New Eridu, in a room somewhere unknown.
"Heh, to think I was actually outplayed. These little guys are quite capable."
Looking at the safe that was opened but completely empty before him, the corners of White Noise's mouth unconsciously curved up in an arc of interest.
Clearly, he had seen the contents inside with his own eyes through that little Bangboo's vision, yet now there was nothing.
The only ones who had come into contact with the safe in between were those few subordinates of his.
Leaving aside whether they had the guts, how would they even open this safe without the password?
"Truly interesting. I'm getting more and more excited, Carole Arna."
White Noise stopped paying attention to the safe on the desk and turned his head to look at the photo hanging on the whiteboard nearby.
It was a woman with neatly combed hair, a pair of pointed ears, and glasses.
"I should leave as well. This place is no longer safe. I look forward to our next meeting, students of Arna."
Half an hour later, when the Public Security officers arrived in a hurry.
Only a pile of destroyed computer equipment and an empty safe remained in the room.
-----------------
Time flew by, and the stars shifted.
Half a month had passed since the safe incident.
The lives of Geno and the others had returned to their daily routine once again.
But because of the client's disappearance and the fact that the memory card had already been used, none of the three parties received any remuneration.
Fortunately, with Fairy's help, Geno and the Proxy siblings huddled together for warmth, grinding account levels while doing missions, barely maintaining their livelihood.
As for the trio from the Cunning Hares, it was said they had been constantly searching for intelligence on the safe's client and dodging the Red Fang Gang's pursuit, so they were tentatively considered alive.
Everything was developing in a thriving direction.
Pro...bably?
"I can't take it anymore! Proxies! You must help me this time! This is a request of a lifetime!"
"I seem to recall hearing you say those exact words half a month ago, Nicole. Do you want me to play the recording from back then for you?"
Separated by half a month, the Proxy siblings finally connected with Nicole and her team again.
"Uh, stop teasing me. This time it really is an urgent matter."
Facing Belle's teasing, Nicole was first a bit embarrassed, but soon remembered the business at hand.
"You should know that the Red Fang Gang has been hunting us down because of the Boss White matter."
The Proxy siblings nodded. This was not unexpected. They had originally wanted to help Nicole, but they couldn't get in touch, seemingly because Nicole's phone was out of credit.
"Uh, well, isn't that because we have no money? Don't interrupt, let me finish."
Immediately after, Nicole recounted her experiences in detail.
During this half-month, the Red Fang Gang had fractured and fallen apart because of Boss White's death.
Some of the members got involved in things they shouldn't have, and as a result, were all arrested by Public Security officers and suffered the calamity of imprisonment.
The remaining members fought incessantly for the position of the Red Fang Gang's leader, practically beating each other's brains out.
However, among this crowd, there was a group of people completely different from the other members.
They didn't care who the next leader of the Red Fang Gang would be; they only wanted to catch the culprit who 'killed' Boss White and avenge him.
To be honest, it wasn't that Nicole and the others couldn't beat these guys; it was just that these people were like lunatics. No matter how much they were beaten, it wouldn't be long before they appeared before their eyes once again.
"Now, the three of us are being driven to mental instability by this bunch. Every single one of them is an unkillable cockroach. But if we were to really finish them off, we couldn't bring ourselves to do it."
Nicole's tone was very awkward. Although these guys were a bunch of lunatics, Nicole didn't hate this kind of person.
A group of guys with a sense of honor, acting only to avenge their former brother—how bad could they really be?
They had just walked down the wrong path and hadn't met the right people.
"I see. So, you sought our help... what exactly do you want us to do?"
After listening to Nicole's words, although Belle understood the cause and effect, she still didn't know what favor Nicole wanted from them.
"It's like this. The other party also knows that going on like this is endless, so they took the initiative to propose a condition. As long as we can let them see Boss White, they will stop hunting us."
This was also a helpless move by the other party. After all, they indeed couldn't beat the Cunning Hares. Revenge was hopeless, so they wanted to at least help their own boss collect his corpse.
Even though Ethereals don't have corpses.
"Alright, looking at it this way, you really do need our help."
After all, Boss White died inside a Hollow, and he had turned into an Ethereal right in front of Billy and Anby.
"By the way, after Boss White turned into an Ethereal, he seemed to have been wandering near that safe. Could it be that Geno and his team..."
Wise suddenly thought of something. Not long after they picked Billy up that day, Geno and Twiggy had returned hugging the safe. Could it be that Boss White had already been... by the two of them?
"No, it couldn't be."
Nicole also thought of this possibility. The corner of her eye twitched. If the Ethereal that Boss White turned into really was finished off by Geno and his team, wouldn't they have to continue entangling with that bunch of Red Fang Gang lunatics?
"Nicole, don't panic yet. Let's go find Geno and the others to ask first."
Among the group, Wise was relatively calm. He immediately called a halt to Nicole's wild fantasies.
Whether it was true or not, it was better to find the two of them and ask first.
-----------------
Rewinding time to half an hour ago, over at Geno's side.
He and Twiggy had fairly ample funds because they had been doing commissions with the Proxy siblings recently.
And now, they were carrying the supplies they had purchased, preparing to make a trip back to Silver Base.
"Finally going back for a trip. Why do I feel a bit timid about nearing home?"
Geno gripped the steering wheel, feeling a mix of anticipation and apprehension in his heart.
This was like a young person who had left home to live independently, returning after a long time away. There would always be some emotional sighing.
"It's normal. This shows you are becoming more and more like a human, even though your essence is still an Ethereal."
Twiggy sat in the passenger seat, fastening her seatbelt, roasting Geno, this non-human who was more human than she was.
If one hadn't seen his former true body as an Ethereal, I'm afraid no one would believe that this big boy, who looked heartless and carefree, could be a dangerous Ethereal.
"I always feel like you're scolding me... forget it, I'm already used to it."
While engaging in their daily bickering with Twiggy, Geno stepped on the gas, driving slowly toward the fissure leading to the Hollow.
Passing through the familiar particle effects and dizziness, the two quickly returned once again to the place where they were 'born'.
What they didn't know was that the moment they entered the Hollow, they just happened to miss the Proxies and the others who had come to find them.
And also because they entered the Hollow, the two could not be contacted, which ultimately led to even bigger trouble.
____
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