Me! Cleaner!.

Chapter 83 Origin (Two in One)

Thank you for the help from the Cleanup Bureau? Does that mean someone in the bureau has already had contact with Happy Apartment?
But according to the records of the Cleanup Bureau, I was the first person to discover this apartment, so it was that person who found it but didn't report it? Or...

After pondering the administrator's words, Leon tentatively said:

"Excuse me, when you say help, do you mean some common help, or the most fundamental 'help' that made you two what you are now?"

"Of course the most fundamental kind."

The most fundamental one... In other words, this Happy Apartment was actually "created" by someone in the Cleanup Bureau?

But...how is this possible?
Recalling the "common sense" that the red-haired chief and senior Emma told him, Leon couldn't help but frowned subconsciously.

For abnormal objects, "manufacturing" and "forging" are two completely different concepts.

Most of the anomalies "produced" by the Cleanup Bureau are like Director Taurus, who forged the debris recovered after completing the cleanup mission and retained the core capabilities. In fact, they "modified" the uncontrollable existing anomalies into basically controllable anomalies.

And if the administrator's statement and my own understanding are correct, then this Happy Apartment... this [Spirit Residence] no longer follows this common sense, but was created from scratch by someone!

Such an important matter must be clarified! But...

"Anna..."

"You guys talk first."

After receiving Leon's embarrassed look, the sickly girl, although very curious, still smiled with understanding, stood up and walked towards the inner room.

"It's been really cold lately. I'm going to go see if Melanie and the others have kicked off their blankets to prevent them from catching a cold."

"Thanks a lot……"

Not wanting his family to have too much contact with the "world below the water", Leon heaved a sigh of relief after Anna entered the inner room and closed the door. He asked seriously, "What's the matter with you?"

"If possible, could you please tell me how that person 'helped' you back then?"

"what happened?"

Seeing Leon's suddenly serious expression, the administrator seemed to have noticed something was wrong and said hesitantly:

"Young man, tell me the truth, is there any rule in your bureau that doesn't allow us to become what we are now?"

"Rather than saying it's not allowed, it's better to say it's impossible to do it at all..."

After briefly describing the difficulty of doing so in a language that the other party could understand, Leon looked at the administrator who looked a little worried and spoke to comfort her:

"Don't worry, you don't have to worry about that person being punished. This ability to create anomalies is the first time I've heard of it, and the bureau doesn't have any relevant regulations.

Besides, you have been abnormal for nearly a hundred years, and although the physical fitness of our Cleanup Bureau people is much stronger than that of ordinary people, most of them have a lifespan similar to that of ordinary people. The person at that time is probably gone a long time ago.

In addition, since this involves the creation of anomalies, it is really very important. If possible, I hope you can explain it in as much detail as possible."

"That's it..."

Hearing that it would not cause any trouble to the "beneficiary", the administrator lady breathed a sigh of relief. After a brief recollection, she spoke hesitantly:

"There's nothing that I can't tell you, but we don't know much... Um... The predecessor of this apartment was the poorhouse that the old man and I converted from our own property. You should have found out about this, right?"

"Ah."

Seeing Leon nod, the administrator touched her white curly hair and continued to recall calmly:
“My hair wasn’t originally white. It turned white bit by bit after I had a serious illness.

The disease brings constant pain. I have to rely on excessive amounts of sleeping pills and pain-relieving supplements to get through it. I can only stay awake for three or four hours a day, but during these three hours, I have to vomit and have diarrhea constantly due to the drug reaction...

Sigh… Although I am reluctant to leave the old man, after being tortured for several years, I really don’t want to live anymore. I am going to apply to convert the poorhouse into a municipal facility, and then stop taking the medicine and die immediately.”

After explaining the origin of her hair in a calm tone, the administrator's eyes gradually became fierce, and she continued in a cold voice:

"I applied more than 30 times, and my old man, who has a limp, went to the municipal government 200 to 300 times, but the answer he always got was to go back and wait.

At that time, I knew that the municipal government probably didn't want to take over. Once the two of us died, the people in the workhouse would not have a good ending. "

The administrator said with resentment:

"At that time, the property of the workhouse was registered under my name, and the old man was not eligible to inherit the property because of some things in the past, so I really didn't dare to die. I could only bear it like this and try to find other ways out for the people in the workhouse as time went by.

Although we successfully sent some people away in the end, most of the people in the workhouse were unable to work and could not find another place to go. Moreover, my health was not very good at that time.

I heard from the old man that my heart stopped beating three times in the last month, and I had respiratory arrest so many times that I couldn’t even count them. But even though I managed to hold on and not die, I still reached my limit little by little…”

My heart stopped beating... Can you even survive this...

When he heard about the administrator's past experiences, although it was a bit inappropriate, Leon still remembered what he heard from the red-haired director.

Only extremes will be remembered, only paranoia can move forward courageously, and only madness can understand greatness.

In other words, whether positive or negative, only the purest and most extreme things can leave a mark on this world.

……

"But I really don't want to die, and I don't dare to die."

Not knowing what Leon was thinking, the administrator said with a grim expression as she recalled the painful days:

"On the last day, except for being able to open my eyes occasionally, my heartbeat and breathing had completely stopped. I was almost completely dead. My soul even left my body for a short time and I saw myself lying on the hospital bed...

But I finally went back in! There was no other reason, I just couldn't give up! I just wanted to know why, why so many people could be saved just by signing, but why no one was willing to approve my application! "

After taking a few quick breaths, the administrator's expression softened a little. She held the hand of the strong old man who had come back from nowhere and was standing behind her to support her, and continued in a lowered voice:
“Although my soul has returned, my body is indeed completely dead. The old man, who had already made preparations, called the person in charge of preparing the remains.

Well... I don't remember it clearly, but the undertaker was a young man. He looked quite ordinary except that the corners of his mouth were naturally turned down, as if he was crying. However, his eyes were very bright and seemed to be able to see things that others could not see. His eyes looked directly through my corpse and saw my lingering soul. Then he asked me in surprise why I had persisted until now and was unwilling to leave.

A young man with a natural crying face and bright eyes?

After carefully noting down these characteristics and preparing to ask the red-haired director about them tomorrow, Leon asked softly:

"This is..."

"Well, that's him."

After giving a positive answer, the administrator said with a complicated expression:
"He asked me if I had any other wishes, but at that time my heart was filled with hatred. I wished I could turn into a crazy evil spirit and kill all the people in the municipal government, so I yelled at him for a while.

But after hearing the reason, the young man ignored me and asked my old man if he wanted to see me again, but the price was immediate death. "

At this point, the administrator paused, then shook the old man's hand vigorously, and said tenderly:

"The old man did not agree directly, but asked the young man with a crying face, if he wanted to meet more than just once, what would he need to pay?
After hearing his question, the young man was a little surprised, but after thinking about it, he told the old man that in addition to meeting him, he could also let the old man's soul accompany me forever.

But because my soul has been tortured for several years, it is much stronger and tougher than his, so if we tie our souls together, the old man will lose most of his humanity and wisdom, and become a mere vassal of my soul..."

So...he agreed, right?
Looking at the sturdy old man who was holding the administrator's hand with one hand and secretly reaching out for the big scissors with the other hand, Leon blinked, feeling both moved and speechless, and didn't know what to say for a moment.

"Don't move!"

Having already noticed the old man's actions, she pinched the back of his hand hard, making him calm down again. Then the administrator said apologetically:

"Don't worry, I'm watching, he can't cut you."

"Ah...it's okay, it's okay."

After secretly touching the pendant on his chest to make sure he could react in time, Leon couldn't help but ask:

"And then, he tied your souls together and put them in this apartment?"

"more or less."

When the administrator heard this, her eyes dimmed slightly, and she said in a somewhat depressed tone:

“But we didn’t have the strength we have now at the beginning. Back then, we couldn’t even talk to the people inside, let alone eat and drink like living people.

Until the workhouse was reclaimed by the municipality and the remaining people inside were forcibly driven away by the police, we could only barely show our presence in the dead of night.

Leon nodded after hearing this, and after thinking for a while, he asked:
"So you guys get stronger over time?"

"No...it was just an accident that we became what we are now."

After hearing Leon's question, the administrator turned her head silently, buried her face in the arms of the strong old man, and narrated in a somewhat dull voice:

"There was an orphan who was kicked out of the workhouse. He wanted to come back to visit in the middle of the night. When he was climbing over the wall, he almost fell down. The old man and I were worried, so we showed up briefly to help him up.

The child might have sensed something and was frightened at the time, so he ran away screaming, but he couldn't help but come back a few times afterwards. The news that we...we might still be there spread among those who were driven away. "

After clenching her hands in deep regret, the administrator said tremblingly:
“Then… many children heard the news and came back with hope, wanting to see us again. Some of us also… so we showed up a few more times.

After some people really saw us, more and more people came back. Even many of those who had found a way out and were sent away in advance also rushed back from other counties.

But…but…it was winter…that winter was unusually cold, and they were all…so fewer and fewer people could come, and their physical conditions got worse and worse, and then…and then…”

"..."

And then... most of them froze to death in the first winter after being driven away?

When he heard this, Leon, with sore eyes, raised his head slightly and couldn't help but think of the relevant files he had read before.

In the end, there were about a hundred people expelled from the workhouse. Because they had no ability to work, most of them did not survive the winter of that year and froze to death near the Happy Apartment.

But when those cold, shriveled bodies were discovered, most of them had smiles on their faces. This incident was reported in the news at the time, and several clippings were preserved in the archives.

I originally thought that those people were laughing because it was an illusion before they froze to death, but now it seems that their laughter was probably genuine.

"Condolences..."

Looking at the administrator lady who buried her face in the strong old man's arms and was obviously crying silently, Leon pursed his lips, regretting asking these questions. For a moment, he didn't know what to say. The strong old man who was patting the lady's back spoke at this time.

"One hundred and three."

After spitting out this number expressionlessly, the old man said a few more words, and said in a hoarse voice:
"I received the last thoughts of those children."

"..."

So... the reason you two can act like living people now is because the 103 people who were driven out of the Happy Apartment and froze to death outside that year, as well as many more people who once lived in this apartment, believe from the bottom of their hearts that you are still here...

After roughly understanding what he meant, Leon looked at the administrator who had already begun to sob softly, clenched his fists somewhat at a loss, and then quickly changed the subject:
"Where is that young man with a crying face? Did he come back later?"

“I’ve been here… once.”

After wiping her tears in the arms of the strong old man, the administrator aunt whispered:

"After that winter, about three years later, he came to see us once.

After seeing our situation, he was somewhat surprised and said that the speed of our "progress" was beyond his imagination. He asked me what I had done in the past few years, why I had become stronger so quickly, and whether I had killed those people I hated.

But after listening to our explanation, he seemed a little disappointed and asked us why we didn't think about revenge, and then he never came again... Oh, right!"

After trying hard to recall, the administrator said uncertainly:
"That time we also asked about his recent situation and whether he was still working as an undertaker. He said he no longer does coffin work and joined the Cleaning Bureau as an officer? Deacon? Or something...Does your Cleaning Bureau have this position?"

(End of this chapter)