CHAPTER 359: CHAPTER 138: THE MONKEY WITH THE TOY

"What you’ve experienced isn’t exactly being lost; it’s more like taking a detour at the edge of being lost, which is... normal, after all, you are a Debtor. The lack of soul makes any ritual involving the soul extremely unstable for you."

Belli analyzed what Bologue had been through, but Bologue always felt there was more to it.

At the end of the hallucination, he saw those towering, mountain-like black figures, the blazing white storm, and finally, the anchor that saved him.

These things resembled certain imagery, and Bologue had a rough guess of their counterparts in his heart.

"Is that so?"

Bologue took a long breath and stretched his body. Besides these episodes, he had completed the ritual and finished the trial of body, mind, and soul.

"Ascending to a Prayer Believer is free, right?" Bologue suddenly asked.

"Of course, the Order Bureau will provide the necessary Alchemy Materials for the ascension to Prayer Believer for free."

"Are you planning to ascend to Prayer Believer immediately?" Belli shook her head, "Just like after ascending, it takes a while for the soul to stabilize; now, you also need to let your Alchemy Matrix adjust a bit."

Bologue nodded, understanding these things.

The ascension of a Condenser requires three prerequisites: the stability of one’s soul, undergoing the trials required at each stage, and the growth of one’s Alchemy Matrix.

The soul is the foundation, Ether is the nourishment, allowing the Alchemy Matrix to grow from a seed into a towering tree.

The First Stage of a Condenser doesn’t require a long growth period; just sprouting is sufficient.

With this thought, Bologue called upon the Ether, intricate patterns extending on his arm. After the triple trial, his Alchemy Matrix also experienced a degree of growth, spreading to his elbows. Once he ascended to Prayer Believer, it should completely cover Bologue’s arms.

After ascending to Prayer Believer, Bologue would need a long time to bond with the Ether more closely, approach the Secret Source, endure trial after trial, then execute various tasks, figuring out ways to collect the Alchemy Materials needed to ascend to Negative Power User.

Bologue stopped thinking about those distant matters, as Belli suggested, "Want to go to the combat room?"

"Why go to the combat room?" Bologue asked in return.

"Aren’t all you Field Staff like this? You get a new weapon and you just have to try it out, even if there are no enemies, you punch a wall just to test the new power."

Belli was puzzled. As the minister of the Sublimation Furnace Core, she considered herself akin to an arms dealer, distributing various equipment to different operation groups every day. She had seen such situations too many times.

She often saw some Field Staff, excited like monkeys with new toys, rushing into the combat room to recklessly attack things.

Bologue said expressionlessly, "I’m different."

After saying that, Bologue coolly pushed the door open and left, his will unyielding and untethered by anything.

Belli watched his stylish departure, stunned for two seconds, then the pain from her forehead brought her back to her senses. She got up and chased after him, cursing angrily.

"You bastard, come back here!"

Belli Yiyeta, the youngest minister of the Sublimation Furnace Core in history, since her tenure, no one has gained an advantage over her, and Bologue clearly couldn’t either.

Bologue’s face darkened as he turned, catching a glimpse of Belli holding her head with one hand and pointing at him with the other, shouting loudly.

"Stop him!"

Belli seemed genuinely angry, paying no mind to her image... did she even have an image?

Anyway, this only strengthened Bologue’s resolve to leave.

Go back? How could he go back, to be a live experiment for her?

Bologue quickened his steps and then broke into a jog. It’s strange that no matter how much Belli shouted, no one around came to stop Bologue; everyone was minding their own business, only a few glancing at the two before continuing their work.

Everyone seemed unexpectedly calm, as if this kind of thing happened often and they were used to it.

Wait a minute, what does Belli do every day as a minister?

Running away wasn’t Bologue’s style, but he really couldn’t calmly face Belli. This minister was just too much of a handful.

Rather than sticking to his principles, Bologue felt it was unnecessary to make things difficult for himself.

"See you next time! Belli!"

Bologue waved behind him and slipped through the gate.

The elevator swayed, returning Bologue to the Pillar Courtyard. Here, Bologue didn’t stop, returning all the way to the Field Operations Department, where he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He remembered Palmer saying that he’d need to inject potions to stabilize himself afterward, but as an Undead, Bologue clearly didn’t need them.

Relying on the power of the Blessing, except for the fatal weakness of the Ether vacuum, it seemed like Bologue could solve most of the negative effects by shooting in his mind.

However, suicide also required timing; if his condition was poor, suicide would only hasten his descent into slumber.

Bologue suddenly stopped, recalling Hart’s dazed look when he saw Bologue commit suicide. If in battle, he suddenly committed suicide, what effect would it have?

Once this idea took root, it grew uncontrollably. Previously, Bologue was somewhat hesitant about this, but now, after completing the triple trial, he could clearly feel his own enhancement.

His physical strength increased significantly, his willpower became more resolute, and even his observational skills were enhanced. Aside from that, the most notable change was the strengthening of his Alchemy Matrix.

The Ethereal Amount stored in the Critical Storage of the Rectangular Soul increased, and his Affinity for the Ether also showed significant improvement. Next, he only needed the ascension ritual to combine these three aspects to attain higher authority.

Bologue originally intended to report this to Lebius, but standing at the crossroads, Bologue’s gaze unconsciously drifted to the other side.

...

Recently, the Sixth Group replaced the Special Operations Group, and exchanges between the two action groups became frequent. Hart served as the communication bridge and has been seen often in the office lately.

Meeting frequently, Bologue and Hart got to know each other. However, every time they talked, Hart would casually ask about his psychological state.

"Do you have depression? Is the work not good? Or is life having some issues?"

He was like a psychologist, asking Bologue questions one after another.

"Don’t keep things bottled up; you can talk to me about them."

Bologue always felt Hart misunderstood something, but he couldn’t be bothered to explain. Explaining his thoughts to others was always difficult.

Now, standing together face to face, Bologue felt he was also quite tall, but when compared to Hart, he seemed like a skinny monkey.

Hart’s beastly physique made him, in every sense, resemble a raging beast, yet in reality, this beast was very gentle, sometimes even wearing glasses and flipping through the small books in his hands.

"Conducting triple trials simultaneously? Pretty impressive," Hart marveled at Bologue’s feat, "I took three weeks to complete those trials."

Normal people would do them one after the other, but only Bologue, being impatient and undying, could undertake all three at once.

"So... why did you ask me here?"

After praising Bologue, Hart stood in the combat room, looking puzzled.

"I need your help."

Bologue said as he distanced himself from Hart, stretching his muscles.

No Field Staff could resist trying new weapons, and Bologue was no different. The reason he tricked Belli was purely to mess with her ostentatious demeanor.

"Hart, you’re a good person."

The sudden compliment left Hart a bit puzzled, and Bologue continued.

"With your large build, furry... you look very sturdy."

Sturdy?

Hart felt that something was amiss; then the light of Ether extended over Bologue’s arm. He crouched down, touched the ground with both hands, and the azure patterns quickly spread to Hart’s feet.

"Help me, and... I’ll treat you to a movie afterward."

Bologue was curious about what kind of expression Hart would have when he found out who Sido really was.

In the next moment, the ground collapsed, and numerous sharp Long Halberds emerged from the ground.