Endless Debt

Chapter 1280: Chapter 84: Jokes (2)

"As for troubling you, I swear, I have no ulterior motives," he picked up the group photo, his eyes showing a nostalgic emotion, "I just got a bit sentimental, Bologue."

Thinking of this, Mamo asked curiously, "Do you have any friends still alive from back then?"

Bologue shook his head, "It’s been almost seventy years, not to mention living friends, even my hometown has disappeared off the map."

"Sounds terrible, you don’t even have a place to reminisce."

"I think it’s alright," Bologue said, "like you, I’ve reconciled with myself, not to mention I now have many friends."

"Hmm? Not bad," Mamo praised, glancing at the closed door, listening to the familiar yet strange sound, "But I really didn’t think the distortion in the Ruins District stemmed from this."

"Under the influence of cognitive distortion, Furya killed her colleagues... her friends, she hated herself for it, even developed a distorted sense of sacrifice."

Bologue could understand Furya’s mindset at that time, Bologue had experienced similar feelings, people like them would forgo personal interests, fighting for something elusive, almost akin to truth.

"This sense of sacrifice even extended to her copied consciousnesses. In the time that followed, the Furyas believed the war was still ongoing, that outside the Ruins District were enemies, and she had to defend this last pure land."

Mamo whispered, "But the war had long ended; she was trapped in a nightmare, fortunately, she received release."

Upon mentioning this part, Mamo also sighed in relief, as if feeling happy for Furya.

"Don’t you plan to talk to her?" Bologue asked, "She should be your friend, the kind you’ve spent many years with."

Mamo nodded, then shook his head.

"She’s Furya, but not really. To ensure the purity of this copy, Furya has erased most unnecessary memories from her consciousness," Mamo said, "like a newborn baby, without opinions, factions, or such divisive things."

"To me, she’s just an echo after Furya’s death."

Mamo stood up, leisurely walked to the door, and slowly pushed it open. The endless chatter of the Furyas pierced the eardrums.

"But, even an echo can be comforting."

Mamo looked at the floor filled with Furyas, and murmured, "She disappeared in the Ruins District, I thought I wouldn’t see her even if I blended into the crowd... I thought my last meeting with her would be this group photo."

After saying this, Mamo started to laugh to himself. Furyas were everywhere, walking around, one chatterbox was already irritating enough, but this whole group, surrounding the new field staff, asking questions, with some of them already frowning.

This absurd scene made Mamo laugh to the point of breathlessness, he leaned against the door frame, turning his head. Mature and seasoned as he was, Mamo’s laughter was worse than crying.

Mamo said, somewhat hoarse, "I never thought, no matter what, that I’d actually be able to see Furya, and so many of them!"

He gestured widely, "Goodness, aren’t there too many interns from the Sublimation Furnace Core this year?"

Seeing Bologue’s lack of a response, Mamo’s smile was a bit awkward, "Is this joke not funny?"

"Are you joking?"

"I think a little humor is quite fitting right now, don’t you think?"

This time both of them fell silent, soon after, suppressed laughter echoed in Bologue’s throat, Mamo was more relaxed, openly laughing, which eventually got Bologue laughing along too.

"Right! Right! Bologue!"

Mamo gestured, "Wow! So many Furyas, so many, have you brought a whole squad back?"

"Really a lot, densely packed." Bologue also exclaimed.

After laughing for quite a while, Bologue spoke, "So, does that make me her internship mentor?"

"I suppose so, given you’re the one who brought them back."

"So it’s just one intern document, or..."

Bologue leaned his head, trying to count just how many Furyas there were, but with another crisp ticking sound, the elevator door opened and a throng of Furyas poured in.

"I think just one document, otherwise you’ll sign yourself to death." Mamo leaned his head too, commenting.

"Oh, so they’re considered Sublimation Furnace Core interns?" Bologue asked again, "Can the Sublimation Furnace Core handle so many at once?"

"No problem at all, once we recover the Forge Furnace Volcano, we can expand several times over." Mentioning his long-cherished Forge Furnace Volcano, Mamo’s eyes glowed.

That ever-burning furnace was also an old friend of Mamo’s, as the first director of the Sublimation Furnace Core, Mamo had witnessed its first flicker of flame.

"I think the Order Bureau will be quite noisy in the future," Bologue sighed helplessly, "Did the Furya you remember also love to chatter like this?"

"Pretty much, she was quite skilled at socializing, never felt awkward. The first day I met her, she pulled me along talking the whole day, whenever I tried to refuse, she’d add another line, ’I just have one more thing to say.’"

Mamo continued, "Albert really disliked Furya, he was someone who loved quiet, whereas Furya felt Albert was a recluse, needing to talk more with people."