Endless Debt

Teda stepped onto the dark spiral stairs, placing his hand on the banister, climbing up step by step. He rarely found himself so defeated by someone else's words.

He wanted to retort, but in the face of Bologue's words, Teda really couldn't find a way to defend himself.

Teda understood that Bologue was right; he was indeed a hesitant coward, afraid to face such brutal truths. He was also a selfish person, dragging more and more people into the mire to satisfy his own desires.

But Teda couldn't stop, like a boulder rolling down a mountain, it had thundered forward, crushing everything in its path—no one could stop it, not even Teda himself.

Reaching the third floor, this was Teda's private domain, not allowing anyone to trespass. Bologue once fantasized about what kind of secrets might be hidden here, but the truth was, the third floor was simply arranged.

A long corridor, with doors lining both sides, their panels tightly shut and locked, as if some monstrous beast was imprisoned behind them.

Teda seldom came here; it sealed his nightmares within its walls.

He pushed open the nearest door, and the room beyond was piled with black boxes. Teda casually opened one, and under the dim light, a brilliant golden glow rose up.

Countless Mammon Coins were neatly arranged in the box, and Teda ran his fingers over the cold coins, the chill wrapping around his fingertips.

He closed the box, then looked towards the other boxes in the room, his mind recalling the contents stored behind other doors.

If Bologue saw this scene, he would surely scream in shock. No one would have imagined Teda possessed so many Mammon Coins; these brilliant coins were piled like mountains, nearly filling the entire third floor.

The golden glow reflected off Teda's face, his features subtly distorted and aberrant in the light, as a gentle melody flowed from his lips.

He was humming an ancient ballad, with an expression of tenderness, as if lulling a child to sleep.

Accumulating these Mammon Coins wasn't easy. Teda spent many years embedding Alchemy Matrixes in people, generating endless value from crossroads of bewilderment, to gather this sum.

Teda knew the terrifying nature of his goal. To avoid attracting any attention, he never used these Mammon Coins but stored them here, nurturing his wishes in silence.

Closing the door, Teda walked toward the end of the corridor, the ballad echoing in the dark.

Gently pushing open the door at the end of the corridor, Teda feared waking the person asleep behind it, cautiously stepping inside.

The room's arrangement was simple, with no furniture or clutter, filled with a hazy blue light and a faint mist spreading across the floor.

It felt akin to walking into a cold storage; the room's temperature was noticeably lower than outside, with Teda's breath emerging as white mist.

Teda's strides became hesitant, his aged face showing both joy and fear, but in the end, he couldn't restrain his emotions and moved forward.

A hospital bed lay in the center of the room, surrounded by various instruments and devices, with Ether rolling within them, emitting a slight hum between the machines.

Teda pulled up a chair, sitting beside the bed, resting his head in his hands.

After a long time, he composed himself, his bloodshot eyes gazing at the girl on the bed.

She looked very similar to Aimou, like sisters, appearing in a deep sleep, with her eyes tightly shut, as faint spectral light danced over her body like a shrouded mist.

This was a commonly used Alchemy Armament in the medical department, known as the "Static Gauze Mist."

On the surface, it resembled a glowing mist. Once attached to a human body, it significantly reduced metabolic consumption, putting the person in a near-hibernative state.

This Alchemy Armament was often used to protect long-comatose patients, greatly preserving their frail bodies. Under Teda's modification, it was used to protect Alice's body.

Gazing at Alice's peaceful face, intense sorrow surged within Teda.

He still remembered that nightmare of a day when Overlord Xilin descended, indiscriminately conscripting everyone in the domain, with rampant Ether easily invading each person's Rectangular Soul Critical.

Condensers could still resist somewhat, but ordinary people were completely torn apart in soul by the explosive Ether.

Alice was affected by Overlord Xilin at the time, but fortunately, she wasn't fully conscripted. Just as Overlord Xilin released this powerful force, the Seeker of Glory from the Order Bureau had already arrived, stopping him.

But the tragedy still occurred.

The power of the Seeker of Glory was at the pinnacle of this world, capable of causing devastating destruction with a mere gesture, let alone Alice at that time.

She was not yet of age, her soul not fully stable. Under the power of Overlord Xilin, her already unstable soul was utterly disrupted.

Like a Condensation Ceremony, the process was interrupted halfway, and Alice's soul could not be seized and condensed into the physical Philosopher's Stone, yet her soul couldn't return to its normal state either.

Listening to the steady ticking sound, Alice still had an incredibly weak heartbeat. After all these years, with Teda's meticulous care, her body remained intact under static condition, as if time had frozen on her body; she looked just like that day, yet her soul could never reset.

According to the medical department's assessment, Alice was considered dead, but Teda refused to accept this and continued the Condensation Ceremony, aiming to condense Alice's soul into a Philosopher's Stone while her body was protected, keeping a feeble semblance of life.

"I need the activation key, an activation key..."

Teda mused, from an alchemist's perspective, Alice's body could actually be seen as a perfect shell, yet he couldn't find the activation key. He had tried reversing the condensation of the Philosopher's Stone to return the dispersing soul to the body, but all ended in failure.

Indeed, in the study of alchemy, many have tried reversing condensation, but according to current research, it is irreversible.

After countless failures, Teda shifted his research goal to another direction; since the soul could not return to the shell, he would create another shell for Alice.

The shell of an Alchemy Puppet.

"Why isn't it you who woke up?"

Teda murmured, his thoughts crawled like snakes over his spirit, leaving him utterly exhausted.

He remembered that day, the alchemy puppet began to move, and beneath this iron shell, another consciousness began to emerge.

It was like a bizarre dream, Teda thought it would be Alice who awakened, but under this shell, it was another consciousness that emerged.

A naive, unfamiliar consciousness.

Teda was extremely disappointed upon knowing it wasn't Alice, and the rejected consciousness named itself Aimou.

Teda looked terrible, the ghostly blue light cast upon his face, he was like a withered tree, the slender shadow cut his cheeks into a gruesome and fearful visage.

Opening the cabinet beside the sickbed, cold air gushed out, causing Teda's palm to quickly lose sensation. He took out a syringe inside, solidified with vibrant crimson.

After leaving the cold, the frozen crimson in the syringe became lively and agitated in a matter of seconds.

"Elixir of Immortality..."

Teda whispered softly.

If alchemists, through the understanding of the "Secret Source," could create numerous alchemy materials and used these as the foundation to forge Alchemy Armament.

Then the Elixir of Immortality was considered a contractual material, just as the Contract Object corresponds with Alchemy Armament, this peculiar material was born from the Devil's power.

To keep Alice's body from dying, solely relying on the Medical Department's resources and Teda's knowledge was entirely insufficient. He needed some power beyond the norm, even if it involved forbidden methods.

Initially using the Elixir of Immortality, Teda hesitated greatly. Unlike many Condensers, as a former head of the Sublimation Furnace Core department, he knew many secrets, such as what the Elixir of Immortality truly represented.

"Blood of Evil of this world."

Teda spoke without any emotion, as if he had invoked some kind of taboo, he vaguely sensed that the entire Alchemy Workshop was gently trembling.

It wasn't only the Alchemy Workshop, it was the entire Great Rift; the creature sensed its own blood and desperately wanted to recover it.

Teda knew what was going on but wasn't ready to become completely hostile to the Order Bureau, he had never thought of awakening the Calamity of this world with such madness.

Injecting the Elixir of Immortality into Alice's body, the extremely vital blood blended into her body, and her sickly physique rapidly regained healthy coloring visible to the naked eye, even the faint heartbeat grew stronger.

Teda grabbed Alice's hand, pressing it against his forehead.

"The Abyss Sect is coming to awaken the Calamity of this world, but the Immortal Heart is in the hands of the Gray Trade Association, conflict will surely erupt..."

Then Teda murmured another incantation.

"The soul decides the body, but this can be reversed, the body will also affect the soul..."

Crazed fantasies weaved in his mind, looking at the sleeping Alice, Teda's voice was resolute.

"I will bring you back, Alice."