I! Cleaner!
Chapter 256 - 256: 0216 Twin Mirrored Lakes_1

???

He didn't even bother to struggle, just confessed directly?

Faced with the Aquarius Director who simply laid down and admitted guilt, the six Branch Directors who stepped forward to accuse him were momentarily taken aback.

Even though they had gathered so much evidence with the goal of leaving the Aquarius Director with no defense and dragging him off for memory reading, his straightforward confession still took everyone by surprise.

"However~"

After glancing at the six Branch Directors, the Aquarius Director's lips curled slightly, and he said slowly and deliberately,

"Although 'I' did all these things, they can't be entirely attributed to me. While I am indeed guilty, it's not to the extent of being dragged off for memory reading."

"Aquarius Director, could you please make yourself clearer?"

Hearing this, the Purification Bureau's Director frowned and warned,

"Besides, my time is limited, so stop playing riddles.

If I haven't understood your point before the time flow in the Old Land restores, I'll have to assume you're trying to delay me from voting, and I'll cast my vote directly on the side that wishes to dismiss you."

"Sorry, as one gets older the brain slows down, and I like to speak a bit more carefully, haha."

Faced with the Director's relentless threat, the Aquarius Director chuckled and casually apologized, then leisurely continued,

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm not as straightforward as Taurus His Excellency, nor am I used to being the focus of many people's attention, so I've never revealed my true identity.

But now that I'm forced to this point, it seems I can only unveil it myself... In addition to being the Aquarius Director, I am also the former Branch Director of the Gemini Sub-bureau."

...

The former Branch Director of the Gemini Sub-bureau?!

Upon hearing the Aquarius Director's words, the Branch Directors immediately turned their eyes to the current Gemini Sub-bureau's Director, hoping for his confirmation. After a moment of silence, the Gemini Sub-bureau's Director opened his mouth expressionlessly and retorted,

"According to the bureau's records, the former Branch Director was driven into the deep rift of Perambulate Sea's seabed during the mediation of the war between the Sea Race and the crustal creatures. He was supposed to have wandered into the depths of the Earth Core by accident and should be dead."

"I did die, but not thoroughly... However, that is unrelated to what I want to say. To avoid the Director voting to dismiss me, I'll leave that story for later."

After waving away the mist that obscured his face, revealing his features more clearly, the Aquarius Director calmly said,

"Just like the Virgo Sub-bureau's Director needs to guard the Thirteen Ant Nests, the Gemini Sub-bureau's Director is also responsible for guarding a Numbered Anomalous Object called Twin Mirrored Lakes, listed in the main bureau's file as 021.

As the former Branch Director of the Gemini Sub-bureau, I was the guardian of the Twin Mirrored Lakes, which you should be able to verify, right? My face should be familiar to you."

The Gemini Sub-bureau's Director was silent for a moment again, then nodded and said,

"That's right, there is indeed such a thing."

"It's good that you can verify it."

The Aquarius Director nodded slightly and then continued to explain,

"Every drop of water in the Twin Mirrored Lakes is a near-zero thickness double-sided crystal. Two hundred billion drops stacked together are only as thick as a human thumbnail, so they can be carried closely on the body. When I went to execute the mediation task, I took this item with me.

That mission was indeed extremely dangerous, and before escaping into the deep rift, I thought I was already doomed. If my body had fallen into the hands of the sea folks, once they opened the container holding the Twin Mirrored Lakes, the two hundred billion drops of water would merge with the ocean and gradually spread across the world with currents and evaporation."

As he spoke here, the Aquarius Director paused slightly, then looked around at the expressions of the people and said somewhat sadly,

"I mentioned earlier that every drop of the twin water in the Twin Mirrored Lakes is a natural mirror, but what I didn't say is that intelligent creatures reflected in these mirrors will immediately split into two identical individuals. If these two hundred billion drops of twin water were to merge into the ocean, the consequences would be unimaginable.

So, in desperation, I had no choice but to drink all the twin water, charge towards the deepest part of the trench, and head straight for the Earth's heart, hoping to disappear with this thing. Unfortunately, I didn't succeed in the end..."

"No need to continue. I already understand your point."

Interrupting the Aquarius Director's narrative, the Purification Bureau's Director frowned and said,

"You're trying to tell us that after drinking the twin water, another you was created and did all those things?"

"Even though it sounds like an excuse, that is indeed the fact."

Nodding in recognition of the Director's statement, the Aquarius Director said with a face of resignation,

"After all, it was my negligence and a personal disgrace, so I never reported it to the bureau but chased it privately, hoping to remedy the mistake with my methods.

Regrettably, the other me replicated by the twin water has the same abilities as me, and despite chasing him for so many years, I've never succeeded.

But seeing as he acted covertly, and the damage caused over the years wasn't significant, and even some Anomalous Objects he created added extra 'income' for the bureau, I selfishly covered it up.

I'm sorry, I indeed violated the bureau's rules, and as atonement, I am willing to resign voluntarily, step down as Aquarius Director, and continue leading the pursuit of the other me. Is this punishment sufficient?"

"..."

...

Enough of this nonsense! Isn't this just playing tricks?

Having listened to the Aquarius Director's given reasoning, the Red-haired Director couldn't help but darken his expression, while the Lion Bureau's Director Beverly was so angry she could almost explode, and couldn't help but stand up and shout angrily,

"If this counts as an explanation, wouldn't that mean anyone can commit any crime and simply say they have a duplicate, and it was the duplicate who did the bad deed?

Also, you were the only one present during these incidences, how are we supposed to know whether you're telling the truth? If I were to come to your house and kill you, could I claim that it was my duplicate?"

"It's not impossible."

Patiently waiting for Beverly to finish, the Aquarius Director, with a tear-streaked face, replied with a chuckle,

"As long as you can come up with a second Twin Mirrored Lakes and replicate a duplicate capable of killing me, then even if I'm killed by someone named Beverly, I would firmly believe that the culprit must be the duplicate, not you. Does that answer satisfy you?"

"You!!!"

"Besides, there are other ways to prove what I said."

The Aquarius Director smiled and said:

"You can open the sealing instruments under the Gemini Sub-bureau to see if the Twin Mirrored Lakes have disappeared.

Additionally, those Directors who led the charge against me might cross-check their own records to see if there's any time discrepancy.

Is it possible that when you identified 'me,' the real me was actually doing something else in a different location?"

"No need to check."

After dismissing the Aquarius Director's suggestion and stopping Beverly from saying any more, and seeing the smiling Aquarius Director looking at him, filled with self-assurance, the Red-haired Director couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

Checking won't help, since if the Aquarius Director had the guts to mention these, he must have an "alibi," and if even two or three instances among those hundreds of appearances of the Aquarius Director confirming the position of the other Aquarius, the remaining records become worthless.

If I'm not mistaken, the Aquarius Director probably planned how to respond if discovered long before creating Anomalous Objects on a large scale, and perhaps even prepared this excuse twenty or thirty years ago.

In these twenty or thirty years, as long as he appeared deliberately in two places at the same time a few times, that would be enough to prove the reality of the "duplicate."

And given the Director's status in the bureau, without concrete evidence, it's impossible to drag him in for memory reading. As for the consequences created by the so-called duplicate, he's already volunteered to resign, so what else can be done?

It seems we're losing this inquiry, losing to our lack of preparation.

Beverly and I only gathered a month's worth of evidence for this inquiry, whereas the Aquarius Director prepared for at least twenty years for today, how could we possibly compete with that?