Endless Debt Chapter 663 - 174 Resilience

The storm came from the sea, driving the tides, brandishing thunder, with roaring thunderclaps echoing close by, resonating under the steel canopy of these wreckate ruins, making everyone feel as if they were under a large bell, with reverberations cutting through eardrums, injecting a vivid sense of pain into the mind.

Bologue remembered the book "Frankenstein" that Belphegor had mentioned, in which the scientific monster stitched together from corpse fragments was resurrected in just such a thunderstorm.

The heap of steel corpses was awakening, Bologue could feel it, under each thunderclap, every wreckage was growling, wanting to tell the newcomers their past legends.

Bologue’s mood inexplicably brightened, with someone else’s blood on his face, showing a strange smile, his voice laced with laughter.

"Is he considered your friend?" Bologue looked back and asked the Scavenger Rat, "At a time like this, you’re still bringing him along."

The Scavenger Rat endured his body’s fatigue and pain, his already misshapen body now struggling to carry the Divination Master, but fortunately, the Divination Master was very thin, and apart from some oozing pus getting on him, the Scavenger Rat found it manageable.

"Friend? Maybe," the Scavenger Rat said, "even in a sewer, healthy rats would mock those that are deformed."

The Scavenger Rat glanced at the Divination Master, the hideous face so close that anyone else would have screamed and run away, yet the Scavenger Rat didn’t hate it as much.

"There aren’t many people here who can talk to me; he’s the only one."

The Scavenger Rat was speaking to Bologue, but it was more like talking to himself, "I can’t just leave him there..."

"That’s nice."

Bologue’s next words caught the Scavenger Rat by surprise, "Everyone has their own friends."

The Scavenger Rat looked stunned at Bologue, words like that from his mouth were truly hard to believe, especially knowing that just minutes ago, he had slaughtered the crowd in front of him with those bizarre methods.

Bologue had faced the fervent crowd without a trace of fear, rather he was ecstatic, as if finally finding a reason to go on a killing spree.

He... he almost killed me.

And now this maniac killer was running, chatting, and discussing... things like friendship with him?

Following the Scavenger Rat’s instructions, Bologue kicked aside an obstructing iron plate, opening a path forward amid the tangled wreckage. He didn’t recklessly use Secret Energy, aware that this place was as complex as a labyrinth, and overusing Secret Energy would only get him exposed early to the enemy’s guns.

"Scavenger Rat, is that your name?" Bologue asked as he delved deeper, "It doesn’t sound like a name a person should have."

"A person?"

The Scavenger Rat muttered softly, seemingly amused by Bologue’s words, revealing an ugly smile.

"That indeed is not my name... I don’t have one."

The Scavenger Rat rarely talked about this to others. In this Wrecked Ship Shore, only the Divination Master knew about it, and that was because of a drunken night when the Scavenger Rat told him.

Actually, that day, the Scavenger Rat intended to get the Divination Master drunk, then cut out his organs, and rob him of all his money. But when the Scavenger Rat peeled back the Divination Master’s robes, he realized why this guy had fallen so low. Those sickly organs couldn’t fetch much money.

A strange friendship was thus born, even now the Divination Master still doesn’t know he almost died that night.

"I’ve never seen my parents."

The sound of the torrential rain became clearer, as if those countless raindrops were falling by their side.

The Scavenger Rat tried to keep pace with Bologue and continued, "I might be the product of a one-night stand, or maybe the crystallization of true love, but it doesn’t matter, when they saw my deformed body, even the most solid crystallization of love would shatter to pieces."

These are stories not even the Divination Master knows; they have always been buried in the deepest part of the Scavenger Rat’s heart, and he even wishes he could forget it all.

But in front of Bologue, that strange and violent killing maniac, the Scavenger Rat unexpectedly was able to say it without burden.

The Scavenger Rat liked Bologue’s eyes, those were eyes cold and indifferent to life, in those chilling gazes he could clearly read Bologue’s undisguised intent to kill.

Bologue wanted to kill him.

After an intense fear, the Scavenger Rat actually felt happy; in Bologue’s eyes, he wasn’t just a despicable rat, but a person, a person who could be killed.

The Scavenger Rat thought he must be crazy, to feel secretly pleased by such a thing, and because of it, to talk to Bologue about such matters.

He remembered once finding a book in a pile of garbage, its tattered pages mentioned something about Stockholm Syndrome...

"Everyone thought I wouldn’t survive, but that’s how I survived."

The Scavenger Rat said, "Humans are probably like that, a highly resilient species, living by the sea they endure the sea, living in the mountains they endure the mountains, I live in the shadows, so I become part of the shadows."

"Either life kills me, or I defeat it, it’s a simple truth."

Bologue freed up a hand to applaud the Scavenger Rat and then kicked open the rickety watertight door. He began to like this ugly guy.

"I have no name, whatever work I do, people call me by the name of the job, working in a restaurant they call me a busboy, cleaning rubbish they call me a janitor, here... I am the Scavenger Rat, the rat making a fortune off dead bodies."

Saying these words, the Scavenger Rat felt much lighter as a whole.

"You seem to know much more than others," Bologue asked, "do you understand people like me?"

Even though the Scavenger Rat had been crawling and rolling in the shadows for many years, when seeing Bologue’s miraculous Secret Energy, his reaction was still too calm.

"Know a little, mainly learned from those people," the Scavenger Rat said, "the wreckage is vast, like a huge maze, with many undiscovered secret spaces and hidden tunnels. To easier dispose of corpses, I explore here when I have time."

Bologue said, "And then you discovered those people, as well as those strange powers."

The Scavenger Rat nodded, not continuing further.

Bologue said, "When you first realized these things, you should have left, escaped, the farther the better."

"Do you think I didn’t want to?" the Scavenger Rat laughed, exposing his rotten teeth, "There’s nowhere that would take people like me, and I need money, lots and lots of money."

"Greed for wealth?"

Bologue thought the Scavenger Rat had come to the wrong place, if he had been born at the Wanderer’s Crossroad, the Tyrant might have had another capable subordinate.

"No, what I want is rebirth!"

When mentioning this, the Scavenger Rat’s voice rose, and at the same time, the rolling thunder sounded, the massive wreckage formed a metal resonating chamber, sound waves rampaged, and iron debris flew all over.

"I want to save up enough money, then go to Oubos," the Scavenger Rat excitedly expressed his wish, "it’s said they have the most advanced medical technology there, they’ll correct my spine, I’ll stand tall with my head held high, I’ll shake off this damned fate and usher in a new life."

Bologue still had an excited look on his face, but his voice had become much colder, "Are you telling me a story to ask me to spare you?"

The Scavenger Rat’s heated heart cooled with it, he hesitated for a moment and then shook his head.

"No," the Scavenger Rat said, "I just hope someone knows my story, even if I have no name."

Bologue didn’t respond to the Scavenger Rat’s words, an icy iron wall entered his view, with many welding marks on it, deliberately thickened to act as a barrier against external prying.

The potential enemies were gathered behind this barrier; Bologue placed his hand on the iron wall, feeling as if he were opening a blind box.

The enemies behind the iron wall might have already left this place, engaging in battle with Lebius, or they could be hiding here, and if he opened just the iron wall, thousands of rats might swarm at him, climb all over his body, and gnaw away his flesh.

He might also encounter Hert, as Lebius had told him, the other was a Negative Power User, and his odds of winning were not high...

The Scavenger Rat tried to enhance his own value, "I know a secret passage."

"No need."

The Scavenger Rat knew of Bologue’s monstrous strength, yet he didn’t think Bologue could easily break open this iron wall as before; he wanted to persuade him further, but then something beyond his imagination happened.

Azure flames burned unrestrained, engulfing the surrounding metal in an instant, complex patterns emerged upon it, like totems from ancient times.

The incredibly sturdy metal became as soft as silk in Bologue’s hands, and he parted it as if splitting molten iron, easily opening up a path.

The putrid stench of blood rushed forth from the darkness ahead, and Bologue gripped his twin swords, his eyes showing bright golden rings.