Wise stayed silent like a mute Bangboo, stuck between the two of them and basically filling the role of a mascot.
"Ah, so this is the memorial plaza Belobog Industries built back then."
When Ben spoke, everyone paused and turned their eyes toward the spacious plaza. The massive monument dominating the center immediately stood out, along with the white machine positioned beside it.
The machine leaning in with its mechanical arms braced against the monument was hard to ignore. Anton noticed it too and pointed over, grabbing everyone's attention.
"Look, there's a big white machine next to the monument. That must be the prototype, right?"
"Wow, these refreshing colors, these handsome lines... Yeah, this is the prototype machine!"
Grace ran straight toward it, clearly excited as she started checking it out. Even so, it was hard to see what she meant by refreshing or handsome.
"But seriously, what's with this odd condition?"
Staring at the scene in front of her, Grace frowned in confusion. Ben caught her reaction and quickly realized that something wasn't right.
"The prototype machine looks like it's actively clamping onto the monument."
"Hmm, did something happen here? Ben, Anton, check around the monument. Sister, Wise, and I will look into the cockpit."
Koleda went back to calling Grace sister, and once she gave the order, everyone split up to investigate.
To be honest, in a place like this, Wise half-expected to find Koleda's father's corpse or something similar when climbing into the cockpit.
But that idea was quickly shut down. Anything like that inside the Hollow would have already turned into Ethereal, and the cockpit was completely empty.
As Wise and Koleda entered the cockpit to search for any useful clues, Grace stayed outside to stand guard, reminding them to be careful.
Fortunately, despite being inside the Hollow for such a long time, the prototype machine showed no signs of Ether corrosion.
However, that relief vanished the moment Koleda and Wise examined the seat. The air inside the cockpit immediately grew heavy.
A bullet hole showed up on the side of the headrest, and it wasn't the only one. The whole cockpit was covered in them.
Several bullet casings lay scattered across the floor, clearly fired from close range. Yet, with so much time having passed, it was impossible to tell whether anyone had been hit.
"What... what exactly happened here?"
Koleda's face turned pale with fear. Seeing such marks inside her father's prototype machine left her unable to imagine what had truly occurred.
At that moment, Wise spotted a stack of receipts placed on a table beside the cockpit. He skimmed through them briefly, then his gaze stopped at the signature.
The name written there belonged to Koleda's father, Khors Belobog.
"Koleda, take a look at this."
"Hmm? This is...!"
Koleda froze as soon as she saw the receipt. Right after that, she hugged the Bangboo and hopped out of the cockpit, still holding the paper tight in her hands.
"Sister, Ben, Anton, hurry over. Wise found something amazing!"
Everyone gathered as soon as they heard her voice. Once Ben examined the receipt, he immediately recognized it as the prototype machine's delivery order.
Not only did it bear Khors' signature, but the date and the amount matched perfectly with the huge sum that had vanished from Belobog Industries' accounts that year.
"So Uncle Khors used that money to finish paying for the prototype machine."
"Ha! I knew a good man like Mr. Khors wouldn't just steal the money."
Grace and Anton were clearly excited. This was more than enough to prove Khors innocence.
But Ben frowned slightly and brought up a concern.
"Still, looking at the situation now, the former president personally drove the prototype machine here. Why would he do that? And what caused him to disappear afterward?"
As the question hung in the air, everyone fell silent. Wise, meanwhile, kept his eyes on the monument, his face unusually serious.
From what he could vaguely remember, he was pretty sure there was supposed to be a very dangerous Ethereal inside.
"We can't draw any conclusions yet. But Wise and I discovered a large number of bullet holes inside the cockpit. Something terrible definitely happened here back then. And my dad... since he didn't run away, yet never returned either, there's a good chance he's already gone."
Koleda's expression was tinged with sadness, but resentment showed even more clearly. She suddenly slammed her hand hard against the body of the prototype machine.
"Damn it. Now that I think about it, that phone call was really strange. He said, 'You want me to act like nothing happened?' and 'What exactly is inside there?'... He must have gotten involved with something dangerous. But what did he find? Why didn't he talk to everyone first..."
Her last words came out almost like a shout. Seeing her like this, Wise stepped forward to comfort her.
Unfortunately, due to his current height, all he could do was reach out with his small hand and gently pat her calf.
"Koleda, don't worry. We'll definitely find the answer," Wise said, trying his best to comfort her.
"That's right. I just checked the prototype machine's logic core, and the external storage unit is still intact. It should contain the driving records from back then. Once we bring the prototype machine back, I'll start analyzing the data right away. We'll definitely uncover the truth behind Uncle Khors disappearance."
Grace spoke gently as she placed a reassuring hand on Koleda's shoulder.
Anton stepped forward together with Ben to add his encouragement.
"Yeah, President. We'll figure this out."
Surrounded by everyone's concern, Koleda felt her chest tighten slightly, warmth rising in her heart.
"Yes, thank you, Wise, and everyone. As President, I can't stay down like this. Let's work together and drag the prototype machine back!"
With that, Koleda prepared to call over the other three smart machines to help move the prototype machine. Just as they were about to begin, Wise stepped forward and blocked their path.
"Hmm? Wise, is something wrong?"
Koleda turned to him, clearly puzzled. Instead of replying right away, Wise raised his hand and pointed toward the monument behind them.
"Before we do anything else, there's something I need to tell everyone. Based on my special detection, there might be a very dangerous Ethereal inside that monument."
- - - -
To have access to more than 25 extra chapters, go to:
[-p -a -t -r -e -o -n . com/DysFiction.]
To make a don@tion go to [ ko - fi .com /dysfiction ]
- - - -