Chapter 1601 - 107: Triggering Collapse_2

A reason that could coax a coward out of their nest, Medi had already encountered this scenario countless times.

"What are you waiting for?"

Seeing Serey still struggling to control his rage, Medi couldn’t help but retort, "Why not just kill me to vent your anger, so you can hide your cowardice with your fury."

"If it were before, I might have indeed killed you."

Serey slowly released his grip, the throbbing veins subsiding, as he rubbed his forehead with frustration and said self-mockingly, "But before coming here, I’ve already endured enough ridicule. I’m getting tired of hearing these tales you tell me."

"Stop wasting time!"

Suddenly, Bologue’s voice interrupted the confrontation between the two, stepping between them and separating Serey and Medi.

"I don’t have time for you to mock Serey, likewise, Serey, I don’t have time to prove whether you have courage."

Bologue looked at Medi expressionlessly, explaining like a machine, "Your mockery of Serey doesn’t contradict us extracting the information we want from you. You can continue cursing at him non-stop."

The swaying Iron Branches retreated, along with the dazzling instruments of torture, reverting to their original form as the Deceitful Snake Scale Liquid.

Interrupted by Bologue, Medi looked at Bologue unwillingly. Enduring the burning pain within him, he probed.

"Oh? You’ve put away the instruments, are you planning to break me down from a psychological level?"

"No."

Bologue shook his head, putting on a pair of black gloves, "I didn’t put the instruments away."

He added, "I am the instrument."

Almost as soon as Bologue finished speaking, Medi clearly felt the burning pain within him multiply rapidly, as if a blaze was igniting beneath his skin, attempting to incinerate him into a charred shell.

Medi’s eyes widened, and in his painful moans, as if in a hallucination, he saw flames licking their way out of his throat.

"Bologue Lazarus, I... I remember you too."

Medi stammered, "I also know your past."

"My past is not a secret."

Bologue spoke truthfully, trusting in the Order Bureau’s ability to keep secrets, while not underestimating his enemies’ intelligence-gathering capabilities. Apart from crucial personal information, everything about him, from his past experiences to his favorite food and movie genres, Bologue lived with the pretense of being open to his enemies.

Medi shouted, "Oh? And what about her?"

The unbearable burning sensation receded, and Medi secretly rejoiced, thinking he’d hit Bologue’s sore spot.

"In that respect, you and Serey are quite similar. You’ve both lost the most important person to you, found your way back, but it’s too late. Don’t you feel any guilt?"

Bologue’s view of Medi was gradually changing, losing its sharp teeth, pale skin, and blood-colored eyes. As Medi spoke, he increasingly resembled the face in Bologue’s memory that was of utmost importance...

A chilling cold bloomed from Medi’s chest, followed by an intensifying pain. Clusters of grayish-white, cold Iron Flowers blossomed from Medi’s chest, encrusted with blood and flesh fragments, hissing from the intense reaction with the metal.

"How could you...?"

The familiar face vanished, reverting to Medi’s sickly visage. He looked at Bologue in disbelief, unable to comprehend why Bologue remained so decisive, considering Serey had seemed to almost fall into the trap.

Medi guessed, "You really are a cold-blooded person, aren’t you?"

"No, it has nothing to do with being cold-blooded. Serey and I might be similar in some ways, but we’re also vastly different. I learned from past experiences and completely transformed myself, while Serey remained stuck in place."

Bologue meticulously commanded the Iron Flowers as they spun slowly, like layers of overlapping blades, slowly and cruelly slicing Medi’s flesh into pieces.

"And another thing, she’s dead. Dead is dead, she won’t return to this world. Anyone acting in her name now is merely an enemy desecrating the dead."

Bologue commanded the blood in the container, pouring it onto Medi, healing his body at high speed while brutally torturing his form.

"Is this your Secret Energy?"

Bologue asked curiously, "By understanding others’ pasts and using words to aid you, slowly breaking through others’ minds, your Secret Energy takes effect too slowly in terms of damage, but for gathering intelligence, your Secret Energy almost allows you to act undetected."

This time, Medi was truly shocked, "You can’t hide anything from you, can you?"

"Under usual circumstances, I wouldn’t detect it..."

Bologue’s eyes gleamed with a slight light, and in the next moment, the complex Alchemy Matrix projected itself on Medi’s skin.

The mutation brought Medi a terror far exceeding the physical torment, for if the torment was merely a physical sensation, the Alchemy Matrix’s change was entirely born of the fear of the unknown.

"What’s happening?"

Medi couldn’t understand. Although he hadn’t fully activated the Alchemy Matrix, it was not only operating on its own but also displaying the Initial Activation Phenomenon.