Endless Debt

"Can you etherealize your body? Thus touching the Alchemy Matrix."

Bologue speculated that he had seen a similar situation during his implantation ceremony with Belli. Belli, who is from the Secret Arts School, had secret energy that allowed her to directly prune the Alchemy Matrix, and it seemed Aimou could do the same.

But Aimou was from the Deceitful Structure School, so she must have something unique, which Bologue soon witnessed.

After briefly touching, two golden trajectories began to merge... Aimou integrated the Alchemy Matrix of the Ether-flow Monocle into her own Alchemy Matrix. Bologue found it hard to comprehend what was happening in front of him, while Aimou timely explained.

"As you've seen, a Shared Chord Body allows my body to etherealize, interfering and connecting with the Alchemy Matrix in its pure energy form, enabling me to freely adjust the arrangement of the Alchemy Matrix.

Most importantly, I can even 'empathize' with it."

"Empathize?"

"You could consider it as me experiencing the Alchemy Armament as if it was my own body. It sounds odd, but I am also considered an Alchemy Armament with self-awareness. My existence is very unique, and so I can roughly sense what form the power of the Alchemy Armament will take, creating even more peculiar properties from it."

She explained while glancing at Bologue.

"That's how the Deceitful Snake Scale Liquid was born."

Aimou could connect with the Alchemy Matrix, making precise adjustments to the Alchemy Armament, thereby guiding the direction of power. The strange characteristic of the Deceitful Snake Scale Liquid was a result guided by Aimou through countless adjustments.

Such a peculiar aberration product could only be captured by someone like Aimou, with such power, amidst countless trials and errors.

After a brief shock, Bologue accepted all of this. Aimou herself was a complex Alchemy Puppet, constantly needing adjustment and evolution. Such secret energy was more than suited for her.

"And then... it's the birthday cake."

Aimou stood up, a golden halo looking down at Bologue. She hadn't dismissed her secret energy, with Canyin's tracks winding beneath her somewhat translucent skin.

"What are you going to do?"

Bologue was instantly on alert, not thinking Aimou would attack him, but feeling Aimou was brewing something bad.

"Actually, I seem to... be able to apply the Shared Chord Body on a Condenser as well."

Aimou winked at Bologue.

"You... you mean... you want to occupy my body? Use the empathy of the Shared Chord Body to feel what I feel, to taste the birthday cake?"

Bologue's mind froze, and even his speech became intermittent. This plot twist far exceeded his imagination.

"Uh-huh."

Aimou nodded, looking at Bologue with great anticipation.

"The teacher was very resistant to this, but besides the teacher, I haven't encountered many outsiders. This is also my first experiment on a Condenser... Want to try it?"

"Is there any risk?" Bologue hesitated.

"Aren't you an Undead?"

At this point, Aimou mentioned the Undead, her anticipation and curiosity maximized, with the golden halo in her eyes as bright as headlights, making Bologue squint.

In the long hesitation, Bologue didn't know what kind of madness he had, yet impulsively responded.

"Then... try it?"

...

The moment he agreed with Aimou, Bologue started to regret it, feeling the situation might evolve into something uncontrollable.

But to truly refuse Aimou, he felt some hesitation and reluctance.

He seemed to be the only connection between Aimou and the outside world, like the string of a kite, unwilling to refuse Aimou's anticipation, thus eventually agreeing with her.

The result was the current situation: Bologue standing with his back to Aimou in the room, ether calmly rising, with Canyin's brilliance casting from behind, sometimes steady, sometimes flickering.

A rustling sound came from behind, prompting Bologue to ask.

"What are you doing?"

"Packing clothes."

"What? Why pack clothes?" Bologue was baffled.

"My Shared Chord Body can etherealize my body, but clothes can't. The clothes aren't covered with my Alchemy Matrix."

Aimou said while folding the clothes and putting them in a suitcase, then looked at Bologue with a suspicious gaze.

"You're not thinking of sneaking a peek, are you? I often see this kind of plot in courtship novels."

"What's there to see!"

Bologue exclaimed.

What could he see by turning around? A steel body capable of punching through concrete with full power? What was she even thinking! Her perception of humans had been twisted into what!!

Aimou responded with a burst of giggles and laughter.

"I'm teasing you."

Bologue's face darkened. Perhaps because they were from the same sect, sometimes Bologue thought Aimou was just like another person he knew.

"You remind me of a friend. She sometimes also likes to tease me, watching me make a fool of myself, and she'd derive immense joy from it."

"Who?"

"Belli, you know her, right? Technically speaking, she's like your senior sister."

Back then, it was from Belli's hands that Bologue obtained the Deceitful Snake Scale Silver, and Aimou should also know Belli.

"Belli..."

Aimou whispered, her voice trembling slightly, evidently stirred by many unpleasant memories associated with the name.

"What, did she mess with you too?" Bologue asked.