Fourteenth Street, the corner of an abandoned building
A Hollow fissure opened up on the wall, resembling a breathing purple tear.
Nicole squatted beside the fissure, gently placed Eous on the ground, and took out her phone to dial Ling’s number.
“Ling, I’ve reached the entrance.
Are you guys ready?”
Ling’s voice came from the other end of the phone.
“Right away!
Big brother is already tweaking the parameters, and I’ll link in thirty seconds.”
Fu Hua squatted on the roof of an abandoned apartment not far away, her shadow knight armor almost completely blending into the darkness of the night.
She watched as Eous’s round body suddenly shuddered slightly, and the Bangboo’s eyes lit up with blue light.
Ling’s consciousness had already linked in.
Eous stood up and stretched its short little arms.
“OK!
Leave it to us!”
It waddled over to the Hollow fissure, turned back to wave at Nicole, and dove straight in.
Seeing this, Fu Hua immediately leaped down from the roof, her toes tapping lightly against the ground as her entire figure swept past Nicole like a night breeze, flashing into the fissure the exact moment Nicole turned her head.
“Eh?
Where did this gale come from?”
The moment she entered the Hollow, aether energy surged in from all directions, and the fluorescent erosion patterns tried to crawl onto the surface of the shadow knight armor once again, only to be neutralized by a layer of pale purple light in the very next instant.
Honkai Energy slept quietly within her body, sufficient to make aether retreat without even needing to open her eyes.
The spatial structure inside the Hollow was extremely unstable; the ground was tilted, shattered chunks of concrete floated in mid-air rotating slowly, and black-green aether crystals crawled all over the walls.
The air was also permeated with the chilling aura unique to aether.
Continuing to “accompany” Phaethon.
A few minutes later, gunshots echoed from afar.
Fu Hua turned her head and sprinted toward the source of the gunshots.
Crossing a street and rounding a corner covered in aether crystals, she saw the battlefield.
Anby and Billy stood back-to-back under a half-collapsed overpass, surrounded by a dozen or so Ethereals.
Anby’s electro-blade slashed brilliant arcs through the air, while Billy fired his dual guns in rapid succession from behind her, providing fire support.
Fu Hua crouched atop a high broken wall, not making a move immediately.
Stage ready, lights ready, actors ready—the good show begins.
An elite Ethereal lunged at Billy from the side.
He was currently entangled by three intermediate Ethereals from the front, leaving him unable to spare attention, while Anby also turned and charged her energy, preparing to support.
Right at this moment, Fu Hua moved.
Her figure vanished on the spot, suddenly appearing beside that Ethereal in the next instant.
Her right fist was enveloped in Honkai Energy that shifted from purple to crimson red, and the force of the Taixuan Point-Cinnabar Fist erupted violently the moment it hit the Ethereal’s core.
“Bang!”
As the huge roaring sound echoed, that black-green body shattered like colored glass, transforming into a patch of crystalline aether energy that dissipated into the dark purple light of the Hollow.
The battlefield fell silent.
Anby and Billy stared blankly at Fu Hua, and even Eous, who had just arrived at the battlefield, widened its cute electronic eyes and stood frozen in place.
Suddenly, Billy’s mechanical eyeballs widened abruptly, their brightness several levels higher than during the battle just now.
He stared at the black form-fitting armor on Fu Hua’s body, stared at the dark purple cores on the torso, and stared at the cool beak-like mask, letting out a scream that pierced the skies.
“Oh my god!!!
This armor!!!
Black armor!!!
Armor with the texture of a bodysuit!!!
Ah!!!!
It’s so cool it’s killing me!!!”
“Such noble texture!
Such graceful lines!
Such charming cores!
And this super crucial!
Super cool rescue!!!
This is like—no!
You must be the live-action version of the starlight knight, right?!
So cool!!!”
Billy’s body twisted like a noodle right up in front of Fu Hua, stretching out his hands to tightly wrap around her body, his faceplate constantly trying to rub against Fu Hua.
“Wait…
wait a minute!”
Fu Hua was startled by this unexpected situation, stretching out her hands to arduously fend off Billy’s enthusiasm.
“You’re also a fan of the starlight knight, aren’t you?!!
Too cool!
Where did you buy this?!
Tell me!
This excellent texture…”
Billy had completely forgotten that he was still in the Hollow, forgotten that his ammo was bottoming out and his energy consumption was over half.
His mechanical eyeballs flickered wildly, his voice carrying the fanaticism of a fan meeting a kindred spirit: “Which installment’s design is this armor from?
How come I’ve never seen it!
Is it a limited edition?
Is it from a spin-off?
Or a new work preview?
Can you let me take a close look—”
“Billy,” Anby’s voice came from beside them, still calm, “we are in the Hollow.”
“I know!
Anby, look at this armor!!
Did you see it!
Exquisite and concise!”
Anby glanced at Fu Hua, then nodded seriously.
“Saw it, black, very cool, like that shadow armor in “Hollow Chronicles”.
Alright, Billy, col—”
“How can “Hollow Chronicles” compare to this cool set!
The armor design in that installment was way too exaggerated!”
Billy excitedly interrupted Anby.
“This set is obviously closer to the concept art of “starlight knight: Final Chapter”!
Look at the core layout on the waist, and the treatment of the shoulder guards; this minimalist and sharp style is definitely—”
“The third installment of “Hollow Chronicles” also has a similar design,” Anby seriously rebutted, “the one the protagonist obtained deep inside the Hollow.”
“Wrong!
That set is dark blue!
This set is pure black!”
“Billy!”
“Color is not important.
What’s important is the aura.”
“Billy!!!
Wait, aren’t you guys concerned about who she is?!!”
“Color is very important!”
Fu Hua stood in place, watching the three people making a mess in front of her, arguing solemnly inside the Hollow, surrounded by Ethereals, about which tokusatsu show her armor resembled more.
Eous stood beside them, the flashing frequency of its electronic eyes revealing the extent of Ling’s breakdown at this moment.
Right at this moment, an Ethereal probably grew impatient of waiting and lunged toward Billy.
Fu Hua turned around and punched it, reducing it to powder.
Then she clapped her hands, the crisp sound of the armored gloves colliding interrupting Billy and Anby’s argument.
“You two film critics,” her voice, processed through the voice changer module, carried a layer of brisk metallic texture, her tone filled with a casual amusement, “do you guys usually like holding screening parties like this in the Hollow?
That really is—having great taste.”
Billy’s mechanical eyeballs brightened by another notch: “This voice processing!
This flippant yet cool tone—”
“Just passing by,” Fu Hua held up a finger, pressing it against the lip position of her mask, “just a masked superhero passing by.
Don’t get so excited, chuunibyou android, your ammo is down to less than thirty percent, right?
Let’s leave first; it won’t be too late to slowly study my appearance after we get out.”
Billy’s mechanical eyeballs flashed abruptly.
“C-Chu-chuunibyou android?!”
“Don’t like it?
Then how about another one—a tokusatsu-addicted android out of bullets?”
“That’s even longer!”
“Are you here to help us?”
Anby spoke up suddenly.
Fu Hua turned her head, her eyes looking through the mask at this cute young girl.
“Help?” Fu Hua tilted her head, “No, no, no, I’m just out for a stroll.”