"Alright, alright, that's enough. We only performed emergency first aid to get you out of danger. There's nothing more to explain! But you should still go to a hospital for proper treatment once you get back."
Nicole reminded him with concern, but Wise already understood the condition of his own body.
After thanking her, he changed the subject and asked about the current situation.
"Nicole... have you made up with the Hollow Special Operations Section 6 members? By the way, where's Miyabi? Is she alright?"
Just then, a familiar, clear, and cool voice came from behind him.
"I'm fine. Don't worry. I'm telling the truth this time."
As she spoke, a faint blush appeared on Miyabi's face as she looked at Wise.
"Hm? Wise, you seem very concerned about the Chief's physical condition, and the way you address her sounds rather intimate. Did something happen inside the Hollow?"
Yanagi's expression became slightly dangerous. Although she still wore her usual gentle smile, a faint trace of gloom lingered behind it.
"Ugh..."
Wise grew nervous when she asked that question, but naturally, he couldn't show it. He could only pretend not to understand what she meant.
Fortunately, Yanagi was a reasonable person. Knowing the circumstances had been unusual, she chose not to press the matter further and instead turned toward Harumasa.
"Harumasa, how did it go? Did the prisoner confess?"
"He confessed, but there wasn't much useful information to gain from it. The only thing we confirmed was that our guess was correct..."
Harumasa's calm tone immediately piqued Wise's curiosity.
"Wait a minute. Can someone tell me what happened while I was unconscious?"
"I'll explain," Nicole said.
"After your car crashed into the Hollow, we got surrounded by those heavily armed mercenaries, so we had to deal with them first. During the fight, we unexpectedly ran into the three members of Hollow Special Operations Section 6."
She explained that the situation had been tense and that everyone had worked together to drive the mercenaries away.
Then, after receiving a message from Belle and preparing to enter the Hollow to search for Wise, the Section 6 members received a communication from Miyabi saying that Wise was with her and that the situation was dangerous.
Everyone rushed over at once. By the time they arrived, they found Wise unconscious while Miyabi stood nearby beside Nicole.
Yanagi suddenly interrupted.
"And both of their faces were noticeably red, as though something had happened between them."
"You don't need to mention that part," Miyabi said immediately after hearing the comment.
"Huh? What, are you embarrassed? That's not like you, Martial Arts Fanatic Fox~"
Nicole was just about to tease her further when Miyabi calmly retaliated.
"...If you keep talking, then I'll also explain exactly how you performed emergency medical care."
In truth, Wise already knew what had happened without anyone needing to explain it, and Nicole herself looked visibly flustered now.
"Uh... alright, alright. In short, we rescued you when we got there. The Martial Arts Fanatic Fox also promised not to arrest you for the time being and agreed to wait until the matter was investigated further. Until then, she's willing to cooperate as an ally. You already know the rest."
"Understood. Then what about the prisoner you mentioned earlier?"
This time, Yanagi answered him.
In short, Perlman, who had been in the same car as Wise, was captured by the attackers after the crash.
Because of that, they needed to get useful information out of him.
Afterward, the four members of Section 6 continued their investigation, while Wise, following everyone's suggestion, returned to Sixth Street to rest.
At the same time, Piper received a call from Caesar informing her that a large group of mercenaries was heading toward them.
However, Caesar also declared that the Sons of Calydon would never allow those people to run wild in the Outer Ring, especially after learning that they had "injured" Wise.
In any case, Piper confidently declared that no matter how many enemies arrived, they'd all be neatly packed up and sent on their way.
Billy also volunteered to help before everyone split up.
Not long afterward, Wise finally returned to the video store. Belle and the two sisters immediately rushed over to check on him.
Only after seeing with their own eyes that he was truly safe did they finally relax.
"Phew, Brother! That's great... You finally came back safely..."
Belle spoke with lingering fear still visible on her face.
Although she knew her brother was strong, she had still been terrified after losing contact with him.
Her level of worry had even surpassed the moments when Wise received CPR from Miyabi, rested on Nicole's lap, or when both Anby and Yanagi offered their own "professional assistance."
Though, in an entirely different sense, those situations might have been even more dangerous.
"Don't worry, I'm back," Wise said as he pulled Belle into his arms.
She hugged him tightly and murmured softly,
"Yes... It's really wonderful that you came back safely. I don't even want to imagine what I'd do if something really happened to you..."
At the same time, Nicole sent another update. The Sons of Calydon had largely brought the situation in the Outer Ring under control, and the mercenaries had already begun retreating.
She had also contacted Section 6. Everyone there was safe, and they had discovered information suggesting that the mercenaries' stronghold was likely located within the Ballet Twins.
'The Ballet Twins again? In that case, should Odile and Odette return there to investigate as well?'
While considering the matter, Wise decided to contact Nicole first.
Hours later, inside the video store on Sixth Street in Janus Quarter...
"Fairy, after cross-referencing available data, has detected physiological signal traces suspected to belong to target Perlman within the Hollow region of the Ballet Twins."
Thinking about it, the last time the witness airship incident occurred, there had also been an attack by an unidentified armed group inside the building.
There had even been the Mountain Lion Gang incident during the same period.
At this point, the Ballet Twins practically deserved recognition as a legendary criminal hotspot.
Still, Wise had doubts about the situation.
Why hadn't the enemy simply eliminated Perlman instead of capturing him?
If the mastermind truly wanted to silence him regarding the Vision Industry scandal, killing him would have been far simpler.
Or did they have a deeper objective?
While Wise was deep in thought, Fairy suddenly began speaking incoherently.
"[|Warning! %&# Personnel approaching the video store... #&#...|]"
"What's going on, Fairy?"
Sensing that something was wrong, Wise immediately split part of his consciousness into the network data space to investigate.
At the same time, the display matrix inside the studio sparked violently, and the lights flickered erratically.
"This again? The system's under attack?"
Wise sighed at the recklessness of the attacker. He was no longer the same person he used to be.
At the same time, however, he couldn't help feeling puzzled.
There shouldn't be anything in New Eridu capable of breaking through Fairy's defenses... right?
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Zenless Zone Zero: The Almighty Incubus of Sixth Street
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