Endless Debt

Order Bureau, Observation Tower.

Within the cold and minimalist Order Bureau, the Observation Tower is a place well-suited for relaxation. Under this expansive panoramic window, not only can one directly see the azure sky, but even the stars at the deep blue's edge shimmer faintly.

Looking down, the dense sea of clouds rolls, the Cultivation Room resembling a reef in this endless sea flow. The cloud sea parts before it, only to reconvene.

Bologue loved this spot. In the cloud-covered Opus, it was a rare place to bask in the sun. Ever since discovering this, Bologue often liked to meet people here. He didn't expect that this time, he and Nesanel thought of the same place.

When Lebius mentioned that Nesanel planned to meet Bologue here, the clouds over Bologue's heart dispersed a bit. Ever since learning about the astronaut's existence in Between Nothingness, Bologue always felt an invisible boulder pressing on his chest.

Bologue wanted to confide these troubling worries but knew well that these were ominous pieces of information. Once shared with those around, they could bring them disaster.

This was something Bologue did not want to see.

After much weighing, Bologue realized that the only one left who could listen to him was Nesanel.

His earlier release from prison was at Nesanel's behest. Due to his deep connection with the Devil, Nesanel seemed to regard him as a Pioneer, tasked with discovering information related to the Devil.

Now that Bologue had finally lifted a corner of the mystery, it was time to report recent developments to Nesanel.

Most importantly, with Nesanel's confidence and strength, Bologue believed that even retaliation from the Devil could be handled by him.

Suddenly, a strong hand pressed on Bologue's shoulders from behind. Before it touched him, Bologue hadn't noticed any movement.

"Long time no see, Bologue."

A familiar voice spoke; Bologue, seated on the bench, looked up to see a tall figure looming above. The face was backlit, indistinct and unclear, but Bologue knew who it was.

"Long time no see, Minister."

Nesanel sat next to Bologue, putting a large hand around his shoulder. The two seemed more like close brothers than superior and subordinate.

Having encountered many strange people, Bologue was desensitized, used to such displays of closeness.

"You seem to have many important things to discuss with me."

Nesanel looked at Bologue with a smile. From initial vigilance to now handling with calmness, Nesanel recognized Bologue's abilities and admired the director's knack for choosing people.

These days, devoted Field Staff like Bologue are rare.

Bologue stated bluntly, "It seems I've seen the Devil that traded away my soul."

While waiting for Nesanel, Bologue kept pondering how to narrate everything to him.

During the ascension ceremony: the strange stormy snowfield, the separation of body, mind, and spirit, the memories of an unnamed soul, the iron anchor piercing through snow and wind, followed by the experiences in Between Nothingness...

These events piled up together, causing Bologue a splitting headache. Besides describing these incidents, Bologue also had to figure out how to explain the matters of the afterlife to Nesanel, and... the astronaut.

Astronaut.

This was a term belonging only to Bologue's "past life" memory. In the current era, while humanity had conquered the skies, they hadn't yet broken through its bounds to reach the heavens above.

In this world, in this era, astronauts were not meant to exist.

But the undeniable fact remained, the astronaut had appeared right before his eyes, entangled profoundly with Bologue's "past life."

Just finding a way to explain the concept of "astronaut" to Nesanel felt extremely troublesome, let alone trying to recount everything thoroughly and in detail.

So Bologue planned to only state the key parts.

"In the world after death, I saw the Devil."

Bologue continued to add.

"He said I was his... Chosen One."

"The Devil?" Nesanel nodded with a smile, repeating Bologue's words, "Or whatever you call the Chosen One."

After he said this, Nesanel's expression froze, the smile vanishing from his face in an observable speed. His squinted eyes gradually widened.

Solemn, oppressive, cold... in an instant, Nesanel's aura transformed. It became like a waking lion, his muscles tensed, veins twisted and bulging as if crawled by serpents.

"Chosen One..."

Nesanel once again recited this term, his hand resting on Bologue's shoulder as if to crush his body.

"Are you sure? The Devil told you this?"

The identity of the Chosen One seemed extremely special, so special that Nesanel didn't even care about the authenticity of the Devil.

Bologue realized the importance of this information and nodded seriously in affirmation.

"That's what he said," Bologue replied, "He said he placed his bet on me."

Nesanel took a deep breath, trying to control his emotions and calm himself down.

He sighed softly, "My God... Albert..."

Bologue caught the name "Albert," a name he found strangely familiar, as if he had heard it somewhere before. But before Bologue could ponder its origin further, Nesanel suddenly stood up.

Without letting Bologue resist, Nesanel pulled him up, snapped his fingers, and then the ground began to writhe violently. The bricks aligned neatly, splitting apart in front of them, collapsing into a staircase that continuously descended.

This was the privilege of the deputy director; under Nesanel's will, the Cultivation Room would open an emergency passage for him at any time.

Inside the dim staircase, green safety signs lit up, and Bologue, like a large puppet, was dragged inside by Nesanel.

Bologue followed closely behind Nesanel, "I guess the identity of the 'Chosen One' is quite important, isn't it?"

"It's beyond important! Why are you just telling me this now?"

Nesanel's voice rose, filled with both excitement and panic.

"Huh? I couldn't find you!"

Bologue retorted, "I had no means to contact you!"

Nesanel fell silent, realizing he had overlooked this fact—given Bologue's ordinary staff position, actively contacting him was too difficult.

"Alright, alright..."

Nesanel felt a headache coming on, "Damn it, our conversation might have already been overheard by him."

"By whom?"

"A guy who likes watching movies. It's part of the deal; he stays put while we, like actors, perform history's course before his eyes... Anyway, this isn't important now. Let's go somewhere he can't monitor."

Nesanel spoke words that Bologue didn't understand. The road ahead continued to stretch, and perhaps Nesanel felt this was still too slow, so he raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

In an instant, their figures began to blur and distort, and Bologue felt as if his insides were shifting and transforming, then the sensation disappeared.

Everything was still surrounded by darkness, unchanged, but Bologue was certain he had just experienced a Curved Path Shuttling.

Before Bologue could say anything, Nesanel snapped his fingers several times, and they went through multiple Curved Path Shuttlings.

With each snap of fingers, the surroundings rapidly transformed—first the Pillar Courtyard, then the Field Operations Department, Sublimation Furnace Core, Deep Nest Courtyard...

After several positional shifts, Bologue and Nesanel found themselves in a realm of darkness.

This wasn't pure darkness, though there was no observable light source, Bologue could still clearly see Nesanel's form, as if they had become some sort of luminous entities, illuminating the darkness.

Nesanel gestured, "Have a seat."

Bologue turned around and discovered a chair had appeared beneath him, then glanced at Nesanel, who had already sat down. Between them, a low table had appeared with wine glasses on top.

Curiously, Bologue asked, "Where is this?"

"Audience Chamber."

Nesanel explained, "When you receive a summons from the Decision Room, you will appear in such a space."

Bologue surveyed the boundless darkness around him, "So, does that mean we're close to the Decision Room now?"

"More or less, while this place doesn't have spatial orientation, if you must pinpoint a direction..." Nesanel pointed upward, "The Decision Room is above us."

The space inside the Cultivation Room was distorted and misplaced, lacking a concrete sense of direction; sometimes Bologue even felt that each area was completely independent, but when passing through certain "doors," he experienced a seamless Curved Path Shuttling, transporting him to different regions.

"Now, let's talk about the matter of the 'Chosen One.'

Nesanel displayed an ambiguous smile, "I haven't been this nervous in many years."