Under the blockade of the Defense Force, the disappearance of Dead End Hollow barely stirred public reaction.
Apart from nearby residents who had been relocated and occasionally mentioned it in idle conversation, all media coverage—news outlets, papers, and bulletins—was forcibly suppressed.
Of course, there was one thing even Shin couldn't control.
That day, temperatures in the Janus District rose significantly. Many people even swapped their coats for short sleeves.
However, the spike didn't last. By evening, temperatures returned to normal, and the next day, they dropped even further.
Caught off guard in their light clothing, the people of New Eridu witnessed a rare sight.
The day after Dead End Hollow vanished—
Snow fell on New Eridu.
...
Inside a private building somewhere in the city—
Smack!
A hand slammed against a table. In a lavish office, only two people sat across from one another.
"This is how you handled it?"
"You sent people out—enough to challenge half a military district—and now barely any of them made it back alive! The experiment produced nothing, the objective wasn't achieved, and all that boasting beforehand was for what?!"
Sarah's expression was stormy. It was rare for her to get this angry—but this time, the losses were too great.
They didn't have that many resources to begin with.
Those operatives had been carefully assembled by exploiting tensions within New Eridu, maneuvering between various factions. Every one of them had value.
If it were just heavy casualties, it would still be painful but bearable. The problem was—what had they gained?
Absolutely nothing.
"How is that our fault?! Everything had gone perfectly until the end. Who could've predicted it would fail?!"
The liaison standing across from her wore a grim face. He was just as frustrated.
The area around Dead End Hollow was now sealed off. And leading the lockdown? Some guy from the Staff Corps. Their team couldn't get in. According to reports, the entire place had been reduced to scorched earth—nothing left.
"Heh. Isn't it obvious? Dead End Hollow is gone. Didn't you make that judgment already?"
Sarah let out a cold laugh. The implication was clear.
"The Fire Picker... That's really the only explanation left."
After a few seconds of silence, the liaison spoke in a low voice. At this point, it seemed the most likely conclusion was that the Fire Picker had acted.
There weren't many other possibilities.
"Tsk. I remember someone once said they wanted to kill three birds with one stone—including taking down the Fire Picker. How's that going?"
"The Fire Picker nearly beat your people into the dirt!"
For the first time, Sarah swore outright, no longer bothering to maintain appearances. She was simply fed up. Ever since that encounter with the masked fool, it was like she'd been cursed—everything had gone wrong!
The liaison's face darkened further. He stood up, clenching his jaw.
"Miss Sarah, could you please be a little more civilized?"
"And yes, there were experimental subjects involved—but weren't your rebel forces the main combat units?!"
"Especially since the test subjects were unstable, wasn't it the rebels who were supposed to carry the operation?!"
"Don't come blaming us just because you couldn't take down the Fire Picker! You share just as much responsibility for this failure!"
Sarah's eyes sharpened at that. She didn't back down at all.
"We couldn't take him down? And you could?"
"What, you want to show me exactly how you're going to capture the Fire Picker? You're the ones who picked a fight in the first place!"
"We didn't know what we were dealing with back then!"
The liaison fell silent again. Who was it that had acted without thinking? Way too reckless.
But looking back, it hadn't been an entirely unreasonable choice. No one could've anticipated just how fast the Fire Picker would grow in power.
And yet...
"This isn't the time to argue," the liaison said. "We need to seriously think about what to do next—come up with a proper strategy. If we don't, we're just going to fall further behind."
He looked at Sarah.
"Don't forget—we're in this together."
Sarah was still angry, but she forced herself to calm down.
"Fine. Got any new plans?"
"Just don't tell me it's another brilliant idea where people run in just to die..."
The liaison shook his head.
"Nothing concrete yet. Everyone's still in chaos over the news about Dead End Hollow. No decisions can be made for now..."
"And also—have you noticed something?"
"What?"
Sarah raised an eyebrow, confused.
"The Fire Picker... seems to be getting more and more ruthless."
When he said that, Sarah frowned, thought for a moment, and then slowly nodded.
At first, it had just been heavy losses for the Defense Force.
Now, the entire Dead End Hollow—everything inside—had been reduced to ashes.
"Sigh... We'll have to wait a bit and reassess."
There was no helping it. The enemy was just too strong.
So strong that even with all their resources, they were practically powerless.
The liaison said nothing more, and Sarah could only nod in agreement. She too had no real leads on the Fire Picker.
If only they could uncover his identity.
Sarah mulled over it—then suddenly shook her head.
The Fire Picker was too much of a headache. Better to let someone else deal with him.
Right now, she had someone else she wanted to find—
That masked fool.
She had a score to settle.
...
"What exactly happened inside Dead End Hollow?"
In the now-exposed ruins of the Hollow, Shin stood on a street, gently pressing a pale hand against the charred black walls.
She looked at the soot on her fingertips, then touched the wall again, brushing away more dark powder.
"The heat must've been so intense that even this kind of building material disintegrated into ash..."
She looked around. It resembled a post-war ruin—gray, scorched, and crumbling. Yet something about it felt... off.
It looked like a war zone.
But there wasn't a single trace of actual battle.
Shin had seen what Dead End Hollow looked like before.
Now, it felt like this wasn't even the same world.
White snowflakes drifted silently to the ground, already forming a thin layer atop the rubble and street below.
"A sea of fire that swallowed the entire Hollow..."
Shin shook her head softly and allowed a small smile to surface. She decided not to dwell on the details.
After all, what Zane had done had saved her a lot of trouble. Every trace was gone—now all that remained was cleanup.
Just then, her communicator buzzed.
A voice came through.
Shin raised an eyebrow.