I! Cleaner!

Was he making an excuse to be a bit lazy?

After hearing Leon's suggestion, the policewoman couldn't help but feel a slight stir in her heart. She instinctively wanted to agree, because even an extra hour of sleep seemed like a luxury, given how busy they'd been.

However, just then, she heard a loud bang next to her. Not far away, a male police officer, who was nodding off like a chicken pecking at grain, knocked his head into his own plate. If it weren't for a colleague nearby pulling him away, he might have fallen to the ground.

"Never mind..."

Glancing at the unlucky colleague, the policewoman couldn't help but sigh with a hint of melancholy, saying helplessly,

"Everyone is working so hard, if I slack off by myself, *I'd really feel guilty... Besides, I've been promoted quickly enough in the past two years. Many at the bureau already think I got my position through connections, and I don't want to give them more to gossip about.*"

"Alright then."

Casting a slightly admiring glance at the policewoman, Leon, feeling helpless, continued eating in silence. As the policewoman scooped some mashed potatoes, she suddenly remembered something and asked with concern,

"By the way, last time you asked for an order from me, saying you needed it to take some people on a dangerous mission and wanted to borrow some items from the Secret Investigation Bureau's spare parts depot. Have you returned those things yet?"

Those things… Although Senior Pioni returned to the bureau yesterday, those documents and uniforms should still be with the Rebels…

"Not yet..."

Knowing what he had used those items for, Leon replied with a slightly evasive look,

"Why? Does your bureau check the spare parts depot?"

"They generally don't check."

The policewoman shook her head,

"The management of the spare parts depot is lax; they might not check it for years. Yesterday, when I was helping with inventory, I even discovered that the depot's keepers had been embezzling. They've secretly been selling some items that aren't too sensitive for three years now."

Having withstood various kinds of scrutiny, Leon's voice was utterly calm. The policewoman, while eating, didn't notice anything unusual, and casually complained to Leon as though chatting at home,

"You know? A lot of people in our bureau basically don't keep track of stuff. If no one had attacked the Boarding Tower, those two rats could have easily gotten away with it, and the guys who just focus on catching people wouldn't have noticed the depot's issues.

But now everyone's working in overdrive, and the consumption of supplies has been too severe. They've ended up using everything in the depot, and when the numbers didn't add up, they did an inventory. I was even asked to help.

Soon after I submitted the report this morning, those two keepers embezzling materials were caught. So if you're done with them, you'd better return the items, explain the reason for borrowing, and make a proper record.

Though those keepers embezzled a lot of stuff and fake accounting over the past three years, it's not like they'd miss just a little of what you took, but better to confirm inventory so it doesn't look like I'm colluding to steal Bureau supplies."

"Oh..."

*There was still no possibility of returning them, never in this life. When passing through checkpoints, the serial numbers of those passes had been noted down. Returning them would cause havoc.*

Quickly finishing what was on his plate, Leon picked up the soup bowl from the policewoman's plate and gulped a mouthful, forcing the food down. He hurriedly stood up to take his leave,

"Well, I've got tasks to do today, so I'm off now!"

"That's my soup! And you... ah never mind, go, go!"

*Eating in such a hurry, it seems Leon's tasks at the Purification Bureau aren't easy as well…*

Watching Leon rush off, and seeing other colleagues not far away slumped in their chairs snoring, the policewoman couldn't help but empathize, letting out a sigh, and quickly finished the pudding on her plate. She then collected her and Leon's plates to the wash area, leaving the canteen and heading swiftly back to the Secret Investigation Bureau.

...

"Yisha! Come with me quickly!"

As she entered the Secret Investigation Bureau's first-floor hall, a familiar middle-aged female police officer came jogging over with excitement written all over her face,

"To the small meeting room on the third floor! There's a major discovery just now!"

A major discovery?!

*That would mean a possibility of catching the culprits, retrieving the lost items of the Crolock Kingdom, and finally escaping this hellish overtime.*

Hearing the words of her colleague, the policewoman couldn't hide a joyful gleam in her eyes, darting like a mother leopard into the stairwell, taking the stairs two at a time, heading straight to the small meeting room at the corner labelled "Temporary Command Center."

"Everyone! I have three exciting pieces of good news in my hand!"

The middle-aged man at the podium, whose speech was interrupted by the cheerful arrival of the policewoman, nodded kindly at her before continuing with his spirited speech,

"Over the past few days, my team has completed the investigation of all seven groups of checkpoints at the Boarding Tower, totaling 2,300 Guard Troops, and obtained the complete list of individuals who passed through the checkpoints on that day.

The first piece of good news is, after enduring sleepless nights and dedicated efforts for three days by the investigation team members, *we've ruled out 37 groups of people with normal travels, and narrowed our target down to five suspicious groups!*"

Only five groups left? *That truly was huge news!*

Hearing the newly appointed director of the Secret Investigation Bureau's announcement, the policewoman felt revitalized, the dark circles under her eyes fading a bit.

*Given the current efficiency at the bureau, they could investigate these five groups thoroughly within a week, let alone fifty groups!* It meant the case of the Rebels attacking the Boarding Tower was close to being solved!

Observing the delighted expressions on the officers below the podium, the man on stage nodded in satisfaction. Unable to restrain the upturn of his lips, he smiled widely and added,

"Regarding the second piece of good news… following the inventory of the spare parts depot this morning, four of these five groups can largely be ruled out!"

"What?!!!"

"Doesn't that mean we've already identified the target?"

"Praise the heavens! Finally no more overtime!"

"Director, you're amazing!"

Witnessing the commotion below, followed by admiring gazes directed at him, the middle-aged man on the podium couldn't help but press his lips tightly, trying to maintain the composure befitting a director.

However, when considering the significant merit awaiting him once the case was resolved, and his likely rise in career standing, he ultimately couldn't hold back, joy spread across his face as he announced,

"Indeed! We've preliminarily identified the target. Once we locate this group of individuals, there's a high probability of closing the case directly!"

"Fantastic!!!"

"The director never disappoints!"

"Get them! Get them!"

"Silence!"

Raising his hand to quiet the exhilarating atmosphere, the middle-aged man looked at Yisha, whose excitement mirrored those of her other colleagues, and thinking of her linkage to the Minister of Defense, he waved warmly at her.

"Lastly, besides the efforts made by myself and the investigation unit members, for this good news to be discovered, we owe thanks to one person…"

As the perplexed policewoman stepped onto the podium, the middle-aged man smiled and said,

"While everyone was overwhelmed with work and didn't want to focus on other matters, only Yisha diligently verified inventories, identifying most missing items from the spare parts depot!

To my embarrassment, when she submitted the inventory results this morning, I initially thought it was a fuss over nothing to divert attention from such critical times and check on objects nobody cared about.

However, with a spirit of responsibility, I glanced at her report. To my utter shock, I discovered that the serial numbers of the missing police credentials coincidentally matched the ones used by one of those five groups!"

Having deliberately emphasized his own conscientiousness, as well as a keen eye for suspicious numbers, the middle-aged man shared gleefully,

"While we'd run checks on these numbers before, proving them to be false leads involving already discarded police numbers, we focused on suspect individuals with access to the seal and didn't delve deeper.

Thanks to Yisha's diligence, we've now obtained pivotal new leads! Applause for her!"

"Oh!!"

"Yisha! Yisha!"

"Another overtime and I'd have been dead… Yisha, you saved my life!"

"Well… I honestly just stumbled upon the clue, no need to overstate it…"

Receiving overly grateful looks from her colleagues and feeling a bit embarrassed, the policewoman, despite her cheeks being slightly flushed with joy, waved her hands repeatedly and quickly changed the topic,

"Director, you mentioned three pieces of good news earlier. What's the last piece of news?"

"The final piece of news is, we've now identified partial features of the key suspect!"

The middle-aged man smiled and elaborated,

"According to the accounts from the two depot keepers, despite not having documented it, they vaguely recalled someone picking up the credentials and clothing before the Boarding Tower attack occurred, using a slip from a Secret Investigation Bureau member.

Though the lights in the depot were dim, making it seem like there was a haze over the person's face, they didn't remember the details too well, that slip also suddenly disappeared, but it seemed to be a slender young man wearing a black old coat!

As long as we find this person next, and ask about the whereabouts of those items, there's a strong chance we'll catch the entire group in one go! We are really just one step away from closing this case now!"

"Fantastic!"

"The case is closing! Finally closing!"

"Yisha! Yisha! You're my lifesaver, my Goddess!"

Amid the enthusiastic cheers of the secret police below, the middle-aged man laughed heartily, patting the policewoman's shoulder in full admiration and praise,

"We have you to thank for all this!

If it weren't for your meticulous efforts, we, going off in wrong investigative directions, would still have had to spend at least a month reaching this point, by which time the criminals might have fled!

Haha, remarkable! Next time I meet your father, I'll definitely… huh? What's wrong? Aren't you happy?"

"Happy… Very happy!"

Hearing the middle-aged man's query, amidst the director's previous words were a number of familiar descriptions. The policewoman bit firmly on her small white teeth, then smiled with subdued fury, with her eyes full of killing intent,

"I'm so thrilled!!!"