"Evacuate the Hollow? Where would we go? If the people from the Defense Force find us, we'll be in trouble."
The sisters buzzed with discussion. To say they didn't want to leave the Hollow would definitely be a lie, but once outside, where could they go?
Although the products of the Silver Project were hidden by the high command of the Defense Force, ten people with the exact same face appearing anywhere would be far too obvious.
This was indeed a problem. Twiggy hadn't thought of a solution for the time being; they could only take it one step at a time. But regardless, the situation at the Silver Base was about to enter a state of extreme paranoia, where every bush and tree looked like an enemy.
"Don't be so pessimistic. Maybe the other party was just passing by and wasn't here to find us," Geno said, comforting the Silver sisters who had already started to become suspicious of everything. The situation hadn't reached such a critical point yet.
"Phew~ You're right. Maybe we really are being too sensitive."
Twiggy exhaled, then closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair. Although what Geno said was possible, she knew the probability was minuscule. She still needed to make more preparations.
In the following days, Twiggy began to accelerate the experiment's progress, aiming to wrap up the first phase of the project at hand as soon as possible. Then, together with Number 5 and Number 6, she worked on repairing the mechs that had been broken when Geno first arrived at the base.
Number 8, Number 9, and Number 10 stopped going out to explore and instead took on patrol duties. Meanwhile, Number 1, Number 2, and Number 3 were responsible for packing luggage. Once a breach occurred, they would immediately take everyone and evacuate.
Several days passed. Although everyone was still preparing for the unknown enemy, the atmosphere had relaxed a lot compared to when they first received the news. At least the state of seeing enemies in every shadow wouldn't appear again.
And in these few days, Geno thoroughly recognized what military efficiency meant. He watched the orderly Silver sisters and clicked his tongue in wonder. If he hadn't lived with these girls for a year, he would have suspected this was a squad of robots.
"I can only say, as expected of those who came out of a military camp."
"Hmph~ You can praise us more; no need to be stingy with your vocabulary."
Twiggy puffed out her chest, looking triumphant, just like a proud little cat, making Geno unable to resist wanting to pat her head.
"W-What are you doing!?"
Feeling the warm touch on her head, Twiggy instantly lost that air of superiority. It was replaced by panic and a heating up little face.
"Uh, I just thought the way you looked just now was very cute."
Realizing what he had done, Geno was actually honest, awkwardly withdrawing his hand. However, his straightforward manner made Twiggy's heart even more chaotic.
"Hmph! I think you just want to take advantage of me."
Don't look at what she said; in her heart, Twiggy didn't feel any aversion, and even felt a little secret delight. The two already had mutual affection, but one was a dense straight guy, and the other was a tsundere ruining her own chances. The result was that their actions toward each other got closer and closer, but their actual relationship made zero progress, making onlookers anxious! (The sisters of the Silver forces gave a collective thumbs up.)
And it just so happened that the atmosphere at this moment was spot on, causing the temperature between the two to rise. For a moment, both were a bit dazed, staring straight at each other. They only felt that the other's figure was getting closer and clearer in their vision. It was as if only the two of them remained between heaven and earth, the spring breeze blowing past, everything else just fleeting clouds.
"You..."
"I..."
BOOM!!!
"Waaahhhh!"
The sudden explosion instantly sobered the two who were originally in an ambiguous mood. With perfect tacit understanding, they threw the situation just now to the back of their minds and ran synchronously toward the source of the explosion and screams.
Rushing all the way to the second floor, confirming the explosion was in the laboratory, the two didn't have time to open the door and broke straight in, only to see a surprising scene.
"He-he-he-help!!! Twiggy!"
They saw a Dullahan baring its fangs and brandishing its claws, pouncing toward Number 6. To the side, Number 5 had already been knocked flying and was leaning against the wall, her life or death unknown.
Seeing this, Geno couldn't care about anything else. He immediately mutated his claws and pounced at the Dullahan to intercept it. Number 6 took this opportunity to slip away through the gap between the two. Seeing this, the Dullahan actually defied common sense, wanting to abandon Geno, the primary target, and go straight for Number 6.
"Urgh."
With a stumble, the Dullahan fell to the ground, struggling with difficulty to get up. However, the thin Ether environment in the air made it hard for its body to support itself, and soon it fell to the ground, its form starting to dissipate.
"Quick! Send him back to the culture tank!" Twiggy made a prompt decision upon seeing this.
Hearing this, Geno hurriedly lifted it and sent it back into the culture tank with the broken door, then used his ability to condense a thin plate to replace the door. Then Number 6 also quickly made repairs and started the equipment. The Ether concentration inside the culture tank rose rapidly, and the Dullahan's body stopped dissipating.
"Phew~ That was close, so close. Almost lost my life."
Number 6 wiped the sweat from her forehead; her back was already soaked. To the side, Number 5, who had fainted, also slowly woke up, clutching her head as she stood up.
"Number 6, are you okay?"
Number 5 cared about Number 6's condition first thing, and only then saw Geno and Twiggy, nodding to them.
"What is the situation here? Is that Dullahan the one we brought back last time?" Geno asked first. He had an impression of that uniquely colored Dullahan; it was the Ethereal that appeared when they were looking for the safe.
"Yes, that's the one." Twiggy nodded. At the time, because this Ethereal's behavior was special, Twiggy thought of bringing it back to the base for research. The previous anti-corruption wristband was also tested using it.
As an Ethereal that had just mutated not long ago, his intelligence didn't seem to have completely dissipated. Apart from the instinct to attack living things, he seemed to be attracted by something. Twiggy thought of Geno's special situation from this, so she wanted to bring it back to study.
But what was with the situation just now? How could this guy act so abnormally? Clearly Number 5 was down, Geno was blocking, but it only attacked the fleeing Number 6?
So Twiggy asked directly, "Before the incident happened, what were you doing?"
Twiggy tried to start from their actions, but asking made them instantly mute.
"We... were..."
Number 6's eyes drifted, subconsciously looking at the astronomical telescope by the window, which was originally used to observe the Hollow's boundary.
"A telescope? You guys were stargazing?"
Twiggy followed Number 6's gaze, then her expression became a bit strange.
"Yes, yes, yes, just watching the stars." Number 6 went along with the flow, continuing Twiggy's sentence.
"Stargazing in broad daylight?"
Geno's mouth twitched. This guy was obviously lying, but this lie was too ridiculous.
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