In another district of New Eridu, inside the Janus Branch of the Public Security Bureau.
After receiving orders from their superior, Zhu Yuan and Qingyi rushed over from Hare's House and pushed open the conference room door.
besides Zhu Yuan and Qingyi, there were more than a dozen other public security officers in the room.
As soon as the two entered,
Seth hurried over to give them a quick briefing.
In short, the Defense Force had recently discovered multiple rebel factions active across various Hollows, including Hollow Zero.
They were preparing a large-scale operation to wipe them out all at once.
However, due to manpower constraints, they hoped to enlist a few elite officers from the Public Security Bureau to assist.
The purpose of the meeting was to decide who would support the Defense Force in this mission.
Everyone in the room knew—
operations against rebels were extremely dangerous. Unless absolutely necessary, no one wanted to volunteer.
Zhu Yuan stepped forward without hesitation.
Qingyi followed right after.
Seth paused, then quickly added,
"And me, Sir. Zhu Yuan's squad is ready at all times."
Seeing Zhu Yuan's squad step up on their own,
the Bureau Chief gave them an approving nod.
"Zhu Yuan, Qingyi, Seth—I knew I could count on you."
He then dismissed the other officers, leaving only the three of them behind.
Once the room cleared, he revealed more detailed mission intel.
They were ordered to head to the frontline outpost immediately and rendezvous with the Obol Squad of the Defense Army.
After the trio departed,
the Bureau Chief stood silently, gazing out the window at the sun and letting out a heavy sigh.
he hadn't told Zhu Yuan everything.
For instance, the urgency of this operation wasn't just about rebels.
A far more serious issue was brewing—Hollow Zero was showing signs of expansion again.
Recently, the frontline outpost detected abnormal data fluctuations—clear signs that Hollow Zero might grow larger. If it did, it would spell catastrophe.
New Eridu's leadership suspected that this anomaly was tied to rebel activity.
They needed to eliminate the rebels first, then figure out how to contain the Hollow before disaster struck.
"The skies over New Eridu... might be about to change again."
Decades ago, Old Eridu was destroyed, and New Eridu rose from its ashes.
If this city fell too... who knew if humanity could build another sanctuary like it?
As New Eridu's situation grew dire...
Meanwhile, deep inside Hollow A37—
Keqing, Hu Tao, the Traveler, Paimon, and Xiao had already slain several high-level Ethereals and pushed past the outer zone.
Now, they were in the most dangerous inner region of the Hollow.
members of Hollow Special Operations Unit 6—Hoshimi Miyabi, Tsukishiro Yanagi, Asaba Harumasa, and Soukaku—followed their trail, guided by observation instruments.
Several times, they almost caught up to the group...
But each time, they arrived just moments too late—finding only the remnants of battle and lingering elemental energy.
Staring at the marks scorched into the earth,
Asaba Harumasa frowned.
"How is this possible? Why are they moving so fast? We haven't stopped even once, and yet we haven't caught sight of them... Could it be they're not actually fighting high-level Ethereals, but just weaker ones?"
Tsukishiro Yanagi shook her head.
"No way. Based on the Ether activity and concentration here, a high-level Ethereal definitely died in this spot."
Asaba Harumasa still couldn't wrap his head around it.
"Then how are they dispatching them so quickly?"
Tsukishiro hesitated, unsure how to answer.
Hoshimi Miyabi spoke up.
"Because each time, they're killing the high-level Ethereals in seconds."
She had already come to this conclusion—
From all the combat sites she'd examined so far, the sword and spear marks were minimal...
In other words, the battles didn't last long.
Even the Ethereals had left behind barely any signs of resistance—meaning they were slain almost immediately after attacking.
Hoshimi Miyabi narrowed her eyes.
Tsukishiro tried to warn her.
"Section Chief, if we go any further, we'll enter the Hollow's core. There's more than one Ethereal in there that exceeds Notoriety level. If we run into multiple at once... even Unit 6 might have to pull back."
A single one might be manageable.
But two or more? Even they couldn't handle that head-on.
Hoshimi Miyabi replied firmly,
"Don't worry. Nothing will go wrong."
Tsukishiro stowed his instrument and followed her deeper into Hollow A37.
Keqing, the Traveler, Hu Tao, Paimon, and Xiao had already made their way into the Hollow's depths.
A dense fog had started to rise around them, growing thicker the further they went.
Paimon looked around anxiously.
"Traveler, Keqing... maybe we should turn back. I've got a really bad feeling about this."
The Traveler replied seriously,
"We're here now. Let's finish off the monsters. Sam Li said before—if we clear all the monsters in a Hollow, the Hollow will disappear, and this area can be saved."
"Exactly. Since we're planning to negotiate with the authorities here, it's best to show them our strength first."
That was precisely why she'd come.
In Keqing's eyes, with their current team, suppressing Hollow A37 shouldn't be a problem.
She couldn't shake that uneasy feeling in her chest.
Just as Keqing and the others entered the Hollow's depths—
Elsewhere within the same Hollow,
deep inside a hidden lab, a group of people in protective suits were conducting some kind of research.
someone burst into the lab in a rush.
"Bad news—someone's entered the area! Could be Defense Army, maybe even H.A.N.D.!"
The others didn't panic.
One of them even chuckled.
"What's the rush? Our experiment already succeeded. Whether it's the Defense Force or H.A.N.D., let's use it to deal with these unlucky bastards."
the man glanced toward the glass tank beside him.
Inside the Ether chamber stood a shadowy black figure, clad in darkness.
She had long fox-like ears and held a long sword in her hand.
If Unit 6 had been here, they would've recognized her instantly—
It was Hoshimi Miyabi. Or rather...
A clone created using Ether energy and Sacrifice—a replica just as powerful as the real Hoshimi Miyabi.