When Asaba Harumasa questioned them, Paimon stammered, unsure how to explain.
According to what Keqing had said earlier, they came to Hollow A37 for two reasons: to understand the structure of the Hollow and to suppress it, in order to demonstrate their strength to the authorities here...
But Paimon didn't mention any of that. She was afraid it might mess up Keqing's plan.
...
At her side, Tsukishiro Yanagi glanced at the serious Asaba Harumasa, then smiled gently.
"Don't scare them. You're Paimon, right? And you must be Hu Tao. As for this Bangboo lady... I don't think this is the first time we've met."
Belle quickly explained, "Uh… this is the second time."
Tsukishiro Yanagi smiled again. "Right, the second time. There should be more of you, though—where are the others?"
No sooner had she spoken than Keqing, Xiao, and the Traveler walked out of the rebel research center.
...
Hoshimi Miyabi scanned the group with a calm gaze, but the moment she saw Xiao, her expression became more serious.
Just as she had suspected.
Most of the destruction they'd seen earlier had likely been caused by this boy.
Hoshimi Miyabi spoke slowly, "Our team received a mission to investigate abnormal Ether data in Hollow A37. You're the ones who took out those dozen or so high-ranking Ethereals, aren't you?"
Hu Tao gave a cheeky grin. "Yep, that was us. We heard that clearing out those monsters would make the Hollow collapse, so we got to work... What? Did we do something wrong?"
At her words, Hoshimi Miyabi and Tsukishiro Yanagi exchanged a glance, then turned to Hu Tao.
"Of course not. But Hollow A37 is extremely dangerous. It's very risky for untrained civilians to enter..."
Obviously, though, danger like that didn't mean much to people like Keqing and her team.
...
Hoshimi Miyabi continued questioning Hu Tao, Keqing, and the others about their encounters with the Ethereals—and was stunned to learn they had taken down nearly twenty high-ranking ones, including two that exceeded Notoriety level.
However...
What concerned Hoshimi Miyabi even more was the battlefield they'd just passed.
She wanted to know what kind of enemy they had fought there.
Seeing her confusion, Paimon replied matter-of-factly, "Who else could it be? The enemy just now was you."
Hoshimi Miyabi frowned. "Me?"
Tsukishiro Yanagi blinked. "What do you mean?"
Belle quickly explained, "Not the actual Section Chief Hoshimi Miyabi—an Ether creature that looked just like her, right down to her fighting style. According to the rebels, it was a clone. And it was really tough to deal with…"
A clone with Hoshimi Miyabi's combat skills?
Hoshimi Miyabi's expression turned grim as she asked, "And the rebels from the lab?"
Paimon pointed toward the center. "They're inside—we've already captured them. But their leader seems to have gotten away…"
At that, Hoshimi Miyabi and Tsukishiro Yanagi quickly rushed into the research center and saw the rebels still lying on the ground, knocked out by Xiao.
When the rebels saw Hoshimi Miyabi in person, they were terrified.
From them, she learned the full story—how the rebels had used her battle data to create a clone.
What shocked her even more was that the rebels hadn't just gathered her data. They also had Tsukishiro Yanagi's data, along with combat data from several powerful agents in the Defense Army.
Tsukishiro Yanagi murmured thoughtfully, "I wonder how strong the clone was…"
She glanced toward Keqing, Xiao, and the others—the ones who had defeated the clone.
Xiao answered plainly, "It wasn't very strong, but its regeneration was like those monsters—extremely high."
The Traveler added, "Well… it might not have been strong compared to Xiao, but it was really fast—faster than those other high-ranking Ethereals—and it hit harder too. It was tough."
Hearing this, Tsukishiro Yanagi muttered to herself, "If the rebels manage to mass-produce clones like that, we're going to have serious problems."
Hoshimi Miyabi thought for a moment. "Clones like that would require a ton of resources to create. Mass production should be impossible."
...
At that moment, Belle spoke up from the side.
"I found archived footage of the battle earlier. Want to see it?"
Tsukishiro Yanagi immediately said, "Of course."
Belle replied seriously, "Give me a moment. The file's locked—it'll take a bit."
With Fairy's help, she quickly cracked the encryption and pulled up the footage on the big screen.
As Hoshimi Miyabi and Tsukishiro Yanagi watched the clone appear on-screen, both of them frowned.
And as the clone's power was revealed in the fight, their expressions grew even more serious.
Judging by the speed and strength it demonstrated, it was operating at 60 to 70 percent of Hoshimi Miyabi's own capability—extremely formidable.
However...
What truly shocked Hoshimi Miyabi was Xiao's performance.
From the start of the battle to its end, Xiao completely dominated the clone—shattering it again and again.
Hoshimi Miyabi had no doubt: even if she had fought the clone herself, she probably wouldn't have done any better than Xiao did.
She regarded Xiao with newfound respect.
He looked so young—barely a teenager, probably younger than she was—yet his power was terrifying.
She couldn't even fathom where such a monstrous genius had come from.
If Xiao ever agreed to join the Hollow Special Operations Unit, he'd easily break her record as the youngest person to qualify as a Void Hunter.
Taking a deep breath, Hoshimi Miyabi said, "Alright. Please archive a copy of this footage."
...
After watching the video, she turned to Xiao, Keqing, Hu Tao, and the others.
"What are your plans from here?"
Keqing answered seriously, "I plan to hand these rebels over to you, then head deeper into the Hollow to fully suppress it."
If Hoshimi Miyabi had heard those words earlier, she would've taken them as a joke.
But now...
After witnessing their true strength, she didn't doubt them at all. With Keqing's team, Hollow A37 really could be suppressed.
She paused for a moment, then nodded.
"Alright. I'll take the rebels out of here. The Ethereals ahead... I'll leave them to you."
Technically, this decision went against Hollow Special Operations Unit 6 protocol.
But rules were rigid—people weren't. Hoshimi Miyabi trusted their strength, and more importantly, she believed they wouldn't do anything to harm New Eridu.
...
After parting ways, Hoshimi Miyabi and Tsukishiro Yanagi led the rebels out of the Hollow, handing them and the recorded data over to the commanding officers of the Hollow Special Operations Department.
That very afternoon, news spread like wildfire:
Hollow A37 had officially entered its decline phase.
The entire city of New Eridu was shocked.
Before nightfall, Keqing, Hu Tao, and the others also left the Hollow and returned to Hare's House—where they reunited with Sam Li.