Westminster Bank

Kasha shrugged, then looked at the data on the wall. "Haven't you all noticed that the rating has been stuck at A Level this whole time and hasn't changed?"

"It hasn't reset?" Howard asked. "The Practical Containment Chamber is supposed to reset."

But even as he said it, his heart was already soaring with excitement.

'Could it be...'

"That appears to be the case. It's a common problem with the Alchemy Technique, and the solution is quite simple."

His secretary, Stella, had appeared from out of nowhere. After a brief glance, she strode over with practiced efficiency and delivered several hard kicks to the main door of the containment testing center with her red-soled high heels.

The rating chart displayed on the wall instantly reset to zero.

"Governor, this is what you asked me to handle, correct? If there's nothing else, I'll be on my way," Stella said, pushing the gold-rimmed glasses up the high bridge of her nose.

Howard: "..."

Malozov smiled. "Thank you, Stella..."

Before he could finish, the crowd suddenly erupted in an uproar.

Just as Malozov was wondering what happened, he saw the data chart on the screen rapidly shoot up past D, C, and B.

And then... it locked firmly onto "A"!

'An A Level on the containment test!? What's going on!?'

Everyone present was dumbfounded.

'Is the Alchemy Array malfunctioning... or is this something else?'

It was important to understand that the best recorded result for a practical containment test was A Level. This meant the subject had managed, in just two weeks, to contain an A Level Taboo Object—a feat that many B, C, and D Level Commissioners might not achieve in their entire lifetimes!

Now, this L inside had done it!

Furthermore, according to Governor Howard's earlier words, this L hadn't even taken two weeks. They were even faster!

The faces of the Commissioners outside—including Howard, Malozov, and even Stella—grew slightly rigid. Evidently, they were completely unprepared for what was unfolding on the screen.

Malozov glanced at Howard, whose face was a frozen mask, and asked, "Are you sure it was reset?"

Stella pushed up her gold-rimmed glasses, her tone as calm as she could manage. "In the last six years, my work error rate is zero."

"However, for confirmation and to be absolutely sure, I can repeat the process." Stella kicked the door a few more times, and the data chart on the screen went to zero.

Everyone's heart sank to zero with it, only to be instantly pulled back up as the numbers on the chart began to surge.

The chart once again shot past D, C, and B, and once again, it landed squarely on "A"!!!

'This is cheating... That old fox Howard is setting me up to fool me!'

Malozov instinctively turned his head to look at Howard, but when he saw that Howard was also completely dumbfounded, he froze.

'He doesn't know either?'

Malozov said, "This... could it be that the Alchemy Technique has malfunctioned again?"

Questioning gazes turned to Stella.

This time, the secretary merely said flatly, "The Alchemy Technique does not make mistakes. The only possibility is that this is real."

"Real..."

Malozov's pupils quaked.

'A Level in a practical containment test? Th-this... I doubt any of the active S Level Commissioners have ever achieved this. Perhaps only that legendary SS Level Commissioner...'

Howard turned to Kasha. "Your practical containment result... if I remember correctly, it was a B+, wasn't it?"

"Yes... At the time, mine was considered the best practical containment result among all the S Level Commissioners, because I had obtained a fragment of an A Level Taboo Object... but it looks like that's no longer the case."

Gazing at the blood-red "A" on the data chart, the emerald eyes beneath Kasha's veil stared, unblinking.

As for the other Westminster Commissioners who had participated in the underground betting pool, their faces had frozen solid the moment the 'A' appeared for a second time. They stood there, stunned, like logs that had just been chopped and stacked on a woodpile.

'An A Level practical containment rating... for real!? What kind of joke is this! The bookies must have rigged this! They must have!'

'How else could anyone explain this? How could it possibly be A Level... That's A Level!'

But that glaring "A" was like the blade of an axe, cleaving through the logs and utterly shattering the last vestiges of hope for every gambler present.

'A Level... a practical containment rating of A Level...'

"If I remember correctly... L's previous interview and containment test were both S Level, right? If you add this A Level... doesn't that put them on par with that legendary SS Level Commissioner?"

"On par with an SS Level Commissioner... Now that you mention it... I suppose so."

As the realization dawned on them, everyone present gasped in unison.

An SS Level Commissioner... a Tier second only to the Governor of Westminster. In the entire history of Westminster Bank, only a handful of Commissioners had ever reached this rating. They represented the very pinnacle of "Containment" and "Destiny."

It should be noted that Westminster Bank differs from ordinary Law Enforcement Organizations. Here, the standard by which an individual's strength is judged isn't Spiritual Pressure or Tier, but "Destiny."

The difference between an S Level Commissioner and the elites of other Law Enforcement Organizations, or even the Old Blood Clan, is that an S Level Commissioner's potential can be realized much more quickly.

No matter if their opponent is a rising star, a future prodigy, or even an absolute genius like Wilder who is destined for Gold—in the face of a Westminster Commissioner wielding a sufficient number of high-Tier Taboo Items... they are, at best, barely a threat.

"Even the most unassuming Westminster Commissioner might be holding an 'A Level Taboo Object'"—this rumor, popular on the Inner Side, was more than just a simple joke.

Basically, a Commissioner's Tier represents the highest Tier of Taboo Item in their possession. Even without explicit authority, it's still common for an S Level Commissioner to have two A Level Taboo Objects.

And L's rating was very likely SS, which meant they had at least one S Level Taboo Object at their disposal.

An S Level Taboo Object—its influence was no longer limited to a mere city or country. It could very likely affect the rules of the world itself: the Golden Law.