"Ehn-ne ehn-ne (Leave it to me, I have the [Carrot].)"
Wind generated beneath Eous's feet as he ran swiftly across the open ground. His two bunny ears were blown backward by the airflow, wobbling about, making him look even cuter.
"It makes me want to raise a [Bangboo] too."
Geno touched his neck, then pulled something out from behind it.
Opening his palm, he revealed a small, rectangular chip—about an inch long and half an inch wide. It was clearly a memory card.
"What? Isn't that the [Rosetta Data]? Why do you have it? Wasn't it taken away in the box?"
Nicole's face was full of astonishment. She only knew that the plan involved handing over the safe. Twiggy hadn't mentioned anything about being able to get the item back.
"This? Consider it exclusive technology. Anyway, let's get moving. Belle and Wise are still waiting for us."
***
Meanwhile, at [Random Play].
Belle, having just disconnected from Eous, rubbed her eyes.
Every time she connected to Eous to explore the [Hollow], it placed a significant burden on her body, leaving her exhausted.
"Brother, how are things on your end?"
"Don't worry, everything is ready."
Receiving Wise's solemn assurance, Belle finally breathed a sigh of relief.
*Knock, knock, knock.*
A knocking sound.
The door of the video store rattled. The siblings had already hung up the 'Closed' sign. Who could it be at this time?
Wise and Belle exchanged a glance, and then Wise stood up to open the door.
With a click, the door opened. Before the person even arrived, their voice arrived first.
"Hello, we are the Public Security patrol responsible for election propaganda on [Sixth Street]!"
What came into view was a Public Security officer wearing a blue uniform and a cap.
The visitor claimed to be conducting a routine patrol, but how was that possible at this time of day?
*Without a doubt, they are here for [Phaethon].*
"Of course, no problem. Please, come in."
Wise welcomed the officers inside with a smile.
As everyone entered, it became clearly visible that there were slight bulges under the clothes of several officers; they were obviously carrying weapons.
"Brother, what's going on? Who are these people?"
Belle came out of the workspace, looking at the crowd of people with a puzzled expression.
"Oh, these are officers here for a routine inspection. Belle, cooperate with the officers' work."
The leading officer frowned slightly, doubts constantly arising in his heart.
This wasn't what he had imagined.
They weren't actually routine patrol officers. They had come to investigate after receiving a tip-off that the siblings in this shop were the famous [Proxy], [Phaethon], of the Inter-Knot.
But strangely, no matter how his colleagues searched, they couldn't find any items related to Proxies. Even their computer was completely clean, containing nothing but movies.
It was just like a normal video store owner.
"Captain, we received tip-offs regarding [Phaethon]."
"What?"
Wise and Belle stood by the counter, watching the officers whispering not far away. Although their voices were very low, they didn't escape the siblings' ears.
Upon hearing the news, the corners of both siblings' mouths unconsciously curled into a subtle arc.
Soon, the officers finished exchanging intelligence, then came before the siblings and saluted.
"Apologies. It seems someone is maliciously spreading rumors. We mistook you for Proxies. We are truly sorry."
After apologizing to Wise and Belle, the officers quickly left [Random Play].
*Click.*
The door slowly closed. Accompanied by the sound of sirens, the group of officers left [Sixth Street].
Only after the sirens had completely faded did the siblings' bodies finally go limp, and they collapsed back-to-back on the floor.
"Phew~ That was close. Fortunately, we prepared in advance."
"Yeah. By using fake accounts and IP addresses to spread news about [Phaethon] everywhere, our real address was hidden in the chaos."
Wise let out a sigh of relief. It wasn't in vain that he had exerted so much effort to create twenty fake reports.
Just moments ago, that was what the team member had reported to the captain.
When he heard it, the Public Security captain was numb. In the entire [Janus] district, a full twenty households across the city had been reported as [Phaethon], and the IP address spreading the news was fake.
This immediately led the captain to believe this was a prank.
And so, the real [Phaethon] remained hidden.
"However, we can't use this account anymore. After all, it was hacked by that guy [White Noise]. Who knows if he tampered with it? Plus, the [HDD] firewall needs an upgrade."
As for moving to a different place, while that would be the safest approach, without the [Phaethon] account, their economic conditions couldn't support such a move.
For future matters, they would just have to take it one step at a time.
"Sigh, it took us so much effort to build our account up to that size, and now it's just gone."
Belle was heartbroken. She had worked day and night doing commissions to build that account up bit by bit, and now she had to start from scratch.
Wise, on the side, didn't feel as much reluctance to part with it, but he did feel somewhat guilty. There was still a large sum of money in that account that hadn't been withdrawn; now it had all turned into digital foam.
Of course, Belle didn't know about this, as this was just one of his baskets for hiding eggs.
Now Wise was thinking about how to keep this a secret so Belle wouldn't find out.
"Ah!"
Just as Wise was deep in thought, his sister beside him suddenly let out a cry of pain. Immediately after, she clutched her head, twitching and gasping continuously on the floor.
"Belle!? Belle, what's wrong?! Don't scare me!"
Wise nervously checked his sister's condition, but Belle couldn't hear his words at all right now.
*My head, it hurts so much, it's going to split open.*
**[Excuse me, do you agree to the above terms?]**
*Terms? What terms? Who is talking inside my head?*
**[Repeat. Excuse me, do you agree to the above terms?]**
*Ugh... Information, surging in my brain... It hurts...*
**[...Excuse me, do you agree to the above terms?!]**
*...Stop it, head, so painful, splitting open...*
*Brain, my brain is trembling!!!*
**[Last inquiry. Excuse me, do you agree...]**
**[Authorization agreement signed. It is a pleasure to serve you.]**
**[Let us, together, change New Eridu...]**
*Head, doesn't hurt anymore... Finally, free...*
"Belle?! Are you okay? Belle!"
After the voice and pain in her mind disappeared, Belle completely lost consciousness and fell to the floor.
Only Wise remained by her side, watching in horror as his sister fell into a coma.
Meanwhile, in the [Hollow] at the same time, Geno and the others, along with Eous, were enacting another, even more stimulating adventure.
-----------------
*Author's Note: Suffering in A8. Aglaia's wheelchair is spinning sparks.*
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