Endless Debt

"Team Leader, are you sure this guy is trustworthy?"

Kemp witnessed Bologue facing the flames, stepping into the sea of fire. To him, it seemed like a suicidal act. This sole reinforcement had traveled over mountains and rivers to get here, just to die? This was too absurd, wasn't it?

"I'm not sure either. With debtors, you can never tell, right?" Yas replied.

As soon as Yas finished speaking, Kemp saw the burnt figure burst out of the sea of fire, killing several thugs in succession. Under the brutal hammer strikes, flesh and blood shattered into large patches of filthy blood.

Kemp wanted to complain about something, but the words got stuck in his throat, and he found himself at a loss for what to say.

And this was just the beginning. Then Bologue showed Kemp another use of the Arm of Adaptation, using the hooked chain to drag a thug, instantly smashing them into a broken corpse.

Watching Bologue's hammer strikes, Kemp felt like he was in the front row of a cinema, watching a horror movie.

Shelley peeked out. She just happened to see Bologue twisting a thug's throat, then smashing in another person's head.

"Oh..."

She let out a series of moans, frowned, and squinted her eyes, reacting as if a horror movie had just hit a terrifying scene.

Looking at Bologue rampaging across the battlefield, Kemp glanced at the gun in his hand. He suddenly realized this guy didn't seem to need cover, and compared to these thugs, it was obvious Bologue was the more villainous one.

"Where did the Special Operations Group find this guy... a convict from the Black Prison?"

Vague bursts of laughter came from ahead, and Bologue seemed as happy as a chainsaw-wielding maniac. Seeing this, Shelley momentarily forgot about the pain, mumbling to herself.

"He indeed is a convict from the Black Prison." Yas unexpectedly confirmed this guess.

Yas wasn't present, but knowing Bologue well, he understood why they were saying this and what was happening on the scene.

"Don't worry," Yas said, "I know a few good psychologists at the medical department."

"Is it for him?"

Shelley asked while still watching the battlefield. Now Bologue had snatched a Fire-Calling Staff and was wantonly releasing flames, almost burning through all the mist in the area.

"How could it be, such a guy would only drive the psychologists insane."

Yas thought he understood Bologue. Beneath his cold exterior was a mind ready to go mad at any moment. God knows what he might do.

"It's for you guys. I'm afraid you'll be vegetarians for a while now."

Shelley quickly understood what Yas meant, as the dense scent of decay wafted over with waves of heat, as if internal organs were being boiled with filthy blood.

Kemp was about to throw up, yet that guy was enjoying himself more with each slash.

This was probably a cognitive dissonance.

Bologue thought of himself as a normal person. Besides some peculiar little habits, he considered his mental state quite healthy.

Keeping a strict schedule, rarely drinking or smoking, he seldom used violence against others except when striking down evil with a heavy hand...

As Bologue emotionlessly smashed a thug's head, it wasn't that he was without emotion; he was just pondering matters related to Aimou.

Bologue thought situations like this were quite common, akin to how some people like to ponder while taking a walk. Bologue just replaced walking with battling enemies.

Unable to think of any answers, he could only vent all his frustrations into reality.

From the thugs' perspective, they were indeed well-equipped, with various alchemy armaments emerging one after another, posing some trouble even for Bologue.

But Bologue was no longer the newcomer he once was. To say nothing of Condensers, he even smashed a Prayer Believer to death with his own hands.

With the enhancement of Deceitful Snake Scale Liquid, Bologue's style became more reckless compared to his previous caution. A legion of snakes protected Bologue, blocking flames and gunfire, transforming into solid armor and deadly sharp swords.

But soon Bologue realized a problem: even with such brutal assaults, the thugs did not retreat; instead, they became more frenzied.

Bologue excelled at spreading fear among others. He had witnessed many collapse under fear, even cultists of the Corrupted Ape Sect. But these thugs were different, as if they couldn't feel fear or had no rational existence at all.

Was something influencing these thugs?

As Bologue pondered this, a cold bullet struck him, bursting blood flowers on his arm, with bones and flesh intertwined, and the Snake Scale Armor shattered into countless silver sparks.

Regular bullets couldn't penetrate Bologue's defense; this was an alchemy warhead.

Bologue summoned the muddy ground beneath his feet, raising an earthen wall to cover his body. However, another bullet fell, easily piercing the wall. The wall's obstruction didn't precisely hit Bologue, but the ether on the warhead continued to surge.

An explosion erupted instantly, scorching firelight flared up suddenly, dark smoke covering Bologue's position. It turned out to be an explosive warhead.

Bologue burst out from the dark smoke, his broken bones resetting, blood flowing backward, and muscles regrowing.

In the blink of an eye, Bologue's injuries healed completely, without the slightest pause. Another series of earthen walls rose from the ground, layer by layer surrounding Bologue.

All the earthen walls faced the same direction, for that's where the gunfire came from, and where the shooter was hiding.

"How have you survived until now?"

This was the first time Bologue asked a question since the battle began.

"Ethereal Concealment. We are Condensers of the Origin School; it's easy for us to hide our tracks." Shelley's voice echoed in his mind.

Bologue understood what she meant. The gunman could determine his location through the earth wall; the opponent must be extremely sensitive to Ether, and possibly even possessed Ethereal Perception.

He couldn't see Bologue, but he could sense Bologue's Ether, thus locating his position.

Kemp and Shelley survived largely because the enclosed building and Ethereal Barrier impeded the lethal shots, and Ethereal Concealment obscured their Ether reaction, keeping them silent in the gunman's view.

"Did you encounter his gunfire before?" Bologue asked again.

"No, we only know the opponent has Condensers, but not the specifics of their abilities. It's always these raiders bombarding us." Kemp replied, adding that if he knew relevant information, he'd report to Bologue as soon as he arrived at the battlefield.

Regrettably, the two were passive from the start and didn't acquire any useful intelligence, worsening the situation.

"Sorry."

Kemp apologized again; this was probably the day he apologized the most in his life.

"It's not your fault... this is a trap."

Bologue stated a conclusion no one anticipated. Instantly, everyone connected to the Heart Core Net became alert.

"What did you say? Bologue." Yas inquired.

"These raiders aren't influenced by fear. I can only speculate that something more powerful restrains them, driving them to attack me fearlessly. Logically, with such a group of madmen wielding Alchemy Armaments, you two should have died long ago.

Yet here you are, alive and well, despite being somewhat disheveled, still holding out until I arrived."

"He wants to catch us all in one fell swoop." Shelley said.

"All in one fell swoop? Isn't that too arrogant? The Order Bureau is the real sovereign here. Such actions will only anger the Order Bureau."

Bologue conveyed his thoughts.

"I think he was waiting for me."

"Why do you think so, Bologue?" Yas countered.

"I'm not sure. It's just instinct. After all, in the Great Rift area, I'm the only one who can arrive the fastest to provide support."

Bologue analyzed.

"You could leave; under no circumstances can the opponent's aim be fulfilled," Kemp suddenly spoke, doing his utmost to minimize sacrifice. "I can hold him off."

"Hmm? This is the contradiction I've been pondering. Who exactly does he intend to kill?"

Bologue disregarded Kemp, speaking to himself.

"Is he aiming to kill reinforcements from the Great Rift or Bologue Lazarus?"

"Does it make any difference?" Shelley shouted, beginning to think Bologue was truly insane.

"It makes a difference, a significant difference..."

Bologue paused abruptly as an Alchemy Warhead pierced the wall, precisely striking his torso. He couldn't conceal his Ethereal Fluctuation; even through layers of earth walls, Bologue's position remained clear in the gunman's eyes.

"Bologue!"

Kemp shouted. He saw the figure fall behind the earthen wall; this guy just died like that.

Complex emotions surged within Kemp; he couldn't fathom today's events unfolding this way. Yet before he could feel any grief, the familiar voice rang again.

"You see, this is where the contradiction lies."

Under the ghostly gazes of the two, Bologue leisurely stood up from the ground, speaking with bewilderment.

"If the goal was to assassinate Bologue Lazarus, he must know who I am and possess my basic information, thus understanding such assassination is ineffective."

Snake scales crawled over Bologue's body, forming solid Iron Armor that wrapped him in layers.

"If the aim was to kill reinforcements from the Great Rift, then he's unlucky. Today's a rest day; only I'm on duty."

Serpents gathered in his hand, twisting into a silver-white Long Spear, his entire muscle tensed like a stretched bow.

At the moment of the second gunshot, the Ether inside Bologue surged, ferocious energy bestowed Protection on his arm, Ethereal Amplification reaching its peak.

With full force, Bologue hurled the Iron Spear in the direction of the gunfire, followed by blinding sparks and shattering metal at his Scale Armor chest.