As Asaba Harumasa circled around from the other side of the armored vehicle, he was still holding an unopened can of coffee.
His walk was a little unsteady, but his sharp eyes were already scanning the surroundings, instinctively checking for safety.
Though his personality was easygoing, his professional habits as support and scout betrayed nothing.
“Vice Section Chief,” Asaba placed the coffee can on the vehicle roof and pulled the tab, the crisp sound ringing out, “to be honest, I still don’t understand.
This case has been stalled for three years—why is it suddenly reopening?”
Yanagi didn’t answer immediately.
She handed the detector to the technician beside her, signaling the team to continue peripheral sampling.
Then she turned to her lazy subordinate and pulled an electronic screen from her uniform pocket, displaying the topography of H-037.
Unlike the standard version everyone had, this map had markings—clearly added by her.
“Last week, the Hollow Observation Database update showed that H-037’s boundaries have shifted south,” she said, tracing a gray area on the map with her slender finger, the area newly revealed after the Hollow’s swallowing and regurgitation, “the old entrance in the original factory district was completely sealed by the Hollow’s turbulence three years ago, but with the southward shift, this section on the east side is now accessible again.”
She looked up at the young man with bandages on his head.
“This means if Belobog Heavy Industries’ experimental facilities are still inside, their position may have shifted to new coordinates due to the Hollow’s movement.”
Hearing this, Harumasa seemed to understand.
He took a small sip of coffee, his gaze lingering on Yanagi’s face for a moment.
“So we’re here to find that missing head of R&D?”
“No,” Yanagi flipped the map and pulled out a case brief.
“Endo Toshio resigned from Belobog Heavy Industries three years ago and is currently missing.
We don’t have time to find him right now.
This mission is to enter the Hollow, locate the experimental facilities, and find the vault.”
“The vault?”
“In the Lin Siblings’ report, it mentions that Belobog Heavy Industries set up a records vault within the experimental facility to store core experimental data, including clinical records from the so-called ‘Human Ether Experiment.'” Her tone shifted slightly.
“If that data exists, it will be key to convicting Belobog Heavy Industries.”
Harumasa noticed how tightly she was holding the electronic screen, causing it to slightly discolor, but said nothing, merely switching the coffee can to his other hand.
To prevent his usually composed superior from showing emotion in this situation, he decided to redirect the focus slightly.
“Is there something wrong with the vault?”
“Many issues,” Yanagi said, pulling a photo from the brief and handing it to him.
The photo showed the outer door of a medium-sized vault, metal surface rusted but overall still solid.
“It’s an old mechanical combination lock enhanced with an Ether Seal.
According to records, Belobog Heavy Industries purchased an older model from Belobog Heavy Industries, with a 12-digit mechanical dial plus an Ether Seal as a secondary lock.
The mechanical lock can be broken, but forcibly tampering with the Ether Seal will trigger self-destruction—all files inside will be destroyed.”
“So we need the combination?”
“Yes,” Yanagi nodded.
“Clues for the combination, according to the Lin Siblings’ mother, are hidden in a pocket watch left by her daughter.”
Harumasa froze mid-sip.
“The Lin Siblings’ mother?
The elderly woman who filed the report?”
“Yes.”
“She’s still alive?”
“She passed away last year,” Yanagi’s voice lowered half a pitch.
“If we don’t push this case forward while H-037 is in flux, some people may truly escape justice forever.”
“Yeah,” Harumasa said, tilting his head back to drink, “the law doesn’t enforce itself.
If no one pursues it, it’s just paper… Vice Section Chief, you…”
“What?”
“Nothing, I just think… you’re a really good officer.”
Yanagi’s face cooled.
“Even if you’re flattering me, I’ll still deduct any absences for this month.”
Harumasa froze, realizing the misunderstanding, but as she was his superior, explaining would only make things worse.
“…Please go easy on me in that regard.”
·
Maintaining invisibility, Russell stepped back twenty paces, circled around a half-collapsed brick wall, and slipped into a narrow passage covered by abandoned conveyor belts.
At the end of the passage was a rusty back door of an old workshop, with the frame still intact.
He squeezed through, boots crunching the cracked Ether crystals on the floor.
He didn’t stop there.
Through the old workshop, over a corridor blocked by debris, and climbed through a pried-open air vent.
In just three minutes, Russell had distanced himself from the Hollow entrance, reaching the factory’s core area.
This route had been his planned backup, and he hadn’t expected to use it so quickly.
By straight-line distance on the map, he was already 300 meters from the entrance.
With the rugged and unpredictable path, it was highly unlikely he’d be detected.
Russell chose a relatively intact second-floor platform, ensuring an open view and only one entrance, to avoid ambush from Ethereal appearing out of nowhere.
Once he confirmed the area was safe, he crouched against a reinforced concrete pillar and began rummaging through his inventory.
This inventory wasn’t the bag on his back.
It was the system inventory that appeared automatically after entering the Hollow.
He pulled out an oak-colored Block and placed it on the ground—it became a Crafting Table.
After placing the table, Russell selected a sturdy-looking area, and with remaining raw stone from his inventory, formed a rectangle with four center cubes left open.
He poured a bucket of water on the far left and a bucket of lava on the far right.
The most basic cobblestone generator was born.
As for why he started with a cobblestone generator, it was from two months of experience surviving in New Eridu’s Hollow.
He wasn’t a Steve capable of effortlessly fighting hundreds of Ethereal or digging through the crust by gnawing on rotten meat—he was still flesh and blood.
In the MC game’s original version, ranged and melee weapons were almost effortless to use, but in the Hollow, all MC weapons obeyed real-world physics.
The small monsters at the entrance could be defeated using an enchanted Diamond Sword several times sharper than ordinary steel, but the sword’s weight was real.
A Diamond Sword over 3 kg required real arm and wrist strength to swing—far beyond pressing the left mouse button in a game.
Russell had tried swinging continuously for 40 seconds; the next day, his arms ached so much he couldn’t lift them.