–+–
Nicole’s voice cut through the crowd’s gawking.
“We’re short on time. We need to move before the other Hollow raiders do! Operation meeting starts now!”
She waved one hand.
“Anby! Explain the plan!”
Anby nodded, stepped forward, and spread the rolled-up map in her hands across the hood of the car.
“Everyone, please look at this map of New Eridu.”
A detailed city map lay open before them, marked with several red circles and a few arrows.
“Our plan is as follows: enter Cretan Hollow, defeat the superior mutated Ethereal Dullahan, and take back the safe.”
After she finished, she looked up at everyone.
The air stayed silent for three seconds.
“And then?” Belle blinked, waiting for the rest.
“There is no then,” Anby replied calmly.
“Uh,” Wise said, pointing at the open map, “was there any special reason to spread out this New Eridu map?”
“Nicole said we needed to look professional,” Anby said with a blank face.
“We can’t let our partners look down on us. Otherwise, it’ll be hard to haggle after the job is done—mmph mmph mmph!”
Nicole reacted fast and clapped a hand over Anby’s mouth.
“Why are you saying the extra part again?!” She whipped her head around.
“Billy, why weren’t you watching her?”
“That’s not on me, boss Nicole!” Billy spread his hands with an innocent look.
“I didn’t know Anby’s professional meeting was gonna be like this… Ah! No wonder she watched a bunch of police procedural meeting scenes before we gathered!”
Sandrone stared at the whole farce with no expression.
She was starting to feel like agreeing earlier might’ve been a little rash.
Columbina, on the other hand, watched with great interest.
It was quite lively.
Belle’s expression turned rather subtle.
“Um…” Belle sighed and looked at Nicole with a helpless face.
“Nicole, after everything we talked about yesterday, you’re still planning to haggle?”
Nicole let go of Anby, coughed twice in embarrassment, then straightened her collar as if trying to win back a shred of dignity.
“It’s all so the commission can go smoothly, okay?” she said, full of confidence.
“Last night, I paid extra to make my friend work overtime and confirm the general Ethereal situation near the safe.”
“Oh?” Belle raised an eyebrow.
“How much money did you waste? And how did it go?”
At that, Nicole glanced at Sandrone and Pulonia beside her, then puffed out her chest with a clear look of, I got my money’s worth.
“Just like Anby said earlier. We beat the superior mutated Ethereal Dullahan and take back the safe!”
Wise nodded.
“Looks like we can’t avoid a fight if we want to get the safe back. Still, it’s good to know the enemy ahead of time.”
Nicole swept her hand toward the Hollow, her momentum soaring.
“Exactly! Whether it’s the Cunning Hares or our special consultant team, we now have only one goal! Move out!”
“Um… boss Nicole, there’s one problem…” Billy popped out from the corner and raised his hand like he was reporting in.
“But…” Billy scratched his head and pointed at Pulonia.
“Sandrone’s robot butler doesn’t look like it can fit in the car.”
“…”
Everyone looked at the huge Pulonia and fell silent for a moment.
–+–
Twenty minutes later.
A somewhat run-down truck stopped in front of them.
The body had patches of rust, but the cargo bed was big enough to hold Pulonia and the rest of them.
“Done!” Nicole hopped down from the driver’s seat and clapped her hands.
“Billy borrowed it from the repair shop owner. It looks beat up, sure, but it runs!”
Billy looked innocent.
“The boss said if we borrow it again, he’s gonna charge us a deposit…”
“Enough, enough. We’ll talk about details like that later!” Nicole waved a hand.
“Get in! Wise and Belle, head back to the shop first. We’ll see you in the Hollow!”
“We’ll leave Eous in your care,” Wise said, handing Eous from his arms to Columbina.
After giving that reminder, he pulled Belle back toward the shop.
Sandrone glanced at Pulonia, then jerked her chin toward the cargo bed.
Pulonia nodded, braced one hand against the edge of the truck bed, and leapt in with ease.
It landed inside without a wobble.
The truck shook twice, but somehow held firm.
“Wow,” Billy said with a whistle.
Columbina held Sandrone’s hand and climbed into the cargo bed with light steps.
She found a comfortable spot and sat down against Pulonia’s thick mechanical leg.
Anby and Billy squeezed into the other side of the cargo bed, each holding their own weapon.
“Everyone sit tight! We’re moving out!” Nicole started the truck.
The worn-out truck let out a roar and rattled its way out of Sixth Street.
–+–
At the entrance to Cretan Hollow.
In front of the warped curtain of light that shimmered with a colorful black sheen, the group got out of the truck, checked their gear, and stepped into the Hollow for real.
“All right! We’ve entered the Hollow!”
Nicole took a deep breath of the not-so-fresh air inside the Hollow, as if she could smell money on it.
She clapped her hands and turned her eager gaze toward Columbina behind her.
“Dear Miss Columbina~ I’ll leave the rest to you! Just like a few days ago, wiggle your fingers and clear out everyone blocking the road!”
But Columbina only stood behind Sandrone and shook her head.
“Nope.” Her tone was light.
“I won’t be joining the fight this time.”
“W-what?!” Nicole’s smile froze on her face.
“Didn’t we agree you’d be the special consultant?!”
“But I’m only in charge of cheering. Sandrone and Pulonia are the main force this time.”
Nicole’s gaze fell on Pulonia.
The tall robot stood there in silence.
Its metal shell gleamed coldly in the dim light of the Hollow.
It had a massive frame and looked… to be fair, like it could fight.
Even so, Nicole still felt a little uneasy.
She turned to Sandrone, clasped her hands together, and switched into pleading mode at once, her eyes shining with tears.
“Sandrone! Then I’m counting on you! You have to help me get my safe back! This is the request of my lifetime!”
Sandrone looked at her.
“Hmph.”
She crossed her arms.
Her voice was flat, yet carried a trace of confidence she couldn’t quite hide.
“Don’t look down on my Pulonia.”
Maybe because Pulonia’s reconstruction was complete, the confidence of someone who had everything under control had returned to her.
Sandrone looked far more sure of herself than she had over the past few days.
“Move out.” With a wave of her hand, Pulonia stepped forward with heavy, rumbling strides and took the lead at the front of the group.
Nicole felt a little relieved at that.
–+–
It didn’t take long for the first wave of trouble to arrive.
A pack of wandering lower Ethereals roared as they rushed out from the shadows of the ruins.
There were quite a few of them.
“Here they come!” Billy raised his guns and was just about to aim—
Pulonia moved.
No one saw how such a huge machine burst out with that kind of speed.
The engine on its back let out a sharp whine, and it charged forward like a heavy tank gone out of control.
There was only a dull crash, and the Ethereal at the very front had already been sent flying.
It slammed into the wall and shattered into a mess of scraps.
The second one.
The third.
Pulonia’s movements were so clean they were almost brutal.
A punch, a kick, an elbow strike.
No fancy moves.
Just the pure beauty of violence.
Every strike landed with crisp force, crushing everything through sheer power.
In less than a minute, only fading ether particles remained on the ground.
Pulonia came to a stop.
A vent on its body released a puff of white steam, and it turned back to look at Sandrone as if waiting for its next order.
Sandrone nodded with satisfaction.
“Keep moving.”