Endless Debt

Leaving Lebius's office, Bologue and Palmer rested for a while in the activity room. The snow outside was heavy, and conditions inside the Great Rift would only be worse. They planned to wait for the snow to stop before heading out.

"What do you have in that box?"

Palmer noticed Bologue had brought a box to work. Ever since Bologue acquired the Deceitful Snake Scale Liquid, he had an endless supply of steel to utilize, and he rarely carried a bunch of weapons with him anymore.

Being fully armed felt good, but over time, it inevitably seemed cumbersome.

"Just some daily necessities."

"Huh? Are you planning to stay long at the outpost?" Palmer asked.

"Not sure, just preparing in advance. The weather's horrible. If possible, I don't want to experience this awful commute again," Bologue said.

The wind today was so strong that Bologue truly felt the hardship of going to work.

Palmer's gaze revealed suspicion. From Bologue's previous words, it seemed more like he was preparing to wait for the opportune moment in the outpost hut, gathering strength.

"But... the mission..." Bologue murmured.

He fiddled with the black key in his hand. From now on, Bologue would keep this key close, with an underlying tension in his heart. It was like a silent bomb, ready to explode at any moment.

"Feeling pressured?" Palmer noticed the doubt in Bologue's eyes.

"A bit... I love the feeling of controlling the whole field, but this mission is shrouded in uncertainty. I don't even know where we'll act, nor do we have a concrete image of the enemy we'll face."

Bologue's tone carried a hint of threat as he spoke to Palmer. "Imagine, Palmer, you open a door and find yourself in an unknown land, surrounded by a group of fully-armed Negative Power Users."

"Alright, stop, I'm feeling the pressure now." Palmer immediately felt a headache.

The two had to delve into the heartlands, but what lay there was unknown. Lebius understood this, so their primary task was to send signals, expose the location of the gathering, and, before the Sixth Group arrived, cause as much damage to the Void Realm as possible to facilitate the invasion.

"If we're lucky, we might be able to complete the mission without conflict," Bologue pondered. "Until we're exposed, we're just a group of customers here to buy goods."

"Lucky? I don't think so."

Palmer really couldn't trust his luck, and with a pleading look in his eyes, he asked Bologue, "Do you have any plans, expert?"

Bologue looked into Palmer's eyes, saying nothing, but smiled meaningfully, a smile that sent a chill down Palmer's spine.

"Speaking of, Palmer, as an ancient Extraordinary Clan, your family should know many secrets, right?" Bologue asked.

"Don't think about it, there's nothing to say."

Palmer crossed his arms and suddenly became firm again, then he deflated, "The secrets are guarded by the old folks. I'm the successor but haven't taken over yet, right?"

Palmer knew exactly what Bologue wanted to ask. His partner rarely showed interest in certain matters, but once he did, he would become particularly invested, like slaughtering enemies or exploring his own secrets.

Since knowing Bologue's fate, the two debtors often talked about these matters. Palmer was quite free about it; he didn't care about bad luck or complete denial of the soul. If it could help him avoid that blood-colored nightmare, Palmer didn't mind maintaining the status quo until death.

On this point, he was just like Bologue. Since becoming a debtor, Palmer had never interacted with the Crimson Queen again. He was terrified of that existence.

Palmer said that sometimes he would hear strange whispers, but drinking a little alcohol helped him sleep through it. This guy's slight penchant for alcohol was somewhat related to this.

Bologue was envious of Palmer in a way. He wanted to communicate with his own Devil but didn't even know where it was or who it was.

"What's with what Geoffrey said?" Bologue and Palmer chatted about other topics to pass the time.

"What do you mean?"

"What does 'come to the platform' mean?" Bologue asked with curiosity.

Sometimes Bologue felt a strange sense of disparity. He had become a field staff for the Order Bureau, the top enforcer of this vast violent organization, fighting on secret battlefields invisible to ordinary people.

He had learned secrets that ordinary people couldn't comprehend in their lifetime. But when truly immersed in it, he felt his own ignorance. Despite knowing so much, he still felt incredibly small in this Extraordinary World.

Palmer fell silent, his rarely serious face appeared, followed by a helpless sigh.

"Well... this counts as black history for our Extraordinary Clans."

"What black history?"

"Bologue, do you think we're still ordinary people?" Palmer asked in return.

"Not really."

Bologue considered carefully before replying.

According to the Golden Thesis, in a sense, Condensers are no longer considered humans. They are beings that have evolved from humans into entities that resemble but are internally superior to humans.

Even without considering this point, the indicators of a Condenser far surpass those of ordinary humans.

"Hundreds of years ago, humans divided into commoners and nobles, but this distinction was merely in terms of power and wealth. Anyone stabbed with a knife would die just the same, but Condensers are different..."

Before Palmer could finish, Bologue had already figured out what kind of story was unfolding. He spoke, "Is that so?"

"This was a conflict from many years ago, which I only learned about during my studies of history. Some Extraordinary Clans felt they were above humans, like shepherds leading a flock, and aggressively wanted to control everything," Palmer said, recalling Serey. "This is just like the Night Race—they wanted to create an Undead Empire, while these people wanted to create an Empire of Condensers."

"Looks like they failed."

Bologue said, the outcome was evident. In today's world, Condensers hide in the shadows, controlled by the vast entity known as the Order Bureau.

"Yes, this happened after the Dawn War. The Night Race was dealt with, and some people wanted to replace them. After another war, the radicals were buried while the victors continued to develop. Later, under the operations of the Rhine Alliance, they united to form the Order Bureau."

Hearing Palmer's words, Bologue was slightly surprised. He considered this the predecessor of the Order Bureau.

"For this reason, our collective consciousness chooses to hide, which is why Geoffrey often warns me with this." Thinking of this made Palmer a bit headache.

"What about those who were defeated? Were they hunted down and exterminated?" Bologue asked.

"No, the conflict between us was not as irreconcilable as with the Night Race... After all, Night Race members are all Undead; they can completely hide somewhere for hundreds of years, then come out to wreak havoc again," Palmer explained.

"A pact was made between the two sides to hide together in the normal world, but inevitably, time and conflicts have caused the division to grow larger until there is no contact."

At this moment, Palmer remembered something and said to Bologue, "Remember? The Order Bureau didn't unite all the Extraordinary Organizations within the Rhine Alliance."

"Those who weren't united are the defeated and the neutrals, right?" Bologue said.

"That's right. As for what those guys are doing now, I'm not sure. After being defeated, these people who wanted to rise to prominence went against their nature and instead secluded themselves. If it weren't mentioned, I would have almost forgotten them."

Palmer recalled carefully, most of his knowledge about them was learned from his family's teachings.

"Aside from some annual exchange banquets, I almost never encountered those people elsewhere, not to mention the Order Bureau."

Palmer paused, then added again.

"All Secrets Order."

"What?"

As Palmer spoke of history, a foreign term suddenly popped out midway, leaving Bologue confused.

"Their name, ever since the birth of the Order Bureau, these scattered ones began to band together and keep warm, they called their union 'All Secrets Order,'" Palmer explained.

"Are they enemies?" Bologue was quite concerned about this matter.

"Not... at least not now," Palmer said, "but if we defeat the King's Secret Sword one day, then that could be uncertain."

Under pressure from the Night Race, the Extraordinary Organizations banded together. But after the Night Race was destroyed, some rushed to replace them, and it is still the same today, with the Kagader Empire eyeing from the south and pressure from the King's Secret Sword, forcing the Extraordinary Organizations of the Rhine Alliance to unite. Even amidst differences, until a formidable enemy is eradicated, everyone will join forces hypocritically.

"All Secrets Order..."

Bologue softly whispered.

The silence between them didn't last long before Palmer continued, "Bologue, since you got out of prison, you haven't been anywhere else, have you?"

"No, I've been here in Opus ever since I got out," Bologue said, "Why?"

"Do you have any thoughts about traveling?" Palmer said.

"Travel?"

"I might go home for a while, want to join me?" Palmer talked about his future plans, "Since I left home, I haven't been back, it's about time to go once."

"Why take me along?"

Bologue was suspicious, but deep down, he was quite interested in the Wind Source Highlands and even more intrigued by Palmer's family.

"Well..."

Palmer was momentarily at a loss for words, his expression complex.

"We'll share the blessings since we're partners, right?"

Bologue felt that things weren't so simple, yet Palmer gave a familiar chuckle, stood up, and tidied his clothes.

"Let's go, the snow should have lessened."