Endless Debt

The hour of free time quickly passed, and without any incidents, the scattered crowd gathered on the train platform and then orderly boarded the carriages.

Heine stood on the platform, watching the train disappear from sight, the faint smile on his face completely faded, leaving only solemnity and gravity.

Once the negotiations break down, Nesanel will undoubtedly stir up a major battle within the All Secrets Order. If they succeed in decapitating and survive, that would be the best outcome. But if the decapitation fails, or if both sides perish, then the All Secrets Order will surely launch an attack on the Forty-Sixth Outpost immediately.

At that time, this place will become a true war fortress. Heine needs to lead his subordinates and the subsequent reinforcement of mortal troops to hold the position, persevering until the Order Bureau’s reinforcements arrive.

"I really hope it doesn’t come to this," Heine murmured.

Heine doesn’t fear war; he just cares more about the efficiency and loss ratio from a professional perspective.

Compared to the long and arduous wars of the Scorched Earth Fury, Extraordinary wars are efficient and clean. From the past clashes of million-strong armies to the current deadly duels of High Tier Condensers, Heine feels this is an evolution of the art of war, even a... advancement of civilization.

No more cities destroyed, no more soldiers dying meaninglessly, everyone’s fate will be in the hands of a few swords. This is destined to be a war belonging to the few.

Thinking of this, Heine suddenly laughed. As the whistle sound faded away, he instructed his subordinates.

"I’m giving you ten minutes to say goodbye. After ten minutes, all non-combat personnel must evacuate immediately, transfer the strategic materials, activate the sensing traps, everyone prioritize retreating into the fortress."

The staff were mentally prepared, at the same time, people were dragging luggage and holding children as they stepped onto the platform. They were the families of the staff, living in this secretive small town for a long time, thinking this carefree life would continue, until the emergency order was issued.

A new train slowly pulled into the station, and the staff embraced and kissed their families, saying farewell without panic spreading. Similar drills had been held many times before, some children even laughed excitedly, looking forward to the train ride and the new city after the train arrived.

"Is it another drill?"

A woman asked her husband.

He replied uncertainly, "I hope it’s just a drill."

The ten minutes were up, the train left the station, leaving the secret town completely desolate, with only the Condensers remaining on guard.

Heine wiped his glasses, squinted towards the direction of the Land of Secrets, and suddenly asked, "Do you desire war?"

The staff glanced at each other, then shook their heads, "No."

"What a coincidence, I don’t quite like it either, but sometimes if you don’t actively face war, war will actively come to you."

Heine let out a long breath and muttered to himself, "But if we can completely subdue those guys from the All Secrets Order..."

He turned and looked at his subordinates, "We wouldn’t have to stay in this damn place."

Heine had long grown tired of this comfortable life; he missed the prosperity of Oubos in the Oath City.

The train shuttled through the dense forest, like a giant snake swiftly wriggling beneath the heap of leaves.

Due to the independence of the All Secrets Order, there was no direct route between the Order Bureau and the All Secrets Order. Each time they headed to the Land of Secrets, they needed to apply in advance to the All Secrets Order and go through a series of complicated screenings before departing from the Forty-Sixth Outpost.

In the past, the All Secrets Order might have delayed the screening for several days to showcase its xenophobia and arrogance, but this time Nesanel personally attended, and all procedures were completed before Nesanel even set off. No matter how proud they were, they had to bow their heads in front of a Seeker of Glory.

The entire train was solely for the use of the mission, several carriages were emptied, and everyone instinctively chose different carriages based on the division of alliance organizations.

The Order Bureau side took one carriage, the All Secrets Order another, and further subdivisions continued inside the carriage.

Holt and Evan, with their team members, were sitting quietly at the end of the train, pondering with their eyes closed, while Bologue and Palmer sat on the other end, gazing out the window and chatting incessantly.

"What do you say are some of the unsavory traditional cultures of the All Secrets Order?" Bologue asked.

"Hmm... how should I put it, it’s like the bloodline theory of old nobles, dividing different social classes by bloodline."

"Sounds a bit like the Night Race?"

"Pretty much," Palmer used the metaphor again, "In our view, the All Secrets Order is like a group of mortals in the Night Race."

Bologue chuckled, hearing such a description always made him laugh.

"In short, the ideology of the All Secrets Order can be understood as ’Condensers above all else,’" Palmer explained. "Within the All Secrets Order, Condensers have absolute privileges."

"But not everyone is born a Condenser."

"Right, that’s why they have something called the Supreme Trial."

"What is that?"

"You can think of it as a special method of pre-embedding the Alchemy Matrix," Palmer said. "You know, these ancient families all possess some sort of special technology to some extent.

For example, according to the consensus of the Order Bureau, only when the soul tends toward stable completeness, meaning adulthood, is it suitable for embedding the Alchemy Matrix. Yet, when I was in my teens, I had already become a Condenser, and this is also a special technology of the Clarks... serving only a few."

It is only at times like these that Palmer realizes he, too, is part of the extraordinary nobility, enjoying innate privileged resources.

Bologue nodded as he listened; pre-embedding the Alchemy Matrix, aside from bringing great risks, has the advantage of saving time.

For humans, who have limited time, time is a vital resource. Like Palmer, who became a Condenser in his teens, compared to those who only embedded the Alchemy Matrix in adulthood, he had years of Condenser experience ahead. While they were still adapting to the powers of a Condenser, Palmer was already preparing to ascend to become a Prayer Believer.

Thus, those Condensers backed by prominent families tend to be younger and more powerful than other Condensers of the same Tier. As for ordinary people, joining a massive entity like the Order Bureau would be fortunate, as promotion would be only a matter of time if they work step by step. However, for those free Condensers roaming outside Extraordinary Organizations, lacking resources or organizational support, their situation isn’t as fortunate.

"The All Secrets Order also has the technology to pre-embed the Alchemy Matrix, and their technology is even more radical than any of ours," Palmer said with a shiver in his voice. "When a child reaches six years, having a certain degree of cognitive and self-control abilities, they proceed with the Alchemy Matrix embedding. This embedding ceremony is what they call the Supreme Trial."

"Six years old? I fear many won’t pass, right?" Bologue knew that failure meant death.

"According to the intelligence from the Clarks, about half of the children cannot pass the Supreme Trial."

Palmer continued explaining, "But the embedding technology of the All Secrets Order is very advanced. Even if the embedding fails, the mortality rate is kept at a minimum. These children that fail to embed, though unable to become Condensers, inherently possess a certain level of perception and control over Ether, similar to a severely weakened Condenser of the Origin School. The All Secrets Order refers to these failed children as The Imperfect."

"Imperfect? They consider failing to become a Condenser as a kind of... disability?" Bologue felt the All Secrets Order seemed increasingly eerie.

Palmer nodded, his voice lowering, "Remember I mentioned the ’Condensers above all else’ ideology? They regard Condensers as a nobler existence, the next stage in the evolution towards greater life according to evolutionary theory."

"Distinguishing by Extraordinary Power and bloodlines into ranks," Bologue suddenly realized something, "then how does the All Secrets Order maintain itself?"

The demand Condensers have for resources is terrifying. According to the structure of the Order Bureau, every active Field Staff needs the support of dozens, nearly a hundred, of support staff behind them.

What about the All Secrets Order? Since they adopt the Condensers-above-all-else ideology, are all basic tasks executed by Condensers? Or is it those Imperfect ones? But no matter how many Imperfect ones there are, they are born through resource-intensive embedding ceremonies, and even as imperfect existences, they cannot be produced on a large scale.

The more Bologue understood, the more twisted the structure of the All Secrets Order seemed, like a malformed building, yet to collapse, sustained by some yet-to-be-understood structure.

In response, Palmer further lowered his voice, as if recounting a forbidden tale.

"Just like the Night Race, whose bloodline, when continually diluted, eventually gives rise to a degenerated form like the Bloodthirsty, faced with limited resources, even the All Secrets Order cannot ensure everyone is a Condenser, or an Imperfect one. No matter how exquisite the High Tower, it needs the support of mortals."

Palmer composed his language, attempting to convey in a relaxed tone, "That is to say, traces of slavery still remain within the All Secrets Order, a form of invisible slavery, you cannot see chains, yet they exist."

Bologue fell silent for a moment, naively asking, "Does the Order Bureau have no objections to this?"

As soon as he asked, Bologue laughed at himself, answering his own question, "Independence and autonomy."

The train rumblingly crushed the buds and fallen leaves on the tracks, heading toward the land hidden from the mundane world. Bologue watched the changing scenery and spoke up.

"So that’s why the Order Bureau insists that Condensers must hide away from the mundane world."

"Yes, once Condensers step out of the shadows, no one can guarantee they won’t become the next Night Race," Palmer said helplessly, "we can’t ensure everyone is noble."

"But we can draw a line in the sand with our swords, chopping off any head that crosses the line," Bologue said in an extraordinarily cheerful tone, "that’s the significance of justice and iron law."

Palmer blinked and couldn’t help but remark, "It’s absolutely right for you to become one of the Undead."

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