Me! Cleaner!.

Chapter 1269 Fu and Survival
Who is Frederica?
Looking at Ms. Tree's curious face, Leon felt as if his heart had been squeezed tightly, and it clenched uncontrollably.

"Frederica is one of the two people who came back to the present with me."

Suppressing the chilling thoughts swirling in his mind, Leon spoke as calmly as possible:

"Do you remember how I came to be here? It was Frederica, the one in the black robe, who said I was the 'external force' that 'destiny' was looking for, and that I might bring another possibility. So she set up the time-traveling ritual in the future and brought me back."

"And Frederica, who wears a white dress, is the one you chose in the future to complete your ultimate mission in order to survive the Time Calamity; she is the embodiment of all Fredericas from the future..."

"This……"

After patiently listening to Leon's words, the 'tree' lady on the door reached up and scratched the leaves on her head, somewhat puzzled, and said:

“It seems there are a few things, but the situation is different from what you said. I remember you came back from the future on your own, and there’s also the ultimate mission… That plan should have only completed the preliminary preparations. Didn’t the selected Number 1 not return through the ritual yet?”

"..."

It seems she wasn't pretending to be stupid, but genuinely had no related memories...

Looking at the blank faces on the door, Leon's lips parted slightly, but then he closed them again, falling into a long silence.

These ancestral races, like land creatures in the ocean, are born beyond time, but can only survive in a world without time. Theoretically, there is no possibility that their memories will be affected by time. The only exception I can think of is that White-skirted Fu was killed by 'herself'.

If Black Robe Fu chose to kill White Dress Fu, then White Dress Fu would not have returned to the future and become Number 1 and Black Robe Fu. However, if Black Robe Fu did not exist, she could not have returned to the present to kill White Dress Fu, thus creating a paradox regarding Frederica's 'existence'.

If this really happened, then Frederica, who exhibited a paradox in time, was probably because her self-inflicted injury triggered some "mechanism" that she herself was unaware of, resulting in the complete erasure of her existence, with only herself, as an "external force," retaining the relevant memories?
After quickly reviewing his recent experiences in his mind, Leon couldn't help but recall what White Dress Fu had told him yesterday.

I don't know why, but lately I've been feeling a bit uneasy...

It's like living beneath a cliff that could collapse at any moment, or like being in a jungle lurking with wild beasts. Even though nothing has happened yet, you always feel like you're being watched…

She wanted to move in with him because she sensed something, but he didn't think much of it at the time, assuming she had just encountered a Root race similar to Ms. 'Tree'. After all, if there were any real danger, she would have been in trouble long ago, so he didn't take it too seriously.

But after talking to her for a while and preparing to move in with her, she suddenly disappeared with Black Robe Fu. So... it was Black Robe Fu who was targeting her? But that doesn't make sense. If she wanted to make a move, she could have done it long ago. Why wait until today?
Could it be that... Bai Qunfu came to her for help, making her feel a sense of "development" that she couldn't control, and that she was worried that because of her relationship with Bai Qunfu, she would choose to protect Bai Qunfu from life-threatening situations, and then dare not wait for "fate" to take action in advance?
Even though there are still many parts that don't make sense, the more Lyon thinks about it, the more he feels that this might be the only answer.

Because of the strange look in Black Robe Fu's eyes, she wanted to prove that she had no feelings for White Dress Fu, so when she had a "chat" with White Dress Fu, she did not banish Black Robe Fu's will and let her listen in the whole time.

So...did Black Robe Fu vaguely sense something from her attitude towards White Skirt Fu? Did she know she was confident she could forcibly save White Skirt Fu's life, and was worried that she would forcibly prevent White Skirt Fu from correcting her mistakes, so she chose to take action before White Skirt Fu moved in?

If my guess is really true...

Opening the badge panel, and seeing the extra [Overlord (Rainbow)] badge after learning all thirteen secret techniques of the Cleanup Bureau, Leon's heart sank heavily, and a strange, dull pain throbbed within him.

The pain was neither intense nor scorching, not like being pricked by a needle, and far from being excruciating. But it came in waves, one after another, each wave more ferocious than the last, like being hit hard on the chest with a hammer, a pain that was both heavy and fierce.

She is probably dead.

After the thought unconsciously surfaced in his mind, Leon couldn't help but turn around and look at the original locations of the other two cabins, his expression extremely complicated.

Even though Frederica wasn't an "ally" and was technically an enemy, neither of them—whether it was the black-robed Frederica who dared to sacrifice everything to correct her past mistakes, or the white-dressed Frederica who hadn't done anything wrong and was naive and even somewhat childish—were particularly likable and were just acquaintances with whom we could get along reasonably well.

Furthermore, because of her experiences during this period, Bai Qunfu had developed a deep dependence on him and even began to develop some feelings for him. Even though he did not agree to her idea, the sudden departure of someone who trusted him so much... and the end of her life still left him feeling heavy-hearted.

"Leon?"

Seeing Leon's expression change repeatedly before he finally turned and stared into a long silence at the empty valley, the 'Tree' lady on the door blinked and then tentatively asked:
"You seem unhappy? Is it because of Frederica? Is she important to you?"

"well enough……"

Upon hearing Ms. Tree's question, Leon gave a vague reply with a complicated expression, then turned away from the "ruins" of the two small wooden houses, opened the door, and went back inside. He then closed the door to the inner room, blocking the "bed" that he had just prepared for White Dress Fu.

Lyon lay back down on his wooden bed, pulled over a blanket made of various animal furs, wrapped himself in it, and closed his eyes after tossing and turning for most of the night.

"I'm going to sleep."

"Are you going to sleep already?"

Opening her eyes from the rooftop and looking down at Leon's strange behavior, Ms. Tree couldn't help but ask in bewilderment:

"If you were going to sleep, why did you suddenly want to go out? Isn't that what you called... taking off your pants to fart?"
Oh, by the way, speaking of taking your pants off, could you please go to the bathroom before you go to sleep? After you went to the bathroom yesterday, I distributed the leftovers from the toilet to the trees in the valley, and they all said it smelled peculiar…”

"Go away!!!"

……

Yes, it seems he accepted the answer and didn't think much of it.

Watching the 'Tree' lady, who had been blasted out of the hut by an unnamed 'wildfire' and angrily disappeared into the big tree next to it, the cross-eyed man who had been the first to speak to Leon and his two companions when they broke the ritual nodded slightly, a hint of satisfaction in his eyes.

Although the chances of success are slim, it is still an external force as described by 'fate,' and can be considered a way to get through the time calamity. If the ultimate mission is truly impossible to succeed, this 'backup' method might come in handy someday.

"I don't think he's that smart. As long as we confuse him with the memories of 'Tree', that should be enough to keep him in check... Let's go."

Patiently gazing at the distant cabin until the turbulent mental fluctuations within gradually subsided, finally settling into complete stillness as they had for the past few months, the man, with ordinary features and virtually no memorable characteristics, turned to the woman beside him and spoke:

"Adjust the recovered 'Fu' as soon as possible. This time, try to erase more emotions, such as 'empathy' and 'guilt,' and retain as little as possible. We don't have unlimited opportunities to adjust it, so let's try to make it as perfect as possible."

"it is good……"

The woman beside the man took the small jar he handed her, nodded in agreement, but did not immediately move as instructed. Instead, she hesitated and said, "'Survival,' I've been thinking, is what we're doing a bit inappropriate?"

"Ok?"

Upon hearing the woman's words, the man, whose posture had slightly swayed, steadied himself and asked gently:
Why would you think that way? Have you also been convinced by 'fate'?

"That's not true."

The woman shook her head, then said with a somewhat complicated expression:
“I just feel that this is unfair to ‘Fu’, making her bear all of this is really…”

"This was her own choice."

After interrupting the woman, the man, whose features and body began to shift slightly, spoke calmly:

"Based on the comparison over the past few months, the 'Fu' that came back this time has made tremendous progress compared to the last one, and is very close to success. We might be able to fine-tune the perfect 'Fu' soon!"

"but……"

"you listen to me."

After interrupting the woman again, the man, who had ceased to maintain his human form, said coldly as his body crumbled:
“When we first tried, almost all of the ‘Fu’ quickly gave up on the ultimate mission. Not one of them was willing to take on the responsibility of reviving the race. It was a complete failure.”

It wasn't until nearly three hundred attempts that we finally came up with a way to dilute her perception of her original identity by spending enough time with her, and then influence her decisions through mental and emotional means. That's when we achieved our first success.

After that, every time 'Fu' returned to the present, the completion rate of the ultimate mission would be further improved than before. This time, it was an even greater leap, reaching 60%!

Nearly 60% of the 'Fu' have chosen to accept their identity and embark on the ultimate mission to revive their people, and many have already succeeded! As long as she can…”

"But she regretted it every time!"

Seemingly unable to tolerate the man's words any longer, the woman interrupted his persuasion, arguing with a very unpleasant expression:
"It wasn't just this time that she tried to kill herself. Starting from the 720th failure, the 'Fu' who returned developed a very serious self-destructive tendency! The 'Fu' who succeeded first last time even chose to directly tear open the Ring Mountain and begin hunting down her different versions of herself at different times!"

This time, if she hadn't found an 'external force,' she would have collapsed in endless regret, then tried to end her life completely, and she almost succeeded!

"It's alright, as long as we strengthen the Ring Mountain, this problem can be solved."

The man's once clear form completely disintegrated, leaving only his eyeballs in place. His gaze was cold and piercing as he spoke:

"In addition to the [Standing Time Tower], we can add some additional sealing rituals this time to prevent 'Fu' from leaving in different timelines, or to require them to strip away half of their roots before leaving."

Even if 'Fu' suffers another mental breakdown and acts rashly to hunt herself down to stop the ultimate mission, the impact will be very limited as long as she cannot leave or does not have the power to do so.

And if, during the debugging process, we can further strip away some of her emotions, preventing her from being troubled by those negative feelings and thus shaking her sense of responsibility, the completion rate of the ultimate mission can be raised to another level, even…

"You didn't understand what I meant at all!"

The woman couldn't help but interrupt 'survival,' snapping angrily:
“I’m not talking to you about how to calm 'Fu' down. The reason I’m telling you this is that I hope you can try to see things from 'Fu's' perspective! Her repeated resistance proves that she doesn’t approve of what she’s doing!”

Does Fu not approve of what she is doing?

After hearing the woman's words, the man, whose eyes were now only visible, fell silent. Then, he briefly furrowed his brows and frowned deeply.

"You mean...we should find someone else to carry out the ultimate mission?"

"???"

"Yes, that's exactly right!"

Seemingly inspired by the conversation, 'Survival' narrowed his indifferent eyes slightly, and said with a hint of understanding:
"The human race has a very complex mindset. While they have a habit of following traditions and experiences, which makes it easier to pass on sacred sites and rituals, they are also easily trapped by things like morality."

Even if we strip away as much of Fu's superfluous emotions as possible, she is still easily influenced by human society after being reborn as a human, and these suppressed emotions can easily resurface, leading to instability and breakdown.

We shouldn't continue focusing on humanity. We should completely extract the substances that make up 'Fu' from the human race and try them on other races with chaotic social structures and low moral standards... What do you think of demons?

Under the woman's incredulous gaze, the eyes, suspended in mid-air, suggested with some excitement:
"Demons are a chaotic and bloodthirsty race. Although they are more likely to corrupt 'Fu's' will and are not as suitable as humans who can stably give birth to gods, the more she is born in the mire, the more wonderful her experience after returning to the present will be, and the stronger her belief in completing her ultimate mission will be!"

"you……"

Faced with a man who not only completely ignored her but also seemed increasingly "enthusiastic," the shocked woman gritted her teeth and questioned him:

"Don't you think what we've done... is ugly?"

"It is indeed ugly."

The man nodded up and down with his eyes, then gave a completely emotionless evaluation:
"And it's not just ugly, it's even despicable."

"then you……"

Have you forgotten who I am?

He blinked his eyes, then said with an air of self-righteousness:

"I am survival, and survival can never avoid despicable and ugly things."

Moreover, for us, already on the verge of survival, survival should be paramount. Morality, beliefs, agreements, and anything else... everything should yield to survival, shouldn't it?

(End of this chapter)