By the plaza, Ellen tapped her foot impatiently, casting occasional glances at the minstrel not far away.
She could hear the cheerful melody he was playing.
The tune was decent—but too slow. It'd be much better if he sped it up a bit.
Beside her, Corin said nervously, "Ellen, that guy wasn't laughing at you... He must've been laughing at me..."
Ellen shot a glare at the minstrel. "So what? If he dares to laugh again, I'll cut him."
A moment later, an off-road vehicle bearing the Victoria insignia rolled up and stopped in front of them—it was Lycaon and Rina.
Ellen huffed, "Boss, if we wait another minute, those two Bangboos are going to get scooped up by someone else."
Corin added in a low voice, "I saw on the forums that there are at least six or seven hundred people competing for them... Lycaon, can we even win?"
Lycaon remained calm. "No need to worry. They're just a bunch of unorganized nobodies."
What really concerned him were the official forces of New Eridu and the power players from the major corporations.
Corin whispered, "Seems like Hare's House is headed for Hollow C75 too…"
The mention of Hare's House made Lycaon frown.
He knew Sam Li was strong, but in terms of mission execution and capturing Bangboos, he didn't consider himself any less capable.
"No need to panic. Even if they catch them, we can always buy them afterward."
As long as the New Eridu authorities didn't get their hands on them, it was fine.
Once Ellen and Corin got in the vehicle, Lycaon wasted no time and led the Victoria Housekeeping team straight toward Hollow C75.
Not far from the fountain—
As soon as Victoria Housekeeping's car disappeared from sight, Venti stopped playing and glanced in their direction.
"Heh, something interesting seems to be going on. Might as well tag along."
With that, he gripped his lyre and transformed into a breeze, vanishing silently.
As word of the Golden Bangboo and Platinum Bangboo's whereabouts spread, factions began swarming toward Hollow C75.
At that moment, Sam Li, Nicole, Billy, Anby, Nekomata, Soldier 11, and Belle-controlled Eous had already arrived at Hollow C75.
Located on the outskirts of New Eridu, this area had been abandoned by the city after being consumed by a Hollow decades ago.
They were greeted by rows of half-finished buildings, now long abandoned.
It was obvious this had once been part of a development zone before the Hollow disaster brought everything to a halt.
Since entering, Nicole had lost all interest in driving. Her eyes stayed locked on her surroundings, scanning for any trace of the Bangboos—so much so that she nearly drove into a wall.
Nicole slammed the brakes. "I'm focusing on finding Golden Bangboo. Someone else take the wheel."
Soldier 11 volunteered, "I'll do it."
Nicole turned to Billy. "You drive. And go easy—this off-roader is brand new. Scratch it and the repair bill comes out of your allowance."
Billy immediately straightened up. "Understood, Nicole. I promise you won't regret it."
If he dinged this car, that'd be six months of allowance gone—no oil for his beloved twin guns, and they'd start showing wrinkles.
Thanks to Nicole's warning, Billy kept it slow, which suited Nicole just fine—only a careful pace would allow for a proper search.
But Soldier 11 was growing impatient. "We're crawling here. I could get there faster on foot."
Without waiting for the car to stop, she opened the door and jumped out, landing smoothly on the ground.
Nicole quickly realized, "She's right. We won't find anything just sitting here. Everyone out—spread out and search down this street."
Then she glanced at Eous. "Proxy, you handle data scouting. If you find anything related to Golden Bangboo, alert us immediately."
Belle, controlling Eous, replied, "Got it. I'm scanning the Hollow C75 map now. You guys keep searching."
With no further intel or leads, Hare's House had no choice but to search like everyone else—sweeping the area in a grid pattern.
Worse yet, they soon crossed paths with agents from other agencies—rivals in the same business.
Anby warned, "Looks like the competition's already deep inside. Rough estimate? There must be at least five hundred people in Hollow C75 right now, all after those Bangboos... Nicole, we can't keep doing this."
Nicole understood. A blanket search didn't play to Hare's House's strengths.
Just as she was wracking her brain for a better plan—
Sam Li suddenly said, "Logically speaking, it's sunny over that way—and the luck feels prosperous. Why not take a look?"
Nicole immediately nodded. "Alright, we'll follow Sam Li's lead."
Everyone piled back into the vehicle and headed in the direction Sam Li indicated.
They'd barely started when Belle cracked into the Hollow Investigation Bureau's network.
"Got a hit. No surprise—the authorities always know more. Both Bangboos are near the abandoned stadium on the north side. Hurry!"
Nicole lit up. "Billy, get us to that stadium—fast!"
Billy replied, "Already headed that way, Nicole."
Sam Li's intuition had been spot-on.
Billy wasn't a bad driver. With a destination locked in, he stepped on it.
Soon they were out of the rundown block and cruising down a wider road.
They rounded a collapsed building and finally saw it: a massive, crumbling stadium. Its front gates had long since been wrecked by the rampaging Ethereals.
Nicole grabbed Billy's shoulder. "Drive in."
As the vehicle rolled into the stadium, Nicole scanned the area with eager eyes.
Then Nekomata suddenly shouted, "Nicole, over there—golden Bangboo!"
Nicole whipped her head around. "Where?!"
Following Nekomata's pointing finger—
Nicole spotted them: a Golden Bangboo and a Platinum Bangboo, swaying in the center of the stadium as they danced a flashy, ridiculous jig.
Gold gear coins littered the ground.
Sparkling Dennies glinted everywhere.