Fu Hua still kept her hands behind her back, quietly concealing the last trace of the faint Honkai Energy lingering between her fingers, and the remaining warmth on her fingertips completely dissipated.
(The system, secretly collecting the drifting Honkai Energy: “What the hell are you doing!”)
Long before recognizing the identities of the two people in front of her, Fu Hua’s peripheral vision had already captured increasingly clear footsteps coming from the other end of the square, rapidly approaching this side.
Obviously, apart from Miyabi and little Soukaku, the remaining members of Hollow Special Operations Section 6 were also arriving one after another.
The first to step into the venue was a woman dressed in a crisp, standard uniform, her soft long pink hair neatly tied back and securely fixed with a plain hair ribbon.
She held a polearm, her entrance light and decisive without any superfluous sound.
After entering, she did not rush to look at everyone, but instead calmly scanned the ground littered with aether crystal fragments that had not yet completely dissipated.
After confirming there were no residual threats around, she slowly turned her gaze toward Miyabi.
“It feels like the Chief’s strength has improved again~”
Her voice was gentle and tolerant; this was Tsukishiro Yanagi, the Deputy Chief and intelligence officer of Hollow Special Operations Section 6.
She was the reliable elder figure in the team, and also the rigorous and strict “administrator” in the eyes of the members.
The vast majority of practical affairs and overall coordination work within the team were handled by her single-handedly.
Walking in right behind Tsukishiro Yanagi was a young man.
With one hand casually shoved into his pocket, his pace was lazy and casual, as if he had just been forcefully dragged out from a dream.
He cast a perfunctory glance at Fu Hua, lowered his head to look at the scattered crystal fragments on the ground, and let out a lazy yawn.
“Chief, you acted way too fast.
Running so eagerly in the next operation, at least take me along!
I didn’t even have time to take out my bow.”
The newcomer was Asaba Yuma, whose figure was half a head taller than Fu Hua’s.
Although his standing posture was casual and lazy, his footsteps landed silently without a shred of dragging.
Deep inside those seemingly lazy eyes hid a trace of hard-to-detect sharpness, by no means as perfunctory as it appeared on the surface.
“Your speed is too slow, your training is still not enough.”
Miyabi spoke faintly, giving a straightforward response, her tone remaining as calm and rippleness as ever.
“Yes, yes, yes.” Asaba Yuma lazily stretched, his tone casual and carrying a hint of banter, glancing sideways at Miyabi and joking,
“Anyway, thanks to our dear Chief acting fast, this young lady is safe and sound, so this matter is settled, right?”
Fu Hua’s lips parted slightly, and before she could respond vocally, Tsukishiro Yanagi had already neatly sheathed her blade and stepped forward with steady strides.
Her posture was upright and proper, with a well-measured gentle smile on her face, but her fingers holding the portable terminal tightened slightly.
Although her tone was cultured and refined, between the lines it exuded the subtle scrutiny and vigilance unique to an intelligence officer, with her fingertips hovering above the terminal screen, ready to input information at any time.
“Please inform me of your name.
I need to do a basic information registration for the witness, to facilitate the subsequent organization of the official investigation record.”
“Fu Hua, currently a video store clerk, and at the same time preparing to become a private detective.” Fu Hua’s voice was calm, her tone resolute, without the slightest bit of dodging.
“At that time, because I noticed the Ethereals approaching the Public Security Bureau’s temporary gathering place, I took the initiative to lure them away.
I didn’t expect this passage to be a dead end.
Once again, thank you all for the timely rescue.”
Fu Hua always stood straight, her expression calm and composed, her tone serious and steady, completely devoid of the panic or heart palpitations of someone who had just escaped from being surrounded by dozens of Ethereals.
Even her breathing remained steady, as if the person who had just faced a life-or-death situation head-on was simply not her.
Tsukishiro Yanagi’s gaze lingered on Fu Hua’s face for a brief moment, her sight imperceptibly sweeping across her calm and rippleness eyes and her completely unpanicked expression, and then quickly glancing over the hand she hadn’t put down behind her back, with a trace of scrutiny and doubt flashing rapidly deep in her eyes.
“A private detective?
Miss Fu Hua, you alone lured away such a huge group of Ethereals, willingly risking your life to protect the gathering place.
This courage is truly admirable.” Tsukishiro Yanagi praised with a sincere tone, but her terminal input movement paused for half a second.
Hidden within her seemingly casual words was a secret consideration of Fu Hua’s extraordinary calmness.
The gentle smile on Tsukishiro Yanagi’s face had not faded, but the scrutiny in her eyes became more and more meticulous.
Her fingertips gently rubbed the edge of the portable terminal, and hidden within the seemingly casual follow-up questions were layers upon layers of identity probes.
“Miss Fu Hua, this area has long penetrated deep into the Hollow’s hinterland, far beyond the activity range of ordinary citizens.
You are just a video store clerk; why could you accurately predict the movement route of the Ethereals and maneuver among the dense Ethereal group for so long?”
Her gaze quietly swept across Fu Hua’s entire body.
Although the young girl’s clothes were stained with some dust, there was not a trace of damage from fighting with Ethereals.
Facing the life-or-death peril just now, even her breathing had always remained steady.
This extraordinary calmness and martial prowess could by no means be possessed by an ordinary clerk.
As the intelligence officer of Hollow Special Operations Section 6, Tsukishiro Yanagi had long placed layers of question marks in her heart, yet on the surface she still maintained a proper professional attitude, patiently waiting for Fu Hua’s response.
Fu Hua’s expression remained open and nonchalant, her gaze meeting her scrutiny calmly, her tone steady and rippleness, and every single answer was watertight.
“Since I was a child, I often followed adults to practice martial arts, so I have decent physical fitness.”
“Just now, when I found that the Ethereals were heading straight for the gathering place, I only wanted to lure them away as soon as possible to avoid hurting innocent people.
I was just relying on relatively good physical fitness and good luck without encountering obstacles to hold out until you all arrived.
When all is said and done, it was just sheer luck.”
Fu Hua’s tone was serious and sincere, without the slightest bit of dodging in her eyes.
She both confessed her original intention of stepping forward and cleverly avoided doubts about her own special abilities.
Her upright and open behavior and speech fell entirely into Tsukishiro Yanagi’s eyes.
After several probes failed to uncover more flaws, Fu Hua timely turned from defense to offense, tossing out a question in a peaceful tone.
Her gaze swept across everyone’s neat standard equipment and professional combat postures, her tone carrying a bit of certainty.
“You warriors of Hollow Special Operations Section 6, venturing deep into this uninhabited dead-end area today, must have an exclusive special mission on your hands, right?
Is there something wrong with this Hollow?”
As soon as these words were spoken, Tsukishiro Yanagi’s expression slightly tightened instantly, and her originally gentle tone gained a bit of professional alienation, subconsciously closing the portable terminal and tightening her fingertips slightly.
“Sorry, our operation involves special secrets and is inconvenient to disclose to irrelevant personnel.”
Her stance was very clear.
The mission of Hollow Special Operations Section 6 involved core security hazards of the Hollows, and rashly informing a stranger could very well bring unknown risks.
Even if Fu Hua seemed to have no malicious intent, she was unwilling to easily relent and take that risk.
Beside them, Miyabi had been quietly standing, saying no more throughout the entire process, except that the fox ears on top of her head constantly twitched slightly, capturing all the breaths around.
At this moment, her ear tips, which had originally been upright, tense, and carrying caution, slowly drooped down, shedding their guard and turning relaxed instead.
She raised her eyes to look at Fu Hua, her crimson pupils clear and bright, and spoke slowly with that soft voice carrying a bit of natural airheadedness, yet her tone was exceptionally resolute.
“You have no malicious intent.”
As a Void Hunter, Miyabi’s perception of breath, emotions, and good and evil far surpassed ordinary people.
She could clearly distinguish that Fu Hua’s body did not have a shred of turbid Honkai Energy breath from Ethereals, nor did she have half a point of hostile aura or scheming towards enemies.
Even when chatting up to now, there was only the pure intention of protecting others.
This super-keen perception had always been without deviation (she thought to herself!).
Hearing this, Tsukishiro Yanagi’s brows furrowed imperceptibly, and she immediately fell into silent, comprehensive consideration.
After weighing the pros and cons repeatedly and confirming there was no danger, the vigilance in Tsukishiro Yanagi’s eyes dissipated a lot, the tense and rigorous aura around her body also eased, and she finally relented.
“In that case, I will briefly explain the situation to you.”
Yanagi slowed down her tone, lowering her voice a bit.
“Miss Fu Hua,” Yanagi put away her terminal, her voice cultured, “We entered this Hollow this time precisely because we monitored an abnormal increase in internal aether energy values.
The aether concentration within the Hollow suddenly presented non-natural peak fluctuations in the past few hours, and the activity frequency of Ethereals in the surrounding area of the Hollow has also multiplied accordingly.
We need to confirm the cause, and whether similar chain reactions will occur in the future.”
Fu Hua’s eyes lit up slightly, raising her hand to gently push the monocle on the bridge of her nose.
Her tone remained warm and soft, but her speech speed quietly accelerated a bit, making it hard to hide a trace of care deep in her eyes.
“You are also here to investigate the aether energy anomaly?
Then I happen to know a piece of critical intelligence.”
As soon as these words were said, the crowd of Hollow Special Operations Section 6 instantly restrained their casual postures, all pulling themselves together with twelve-point spirit, and their gazes all fell on Fu Hua.
“Please tell us in detail.”
Tsukishiro Yanagi’s expression turned stern, her tone solemn.
Fu Hua solemnly nodded, her expression calm and serious, pretending to concentrate and recall, slowly uttering word by word the truth found out by the system:
“A few days ago, commissioned by someone, I explored an abandoned factory.
It was stockpiled with a huge amount of aether energy materials, stored in an extremely dangerous manner, and multiple facilities had serious regulatory problems.
And that factory happens to be right within the coverage range of this Hollow at this moment.”
She pondered slightly and continued to analyze,
“And the reason why this Hollow has an aether energy anomaly and an abnormally sharp increase in the gathering speed of Ethereals is very likely because the Hollow erosion affected the factory’s aether storage room, triggering energy overload and leakage.”
“However, the pipelines outside the storage room have traces of human rule-breaking modification in multiple places.
The true cause of the anomaly outbreak can only be determined by going to the scene for an on-site survey.”
Speaking of this, Fu Hua looked at everyone with sincere eyes and actively proposed an invitation,
“If you all don’t mind, I can go investigate with you.
I am preparing to become a private detective, good at investigating traces and sorting out clues, and should be able to help with this matter.”
Tsukishiro Yanagi raised her eyes to look at Fu Hua.
In those pink eyes there was no questioning, only a serious evaluation of the rationality of this proposal.
It might not seem tempting right now but who knows what the future holds?
“And If you’re enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!”