Thanks for _______ ________ and Hermit Purple for becoming as Supporters!
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Because of its extreme height and proximity to the Hollow's edge, the Ballet Twins Hollow had not completely swallowed the Ballet Twins Building. Only the uppermost section remained exposed, with the rooftop jutting out beyond the Hollow's boundary.
Near the rooftop.
A burly Rebel captain had his hand clamped around the neck of a pink-haired girl. She struggled painfully for breath as she was dragged to the edge of a collapsed section of flooring, her feet already dangling off the ground.
"You brought this on yourself by sending out a distress message. Though even if you hadn't, you'd still be dead."
The Rebel captain spoke coldly, then released his grip.
"!!!"
Hacker Rain's body lost all support and immediately fell downward. Below her was a drop of over ten meters— even if she didn't die from the fall, once she lost mobility, she would be torn apart by ether.
A guaranteed death, unless a miracle occurred.
And then, the miracle arrived.
This whole life of mine…
Just as Hacker Rain's mind began to replay flashes of her life, a blur moving too fast to see streaked across the space.
Arden, under the effect of the Godspeed buff, skidded to a halt and caught Hacker Rain securely, then leapt to a safe platform on the opposite side.
"The Scheele's Green sent me."
The Scheele's Green was Evelyn Chevalier's codename within the organization.
Hearing those words whispered beside her ear, Hacker Rain's eyes widened. She knew she was saved—and felt overwhelming relief.
A good comrade from the organization days… I didn't befriend her for nothing.
The Rebel captain witnessed everything that happened below. When he saw Arden clearly, his face froze in shock.
A deep indigo Daoist robe, a handsome face always carrying a gentle smile, and beautiful women constantly at his side.
That's right… it's definitely him…
"Yunkui Summit's 'Yin Zhiping'?"
"..."
The title that came out of the Rebel captain's mouth made Arden stumble, nearly dropping Hacker Rain onto the ground.
Arden admitted that although he deeply disliked the nickname "Yunkui Summit's Yin Zhiping," the drama Divine Tiger Companions had been far too successful. As a result, the nickname spread widely—so widely that nearly everyone in New Eridu knew it.
Especially among Rebels. After the "Undercover" incident, Arden had become famous among them as an expert consultant. With little entertainment in the Old Capital, Divine Tiger Companions spread like wildfire, making "Yunkui Summit's Yin Zhiping" far more famous than Arden himself.
"So, you're Yunkui Summit's Yin Zhiping? That makes sense!"
Not just the Rebels—Hacker Rain also knew this title.
I remember… the Scheele's Green said she used the alias Evelyn and worked as a bodyguard for the superstar Astra Yao. Astra Yao is one of the leads of Divine Tiger Companions. So, the 'Yin Zhiping' who also acted in that show…
Now Arden's sudden appearance to save her made perfect sense.
"Ahem. Yin Zhiping was just a role. Please call me Arden, or Daoist Arden."
Arden coughed lightly, easing the awkwardness while correcting Rain's form of address.
Then, after setting Rain down, Arden adopted a righteous expression and angrily rebuked the Rebels.
"You lot—laying deadly hands on a girl. Have you prepared yourselves?"
This was righteous fury toward criminals. Yes—definitely not revenge for being called "Yunkui Summit's Yin Zhiping."
"Fire! Fire!"
The Rebel captain was bold enough to face ether itself, but when confronted with Arden, his legs trembled and his heart panicked.
Even if he dared to call him "Yunkui Summit's Yin Zhiping," he knew perfectly well that Arden was the hero who had saved New Eridu—someone who could even slay Overlord-level ether entities.
If he fought head-on, there was no chance of victory.
Rat-tat-tat…
The Rebels pulled out automatic rifles and opened fire all at once.
But the moment the bullets left the barrels; Arden had already vanished with Rain.
He delivered Rain to Von Lycaon and set her down.
"Protect her."
"Rest assured!"
Arden vanished again. When he reappeared, he was already behind the Rebels.
He lifted his leg and kicked.
Bang~!
Though he couldn't match Ju Fufu, Arden's strength was nothing to scoff at. The Rebel captain spun like a top after taking the kick and flew backward.
Boom!!
He slammed hard into the wall.
Thanks to the wall being thick enough, the Rebel captain wasn't kicked out of the building to his death—but he was barely breathing.
"Drop your weapons and you live!"
Arden shouted at the remaining Rebels.
"!!"
With their captain taken out in a single kick, and Arden's shout carrying force akin to a lion's roar, the remaining Rebels were terrified out of their wits.
They looked at each other, then—wisely—dropped their weapons and raised their hands in a French military salute.
All Rebels chose to surrender.
"Hmph. At least you know better."
Arden sheathed the [Sword of Red Heaven].
He wasn't bloodthirsty. Since they had surrendered, there was no need to wipe them out completely.
Rina drifted over and bound the surrendered Rebels one by one.
At that moment, Arden and Eous went to Rain and asked what had happened.
"Get to the rooftop—the airship, there's no time!"
Rain was so frightened that her limbs had gone numb, nearly wetting herself, yet she still forced herself to explain the situation. It was clear that although she was a hacker—and a former member of the organization—she still cared deeply about innocent lives.
In that regard, she was very similar to Evelyn.
From Rain's account, everyone learned crucial information regarding Vision Corporation.
The front-facing executive of Vision Corporation, Perlman, had already been imprisoned.
After committing acts that disregarded civilian safety, a life sentence was practically guaranteed—though procedures still had to be followed. Coincidentally, today was the court hearing for the Vision bombing case, and their old acquaintance Nicole would appear as a witness to testify against Perlman.
Up to this point, everything was normal.
However, Perlman held far too many secrets. If no one ensured his release, he would drag those behind him down with him.
As a transmigrator, Arden knew full well that the ones backing Perlman were the Exaltists—and the Exaltists' true objective was the Sacrifice.
As for why the Exaltists researched the Sacrifice, Arden wasn't yet certain. It likely involved human–animal fusion and methods of surviving outside the Hollow environment.
Of course, those weren't the urgent matters right now.
New Eridu had a very special practice: when transporting extremely dangerous criminals, they didn't use ground vehicles—but airships.
At this very moment, Perlman was aboard an airship, traveling via aerial route to the courthouse for trial.
Under normal circumstances, air transport was safer than land transport. The Public Security's decision made sense—but the flaw lay precisely in air transport.
Although the airship's operating system was advanced, it was network-connected. And as long as something was connected to a network, no hacker was incapable of cracking it.
Thus, the top-tier hacker—Hacker Rain—had been captured and forced to become the hidden hand controlling the airship.
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