Just as Arden had expected, the technicians quickly reached a conclusion.
"Daoist masters, this is a device Porcelumex installed around mining areas and factories… It emits energy at a specific wavelength to repel Ethereals."
At the Meffer Mine, a beautiful engineer named Xiaomei—wearing a white lab coat—explained her findings to Arden and Ju Fufu.
"Repel Ethereals? That… doesn't seem right, does it?"
Arden clearly remembered that when they found the metal pillar, it had been surrounded by Ethereals.
Xiaomei's next words answered his doubts.
"It should work that way originally…"
"But the device Daoist Fufu brought back was modified. The wavelength that repels Ethereals was replaced with one that attracts them."
"And that's not all."
Xiaomei revealed more discoveries. "I also detected devices inside our mine emitting similar energy wavelengths."
As she spoke, she took out a machine resembling a large network switch and placed it in front of Arden and Ju Fufu.
Xiaomei glanced around, and after confirming no one else was nearby, she lowered her voice. "I suspect there's an internal traitor inside our mine."
"A traitor?!"
Arden raised an eyebrow.
Based on Xiaomei's further explanation, the process became clear: Ethereals were first drawn to a fixed location by the attraction device. Then, through changes in energy wavelengths, the gathered Ethereals were guided straight toward the Meffer Mine—causing the attacks.
The attraction device in the plaza and the relay device inside the mine were both indispensable.
"…"
Arden and Ju Fufu exchanged glances.
Even with her tail, Ju Fufu could guess that the plaza device was definitely Porcelumex's doing. Otherwise, any tampering would have been detected immediately.
As for the device inside the mine—it could only mean an insider.
Someone within the mine had defected to Porcelumex. That conclusion was obvious.
"Xiaomei, who else knows about this?"
"Only me."
"Good. Keep this confidential for now. Don't tell anyone. Understood?"
"Yes, I understand."
…..
After having Xiaomei quietly return to her post, Arden called for Bu Lü and asked about the device.
Naturally, he only mentioned the one found in the plaza, deliberately avoiding any reference to the internal device or the possibility of a traitor.
After all, until the traitor was exposed, everyone was a suspect.
Bu Lü brushed himself clean of responsibility with the excuse that he had only been there a few days and didn't know much.
"Brother Arden, what do we do next?"
Ju Fufu asked Arden.
They had no good way to deal with Porcelumex—storming their headquarters was obviously unrealistic. And the issue of the traitor inside the mine was equally without clues.
"Hmm…"
Arden thought for a moment. "Let's clear out all the Ethereal-attracting devices first."
There was more than one such device. Even though removing the internal one significantly reduced attack frequency, leaving large numbers of Ethereals lingering around the mine was still dangerous.
Only after the Meffer Mine was completely secure could Arden and Ju Fufu free up their hands to deal with other matters.
…..
With prior experience, locating the remaining devices around the mine became much easier.
And there was no longer any need to drag them back—destroying them on the spot would suffice.
Boom!
A white-blue bolt of lightning suddenly split the slightly dim Hollow sky, blasting the metal pillar into fragments and completely destroying it.
"Huff… that should be the last one."
Arden glanced at the signal receiver Xiaomei had made. Seeing that it no longer detected any Ethereal-attracting wavelengths, he finally relaxed.
Though not difficult, repetitive work could still become tiresome.
"Wrap it up, wrap it up!"
Ju Fufu felt the same. She rubbed her slightly flattened belly, eager to head back to the mine for a meal.
On the way back to the Meffer Mine.
"Waaah… waaah…"
"!?"
Ju Fufu suddenly stopped, her tiger ears twitching. "Brother Arden, did you hear that?"
"Someone help me… waaah…"
A plea for help mixed with a little girl's sobbing came through clearly.
"Another little girl chased by stray dogs and stumbling into a Hollow?"
Arden recalled the time before joining Yunkui Summit, when he had rescued Xiao Lan in a similar situation.
"Probably,"
Ju Fufu replied as she walked toward the crying sound. Sure enough, she found a small girl curled up in a corner.
"Don't cry, don't cry. Big sister will take you out to find your mom."
As she spoke, Ju Fufu reached out to lift the little girl, intending to check for injuries.
[Ding! Temporary quest 'The Sorrow of the Boy Assassin' received. Reward: Shop Points +10!]
"!!"
Temporary quests weren't unusual—Arden got them from time to time. But the title of this one instantly put him on high alert.
"Fufu, watch out!"
Just as the warning left his mouth, a flash of cold light emerged from the "little girl's" arms, stabbing toward the defenseless Ju Fufu at lightning speed.
Pfft!
The sound of a blade piercing flesh.
But not Ju Fufu's flesh.
In all of New Eridu, the only one who could "pierce" Ju Fufu's flesh… was Arden!
At the critical moment, Arden lunged forward, grabbing the dagger aimed at Ju Fufu with his bare hand.
"…"
The assassin continued pushing forward, but Arden ignored the wound and the blood dripping from his hand, gripping the dagger so tightly it couldn't advance even an inch.
"Tch!"
Clicking his tongue in annoyance, the assassin abandoned the dagger when faced with Ju Fufu's incoming tiger claw and retreated.
Whoosh—
The gust from the claw blew back the assassin's hood, revealing a very young face.
He looked only thirteen or fourteen years old—not a girl, but a boy.
"…"
Arden stared at the boy assassin, dangerous light flashing in his narrowed eyes.
"So young and already refusing to do anything decent. Becoming an assassin is one thing—but disguising yourself as a little girl and exploiting my Fufu's kindness… You really need a proper lesson."
Arden admitted it—this time, he was genuinely angry.
"Brother Arden, are you okay?"
Ju Fufu hurried to examine the wound on his hand.
"I'm fine. Just a scratch."
Arden shook it off casually.
The blood was bright red, and he felt no signs of poisoning. Clearly, the other party had held back.
If he were the assassin… he'd definitely have coated the dagger with cyanide.
Of course, he always carried antidote pills—poison wouldn't scare him anyway.
Yet, facing Arden's threat and Ju Fufu closing in, the boy assassin showed no fear.
"Hmph! If you want to teach me a lesson… let's see you get past them first!"
As his words fell, a group of thugs wearing round protective helmets suddenly appeared, surrounding them from all sides.
There were over a hundred of them, wielding clubs, firearms, and other weapons, all wearing malicious expressions.
"…"
Arden instantly realized that their movements had been leaked by the mine's traitor—hence this ambush.
"Surrender now and you might suffer a bit less—"
"Pierce through gold—obey!"
Arden didn't waste a single word and struck immediately!
"Tiger Might Unleashed!"
Ju Fufu followed in perfect sync.
Though the enemy held an overwhelming numerical advantage, the two of them didn't take these thugs seriously at all.
As long as they weren't Void Hunter–level opponents, Arden had nothing to fear. And anyone with Void Hunter–level power—who would choose to be a street thug?
Arden admitted that disguising as a crying little girl had perfectly exploited their weakness. But once that first strike failed, there was no longer any chance of victory.
The ones who truly needed to surrender to "suffer less"… were the thugs.