Zhu Yuan's tactical gear wasn't just for show. Mounted above her lower back was a specialized retrieval mechanism. With a quick tap on the housing, a high-tensile zip-line anchor fired upward. Qingyi caught it with mid-air precision, her staff acting as a friction brake against the building's facade.
Zhu Yuan grabbed Kenji, pulling him into a tight embrace to stabilize his descent. Kenji felt a face-full of tactical vest and experienced a sudden, sharp deceleration as the internal winch system engaged. After a tense few seconds of controlled sliding, their boots finally hit the cracked pavement of the Hollow floor.
"Phew, that was... efficient!" Kenji said, stepping back to give Zhu Yuan space. He was genuinely impressed; the Special Task Force wasn't just about raw power, but specialized gadgets that defied the chaotic physics of the void.
Qingyi vaulted down from the wall, landing silently beside them. She retracted her staff into its compact form and dusted off her sleeves, giving Kenji a knowing, playful look that made him cough awkwardly.
Zhu Yuan didn't waste time on pleasantries. She drew her pistol, flicked the safety, and began a 360-degree sweep of the area. In a Hollow, silence was a predator's best friend.
Sure enough, the shimmer of Ether distortion heralded the arrival of the local denizens. Several crystallized humanoids, standing about 1.6 meters tall, emerged from the ruins. Their "heads" were nothing more than swirling black voids, and their limbs ended in jagged, obsidian-like shards.
"Engaging," Zhu Yuan commanded.
Kenji watched, mesmerized. Zhu Yuan moved like a blur of black and orange. She closed the distance to the first Ethereal in a heartbeat, planted her foot, and delivered a devastating side-kick.
Crack!
The creature's void-head shattered like glass. Before the second one could lunge with its crystalline blade, Zhu Yuan's pistol had already barked. Three shots, rapid-fire, disintegrated the monster's torso. Total elapsed time: three seconds.
"Is this... what a Captain can do?" Kenji muttered. He knew humans here were enhanced, but Zhu Yuan's martial prowess was reaching the level of a mid-tier Kamen Rider without even needing a Driver.
"If she couldn't do that, she'd just be a traffic cop," Qingyi whispered, patting Kenji's arm. "Close your mouth, Rookie. You're catching flies."
"Those were just scouts," Zhu Yuan said, reloading with a crisp clack. "Stay close. Our priority is the survivors."
They pushed deeper into the distorted cityscape for ten minutes until a massive roar shook the foundations of a nearby shop. Two figures—a human and a small, boxy robot—sprinted across a distant intersection, looking terrified. Hot on their heels was a nightmare: a three-meter-tall Ethereal. Its left arm was a massive, rhomboid crystal shield, and its right was a jagged cleaver the size of a surfboard.
The two survivors dived through what looked like a solid brick wall and vanished—a spatial rift acting as a hidden passage. The giant Ethereal skidded to a halt, roaring in frustration as it sensed the exit they had taken. It couldn't follow them without risking dissolution outside the Ether-zone.
The monster turned its void-head toward the STF team.
"A Durahan," Qingyi said, her playful tone gone.
Zhu Yuan's eyes narrowed as she spotted the tatters of a lab coat still clinging to the monster's crystalline back. "It's a fresh mutation. This was likely one of the researchers from the lab."
"That's worse," Qingyi added. "Humans with zero Ether-Aptitude suffer the most complete mutations. They absorb more energy to compensate for their lack of resistance. This thing is going to be incredibly aggressive."
The Durahan let out a piercing shriek. As if responding to a general's call, dozens of smaller Ethereals—beasts and humanoids alike—crawled out of the shadows, surrounding the team.
Zhu Yuan didn't flinch. She began snapping weapon components together. The parts from her arms and thighs clicked into a heavy, high-tech missile launcher.
"Kenji, keep the small fry off our flanks! Qingyi, support!"
Zhu Yuan shouldered the massive weapon, the targeting computer chirping as it locked onto the swarm.
"Rioter K22, full salvo!"
A barrage of micro-missiles spiraled out, turning the street into a corridor of fire and shrapnel. The explosion cleared a direct path to the Durahan. Zhu Yuan didn't wait for the smoke to clear; she sprinted forward, charging the elite monster head-on.
Kenji raised his PSB riot shield, his heart hammering. This is it, he thought. First real test. No belt... yet.