I! Cleaner!-Chapter 1144 - 1051: What Should We Change First?
First, increase the average lifespan to half... only half?!
"Can't it be a little more?"
After flipping through the booklet in his hand, the Cancer board member, who hadn't spoken much, couldn't help but ask:
"Even if it's impossible to push the average lifespan to its limit, just half seems too little... how about trying to increase it to two-thirds?"
"Theoretically, it's feasible, but given the current situation in the bureau, the chances of achieving it are virtually zero."
After flipping through the mirror world and finding a second set of booklets to distribute to the board members, Leon patiently explained:
"According to the conclusion of the Fourth Research Institute of the Ground Thrush, there are roughly twenty-seven major reasons why the average human lifespan in the current world is so low. The top four are poverty, hunger, war, and large-scale pandemics.
Further down the list are diseases, natural disasters, anomalous events, water and air pollution, high infant mortality rates, and so on. Many of these problems do not exist in isolation; solving just one or two won't significantly increase the overall average lifespan... Oh, right."
At this point, Leon paused briefly and then added:
"I must say, our bureau's suppression of anomalous events is still quite effective. The severity of problems caused by anomalous events ranks eighth, nestled between large-scale natural disasters and environmental pollution.
However, the booklet only accounts for regular situations. Extreme exceptions, such as the Ophiuchus board member who wiped out an entire nation in one go, have been completely erased by the Illusion Can. Scholars from the Fourth Research Institute of the Ground Thrush can't account for them. If they were included, it would likely rank in the top three."
"..."
So... are we really this incompetent?
After listening to Leon, the board members couldn't help but smile bitterly, staring at the special notes next to "anomalous events" in the booklet, questioning what they had accomplished in their lives.
While their lives weren't marked by outstanding merit, they had frequently risked life and limb for the Cleansing Bureau and humanity. Yet, even the most basic and important of their "duties" seemed to be done only passably well, becoming one of the main reasons for the decrease in average lifespan.
"Alright, enough said..."
Leaning back weakly in his chair, the Scorpio director closed his eyes, looked up, and said dejectedly:
"I understand your point. We old folks always thought we were doing fairly well, at least deserving of our positions, but in reality..."
"In reality, you've done quite well, even remarkably."
Seeing the board members looking somewhat dispirited and realizing that he might have been too harsh, Leon thought for a moment and comforted them:
"The original purpose of the Cleansing Bureau was merely to ensure the survival of humanity, so the focus has always been on anomalous events and repelling foreign gods, rarely interfering in other areas. Additionally, we are not in a superior-subordinate relationship with The Twelve Kingdoms, which naturally limits our influence.
As for the anomalous event issue, The Twelve Kingdoms and dozens of other city-states combined have a population of over a billion, yet there are only a few thousand Cleaners. Each Cleaner is responsible for anomalous events affecting 270,000 people, making perfect control impossible.
When compared to the more serious medical issues, even in the Twelve Kingdoms, where the Thousand Sails Maritime Country has the worst healthcare facilities, there are three doctors per 10,000 people, a number that is more than eighty-one times the number of Cleaners per 10,000.
If we look at it that way, it's already quite impressive that the bureau can manage the world's anomalous events with such limited manpower."
"So... what do you plan to do?"
At this point, the Taurus board member, who knew Leon best, could vaguely discern his intentions. Frowning tightly, he asked:
"As before, planning to break the barrier between the real world and the 'anomalous,' bringing the Cleansing Bureau to the 'surface,' risking widespread contamination among ordinary people, and starting a large-scale expansion of each sub-bureau?"
"In addition, we need to intervene in the situation of The Twelve Kingdoms as necessary."
After supplementing this point, Leon looked around at the other silent board members and sincerely said:
"I know this proposal goes against the Cleansing Bureau's principle of operating in secrecy and violates our agreement with The Twelve Kingdoms. But given the current situation in the world, we clearly have the power to change all this, so why don't we?"
"It's not about whether or not to act, but whether it will make things worse..."
The Virgo board member sighed:
"It's not that no one has proposed ideas similar to yours in the bureau, or tried to influence the governance of the royal family of the Twelve Kingdoms, but the results were never good...
Although there are significant governance issues within the Twelve Kingdoms, we are even less adept at governing kingdoms compared to their semi-autonomous system that formed naturally. Forced changes by the bureau after taking over often lead to worse outcomes, and even cause nation-level anomalous events.
The worst incident had consequences even more severe than the Ophiuchus Eroded Nation back in the day. The Lion Sub-bureau and nine other minor non-zodiac sub-bureaus were almost completely wiped out. After several similar lessons, we established the current non-interference model."
"So my idea is just to 'intervene,' not to completely 'take over.'"
Leon, who had considered this issue, naturally wouldn't speak rashly without a plan in place. Calmly, he responded:
"We aim not to completely take over the governance of The Twelve Kingdoms without preparation, but to use our advantages to selectively address issues that, even if errors occur, the bureau can remedy."
"Issues that can be remedied? What do you mean?"
"Hunger, poverty, war, natural disasters, and large-scale pandemics."
While speaking, Leon took out a third set of booklets, distributing them one by one to the board members, who were left speechless, and said with bright eyes:
"Firstly, regarding the hunger problem, according to the statistics from the Fourth Research Institute of the Ground Thrush, the current world has a very sufficient overall food production, not only covering the consumption of the entire population but also having a surplus of over 40%. The biggest issue lies in unequal distribution.
Major grain-producing countries, led by the Verdant Kingdom, have more food than they can consume each year, while countries like the Ice Plains Nation and the Thousand Sails Maritime Country, which are relatively impoverished or unsuitable for farming and animal husbandry, have to heavily purchase or even loot to meet their food needs.
Therefore, if we address this aspect, since food production is sufficient, even if something does go wrong, it can be rectified. At worst, we can mobilize some storage or transportation anomalies to forcibly maintain the situation through 'anomalous' means for a period, to prevent any major issues from arising."
"..."
If there's a fallback... it might be worth trying?
