Outside the Hollow, or more precisely, outside the companion Hollow of the Hollow.
This was originally a subway station, abandoned after the sudden disaster of a companion Hollow.
On the subway tracks, Su Chen and Nicole, led by Belle who was possessing Eous, advanced towards Anby and Billy.
Su Chen, entering the Hollow for the first time, was looking around with great interest.
Everywhere were derailed subways, some even overturned on the ground, and the ground was covered in shattered building fragments, a scene of a cybernetic apocalypse.
Turning his head slightly, he could also see black eroded crystals, similar to obsidian, quietly shimmering.
An unsettling energy permeated the air, constantly trying to burrow into one's body, though its intensity was not great.
"My body feels a little heavy; this is probably the erosion of Ether energy?"
Su Chen thought to himself as he walked through the Hollow.
His body felt a slight discomfort under a certain force within the Hollow.
Fortunately, his body was almost ten times the human limit, and his Ether resistance reached 90 points. This slight discomfort was like a fly landing on him; it was hard to even notice without careful perception.
"Proxy, have you found Anby and Billy's direction?"
Nicole asked anxiously.
In the video store, they were friends who knew each other.
But outside the video store, they were in a Proxy and agent relationship.
"Don't worry, I've already pinpointed their location; they're not too far from us."
Belle, possessing Eous, said seriously, "However, on the way forward, there are Ether energy reactions, probably some Ethereals blocking the path."
"It's just some Ethereals; we'll take care of them." Nicole nudged Su Chen's arm and said, "Right, Su Chen?"
"Of course." Su Chen nodded easily, "But, could you briefly introduce me to information about the Ethereals? Like their combat power levels and such."
"Uh, you don't know about the Ethereals?"
Eous shook her rabbit ears in surprise.
Ethereals were a compulsory subject in New Eridu; how could a Hollow Raider not know about the Ethereals?
Nicole helped Su Chen explain, "Su Chen just arrived in New Eridu not long ago, so he's not very familiar with the Ethereals information here."
Based on the information Su Chen had revealed over the past two days, Nicole had already concocted an identity for him.
Su Chen came from a city outside New Eridu, where he had a formidable reputation. When that city completely fell under a Hollow, Su Chen wandered to New Eridu and unexpectedly fell onto her.
"Alright."
Although Belle felt something was off, she still accepted this premise.
She cleared her throat and began to explain under Su Chen's expectant gaze, "In New Eridu, Ethereals are divided into 10 levels, named after metal elements from Antimony to Mercury."
"The weakest, Level 1 Ethereals, are Antimony-level Ethereals. Their bodies are slightly stronger than ordinary people's, and an ordinary person can deal with one with some cleverness, although most of the time there's more than one."
Hearing this, Su Chen nodded slightly.
According to the plot he understood, ordinary people could indeed deal with the weakest Ethereals, though most of these people would die at the hands of the second Ethereal.
However, in his case, he could probably, like the legendary marksman, kill his way in and out seven times among a million Ethereals.
"Dealing with such Ethereals has a difficulty index of 1. As the Ethereal level increases, the difficulty index rises exponentially, roughly 3 to the power of n. For the strongest, Level 10 Ethereals, which are Mercury-level Ethereals, the difficulty index is 3 to the power of 9, specifically 19683."
"Such Ethereals would require a well-trained army of a thousand people to defeat. Individually, only a Void Hunter can eliminate them."
As she spoke, Belle appropriately showed a timid expression.
"Is your New Eridu that dangerous?"
Su Chen's face also became somewhat solemn.
A thousand-person army, well-trained, this refers to a regiment of the elite unit, right?
The elite unit in this world didn't carry small pistols. It was very normal for their weapons to have some elemental reactions, and equipping Ether energy cannons was commonplace.
A Level 10 Ethereal that required a regiment to deal with, even for him, it would only be about survival.
Trying to slowly wear it down by relying on invincibility frames from dodging was almost impossible.
Because there was also Ether energy in the Hollow for Ethereals to recover from injuries; if the damage didn't exceed the threshold, no matter how long you fought, it would be useless.
"Of course not." Nicole interjected, "We generally don't encounter Ethereals above Level 7; they are only active in the deepest parts of the native Hollows. Generally speaking, Ethereals above Level 4 can be called Superior Ethereals."
Currently, there are only 6 native Hollows in New Eridu. Including Zero Hollow · Limbo, which gave birth to the six great native Hollows, there are only 7 Hollows qualified to give birth to Level 7 Ethereals.
The remaining Hollows are all derivatives of the 6 native Hollows, such as the derivative Hollow where they are located, which does not possess the Ether energy to give birth to Ethereals above Level 7.
"In that case, I'm relieved."
Immediately, Su Chen relaxed.
Level 7 Ethereals, 3 to the power of 6.
Doing the mental math, it's a difficulty index of approximately 729.
This is no problem; he can solo it.
"Hey, why did you suddenly relax!?"
Belle looked at Su Chen, who was walking with a suddenly arrogant stride, and was a bit bewildered.
Didn't she just talk about the Ethereal levels?
How did he suddenly become so arrogant?
"Because I realized that life will be very easy from now on."
Su Chen showed a joyful smile.
"Are you looking down on the Ethereals?"
Belle looked at Su Chen somewhat seriously.
She couldn't stand Su Chen's confident demeanor; one should know that looking down on Ethereals could cost one's life.
Unfortunately, a serious expression on Bangboo's face only made her look cuter.
"Not at all, I just have a lot of research into escape techniques."
Su Chen couldn't help but touch Eous's shaking rabbit ears.
"Besides these 10 levels, there are also Out-of-Rule Ethereals, powerful enough to destroy a city! In front of them, you can't even escape!"
Belle struggled to shake off Su Chen's hand and threatened.
"Then where are such powerful Ethereals?"
Su Chen asked with a smile.
"Currently, they are only confirmed to exist deep within Zero Hollow, and may exist in other native Hollows."
Belle answered honestly.
"So that's it? As long as you don't court death by running inside, it's fine. I imagine very few people do that, right?"
Su Chen spread his hands, still relaxed.
Even if he encountered an Out-of-Rule Ethereal, with his bug of rolling into invincibility frames, he could completely escape.
Though it wouldn't look very graceful.
Moreover, he probably wouldn't encounter such Ethereals in the short term.
By the time he did, he would probably have already completed a hundred draws—a self-selected gold card. At that time, it would be the Ethereals who were afraid of him.
"A man with no ambition!"
Belle was very angry, controlling Eous to turn her head away.
Such a man would never gain her approval.
"Alright, just kidding."
Su Chen stroked Eous's head and said with a smile, "I think, as the most excellent Proxy, Phaethon, wouldn't let his collaborators fall into such a dangerous situation, right?"
In the plot, whether it was the siblings' main account, Phaethon, or the alt account he opened for them, both had a 100% success rate.
With their help, even the dangerous Zero Hollow could be explored with confidence.
"Even if you suddenly praise me, I won't be happy!"
Belle said so, but Eous's ears perked up, clearly very pleased.
In the video store, seeing his sister suddenly blush, Wise clenched his fists tightly.
This hateful guy, he flirts with girls every chance he gets!
Making a girl angry, then coaxing her back to happiness, creating the image of a humorous man.
This Su Chen, he clearly looked like an experienced philanderer.
Indeed, a sign that read "Su Chen and Dogs Not Allowed!" should be hung at the video store entrance.