"Why do you always choose places like this to make contact?" Ignis looked at the hacker girl in front of him, dressed in a black pullover hoodie, pink hair slipping out from beneath the hood.
"If someone tries to make a move on me out on the street, the officers will arrive very fast," Rain said while stirring the coffee in her cup with a spoon, completely destroying the delicate latte art that Master Tinman had carefully made with creamer.
Apparently having had enough fun, she lifted the spoon and pointed toward a Public Security officer standing guard near a cluster of strange cubic sculptures, along with two New Eridu Public Security Bangboo.
She wasn't wrong. Lumina Square had a very high volume of foot traffic. Even on a workday, crowds were everywhere. If anything, suddenly happened, all this lady needed to do was shout or let out a small scream to immediately draw the officers' attention.
"Aren't you worried someone might use some kind of strange drug, or non-lethal equipment, to subdue you?" Ignis asked, genuinely curious about Rain's survival strategy.
"That's simple," Rain leaned back in her chair and provocatively crossed her legs. "As a hacker, I have plenty of ways to trigger alarms the moment I lose consciousness. Want to try? I guarantee I can attract plenty of attention."
The Salamander had no interest in stirring up trouble, but seeing her brimming with confidence, it felt like a waste not to tease her a little. After all, there was no need to keep up appearances in front of her—they had been through life-and-death situations together.
Of course, the time she risked her life, I wasn't really in danger.
"So, if you were that well prepared, how did you end up getting kidnapped?"
The girl's expression visibly darkened. She put the coffee back on the table, her voice dropping. "You really don't know when to stop, do you? Last time I got kidnapped purely because they hired someone who cracked my firewall, traced my physical address, and stormed my place."
"But now?" She continued. "I've changed addresses, patched the firewall vulnerability, set up a ton of fake decoys. And the guy who broke my firewall? I reported him, and Public Security invited him to sit in prison. Otherwise, why do you think I've been so busy lately? Your little commission only took me less than half a day to decrypt."
"That's good. Then give it to me," Ignis said, pulling a thick, bulging old envelope from the inner pocket of his suit and placing it on the table.
"Hey, that's way too obvious..." Rain stared at the envelope, momentarily stunned. "Couldn't you have paid me through an online channel? Like I said before—buy virtual currency and transfer it to me."
"Relax. Small-denomination, non-consecutive old bills," Ignis said, sliding the envelope toward her. "Aren't you worried about being tracked with online transactions?"
Rain pulled out a trendy collectible card from her pocket, with a data card attached underneath, and pushed it toward the Salamander. "Good thing I planned ahead. There's a QR code on this. Scan it when you get back and you'll access my private cloud drive. What you want is inside. Downloads are one-time only, and all data traffic is monitored by me."
Ignis knew a little about collectible cards—things riddled with consumerist traps. A mechanically produced card, paired with hype about its so-called rarity, could sell for six figures, and yet countless fanatics were willing to pay. It had almost no practical use, but thinking about how he used to like building blocks and figures, he could only admit that paying for love—anykind of love—was dangerously easy.
Even if that love wasn't always sincere.
The Salamander took the card. It looked exactly like those sold on the market; he couldn't see anything special about it.
Rain pried open the envelope with her fingers. Just as Ignis had said, it was filled with small-denomination old bills. She thought to herself that this guy was really old-fashioned—hardly anyone paid hackers like this anymore. Still, it had its advantages: hard to trace. Plenty of hackers had been caught through digital currency. Even though Rain believed her defenses were airtight this time, she couldn't help admiring the giant's meticulousness.
To be honest, his face didn't look like the type that would be this careful.
"A high-rarity holo card. Even if you resell it later, you'll recover some of the cost," Rain said as she stuffed the envelope into her backpack. "Don't worry, I've already factored the card's cost into the payment."
Ignis turned the card over in his hand, then slipped it into his coat pocket. "Let me ask—did you look at what's inside?"
"If I said I didn't, you wouldn't believe me," Rain answered frankly. "It's a set of coordinate data. Honestly, I don't know what those coordinates point to. But I'm guessing it's either someone you're looking for, or an organization. Either way, I don't care. The data on my terminal will be wiped once you download it, so don't worry."
"Pleasure doing business," Ignis said, extending his hand.
The hacker girl looked at the hand that was wider than her entire torso and froze for a moment, before awkwardly gripping two of the Salamander's fingers.
"Did you ever consider how ridiculous the size difference between us is?" she complained as she stood up, slinging her backpack over her shoulder, ready to leave.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a ponytailed female Public Security officer walking toward them, her gaze fixed on Rain and Ignis.
Oh no—were we discovered? she muttered under her breath, but didn't dare bolt. That would be far too obvious. The café street had only one exit, now blocked by the approaching officer. There was nowhere to go.
As Rain watched her draw closer, each step seemed to land on the rhythm of her heartbeat. Her legs began to feel weak. Did Public Security break through my defenses? Did they dig up my identity?
What do I do? What do I do?
"Oh? Mr. Ignis?" the officer said, sounding quite familiar with the giant. "Running into you here is rather rare."
Rain froze.
The Salamander had, of course, already recognized Zhu Yuan. Her footsteps had a very distinctive rhythm—he had memorized it long ago. To be honest, he had stayed silent on purpose, just to see Rain's reaction.
"Miss Zhu Yuan. It has been a while," Ignis stood up and shook hands with the officer.
He then turned to Rain. "This is a friend I met online. Today was our first offline meeting."
Hearing that she was Ignis's friend, Zhu Yuan nodded slightly to Rain, then continued speaking with the Salamander. "Have you been bothered by the Mountain Lion Gang recently? I heard about the snack street you set up. Officers from the nearby branch reported that public security in that area has improved."
"To be honest, I haven't had any Razor-related information for quite some time. Everything I know comes from the Inter-Knot and the news," Ignis said calmly, spinning a lie. "Looks like they've been expanding aggressively lately—attacking the Defense Force and all. Thankfully, they haven't appeared in our area. That's a relief."
He had no intention of dragging these officers into this.
Zhu Yuan and Qingyi were excellent officers, but dealing with a Khorne cult would be a tall order. Back when they only had basic weapons, even that iron-bodied construct hadn't been able to suppress them. Now that the cult had military-grade weapons—and Bloodletters—the officers would likely be captured and sacrificed to the Blood God.
Ignis had seen people like Leonard Russo, but Zhu Yuan and Qingyi left a good impression. At the very least, they were the kind who would stand up for a child abused by their own father. The Son of Vulkan did not want people like them dragged into danger.
"Mr. Ignis, I'll be leaving first!" Rain forced herself to calm down and cut in abruptly.
"Alright. Goodbye," the Salamander waved to her. "We'll meet again if there's a chance."
Watching Rain's retreating figure, Zhu Yuan looked curious. "You seem so much older than her—I didn't expect you two to be online friends who'd meet in person. You weren't planning anything shady, were you? She looked pretty nervous when she saw me approaching."
"Officer Zhu Yuan, I just share a hobby with her." He pulled the collectible card out of his pocket. "She pulled a card I've wanted for a long time from a pack and showed it off to me, so I decided to spend a bit of money to buy it. That's why we met offline today. She's from a not-so-wealthy neighborhood, and the local Public Security officers are a bit…"
The giant spread his hands. Zhu Yuan immediately understood what he meant.
"Sigh… some of my colleagues really do damage the reputation of Public Security."
She shook her head. Branch offices in fringe districts were often severely underfunded, which led to low case-solving efficiency and even less budget approval each year. Once they accepted tributes from local gangs, they tended to turn a blind eye. The branch in Ignis's area had been the same—though after the Mountain Lion Gang caused a major incident last time, the acting director had been removed. The new one wasn't particularly capable, but at least he was steady and by-the-book.
"Still, I didn't expect you to like this kind of card," Zhu Yuan added with a smile. "You really can't tell at a glance."
Only then did Ignis recall that the card Rain had given him featured a popular male character from a currently trending female-oriented game—slender build, youthful face, the type generally described as a puppy-boy.
Just as he was wondering how to talk his way out of this, Zhu Yuan continued.
"Everyone has different hobbies. But Mr. Ignis, you mustn't cross legal boundaries. Otherwise, even if we're friends, we'll have to get rough with you."
Though the Salamander very much wanted to explain that he had no such inclinations, saying too much would expose the earlier transaction. He could only grit his teeth and tacitly accept it.
"Rest assured. All the work undertaken by the Cunning Hares is within legal bounds, and my personal blacksmith business is also registered with the association. I have no intention of challenging the authority of New Eridu's laws," Ignis said, nodding.
"Mmm, I know. You helping youths who've gone astray find their way back is already proof that you're a law-abiding citizen," Zhu Yuan replied. "But still… those hobbies… please don't cross the line. Acting on someone of the same sex is also a crime." She wore an expression somewhere between amusement and helplessness.
Damn it. Ignis inwardly cursed Rain. That woman had dug him into a massive pit without even trying.
No matter what, he had to move past this topic.
"Ahem… well then, Miss Zhu Yuan, are you off duty today?"
"Huh!" The officer suddenly remembered that she'd only stepped out during her tea break to buy coffee—how had she ended up chatting with an old acquaintance for so long?
"Oh no, I just came out to buy a few coffees…" She hurriedly checked the time on her phone. Thankfully, there was still some leeway. "Sorry, I need to head back now."
Ignis felt a wave of relief. He waved toward the café's glass door and sat back down.
Leaving in such a rush would have looked suspicious. Better to stay a bit longer and finish the coffee. Even though he'd ordered the largest size, the cup looked almost comically small in the Salamander's hand.
Master Tinman was a robot, his head literally a coffee pot, but his craftsmanship was genuinely excellent. One thing did make Ignis curious, though—was the Master Tinman here the same one as the café on Sixth Street? Was it some kind of hive-network system? Were all Master Tinmans actually the same individual?
Lost in these odd thoughts, he watched as Zhu Yuan came back out carrying two large bags of coffee and a packet of pastries.
"Oh, right—Mr. Ignis, do you take orders for kitchen knives?" Zhu Yuan suddenly asked. "The cleaver at my mother's place broke, and she says the ones from the mall aren't very good quality. I was wondering if I should ask you to custom-make one."
"Of course. Do you want to go through the Blacksmith Association, or make it a private order?" Ignis naturally wasn't about to refuse business that walked right up to him.
"I don't have your contact information," Zhu Yuan said, trying to reach for her phone—but both hands were full.
Seeing a customer in trouble, Ignis enthusiastically stepped forward and took the coffee and pastries from her hands. "Let me help you out. You're a client, after all. The Public Security branch isn't far—I'll carry these over for you."
"Ah, okay…" Zhu Yuan froze for a moment. He was a bit too proactive—he hadn't even asked before taking over.
"Scan this and add me," Ignis said, pulling out his KnockKnock messenger friend code with his free hand. "We can discuss the specific requirements later. If we don't go through the association, I can earn a bit more, too."
When the Salamander walked into the Public Security branch, several officers gathered around, thinking Zhu Yuan had gone out to buy coffee and conveniently arrested a criminal on the way back. Fortunately, after the parties involved explained the situation, Ignis wasn't detained.
Still, the Salamander noticed that in the corner of the office area, that larger, smarter Bangboo was holding a teacup and watching the scene unfold with obvious schadenfreude—even raising the cup toward him in a mock toast.
Ignis found himself wondering whether he should mention to Zhu Yuan that she'd been slacking off during patrol.
After securing the coordinates, Ignis handed the intelligence to two parties. One was the legendary Proxy Phaethon, and the other was Markus "Lightning" Red.
Facing a Chaos Cult of Khorne numbering in the hundreds—armed with both light and heavy weapons, autonomous tactical mechs, and dozens of entities suspected to be Bloodletters—the Salamander had no intention of charging in blindly like a headless beast and stumbling straight into a trap.
While the followers of the Blood God were known for their rage and volatility, Khorne was also the god of war, and even his cultists possessed a fundamental grasp of tactics. The enemy would certainly have prepared layered defenses around their encampment.
The light weapons of this world posed little threat to the Salamander, but there were still things capable of harming him—heavy anti-tank missiles, high-yield explosives, and coordinated swarms of tactical mechs.
Not to mention the twenty to thirty Bloodletters. These Warp entities possessed formidable combat power. As extensions of Khorne's will—curved horns, long tongues licking at fresh blood, hellblades clutched in clawed hands—these daemons could contend with a Space Marine without falling behind.
From the Proxy side came news that Fairy had completed analysis of the coordinates and was already preparing navigation. Phaethon quoted a commission fee that was undeniably steep, but given the danger of the mission—deep within Hollow Zero, and against a gang bold enough to assault the Defense Force—the price was fair.
From Markus came another update. He had already dispatched reconnaissance teams with clear objectives: identify high-value targets and critical firepower positions in advance. It had to be said that this black-market merchant, with his deep and tangled connections to the Defense Force, had perfectly addressed the Salamander's needs.
The blue airplane-shaped haircut added in his message that he would consolidate the reconnaissance results as soon as possible and conduct a pre-battle strategy discussion with Ignis's side.
This was precisely what Ignis welcomed. What he lacked was intelligence, never frontline combat capability. And this time, he would not be fighting alone—there would be a Terran-born Great Crusade veteran accompanying him.
While waiting for the reconnaissance results, Ignis completed Zhu Yuan's commission and forged a kitchen cleaver for her mother. The Salamander thoughtfully had Zhu Yuan take a hand mold, polishing the handle until it fit perfectly in her mother's grip.
The knife itself was not expensive. As a utilitarian tool, it did not require flashy craftsmanship such as gold or silver inlay, engraving, or acid etching. He forged it as a three-layer composite kitchen blade using high-strength alloy paired with a softer alloy core.
Just as Ignis handed the cleaver over to Zhu Yuan and prepared to head to Richard Teamilk for a drink, his phone received a message from Markus.
The scouts had returned.
They had acquired all the intelligence Ignis needed and requested that he come to the black market as soon as possible to hold a combat planning meeting.
This was not something to delay.
Ignis immediately contacted Belle, Nicole, and Gotthardt. Fortunately, all three were available. Nicole headed straight for the black market, while the Salamander made a detour to Sixth Street to bring Eous along.
By the time Ignis emerged from the Gray Street metro station, Nicole had already been waiting at the exit for quite a while. The boss of the Cunning Hares happened to be nearby, trading goods retrieved from a Hollow. When she saw the Bangboo from the Proxy household sitting on the Salamander's shoulder, she froze for a moment.
The black-market crowd had long since grown accustomed to the giant's presence. After all, he was a big spender who frequently shopped at "We Have It All," and that alone was reason enough to curry favor.
Passing by Fatty's former shop, Nicole noticed it had changed owners. The dead fat man who had sold her out was gone.
Markus's eye-catching blue airplane haircut was visible from far away. To be honest, it was even more outrageous than his previous purple explosive afro. Ignis had never understood why a black-market dealer would choose such a conspicuous style. Normally, discretion was the rule.
No pleasantries were exchanged. Markus led them straight to the underground shooting range, where Jaxcalibur Squad's Number One was busy setting up a projector.
"All right, everyone's here," Markus said after watching Jaxcalibur-01 test the projector and confirm there were no issues.
"Not yet. There's one more," Ignis replied, lifting his phone and initiating a video call to Gotthardt Stahlgriff.
"Ignis, brother—looks like the battle briefing has begun?" The old veteran's voice was calm and resolute, his eyes sharp.
"This is…?" Markus asked, recognizing the attendees but not the newcomer.
"Gotthardt Stahlgriff. My senior," the Salamander said, then gestured to the Bangboo on his shoulder. "Phaethon."
"Hello there!" The voice, though disguised, was unmistakably Belle.
"Phaethon? Then the one who got caught really was a fake," Markus said, then extended his hand toward Nicole. "Long time no see, Ms. Nicole Demara. Your adopted son has been a great help to us in many matters."
"Adopted son?" Gotthardt looked genuinely shocked.
"That's a story for later," Ignis cut in quickly. "Now isn't the time."
Nicole slapped Markus's hand away with a cold expression. "If you hadn't sent him on all those life-threatening jobs, I'd be happy to shake your hand."
Markus was unfazed. He withdrew his hand and signaled Jaxcalibur-01 to begin displaying the reconnaissance data.
"To be honest, the Mountain Lion Gang is quite cautious," the black-market merchant said, pressing a button on the remote as a hand-drawn map appeared on the projection.
"Based on the coordinates provided by Ignis, I dispatched a recon team. To prevent data corruption by the Hollow, they used more primitive recording methods." Markus raised a laser pointer to indicate the central structure. "My scouts are certain Razor is here, along with his mutated personal guard. They've recorded that captured Hollow Raiders and Defense Force personnel are being gathered inside this building."
"They armed themselves with the weapons they seized from me. There's a firing range outside the building, and they've been observed experimenting with tactical mechs—though they're still unfamiliar with them. I left backdoors in all my merchandise; full control won't come easily. The mech storage facility is west of the primary target. It used to be a large commercial complex."
"Their defenses form a ring. The outer perimeter is roughly seven hundred meters from Razor's main building, consisting of minefields and several fixed observation posts. Further in are pre-prepared roadblock fortifications made of sandbags, reinforced in places with abandoned construction materials. Each position is connected by underground tunnels—well-developed ones. Every post can be supplied simultaneously."
"On the surface, it looks crude. Breaking through wouldn't be difficult," Gotthardt said, studying the sandbag emplacements and marked heavy fire positions. "But the underground tunnels will be troublesome. How many people can you deploy? Can you clear those tunnels?"
"Six. Just our squad," Jaxcalibur-01 replied.
"Then a full assault is off the table," Gotthardt said. "This calls for a decapitation strike." He traced the map with his gaze. "This distance is less than a minute for me and my brothers. We strike the heart directly, then turn back to clean up the remaining stragglers."
"As for their defensive capability, my scouts conducted probing tests using Ethereals," Markus said as the projection switched to another image showing known firepower positions.
"This is urban combat. Every building along the roads conceals firepower—machine guns, autocannons, grenade launchers, missile positions. Each exposed one is marked, along with patrol routes and reinforcement response times."
"Not many personnel, but their firepower is solid," Gotthardt assessed. "Looks like explosives are buried along both sides of the roads. And the area around their main defensive building is far too empty. Even for a training ground, it's suspicious. The lack of a single heavy weapon emplacement makes no sense. I suspect there's a large-yield explosive buried there, or something else hidden that's covering the area."
"Among the weapons you lost, which is the most dangerous?" Ignis asked Markus.
"Tch." The blue-haired merchant clicked his tongue. "All right—don't spread this. An Old Era missile warhead, manual detonation. Payload's about three hundred kilograms. I was planning to keep it as a collectible. You know how rare Old Era tech is."
"Three hundred kilograms?" Gotthardt froze for a moment. Given the structural strength of buildings in this world, a bomb of that size would be enough to wipe everything off the map. What were those lunatics planning—burying something like that right under their own feet?
"Communications inside the Hollow are easily disrupted. I suspect they're using the most traditional method—wired detonation. As long as we can find the wires…" Jaxcalibur-01 spoke up. "We have a batch of small reconnaissance drones that can operate inside a Hollow, but once inside, they have to rely on autonomous behavior. Manual control is extremely difficult."
Ignis had seen the Jaxcalibur Squad's electronic warfare capabilities—exceptionally strong. Yet even they couldn't achieve effective remote control inside a Hollow. That made him think of Phaethon's technology…
"If we can't provide reliable control, then this plan can't be considered fully viable. It can only serve as a backup," Gotthardt said while studying the map. "The defenses around the storage area for those… tactical mechs are relatively weak."
"From the map, aside from a few mobile patrols and fixed sentry posts, there aren't many people guarding the mech storage area. However, the autonomous tactical mechs patrol on their own. With Jaxcalibur's current equipment, quickly destroying a single tactical mech would still be difficult."
"Is there a way to break through from that direction?" Gotthardt asked.
"That would require crossing a high Ether-activity zone. To be honest, I don't recommend it," Markus replied, his gaze shifting to Nicole and Eous. "There are a lot of Ethereals, and spatial displacement phenomena occur frequently."
"Right. You've got the Cunning Hares and Phaethon," someone added.
"Now you remember us?" Nicole crossed her arms. "The best Hollow specialists in New Eridu—the Cunning Hares—are happy to be of service, as long as the price is right. We may not be a match for enemies with overwhelming firepower, but when it comes to Ethereals, that's our specialty."
"In that area, I can find a safe route through," Phaethon added. "There's risk, but it's not impassable."
"Good. If this succeeds, I can afford the payment. Whatever you ask, I'll pay," Markus said decisively. "I want all of New Eridu to know—no one steals my goods and lives to tell the tale."
"Then our breach point will be the enemy's mech depot," Jaxcalibur-01 said. "There are backdoor programs embedded in this batch of mechs. We can try to activate them and seize control."
"That would significantly boost our combat strength. This batch includes a considerable number of Guardian and Typhon units. Along with other smaller mechs, that's roughly a company-sized force."
"My god. You stockpiled that many autonomous mechs—were you planning to start a rebellion?" Nicole was genuinely stunned.
"Hah. They sell like hotcakes," Markus said, pushing up his sunglasses. "Rebels, gangs, certain Hollow Raiders. Plenty of people love obedient steel soldiers."
"Excellent. Break through the enemy's weak point, then activate the Men of Iron," Gotthardt analyzed, eyes still on the map. "Most of the exposed firepower isn't oriented in this direction. Looks like the enemy has a lot of confidence in those iron men. Seems they trusted them too much."
"This entire area is surrounded by spatial rifts. Direct infiltration is difficult," Belle said, presenting her calculations. "The Mountain Lion Gang uses these rifts to move between Hollow Zero and other Hollows. No idea how many lives they sacrificed to chart these paths, but I have to admit—it's a perfect hideout. Easy to defend, hard to attack, yet connected in all directions."
"The problem is the hostages. We can't just level the final building," Ignis said, pointing to the side of the hand-drawn structure marked with Khorne's sigil and the eight-pointed star of Chaos. "If we demolish it outright, the hostages inside will be endangered. Ideally, we extract all of them alive."
"Why—" Gotthardt didn't quite understand the decision, but seeing Ignis gently shake his head, he chose not to press further.
"As for the heavily mutated members of the Mountain Lion Gang, Mr. Gotthardt and I will handle them," Ignis continued, referring to the enemy's most elite forces—the Bloodletters. "If you encounter them head-on, your priority is to escape and preserve your lives. That is not a target you can deal with right now."
"So, the plan is to pass through the dangerous Hollow rifts, strike directly at the lightly defended mech depot, activate the backdoor programs, seize the war mechs, and use them to support the operation," Gotthardt summarized. "Then we advance rapidly, assault the main building, clear out the enemies inside, and rescue the hostages."
"During this process, I'll hold the perimeter outside the building and prevent anyone from approaching. But you'll also need to find a way to stop the enemy from detonating that bomb we don't know the location of."
"You alone can block enemies from all directions?" Markus asked, incredulous. He knew Ignis's combat prowess from reports, but this man whom the Salamander respected was a complete unknown to him—and only present via video call.
"Hundreds of mortals. For me, that's trivial," Gotthardt said with a laugh. "If you weren't insisting on saving the hostages, there would be many far simpler ways to finish this. Compared to the enemies I've faced, these people aren't even playing at war."
The old veteran's disdain left Markus momentarily confused. A company of autonomous tactical mechs, hundreds of armed fighters with light and heavy weapons, and a three-hundred-kilogram bomb—and none of it seemed to trouble him in the slightest.
"Ignis, my little brother—did you show him my photo?" Gotthardt asked.
Nicole couldn't help but laugh. The first time the Cunning Hares saw this old gentleman, they'd been shocked too. She was now very much looking forward to Markus's reaction.
The Salamander pulled up a photo from his phone—himself, several members of Belobog Heavy Industries, and Gotthardt standing in front of a fully repaired Leviathan Dreadnought.
"This—this?" Markus was dumbfounded. "Isn't this the 'engineering machinery' Belobog Heavy Industries reported discovering inside a Hollow?"
"Correct. A Siege Engine," Gotthardt laughed heartily. "Mine is an Leviathan Pattern Siege Dreadnought. I've torn down countless fortifications with it. The things you find troublesome aren't much different from toys to me."
Jaxcalibur-01 looked like he'd seen a ghost. Both he and Markus stared at the Salamander, utterly unable to comprehend what kind of existence this man was—everything connected to him felt disturbingly unreal.
"No wonder you dared to challenge Razor head-on," Markus said, handing the phone back to Ignis. "Sir, do you take contracts? I might have some work that suits you."
"Hahahahaha!" Gotthardt burst into laughter. "Then contact Belobog Heavy Industries. I'm technically their 'property' now."
"What? Two buildings need to be demolished? I'll hang up now—work's calling," Gotthardt said, ending the video call.
"So, when do we move?" Ignis asked, clearly more concerned with the timetable. "I don't want to wait any longer than necessary."
"Tomorrow morning at the earliest," Jaxcalibur-01 replied. "Jax-05's electronic warfare gear needs some preparation. Models usable inside a Hollow are… rare. The drones also need calibration."
"We can depart anytime," Nicole said casually. "The Cunning Hares are always ready to handle a client's urgent requests."
"Then the operation starts the morning after tomorrow," Markus decided. "As for the rendezvous point?"
"We can enter through the Rift Zone. There's an access point nearby, very close to Razor's position," Phaethon provided a location.
"Good. We'll meet there," Markus nodded. "All supplies will be prepared on our side—emergency rations, medical kits, and anti-corrosion agents included."
"Then here's to a victorious start," Nicole said, extending her hand.
"Of course," Markus replied, clasping it. "Victory from the first strike!"
"And remember—the payment goes through the tax-free channel."
"Could you say literally anything else?"
===BREAK===
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