“I’m going to drive fast.
If you don’t want to get thrown off, hold on to my waist.”
Nicole’s voice reached Cael through the rushing wind.
“Got it!”
Cael immediately wrapped his arms around her waist.
Nicole’s body stiffened slightly, then quickly relaxed.
She twisted the throttle harder, and with a roar of the engine, the motorcycle shot forward, kicking up a trail of dust.
The only thing Cael could hear was the wind howling past his ears.
It hit him so hard that he could barely keep his eyes open, and even breathing became difficult.
He had no choice but to lower himself slightly and press closer to Nicole’s back.
A faint scent of perfume lingered around him, mixed with the metallic smell of blood.
Only then did Cael notice a wound more than ten centimeters long across Nicole’s back.
It looked as though something rough and sharp had scraped across her with brute force, leaving a faint trail of blood soaking into her clothes.
Several minutes later, Nicole drove out of the urban district and into the outskirts.
A massive Hollow could be seen in the distance, its surface surrounded by countless streams of shifting multicolored light.
This area had originally been an upscale residential district.
It wasn’t far from the city, the land prices had been reasonable, and the environment was pleasant, making it a popular place to live among many New Eridu municipal officials.
Then, one month ago, a Hollow disaster erupted here.
The entire residential complex was swallowed.
More than a hundred people were killed or injured, and a number of important documents were left behind inside the Hollow.
The municipal government had been short on manpower and hadn’t been able to send anyone to deal with it for quite some time, so they had resorted to issuing commissions to recover the important materials.
But the Hollow’s activity had remained high, and it had continued expanding for a while.
No one dared accept the commission.
Until the Cunning Hares did.
Half an hour later, Nicole abruptly brought the motorcycle to a stop.
“We’re here.”
Only then did Cael release his tight grip around her waist.
His head felt completely scrambled from the wind.
After getting off the motorcycle, he shook his head hard a few times before finally recovering.
They were already close to the edge of the Hollow.
Not far away, a humanoid intelligent construct wearing a red jacket was pacing back and forth.
At the sound of the motorcycle, he immediately looked up.
Billy.
Another member of the Cunning Hares.
“Boss Nicole!
You’re finally here!”
Billy hurried over in just a few long strides.
“Hello, Billy.”
Wise’s voice came from Eous.
“Oh, Manager!
You’re here too?
Great!
Anby’s definitely getting out now!”
Billy eagerly picked Eous up in both hands.
“All right, Billy, put me down,” Eous said while wriggling his round body.
“Oh, right!”
Billy set Eous back down, then looked toward Cael.
“Boss Nicole, who’s this guy…?”
“He works at the video store.
He’s helping us this time.”
Nicole removed her helmet, parked the motorcycle securely, and shook out her hair.
“Hey there!
Name’s Billy Kid.
Just call me Billy.”
“Nice to meet you, Billy.
I’m Cael Veyne.”
After the brief introductions, they began preparing to enter the Hollow.
Calling it preparation was somewhat generous.
They checked the HDD connection and made sure Nicole and Billy had enough weapons and ammunition.
Once everything was ready, the three of them and one Bangboo stepped into the Hollow.
A wave-like sensation of weightlessness and pressure washed over them.
Then they were fully inside.
Cael looked around.
They were standing on the balcony of a two-story residential building.
Within his field of perception, numerous points of light were scattered through the surrounding area.
So this was how Life-Ether Perception worked.
The green lights represented Cael and Nicole.
Living organisms.
The purple lights were Billy and Eous, which probably meant intelligent constructs.
Aside from those, there were also two red presences nearby.
One was inside an abandoned supermarket not far away.
The other was…
Directly beneath them.
An Ethereal.
“Nicole, Billy.
There’s an Ethereal downstairs.”
“What?
We run into one the moment we enter?”
Billy leaned over the edge of the balcony to check.
Sure enough, a Tyrfing was wandering below, slowly heading farther down the street.
“Looks like it hasn’t noticed us,” Nicole whispered.
“I’m analyzing the Hollow’s route data.
It’ll take a little time,” Wise’s voice came through Eous.
“But I don’t know exactly where Anby is, so we need some way to locate her.
“She brought her phone, right?
I’ll try calling it and see whether I can track the signal.”
Several seconds passed.
“No good…
The Ether fluctuations inside this Hollow are too chaotic.
Even the HDD can’t bypass all the interference and locate Anby’s phone signal.”
They waited until the Tyrfing had moved farther away before jumping down from the building.
Then they followed Eous through the residential complex.
Following Eous minimized the risk of getting lost inside the Hollow, while Belle and Wise, back at Random Play on Sixth Street, continued trying to locate Anby’s phone.
But the chaotic Ether currents made it impossible to determine the source of the signal.
“Wait.”
After rounding a corner, Cael suddenly stopped.
His gaze shifted toward a distant building.
“Anby…
might be in there.”
Cael pointed toward the sixth floor.
In his perception, a faint green point of light was visible there.
There was also a red presence on the first floor.
Nicole and Billy exchanged a glance.
Then Nicole asked, “Are you sure, Cael?”
“I’m not sure it’s Anby, but there’s definitely someone up there.
And there’s an Ethereal on the first floor.”
“All right.
Let’s check.”
The building was roughly two hundred meters away.
Neither Nicole nor Billy knew how Cael could possibly tell there was a person on the sixth floor and an Ethereal on the first from that distance.
But right now, there was no time to question it.
They carefully approached the building.
Sure enough, they found a Tyrfing resting on the first floor.
It was blocking the staircase leading upward.
“Found it!
Anby’s phone signal is inside this building.”
Once they were around a hundred meters away, Belle and Wise finally managed to locate her phone.
Exactly where Cael had said.
Billy drew both of his guns, his voice lowering dramatically.
“Looks like battle is unavoidable!
Boss Nicole, Manager, Cael—you guys head upstairs.
Leave this Ethereal to me.”
Cael examined the Tyrfing, then looked at Billy.
Billy was Level 41.
The Tyrfing was Level 19.
[Aberration Traits]: [Evolution] [Gigantification] [Splitting]
[Splitting]: After the Ethereal individual dies, it splits into two identical individuals.
Can split a maximum of two times.
That was an extremely dangerous Trait.
One Ethereal could become four.
Just thinking about it was terrifying.
“Billy, this Ethereal might split after it dies.
Just disable it.
Whatever you do, don’t kill it completely.”
“…No problem!”
Billy clearly wanted to ask how Cael knew that.
But every second mattered right now.
There was no time.
While Billy drew the Tyrfing’s attention, Nicole, Cael, and Eous rushed upstairs.
As they climbed, both Cael and Nicole noticed fresh drops of blood scattered along the steps.
Obviously, it belonged to Anby.
Nicole clenched her teeth.
She didn’t say anything.
She simply moved faster.
It really helps the fic grow!