Inside the Hollow, in the base’s reception room.
A soldier in a combat uniform walked out of the reception room carrying a tray containing two cans of beef and a bottle of purified water.
Seeing his comrade emerge, another soldier in the same uniform stepped forward and asked, “How is it?
Did she eat anything?” The soldier shook his head and placed the tray on the table.
“No.
She’s starving to the bone.” “She’s only had a few sips of water in all these days.
If she keeps refusing to eat, she’s going to starve to death!
When Captain Garris left for the HQ debriefing, he specifically told us to guarantee her safety at all costs.
If this girl dies, we’re finished when the Captain gets back!” “Sigh, she won’t eat.
Who can we blame if she starves herself?
If it weren’t for that special amulet on her that wards off ether and boosts her vitality, she would have died long ago!” “Damn, things are already this critical, and you still look so nonchalant?” “What else can I do at this point?
Looking at those expensive accessories she has, she’s definitely no ordinary person.
Maybe her family has already sent someone to rescue her.” “Rescue?
The Captain deliberately paraded her into the neighboring supply depot before secretly transferring her here to this ether mining base.
Who could possibly find her?
Should we leak her location on purpose?” *Knock, knock, knock!* Just then, there was a knock at the door.
The two soldiers tensed up instantly and grabbed their weapons.
*Knock, knock, knock!* The knocking came again.
“Who is it?” a soldier barked.
“It’s me!
Open up, quick.
Something new has happened in the Hollow.” — Jiang Yu carried the tachi Wuming horizontally at his waist, keeping his hand on the hilt to trigger the passive effect of [Sizhi].
He wandered around inside the Hollow.
He had slain quite a few Ethereals, but he had barely run into any rebel soldiers.
Unfortunately, now that his physical strength was close to that of a high-grade Ethereal, the rewards for killing common Ethereals were pitifully small, offering almost no noticeable growth.
If he wanted to improve his physical body any further, it seemed he would have to hunt down high-grade Ethereals.
“Hurry, hurry!
Leave this crate of ether crystals!
That notorious Dullahan has broken through the perimeter!
Go reinforce them immediately!” Just then, urgent voices echoed from ahead.
Jiang Yu stepped forward silently to observe.
He saw an armed soldier gesturing to several others who were transporting supplies.
“Are you serious?
Isn’t that Dullahan being suppressed by the ‘Garrison Shield-Guard’?
To keep that notorious Dullahan under control and ensure the stability of the Hollow’s activity, our captain went to great lengths to get his hands on that Shield-Guard.” The armed soldier grew even more impatient.
He forcibly pried his companion’s hands off the crate.
“Forget about this crate of ether crystals, go reinforce them first!” “But we can’t!
This batch of ether crystals is extremely pure, almost entirely free of impurities.” “Just leave it here.
No one’s going to steal it.” The armed soldier dragged and pulled, forcibly hauling the supply-handling soldiers away.
Notorious Dullahan?
He had seen this in the compendium.
It was the strongest variant among Dullahans.
Ethereals designated as “Notorious” served as the core pillars supporting a Hollow’s activity.
As for the “Garrison Shield-Guard” the rebel soldiers had mentioned, he had never heard of it.
But judging from their conversation, if this “Garrison Shield-Guard” could suppress a notorious Dullahan, its combat power was bound to be impressive.
He had never witnessed a battle of that scale, so he naturally wanted to go watch the show.
Stepping out from behind his cover, he approached the abandoned supply crate and opened it.
Inside were ether crystals glowing with a faint purple light.
Harvesting ether crystals was once the primary method for New Eridu to acquire ether resources.
However, due to the high difficulty and danger involved, this method had gradually been replaced by Ether Siphons.
Picking out two of the best-looking small crystals, he headed in the direction the rebel soldiers had gone, not forgetting to close the crate before leaving.
*Boom—* Gunfire and explosions echoed from up ahead.
Jiang Yu, now wearing a rebel uniform he had scavenged, was blended in with the arriving reinforcements.
The squad consisted of only about a dozen people, all carrying standard-issue rebel weapons.
Clearly, they were just ordinary cannon fodder.
Hearing the explosions ahead, the soldiers began to whisper among themselves.
“What is the Shield-Guard doing?
It can’t even handle a single Ethereal!
What a waste of all the resources we spend on maintaining it every day!” “What do you know?
I heard this Shield-Guard was practically scrap metal when it was first delivered.
After a major overhaul, it’s already a miracle that it can suppress a notorious Dullahan.” “If it could suppress the Dullahan back then, why can’t it do it now?” “Haven’t you ever heard the saying, ‘a dragon at twenty, a worm at forty’?” “Bullshit!
Even at forty, I’ll still be a dragon!” As the two soldiers bantered, a veteran next to them suddenly spoke up.
“You guys must be new.
You probably don’t know that the Garrison Shield-Guard only managed to suppress that notorious Dullahan because it was injured after fighting another ultra-strong Ethereal for dominance over the Hollow.” “Now that the Dullahan has recovered its strength, the Shield-Guard is naturally no match for it.” The two soldiers looked astonished; this was clearly their first time hearing this.
“If even the Shield-Guard can’t beat it, aren’t we just marching to our deaths?” …
Blending in with the squad, Jiang Yu listened intently to the chatter around him.
Suddenly, he caught the words “girl” and “pitiful”—terms that felt completely out of place in a rebel base.
He thought of the hostage he was supposed to rescue.
Could they be talking about her?
But this base was clearly an ether mining facility, which was a far cry from the logistics supply depot Shepherd had mentioned.
Deciding to play it safe, he slipped toward the rear of the squad near two soldiers and focused entirely on eavesdropping.
“Sean, has your brain been corrupted by ether?
If you let her go, you’ll be injected with ether as punishment!” The soldier called Sean remained silent under his companion’s scolding, his hands gripping his rifle tightly.
“Even if that girl leaves the base, in her current state, can she even survive in the vast Gobi?
It’s a miracle if we ourselves survive the upcoming battle, and you still have the mind to worry about some hostage?
Worry about yourself first.” Sean clenched his fingers even tighter.
In a raspy voice, he said, “Kim, you know what?
Seeing her makes me think of my daughter.
If she were still alive, she’d be about the same age.” The soldier named Kim stiffened, his pace faltering for a moment.
Years ago, he and Sean had received orders from their superiors to enter Hollow Zero on a containment mission.
He had barely survived that catastrophe, only for Sean’s daughter to starve to death back home.
To this day, he still remembered the despair Sean faced when he pushed open his front door.
A skeletal little corpse curled up like a kitten at the doorway, clutching a photo of her and her father.
In the photograph, the little girl was smiling so innocently and happily.
Afterward, Sean went to the military’s aftermath department to cause a scene, demanding to know why they hadn’t taken proper care of the soldiers’ dependents.
Unsurprisingly, he received no explanation and was even beaten up and thrown out.
Since then, he and Sean had left New Eridu.
Like many of their comrades, they had ended up in the Outer Ring.
“I understand, but I don’t agree,” Kim said, patting Sean on the shoulder.
Then, he turned to the soldier who had sidled up remarkably close to them and barked, “Hey!
Why are you leaning so close?” Jiang Yu turned around, his neck tilted awkwardly.
He pointed to his neck and said, “Stiff neck, brother.
Cut me some slack.” Kim made a threatening gesture at him, then pulled Sean further away.
Jiang Yu studied the two men closely, memorizing their faces.
The “girl” they were referring to was highly likely the hostage he was looking for.
But why was she here?
*Boom—* Just then, a massive mech came hurtling backward through the air toward them.
Quick-witted soldiers scrambled to dodge, while those with slower reflexes were crushed directly beneath the giant mech.
Although the giant mech had been given a fresh coat of paint, its worn-out state was impossible to hide.
Furthermore, many of its parts had clearly been scavenged and pieced together from various other machinery.
Staring at the fallen giant mech, someone cried out in horror: “It’s the Garrison Shield-Guard!”