Endless Debt

The meeting with the All Secrets Order did not keep Bologue waiting long, and before the meeting, Bologue received a notification of authority changes from the Decision Room.

The Decision Room elevated Bologue’s authority by several levels. According to the Order Bureau’s regulations, Bologue was now considered equal to ministers of various departments, with authority second only to Nesanel, and other old guards within the Order Bureau. This surprised Bologue greatly; he did not expect his authority to increase so much.

The increase in authority naturally opened up more secret intelligence to Bologue, but frankly speaking, compared to Bologue’s experiences in the Ethereal Realm, the secret archives the Order Bureau now kept held no appeal for him.

Bologue mostly skimmed through the official records for some special secret energies, contract objects, etc. Knowing these features would help Bologue quickly deduce the nature of the enemy’s capabilities in upcoming battles.

Then, the time for the meeting with the All Secrets Order arrived.

The meeting location was within the Cultivation Room, eliminating concerns of any foreign enemy disrupting the meeting, and there was no need to worry about the All Secrets Order harboring any malicious intent.

Bologue heard from those attending that prior talks had already occurred several times between the Order Bureau and the All Secrets Order, but they never reached a result satisfactory to both sides, and Bologue’s involvement was considered an interference, though no one had complaints about it.

Upon entering the room, Bologue followed other attendees and sat on one side of the room, while the other side was reserved for members of the All Secrets Order.

Bologue glanced at the people around him, most of whom were familiar faces, such as Yas and Gold, who were team leaders.

It was the eve of war, and the action teams under the Field Operations Department were like small military units, with the team leaders serving as commanding officers. During special times, team leaders became increasingly important within the Order Bureau, with all units yielding to them.

Bologue began to fantasize; if negotiations broke down, would these team leaders suddenly draw their swords and shred those uncooperative members of the All Secrets Order?

This was not impossible. If the All Secrets Order intended to fracture the power of the Rhine Alliance, they would become even more despised than the King’s Secret Sword.

Betrayers are always more detestable than enemies.

"What is the main topic of the negotiations?"

The envoys of the All Secrets Order had not yet arrived when Bologue softly asked Yas beside him.

"What else could it be? The Order Bureau wants to unite with the All Secrets Order, temporarily forming a war alliance that would dissolve after the war, promising them they could continue with great independence afterwards," Yas whispered, "but the All Secrets Order does not wish to join any war alliance."

"They want to stay out of it."

"Not just that," Yas said, "they also feel this is an opportunity to completely rid themselves of the Order Bureau, trying to use their stance to coerce us for greater freedom."

Bologue asked, "Aren’t they afraid of the Order Bureau’s pressure?"

"They probably think that the Order Bureau is surrounded and lacking the strength to deal with them, forced to keep compromising," Yas whispered. "On this point, it is understandable; the Order Bureau is nearly at war with every organization related to the Devils, being pessimistic about us is normal."

"It’s too shortsighted."

Bologue sighed; he was among the few "The Sober," aware of the terrible crisis facing the Material Realm next. In this disaster, no one could remain untouched. No one at all.

It was still unclear what degree of confidentiality the Order Bureau intended for the intelligence regarding extraterrestrial visitors. Bologue only hoped that, if this intelligence could be conveyed to the upper echelons of the All Secrets Order, it might change their mind.

Bologue did not intend to resolve every matter through violent means.

"What, you’re starting to worry about these upper-level matters?" Yas teased, smiling.

"It’s nothing, nothing..."

Bologue casually dismissed it, leaning back with a defeated posture.

The intelligence about the extraterrestrial visitors was arguably a core secret of the Material Realm. Bologue had considered publishing this intelligence indiscriminately to forcibly unite others. Unless they had a severe self-destructive tendency, and wanted to tear apart the Material Realm with the Devils, Bologue believed everyone would make the most rational choice.

Regrettably, this idea was quickly dismissed by Bologue himself after it emerged.

Bologue realized that if he revealed the intelligence about extraterrestrial visitors, forcibly uniting everyone simultaneously, it would be tantamount to allowing the Devils to unite and collectively confront us.

For centuries, the reason humans could achieve certain victories against the Devils largely hinged upon the fact that the Devils were not united, even rivaling each other. Their mutual conflicts granted humans room to eke out survival.

If the Devils chose to temporarily set aside their differences and unite against us, not to mention those Extraordinary organizations affiliated with the Devils, the mere presence of the loathsome Calamity would be difficult to handle.

Like a deadly chain of suspicion.

Bologue couldn’t let the Devils realize that humanity had already uncovered the world’s truth, thus prematurely commencing a decisive battle between the two realms, and he must also contact other forces while avoiding the Devils’ gaze.

Devils were ever-changing. Even within the Order Bureau lurked a Devil named Belphegor, and Bologue was uncertain whether other factions also had spies from the Devils.

If the Devils had already learned that "humans know the truth of the world," and were now merely pretending not to know, secretly assembling armies?