When Bologue slowly awakened, what t his eyes wasn’t a tallic do, nor the familiar hospital ceiling, but a murky, untouchable darkness.
Bologue didn’t get up imdiately. Confused and mixed mories were like a swarm of agitated serpents writhing fiercely in his mind, intertwining, biting, gnawing at him from the inside out.
The sensation was terrible, accompanied by a pressure that almost induced a physical reaction in Bologue, as if a large hand gripped his organs, pulling hard, with foreign objects squeezing and crawling in his throat, scrambling to escape Bologue’s body.
Bologue half-lay on the cold ground, coughing painfully like a drowning man.
For a mont, Bologue realized that he surprisingly had thoughts of escape.
Indeed, he always felt he was just a soldier who needed only to follow orders, but now he had beco a decision-maker, and the heavy responsibility nearly crushed his sanity.
"How long are you going to lie there?"
A cold voice echoed, and Bologue looked towards the direction of the sound, catching sight of a familiar figure.
Seeing the familiar face, Bologue’s restless heart cald significantly.
"Deputy... Deputy Director?"
Bologue didn’t expect the first person he’d see after his promotion ceremony would be Nesanel, which ant that the place he was in...
Looking around, the inescapable darkness enveloped the entire space like fog.
Bologue was quite surprised, "Inverted Hall?"
He didn’t expect to return here so soon and et those sacred yet cruel entities.
Nesanel offered no further explanation, and at this mont, Bologue noticed sothing unusual about the Deputy Director. He usually wore a nonchalant smile as if life were a ga, but now his face was grim, with eyes filled with an indissoluble bitterness.
Only a few days had passed, and whatever Nesanel had gone through, he seed to have aged considerably, his spirit withered, no longer exuding that scorching aura, but rather filled with a chilling coldness.
And his gaze.
Bologue clearly sensed that there was a trace of subtle malice in Nesanel’s eyes when he looked at him. This malice flashed briefly but existed nonetheless.
This could cause Bologue a stabbing pain akin to being pricked by needles, being resented by a Seeker of Glory is not a favorable situation, especially when he is also his superior.
But what puzzled Bologue even more was what could have happened to cause such a drastic change in Nesanel’s attitude toward him, for he rembered the high expectations Nesanel had for him.
"Bologue Lazarus, employee."
A woman’s voice broke the darkness, interrupting Bologue’s wandering thoughts.
Bologue looked ahead, and a dignified lady had sohow appeared before him. He rembered this silhouette; she was Maria, the second Director of the Order Bureau, known for her tenacity like iron trees and steel branches.
Maria was dead, Bologue knew that, and what presented itself before him was rely an illusory facade; the true entity conversing with Bologue was that massive collective presence.
"The Collective..."
Bologue stood straight and nodded slightly at Maria, a sign of respect.
"Begin your report," Maria said, "on the first exploration of the Ethereal Realm."
Bologue couldn’t help but ask, "Am I reporting directly to the Decision Room?"
"What do you think?"
Bologue asked no further questions, volunteering all his observations, experiences, and speculations from within the Ethereal Realm, recounting everything to Maria.
Saying these things out loud, Bologue felt the pressure on his heart lighten sowhat; he no longer bore these dreadful secrets alone but shared them with the great Collective, a giant entity amalgamating all the wisdom from the Order Bureau’s inception, uniting everyone into a flesh-and-blood computer.
Bologue realized that the Collective could compute all optimal solutions to find the most accurate answers in an ever-changing future.
Should he speak?
Bologue’s mouth opened slightly, becoming hesitant.
Concerning the Astronaut’s conspiracy, the Gate of Origin plan...
Just as Bologue was wavering, he felt a breeze, and when he turned his head, Nesanel was already gone, nowhere to be found.
Seeing this, Bologue temporarily shelved his inner thoughts and asked about sothing else, "What happened to the Deputy Director?"
Anyone could tell that sothing was off with Nesanel at that mont; he seed awful, like a wounded lion with festering wounds emitting a foul stench.
This change was too great; nobody knew what had happened to Nesanel.
Maria said, "Nothing, he’s always been like this."
"Always?" Bologue shook his head, "The Deputy Director in my mory wasn’t like that."
"I can only say he hid it well," Maria’s eyes beca sharp, "After all, he turned out this way because of you."
"Because of ?"
"Did the Devil who signed a Blood Contract with you ever tell you that Xilin, like you, is also his Debtor, bearing his Protection?"
Bologue froze, like misaligned train tracks realigning, as the train thundered past.
Long ago, Bologue had suspected a connection between himself and Xilin, but the only similarity between them was having the sa set of Alchemy Matrix.
Now, with Maria’s and the Collective’s words, like the pronouncent of a verdict, confirming the link between the two, the Devil’s bond.
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