Jiang Yu’s hairs stood on end.
The boomerang he had thrown had ultimately come back to hit him.
That sword’s red affix had a 100% critical hit rate inside the Hollow.
Not to mention if an Ethereal held the sword—on top of the 100% Ether erosion boost—as long as the Ethereal held the blade and didn’t die, it would be buffed by the red affix effect and keep getting stronger indefinitely.
Thinking of this, Jiang Yu wished he had grown two extra legs so he could sprint out of this damn place at top speed.
“The safe is right at this Ethereal’s feet.” “It really is!
Great, we don’t have to go looking for it.” Hearing the noise, the Ethereal transformed from Whitey turned around to face Anby and Billy.
The demonic blade in its hand emitted extremely chaotic Ether fluctuations, its entire length glowing with an eerie red light.
Billy: “Tsk, this guy’s gonna be tough to deal with.
Anby!
Get ready!” Anby: “Understood.” Jiang Yu: “¿” Listen to those reckless words.
Having already retreated to the platform, Jiang Yu laughed awkwardly.
“Um, so…
my mom’s calling me home for dinner…” Before Jiang Yu could finish speaking, a crimson blade beam wrapped in Ether energy slashed out from inside the building.
Anby and Billy flew backward out of the building like broken sacks of grain, crashing at Jiang Yu’s feet.
Both struggled for a long time without being able to get back up.
“Cough, cough…
Anby, this guy…
cough…
why is it different from other Ethereals?” Billy said with difficulty, clutching his chest, his twin pistols having rolled off to the side.
Anby wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth.
“Billy, the mission failed.
We might all die here today.
Luckily, I left a recording in advance…” “Don’t say such depressing things until the very last moment!” Billy retrieved his twin pistols with great effort and aimed them toward the Ethereal inside the building.
Suddenly, another crimson blade beam tore through the building, slicing straight toward where the three of them stood.
Billy pulled his triggers frantically, attempting to shatter the suffocating blade beam.
Anby tried to grab her blade, but it was already too late.
The crimson blade beam was blazingly fast, bearing a suffocating aura, sweeping over their heads in the blink of an eye.
Is this…
as far as it goes?
Anby watched the crimson blade beam draw closer, her memories flashing before her eyes like a slideshow.
Right then, a figure swept past Anby, charging straight into the blade beam.
“Oh no, Jiang Yu is trying to sacrifice himself to buy us time to escape!” Anby suddenly realized.
Tears of emotion streamed down Billy’s face.
“Bro…
sob…
rest in peace.” Under their gazes, the slash unleashed by the Ethereal struck Jiang Yu without suspense.
Jiang Yu raised his blade to block, then countered with a slash directed at the Dullahan leaping out from the building.
The purple affix effect [Brave Bull, Fear No Hardship] activated, and Jiang Yu unleashed a purple slash of equal power with a swing of his blade.
[Cooldown: 23 hours] A sudden twist occurred.
The Dullahan, still in midair, raised its shield to block, but in an instant, its shield formed of Ether matter shattered, and the Dullahan was blasted right back into the building by the slash.
Anby and Billy stood dumbfounded.
Th-This…
this was way too strong!
“So bro was hiding his true power all along!” Billy exclaimed.
Anby was also so shocked by Jiang Yu’s slash that she was rendered speechless, standing frozen in place.
It wasn’t until a thick hilt was pressed into her small hand that she recognized its familiar touch and snapped back to reality.
“I delayed it for a moment.
Hurry and run!” Seeing that Anby was even struggling to stand, Jiang Yu simply scooped her onto his shoulder.
“Billy!” Billy picked up his twin pistols, intending to strike a cool pose and shout a few tough words at the Ethereal, but seeing Jiang Yu sprinting with Anby over his shoulder, he quickly scrambled after them.
Looking at Jiang Yu’s nimble movements, though…
He suddenly had the bizarre impression: why did this look like a pig-demon carrying off a bride in a movie?
*** At a corner of Sixth Street in the Janus District, inside a video rental store…
The siblings Ling and Zhe were watching the news on TV about the District 14 Public Security Bureau cracking down hard on the Red Fangs Gang.
The door to the room was suddenly shoved open with force.
A girl with pink pigtails burst inside.
“No need to watch anymore!
The explosion in the news—I was right there!” Her chest heaved from the intense effort, rising and falling dramatically.
She rushed up to the television, slammed it off, and urgently said to Ling and Zhe, “Emergency!
Billy, Anby, and my target client all fell into that Hollow!
I desperately need a Proxy’s help—this is the request of a lifetime!” “Hello, Nicole.
It’d be great if you could knock like a normal person next time.” “Feels like I hear your ‘request of a lifetime’ at least three times a month, Nicole.” The siblings teased back and forth.
Nicole followed them out of the room, chasing after Ling while pleading, “Just help me get through this crisis first!
You can tease me all you want afterward.
Please, legendary Proxies—’Phaethon’!” After a period of negotiation, Nicole finally got the Phaethon siblings to accept the commission on the condition that she clear all her unpaid tab.
When negotiations ended, the siblings noticed that Nicole was actually injured.
Ling tended to her wounds while Zhe tuned up the HDD.
At the Hollow entrance…
“Hey, can you hear me, Nicole?
You can send Eos in now!” Zhe’s voice came through the phone.
Nicole patted Eos on the head.
“OK!
All right, little guy, go, go!” “Alright, your Bangboo is on its way.” *** Crate Hollow, somewhere near the old subway hub station.
Bang!
The shotgun blast hit, and the last ordinary Ethereal dissolved into specks of light.
Jiang Yu pulled two shotgun shells from his pocket and reloaded his sawed-off shotgun.
Billy crowded around Jiang Yu excitedly.
“Woah!
Bro, your gun is amazing!
You only loaded two shells and fired over a dozen shots in a row!” Jiang Yu gave a faint smile and stayed silent.
Heh, amazing, right?
A 50% chance not to consume ammo when firing.
How is this amazing?
This is fucking burning through my lifespan!
Suddenly, Jiang Yu sensed something.
Raising his hand, he fired a shot straight at the rear of a train car.
Bang!
The shot blasted through the sheet metal, leaving a hole the size of a bowl.
It gave Ling, who was controlling Eos, quite a scare.
Anby and Billy instantly went on high alert.
Just then, a Bangboo wearing a scarf peeked half its head out from behind the train car, blinking its eyes at the three of them.
“A Bangboo?!” Billy cried out.
“It must be the Proxy Boss Nicole hired!
Boss Nicole really didn’t abandon us after all!
Sob…” The Bangboo stepped out from behind the train car and actually spoke human words: “Hello, you three.” “A Bangboo wearing a scarf and speaking like a human…” “Oooooh!
Could you be—’Phaethon’?!” Phaethon?
Never heard of them.
Jiang Yu stepped forward curiously to inspect the Bangboo.
Plain and unremarkable.
Aside from being able to speak, it didn’t seem any different from other Bangboos.
While Jiang Yu was inspecting Eos, Ling was also sizing up Jiang Yu through Eos’s vision.
Striking, heroic brows and eyes, a handsomely striking face—he was by far the best-looking guy she had ever seen in her life.
“Sister!
Sister!” Hearing Zhe call out to her, Ling finally snapped back to her senses.
“Sister, what’s wrong?
Is there a problem with the HDD system?” Ling shook her head.
Feeling embarrassed, she didn’t know how to answer, so she made up a quick excuse.
Was she supposed to admit she had zoned out while staring at a guy?
Looking at the third person Nicole hadn’t mentioned, Ling asked Anby and Billy, “Anby, Billy.
Who is this?” Speaking of the bro he had just met, Billy cut in before Anby could, saying excitedly, “Oh!
Phaethon, you mean this guy?
His name is Jiang Yu, and he’s a super powerful expert!
Plus, he can even modify and enhance weapons.” Anby said seriously, “Jiang Yu is a survivor I met after falling into the Hollow.
Oh, right, he also owes me twenty thousand Dennies.
Setting aside the twenty thousand Dennies, his strength is indeed impressive.
Thanks to his cover, we managed to escape from that high-grade Ethereal’s blade.” “I’m not nearly as amazing as you make me out to be, it was just good luck.” Under their praise, Jiang Yu acted modestly.
If he hadn’t gotten lucky and rolled a good affix, the three of them probably would have lost their lives here today.
Still, why does she have to keep bringing up those twenty thousand Dennies?!