Chapter 525: Chapter 38 Surprise
Order Bureau, Sublimation Furnace Core.
Aside from the Field Operations Department, the Sublimation Furnace Core was probably the department Bologue visited the most. He was already immensely familiar with it, and many of the Sublimation Furnace Core employees recognized Bologue, casually greeting him along the way.
In this light, Bologue might be considered something of a celebrity within the Order Bureau. There’s no escaping this; while the Sublimation Furnace Core employees might not know about Bologue’s excellent fieldwork, they are certainly aware of his Undead identity.
Ever since making that wicked deal with Belli, she often summoned Bologue to the Sublimation Furnace Core with tempting propositions he found hard to refuse, persuading him to cooperate with her work.
Fortunately, this awful lifestyle came to an end when Aimou arrived. Belli’s attention shifted away from Bologue, as if a child with a new toy discarded the old one.
Initially, Bologue felt a bit... lost? Then he abruptly realized how awful this line of thinking was, and how peculiar Belli must be to have such an impact on him.
Thankfully, all of that was over, and now it was Aimou’s turn to suffer.
Bologue navigated through the industrial nest, finding his way to the employee dormitories within the Sublimation Furnace Core. Thanks to the Cultivation Room’s uncanny "activity," with appropriate permissions, room positions could be altered freely, even twisting spatial structures.
Utilizing her position as head of the Sublimation Furnace Core, regardless of Aimou’s resistance, Belli managed to become Aimou’s neighbor. If not for the door Aimou insisted on, they might have been considered roommates.
Bologue knocked on the door, and shortly after, swift footsteps approached, and the door opened to reveal Aimou.
Currently, the Special Operations Group had little work to address, and with Bologue’s promotion ceremony concluded, Aimou found herself entirely free.
"Good morning."
Bologue lifted a hand in greeting.
"Good morning!"
Aimou responded energetically, seemingly waiting for Bologue. She had changed into new clothes, still the Order Bureau’s uniform, but Bologue could discern the difference in their wear.
As an expert, such observation is essential.
After the greetings, Bologue fell silent, his expression remained as usual, gaze unfocused and wandering, as if looking at Aimou or somewhere else, his facial muscles completely relaxed like a cold corpse.
Aimou still wasn’t adept at handling this sudden silence, her micro-expressions changed constantly, her pupils looking elsewhere, avoiding eye contact with Bologue.
Aimou was essentially still an Alchemy Puppet. After being granted the Blessing·Doppelganger by the Tyrant, Aimou could transform her Steel Body into flesh, each form having its pros and cons.
For example, the Steel Body allowed Aimou to ignore fatigue, operating like an ironman, whereas the flesh form endowed her with human perception, bringing her closer to resonating with Ether.
Presently, Aimou was in her flesh state, the cold shell gone, replaced by the pliable flesh she enjoyed maintaining in everyday life like a human.
Yet, they stood at the doorway, Bologue appearing patient, while Aimou’s mind was turbulent with countless thoughts.
"Damn it, what am I supposed to say next!"
Aimou screamed internally.
When she first met Bologue, Aimou could joke around, comfortably play pranks on him, watching him look flustered.
Back then, Aimou only saw Bologue as an ordinary character, allowing her to tease him without any psychological burden, not caring about his opinion of her.
But now everything was different. Bologue led her out of her mental maze, and Aimou found herself deeply attracted to him, valuing his presence, realizing she could no longer face Bologue with that carefree attitude.
Aimou was shackled.
The more one values another, the more they care about that person’s thoughts, worrying if their words and actions would upset them. A smile from them would bring joy for a long time, while a slight frown could bring sadness.
For Aimou, it was like a serious interview, fearing she might make a wrong decision and get "eliminated" by Bologue.
"Palmer said you were looking for me, is it about work?"
Bologue broke the silence, his words as straightforward as ever.
Aimou was a bit dazed, Bologue’s indifferent demeanor combined with his tone resembled a cold work machine. If he hadn’t guided her before, Aimou might still doubt whether Bologue had any emotions.
"Uh... It’s both personal and work-related."
Aimou felt something amiss with the conversation, but at least it broke the silence instead of stifling them.
"Anyway, come with me first!"
Aimou raised a string of keys, took Bologue’s hand, and led him towards the warehouse.
Bologue followed behind Aimou, observing her figure shorter than his, like she was awkwardly pulling cargo.
In truth, Bologue could sense a certain rigidity and deliberateness when Aimou spoke with him.
Was she embarrassed, or afraid of something?
Because of him? That must be it; it was just them there.
Was she feeling awkward around him, or was it something else? Bologue thought it shouldn’t be so. They were comrades who had been through thick and thin, such concerns should be ignored by now.
Just like with Palmer, initially when they partnered, there was some awkwardness, maintaining a safe distance. Now, after becoming roommates...
Recalling Palmer’s terrible habits, Bologue was left with a headache. After a drunken return home last night, he even blurted out asking Bologue to be his best man.
"Bologue, actually, when I first met you, I thought we wouldn’t get along."
When Bologue carried Palmer back to his own bed, Palmer, drunk, said.
"From the first time I saw you, I thought, wow! Look at this guy, with such a grim and resentful look, he must be someone hard to get along with. Maybe he even has some twisted, strange fetishes."
"And then?"
"And then, I guessed right, you’re indeed a lunatic!" Palmer rolled over on the bed, "But surprisingly, you’re quite easy to get along with."
"Maybe it’s because the first impression you give others is too strong," in the dim light, Palmer used his fingers to give his eyelid a tug, "You seem too cold, Bologue."
"Like a sick killer just out of prison, full of contempt... you should smile more often."
After saying all that, Palmer fell into a drunken sleep, while Bologue quietly closed the room door. In his heart, he thought, Palmer actually guessed quite right, his partner wasn’t entirely useless; in some ways, Palmer was quite keen.
Smile more.
Bologue wondered if Aimou wasn’t used to his current expression, but he had been this way before, and she hadn’t shown any sign of discomfort. But making some changes himself, it seems, wouldn’t hurt.
Yes, it wouldn’t hurt.
A friendly work environment would undoubtedly improve work efficiency and employee relationships, Bologue decided to give it a try.
Aimou felt some resistance from her arm and turned her head to find Bologue suddenly stopped.
The two made eye contact, and under Aimou’s gaze, Bologue slowly broke into a smile. However, this deliberate smile blooming from his cold face gave the impression of a cold-blooded killer spotting a lamb, ready to make his move.
Aimou shivered, "You... what are you doing?"
"Smiling, right? Always looking cold isn’t great."
Aimou was silent, on one hand amazed that Bologue actually had this self-awareness, on the other realizing her concerns were unfounded, and while Bologue was self-aware, his execution was still terrible.
Reaching out her hand, Aimou rubbed Bologue’s corners of the mouth, the sternness dissipated, adding a bit of softness.
Aimou advised, "The smile is terrible, don’t do it again next time."
"Oh."
Bologue nodded, secretly gritting his teeth, and whispered in his heart, "Damn Palmer."
After the interaction, Aimou felt a lot more relaxed, sometimes feeling she might overthink things, which was unlike her former self... maybe this is what human emotions are.
The cold steel body was being corroded by human sensibility, Aimou did not resist this.
"You’re quite similar to Palmer," Aimou suddenly said, "Both of you have some bizarre thoughts in your heads, but Palmer will say them out, while you keep silent and then take action... which leads to you doing some odd things out of the blue."
Bologue asked, "Does it seem stupid?"
"Others might think it’s stupid," Aimou said unsurely, "but I think it’s rather cute."
"Huh?"
Bologue never imagined the word ’cute’ would be associated with him.
Seeing Bologue’s surprised reaction, Aimou laughed happily. She felt she was gradually regaining the feeling of interacting with Bologue like before. Maybe the recent busyness and random thoughts had made her feel unfamiliar.
"Alright, here we are."
Aimou opened the warehouse door, various goods piled up like mountains.
Bologue still couldn’t understand this matter, "So what do you need me for?"
"Well... consider it a token of appreciation?"
Bologue still didn’t get it, "Appreciation for what?"
"For saving me."
"I thought that matter was over."
"To me, it’s not over yet."
Aimou struggled to open a box, revealing the results of her recent all-nighters at work.
"Although I created this thing, aberrant products inherently are full of randomness; even with a reference, it took me a long time to reforge it..."
Aimou took something out of the box, hiding it behind her back, looking playfully at Bologue.
"Guess what it is?"
From Aimou’s explanation about the difficulty in making it, Bologue already guessed it. After all, he’s an expert; deducing such things is a breeze. Under normal circumstances, Bologue would have replied with the correct answer, but he felt... a overly rational answer didn’t seem applicable at this moment.
Bologue maintained his smile and shook his head, "Can’t guess."
"Ta-da!"
Aimou raised the thing behind her back, inside the exquisite container, silver mercury swirled.
"Great partner!"