Russell had no hesitation whatsoever about following HAND.
His confidence came from the fact that the MC Map in his possession was fundamentally different from a conventional “Carrot.”
A “Carrot” was simply a map used inside a Hollow.
The reason maps inside Hollows were so valuable—valuable enough to give rise to the profession of Proxy in the first place—was rooted in the fact that the space inside a Hollow possessed a topological structure.
The biggest problem with topological space was not that it randomly teleported people around.
In fact, the sensation people experienced inside a Hollow of suddenly being here one moment and somewhere else the next wasn’t teleportation at all.
Rather, it was the result of overlapping spaces and imperceptible spatial bridges.
In a topological structure, space did not possess uniqueness.
Take Russell’s current situation as an example.
He had built a Safehouse here.
Physically speaking, Tsukishiro Yanagi and her group might actually be inside this same Safehouse.
The spaces could simply be overlapping in a state where neither side could perceive the other.
Furthermore, the “door” leading into this room wasn’t limited to the Slab crawlspace Russell had created earlier.
There might also be an entrance in the ceiling.
It was simply impossible to observe with the naked eye.
Of course, that was an extreme example.
Even within a Hollow, the bridges and overlaps created by topological structures followed certain patterns.
The problem was that those patterns were so complex that no ordinary method could calculate them.
The so-called “Traditional Carrots” on Inter-Knot were essentially created by collecting topological data from inside a Hollow and calculating it on-site.
In theory, if one ignored the time cost of computation, a Carrot calculated directly on location would be the most accurate possible.
Which was exactly what HAND’s personnel were currently doing with two truckloads of equipment.
Compared to “traditional” Carrots, the Carrots possessed by the vast majority of modern Proxies were generated through estimation based on pre-established mathematical models.
The problem with those mathematical models was that their calculations were often too perfect.
The idealized results produced by the model might not match reality.
And if the discrepancy became too great, the unfortunate person relying on that Carrot could easily become lost inside the Hollow.
That was why, for certain important commissions, Agents entering a Hollow would insist that the Proxy personally lead the team.
It was the most direct way to ensure the Carrot remained reliable.
The MC Map in Russell’s possession was actually much closer to the traditional Carrots currently being calculated by HAND.
Maps within the MC System refreshed dynamically.
This item, crafted from eight sheets of paper and a compass, locked onto a set of coordinates the moment it was taken out.
The map only displayed conditions within that designated area.
Under normal circumstances, a map never changed.
Inside a Hollow, however, things were different.
The topological structure of the space was constantly shifting.
As a result, the map refreshed continuously, changing without end.
Naturally, this only worked as long as the map remained within the coordinate range to which it was locked.
At present, the greatest weakness of the MC Map compared to a traditional Carrot was that it displayed only a two-dimensional plane.
The structure of topological space, meanwhile, was often multilayered.
Only after reaching a particular layer would the map reveal the terrain structure of that specific plane.
Therefore, Russell didn’t even need to think before deciding to take advantage of the hard work of HAND’s engineers and Investigators.
As for losing track of them…
Russell wasn’t worried in the slightest.
There were so many of them.
A target that large couldn’t possibly be hard to spot.
For now, however, while HAND’s people were still “reading the map,” Russell decided to search the surrounding area.
Maybe he could even pick up a few valuable antiques to bring back.
As for whether he might run into HAND personnel while searching…
Russell wasn’t concerned about that either.
After all, even Agents as powerful as those from Section 6 wouldn’t dare wander recklessly through a Hollow without a Carrot.
Russell had actually visited H-037 once half a month ago.
If he had never been here before, he wouldn’t have dared accept this commission in the first place.
That previous visit had been a simple guiding assignment.
During the mission, Russell had spotted quite a few valuable items.
However, since the Agents who had hired him were nearby, it wasn’t appropriate to abandon the mission and start scavenging.
Nor was it possible to openly access his System Inventory in front of others.
As a result, he had already been planning to return someday.
Russell didn’t deny that, besides sympathizing with the old man, half of his motivation for accepting this commission was the opportunity to come back here and collect a little extra profit.
After all, this was actually his primary source of income in New Eridu.
It would be a terrible waste not to take advantage of such an enormous System Inventory.
Stuffing valuable finds into the System Inventory, bringing them back to a Safehouse for storage, and then gradually transporting them out of the Hollow in batches—
That was Russell’s business model.
Although New Eridu explicitly prohibited the resale of Hollow-derived items, the ban mainly targeted products directly related to Ether, such as Polychrome, Ether Crystals, coatings, and Hollow-mutated metals created through Ether corruption.
Beyond those, there were actually plenty of valuable items left behind in Hollows after Old Eridu had been swallowed.
The most valuable were relics of ancient civilization.
Fragments of intelligent constructs, unpublished technological data, and similar treasures.
Of course, less hardcore items were valuable as well.
Original film reels, music masters, and game master copies from previous eras could all command exorbitant prices.
The next category consisted of inherently valuable items from the era of the Old Capital.
These ranged from public or private servers and memory storage devices to aged liquor, tobacco, paintings, calligraphy, jewelry, luxury watches, and more.
Even original cosmetics and fragrances whose manufacturing techniques had been lost were highly valuable.
Most of these items, once removed from a Hollow, were extremely difficult to trace.
Even the Public Security Bureau would struggle to determine whether an item had originated from a Hollow, let alone which Hollow it had come from.
After all, their value was based on rarity in the first place.
Somewhat valuable but significantly harder to sell were special industrial products and precision components from previous eras.
Many precision parts from the old days could no longer be replicated by modern New Eridu.
If something happened to be the core module of an automated weapon, its price could skyrocket to absurd levels.
The problem was that the places where such components might be used were generally known.
Even if Russell operated a secondhand goods store, the Public Security Bureau would never believe he had dismantled such a component from an old television he had purchased.
Moreover, most items of that type were automatically classified as prohibited goods that could not legally be traded by civilians.
In reality, the most common finds were batteries.
These batteries could originate from the ancient civilization era, the old era, or the period of the Old Capital.
As long as even five percent of their charge remained, they could still be recycled.
The most common major transactions in the secondhand goods business involved the acquisition and resale of old batteries.
A piece of equipment could be lying abandoned on the ground, looking completely worthless from the outside.
But if its battery remained intact—or even partially intact—
Then it was practically a treasure.