Chapter 384 - Going Against the Current

The dazzling white halo still lingered in his vision like receding tides, as Bologue stared straight at Serey, his fists clenched involuntarily, and his breathing became strained and heavy.Bologue felt like an overloaded machine, with countless thoughts moving forward simultaneously, branching, annihilating, weaving new trajectories, continuing onward.

"Are you okay?"

Serey looked at Bologue in confusion, and Bologue responded with the same puzzled gaze.

This was the second time Bologue had seen Serey, but from Serey’s perspective, it was the first time they had met today.

Serey didn’t remember the reversal.

Bologue nervously looked towards Bode, who was mopping the floor, and Bode seemed as if everything had happened...

Only he remembered what had happened before.

"Good morning, Serey," Bologue downed the orange juice in one gulp and dashed out of the Undying Club, "Goodbye, Serey!"

Serey was stunned for two seconds, her voice echoing from afar.

"Damn it! Aren’t you going to have even a bite of my lovingly prepared breakfast?"

Bologue sprinted through the streets, his pace swift, his gaze catching his swinging arms, reading the time on his wristwatch.

At this moment, the sky was just beginning to lighten, the city not yet awakened, Balder should be researching those Alchemy Equipment, and Belli should just be getting up, then she would find Aimou missing...

Clutching his head, Bologue felt a headache, then a few scarlet drops trickled down; he had a nosebleed.

He wiped the blood with his cuff, and the dark skyscrapers in the distance were now within reach.

Bologue’s mind flashed back to the last scene, fully armed, driving the new car issued by Geoffrey, recklessly charging through the early morning streets, following the pointer, and soon he saw...

The ascending dazzling white light, expanding outward like a storm, engulfing everything around it, and even Bologue was not spared.

After the intense light, Bologue returned here, in the damned Undying Club, eating Serey’s lovingly prepared breakfast.

Images began to overlap and flicker, not long ago, in a seemingly hallucinated scene, Sai Zong was speaking to him about those mysterious hints.

The fork in the road of destiny.

What on earth was going on?

Countless questions swirled endlessly in Bologue’s mind, but he wasn’t one to be trapped by thoughts; he preferred to act while contemplating everything.

Now it was evident that time had returned to the moment he set out, with everything reverting, overlapped, echoing with bouts of laughter.

Before he reached the Order Bureau, Bologue had sorted out his thoughts.

He was not the one determining the Time Reversal but a victim affected by it; from his passive reversal, he could perceive this point, and as for the instigator of this anomaly, Bologue had already guessed who it was.

Excluding all sorts of possible coincidences, the only option left was Aimou; perhaps it wasn’t only her, maybe she and Teda did all this together.

If Aimou had the ability to evade the Cultivation Room’s gaze, she already had the chance to escape earlier, so why choose to leave at this moment?

Was it because Teda had already prepared the resurrection ritual, thus summoning her in some way?

Yes, in the last reversal, Belli had implanted a tracker in Aimou, so did Teda also set up some device in the Constant Motion Core that was linked to Aimou?

"Aimou, you’re quite the master of disguise," Bologue sighed inwardly.

Entering the Order Bureau, barging into the Sublimation Furnace Core, Bologue sprinted all the way, effortlessly hijacking a staff member.

This unfortunate guy seemed to have just gotten up too, still holding coffee, and Bologue charged over aggressively; before he could dodge, the Silver Hand had tightly wound around him.

"Which room does Belli live in?"

The man was dumbfounded; having worked for so long, he’d never seen anyone dare to commit such acts within the Cultivation Room, yet curiously, this guy had actually penetrated deep into the Sublimation Furnace Core.

Bologue’s voice was deafening, making him tremble in fear; hearing that someone was looking for trouble with Belli, he muttered to himself.

"Minister, you’ve been causing trouble for so many years; finally, you’re getting your comeuppance, haha."

But after laughing it off, he thought, although his minister’s character might be bad, she was still his minister, and ever since Belli took office, their employee benefits had been steadily improving as well.

Previously, those in the Field Operations Department came to apply for equipment, each acting like a lord, pestering endlessly; since Belli’s strong intervention, their status had also risen along with it.

"No way! I would never betray the minister!" he shouted.

"Huh?"

Bologue turned his head, looking at the unlucky person hoisted up behind him. What was this guy thinking? But seeing his appearance of sacrifice, Bologue vaguely understood.

"Field Operations Department, Rupert’s Tail Special Operations Group, Bologue Lazarus! I’m on an important mission! Please cooperate!" Bologue forced himself to endure his inner anxiety and communicated with this unlucky person.

Silver Hand raised the emblem of the Special Operations Group; the unlucky person’s mind went blank for a few seconds.

It’s over.

It’s completely over this time, Minister! The issue has been exposed! Someone from the Field Operations Department is here to investigate!

"I’ll tell! I’ll tell everything! It’s all the Minister’s doing, I had no choice!" he cried, "I’m just an accountant! She told me to do false accounting, I had to do it, she embezzled the public funds, I knew nothing about it!"

Afraid that Bologue wouldn’t let him go, the accountant shouted again, "I have a safe in my room with all the evidence against the Minister!"

Thinking of this, the accountant felt fortunate for his cleverness; otherwise, following the Minister would surely lead to a tragic end.

"What are you talking about!"

Now it was Bologue’s turn to be stunned, having brought an unlucky person over, he felt like he had unwittingly stumbled into a major scandal.

"Uh? You aren’t here to arrest the Minister?" the accountant asked.

"I just wanted to ask for directions!"

The two fell silent for a few seconds simultaneously.

"Go straight, turn right, the Minister’s room is at the end of the corridor. With the Special Operations Group emblem, the Cultivation Room shouldn’t stop you."

The accountant’s voice suddenly steadied.

Due to its special nature, the Field Operations Department has permissions a level higher than ordinary staff. Bologue’s second-level permissions enable him to access most places within the Cultivation Room.

"So, those words earlier..."

The accountant wanted to say more, but Bologue threw him aside, and his figure gradually disappeared into the corridor, with his words echoing nearby.

"After this is over, I’ll contact you."

Hearing this, the accountant’s face turned pale, and he pondered whether he could escape by resigning today.

"Go straight... turn right..."

Bologue followed the accountant’s directions, quickly moving in the employee quarters. With Ethereal Amplification, he was fast as a shadow.

Never expected, by mistake, he had grabbed dirt on Belli, and this intelligence might be very useful.

Bologue timed his actions; in the last time reversal, after reaching the Sublimation Furnace Core, first was the conversation with Balder, comparing traces, wasting lots of time, then Belli’s appearance.

Accumulating experience from the last time reversal, Bologue could save time spent on conversing with Balder, and during this period, Belli might still be sleeping.

Bologue seized precious time; if he was fast enough, he might find Aimou before this time reversal.

Without slowing down at all, Bologue slammed against the door. In the past, he could even break through iron doors, but under the Cultivation Room’s protection, it didn’t budge, though the loud noise still woke someone sleeping inside.

She slowly climbed out of bed, walked out of the bedroom, and angrily pushed the door open, then saw an even angrier Bologue.

"Good... Good morning."

Belli froze, someone who absolutely shouldn’t be here suddenly appeared right here.

"Aimou is missing."

Time was tight, Bologue tried to speak concisely, "We’re trapped in time reversal, now it’s the second reversal. Give me your office’s pass, I need to get the tracker."

Belli, perhaps not fully awake, or maybe shocked by Bologue’s words, immediately realized, the implantation of the tracker was something only she knew, yet now Bologue knew.

"Did I tell you about the tracker in the last reversal?" Belli asked.

"Yes, it looks like a glove, with a pointer indicating Aimou’s direction." Bologue immediately replied.

Belli said no more, swiftly returning to the bedroom, after some clanking, she hurriedly handed Bologue the pass and a string of warehouse keys.

"If I gave you the tracker in the last reversal, then you should know what this is."

Belli heavily placed the keys in Bologue’s hand, staring into his eyes, continued, "There are things I should’ve said in the last reversal."

"I understand."

Facing Belli’s gaze, Bologue promised firmly.