After watching the shortened video—
"Proxies and Hollow Raiders—like wolves and jackals—stealing prey right under the Hollow Investigative Association's nose. I've seen plenty of them backstab each other," the hacker said calmly. "But a Hollow Raider willing to give up their chance of survival just to protect a Proxy's identity… this is a first."
Belle and Wise fell silent.
If that's the case, then saving them became all the more imperative.
"Who would've thought that cunning rabbit Nicole would make such a choice."
Wise said this with a tinge of emotion.
In his impression, Nicole was the type to ditch a job the moment it turned dangerous—sometimes even using the employer's goods to save her own skin.
Yet that very Nicole had chosen to forgo help from Public Security just to protect their identities.
"My concern wasn't for nothing."
Belle's tone held some relief.
If Sol Mercer had decided to trade their identities for a map, all her care would've been fed to the dogs.
But now, this feeling—it moved her, just a little.
"Hey hey hey, have you two made up your minds yet?" the hacker's voice interrupted, a cold laugh following. "Your agents have chosen to bet their lives on this. Don't let them down~"
Belle and Wise exchanged glances, perfectly in sync.
"We're willing to hand over the password."
Belle added, "As long as you return control of the HDD system to us, we can log into our Inter-Knot account and retrieve the password stored there."
"Don't take me for a fool." The hacker sneered. "If I return control of the system, how can I be sure you'll keep your word?"
"Well, there's nothing we can do. The password is stored on Inter-Knot. Without logging in, we really don't know it."
Belle spread her hands, making an exaggerated gesture of helplessness.
Wise chimed in, "Come on, Mr. Hacker. Who memorizes a string of numbers that's saved on a computer anyway?"
The hacker hesitated.
What they said made sense.
But if he really gave back control of the HDD system… he'd be a total idiot.
Suddenly, the hacker got an idea. "Heh, if the password's on Inter-Knot, then just give me the Inter-Knot account info. Same result."
Belle and Wise were thrilled—they knew the bait had been taken.
Still, they had to keep up the act.
The siblings hesitated on cue.
"What's this? Not willing to share?" The hacker grew more confident, sneering. "Your dear teammates are still suffering in the Hollow, you know. Better think about them."
Even as he said it, the hacker felt a little uneasy.
From Eous's perspective, he could clearly see Sol Mercer and the others lounging around, bored enough to snack on melon seeds.
But he had no choice. Belle and Wise weren't budging with any other tactic—so he had to use this threat.
He could only hope it would scare them just enough.
"Fine, we'll hand over Phaethon's account credentials."
Belle gritted her teeth. "But you must give us back control of the HDD system. We need to ensure Nicole and the others are safe!"
Wise echoed her resolve. "That's right. This is non-negotiable."
In truth, when the Alpha Data Station was wiped, the Phaethon account had already lost most of its value.
Their dramatic reluctance was purely to mislead the hacker.
"You're in no position to bargain. Your only option now is to trust me." The hacker smirked. "But rest assured—once you hand over the account, they'll be just fine."
Belle's acting was flawless—her outrage perfectly believable.
Wise pulled her back, playing the submissive one. "Forget it. We really don't have a choice. We'll have to trust him."
At that, Belle hung her head and handed over Phaethon's account credentials to the hacker.
"Keh keh keh! That's more like it!"
The hacker successfully logged into the account, laughing triumphantly.
"We have a question," Wise suddenly asked. "What's in that safe, exactly? What could possibly make so many factions go after it?"
The White Star Institute, the Red Fang Gang's shadowy backers, the employer from the Cunning Hares, and this mysterious hacker…
One little safe had somehow drawn in so many powerful forces—it was truly unsettling.
"At this final moment, I suppose I can enlighten you," the hacker said, riding high after obtaining the credentials. "It's something you could never even dream of possessing!"
"You both know that Hollow maps are derived from the computation of massive Hollow data. But because Hollows are constantly changing, those results are bound to have errors. That's why a master dataset is needed to correct them—the Rosetta Data held by the Mayor himself."
"What's in the safe is essentially another Rosetta Data set. With it, one could freely enter and exit any Hollow."
As he spoke, the hacker's joy was boundless—as if he could already see Fairy glowing in his hands.
Just like a villain savoring the moment before the kill, he basked in the protagonists' despair.
He didn't notice Belle had already slipped out of the room, called Public Security, and returned.
"Now, I have one last question," Wise said, smirking. "If you could hack into the HDD system, why not just steal the password directly? Or hack Inter-Knot for the backup?"
"Are you mocking me!? Don't push me!"
The hacker was clearly flustered.
He really couldn't break into the HDD system—the firewall was the toughest he'd ever encountered.
Even with parts of Ghost's code, he couldn't gain full control.
"Think about it," Wise pressed, "aside from blocking our system and communications, you haven't done anything that proves you're actually a hacker. All you've done is threaten us using data and Nicole's group."
"Maybe all you've got is a delete key?"
Belle smirked, her tone biting.
"You bastards, shut up!" the hacker snarled. "Tell me the backup password location or I'll make you regret it!"
Belle tapped her chin playfully. "Still want a password? Why don't you listen to the sirens outside first?"
The hacker paused—he finally noticed the sound of police sirens blaring outside the window.
"Nothing much," Wise said cheerfully. "Just a concerned citizen reporting the legendary Proxy's account info to Public Security."
The hacker froze, then gritted his teeth. "So that's it… That's it! You gave up your legendary Proxy identity just to bait me in?! You people are cold-blooded…"
"Thanks for the compliment, Mr. Hacker." Belle grinned. "But we didn't give up Phaethon's identity—just a hollowed-out account."
The hacker had no time to argue—he was already scrambling to deal with Public Security.
The credentials to the legendary Proxy Phaethon were enough to stir up an entire district's public security bureau.
"Brother, we did it! We've regained control of the HDD system!"
Belle stared at the restored system interface, brimming with excitement.
"Yeah. Great teamwork, little sis!" Wise praised. "Let's reconnect and go save Nicole and the others."
Belle's fingers danced over the keyboard, immediately rebooting the HDD system.
She couldn't wait to show up before Sol Mercer—as the hero of the hour.