Like an eternal black hole embedded in the earth, Hollow Zero or Limbo—the prime culprit behind the Fall of the Old Capital—brazenly flaunted its overwhelming sense of presence, making it impossible for anyone to ignore.
And Scott Outpost stood as the very front line for monitoring and combating Hollow Zero.
Recently, due to unknown causes, Hollow Zero had become unusually active. Scott Outpost responded with targeted operations, leading to a shortage of manpower, and thus planned to recruit independent investigators to provide assistance.
Arden and Ju Fufu already possessed entry and exit clearance for Hollow Zero. However, for Yiji to freely enter and exit Hollow Zero as an independent investigator and Proxy, as well as to use Scott Outpost's equipment, she still needed to pass an assessment.
Although Yunkui Summit served as her guarantor, and with the support of two veteran Hollow investigators—Arden and Ju Fufu—passing the assessment would be effortless, the necessary procedures still had to be followed.
.....
Scott Outpost.
"Haa…"
Releasing her arms from around Arden's waist, Yiji stepped down from the back seat of the motorcycle and observed Scott Outpost ahead.
The defenses were fairly tight, but unlike the sci-fi-style base she had imagined, Scott Outpost's command center was merely a rather crude-looking tent.
"Stop staring. Let's go."
With one hand holding Ju Fufu and the other pulling Yiji along, Arden verified their identities, and the three of them entered the command tent together.
"You must be the disciples from Yunkui Summit, right? Youthful, energetic faces—very good!"
Ray, a researcher affiliated with the White Star Institute and responsible for recruiting independent investigators, looked at the three of them and nodded in satisfaction. "There's a task that isn't extremely urgent, but also can't be ignored. I'll hand it to you as an assessment."
Isn't this a bit too casual?
Yiji complained inwardly, though she didn't dislike this style of doing things.
"A staff member collecting data at the edge of Hollow Zero was attacked by a wandering Ethereal swarm… don't worry, she's not in danger for now. She entered an area outside the Carrot data to evade them. We need manpower to go rescue her," Ray explained the mission.
"Rescue someone… and deal with the Ethereal swarm on the way."
Arden stroked his chin, repeating the task details.
"Deal with the Ethereal… and rescue someone on the side."
"Outside the Carrot data… looks like my time to shine."
Ju Fufu and Yiji, meanwhile, interpreted it in an entirely different way.
"....."
Ray lifted her head from the desk full of data and instruments and glanced at the three of them oddly, her expression clearly saying, You three aren't going to fight among yourselves, are you?
"Ahem! I trust the strength of the three of you, but please be extra cautious. Hollow Zero hasn't been peaceful lately—abnormal incidents occur frequently."
In the end, she still chose to trust Yunkui Summit's gold-standard reputation.
"We understand!"
Arden patted Ju Fufu and Yiji on the head, indicating that both of them would listen to him and that there would be no internal conflict, putting Ray at ease.
"Phew… that's good."
Hearing this, Ray let out a sigh of relief. However, the strange look on her face didn't disappear—it simply shifted direction due to the trio's overly intimate behavior.
Of course, that was Yunkui Summit's internal matter. It wasn't her place to interfere, nor did she want to.
"The official briefing ends here. Register on the action terminal, and you can depart to carry out the mission."
.....
Inside the command center were support devices specially provided by the military, used for tuning Bangboo, Carrot production, long-range communication… and so on.
Naturally, all of this equipment was under military supervision.
Arden wasn't worried about that.
Yiji merely used the equipment to retrieve basic data on Hollow Zero, then left. She would enter Hollow Zero together with Arden and Ju Fufu, rather than staying outside in a safe area after producing Carrot data like an ordinary Proxy.
Scott Outpost didn't need ordinary Proxies anyway—only those capable of calculating Hollow conditions in real time were targets for recruitment.
Such as Phaethon.
Such as Yiji.
Phaethon relied on mastery of the HDD system, while Yiji depended on spells and special equipment.
As for spells, Yiji had her own talisman pouch. The special equipment, meanwhile, was carried on Ju Fufu's back, looking like an old-fashioned radio.
It looked heavy—and it actually was—but for Ju Fufu, it was no different from carrying a backpack.
"Yiji, are you ready?"
"Mm."
"Then… let's enter Hollow Zero."
"Alright."
.....
After entering Hollow Zero, Yiji used spells and equipment to scout and calculate, quickly pinpointing the route to the mission target and formulating an optimal path.
All Ethereals along the way were dealt with by Ju Fufu and Arden, and the three of them soon arrived at the target location.
"So… where's the person?"
Arden scanned the surroundings but found no sign of the trapped staff member.
Sniff sniff~~!
Ju Fufu noticed something and twitched her nose.
"It's… the smell of food!"
As a perpetually "hungry" tiger, Ju Fufu was extremely sensitive to food—she could smell it from 400km away. (This is an exaggeration)
"Food? Where would food—"
Mid-sentence, Arden suddenly realized something. "Fufu, where's the smell coming from?"
"Over there!"
Ju Fufu extended her tiger paw, pointing toward the corner of a building.
"You two stay here. I'll take a look."
.....
"This is… braised pork?"
Once close enough, Arden also caught the scent and could even tell what kind of dish it was.
"....."
He looked at the stacked crates in the corner of the building—the aroma was coming from there.
Leaning against the crates, he poked his head inside and spotted a young woman in a Hollow Investigative Association uniform, burying her head in a lunchbox while muttering to herself.
"Nom nom~~ Even if I die, I'll die full!"
She's surprisingly optimistic.
Feeling somewhat speechless, Arden took out Scott Outpost's standard communicator and pulled up the image of the trapped staff member.
That's her!
Arden reached out and gently tapped the trapped woman on the shoulder.
"What is it? I'm in the middle of eat—"
She stopped mid-sentence as she sensed something was wrong.
"Ahhh!!!"
Thinking she was about to die at the hands of an Ethereal, she jolted in fright, dropping the lunchbox from her hands.
"Ahem! Sorry, but you won't be dying full."
Arden cleared his throat and extended a finger, lightly tapping the half-eaten lunchbox on the ground, causing it to float up.
"I'm independent investigator Arden. I was ordered to rescue the trapped staff member."
"Phew… not an Ethereal. That's great."
Realizing it was Arden who had tapped her, the woman let out a huge sigh of relief and expressed her gratitude. "Thank you for saving me. If not for you, I probably would've been stuck here until I died."
Then she picked up the lunchbox floating in midair and held it out toward Arden.
"To show my thanks, would you… like some?"
"Uh… no thanks, I'm not hungry!"
Arden looked at the half-eaten lunchbox, the corner of his mouth twitching.
He silently decided that once they returned to Scott Outpost, he would definitely have Ray conduct a thorough check on this woman—he strongly suspected her brain had already been eroded by Ether.