Endless Debt

After struggling for less than a minute, Boluogo made a very rational decision.

He chose to sneak into the sublimation furnace core area first and follow the route given by Mamo to find the secret laboratory.

This is not only to satisfy Boluogo's selfish desires, but also for this operation to find the road to the Holy City. You know, the situation in the ruins area has completely changed now, and the information provided by the Order Bureau is completely useless. Who knows? Where is the containment zone, and who knows what the containment zone will look like.

There are cognitively distorted monsters disguised as employees everywhere, and they also have internal security departments. If nothing else, Bologo's next main opponents will be them.

The ruins are filled with hostile aethers, which further limit Borogo's power and resist his recruitment.

Berlog rarely finds himself in such a passive position.

After checking his equipment, Boluogo injected himself with a shot of Mango Silver Soul to replenish the ether consumed in the battle. After some adjustments, he became in full swing again.

Opening the security door just now, the familiar industrial style came into view. Bologg was still hiding in the shadows, moving along the narrow gaps between the large equipment.

Soon Boluogo met a group of employees. They were standing in front of the control desk, fiddling with the broken joysticks and buttons, and writing a series of random numbers in notebooks covered with graffiti.

These guys are really dedicated. Due to the chaos in the ruins area, most of the equipment that requires maintenance has been out of service for many years, but they still pretend to be running normally.

Boluogo began to wonder what the so-called decision-making room was in their previous conversation.

Is it a common word in role-playing games? Or is it that in this chaotic area, they even created a replica of the decision-making room?

"Area No. 3, a corridor with the sublimation furnace core logo..."

Bologo recalled the hints on the list and looked around.

The space of various departments is distorted and integrated, and the map carried by Boluogo is completely useless. But the good news is that the various digital logos are still engraved on the steel. As long as Boluogo walks slowly, he can always navigate this chaos. In the maze, find the goal.

"It's so weird..."

Bologg raised his head. Above him was a towering dome, but at this time, another flat floor was inserted into the middle of the dome, which was covered with crooked desks, piles of documents and Electronic equipment, whiteboards filled with dense data and charts.

A certain scholar's office overlapped with the dome, which looked extremely abrupt, adding an inexplicable sense of absurdity to the ruined area.

Boluogo turned his attention back to his eyes. After taking only two steps, he passed by another set of lockers. These lockers should not have appeared here. Next to the lockers, there were neatly arranged protective clothing.

This should be the dressing room where scholars wear protective clothing, but it was moved here due to space distortion.

A slightly dangerous idea arose in Boluogo's mind.

A few minutes later, Bologo walked out of the "open-air" locker room. His steps were shaky, his every move felt bloated, and his breathing became heavy. Bologo realized that this was the first time he had worn protective clothing.

Discover patterns, understand patterns, and utilize patterns.

This is a sentence that Boluogo saw in Aimu's office. She wrote this sentence on a note and pasted it on the whiteboard where she painted.

Burlogo liked this quote, and the scholars' ideas overlapped with Burlogo's own.

"How do these staff identify intruders?"

Boluogo remained vigilant and stepped out of the shadows. He was thinking about whether there was some special way of communication among the staff. Or are we, like humans, judged partly by appearance?

practice.

Many staff members wearing protective suits appeared in front, just like what Boluogo had seen before. They were carrying a bunch of heavy debris, and regarded these debris as some kind of precious alchemy materials.

Bologg is getting closer and closer to them, and his heart is also hanging. According to the time of his watch, in a few minutes, the so-called internal security department will be dispatched. Bologg does not want to fight with these boring undead. .

"Hey you!"

A staff member noticed Bologg's approach and shouted loudly, with a familiar hoarse sound.

Borrogo felt that these employees were not only imitating human work, but also imitating human language. Some of their voices were hoarse, and some of them had stumbling voices.

"Um."

Boluogo spoke as little as possible, and his pace quickened a bit.

"Where are your materials?"

The leading clerk asked. It seemed that it didn't notice anything unusual about Boluogo.

Borrogo imitated the hoarse tone and replied, "Materials? Here they are."

He raised the suitcase in his hand. This suitcase was made of snake scale liquid. It contained the Bite and Brutal Saw Axe. No matter how bulky and wide the protective suit was, Bologo could not fit these two weapons into it.

"that's it?"

Bologger guessed that it wanted to express displeasure, but like all employees, its words contained no emotion at all.

"That's all."

Boluogo also responded indifferently, answering the question carefully based on his previous guesses.

These employees regard the debris as something and transport them continuously. Boluogo tries to take on their perspective and make fools with them.

It was silent for a while without saying anything more, then turned around and moved forward with the other employees. They were carrying large and small sundries on their backs, and some even pushed small cars.

Boluogo secretly breathed a sigh of relief and followed the end of the team.

It now appears that the way these staff members judge friends and foes is the same as humans, to a large extent through naked eye recognition... This should be the case, after all, they are imitating humans.

Not only imitating human behavior, but also imitating human shortcomings.

"It's like a big role-playing park, or a madhouse."

Boluogo said in his heart, he kept trying to put himself into the perspective of these employees, but it was still a little difficult to implement... Boluogo was not good at pretending to be stupid, and he couldn't use these messy things as supplies.

Damn it, one of these staff members also carried a roll of toilet paper. Boluogo was curious about what it thought this roll of toilet paper would be.

As the team moved forward, Bologo saw many traces of spatial dislocation. Buildings in different areas were pieced together. Some were modern buildings, and some were ancient palaces or abandoned factories.

This kind of spatial distortion and architectural patchwork are not perfect. They bring a sense of disharmony and weirdness. The connections between the buildings are full of cracks and confusion, as if they are forcibly spliced ​​without complete integration, like a Two three-dimensional design models were forcibly stacked together.

Bologo tried to find the signs demarcating the areas, but the numbers on the signs were not consecutive, and some simply disappeared.

"Damn it!"

Boluogo complained in his heart, and he began to doubt whether he could find Mamo's secret laboratory.

You know, Mamo retired many years ago. The scholars in the sublimation furnace even thought that he had passed away for a time. However, in fact, Mamo has been living secretly in the darkness until he reappeared in recent years. , became active.

In other words, before this, all Mamo's experiences were top secret, and Boluogo's knowledge of them was completely blank.

Now Boluogo can only hope that he will be lucky enough to encounter the mark in the record and find the secret laboratory.

Suddenly, a stream of hot air came from the front, interrupting Boluogo's thoughts.

Boluogo immediately became alert, and saw that the progress of the entire team was stagnant. The staff lowered their heads, steadied their figures, and withstood the heat wave. After the air flow stopped, they moved forward again. To them, this seemed It's an extremely common thing.

After walking for another ten minutes, Boluogo saw the source of the heat wave at the end of this dislocated area.

At the end of this intricate maze, a huge furnace as huge as a tower stands tall, like a red-hot iron mountain. The blazing firelight overflows from the gaps in the metal, waving slender flames, burning The waste dust accumulated into lumps, paving a path of ashes that led directly to the interior.

The staff were like pilgrims, carrying ridiculous items and trudging up the steps.

This time Boluogo failed to follow the team. He was completely stunned on the spot, his eyes greedily scanning every corner of the volcano, trying to take in every detail of it.

It is like a tumor of steel and lava, lodged in this ruined area. The thick pipes are tangled and stretched like tentacles, and the surface is mottled with rust, showing the traces of erosion over the years.

They twist and bend, converging in a spiral path toward the heart of the furnace. The ends of the pipe branched into numerous tributaries that led into the buildings surrounding the furnace.

boom--

A deep sound came from the inside of the furnace, causing the ground under Bologg's feet to shake slightly. Hot air flow periodically overflowed, and the surrounding buildings were hit, making faint noises.

Someone pushed Boluogo gently from behind and said in an emotionless voice.

"Time to work."

Only then did Borogo come to his senses. As he moved forward, he stared at the cables climbing up. They were like ruthless iron vines, covering the dark interior.

"Forge Volcano."

Boluogo recited its name silently in his heart.

The Forge Volcano is the largest furnace in extraordinary history. It is as large as a mountain embedded in the chamber. For this reason, it is no longer regarded as a furnace, but is named after a volcano.

It used to provide energy for the entire chamber, until the Secret War caused the chamber to split into the ruins area, and the Forge Volcano was difficult to move due to its terrifying size, and was eventually lost in the ruins area.

In today's sublimation furnace core, many scholars who have witnessed the forge volcano still miss it. In their words, once the Bureau of Order can recover the forge volcano, the research of scholars and the energy supply of the entire cultivation room will be affected. will be greatly improved.

Boluogo feels that this is not an improvement, but a return to its former glory.

"I see...are they imitating even this?"

Bologg looked at the team in front of him. The dazzling firelight gradually engulfed their figures. Bologg could only see blurry black spots one after another.

After the ruins area fell into chaos, many equipment that required staff maintenance had long been damaged, but not all equipment was so fragile. In the design of the scholars, the forge volcano was a large equipment that could operate on its own without the involvement of staff.

The only requirement for its staff is that the ashes should be cleared regularly to prevent the tons of ashes from obscuring the building.

Even though the ruins area is out of the control of the Bureau of Order, the Forge Volcano continues to operate, providing energy for the entire chaotic ruins area to maintain the most basic operations.

Boluogo was a little excited. This was the first time he saw this existence that only existed in rumors. What's more, Mamo's secret laboratory was near the Forge Volcano. Burlogo hopes it's still there.

The staff threw countless sundries into the firelight. The heat wave and the dazzling light made Boluogo unable to see their movements. But soon, it would be Boluogo's turn.

The distance is getting closer and closer, and the appearance of the forge volcano is becoming clearer and clearer. It seems that there are countless ghosts being burned continuously in the furnace. These ghosts turn into flames that soar into the sky, constantly dancing, exuding the breath of death.

The flames gathered into one swaying figure after another, and the scene was horrifying. Bologger could almost hear the screaming air, as if these ghosts were whining in pain.

But the shock to Burlogo had only just begun.

The employees at the front threw their belongings into the sea of ​​​​fire along the gap, as if they were offering sacrifices to the forge volcano. Then they did not leave, but jumped and disappeared into the sea of ​​​​fire.

The people in the first row were engulfed in flames, and the people in the second row followed suit. They did the same thing, throwing debris into the sea of ​​​​fire, and then throwing themselves into it.

Soon, Boluogo was standing in the front row, and even the protective clothing could not isolate himself from the hot temperature.

"What are you staring at?"

The clerk next to Boluoge asked. Seeing that Boluogo didn't answer, it didn't ask further questions. After skillfully throwing the sundries in, it also jumped down.

Now Boluogo was alone. The people behind him got tired of waiting, and a staff member pushed Boluogo.

"What are you waiting for?"

"What?" Boluogo turned his head and asked pretending to be confused.

"It's work," the clerk said.

Borlog asked again, "It's our job to hold these things and jump in?"

"if not?"

The clerk didn't understand what Bologger was asking. This was work, the work they were accustomed to.

"That's right. Even if the forge volcano does not require maintenance, it is not a perpetual motion machine. It still needs fuel to burn..."

Bologo said as he took off his heavy helmet, his cheeks covered with sweat.

"So, can I interpret this behavior as that you are imitating the staff's... sacrifice?"

The staff member was stunned, and then it decisively attacked Boluogo, but Boluogo was faster than him. The snake's scale liquid disintegrated and its resentful bite was drawn out.

Boluogo split its arm with a sword and kicked it into the sea of ​​fire. The figure disappeared, turning into pure ether and blending into the fire.

"What a bunch of lunatics!"

Boluogo thought he knew these strange employees well enough, but the truth always surprised him.

The movements of the staff at the rear were stiff for a moment, and then they dropped their belongings one after another, stepped onto the disintegration of ashes, and swarmed towards Boluogo.

Bologg had his back to the blazing fire, holding a sword in one hand and an ax in the other, with a diamond-shaped shield surrounding his body.

He told himself that he should do less twisty things in the future.

Discover patterns and break them.

Boluogo planned to add this sentence to Aimu's note, and then he jumped out and knocked over a large figure.