Inside the video store, Ling, who had been forcibly logged out, and Zhe were staring angrily but helplessly at the compromised HDD, hearing only the hacker's smug laughter: "As you can see, this system belongs to me now."
Ling shouted angrily, "Who are you? What do you want?"
Hacker: "What do I want? Heh heh, my demand is simple: I want the safe's password!"
Meanwhile, Zhe quietly tapped the keyboard on the side, attempting to bypass the hacker's "sight" and regain control of the system.
The Hacker laughed mockingly, "Heh heh, did you think I wouldn't notice you trying to take the system back just because you were quiet?"
"Don't waste your energy. Hand over the safe password quickly! My patience is limited!"
Following this, Ling and Zhe continued to negotiate with the Hacker for a while, but not only did they fail to escape the crisis, they actually provoked him!
"Enough! Your clients provoked the wrong person and touched things they shouldn't have. If you still want to save them, consider carefully before replying to me! Don't try any more tricks!"
Next, he not only deleted a Data Station on the HDD but also sent Ling and Zhe a video of Hu Tao and the others stumbling around the Hollow like headless flies, making them extremely anxious but powerless.
Finally, when Ling saw Nicole and the others forgo asking for help from the passing Public Security Bureau personnel just to protect her, she finally made up her mind: "Enough, Hacker. I understand your demands."
"However, the password was stored in the database you just deleted, and it has a backup on the Rope Net. If you return system control to us, we can use the Rope Net's computing power to recover the password."
The Hacker saw through the trap immediately: "Heh heh, your trick won't work on me... Hand over your Rope Net account! I'll retrieve it myself."
But at this moment, Ling and Zhe exchanged a look and secretly sighed in relief:
The password was still in the core database, but now the Hacker's attention had been diverted to the Rope Net account, meaning he wouldn't infiltrate the HDD any further, at least.
In the end, Ling exchanged the Rope Net account Phaethon and learned what was stored in the safe: a copy of the Original Hollow Data, one of only two known copies in existence. Only with it could one truly enter and exit the Hollow freely.
The "radish" used by ordinary Ropemakers and Tunnel Robbers was merely a simple copy of this data, and if not calibrated in time according to the original, it would be useless against the ever-changing Hollow.
At the same time, Zhe, under the guise of a "concerned citizen," called the hotline to report Ropemakers to the Municipal Center, providing specific information about the Rope Net account Phaethon, forcing the Hacker to flee in embarrassment amid the growing sound of sirens.
As for Ling and Zhe, although they lost a database and sacrificed a famous Rope Net account, their identity as Phaethon remained unchanged, and they finally regained control of the HDD.
Meanwhile, inside the Crete Hollow—
Amber: "Awoo. I've been corrupted by the Hollow and turned into a monster. Awoo awoo."
Billy: "Hey Amber, stop biting my hand... Doesn't that hurt your teeth?!"
Amber: "Sorry. I wanted to make a joke to cheer Nicole up. Confirmed again: I'm not good at this."
Hu Tao: "Don't worry. With me here, I won't let you turn into Remnants."
Nicole: "Sigh, even if we don't turn into Remnants, if we stay here any longer, we'll either die of thirst, starve, or be killed by Remnants... Ignoring others and only caring about myself is supposed to be my creed... But why can't I bring myself to do it?"
Maoyou sobbed softly on the side: "Wuu wuu wuu... I don't want to die..."
Just then, IES, which had reconnected, walked over and offered a tissue: "Don't cry, we'll be out soon."
Maoyou cried even harder: "Don't... don't comfort me... If the Ropemakers don't restore the connection, how can we get out?"
Suddenly, she froze, then stopped crying and turned around to stare disbelievingly at IES: "Ropemaker... you... you've reconnected?!"
Seeing IES nod, she immediately hugged it tightly and burst into loud tears: "Waaah waah waah waah waah... Where... where did you go just now? I... I thought we were really going to... die here!"
Maoyou's crying attracted the attention of the others, and they immediately surrounded them: "Ropemaker?! Is that really you?!"
Immediately afterward, they received a glimmer of hope: Ling's voice came through IES's loudspeaker: "I am truly sorry, everyone, the HDD was just hacked..."
Subsequently, Ling briefly informed everyone of the events that transpired while they were disconnected.
After listening, Nicole came to a conclusion: "So, that Hacker accepted a commission from someone, and by extension, the Red Fang Gang also accepted a commission from someone else, and we also accepted a commission from someone else..."
"Damn it! When I saw the payment, I thought it was just a simple case of thieves robbing thieves, but it turned out to be another job with shady dealings behind it. I'll never trust those intelligence brokers again!"
After composing themselves, the group quickened their pace and successfully found the safe under IES's guidance.
Unfortunately, the Elite Remnant that the White Guy had turned into was guarding the safe. It was at least four meters tall, and its armor looked significantly thicker than that of low-level Remnants.
Simultaneously, it held a shield in one hand while its other hand had transformed into a sharp longsword.
As the group looked at the Elite Remnant guarding the safe, the atmosphere instantly grew tense.
"What should we do? This Remnant looks difficult to handle," Billy whispered.
Amber gripped her weapon tightly, her eyes resolute: "No matter what, to complete the commission and for the Ropemakers who sacrificed for us, we must retrieve the contents of the safe."
Hu Tao stretched her muscles, eager to fight: "Then let's deal with this monster first."
Just as everyone was preparing to act, Maoyou, who had climbed to a high spot, suddenly sounded the alarm: "This is bad! A group of Remnants has been attracted by it and is approaching us!"
Nicole frowned: "Big trouble. We need to finish this quickly."
Faster said than done, Hu Tao rushed forward first, engaging in a fierce confrontation with the Advanced Remnant.
Amber and Nicole also flanked it from both sides, attempting to hold it back so that Hu Tao could use Purple Flame to neutralize its activity. Billy and Maoyou, meanwhile, dealt with the Low-Level Remnants that had been attracted.
Finally, Hu Tao successfully hurled a ball of Purple Flame into the Advanced Remnant's aether core, successfully neutralizing its activity.
After the battle, Nicole excitedly rushed toward the safe: "Yes! I finally found you!"
Just then, Ling preemptively controlled IES to jump onto the safe and said to Nicole: "Although I hate to ruin the mood... it's too early to celebrate! Nicole, calm down and listen to me... It was that bad Hacker's fault! He deleted the Escape Data I had reserved for leaving the Hollow..."
Upon hearing this, Nicole nearly collapsed: "What?! We still can't get out?!"
IES continued, "Uh, well, you don't have to be so pessimistic. I have one last, hidden method! It just requires your agreement, Nicole."
Nicole immediately jumped high: "I agree! Tell me quickly, what is the method?"