Aimou disappeared at this critical moment.
Balder panicked and suddenly stood up, questioning, "How is it possible? Without your permission, the Cultivation Room wouldn’t let Aimou go!"
He dared to investigate leisurely because Aimou was bound by the Cultivation Room, she had nowhere to escape, and Balder only needed to wait for the results calmly.
But now Aimou is missing, right in front of their eyes, silently.
"Didn’t the Cultivation Room respond?" Balder didn’t understand.
"No," Belli shook her head, "But I’ve already reported the issue to the Decision Room."
"Do you think the Cultivation Room can be easily interfered with?" Bologue calmly asked.
"No... it can’t, unless it’s Defender level power, otherwise ordinary power cannot affect the Cultivation Room." Belli replied.
Bologue asked again, "And what about the Devil?"
The Devil emerged, making the atmosphere even heavier. Even if they were unwilling to admit it, they all vaguely sensed that sinister will lurking in the shadows.
"The Devil cannot directly interfere with the world." Belli said.
"But they can indirectly interfere, through tempting enticements, some erroneous decision, or even... a small favor."
Bologue felt deeply about the Devil’s power; these bastards seemed omnipotent within the rules, whether it was granting strength or pointing directions, they could even conjure a chilled bottle of orange juice from thin air.
Like a Curse, Bologue suddenly realized, no matter how he tried to avoid it, everything still came to this point.
"Did you see Aimou last night?" Bologue continued to ask.
"Yes, she seemed peculiar, suddenly gave me a hug..."
Belli’s voice gradually faded, as Bologue recalled his conversation with Aimou last night. He thought it was just a normal farewell, but upon further reflection, all his questions were deferred by Aimou using a promise for the next day.
"No one can force her out of the Cultivation Room," Bologue murmured, "This isn’t a sudden accident, but a long-concealed plan."
"What exactly is Aimou up to? Doesn’t she know what the teacher intends to do?"
Belli couldn’t understand; she had tried every way to protect this young apprentice, yet the biggest breach appeared within Aimou herself.
"Of course she knows what Teda intends to do, and from the beginning, she was in league with Teda," Bologue said, "Aimou is also one of the Delusional."
Belli was stunned in place, evidently unable to comprehend everything Bologue said.
"From the start, we misunderstood Aimou’s intentions. She is Teda’s creation, Teda’s product, from the very beginning Aimou’s desire was to get Teda’s recognition."
Bologue had discussed these things with Teda before.
"Like a dog, it obeys your commands, it doesn’t mean the dog is clever, it just knows that by doing so, you will pet it, Aimou is the same. Aimou might not like Alchemy at all, it was just a means to get Teda’s recognition.
For instance, assisting Teda in reviving Alice..."
"For this damned recognition, a bit of distorted paternal love, doing such things?" Belli slumped in the chair, looking up, "This sounds too stupid."
"It’s indeed foolish, but also quite reasonable, theoretically she’s only three years old," Bologue stated earnestly, "In her short life, most of her time was spent with Teda.
Aimou is actually just a child... an precocious and cunning child."
Bologue slowed down his speech, recalling Teda’s conflicting emotions towards Aimou, refusing to see her as his daughter, yet unable to help himself from pouring emotions into her.
If he were Aimou, how would he think?
"Machines too have feelings, you don’t understand why your parents don’t love you, clearly it’s their mistake, yet you think this mistake stems from yourself, looking for ways to please them to gain attention and love, much like... like an obedient dog."
Bologue said this and fell silent.
Raising her fist, Belli pounded the table, "I know the teacher well, he already opposed the Order Bureau head-on, going to extremes, under such circumstances, Aimou won’t get what she wants."
"What if Aimou finds out that even so, she can’t make Teda notice her?" Bologue asked softly, and the image of the Devil flashed in his mind.
Bologue answered himself, "Become a precocious, cunning and rebellious child."
Taking deep breaths repeatedly, Belli regained calm, the previous panic was gone, she returned to being composed, crossed her legs, and issued orders.
"Balder, go notify the Field Operations Department, report the latest situation to them, and inform them to establish the Heart Core Net."
Belli decisively made one decision after another, now she indeed resembled somewhat of a department head, even though she was now dressed in pajamas.
"Bologue, come with me."
Belli didn’t explain, leading Bologue swiftly to her office.
"Have you come up with some strategy?"
This sounded somewhat unbelievable, but Belli gave Bologue the feeling she was holding all the cards.
Belli sneered, "I’m the teacher’s best apprentice."
As she spoke, she opened the office cabinet and took out a strange device, a roughly crafted glove with a dial on the back of the hand, somewhat resembling a compass structure.
"Junior sister is still too inexperienced, good thing I’m a bit more skilled."
Belli placed the glove on Bologue’s left hand, and as Bologue injected Ether into it, the needle began to turn. After a brief shake, it stabilized, pointing in a certain direction.
"Did you implant a tracker in your junior sister?"
The moment the needle turned, Bologue understood what it was. He could hardly believe it; at such a critical moment, Belli, who seemed the most unreliable, was the most dependable.
"You always have to avoid accidents, don’t you?" Belli continued rifling through the cabinet, "I only did it because I was afraid the teacher would sneak into the Cultivation Room and cause a conflict, but I never expected things to turn out ."
"Nevertheless, it did work."
A bunch of keys was tossed to Bologue next, with labels and nameplates on them.
"These are the keys to the warehouse. There’s a batch of Alchemy Armament meant for the Tenth Group there. You can take whatever you need, arm yourself, and then immediately go after Aimou."
Bologue could hardly believe how generous Belli was. She didn’t notice the change in his gaze as she was too tense, her head almost about to explode.
Belli suddenly shouted, making Bologue stop.
"Damn it, I handed all my defensive equipment over to Aimou. If she resists you, it will be incredibly troublesome for you to handle." Belli almost wanted to punch herself.
"Don’t hold back, Bologue. Use all your strength to deal with her. Don’t worry about whether Aimou will die or not. I specifically installed an emergency protection measure for her. If she encounters a fatal injury, her Constant Motion Core will seal along with her Mind Projection."
"You really are good to your junior sister!" Bologue couldn’t help but ask, "How many upgrades exactly did you do on her?"
"If she learned any fighting techniques, just with her alloy limbs, she could crush a street full of Demons." Even speaking of this, Belli had a hint of pride in her voice.
All the past events converged, causing Belli to place excessive emotional investment in Aimou. To avoid that terrible future, Belli did everything she could.
But all those enhancements turned into obstacles!
"There’s nothing more to tell you. The ritual might start soon, go act now!" Belli urged.
Bologue gripped the keys, turned around, and rushed out of the office. He hadn’t gone far before he saw Belli chase after him, shouting at Bologue.
There was no need for a response now, just action. Bologue sped up, and to save time, he even used Ethereal Amplification.
In just a few minutes, Bologue reached the warehouse, an area Belli had taken him to once before, so the route was still somewhat familiar. He opened the warehouse door, and the heavy crates were lined up together.
The boxes contained Alchemy Armament that Bologue had only seen on lists before. He knew that mastering unfamiliar Alchemy Armament took time, and he didn’t have much of it, plus multiple Alchemy Armaments would increase Ether consumption.
Bologue selected quite a few consumable Alchemy Armaments, like various Alchemy Warheads, which only required minimal Ether activation to produce powerful destruction.
In his previous clash with Gray, it was these kinds of consumable Alchemy Armaments that kept Bologue unable to lift his head.
In no time, Bologue armed himself to the teeth, and with just the Alchemy Warheads, he took more than a handful, roughly estimating equal to half his year’s salary.
With Whistle in place, ready to connect to the Heart Core Net, Bologue dashed to the parking lot outside the Order Bureau.
Bologue wasn’t sure where Aimou was precisely, it could be the Great Rift, or it could be the outskirts, he couldn’t afford to gamble, so he found the car issued by Geoffrey, with a bright blue coating.
Sitting in the driver’s seat, Bologue started the car, and the engine let out a pleasing cheer.
Thanking himself for waking up early enough, the streets of Opus weren’t crowded yet, the road was unexpectedly spacious, enough for him to race.
Flooring the accelerator, the car flew out of the parking lot like a sapphire arrow, hitting the streets viciously.
Bologue followed the needle’s direction, speeding down the street, when suddenly a wave of unease swept over him.
He looked up towards the direction from which the wave came, which was precisely where the needle was pointing.
Bologue watched helplessly as a blazing white storm rose up violently.
Pure white light roared through the streets like a flood, engulfing everything, even the sapphire arrow vanished instantly into the pure light.
A brilliant and serene white covered the path of destiny, splitting it in two. After running parallel for a distance, one path dimmed and vanished, while the other continued extending and branching.
As the pure white light gradually dissipated, a familiar voice rang beside his ears.
"What did you say? I didn’t say anything."
Serey slowly raised his head, looking at Bologue with a weary expression, confused about what had gotten into him.