Endless Debt

In the confined elevator, Bologue and Palmer occupied the entire space on either side. Bologue still maintained his meticulous demeanor, while Palmer looked somewhat disheveled, with dark circles under his eyes, appearing extremely lethargic, and carrying a faint smell of alcohol.

Bologue glanced sideways at Palmer, this unlucky fellow's body even started to sway slightly, almost losing his balance.

"What time did you drink until last night?" Bologue couldn't help but ask.

Palmer was different from him; this guy joined earlier and became a Condenser a long time ago. Palmer had already passed the first two trials of the triple trials, both his body and will strengthened by Ether.

But even with such enhancement, Bologue still felt that Palmer might suddenly drop dead at any moment.

"Until dawn..."

The exhausted voice squeezed out from between Palmer's teeth, this guy hadn't rested at all; he just tidied himself up at the Undying Club and rushed straight to work.

"What did you all do?" Bologue pressed further.

"It was Serey, that bastard suggested a new game at the end of the party. He picked eight usual bars for us to go one by one, see who could last until the end," Palmer leaned to one side, clutching his head, "I held till the seventh bar, I almost won."

"What was the bet?"

Palmer fell silent, after a while, he slowly spoke, "Bet? Seems like there wasn't any bet, just to see who could hold till the eighth bar, whoever was the toughest."

"Just that?"

"Uh huh, just that."

Bologue sighed complexly, he shouldn't have too high expectations for Palmer's mental maturity.

The elevator doors opened, Bologue and Palmer marched forward, along the gray-white corridor, and then into a meeting room.

In the past, task handovers only needed to be done in Lebius's office, but today's task was a bit different.

The others in the meeting room were all prepared, Lebius sat at the head, beside him was Geoffrey, then Ivan... Seeing Ivan, Palmer sobered up a bit, followed by a headache.

Next to Ivan was Yas, and on the other side of the meeting table were some unfamiliar faces that Bologue hadn't seen much; he thought they must be Yas's team members.

A man, a woman, and then someone... Bologue froze, along with Palmer beside him.

It was a slightly odd existence, his body was robust, full of muscles, with such a large physique that he seemed capable of packing the guy next to him inside, saying he could punch through concrete bare-handed wasn't an exaggeration.

Unlike the uniforms of others, this guy wore loose robes, but from the color and stripes on the robes, one could see it matched the others'.

Of course, throughout his life, Bologue had met countless people, even some Devils up close; he had seen great storms and waves, but unfortunately, he was seeing this for the first time today.

He had a body covered in black long hair, a head not of familiar human likeness, but a beastly head resembling that of hunting dogs or wolves. With his breathing, his fur gently shook, sharp canines slightly protruding from his black lips.

This guy wasn't like, he was a Beastman, a black Devil Dog Beastman.

"Am I still drunk?"

Palmer wiped his eyes, his vision becoming clearer; he thought the other was wearing a costume, but this costume seemed overly realistic.

Bologue couldn't help but whisper.

"Sido?"

"Ninth-Grade Detective and His Invincible Hound" is real, Sido really turned into a human, and so cool!

The other clearly noticed Bologue and Palmer's gaze; he was likely accustomed to this kind of scrutinizing look, "Sido" seemed already used to it and spoke first.

"Hello, Hart Vine, affiliated with the Sixth Group."

"Hello, Sido." Bologue failed to notice what he was saying at all.

"Sido?" Palmer remembered the movie instinctively and laughed, "Sido? Are you kidding?"

"Ah no, hello, nice to meet you, Hart." Bologue quickly corrected, then quietly said to Palmer, "Is this guy releasing Secret Energy?"

"Doesn't seem like it, no Ether reaction," Palmer responded.

"He... is like this naturally?"

"Maybe? Seems like a Debtor; anyway, any weird thing related to Debtors is never wrong," Palmer analyzed.

"If he's a Debtor, shouldn't he be in our action group? How did he end up in the Sixth Group?" Bologue felt something was off.

Their whispers obviously didn't escape anyone's notice; Lebius and Geoffrey were accustomed to it, Yas knew these two fellows well, Ivan also clearly understood his nephew's nature.

Because of this, everyone's reaction was quite calm, except for Yas's three team members, a man and a woman tried hard to suppress their laughter, Hart silently endured sandwiched between them.

"I am human, not a Debtor, nor a Demon."

Hart's voice was filled with fatigue and numbness; nearly every time he met a stranger, he had to repeat these words.

"My appearance was caused by an accidental incident during an operation; I fell into the Order of Truth's Alchemy Solution, crawled out, and turned into this form."

"Wow, if Sido became human, he'd probably look like this, right?" Bologue and Palmer whispered to each other, completely ignoring Hart's self-explanation.

"Ahem."

Yas coughed a few times, redirecting the attention of these two scoundrels away from his team member, but when he looked at Hart, Yas couldn't help but wonder who the "Sido" these two guys were talking about was.

Collecting their smiles and becoming serious, Bologue vaguely guessed what they were going to do today. He and Palmer sat in the vacant seats, and then Bologue asked.

"Is there any progress in the investigation?"

Lebius nodded, and at this moment, Yas began speaking from the side, "After my team's investigation, it can be confirmed that the Gray Trade Association is preparing an auction."

Auction.

Bologue knew what this was. Rather than an auction, it was more of a sacrifice to the Tyrant. In the auctions hosted by the Gray Trade Association, people would use value to exchange for goods, and the inflated value would eventually be directed towards the Tyrant.

"Are we going to raid the auction venue?" Bologue asked.

"Yes and no. Based on our previous dealings with the Gray Trade Association, their auction sites are not fixed, and are usually protected by the Void Realm. Without an invitation, it's very difficult to locate and enter them."

Yas, with a slightly pained expression, explained, "This part should be handed over to the Third Group. They are experts at breaking through the Void Realm, but recently the Third Group is fully focused on 'Joyful Garden,' so we'll have to handle this ourselves."

Bologue had heard of the Third Group, the Wall-Breaking Blade. Palmer called them the demolition team, mainly responsible for breaking through those complex and bizarre Void Realms, turning them into ruins.

As for Joyful Garden, Bologue was not yet clear on what that was, possibly another action event codename, so he did not continue to inquire.

"Should we collaborate among ourselves to create opportunities for a raid on the venue and put an end to these merchants' auctions?" Bologue looked at the Sixth Group members sitting across from him.

"Yes, but according to our current plan, it's mostly up to you." Yas said.

"Us?"

"The Wandering Crossroad is the Tyrant's domain. Even though he can't directly intervene in reality, warning the Gray Trade Association or driving them to action is extremely simple for him. If we enter recklessly, we will surely draw his attention, but you're different; you're Debtors."

Yas elaborated his thoughts to Bologue and Palmer.

"You carry an umbilical cord on you, which itself serves as a pass."

"You want us to act as undercover agents, infiltrate, and collaborate with you from the inside out?" Bologue asked.

"Pretty much. Most importantly, we only have two invitations, and having too high a Tier might raise suspicions, too low and it's useless, so we must choose the elite of the elite to go."

This was Yas's true intention.

"Are we considered the elite of the elite?"

Palmer asked Bologue, instinctively sensing the danger of this mission despite not having slept all night and being drunk.

"Probably, a sharp sword to shatter the enemy's deadly tail." Bologue mumbled softly.

Palmer's face turned pale, his eyes seeking help from Ivan, but Ivan turned his head away, not looking at Palmer.

"The date of the operation hasn't been set yet, but during the operation, you need to pay attention to a few things."

Yas took out two documents and handed them to Bologue and Palmer respectively.

"In the investigation, we discovered a mysterious entity known as the Delusional..."

Bologue quickly browsed through the contents on the document, and his expression became serious.

"You suspect that the Delusional is Teda."

"Just a suspicion, we have no solid evidence... But if he really is the Delusional, given what he's been doing, he won't miss the auction, meaning you'll see him at the venue."

Yas added, "During your operation, we'll also have people watching the Alchemy Workshop."

"But regardless of whether the Delusional is Teda, he's not so important in the mission, right?" Bologue asked in confusion.

Teda having a hidden identity was something he had long expected, especially since Teda was an Alchemist lurking in the Great Rift. He had already left the Order Bureau and joined the Order of Truth.

In Teda's hands, he didn't know how many outside Condensers had been created, causing significant trouble for the Order Bureau. However, due to the constraints of the pact, the Order Bureau still maintained a peaceful attitude with Teda.

"Just making early preparations. You've been with Teda for so long, you must have sensed those things he's hiding deep down, right?" Yas queried.

This time, Bologue fell silent. Teda's danger didn't lie on the surface but in his heart, in the things he hid deep within.

"In this mission, both the Delusional and the Gray Trade Association are just secondary targets."

At this moment, Lebius spoke up, gesturing for Bologue to continue skimming through the document.

"The real main threat is the buyers and the things the Gray Trade Association intends to sell."

Bologue turned to the next page, the scarlet symbols filled his vision, and he whispered.

"The Crimson Corruption Sect."