"Brother, you're so slow! Where were you last night and this morning?"
Belle looked at Wise, who had just hurried over, her displeasure clearly written across her face.
"Sorry, something came up and delayed me. I'll buy you ice cream later to make up for it. As for what happened, I'll tell you tonight."
"Hmm, if there's ice cream involved, then I suppose I can forgive you. Just this once."
Belle's eyes lit up, her irritation vanishing in an instant, replaced by a bright smile. She already knew her brother had spent the night at Rain's house, so she wasn't too concerned.
The two then headed into the Public Security office together. Amy greeted them with a smile; the citizen ID had been successfully processed this time thanks to their thorough preparations.
However, it would take three working days before they could collect it. Until then, if necessary, a temporary citizen ID could be downloaded from the official website.
"No choice. If that's the case, we'll just have to pick it up later."
Belle shrugged, unfazed. They had expected this outcome.
Standing beside her, Wise glanced around, a faint sense that something was missing lingering in his mind.
"Speaking of which, I haven't seen Zhu Yuan or Qingyi around. Are they out on a mission?"
"Uh, about that... I'm very sorry, but I don't know. And even if I did, regulations prevent me from disclosing that kind of information."
Amy offered an apologetic smile, and Wise nodded, choosing not to push the matter. He then led Belle off to buy ice cream.
What they didn't realize, however, was that at this very moment, a fierce battle was unfolding inside a certain Hollow.
The outcome?
A hot-blooded youth captured, a helpless rat Thiren, and a group of utterly bewildered PubSec officers.
<<>>
Soon after, back at the police station.
Zhu Yuan's expression turned odd and somewhat dazed after she took a call from her superiors. Qingyi, noticing this, quickly guessed the nature of the response.
"So? What are the Commander's instructions? The operation failed, so what punishment are we getting?"
"Hmm…"
"Your face looks terrible. It must be serious… So it's finally come to this. I'll go grab a cardboard box to pack my things, then return my equipment. Oh, can I at least keep the teacup I got when I joined?"
With that, Qingyi turned as if she truly meant to leave. Strictly speaking, at this point, she could already be considered Public Security property.
As expected, Zhu Yuan was stunned for a moment before quickly calling her back.
"Hey, wait! Senior, hold up! It's not like that! The operation didn't fail!"
By the time Zhu Yuan called out, Qingyi was already halfway out the door.
"Poor Zhu Yuan… has the shock affected your mind? The Mountain Lion Gang's guards, including that key figure Jane, all escaped. The mission clearly failed… It's alright, you did your best."
Qingyi said all this while stepping closer with a pitying look, then put her hand on top of Zhu Yuan's head like some elder comforting a kid.
The move clearly caught Zhu Yuan off guard.
"No, that's not it! And hey, don't touch my head!"
Zhu Yuan protested, brushing Qingyi's hand away. Her senior had even climbed onto a chair just to comfort her, which honestly took some effort.
Of course, she kept that thought to herself. Saying it out loud would be far too rude.
At that moment, Qingyi hopped down from the chair. To keep it clean, she had even removed one of her shoes beforehand.
"Alright, you used to enjoy it when you first joined."
"Senior!" Zhu Yuan protested, clearly embarrassed.
"Ahem… so what did you mean when you said the operation didn't completely fail?" Qingyi swiftly changed the subject.
Seeing this, Zhu Yuan began to explain. After listening, Qingyi gave a small nod.
"I see… so Jane is actually on our side."
A flicker of surprise crossed her face. Zhu Yuan confirmed it with a nod and continued.
"That's right. This was all part of a plan to have Jane earn the trust of the Mountain Lion Gang's upper ranks. That way, we can gather more intel and, hopefully, locate their base."
"Hmm… quite a bold strategy. From that perspective, the mission was indeed a success. Honestly, I didn't expect it. I thought Seth was just a straightforward young man, but his acting was incredibly convincing. I really believed he'd been captured. Haha…"
She suddenly stopped and cleared her throat.
"Ahem… Zhu Yuan, why aren't you laughing? And your expression looks worse."
Qingyi, who had just been pleased with both the mission's outcome and the safety of her teaware, finally noticed Zhu Yuan's uneasy expression.
"Senior, I said it was only half successful, right? Seth… is the other half. He and those innocent civilians were actually captured by the Mountain Lion Gang."
"Oh…"
Silence settled over the room. For a long moment, Qingyi didn't know what to say.
<<>>
Meanwhile, over at the video store.
"What? Are you going back to Ballet Twins? Why?"
Wise looked at the two sisters, clearly puzzled. He couldn't understand why they would want to go back there.
"Well… actually, my sister and I left something there," Odette explained.
She briefly went over the situation. The items they had lost were amulets given to them by their grandfather, meant to ensure that every performance went smoothly.
They had left the amulets in a drawer inside the dressing room. Later, due to a series of incidents, they temporarily lost their memories and forgot to take them when they left.
"Those are definitely important. In that case, I'll go with you."
Even though the sisters were strong enough to handle a Hollow on their own, Wise preferred to play it safe.
Odile and Odette had no objections and readily agreed. After that, Wise and Fairy gathered recent information about the Ballet Twins Hollow.
However, the results made him frown slightly. It seemed that after losing two high-level Ethereals at once, the Hollow had shrunk significantly, and its danger level had decreased as well.
Because of that, many people had entered the Ballet Twins Hollow. Judging by their attire, they appeared to be Hollow Raiders.
Wise had obtained this information through the electronic devices they carried. With his powerful ability and the limited range, he was able to gather such precise data.
After learning this, Wise decided to delay entering the Hollow until nightfall to avoid drawing attention.
What he didn't know was that the very Hollow Raiders he had observed were currently escorting a group of people deeper inside.
Leading them was Jane, a woman in torn black stockings, her outfit revealing part of her abdomen and navel. With her confident bearing and ambitious gaze, she looked far more like a succubus than a rat Thiren.
-JANE-[1]
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