Sixth Street, Random Play.
After confirming that the crisis had been resolved, Andrew, who had slipped away from Scott Outpost, rode his Gouram motorcycle with Meow-Da, leisurely making his way back into New Eridu.
To Andrew, the most enjoyable part of the aftermath of a great battle wasn't just the cheering and celebration; it was the peaceful and serene smiles of the pedestrians strolling along the streets.
The sense of accomplishment that came from forging this peace by personally eliminating a threat was simply irresistible.
Especially when he did it all for his family and friends, that feeling of fulfillment would soar even higher. Of course, at the end of the day, this was just an added bonus.
Passing through Lumina Square, he also took the opportunity to return the sidecar he had forcibly detached earlier, leaving it next to the vehicle that used to be a sidecar motorcycle but was now just an ordinary one.
However, looking at the Dennies that had disappeared from the motorcycle, along with a massive puddle of water on the seat that had clearly been left behind from crying... It seemed that perhaps... the original owner of this motorcycle wasn't quite as willing to accept this turn of events as Andrew had hoped?
But just as Andrew began to feel a twinge of worry, an elderly man out for a stroll walked by. Seeing Andrew standing in front of the motorcycle for so long, the old man suddenly spoke up.
"Excuse me, young man. Do you know the previous owner of this motorcycle?"
Looking at the old man who had suddenly struck up a conversation, Andrew was a bit confused, unsure of what the other party was getting at. Still, he answered honestly, "No, I don't. Why? Did something happen?"
In response to Andrew's question, the old man scratched his head and said, "Oh... it's nothing much. It's just that not too long ago, a young lad was crying his heart out right here. But just as we were about to go over and try to comfort him, he suddenly burst into laughter, looking incredibly happy.
"Then he ran off while shouting something that sounded like 'New Eridu Daddy-ing', saying he was quitting his job to chase his dreams, and that he was going straight to trade it in for a—what was it? A top-spec model?"
At this point, the old man grew even more perplexed. He scratched his head again and stated with absolute certainty, "He must have lost his mind from some kind of shock, right? He was so shocked he couldn't even say 'bullying' right."
Listening to the baffled old man's words, Andrew immediately let out a sigh of relief.
It seemed that leaving behind an amount equal to one-third of the Gouram motorcycle's total appraised value for the owner was indeed the right way to handle things. From the looks of it, the motorcycle's owner was actually quite satisfied.
A world where no one got hurt had been achieved after all.
With his mind at ease, Andrew then rode non-stop all the way back to the Random Play Video Store.
Pushing the door open, he found Ellen inside the video store, wearing a hooded sweatshirt and having clearly been waiting for quite a while. Beside her was Belle, forcing a polite smile as she tried to run interference for Wise, who was currently in the workshop frantically operating the H.D.D System for his Proxy work.
During the Nineveh interception battle, Belle had acted as the Proxy for the entire Defense Force. As a result, the H.D.D System was currently overflowing with all sorts of observation data.
Most importantly, the observation data this time was unlike anything they had ever received before.
It had to be known that during this interception battle, Ray and Roland had opened up the access permissions to all of the Defense Force's observation equipment within Hollow Zero. Because of this, whether in terms of volume or precision, the detection data gathered by the military's equipment was vastly faster and superior to having Eous enter the Hollow and scan everything bit by bit using its internal sensors.
Even though this Hollow detection data was time-sensitive, using it as historical reference material would drastically reduce the calculation time required for future explorations.
It was safe to say that this was an absolute treasure trove that no Proxy could afford to miss out on.
Most importantly, Hollow Zero was the former city center before the Fall of the Old Capital. For the sibling duo who had always been searching for evidence to prove the innocence of their teacher, Carlos, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to find clues.
And as legendary Proxies, how could the siblings possibly let such a golden opportunity slip by?
However, considering Belle had just provided high-intensity support during the combat operations, Wise chose to push her out to rest while he tackled this ocean-like expanse of massive data himself.
But since a single person's analytical capabilities were limited, he ultimately abandoned his initial plan of conducting a meticulous search and trace. Instead, he only identified the general direction and hoarded every single piece of data along those lines.
His strategy was simply to save as much as he possibly could and worry about the analysis later.
Faced with Ellen—who had come to the video store to wait because Andrew had been delayed—he immediately opted to send out his younger sister to stall for time, preventing Ellen from accidentally wandering into the workshop and discovering their secret.
As for himself... he was currently in the workshop, typing furiously on the keyboard until he was practically dizzy.
Judging by Wise's muttered words that Belle heard before being pushed out of the room, there was a high probability that he didn't plan on sleeping until the 24-hour access permissions expired tomorrow morning. He was truly milking this opportunity for all it was worth.
Meanwhile, back at Scott Outpost, Ray had actually already noticed this when she saw that the equipment's operational output hadn't dropped after the battle ended. However, she decisively chose to turn a blind eye.
Before the granted permissions reached their expiration time, she opted to let Wise freely probe the Hollow data within Hollow Zero. Consider it her personal way of repaying Phaethon for their vital support during the recent battle.
Having no intention of easily revealing her identity to the public just yet, Belle had actually prepared quite a few conversation starters to attract Ellen's attention and stop her from accidentally opening the workshop door when Wise first kicked her out.
However, upon actually meeting her, Belle found that aside from being able to introduce a few things while the other girl was wandering around the store browsing VHS tapes, Ellen quickly just leaned against the wall and started playing on her phone.
She completely lacked that typical unruly kid urge to pry deeper and rummage through everything. She was honestly just a bit too well-behaved and mindful of boundaries.
However... Belle noticed that Ellen seemed to be silently scrolling through the daily life posts shared by her peers on Knock-Knock.
Toward the warmth of friends and family displayed on the screen, a trace of imperceptible envy flickered in the young girl's eyes.
Recalling the background story Andrew had gently coaxed out of her yesterday, Belle's eyes showed a glimmer of understanding.
But unfortunately, Belle's several attempts to strike up a conversation all ended in failure. For some unknown reason, Ellen harbored an inexplicable wariness towards Belle.
But as time dragged on. Seeing that Andrew still hadn't returned, the waiting took its toll, and the young girl's expression began to grow increasingly impatient.
Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap...
Fueled by impatience, the tips of the girl's leather shoes unconsciously began to tap against the floor in an ever-accelerating rhythm.
Even though Belle knew Andrew was at Scott Outpost seeking justice for Isolde—which was the real reason he was delayed—she couldn't exactly tell the truth about that.
If she spilled the beans, how would that be any different from blowing their own cover?
Most importantly, it wouldn't just blow Andrew's cover, but it would inadvertently blow hers as well. If that happened, what was the point of her running out here to sit with Ellen just to protect her Proxy identity?
Fortunately, just as the inherently impatient Ellen was pushed to the absolute brink of her limits from waiting, Andrew pushed open the video store door, timing his arrival right at the tipping point of her impending explosion.
The midday sun inherently brought with it a hint of unrestrainable agitation.
Even though the video store was well-shaded—thanks to the dual reasons of videotapes needing to avoid direct sunlight and the sensitive nature of their Proxy identities, making it difficult for sunlight to enter—it still couldn't stop Ellen, who had been waiting for so long, from being tainted by a flare of temper.
Seeing Andrew return looking travel-worn, Ellen paused her leg-bouncing. Then, crossing her arms over her chest, she said with obvious irritation, "Ma! Na! Ger! You promised to open the store at twelve noon, and it's almost one o'clock! Just what exactly were you busy with to be this late!!!"
However, even though her tone was incredibly unpolite, the moment she actually saw that the person walking through the door was Andrew... Ellen's long, thick shark tail—which had been drawn incredibly taut—couldn't help but subconsciously begin to sway gently behind her back.
Knowing that the young girl's attitude was actually born more out of worry for his prolonged absence than just the annoyance of waiting, Andrew scratched his head a little sheepishly and said, "Uh... If I said I was off saving New Eridu, would you believe me, Ellen?"
Hearing this, Ellen sighed in exasperation and retorted, "Manager, I'm not a little kid anymore. Please spare me the kind of excuses that sound like they were made up just to coax toddlers."
Listening to Ellen's retort, Belle, who was standing behind her and knew full well that Andrew was actually telling the truth, immediately broke out into a schadenfreude-filled smile.
Facing the subtle, pleading gaze Andrew shot her way, Belle decisively shrugged her shoulders, feigning helplessness as she rejected his plea for aid. At the same time, she silently mouthed the words:
"You made a girl wait here for an hour. Figure out how to coax her yourself, Andrew. I'm not getting dragged into the crossfire!"
Crap, it looked like Belle was out of the question.
Seeing Ellen's look of total disbelief, Andrew tentatively tried again, "Uh... then what if I said I went to beat up a high-ranking Defense Force officer to seek justice for someone? Do you believe that?"
Seeing Ellen still staring daggers at him, her cheeks even starting to puff up slightly, Andrew knew that his truth was highly unlikely to be believed. For a moment, he couldn't help but feel a bit helpless.
It was true that the Nineveh incident had been incredibly critical and perilous.
But precisely because the situation had escalated from normal to absolute crisis so rapidly, it inadvertently created a rather peculiar situation when Andrew resolved it.
The peculiar situation was this: just as news of the event reached the inner city of New Eridu, and the official emergency evacuation protocols had only just been given the green light to execute—even before the early warning sirens for the crisis could be sounded...
Nineveh had already been plucked from the sky by Andrew, cleaved into two neat halves with a single slash, along with the immature Gore Magala gestating inside it.
The speed at which it was resolved had exceeded everyone's imagination.
To the government institutions within New Eridu, such as Public Security, one could say it was over before it even began. This led many people to actually believe that the initial alarms and contingency plans were nothing more than an incredibly realistic drill, which was why it was abruptly halted right before official implementation.
If the official organizations were like this, there was even less need to mention the civilian populace.
It was business as usual—those who had to work went to work, and those who had to go to school went to school. Because the sirens never even went off, people didn't even get the half-day off that usually accompanied such events.
However, today was Sunday anyway, so aside from the corporate drones who were already stuck working overtime, students were already on their weekend break. So even without that half-day off... it probably didn't make much of a difference, right?
Probably. Though the high school seniors currently stuck in mandatory self-study sessions at school might have a word to say about that.
Nevertheless, because this incident had been resolved far too quickly, until the official announcements and reports were released, today was nothing more than another rare, peaceful day for the ordinary citizens of New Eridu.
Moreover, there wasn't even any news of the usual active Ethereal swarms attacking the frontline today. You could say it was entirely the most peaceful morning New Eridu had seen in the past few months, perhaps even the past few years.
They were completely oblivious to the fact that Hollow Zero—which had once destroyed the Old Capital—had nearly spiraled out of control once again just moments ago.
Since things had come to this, and knowing that the truth was the last thing she would believe, Andrew had no choice but to make an excuse. "Alright, alright, I'll tell you the truth."
Facing Ellen's puffy-cheeked glare, Andrew spread his hands and said, "You know I'm a blacksmith, right? A blacksmith needs materials to forge things."
Feigning a helpless tone, Andrew continued, "So, I went hunting for materials in Hollow Zero this morning, which is why I was delayed."
"Hollow Zero?" The moment Ellen heard that name, her brow immediately furrowed.
She instantly stood up and circled Andrew. Only after confirming that there wasn't a single wound on his body did she stop. But still feeling somewhat uneasy, she crossed her arms and asked, "You didn't get hurt, did you?"
Hearing this, Andrew's expression instantly lit up. He pointed his right thumb at himself and declared with immense pride, "Of course not! Don't underestimate your Manager's strength. I didn't suffer a single scratch!"
Hearing Andrew's confirmation, Ellen let out an imperceptible sigh of relief before casually asking, "If that's the case, how was the harvest?"
At those words, Andrew became even more smug. "Super abundant, of course!"
He recalled the sheer volume of materials he and Meow-Da had roughly inventoried on their way back. The amount, which completely exceeded his expectations, instantly made Andrew's heart bloom with joy. His hands itched so badly that he wished he could dive straight into the workshop the very next second and forge his heart out.
Then, Andrew added, "Meow-Da has already headed to the Seliana Smithy to sort and store the materials. Once we open the store, I'm going to go study those new drops!"
Back then, he hadn't even managed to touch a single hair of the completely Etherealized Rathian, leaving Andrew wallowing in regret for months.
Although the half-Etherealized Ebony Odogaron he encountered later had been an eye-opener and served as an acceptable substitute... at the end of the day, it wasn't a fully Etherealized dragon.
But this time, a completely Etherealized Gore Magala was a true first for him. Who knows, it might just bring him a completely unprecedented surprise!!
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