Endless Debt-Chapter 804 - 262: Reality Shattered (2)

"Oh, Serey, long time no see," Bologue looked over Serey’s amusing bronze skin, "Sunbathing?"

Serey’s expression stiffened, the emotion that had just risen instantly cooled down. He had been dodging left and right, not expecting to run into Bologue now.

"Don’t be nervous, I’m not here to trouble you right now."

Ever since learning about the Night Race’s mess, Bologue wanted to talk to Serey, to chat about how the great hero of the Dawn War ended up like this. However, after returning, Serey seemed to be deliberately avoiding him and was nowhere to be found.

"I have more urgent matters to attend to now."

As Bologue spoke, he pushed the door open and left, with Aimou closely following behind. Before Palmer walked out, he suddenly said to Serey.

"Serey, guess who we ran into recently?"

"Who?"

"Crowned Blue Jay," Palmer said animatedly, "I even got his autograph."

The door closed, leaving Serey and the woman alone in the room. The woman asked curiously, "Are they... your friends?"

"Yes."

Serey absentmindedly replied, his mind not occupied with the woman at all, but rather with what Palmer had mentioned about the Crowned Blue Jay. Damn it, what happened while he was away?

The woman glanced at Serey without saying much, instead examining the shells closely. Inside one shell was a small engraved name, which made the woman’s smile widen, only to turn ice cold.

The woman frowned and asked, "Who is James?"

"Aren’t you James..."

Serey stopped halfway through his sentence, seeing the murderous intent in the woman’s eyes.

The woman pressed on, "What’s my name, Serey."

Serey stared at the woman’s face, but he couldn’t recall it. He had seen too many women in his life. If he remembered every name, his brain would explode.

He cautiously said, "James?"

"Shut up!"

The woman slapped Serey hard, gathered her things, and stormed off. Serey cooperatively fell to the ground. Since he had already angered the lady, it was better to let her fully vent her anger.

Other shells fell from Serey, scattering and clattering.

The woman had left, and Serey gradually lay flat on the floor, feeling something stepping on his stomach. Then, a black cat’s face peered in.

Wei’Er pawed through the many shells, one of which was exceptionally bright, adorned with numerous gemstones that emitted warmth, carrying the scent of sunshine. Its value surpassed all the others combined.

The cat pawed open the shell, noticing the engraved text inside, "How long has it been since you two last met?"

"A hundred years? I can’t remember clearly either. I vaguely recall the last meeting being during the Dawn War."

Serey sat up, picking up this shell, "This one’s different from the others. I brought it back from an island."

"That Eternal Sun Island."

"Yes."

Serey fiddled with the shell, asking Wei’Er, "Do you think she would like this shell?"

Wei’Er shook his head, "I’ve seen too many luxurious things... I think she wouldn’t care about this. Compared to these, if you were willing to let her stab you a few times, I believe she would be happier."

Serey chuckled dryly a few times, turning the shell over and softly reciting the name within.

"Olivia..."

Packing away the shell, Serey glanced outside the door. He became curious about what Bologue and the others were rushing off to do and how Palmer managed to get the Crowned Blue Jay’s autograph.

But it was daytime, and deadly sunlight filled the whole world.

...

When Bologue stepped into the Field Operations Department, he could clearly sense something was off with the atmosphere. Normally, the department was quite deserted, with almost no one in sight, but the number of people had clearly increased today, and everyone was moving quickly as if they were just short of running in the corridors.

A familiar figure walked past Bologue, and he waved to stop him.

"Kemp, what’s going on? Has something happened?"

Kemp, a new recruit in the Sixth Group whom Bologue had rescued before, wasn’t a stranger to him because of that.

"Emergency incident, we detected an Extraordinary Disaster," Kemp quickly explained to Bologue, "The disaster is still expanding, and all available action groups have been mobilized."

After Kemp spoke, he quickly left to join others, while Bologue and Palmer exchanged a glance, and both of them started running down the corridor towards Lebius’s office.

Pushing the door open, it was rare to find Lebius not working, but sitting in the office chair with arms crossed. When Bologue arrived, Geoffrey suddenly spoke.

"I knew it. Even without notifying them, they would come — this matter is related to them."

Bologue took a breath and sat directly in front of Lebius, who handed several photos to Bologue.

"As you suggested, we sent some people to find Ewen, but they never returned. This raised the Field Operations Department’s alarms, and we launched an investigation," Lebius said, "These are the latest photos sent back."

Bologue picked up the photos, seeing a desolate wilderness where a dark domain unexpectedly rose, enveloping the land beneath it entirely.

The dark domain’s top was a distinct hemispherical shape, with no abnormal phenomena spreading beyond it, while inside the domain was absolute darkness, with light unable to penetrate.

"The personnel who first entered disappeared without returning. We’ve classified it as a Void Realm Anomaly and sent the Third Group to handle it, but even they couldn’t deal with it."

When the Third Group was mentioned, Lebius appeared quite agitated. They were the ones previously assigned to deal with Joyful Garden, and they could never catch the elusive Joyful Garden. Yet, Lebius felt some relief; if the Third Group had truly touched upon Joyful Garden, they might be permanently stuck there. The information Bologue brought concerning Joyful Garden was extremely important to the Order Bureau.

"The Third Group ventured into the domain, but they could only wander at the perimeter. According to them, reality inside is severely distorted. The deeper they went, the more suppressed their Alchemy Matrix became. If they advanced far enough..."

"They would be completely suppressed into powerless mortals."

Bologue answered ahead. He was all too familiar with this situation, having experienced it within Joyful Garden. The situation at Daisy Castle was worse than he imagined.

"Not only that, the Third Group was also attacked inside. There were twisted, bizarre monsters. Some personnel discovered that those monsters were very similar to the demons described in the novel ’Night Hunter.’ As they ventured deeper, these monsters increased in number."

After dealing with the monsters, the Third Group retreated. At the perimeter, they still had the capability to deal with the monsters, but upon reaching the depths, the monsters’ strength and numbers constituted a threat. It’s still unclear whether these monsters can appear in the outside world."

Bologue still underestimated Ewen’s influence within the Order Bureau. Many employees had read his works.

"The Ether concentration across the whole area is continually rising, and the domain is still expanding. If left unchecked, it will engulf the surrounding regions as well."

Lebius continued, "The Decision Room has currently labeled this as Emergency Event 07." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

"Extraordinary Disaster - Reality Fracture.

The continuously rising Ether and expanding domain will crush the reality of this area, possibly even creating an Ethereal Vortex Point, leading to a more terrifying disaster."

Bologue asked, "I know the details, but it’s only part of them."

Handing Ewen’s letter to Lebius, Bologue never expected an operation to escalate into such an event. He hoped he would survive to see Ewen, even if he lost an arm or a leg. After all, he was at the center of the storm.

The center of the reality fracture.