Endless Debt

Chapter 1244 - 61: Inverted World

The blocked secret war, small invading forces, internal security department...Bologue followed the guidance of the Ethereal Line and returned inside the Void Lump. He sat on the steps, his mind caught in a storm of overthinking.

Overthinking often left Bologue exhausted and anxious, yet at crucial moments, it felt like a skill, allowing him to quickly integrate existing information and weave nearly true stories.

After the Order Bureau abandoned exploration of the Ruins District, a group of monsters emerged there, mimicking the staff not only in appearance but also in their daily behaviors and even imitating the entire organizational framework of the Order Bureau. This "Order Bureau" in the Ruins District continues to operate in this bizarre manner.

Here, these eerie staff members developed their own history, a unique yet erroneous history.

In their perception, Overlord Xilin was intercepted outside before entering the Cultivation Room, and the Order Bureau easily won the secret war. Yet, the King’s Secret Sword continued to attempt invasions with small forces.

Thinking of this, Bologue couldn’t help but link these perceived small forces with the previous Order Bureau exploration teams. Official records showed that past exploration teams also encountered strange creatures in the Ruins District, thought to be remnants from the containment area... perhaps those were the predecessors of these staff members.

"A cognitive dissonance occurring among a group of monsters?"

Bologue couldn’t help but doubt, and was immediately shocked by his thought.

Among the many recorded terrifying crises, there was an Extraordinary Disaster known as the Inverted World.

Compared to other extraordinary disasters, the Inverted World didn’t have large-scale destructive power and typically covered only a small area. According to records, it affected as few as one person, or at most a few hundred when it expanded.

As an incredibly unique extraordinary disaster, the Inverted World had many triggers, all related to cognitive dissonance, as that was its essence.

Bologue whispered, "A world utterly distorted and disfigured to the eye."

To Bologue, this was less an extraordinary disaster and more a phenomenon arising from cognitive influence.

Everyone within the Inverted World would have their perception of reality completely flipped. It might not sound severe, but it plunged those affected into utter confusion and despair.

Bologue had read records of someone waking up one day to find they’d turned into an insect, looking at their reflection in agony, attempting self-harm or suicide, yet to others, they appeared normal.

In other large-scale examples, an entire village’s perception was warped, seeing outsiders as terrifying monsters and believing their village to be the world’s last refuge.

They killed one group after another of outsiders until the local Extraordinary Association detected something wrong. When the Condensers breached the village, the villagers saw them not as saviors but as monsters invading their last sanctuary.

Examples like these were countless. Cold text might not reveal the malicious intent hiding within, but once empathized with, the sense of global abandonment quickly descended.

Bologue took some time to stabilize his emotions and continued to deduce based on his various suspicions.

The Ruins District distorted the containment department, leading to the release of many detested entities, affecting each other and transforming the Ruins District into what it now was.

Most notably, these monsters believed, under the influence of a suspected Extraordinary Disaster: Inverted World, that they were Order Bureau staff, continuing operations in ridiculous ways.

With twisted perception, they regarded the real Order Bureau staff who came to explore the Ruins District as invaders from the King’s Secret Sword.

Even more unbelievably to Bologue, they showed a degree of creativity and formed their own department.

Internal Security Department.

With this thought, Bologue rolled up his sleeve, revealing his watch.

Due to his aggressive combat style, Bologue’s possessions often suffered significant damage after battles. Not only were his uniforms destroyed in numerous ways, but he also wore out several alchemy armaments.

Thus, Bologue rarely wore unnecessary decorations, but for this mission, he prepared a watch to confirm time against potential time distortions.

According to Bologue’s rough calculations, in half an hour, the so-called internal security department would act.

Recalling those grotesque field staff, Bologue struggled to imagine what the internal security department might look like. More unsettling was his uncertainty about the safety of his current position within the Void Lump area.

Brief contact revealed a rule: the safe passage, true to its name, seemed to render him unseen to staff once inside, as seen on the logistics department office floor.

The safe door was unlocked and easy to open, yet the staff didn’t follow.

If this was a safe area shielding him from the staff, Bologue could use it as a base to explore the entire Ruins District. But nothing was permanent, and Bologue didn’t want to entrust his safety to such speculation.

"Inverted World..."

Bologue repeated the term with a hint of palpitation.

On reflection, this extraordinary disaster seemed lethal to him.

As an undead, death wasn’t a cruel sentence for Bologue, but cognitive dissonance was different; even as strong-minded as Bologue loathed facing such a thing.

Bologue could only comfort himself, hoping the Blessing: Time Reversing Axis might exempt him from cognitive distortion.

But like his stance on the Void Lump, Bologue didn’t want to entrust his safety to uncertain things.

"Phew... time to act, Bologue."

Bologue encouraged himself and turned back, pushing open the safety door to the Sublimation Furnace Core. This area saw few staff appearances, making it an ideal starting point for Bologue to understand various aspects of the Ruins District.

Nevertheless, while here, Bologue naturally took out his target list. In the Sublimation Furnace Core area, many secondary objectives awaited collection.

Important experiment records, valuable rare materials, semi-finished alchemy armaments, etc. To be honest, Bologue felt most secondary objectives were meaningless; after all, losing them for so long hadn’t affected the Sublimation Furnace Core’s normal operation or hindered research, largely proving their lack of importance.

Upon further reading, a uniquely different secondary objective appeared.

"A box"

A box located in my secret laboratory drawer.

Alongside this secondary objective, detailed location instructions were provided, and surprisingly, a reward was noted at the end.

"The secret laboratory contains many alchemy armaments, feel free to select any, even taking them all is fine."

Bologue read aloud, yet even here, he felt no interest in this peculiar secondary objective. Given Bologue’s current strength, few alchemy armaments could aid him.

The one who assigned this secondary objective seemed to anticipate Bologue’s thoughts, attaching their name to garner his attention.

Mamo Pine.

From the first-generation head of the Sublimation Furnace Core.

Suddenly, the mysterious box’s importance greatly increased, as did the significance of this so-called secret laboratory. This was Mamo’s secret lab, meaning the stored alchemy armaments?

Those were crafted by Mamo Pine, the Seeker of Glory, and the first-generation head of the Sublimation Furnace Core.

Bologue’s expression turned hesitant as he seriously contemplated whether to accept this private task.