The sun sets in the west, Aimou stands in the Order Bureau's parking lot. After a fierce interaction with Belli, Belli finally recommends that Aimou wear her usual ordinary clothes.

"No, no," Belli picks up a piece of clothing, pretending to blush, "These clothes are a bit too ahead of their time for a child."

Considering the previous dress-up was purely for Belli's amusement, Aimou doesn't have the time to waste. She carefully tidies herself up and heads to the parking lot, waiting for that familiar blue car.

Perhaps due to Belli's words, Aimou feels a change in her mood and becomes a little nervous, sometimes adjusting her hem, sometimes fiddling with her hair.

She felt like an Alchemy Armament about to undergo a test, going through one last round of tight adjustments before the test begins.

She sniffed the air, a faint fragrance wafted around, a scent Belli had prepared for Aimou before departure.

"Honestly, I think Bologue would prefer this scent."

Belli pulls out a compressed container from somewhere, which doesn't seem like a proper perfume at all.

Aimou picked up the compressed container, and the label "Special Universal Potion" caught her eye.

Special Universal Potion produced by Sublimation Furnace Core, able to address all sorts of mechanical issues like rust removal, rust prevention, lubrication... In the Sublimation Furnace Core, it's a standard item to have, even Aimou keeps a few for maintaining her Steel Body.

Due to its practicality, Alchemists really like the thing, and its strong pungent smell certainly makes it memorable.

Aimou resisted a chuckle, "Maybe Bologue would truly like this."

Belli brightly recommended, "Right, right."

"But never mind! It's time after work, don't exude a scent that reminds people of working!"

Aimou firmly vetoed it.

Returning to the present moment, Bologue didn't make Aimou wait long. The blue car appeared in view, accompanied by the low growl of the engine, stopping right in front of Aimou.

The car window on the driver's side rolled down, revealing Bologue gripping the steering wheel. They nodded in acknowledgment, and Aimou walked around to the other side, getting into the passenger seat.

At the moment, Aimou was unaware of the changed circumstances.

Buckling up the seatbelt, thinking about what's next, Aimou felt extremely happy, completely forgetting to ask about Bologue's rarely seen experience of sitting in the driver's seat.

The car turn onto the street, the interior unexpectedly quiet, Bologue didn't ask Aimou about work as usual but rather looked straight ahead, silent, while Aimou's mind was a mess from the previous conversation with Belli, unsure what to say.

Duel, it's all about seizing the initiative.

Aimou took a deep breath, various sentences rolled through her mind, and she took the lead to speak.

"We..."

"So..."

Both spoke in unison, the atmosphere became awkward, Aimou quickly followed up.

"You first..."

"You go ahead..."

They froze, completely froze.

Bologue sighed, even though he's a man of steel, after experiencing so much in these few days, now heading to an appointment, it inevitably dulled his sharp thoughts.

Aimou tried to take control of the topic, "So... where are we going next?"

"Well, I have a new idea," Bologue hesitated, "but it's... um... more of a private activity."

"Are we doing it together?"

Aimou was puzzled by Bologue's confusing words. Instantaneously, her mind retrieved hundreds of similar conversational scenarios, various plotlines rapidly playing out...

Her hand rested on the door handle as if preparing to jump out, but reason prevailed over instinct, and she asked, "Where to?"

"My place."

"Huh?"

To relieve the awkwardness, Bologue mimicked what Serey had once said, "I have a cat at home that does backflips, want to see it?"

Aimou was silent for a moment, even though her face was expressionless, the progress bar in her eyes was scrolling at an incredibly fast speed.

"The tiger cub is not found without entering the tiger's den."

Aimou answered with a bold voice, "Sure!"

Upon hearing this, Bologue breathed a sigh of relief, when suddenly a voice emerged from the back seat.

"I told you she would agree, no one can refuse a party hosted by Palmer!"

Aimou sharply looked up to find the rearview mirror filled to the brim. Eyes shifted to the back seat, where Palmer sat in the middle, on the right was the furry Hart, on the left was the tall skeletal frame of Bode, holding Wei'Er in his arms.

"Woohoo!"

Palmer twisted the party popper, sending a shower of sparkling fragments throughout the carriage. Behind Aimou, Bode pulled out a garland, like celebrating Aimou's birthday, and placed it on her head.

"Wait... wait a moment."

Aimou's mind froze, just as Wei'Er crawled over from the back, snuggling into Aimou's arms.

"I can flip one for you right now."

With that, Wei'Er did five consecutive backflips in Aimou's arms, her fluffy tail brushing against Aimou's face five times.

At the corner of her vision, Aimou glanced at Bologue. Not surprisingly, he looked like a true professional; even in such a situation, Bologue remained serious, his hands steadily gripping the steering wheel.

A few hours ago, after an inexplicably strange conversation with Lebius, Bologue and Palmer had essentially taken a break, sitting on the couch discussing what to do in the afternoon.

Suddenly, Bologue said, "By the way, Aimou asked me to go out tonight."

"Oh."

Palmer's reaction was quite indifferent; he had just woken up.

"I think Aimou might be feeling lonely at the Order Bureau," Bologue worried, "She doesn't know many people, and doesn't have many friends..."

Bologue understood Aimou's feelings. At first, Bologue had been alone too, for a long time thinking he couldn't make any friends. Luckily, Bologue didn't care too much about that; the number of friends didn't interfere with his ability to smash enemy's heads.

But unknowingly, Bologue gradually connected with many people, and his daily life became more varied, filled with randomness. Tonight he might go to the movies with someone; tomorrow night, he might chat idly at a bar.

The world is vast, so vast that some people never fully traverse it in their lifetime. Now Aimou had arrived in this world but seemed at odds with it.

The world was right before her, yet she was unable to step into it.

Bologue always felt a sense of responsibility for Aimou. He had rescued her from despair and suggested she join the Special Operations Group. He felt he should be responsible for Aimou until she could stand alone.

"Why not throw a party for her?" Palmer proposed, "The members of the Undying Club are experts at this."

Bologue didn't refuse. He wanted to share his friends with Aimou, so she could shed some of her alienation in this vast world and establish closer connections.

Most importantly, whenever he saw Aimou, Bologue felt he was seeing himself from a certain period in the past.

Back then, he was alone, no one to save him, and experiencing such sorrow once was enough. Bologue chose to extend his hand, as if this could transcend time, to save himself back then, bringing a bit of peace to his present self.

"Don't be nervous; everyone here is nice!"

Palmer leaned forward from the back seat, speaking to Aimou while searching for something.

Aimou was completely dazed. She had seen these people before but wasn't very familiar with them.

Several pairs of eyes met hers. Bode gave Aimou a thumbs-up, his well-maintained bones gleaming smoothly. He had taken good care of his skeletal frame.

Hart seemed a bit awkward but quickly mimicked Bode's gesture, also giving Aimou a thumbs-up.

"Ha! Found it!"

Palmer pulled out a cassette tape, inserted it into the car radio, and turned up the volume.

"What is love?"

The music mixed with a male voice instantly engulfed Aimou.

"Baby, don't hurt me!"

Aimou felt she was at a joyful dance party, though the venue felt somewhat too cramped.

Palmer started nodding his head on his own. Seeing Bode and Hart were unmoved, he nudged them with his elbow. Reluctantly, they began nodding along in sync.

"What is love?"

Seeing Bologue still grim-faced, Palmer patted him, "Hey! Stop pretending to be dead."

Bologue resolutely stared ahead, yet Palmer continued shouting in his ear, "We agreed on this!"

The relentless melody persisted. Through the rearview mirror, Hart and Bode had fully immersed themselves in the song. Although still somewhat unwilling, they eyed Bologue with the intention of dragging him into it.

Bologue kept his stern expression but started nodding his head along with them.

"What is love?"

The four synchronized their head movements, causing even the car to sway along. Aimou thought if there were colored lights, they would be flashing too.

Aimou sank into her seat, somewhat dazed. Belli was right; to them, this wasn't really a duel but more a crazy dance party.

Her gaze swept to the rearview mirror, seeing Palmer nodding while looking at her. Aimou understood his meaning; these lunatics were inviting her to join the dance party too.

Aimou took a deep breath, abandoned her thoughts, and joined the craziness, humming along with the song.

"What is love?"

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