I! Cleaner!-Chapter 500 - 435: The Mutation Begins

"Quick, quick, quick! The leader has left the council!"

Just as Leon was dragging Joshua out of the council hall, forcibly shoving him into the carriage, a somewhat portly middle-aged man eight streets away on a clock tower put down his binoculars, turned around, and anxiously asked,

"Is everything ready? What’s the situation at the palace?"

"Just a little more."

Upon hearing the middle-aged man’s inquiry, a bald woman nearby answered,

"Although the head of the Virgo branch has gone to the Dream Realm, she left two anomalies in the palace. Luke can’t pass the threshold she set, we still have to wait for the leader to come and find a way to get him into the palace."

"What about the others? How are the others prepared?"

"Phoebe and I are ready."

A woman who looked a bit old but had young eyes replied,

"Last night, we sneaked into the barracks, erased part of the Messenger’s memory at the academy, and implanted a fake signal flag code into him.

Now, no matter how the palace sends a distress signal for reinforcements, the Messenger in the barracks will interpret it as a peace signal. Before the commotion spreads thoroughly, the barracks will not send anyone to help."

"Teague is ready too."

At this moment, a man not far away also equipped with a telescope reported with excitement,

"Louther Arcade is already on fire, the police department and other patrolling people have been drawn in by the fire Teague set, even if they discover something wrong with the palace, they won’t be able to come over in a short time."

"It’s ready here too, old Owen has hired several carriages, waiting by the main road. As soon as we start, they’ll crash the carriages directly."

"I have no problems here either! Several atmospheric towers have been taken over, and there are no other observation points nearby, the stationed people outside the capital won’t notice any oddities!"

"Me too! The ambush on Redwood Street is ready. If any noble’s private soldiers are dispatched, we can act at any time..."

"I’m ready too! If anyone evacuates from the palace, we can immediately..."

Is everything almost ready?

After taking another look at the area near the palace through the binoculars and confirming there were no obvious flaws, the middle-aged man who spoke first couldn’t help but sigh in relief.

"Since everything is ready, then send the signal and have everyone prepare themselves!

The leader is already on the way to the palace, should be there in a few minutes. Once he manages to sneak Luke into the palace and ensures the Princess’s safety, immediately launch the assault on the palace!"

"Also, keep an eye on your respective tasks. We’re down to the last stretch, make sure not to mess up at this point!"

Re-equipping the binoculars to look at the carriage heading towards the palace several streets away, the portly middle-aged man, face flushed with excitement, said,

"All those opposing senators in the Upper House have already been caught. As long as nothing goes wrong here, if we succeed in storming the palace, our dream of many years will—"

"Smack!"

Halfway through the middle-aged man’s words, a hand suddenly slapped across his face, seizing the binoculars abruptly.

"Ouch, what are you doing?"

"The palace! Look at the palace quickly!"

The palace? Could it be that the people in the palace discovered us?

Upon hearing his comrade’s panicked shout, the portly middle-aged man’s heart sank, immediately turning his head to look.

However, under the sunlight, the palace remained as quiet as before, no squad of armed soldiers came charging out, nor did anyone come out for help.

Aside from the guards on routine patrols and a few gardeners working on the lawn, everything appeared just as it did moments ago, with no discernible difference.

"What’s wrong?"

After looking twice and failing to notice anything amiss, a hint of confusion appeared on the portly middle-aged man’s face, but among the rebels on the clock tower, someone seemed to have noticed something, prompting a series of gasps.

"What’s going on?!"

"Is someone else planning to attack the palace?"

"It seems something’s about to happen!"

"What is it? What’s happening to the palace? What’s going on?"

Seeing the portly middle-aged man still not understanding, the bald woman who slapped him stomped anxiously and said,

"The people! Look at the people!"

The people?

Upon hearing the bald woman’s reminder, the portly middle-aged man was slightly taken aback. He quickly squinted towards the palace and, like the others, drew a sharp breath.

At first glance, nothing seemed unusual, but upon squinting and looking carefully, be it the patrolling guards or the gardeners on the lawn, they all exuded a strange metallic sheen.

Besides the strange sheen, the movements of the guards and gardeners also became peculiar, as if their bodies had undergone some bizarre simplification of joints, becoming mechanically rigid, looking just like...

Just like living tin dolls!

Having finally realized what was wrong, the portly middle-aged man quickly snatched back his binoculars, looking towards the palace.

Through the binocular lenses, those who were once flesh and blood had indeed turned into tin dolls, their original human eyes replaced with pairs of colorful glass beads.

On faces with a metallic luster, where the mouth should be, lines extended from the corners of lips downward like a puppet’s chin, occasionally mechanically opening and closing, thoroughly resembling toys.

What frightened the portly middle-aged man even more was that the area of these tin doll people seemed not limited to near the palace, but was spreading rapidly outward.

First to the sentry posts facing outside the palace, then outwards to the outer wall and ramp, followed by the small square connecting with the ramp, and finally to the bustling street beyond the small square.

As if part of some strange spreading epidemic, originating from the palace and dripping onto a huge white sheet of paper, one by one, human beings were uncontrollably transforming into tin dolls.

And those who inexplicably turned into tin dolls seemed unaware, continuing in their tasks as before their transformation, completely oblivious to the changes occurring within them...

Wait a minute?!

While astonished at the distant transformation, the portly middle-aged man suddenly remembered something, swiftly turning with his binoculars, searching among the buildings for the carriage carrying Leon, calling frantically,

"Where’s the leader? Where has the leader gone?"

Upon hearing the middle-aged man’s shout, the rebels startled by the palace’s mutation also realized, according to their original plan, their leader was now supposed to be infiltrating the palace as an insider while holding the Prince hostage.

Yet, judging by the palace’s current bizarre state, their leader would likely not only fail to infiltrate but would also turn into an ironskin person upon approaching with the carriage!

"Send the signal! Send the signal quickly!"

"Yes! Quickly signal the leader that the palace cannot be approached!"

"Too late! It’s already too late!"

Pointing towards the small square before the palace, the bald woman lamented,

"The leader just went in!!!"