"..."
Arden, listening on the side, nodded silently.
Pretty much matches the plot I know.
"I see, the manager's equipment was hijacked by a mysterious hacker—no wonder we lost contact with her."
"So it was that scoundrel hacker taking advantage of the situation while we were out. Absolutely don't let him get away!"
Billy and Nicole had understood the situation, but Anby's focus had drifted elsewhere.
"So, it wasn't because Nicole underpaid the commission that you were angry!"
Apparently, even with a few orders from Arden, the Cunning Hares couldn't escape the fate of running a deficit every month.
"I'm not that cold-blooded!"
Eous pressed her tiny hands on her hips, fully showing off her adorable performance.
"..."
Yiji, meanwhile, stared at Eous with surprise in her eyes. It was the first time she had seen such Proxy technique.
And Arden noticed Yiji's reaction as well.
...
With Arden and Yiji joining in, and Phaethon guiding them, the Hollow and its Ethereals instantly lost their threat.
In fact, Arden hadn't actually struck a single blow.
Perhaps he wanted to prove in front of the former captain that Yiji was no longer the helpless Twiggy, but a highly capable Yiji—so she actively participated.
Talismans, grenades, firearms, potions… everything that could be used was used, cooperating with Anby in close combat.
"Tw-Twiggy… Yiji, have you been doing okay?"
"..."
Hearing Anby's words, Yiji froze for a moment. She hadn't expected the strong Anby she remembered to speak to her like that.
"Of course, Captain Anby, Yiji has been very happy—there's always endless delicious food every day."
Yiji had heard from Arden that the Cunning Hares' finances were always tight and occasionally needed assistance for meals.
So, she said this both to reassure Anby and to see if she could dig out a little advantage.
"I see."
Looking at Yiji's smiling face, Anby's expression softened, and the corners of her mouth lifted slightly.
Hmm, a little envy too.
"That's good then."
Looks like Captain Anby has also found her own place to belong… oh well, at least it's not too far away.
Yiji abandoned her idea of digging for advantage—Captain Anby like this was just fine.
"Stop chatting. Up ahead is the boss fight."
Arden reminded, pointing at an ether nearby and the safe close to it.
"Captain Anby, let's strike together!"
"Got it!"
Ding ding dang dang~~!
Although called a boss, the Dullahan corrupted by ether was only an Elite Ethereal. With the full attacks of Anby and Yiji, and support from Arden, Nicole, Billy, and Belle cheering them on, it was quickly defeated.
"Hahaha—finally, finally got it back!"
Nicole, hugging the safe, had stars in her eyes, shamelessly touching and kissing it.
"This month, no more deficit!!"
"Whoa!"
"Yay!"
Hearing they wouldn't run a deficit, Anby and Billy cheered.
It was no wonder the three Cunning Hares members were so excited—the last time they had a surplus was when generous Arden gave them a big order, and that had been a while ago.
"..."
Arden silently watched the safe, not joining in the Cunning Hares' celebration.
That mysterious, narcissistic, prideful, sharp-tongued AI 'Fairy' is about to come out, huh.
"Although I don't want to spoil the fun, it's still too early to celebrate!"
At this moment, Belle poured cold water over them. "Nicole, calm down and listen…"
"It's all that scoundrel hacker's fault! He deleted the escape data I had prepared to leave the Hollow."
In reality, either Yiji or Arden could get everyone out of the Hollow, but both chose to remain silent.
Arden liked 'Fairy' and didn't want her trapped in the safe, and Yiji was acting on his instructions.
Meanwhile, Belle proposed a solution.
According to the hacker, the contents of the safe had value similar to the 'Rosetta' data. With it, one could freely enter and exit the Hollow. So, Belle could use the items in the safe to leave.
...
Under everyone's gaze, Eous opened the safe, took out the data card, and inserted it into the slot on her forehead.
Vwoooom!
The next moment, Eous floated into the air, suspended, radiating light!
"What the—! Is this a Super Saiyan transformation?!"
Arden had seen a similar scene in Hollow Zero's main storyline, but seeing it in real life was completely different—he couldn't help but exclaim.
The strange phenomenon didn't last long, and Eous didn't actually transform. Once she landed, she didn't make a sound but aimed at a direction and ran with her tiny legs at an incredible speed.
"Manager? Quick, follow her!"
...
Sixth Street, Random Play Video Store.
"No… don't eat my brain!"
Comatose Belle was held on the sofa by her brother. Her body convulsed constantly, accompanied by incoherent muttering.
"What's wrong with the manager? Should we take her to the hospital?"
"Hospital… what do we say to the doctors?"
"Phaethon's identity cannot be revealed."
"No rush, I know a secret doctor—we can get them here!"
...
Belle's room on the second floor.
"Boys stay out!"
Yiji stationed Billy and Wise outside.
"But… Daoist Arden is a boy too, right?"
For some reason, Wise suddenly worried about his sister.
"A doctor doesn't care about gender; they're still a doctor… you wait outside."
Bang!
Yiji didn't wait for Billy or Wise to argue further and closed the door.
"Captain Anby, we must protect her."
"Mm."
Inside the room.
"Ah! Star Cannon, fire!"
Belle lay on the bed, still muttering in her sleep, her body convulsing occasionally.
Nicole's face was filled with worry. When she turned and saw Arden calmly preparing silver needles for acupuncture, she finally relaxed a little.
"Nicole, take off some clothes."
"Take off… clothes?"
"What are you taking off!? I mean help Manager Belle remove her clothes!"
"Ah? Oh!"
Of course, it was only acupuncture—no full undressing was needed. Just remove the jacket.
"Ah, even the small ones are cute."
Arden commented.
Of course, this "small" was relative to Nicole. In reality, Belle's development was already above the average for her age, far surpassing Ju Fufu, and similar to Yiji.
...
About ten minutes later.
As if just escaping from a cactus forest, Belle's front was now full of silver needles, especially on her forehead and temples.
"Done!"
Ah! Arden waved his hand, and all the needles instantly flew back into the acupuncture toolkit.
"Nicole, flip the patient over!"
"Got it!"
After finishing the front, it was time for the back.
Another ten minutes passed.
Creak!
The door to Belle's room opened, and Arden casually stepped out.
"My sister…"
Seeing Arden, Wise quickly asked.
"No need to worry! I am the top medical master of Yunkui Summit!"
This wasn't boasting—when it came to healing, not even Master Xuan could compare. "Rest assured, mother and child… cough! I mean, Belle is now stable. She suffered quite a mental shock before, so she needs time to recover before waking up."
The muttering and convulsions had stopped. According to Arden's estimate, Belle would wake up tomorrow.
"That's wonderful!"
Wise's face lit up with joy.
===BREAK===
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