"Accept the judgment of justice!"
Billy struck a dramatic hero-pose as he shouted his line, firing a shot that pierced straight through a Metro Goblin's core.
Startled by the noise, the Ethereal swarm immediately turned toward the robot, and Billy's visual module quickly calculated their numbers.
"My god, there's gotta be over a hundred of them—how did this many gather together?"
He dodged the Alpecas' streams of liquid ether with exaggerated, comedic movements while retreating. At the same time, he squeezed off a few shots into the swarm to keep their attention. "Come on! Come on! Try to catch me, you stupid monsters!"
The red-jacketed robot looked like a third-rate matador, constantly provoking the Ethereal horde chasing behind him.
They passed through an abandoned street and slipped into a narrow alleyway, instantly restricting the swarm's movement. The massive number of Ether-crystal creatures squeezed together like fish in a park pond when someone dumps in a whole sheet of bread.
"Done! Hurry up and do it!" Billy burst out of the alley and shouted toward the Cunning Hares members waiting in ambush.
Ignis nodded, pulled the charging handle back, and chambered the first shell. A quick step forward, blocking the alley entrance, and he squeezed the trigger.
The forty-millimeter autocannon unleashed a torrent of buckshot. Bang-bang-bang—the storm of steel beads poured down like iron rain. Propelled by Ether explosive charges, the metal droplets slammed into the Ethereal swarm with tremendous kinetic force, ripping apart the bodies built from Ether crystals. Fortunately, these Ethereal creatures didn't bleed, and the shattered limbs quickly dissipated into the air. Had they been living, flesh-and-blood beings, the street would already be a landscape of gore and torn limbs.
As the front ranks fell, Salamander began to advance. He moved forward slowly, fingers still clamped on the trigger; the sound of his footfalls mingled with the autocannon's roar and the shattering of Ethereal shells, forming a strange, discordant symphony.
With space constrained on both sides, the Ethereal in the rear pushed mindlessly forward, sensing only that an enemy lay ahead. A few—those with the slightest intelligence—tried to retreat, but the pressure from behind forced them onward. They slammed directly into the steel storm erupting from Salamander's autocannon and were reduced to heaps of broken fragments.
Of course, not all of the Ethereal could do nothing but be shoved forward. A humanoid Metro Goblin—with both hands encased in gray Ether-crystal, shaped like hammers—covered its head-core with its arms and charged straight at Ignis. Behind it, a Hati leapt up by bracing against the alley walls, springing directly for Salamander's face.
Ignis had originally planned to simply mow them down with firepower, but the distance was far too close. He tossed the autocannon aside and activated the disintegration field of his power fist, ready to settle it in close combat.
But someone moved even faster.
Anby and Nekomata had already been watching for this moment. One on the left and one on the right, they climbed onto Salamander's shoulders and launched themselves toward the two Ethereal creatures. Twin metallic cracks rang out—Anby's chainsword screamed as it pierced the Metro Goblin's core, dropping the massive creature with a thunderous crash. The Hati had its claws severed by Nekomata, who kicked it back into the swarm. Before it recovered, her twin daggers stabbed into its gaping maw, piercing its core and ending it.
Seeing the two girls about to be surrounded by a flood of enemies, Ignis rushed in, shutting down the disintegration field and lifting both of them—one in each hand—out of the press. Then he unleashed two brilliant streams of fire straight into the massing Ethereal swarm.
The refined, secondary-processed ether fuel was hot enough to melt steel. The Ether-crystal bodies of the Ethereal had poor fire resistance, and they began to melt rapidly. Some with particularly high activity ignited outright, exploding like living bombs.
Fortunately, Salamander deployed the Iron Halo shield in time, blocking both the blast shockwaves and the scattering fragments.
"Why do they explode like that? They didn't used to do this, nya?" Nekomata stared at the razor-sharp Ether-crystal shards lodged in the shield, still glowing with high activity. If that had hit someone directly, the corruption would've turned them into an Ethereal creature in no time.
"The Ethereal here shouldn't have activity levels this high." Anby was far calmer. "This is supposed to be a safe zone. Low numbers, low activity. That's the only reason Belobog Heavy Industries was allowed to conduct demolition and reconstruction here. Something's wrong."
Ignis didn't answer. He advanced steadily, crushing the remaining Ethereal underfoot or smashing them apart with his power gauntlet before finally stopping.
"All cleared, Nicole."
Hearing the report, Nicole and Billy moved up from behind. It wasn't that they weren't contributing—the alley was simply too narrow. Ignis alone nearly blocked it completely. Even Anby and Nekomata had to leap over Salamander's body to engage in melee. Gun users like Nicole and Billy had no room to operate here.
"This is already the third batch." Nicole frowned and turned to Billy. "How many more clusters are there?"
"I saw at least two more. Really weird stuff." Billy shook his head, confused. "There shouldn't be this many Ethereal around here. This isn't an area with high ether activity. Normally they'd be scattered in small numbers. Honestly, with swarms this big, it should be the Defense Force or Public Security dealing with it."
"Belobog Heavy Industries submitted a request already, but because of procedure, it hasn't reached execution yet." Nicole patted Anby on the shoulder as she walked over. "How many points are left on the Carrot they provided?"
"This is only the first location. President Koleda marked three main points, plus several smaller secondary sites."
Nicole massaged her temples. "How are there so many? Did some kind of ether radiation spike happen recently? It's not like a high-activity ether vein could suddenly appear out of thin air."
"If that were the case, the Hollow Investigative Association and every ether-resource company would be swarming this place like lunatics. These Ethereal would've been cleared ages ago, nya. No way the commission would've landed on us."
Nekomata picked up an Ether-crystal fragment already starting to fade away.
Recently, Koleda's team noticed that Ethereal appearances were increasing. Their own Hollow team could barely protect themselves, and Ethereal were gathering near the construction site. To prevent them from charging the area and endangering the workers, they commissioned the Cunning Hares to clear out the pests. A paying job, and from a frequent client—Nicole accepted it immediately.
No one expected the numbers to be this outrageous. This Hollow was supposed to be low-risk—meaning low activity, few Ethereal, scattered. A gathering of this scale was far from normal.
"What now?" Billy looked at Nicole, then at the others. "Another trap run? Preferably with someone else as bait. I think the hydraulic rod in my leg's acting up. Boss, some parts from my last maintenance still haven't been replaced. Even the gas exchange assembly jams sometimes. The repair guy told me to stop using second-hand components—that they ruin performance."
Honestly, how important is a gas exchange assembly to a robot, provided overheating isn't an issue?
"Yeah yeah, I get it. But why does a robot even need a gas exchange assembly? Seriously." Nicole sighed. "Once we finish this job and get the final payment, you're going in for a full overhaul. Every part replaced with new ones. Happy?"
"Ooohhhh YES!" Billy cheered at full volume. "Boss Nicole, you're the best!"
"I think we should head to the Ethereal gathering point ourselves and figure out what's pulling them together."
Ignis picked up the autocannon, loaded a new drum, and hung it back at his waist. "Then we plan the next operation. If we don't solve the cause, they'll just regroup again."
"Hmm…" Nicole tapped her chin. "Seems like the only real option. Anby."
The girl nodded. "Follow me."
The nearest gathering point wasn't far. The Hollow environment here was extremely stable, with no rifts. Even Billy could draw monsters with nothing but his legs, not worrying about being caught or wandering into strange branches. Everyone was relatively relaxed and chatted about recent happenings along the way.
"President Koleda wants to know how long it'll take to decrypt the data disk, and honestly, so do I. There hasn't been any news from Rain lately—she doesn't reply to messages at all. Really suspicious."
Nicole sounded irritated. That hacker had burned her once before; hopefully it wouldn't happen again. "Ignis, can you get in contact with Rain?"
Though she had added Rain's client-contact account afterward—and had repeatedly asked about the decryption status of the coordinates Jane Doe provided—there had been no response at all.
"No news. She hasn't replied even once."
"Could she have bailed on the job, nya? Maybe someone offered her a higher price for what you two gave her, and she resold it, nya?"
Nekomata walked backward while talking, relying on her excellent balance to keep from tripping—something she abused constantly for strange antics.
"Rain wouldn't do something that stupid," Anby said without even lifting her head, eyes still on the terminal. "A hacker depends on stable clients. No one would trade away their reputation for two high-profit transactions. Not to mention Rain already has plenty of clients she can't afford to offend. If she could sell our data, she could sell theirs too—and someone would eventually hunt her down."
"Maybe she hit a wall with the cracking process?" Billy mimicked typing motions with both hands. "In the movies, the good hackers always struggle until the final second."
"Right, the righteous hackers finish the decryption at the last moment, while the villain hackers crack everything instantly."
Speaking of movies immediately lifted Anby's mood. "Looks like this time we're playing the good guys."
"I don't think we've ever 'played' any kind of wicked villain." Ignis felt metaphorical black lines forming.
True, the Cunning Hares didn't do glamorous work, but nothing so shameful it couldn't see the light of day. Nicole's crew did rob inside Hollows—but usually they robbed other Hollow Raiders or gangs. Black-on-black. Hard to say whether it was crime or vigilantism. Of course, they'd gotten into plenty of fights over it.
"Speaking of which—how's that breakfast stand your little friend runs?" Nicole quickly changed the topic, not wanting to continue that line of discussion.
"Vesmir found two friends to work with him lately. They added porridge and milk to the menu. Business seems good each day. The two helpers even learned how to steam buns. At this rate, he should finish repaying the start-up loan next week and finally enter the profit stage."
Salamander spoke with clear pride. "Aside from the fillings I taught him, he's also trying new flavors based on customer preferences."
"Sounds great." Billy was genuinely happy for it. "Anyone else want to learn?"
"Yes. I plan to hand-craft a few breakfast carts for them when we get back. Sell things like pancakes and sesame cakes." Ignis sounded genuinely pleased. "Who knows—maybe we'll eventually grow into a little food street."
"Providing jobs and stabilizing street security, nya, and since everyone's getting the proper documents, even Public Security can't complain, nya."
Nekomata nearly tripped on a loose stone but flipped backward with acrobatic ease, landing on her feet. "Scared me to death, nya. Big guy, you really helped them at the most important moment."
"Watch where you're going," Salamander muttered. "They only strayed for a bit. They're not hardened criminals. If you show them a proper path and offer help, most people don't actually want to join gangs. You know that better than anyone, Nekomata. If someone had taught you a trade and invested in you back then, would you have ended up in a gang?"
"That… is true, nya."
Nekomata stopped for a moment, sighing. "But back then, we didn't even have opportunities like that."
"That's why I want to help these kids."
Ignis walked past her and gently patted her head, rubbing her soft ears.
"Ah—my hair's all messed up."
Nekomata quickly fixed her hair and caught up with the team.
"How far are we from the target?" Nicole was far more concerned about the mission. "We don't have much in the way of supplies. Even if the ether radiation here is low, we still need to be careful."
Anby halted and pointed ahead at the collapsed building debris blocking the road. "Climb over that and you'll see it."