As night falls, the festivities continue unabated inside the Undying Club, where these undead revel without end... at least for the time being.

"Barila~ Barila~"

Under the dazzling lights, Serey freely displays her dance on the steel pole, performing one exaggerated move after another, perfectly showcasing her muscular contours.

Such a scene, deemed a "spectacle," is something Bologue and Palmer have grown accustomed to. They completely ignore Serey's presence and chat casually.

Aimou sits beside Bologue. During her time at the Order Bureau, she has been busy learning a plethora of knowledge, leaving her little time to visit here, so the place still feels somewhat unfamiliar to her.

Bologue has also roughly figured out some of Aimou's personality. She's prone to getting carried away in front of familiar people but becomes extremely quiet in new company.

Palmer is seated next to Hart, who retains a touch of awkwardness. Yet, in the dim-witted atmosphere of the Undying Club, his embarrassment doesn't last long.

After all, Serey's performance is much more awkward.

It's clear that Serey is striving to present her graceful dancing, but unfortunately, the audience lacks the ability to appreciate such avant-garde art. Everyone avoids looking at Serey, lest their eyes be sullied.

"Besides the regular undead gatherings, it's been a while since it was this lively here."

Bode stands behind the bar, mixing drinks for several individuals while speaking.

Thanks to Bologue's membership, an increasing number of new friends have come either voluntarily or involuntarily to the Undying Club. It has even become Palmer's off-hour haunt, given the free drinks, which Palmer finds hard to resist.

During this leisurely period, Hart has been brought here by Palmer several times, so he doesn't feel out of place. However, Church, who counts this as his first visit, appears quite tense.

Church looks around warily, especially at the Night Race Lord sporting a silly grin. Despite a calm facade, every muscle is taut. Church suspects there might be something wrong with the drinks, but then Palmer beside him gulps them down.

"Relax, the folks here are all good people!" Palmer heartily pats Church's back.

Good people?

Church's eyes betray doubt. He's not well-versed in the Undying Club's details, let alone the pasts of these undead, but no matter how he thought about it, beings that transcend life and death hardly seem to match up with "good people," especially the Night Race Lord.

As a member of the Crow's Nest, Church has always handled intelligence work. Through various related documents, he's somewhat aware of Serey's existence.

Recalling those documents brings Church a deep sense of dread.

Church doesn't fully understand Serey's essence, but from those fragmented descriptions, he has already conjured a detestable image in his mind.

Now, Serey's performance demolishes the sinister depiction Church had painted in his mind. Who would have thought that the Night Race Lord, who orchestrated the Dawn War conspiracy, is now embodying this dancing figure?

Yet, unlike others, Church's professional instincts warned him never to mistake Serey's steel pole dance or even if he mimics a dog's bark, for his true nature.

Serey Villeries' essence as the Night Race Lord.

"You're so much furrier than me, how do you do it?"

"Wet it with warm water, then use plenty of conditioner."

While Church was exceedingly tense, Hart had already begun chatting with Wei'Er. Both sport a furry appearance; Wei'Er noticed Hart from his first day, and like kindred spirits, their relationship quickly warmed.

Thanks to Wei'Er's hospitality, Hart quickly blended into the Undying Club's ambiance. But not long after blending in, he realized that apart from hosting undead, this place isn't much different from any other bar.

Bologue chatted with Aimou about recent work, while Palmer animatedly interacted with Church.

"Hey hehe, good brother, what a surprise, I've become a Prayer Believer!" Palmer beams a cheeky grin at Church.

Church remains expressionless, "That surely is unexpected... I always thought you'd end up dead out there due to bad luck."

"Do I need to reiterate my Blessing? It's not only about misfortune; there's a hint of luck on my side too." Palmer emphasized.

"Are you serious?"

Church gave Palmer an eye-roll. From Church's perspective, Palmer seems perpetually unlucky, and his life appears infinitely arduous.

Everyone continued their respective conversations, like any other day, as if celebrating Palmer's ascension to Prayer Believer had already become a thing of the past.

Perhaps intoxicated by alcohol, Palmer hadn't realized this fact. He hugged both Hart and Church alternately, waving at Bologue occasionally.

Sometimes Bologue envied Palmer, who seemed tireless and perpetually vigorous, akin to a lively pup.

The joyous scene persisted a while longer until Hart sighed, steering the gathering towards a complaint session.

"It's exhausting lately, I worked overtime for a week just to take one day off, only to resume work tomorrow," Hart lamented while sipping gloomily.

Bologue, attentive to the Field Operations Department, queried, "Is your Sixth Group that busy?"

"Kind of, we have to thoroughly clean inside and outside of the Great Rift. Besides those internal factors, other threats have recently closed in," Hart explained.

"Do you mean Joyful Garden?" Church interjected, meeting Hart's gaze.

"Your Crow's Nest received the news too?" Mentioning Joyful Garden, Hart's tone turned serious.

"Yes, recently our Crow's Nest has been busy gathering information, then supplying it to the Third Group. It's said the Third Group was tracking Joyful Garden from deep within the Rhine Alliance right to the Narrow Countries, yet they're always a step late."

Discussing work, Church showed a gloomy expression. It seemed this unexpected emergence of Joyful Garden had left them all deeply troubled.

Bologue silently drank his orange juice, recalling his memories.

Joyful Garden isn't unfamiliar to Bologue. He learned of this threat long ago from Geoffrey.

According to records, Joyful Garden is an extremely mysterious anomalous Void Realm, an extranormal space phenomenon similar to a Cultivation Room. However, unlike Cultivation Room, Joyful Garden's location isn't fixed, appearing randomly between cities.

Records of Joyful Garden surface from the Rhine Alliance to the Kagader Empire, be it Narrow Countries or Boundless Sea.

Regarding the internal situation of Joyful Garden, there aren't detailed records within the Order Bureau, as most who entered the Joyful Garden vanish and never return.

The intelligence the Order Bureau possessed came from the rare few who managed to return, and those guys surviving was already a miracle, let alone bringing back any intel.

Previously, Geoffrey mentioned he and Lebius handled Joyful Garden events before the secret war, yet neither deeply delved into the Joyful Garden, simply driving it away from Oubos in Oath City.

"Whenever Joyful Garden emerges, it triggers an Extraordinary Disaster. From the Third Group's assessment, despite Joyful Garden's erratic movements, its ultimate goal seems highly likely to be Oubos in Oath City. Therefore, Field Operations Department resources are inclined towards the Third Group, aiming to nip the danger in the bud."

Church sighed, "In a few days, I'll likely be incorporated into the action group to investigate Joyful Garden."

"Incorporated into the action group?" Bologue curiously asked, "I thought Crow's Nest isn't on the same sequence as the action group."

Hart explained, "Church refers to the Seventh Group, the Infiltrator. When necessary, the Seventh Group merges with Crow's Nest for external intelligence infiltration. It's akin to the cooperation between the Third Group, Wall-Breaking Blade, and the Observation Tower."

Bologue nodded, understanding his point.

Joyful Garden appears randomly across regions, and to chase it by vehicle would be exceedingly slow. Hence, the Observation Tower is aiding this operation, providing passage through various Crooked Path nodes.

Bologue recalled his first arrival at the Order Bureau, the dark space containing infinite doors. Within those infinite doors lay many belonging to the Order Bureau's continent-wide bases, each counted as a Crooked Path node, available for rapid transports through the Key of the Crooked Path when necessary.

Palmer unexpectedly showed concern, "Incorporated into the action group? Are you up for it?"

Ultimately, Crow's Nest is an intelligence group, and the Iron Whistle's Secret Energy is more functional rather than suited for direct combat like the action group.

"Should be fine, it's just investigation without engaging the frontline," Church nonchalantly replied, "Besides, I excel at finding advantages and avoiding harm."

Palmer remembered something, looking slightly dispirited while silently raising his glass, clinking softly with Church.

"All's well, then."

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