Rina looked at Corin, her voice soft with encouragement. "Lord Lycaon and Ellen have gone to gather intelligence, so we can't slack off either. But since Corin is working so hard, I'm sure you'll do great. That orange aurora we just saw fell nearby—let's check over there."
Corin nodded firmly, eyes darting nervously as she scanned the surroundings. "Mm, Corin will look carefully and won't miss a single detail!"
The two passed by the corpse of the Dead End Butcher, following the direction where the orange light had descended until they reached a deep crater.
The pit was about two meters deep. At its core, a patch of earth had crystallized under the effect of intense heat.
Cracks radiated outward from the pit in spiderweb patterns, ranging from deep to shallow.
"We found it! Corin didn't let everyone down!" Corin said happily. "That orange light just now definitely flew this way."
"Looks like this is the spot. Well done, Corin." Rina nodded, then gazed at the crater's center in amazement. "To have traveled that far and still blast open a crater here… it really is a formidable weapon."
"Now, let's see what that shell really is."
She floated into the pit, crouching down to inspect it carefully.
At the deepest point lay a single coin embedded in the ground.
Though the design was worn, she could faintly make out the number '1'.
Aside from this coin, the crater contained nothing but scorched and unscorched soil.
"One Denny?"
Rina stared blankly at the gleaming coin.
A high-energy weapon that crossed half a Hollow… turned out to be just a single Denny.
And not just that—it was the smallest denomination possible. Not even enough to buy a piece of candy at a supermarket.
"Head Maid Rina, what's wrong?" Corin, standing at the crater's edge, grew nervous seeing her freeze. "Did something go wrong? Did Corin find the wrong place?"
"No, you didn't." Rina regained her composure and smiled. "I was just… shocked."
She pulled a camera from her ornate maid's dress and snapped several close-up shots of the coin from different angles.
After securing enough evidence, she carefully pried the coin out of the soil and examined it in her hand.
Other than heavy wear, it was no different from an ordinary coin.
Still, she couldn't jump to conclusions. Better to take it back for testing.
She slipped the coin into an evidence bag and floated back up to Corin's side.
Corin peered at the bag nervously. "Head Maid Rina, is this just some spare change we're handing over to the Public Security?"
"Always thinking of turning in found items—Corin really is a good girl."
"But no, this isn't pocket change. This was the high-energy weapon we just saw."
Rina shook the bag lightly, smiling.
"Eh?" Corin shrank back, trembling. "That's terrifying… now even coins are dangerous?"
Rina thought for a moment, then nodded. "Mm… you could put it that way."
...
On the other side, Sol and his group had returned once again to Canvas Street.
Nekomiya Mana looked at the familiar sights of her childhood, a faint wave of nostalgia rising in her chest.
Before the Red Fang Gang went rotten, she too had lived through happy days here.
Reaching the mouth of the alley, she spotted piles of charred mechanical debris. Judging by the number of weapons, no fewer than thirty or forty thugs had attacked.
But strangely, there were no corpses, not even a trace of blood.
Even more baffling, the dozens of guns had left not a single bullet mark along the alley walls.
That's too weird. What were these guns firing at if not a single round hit?
Then her eyes narrowed as she noticed a bald head with a fierce face… and part of a heavily muscled lower body.
No blood flowed. The wounds were sealed by blackened carbon, as though scorched by extreme heat.
She turned a questioning look toward Sol, unable to understand what kind of power could kill thugs in such a bizarre way.
Anby noticed something off as well. As a former Defense Force soldier, her battlefield sense was sharper than Mana's.
She recognized that bald head—it belonged to a notorious criminal active in the underworld.
And yet, here he lay, reduced to just a head and lower body, his wounds charred. What kind of powerful fire-based ability had done this?
Something truly extraordinary had happened here.
But she'd never seen Sol use an ability that could cause such a scene. Was this the work of Zhu Yuan and Qingyi?
"The culprit… the Invincible Fist King died here. The fight must have been brutal," Anby said, eyeing the head with uncertainty.
Invincible Fist King—that was the name, right?
"The culprit was the Invincible Fist King?" Nicole blinked, then studied the bald man. "Anby, his name is Berbick."
She felt a jolt of surprise. This man was infamous across the Inter-Knot, a top-tier underground killer. And yet here he was, reduced to scraps.
Vision Corporation had truly spent heavily to hire him. But compared to the cost of demolishing Canvas Street, the price was nothing.
Thankfully, Sol had teamed up with the two Public Security officers—otherwise, even they might not have stood a chance against him and his dozens of men.
"Oh, sorry, Nicole. I remembered wrong."
Anby remained calm, not embarrassed in the slightest.
Turning to Zhu Yuan and Qingyi, she said earnestly, "To take down so many thugs… the ability of Public Security really is impressive. With you protecting New Eridu, the city must be safe."
Zhu Yuan blinked, unsure what she meant.
Other than making a trip to Canvas Street, they'd done basically nothing.
The real effort had come from Sol—and his Bangboo.
To suddenly receive such praise left her feeling a bit awkward.
Qingyi, however, quickly pieced it together: Anby must have thought the Public Security officers had taken out the thugs.
But as Sol's teammate, how could she not recognize his ability?
Still, intelligence showed he'd only recently joined the Cunning Hares. That made the misunderstanding understandable.
Shaking her head, Qingyi explained, "Anby, these thugs weren't dealt with by us. Sol used a [Railgun] ability to take care of them."
"Railgun?"
Anby tilted her head, looking at Sol with curiosity.
Nicole, Billy, and Mana also craned their necks, itching with curiosity.
"It uses high-voltage current to create an electromagnetic rail that launches metal at incredible speeds. Pretty effective," Sol said simply. "I'll give you all a demonstration next time."
"Oh."
Anby nodded lightly, asking no more.
Nicole and Billy exchanged a glance, both quietly resolving to keep a close eye in the future.
After all, if this power could leave the brutal bald thug in such a state, it was anything but simple.