Hearing Principal Eiden's words, Corin was naturally furious. But when the thugs saw that negotiations had failed, they decided to resort to violence. However, the Hollow was still in an unstable state. A fierce fight could trigger a direct expansion.
The thugs, however, couldn't care less about that. Leaving some of their men behind to hold Corin and her team back, their leader and the principal made their escape.
"Damn it! They got away!" Corin bit her lip, wishing she could find those guys right now and give each of them a taste of her hammer.
"Don't worry, Corin. We'll find them," Wise said, trying to soothe her. As for finding people within a Hollow, that was a job for the most trustworthy and powerful artificial intelligence in the world.
"Fairy, can I leave it to you?"
"Certainly. Collecting Hollow expansion data. The Hollow's activity is currently intense, and the amount of information to capture is vast. Please have Assistant No. 2 ensure a sufficient power supply for me." Fairy's voice was tinged with eagerness.
Hearing this, Belle, who was standing nearby, silently unplugged her phone charger.
Soon, Fairy had finished collecting the data. "Master, a human voice not on the team roster was recorded near the Hollow's expansion. Broadcasting now: '[Follow me... this way... new student...]'."
Hearing the voice, Corin frowned with surprise. "That voice is... Ami?"
But surprise was quickly followed by worry. Ami was one of Corin's classmates from when she went undercover at the school. From the girl's words, it was clear that her other two friends were likely with her.
"Why are they here? No, we have to check on them first."
It was too dangerous to leave such young children alone in a Hollow. The expansion had most likely reached the school. It was hard to know how many children had been pulled in. Compared to those scumbags, the children's safety was far more important. The group decided to exit the Hollow first.
A short while later, Wise received a message and rushed to Belobog Heavy Industries' construction site at the school. After checking the roster, they confirmed that most students had not been pulled into the Hollow, except for Ami, Lixia, and Dan—the three children who had been having a disagreement earlier.
"It's all my fault. If Ben had been the teacher, he definitely would have done a better job than me..." Grace lowered her head, her eyes filled with guilt.
Wise comforted her. "Grace, it's not your fault."
"That's right! The one responsible for the Hollow's expansion is the principal. I will absolutely not let him get away with this!" Corin added, trying to console her sister.
But the most urgent matter was to enter the Hollow and find the three children. As children, their strength was limited, and they might not have aether-resistant bodies. Thinking of this, and to save time, Wise decided not to go back.
"Everyone, I'll go in with you."
"Huh? Wise, are you serious?" Corin asked, her tone laced with doubt and confusion. But then, as if remembering something, she fell into a brief silence. She was thinking of Wise's previous feat of single-handedly conquering a group of women, and his strange constitution.
In the end, Wise entered the Hollow with the group, and Belle took over control of Aethel.
Fairy quickly pinpointed the areas within the entire Hollow that showed signs of life. To speed up the search, they needed to split up and check each area one by one. There were no objections to this plan. Although Corin felt that Wise's strength shouldn't be weak, she was still a bit worried, so she decided to team up with him.
Wise was well aware of Corin's little intentions. Being cared for like this made him happy, but since they were in front of everyone, he had to restrain his eager hands to protect her pride.
Not long after the group split up, Wise and Corin found a weakened member of the gang. On the condition that they would help him get out, the guy spilled everything, including how he took this job because his girlfriend dumped him and how he had spent what felt like "over 60 years" in here—meaning the Hollow had existed for over two months. Other than that, there was no other noteworthy information.
Just then, Anton sent an urgent message. He had found a child, but they were surrounded by Ethereals. The two immediately rushed over. On the way, they ran into Ben, who was also heading there. Together, they cleared the Ethereals and safely regrouped.
The child Anton had found was Ami. From her, they learned some crucial information. For example, the scumbag principal was her father. Thinking about it, it was no wonder Ami had suddenly been asked to transfer schools. She had entered the Hollow this time to find out what her father was up to.
Hearing this, Corin was at a loss for words. The "scumbag," "jerk principal" insults that had been on the tip of her tongue were suddenly impossible to say in front of Ami. Perhaps it was because she had experienced a similar situation herself. In any case, she couldn't bring herself to curse a child's father in front of them.
After some conversation, Ami was surprised to learn that other children had been pulled into the Hollow and immediately guessed it was her two best friends. She was determined to join the group to find them.
Due to the Hollow's expansion and the increase in aether activity, the Ethereals inside had become extremely dangerous. However, the group had yet to encounter any major trouble.
The same couldn't be said for the thugs.
Principal Eiden was distracted, not even listening properly to the gang leader's words, because he thought he heard his daughter's voice inside the Hollow. The worry and concern for his daughter were evident in his words. Perhaps he wasn't a good principal, but he could probably be considered a good father.
Just then, Corin appeared before them. The principal was furious but still calmly shifted the blame. A dark side of human nature seemed to be on full display.
"I only did what any adult would do. If you put this test in front of ten thousand people, ten thousand and one would do the same thing," the principal declared arrogantly.
Corin looked at him with disdain. "The people I know wouldn't, because doing so is wrong!"
"Ha, that sounds like something a child would say."
"Even a child knows it's wrong. Are you saying an adult doesn't?"
-------
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