucial Merlin's House and his identity as a god-slayer remain unexposed, there shouldn't be a major problem.

He doesn't want to get involved in overly complicated struggles right now.

"That's all I wanted to say. In view of your performance this time, as well as the other binding conditions, the Director has decided to raise your Cleaner level to LV5, and the additional extraneous tags will be sealed in the Council's archives."

Then there are bonuses, privileges, and so on. Detailed benefits will be sent to your email later, so you can take a good look.

Also... I'll give you a short week-long break. Mordis said he wants to collect some research data.

He believes that the ultra-high-pressure working environment I have arranged for you for a long time has limited your ability to perform.

It was also said that an overly oppressive work environment would cause you to lose your ability to empathize with ordinary people and negatively impact your understanding of the Bureau's philosophy.

So he suggested that I arrange a vacation for you.

The number of days he proposed was too long. After discussion, we agreed that one week would be a timeframe within which we could roughly see initial changes.

At this point, Shangguan Yan paused for a moment and smiled, "I know, Xia, you have a lot on your mind, but enjoy this rare holiday... You know, inspiration never comes from logical thinking."

Often, extraordinary individuals lack the perspective of ordinary people, which is why they are blinded by a single leaf and cannot see the whole mountain.

Of course, how you spend your holiday is your choice. I'm just making the most appropriate arrangements. Perhaps you can have a good chat with Jin Fenglong tonight.

As he spoke, Shangguan Yan took out a gold card from the drawer and handed it to Xia Shou.

"This is a personal reward from your direct supervisor... Have a nice holiday."

……

……

Xia Shou, holding the gold card, walked out of the minister's office in a daze.

Just as Jiang Wengao, who had just gotten up, was about to speak, Shangguan Yan stopped him: "Starting today, Xia will have a seven-day holiday. No one is allowed to talk to him about work... except for eating, drinking and having fun."

"Xiao Gao, if there's anything urgent, you can report it to me first."

Jiang Wengao scratched his head: "Actually, it's not that important, but Minister... can I also take a vacation? I haven't had a proper night's sleep for several days."

"You? Hang in there a little longer. I'll give you a break once this busy period is over."

After saying that, Shangguan Yan patted Xia Shou on the shoulder: "Go."

Xia Shou scanned the office and did not see the hallucination of the young Shangguan Yan again.

He glanced at Kehen, who was still resting, and at Du Wulang, who was casting envious glances at him, and then walked step by step toward the door.

When he stepped out of the office and met Goro's gaze through the glass, Natsumori had the illusion of a bull freed from its shackles, looking at its own kind through a fence.

He felt an indescribable sense of disorientation, like someone who had spent decades in prison and was unable to reintegrate into society after his release.

He suddenly realized that Fatty would marry Miss Kamiya in the future, completely abandon the world of the supernatural, and live the life of an ordinary person.

But what about him?
He also longed for such a life, but he was entangled in countless threads that seemed impossible to sever.

"Lord Natsumori, what would you like to do during your vacation?"

"I don't know... I think I should see a psychologist first."

(End of this chapter)