[Ding! Nicole's favorability towards the host has increased by 5 points. Current favorability: 68. 50 Emotion Value obtained. Additionally, new items have been added to the Emotion Value Store.]
Hearing the system's words, Wise prioritized clicking into the Emotion Value Store to see what was new.
10,000 Dennies: 1 Emotion Value
Well, that's an item that perfectly fits Nicole's character, he thought. If he were to exchange all his Emotion Value for Dennies, he would have over 5 million. His current balance was 576 Emotion Value.
But that was a thought for later. After all, a mere 5 million Dennies was only equivalent to a few completed commissions. That amount of money wasn't even enough to buy a house in New Eridu. The housing prices there were astronomical!
While Wise was busy calibrating the HDD, Belle, who was treating Nicole's wound on the other side, asked with some curiosity, "By the way, Nicole, what's the item the client asked you to retrieve?"
"How should I know? The thing is locked in a safe. I was thinking it was just a small item, who would have thought it would cause such a huge mess? Hmph, speaking of which, I'm going to have to hit the client with a hefty additional fee. Ouch, that hurts!"
An expression of pain appeared on Nicole's originally indignant face. She bit her lip, her brow furrowed slightly, and then she complained, "Belle, can't you be a little gentler?"
"I can't help it. The wound is in such a peculiar spot. Besides, there's something in the way." Belle cast a very meaningful glance at Nicole's chest. This made the latter blush slightly.
"W-well, what can I do about it? It's not like I asked for them to be this way." After saying this, Nicole fell silent and quietly waited for Belle to finish treating her wound.
A little while later, Wise walked over. "I've finished the calibrations on my end. How about you two? Are you ready?" Eous, now fully charged, followed beside him. Seeing him, both women stood up.
"Okay, I'm pretty much rested up over here. Ready to go anytime."
"Alright, let's get started then. Nicole, you take Eous into the Hollow."
"You got it, leave it to me." After saying this, Nicole scooped Eous up from the floor, gave a wave, and set off immediately.
14th Division Street wasn't too far from their location, and with Nicole moving at full speed, it didn't take long for her to reach the destination.
"Hey, can you hear me? Nicole, you can put Eous in now." Hearing Wise's voice over the phone, Nicole crouched down and gently placed Eous on the ground.
"Okay~ Alright, little guy, go on, go on." As she spoke, Nicole also gave Eous's head a few pats. Its bouncy texture must have felt nice. "Okay, your Bangboo is on its way."
"Mmm, got it. We're starting on our end too." Wise put down his phone, then sat down in the operator's chair. Beside him, Belle spoke with a worried tone. "Wise, you have to be careful."
"Oh? Mmm, don't worry, Belle. I'll pay attention." After he said this, Belle quickly pressed the button on the HDD.
With a sudden shift in perspective, the scene before his eyes changed. He was now seeing through Eous's eyes.
Hmm, this feels pretty good. Wait, this feeling is...
[Ding! The host has noticed. That's right, this is the bonus from your attribute points. Because the host's consciousness is controlling the Bangboo, it also receives a portion of your attribute points and talent bonuses. The bonus value is approximately 50% of the host's current attribute points. Additionally, the favorability influenced by the host's Charm will still apply to the host.]
The system popped up nonchalantly to explain.
I see, that's not bad then. I didn't expect you to be so thoughtful, System. The last part Wise was referring to was, of course, the system's final sentence. He then began to move with the Bangboo's small body. He pulled a smoke bomb that looked suspiciously like a blackened Poké Ball from somewhere and, with a fierce (?) expression, walked into the Hollow.
Thanks to the attribute point bonus, Eous's speed was much faster than usual. It wasn't long before he encountered Anby and Billy, who were fleeing from pursuing Ethereal.
Quickly tossing out a few smoke bombs to obscure the Ethereals' vision, Wise then popped his head out from behind a derelict train car, waving his short little arms and shouting, "Hey! Billy, Anby, over here!"
The sudden appearance of the smoke bombs startled the two, but upon hearing the call, they immediately ran over.
"Good work. Are you two alright?" Wise controlled Eous's body, standing with one hand on its hip and the other held out. Seeing this, Anby covered her mouth with her hand and said to Billy beside her, "A Bangboo with a scarf that can talk..."
Hearing this, Billy reacted instantly, pointing at Eous with an exaggerated motion. "Ooh! Could you be... Phaethon?!"
"That's right. But now's not the time to talk about this. Let's get out of here first."
Wise then led the two of them, and although he only had a pair of short legs, his running speed left Anby and Billy amazed.
A short time later, somewhere in the Old Subway Hub of the Cleft of Creation Hollow...
"I can't hear that high-level Ethereal's voice anymore."
"Th-that's great! I feel like the hydraulic rods in my legs are about to break," Billy said, panting. Wait, do robots even need to breathe?
Not dwelling on that, Anby looked at Wise with a familiar calm. "I propose we take a rest now. Is that permissible, Rope-master?"
"Mmm, it's not dangerous around here right now. You two rest up. I'll stand guard." Wise had no objections and immediately agreed. Anby and Billy had been fighting in the Hollow for so long that if they didn't rest, they probably wouldn't be able to hold on.
"Okay, thank you for that. I'll switch with you in a little while," Anby said with a gentle nod and went to sit down at the side. As for Billy, he had already found a spot and was resting.
"Man, that was a close call. I never thought that old guy from the Red Fang Gang would mutate into such a powerful monster. Thanks to you showing up, Boss, we were able to escape."
"If you praise me like that, I might just give you a discount on the commission fee," Wise said in a lighthearted tone.
Hearing this, Anby immediately perked up. "Hmm! Really?"
"Uh, Anby, I think the Rope-master is just being polite," Billy interjected.
"Alright. But speaking of the commission," Anby continued, "I thought Nicole would leave us to fend for ourselves because Phaethon's fees are so high and she wanted to save money. I'm surprised she actually hired you."