Endless Debt-Chapter 909 - 38: Age Anxiety (Part 2)

"The promotion is incidental; the main goal is to explore the Ether Realm through deeper contact with the Secret Source during promotion."

Bologue knew this point. As the Ether concentration rose, the appearance of primordial things made the Scholars’ Hall begin to doubt the reality of the world.

They suspected that another dimension, the Ether Realm, was gradually overlapping with the material world, and as the overlap area grew larger, the Ether concentration also increased. It’s hard to imagine what would happen when the two dimensions completely overlap.

Bologue could guess what would happen.

First, Ether would fill every corner of the world, bathing all humans in its radiance. The Alchemy Matrix would make rapid advancements, the iterations among Condensers would become faster, then a large number of Ethereal Vortex Points would appear, with high concentrations of Ether manifesting in the real world, triggering naturally born Extraordinary Disasters one after another.

What a chaotic and magnificent scene it would be.

Like the human industrial revolution, it might be another Extraordinary revolution.

Geoffrey asked, "Do you have any questions? It’s best to bring them up here so I can relay them back."

"No," Bologue shook his head, "I have no thoughts."

"Okay, you can go back," Geoffrey added, "Don’t work these days, I’ve granted you and Palmer a break, take a rest and maintain a good mood."

"Why include Palmer?"

"Without you, how productive do you think he’ll be?" Geoffrey complained, "Rather than watching him annoyingly, it’s better to have him leave with you."

"Ah..."

Bologue raised an eyebrow, trying hard to control his expression.

"Hurry up and leave, I’m quite busy," Geoffrey urged Bologue, but as Bologue was about to leave, he said, "You can look forward to it, Bologue."

Bologue looked at Geoffrey, who showed a playful gaze, "The Negative Power User is a watershed, you’ll see a brand-new world."

"Hmm."

Bologue nodded.

...

"Every iteration of Alchemy Matrix Technology further distances the gaps between Condensers, even in the same Tier, the impact of the generational gap is suppressive."

A hazy voice sounded beside the ear, as the person continued the story, "Actually, looking at it this way, every Condenser has extremely bad ’age anxiety.’"

"Once their pace slows down, they’ll become obsolete, thus being replaced by the younger generation."

The man tried to respond, "New things replace old ones, that’s the rule of all things."

"But as Ether concentration rises, iteration speeds will accelerate, possibly before this batch of Condensers has grown, another batch has already joined the stage of the era with brand-new Alchemy Matrix."

The voice turned worried, "It’s foreseeable that someday in the future, Condensers will be mass-produced like goods on a factory production line, continually deployed to the battlefield, their power grows daily until it destroys everyone."

The man said, "Are you worried about war?"

"From a certain perspective, I am the arms manufacturer of the war, worrying about the future market prospects can’t be wrong."

"Anyway, you won’t be out of work."

"Haha."

The voice did not laugh for too long, paused, and after a while, said again, "The generational gap of Alchemy Matrix is not entirely insurmountable."

The man did not immediately respond, half-lying on the operating table, his entire body’s muscles transmitted waves of soreness and sting, mentally exhausted and sleepy, across the exposed skin surface, floated dim light paths, they were extremely complex patterns, like engraving countless artworks into the limited skin.

"Do you need painkillers?"

A slightly hunched figure appeared beside the man, pulling a cart with bottles and jars placed on top.

"No... no, I need to stay alert," the man said, "As you all said, it’s a miracle that I can promote in this state, I need to remain clear-minded, to respond to any possible anomalies."

"It is indeed a miracle, Lebius."

The counterpart glanced over Lebius’s body, covered in scars, damages that even Etherealization could not exempt. To this day, residual Ether remains embedded like steel needles within the body, with the most severe area at Lebius’s ankle, injuries that cannot be fully healed, making Lebius rely on a cane all these years.

Lebius whispered his thanks, "Thank you, Mamo."

"It’s nothing."

Mamo said, stretching his hand to touch the scars on Lebius’s body, "You got too heavily injured during the Secret War, the enemy’s Ether flow infiltrated your Alchemy Matrix, leaving wounds above them."

Overall, the brightness of the Alchemy Matrix glow covering Lebius’s entire body was not consistent, some areas had extremely dim Ether glow, while on his injured leg it entirely extinguished.

Alchemy Matrix is engraved into the soul, reflected on the body, driven by the union of body, mind, and spirit.

After advancing to Negative Power User, Etherealization caused a shell and soul overlap, proceeding to supreme transcendence. At this point, injuries sufficient to kill humans cannot break through the Etherealized body, but are enough to leave scars deep in the soul.

Such soul scars cover Lebius’s body, his soul stable yet filled with holes and wounds like a Debtor, making promotion risk increase several times over.

"Just such soul scars alone are not enough to limit your promotion, the real trouble is the Blood Contract on you."