Endless Debt

Chapter 1317 - 98: Over the High Wall (Part 2)

"Like a fervent sacrifice, using oneself as firewood to fill and burn, that pile of fire known as humanity.""They fell in love with the abstract notion of people, not the living beings," Aimou whispered.

"For all of humanity."

Bologue repeated the words he once said, but mentioning them again now, he felt particularly heavy.

"When I realized this, I suddenly understood the thoughts of these madmen," Bologue mocked himself, "I always thought I might be fighting for all humanity, but honestly, I only know a few people. The notion of humanity as a whole is too vast and ethereal for me. The real driving force is the individuals around me.

But I can understand them too, understand their fervent, almost frenzied behaviors."

Aimou organized her words and joked, "That sounds like the greatest scholars are probably the ones who love humanity the most, aren’t they? No personal feelings, detached from any individual, not even caring for themselves, with a savior-like spirit of self-sacrifice, their gaze only on humanity."

They don’t love individuals, but they love humanity.

Aimou suddenly thought of her and Bologue’s upcoming actions, the ruins they were about to reach, and she couldn’t help but softly say, "So what about King Solomon? Was he such a person?"

Bologue was stumped by her question. From their descriptions, King Solomon undoubtedly fit all of these criteria.

"Who knows?" Before Bologue could answer, Aimou teased, "Anyway, he’s long dead, dead for so many years, even the ruins of the Holy City will disappear completely."

When she mentioned this, Aimou became somewhat melancholy. Back in the Abandoned Land, she had glimpsed the remnants of the Holy City from afar.

It was an enchanting ruin.

Yet even this broken beauty would fade away.

"King Solomon..."

Bologue pondered, recalling their mission to recover King Solomon’s legacy as much as possible and then remembered the existing technologies that had been utilized.

The Collective.

Bologue’s heart suddenly grew cold, a reaction that linked to Aimou’s senses, making her clearly aware of Bologue’s unease.

"Perhaps... perhaps King Solomon really was such a person, loving humanity to the point of ignoring all individuals, including himself."

Bologue assessed King Solomon with a firm tone, as if he had once known him.

The Collective, a vast consciousness mass formed by uniting everyone’s will, is that not a kind of madness for humanity as well?

In this united will, there are no individuals, only components, computing units combined together.

Gather the collective strength.

Bologue felt a strange dizziness, as though he suddenly had a deep understanding of King Solomon, crossing time and space without ever having met him.

"Why are you so sure?" Aimou asked.

"Just like Ewen said, a work is a reflection of its creator’s personality. Likewise, the scholars’ creations should reflect part of their thoughts," Bologue referred to Aimou as an example, "Like you, your existence is a reflection of Teda, a twisted shadow of his love."

Bologue quickened his pace a bit, impatiently wanting to delve into the Holy City, to search for traces of King Solomon from the sealed ruins.

For this person from the past, someone who had a significant impact on the changes in the world’s timeline, Bologue was eager to piece together his true image from the broken fragments.

Aimou remained silent; she too was troubled by a question—Bologue’s proposed dilemma, love for individuals versus love for humanity.

In Bologue’s understanding, the two were like the ends of a balance: one end would rise while the other would fall. They seemed contradictory; when you love humanity, you inevitably ignore individuals, and when you’re fixated on individuals, you often become indifferent to humanity’s survival.

Aimou thought the two should not be contradictory but complementary.

She felt she might be a greedy person, thinking both individuals and humanity should be saved.

But Aimou didn’t know how to convey this to Bologue; some questions even the one who poses them can’t figure out.

One day, it will become clear.

"Are you whispering secrets?"

Suddenly, a voice like thunder cut in from outside, forcefully interrupting Bologue and Aimou, pulling them back to reality from their dialogue and thoughts.

They saw Furya surrounding them, each displaying a peculiar expression, their gazes filled with disdain.

"Were you listening to me?" Furya asked again.

"Did you say something just now?" Bologue asked bluntly.

Furya was taken aback, and like a chain reaction, the other Fuyras responded similarly, then unanimously kicked Bologue’s shin.

"Time to get to work, focus!"

"Alright, alright!"

Bologue winced in pain, shifting his attention to the present, following along with the line of Furya, crossing the threshold into the Ruins District.

After Furya took charge of the Ruins District, with the assistance of the Order Bureau, the chaos threatened to return to order in the area.

It was a major project, likely to take years to complete, but under the priority requirements, Furya had already cleared a path to the containment area.