Soon, it was November, the weather turned cold, and combined with Opus’s gloomy weather, the chilling cold swept through everyone on the streets. The gentle sway of skirts was no more; pedestrians donned thick coats, and so wrapped scarves around their necks.
After visiting Teda, Bologue explained these matters to Lebius, initially thinking Lebius might have doubts about establishing a base at Teda’s place, given that Teda was no longer a mber of the Order Bureau, even though there was still an agreent connecting them.
Unexpectedly, Lebius didn’t give it much thought and agreed to Bologue’s decision. Bologue suspected that Belli might have already smoothed things over in advance, though it’s unclear how much resources she used to get Lebius to agree.
With Lebius’s permission, the base for operations inside the Great Rift was temporarily established for Bologue.
But considering the sudden developnts, there were no extra rooms left for the two at Teda’s Alchemy Workshop. Teda needed so ti to clear out so rooms, so Bologue and Palr waited a few more days.
The elevator quietly descended, and inside the narrow elevator were only Bologue and Palr, standing one after the other, quietly waiting for the elevator doors to open.
"Sotis I feel like this elevator isn’t moving at all."
Palr found it difficult to bear monts of silence. Whenever the atmosphere fell into wordlessness, he would say sothing, regardless of whether Bologue was willing to engage.
"Are you suggesting that it’s the building that’s moving?"
Bologue found it hard to envision such a scene; the human brain struggles to compute such bizarre spatial distortions.
"Not quite. You’ve used the Key of the Crooked Path, so you understand this thing," Palr raised his hand, sketching sothing in the air, "opening one door through another."
Even after receiving the elite education at the Clarks and serving within the Order Bureau for a while, Palr still didn’t have much understanding of this mysterious Key of the Crooked Path.
"Do you think the various departnts and areas of the Order Bureau aren’t actually connected? They’re rely linked by sothing akin to the Key of the Crooked Path?" Bologue followed along with Palr’s description.
"About right, perhaps? After all, the ’Cultivation Room’ is still too peculiar; who knows what the deal is with this thing?"
Palr didn’t feel like thinking further; he simply enjoyed the comfort of free-thinking.
While on operations, combat occupied only a small portion of their ti; most of it was spent in monotonous patrolling and searching. As ti passed, the two began to engage in intermittent idle chatter, resembling a pair of well-coordinated partners.
A slight tremor was felt, and the elevator emitted a "ding," interrupting their conversation. They knew they had arrived.
The elevator doors opened, and the two proceeded along the corridor set atop the high walls, then descended along the suspended steps. The vast underground space gradually ca into view.
Like the Courtyard of Curves and Pillar Courtyard, this was also a magnificent central courtyard space. In terms of levels, this was the negative first level of the "Cultivation Room." Bologue knew of its existence, but it was still his first ti here.
In the center of the courtyard was a gigantic circular lift platform, with multiple intersecting rails crisscrossing above it. As the platform ascended and rotated, the rails on it connected and misaligned with other rails on the courtyard floor.
The chanical roar was constant, and gigantic chanical arms lifted train carriages. From the exterior, these carriages looked almost identical to Opus’s subway, but according to the information known to Bologue, these were all ard carriages, with bulletproof steel plates installed within the shell’s layers; internally, there were no seats or handrails, but weapons racks and dical kits.
Above the courtyard, one could see the colossal insignia etched onto the high wall, gear chanisms wrapped in chains and interlocked with each other.
This place belonged to the Logistics Departnt, considered the core area for the Ferryn; broadcasts echoed within the vast space. Cargo arms placed carriages on the lift platform’s rails, connected to the engines, rotated onto designated rails, and neat footsteps sounded as a group of Ferryn rushed into the carriages, the subway starting, and heading into darkness along the tracks.
Deep Nest Courtyard.
Those familiar with this place referred to it as such, connecting to Opus’s subway system and adding several secret passages exclusive to the Order Bureau. Ard subways from here could rapidly reach any area in Opus.
However, typically, the most frequent users of this place were not the Field Staff, but those hurrying to clean up troubles for the Field Staff: the Ferryn.
Thinking of the Ferryn’s disdain for the Field Staff made Bologue feel sowhat ill at ease. Previously, during a al in the cafeteria, he overheard quiet mutterings—soone was cursing about sothing.
"These damned Field Staff are getting more and more excessive!"
The al beca increasingly irritating, and the Ferryman simply put down the knife and fork, cursing aloud.
"What’s wrong?" asked the friend sitting opposite.
"A while back, that stormy night, I was sleeping when I got woken up for a mission."
"Oh! That night, I rember—apparently, half the Logistics Departnt was dispatched...what happened?" the friend asked curiously.
"What else? There were bodies everywhere, every site looking like a slaughterhouse; and the countryside, they smashed up a stone bridge...actually can’t say smashed, but the bridge’s structural integrity was destroyed, making it impossible to bear weight or be traversed, which is as good as destroyed."
He clenched the knife and fork, his voice almost becoming a low growl.
"Insane! The regulations clearly state that operations potentially causing major damage must be reported to the Logistics Departnt in advance!"
Destruction caused by battles between Condensers in surrounding areas was unavoidable. Usually, once an operation was planned and if there was potential for major destruction, the Field Operations Departnt would contact the Ferryn from the Logistics Departnt.
They would operate together, and after the Field Operations Departnt completed the task, the Ferryn would imdiately step in to handle the scene. But Bologue’s operation that night had not been reported to anyone, and no one expected him to do such a thing; in fact, even Bologue himself hadn’t anticipated it.
"We loaded four trucks with just bodies!"
In his complaint, Bologue rarely lowered his head in sha.
Arriving below, Palr waved to the staff, inquiring about the train schedule.
This ti, neither of them had an operation scheduled, hence there was no special train prepared for them in the departure sequence. They were just trying to catch a ride, as every trip to the Great Rift was always a hassle.
First, driving through crowded streets, parking, waiting at red lights; the security around the Great Rift’s edge wasn’t great. Palr still had to find a safe place to park to prevent his beloved Leica from being stolen.
Next was trekking on foot, passing through heavy smog, and walking along the steep outer wall... much like exploring Deep Nest.
But leaving from Deep Nest Courtyard was different; here it connected to Opus’s subway system, allowing them to take the subway directly to Autumn Town, and from Autumn Town reach Teda’s Alchemy Workshop.
"Hey! Bologue! This train."
Palr shouted to Bologue, indicating for him to follow. Guided by staff, the two boarded a train car, but once inside, they felt sothing was off.
Unlike their impression filled with weapons and dical kits, this car was loaded with various supplies, from drinking water to food, all kinds of daily necessities, and even a few novels to pass the ti. From the titles, one book was called "Night Hunter."
"Did we get on the wrong car?" Palr was puzzled too, asking Bologue in a low voice.
"You’re the one who chose this, why ask ?"
Bologue sat in the corner, the seat was small and very hard. These ard subway cars were utterly lacking in comfort.
The chanical crane was still working, lifting car after car and attaching them behind, perhaps equally filled with supplies.
Footsteps approached, and the Ferryn boarded the train. The newcor glanced at the two, and Palr tily picked up the badge, with the twisted Rupert’s Tear engraved on it.
This was the credential for the Field Operations Departnt’s Special Operations Group. It might not work in other departnts, but in the Logistics Departnt, which had a love-hate relationship with the Field Operations Departnt, this was very useful. No explanations needed, just show it and they would understand your purpose.
But this ti was odd; the newcor’s gaze, initially about to move away, was drawn back to the badge, staring at it for a long ti. A familiar feeling surged up, and he rasped.
"It’s you two again!"
Bologue and Palr were stunned, what did "again" an, what did "it’s you two again" imply?
Carefully observing the newcor, Palr clearly didn’t recognize this guy, but Bologue, being an expert, recalled the man’s identity imdiately.
"Marion Rod."
Bologue uttered the man’s na.
He rembered this guy; when he and Palr dealt with David, it was this man who brought the Ferryn to handle the scene. It was then that Bologue realized the Field Operations Departnt had registered a company nad Ferryman to facilitate their operations.
"Oh? You rember , how heartwarming."
Marion sat beside them, the car full of supplies made the space exceedingly cramped, feeling as if they were sitting in a warehouse.
"You’re headed to Autumn Town too? With all these supplies." Bologue asked curiously.
"I don’t want to go, but it’s a logistics mission."
As Marion spoke, the subway started to move slowly, its speed gradually increasing. It left the Deep Nest Courtyard and plunged into the deep darkness.
In the underground tunnel, the subway sped onward, the car swaying slightly. Among the tallic clatter was the roar of compressed air.
"So many supplies, who are they for?"
Bologue continued to ask, pondering why the Field Operations Departnt suddenly decided to intervene in the Great Rift, given these massive supplies.
"If we’re not supposed to know, just forget it." Bologue added, not wanting to make Marion uncomfortable.
"No worries, we’ll be delivering supplies to you in the future anyway, just those working in the Great Rift."
Marion took out a booklet, flipping through it, unsure of what was recorded inside, but it was clear Marion knew Bologue was operating within the Great Rift too.
He reached out and patted the supplies beside him, speaking to Bologue.
"These are supplies for the Fourth Group and the Desperate Outpost."
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