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"In a few more minutes, the airship will plunge straight into the Hollow!"
Rain's tone was extremely urgent.
There was a reason she and the Rebels were stationed here. This Companion Hollow was unremarkable, but it lay directly along the airship's flight path. That way, even if a crash occurred, no evidence would be found—and Perlman's crimes would die with him.
"What about the crew inside?"
Belle was infected by Rain's anxiety, her voice through Eous growing just as tense. After all, the Cunning Hares still owed Phaethon a massive debt—emotionally and logically, she didn't want anything to happen to them.
"They should already be knocked out by anesthetic gas. The only way to stop the crash now is manual control, but there's no one conscious left on the airship."
At this moment, Rain was being supported forward by Rina—carried would be more accurate. She had no strength left. After saying this, she had no more useful information to provide.
"Boarding the airship… I could do that."
Using his flying sword, Arden could fly briefly. "But… I don't know how to pilot an airship!"
At Yunkui Summit, Arden could be considered a jack-of-all-trades—talisman crafting, alchemy, massage therapy, acting, cooking… almost nothing he couldn't do. But piloting an airship was not one of those skills.
"I can."
Von Lycaon, who had been silent until now, finally spoke.
As the leader of Victoria Housekeeping, the number of skills he possessed was beyond counting. Flying an airship was trivial.
"As expected of Mr. Lycaon. It seems our cooperation can save even more innocent lives."
"Enough. Time's tight—move!"
Seeing the familiar signs of mutual flattery emerging, Ellen quickly cut them off.
...
Arden grabbed Von Lycaon's hand. Several flying swords combined into a massive greatsword, carrying the two of them skyward toward the airship floating above.
They didn't keep those below waiting long. The airship landed steadily on the Ballet Twins Building's helipad.
This was thanks to the rooftop protruding beyond the Hollow and being wide enough—otherwise, there'd have been no way to park such a massive airship.
Inside the airship, Arden saw Perlman.
Just as he remembered—he really did look like a potato.
He also saw the members of the Cunning Hares.
What was more interesting was that Billy hadn't been knocked out by the anesthetic gas. On second thought, that made sense—he was a robot. Human toxins had no effect on him. To knock him out, you'd need something like a computer virus.
"What am I seeing? Daoist Arden, you saved me again!"
The last time Arden had saved the Cunning Hares was in a Hollow—during the mission to retrieve the safe.
Billy danced around happily. He'd already prepared himself to crash with the airship. He never expected such a sudden turnaround—rescued once again by the handsome and heroic Arden.
"I hope next time; you don't need me to save you."
Arden shot Billy a look. It wasn't like he liked saving people—it was just that they kept getting into danger.
Besides, even if the "hero saves the damsel" trope was appealing, the ones worth saving would be Nicole, Anby… maybe even Nekomata, the newest Cunning Hares member. Billy the robot didn't make the list at all.
...
"Daoist Arden, that man escaped."
Von Lycaon stood on the rooftop, gazing at the airship flying away.
He'd already checked the headcount. Only one person was missing—Perlman.
"I didn't expect him to have resistance to anesthetics… By the way, can he even reach the clutch?"
Arden didn't seem particularly concerned about Perlman's escape. Instead, he appeared deeply interested in certain details.
"Uh… airships don't seem to have a clutch."
Von Lycaon's expression was strange. He wanted to say Arden's priorities were off—letting a criminal escape was a serious issue—but it was also technically not their responsibility.
"Oh? So, there's no clutch."
Arden suddenly understood. After all, he'd only ever ridden motorcycles. "He headed toward the Outer Ring. What happens next is for the Public Security to worry about… though it might also have something to do with me?"
Halfway through, Arden remembered that he still held the title of Senior Consultant to Janus Quarter Public Security.
And with Perlman escaping, someone inside the Public Security would definitely be held accountable. After all, anesthetic gas had been loaded onto the airship—no one would believe there wasn't an internal mole.
Don't tell me… they'll ask me to investigate the mole?
After the "Undercover" incident, Arden was already recognized as the Public Security's top expert in rooting out traitors.
Of course, if they really did come to him, Arden wouldn't mind digging out Bringer—and following that trail straight to the Exaltists.
"Another pleasant collaboration. I hope we can work together again."
Von Lycaon's words pulled Arden back from his thoughts.
"Not at all. Without everyone from Victoria Housekeeping, and Phaethon's help, I couldn't have accomplished anything alone."
It truly had been a perfect collaboration. Belle and Yiji handled navigation, while Arden and Victoria Housekeeping Co took care of combat. The benefits of teamwork were obvious, and Arden once again earned Von Lycaon's trust through both wisdom and strength.
"No! What we did was minor. Daoist Arden was the key."
"You flatter me…"
"..."
"Sigh~!"
Listening to the two start up their mutual flattery again, Ellen let out a helpless sigh.
...
After reminding Yiji to inform him immediately if there was any news about Perlman, Arden bade farewell to the members of Victoria Housekeeping and Belle.
Back at Yunkui Summit, Arden returned to his blissful life of family warmth and domestic peace. However, it wasn't long before Yiji sent news regarding Perlman.
"This time… the Outer Ring, huh."
Reading Yiji's message, Arden frowned slightly.
One of Billy's friends in the Outer Ring had discovered a crashed escape pod—and Perlman.
However, Perlman's condition was dire. The fall had left him gravely injured and on the verge of death. They wanted Arden, Yunkui Summit's medical saint, to come save him.
Without hesitation, after informing Ju Fufu, Yixuan, and Sweety, Arden mounted his beloved combat motorcycle and headed straight for the Outer Ring.
...
Billy, Belle, and Yiji arrived at the Outer Ring ahead of him—but were attacked on the way.
Although everyone was unharmed, perhaps due to exhaustion from travel, or perhaps because of ether contamination from the Hollow, Belle lost consciousness near Blazewood.
When they reached their destination, it was Yiji and Billy who carried her out of the vehicle together.
Yiji originally planned to take Belle somewhere she could rest, then wait for Arden to arrive and treat her. But at that moment, Billy's friend in Blazewood—Caesar—sneaked over and whispered something into Yiji's ear.
Yiji wanted to refuse, but Caesar suddenly grabbed her arm.
"This is the request of a lifetime. Please!"
"..."
With Caesar saying that much, Yiji—out of goodwill—could only agree.
Besides, Belle actually liked doing cameo roles at Suibian Film & Media Company. Playing a corpse, this time probably wouldn't bother her—she might even enjoy it.
After all, when Belle worked as an extra, her favorite role was always being dead.
Playing a corpse was great—double pay, no exhaustion. Once filming started, you just lay on the ground. During breaks, you could even lie there and scroll on your phone.
Perfect, really.
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