Endless Debt

As he opened his eyes, even after a sleep, the rest did not alleviate Bologue's fatigue. He sat up from the single bed, eyes staring blankly at the slightly narrow base.

A week had passed since moving into Teda's Alchemy Workshop, and during this period, the interaction among the people was fairly harmonious.

For the majority of the time, Bologue and Palmer wandered within the paths of disarray, inspecting this Land of Chaos.

In order to obtain accurate information, Bologue even went to the Spider Web Bar to meet with Vika once.

Earlier, Bologue thought Vika was just an ordinary bartender, but after that stormy night, Bologue realized that Vika has a deep connection with the Tyrant, and perhaps Vika is also a debtor, except Bologue didn't detect a kindred spirit in him.

Indeed, debtors are quite rare. If his speculation is correct, the paths of disarray are a variant of a religious group, then Vika might have forged a contract with the Tyrant through a contractor.

Yet until now, these thoughts remain mere speculation. Despite writing so many pages of reports and submitting them, there has been no response from Nesanel. Asking Lebius yielded no results; this deputy director's whereabouts are always mysterious.

Bologue's conjectures ended here, but another matter had progressed, which was the trail of the Gray Trade Association.

From Vika's mouth, it was learned that recently the paths of disarray had grown increasingly dangerous, with crime rates soaring, most being extraordinary crimes.

Bologue spent a few Mammon Coins to extract deeper information from Vika; these disturbances were caused by the Gray Trade Association, these peculiar arms dealers always bring chaos with them.

The Alchemy Armament and alchemy materials circulating into the market strengthened the desperadoes in the paths of disarray to some extent, making them even more perilous.

Thus, over the week, though the two seemed to be roaming leisurely, mostly they were searching for traces of the Gray Trade Association. Even though they caused such a great uproar, in the paths of disarray they seemed invisible, leaving not a trace to be found.

This made Bologue feel rather vexed. He considered a carpet search, but the Great Rift was too vast and too intricate, hiding within it would render even the Order Bureau powerless.

Bologue's job progression met numerous obstacles, making his mood increasingly restless lately. He began to long for the simple, day-to-day brawls and battles.

No conspiracies or detective pursuits, just the time, location, and number of enemies, perhaps also whether to capture dead bodies or bring them in alive.

After dressing, Bologue decided not to dwell on work matters. He had other things to attend to.

Today was the weekend, a rare day off, but Bologue did not wake from his own bed; instead, he awoke in the base within the Alchemy Workshop.

This was due to Teda's needs; on weekends, he had to assist him in researching the Alchemy Matrix. To save time, after much consideration, Bologue decided to temporarily stay here over the weekend.

Unquestionably, Bologue hadn't expected Palmer's single bed to actually come in handy.

This was the first day of research, and Bologue was unsure what Teda would discover; he was filled with anticipation.

Thinking of this, Bologue reached into his pocket and took out a rough mechanical watch.

In fact, it shouldn't be called a mechanical watch, as it merely had the casing of one, with the inside cluttered with gears thrown together haphazardly, rough parts carrying some burrs, and a surface neither smooth nor even, riddled with bumps.

At first glance, people would question what this piece had gone through.

This was the result of Bologue's week-long training. Whenever he had time, he would play with the metal, attempting to mold it into a mechanical watch, and it was during such molding attempts that Bologue realized his control over Secret Energy wasn't precise enough.

Fortunately, diligence made up for weaknesses. Bologue learned quickly, even honing his control over Ether a bit.

Ether is a mysterious energy; by burning this energy, the Alchemy Matrix can burst forth miracles surpassing reality. As his command over Ether improved, Bologue could reduce much meaningless Ether consumption when activating Secret Energy and perform more complex drives with Ether.

During the mechanical watch training, Bologue's perception of Ether grew increasingly keen, as molding such fine components required his focused attention, harnessing Ether for solid shaping.

This allowed Bologue to gradually notice previously unperceivable ethereal fluctuations. At this training pace, Bologue believed he would soon master the threshold of Ethereal Perception, learning one more of Ethereal Skills he had acquired.

Aside from this, the gain is Teda's early research on Overlord Xilin.

In the documents, Bologue first roughly understood Xilin Kagader's life events, which were recorded by Teda more detailedly than the information Bologue found within the Order Bureau.

Even still, the information on Xilin is considered extremely scarce.

Just like Palmer said to Bologue, the Kagader Royal Family is very secretive; aside from the King's intelligence, all the royal family members seem to be shrouded in mist, making it difficult to discern their identities.

As if from the moment they are born, royal family members live within the Pillar of Royal Authority, never stepping outside the palace, imprisoning themselves in that splendid cage.

Xilin, who did not inherit the throne, lived most of his childhood within the Pillar of Royal Authority until an event erupted that changed everything.

When Xilin was ten, his father, the current ruler of Kagader, Austin Kagader, held a grand banquet.

He summoned all royal blood relatives, regardless of the thickness or thinness of their bloodlines, to the Pillar of Royal Authority to partake in that jubilant banquet.

According to records, thousands arrived at the Pillar of Royal Authority, and the bands kept playing music from dawn till nightfall, continuously; even at the edge of the Royal City, the melodies could still be heard, and looking up, one could see the brightly lit, seemingly burning High Tower.

No one knew why Austin held such a banquet, nor what he was celebrating, but revelry requires no reason, and everyone joined in the dance.

This crazy banquet continued for seven days. The revelry of the first six days left everyone entirely exhausted, and on the seventh day, Austin suddenly ordered the Pillar of Royal Authority completely sealed off. Guards stood at every exit, and then Austin picked up a sword and, in a crazed manner, began slaughtering every person with Kagader blood before him.

The massacre erupted on the seventh night; music turned into endless wails, and the guards stood outside the Pillar of Royal Authority, none daring to step inside.

Some recalled that it felt as though Hell descended upon the palace, with Demons crawling from the lava, devouring everyone's life.

To escape this mad Hell, countless figures jumped from the Pillar of Royal Authority, smashed to pieces on the ground, blood soaking the palace steps, cascading like a tide, paving a long crimson carpet.

When the morning of the eighth day arrived, everything was over. Blood-soaked Austin sat on his throne; under his Sharp Sword, all related to the Kagader bloodline were slaughtered, save for one—Xilin, at the time only ten years old.

No one knows how Xilin survived, nor what Austin intended; he not only massacred all royal family members but also killed Xilin's six siblings — Austin's own children.

That night was called the Blood Night, leading Austin to be known as the King of Slaughter, with Xilin becoming his sole bloodline continuation. Following that night, the grand Pillar of Royal Authority became deathly silent.

Reading these, Bologue felt madness seeped between every character.

After the Blood Night, Xilin became much quieter, and Austin returned to sanity, as if the Blood Night were merely an illusion, taboo-like, no one dared speak of it.

Later, Xilin's experiences became quite ordinary; after becoming a Condenser, Xilin joined the King's Secret Sword, continuously gaining ranks, and his status within the King's Secret Sword rose alongside.

Until Xilin became the youngest Seeker of Glory in royal history, appointed as the Sword Holder for the King's Secret Sword, subsequently initiating a secret war against the Order Bureau.

One point caught Bologue's attention: after the Blood Night, Xilin left the Pillar of Royal Authority and, until his death in the Cultivation Room, never returned.

Now it seems that Xilin's aggressiveness during the secret war carried an air of courting death. After his death, only the current King of Slaughter, Austin, remains in the Kagader Royal Family, now facing an extinction crisis.

Documents also mention that given Austin's madness during the Blood Night, no one could predict if he, unable to resolve the extinction crisis, might launch an extraordinary war against the Order Bureau, mutually destructive.

This is all the information on Overlord Xilin. No one knows what triggered the Blood Night, nor what Austin thinks, as with Xilin.

Bologue pushed open the door and walked in the Alchemy Workshop, surrounded by mechanical resonations.

Now Overlord Xilin's body is preserved within the Order Bureau, and Bologue bears his Alchemy Matrix, resembling some strange continuation; now this power has fallen into Bologue's hands.