Belle, controlling Eous, turned to Zane and asked,
"Two days from now, I need some time to see what these guys are really planning."
She glanced thoughtfully at the two mechs. She didn't know the full story behind them, but maybe she could find a chance to ask later.
At the very least, Zane still seemed friendly for now.
Not far off, Nicole picked up her suitcase, beaming as she watched Billy finish loading the jam-packed "personnel and supplies transport vehicle."
To her, that was a whole truckload of Dennies!
"Ahh, it's a real shame you're an Ethereal, Zane. Someone this good at making money—I'd seriously want to recruit you to Hare's House."
Nicole looked at Zane with a grin. After fighting alongside him once and spending some time together now, her wariness had eased up a lot.
It really was a shame. In her plan, Zane could've set up the stage—one playing bad cop, the other good cop—they'd fleece the military for a fortune.
When it came to Dennies, Nicole was a natural. She always had a knack for spotting money-making opportunities.
"Thank you for the compliment. It's an honor to be recognized,"
Zane nodded and replied softly.
"Mm-hmm! (Good taste!)"
Panta chimed in from beside him.
Next to Nicole, Anby glanced at the two of them, then quietly looked away. Who was it again who didn't trust him at first? And now she wants to recruit an Ethereal?
"Nicole, maybe focus on coming up with a reason why Hare's House was even in the Hollows. With how strict the authorities are about Hollow-related matters, that's not going to be easy."
"If you screw up, I might have to visit you in prison,"
Belle said pointedly, making Nicole frown.
Belle had a point—Zane might've made it sound easy, but coming up with a plausible excuse was going to be a serious challenge.
The marshals and military weren't people you could fool easily.
If it were that simple, Nicole wouldn't have backed off when she ran into the Hollow investigation team earlier.
After a moment's thought, she threw a pleading look at Eous.
Belle, still at the HDD system, noticed and turned to ask Fairy for help.
She remembered Fairy had top-tier linguistic capabilities.
"Of course, Master. Based on large-scale data analysis, I've compiled thirteen plausible scenarios and narrative sequences. The most effective one has an 87.6% success rate; the lowest is 57%."
With that, Belle passed on the proposed scenario to the three from Hare's House. It allowed them to hide their identity as Hollower agents while providing a reasonable cover story—hopefully airtight.
After saying goodbye to Zane, Nicole, Anby, and Billy followed Eous out of the Hollows, guided by Fairy.
As for the overloaded, turtle-paced truck? That was Billy's responsibility.
According to Nicole's logic: whoever spends the most has to do the most. And Billy had burned through a ton of ammo in their last fight...
Once Hare's House and Eous were gone, only Zane and Panta remained at the original battlefield.
Just as Zane was about to leave, a loud noise drew his attention.
He looked toward the sound and spotted a palm-sized comms device—probably dislodged during the earlier impact.
Zane walked over, picked it up, and the static and chaotic chatter slowly quieted.
Once the signal stabilized, a calm male voice came through the device.
"How's the operation? Was the target secured?"
Zane's eyes narrowed. Was this the mecha pilot's superior? Or the one in charge of the entire mission?
When there was no reply, the speaker must've sensed something was off. Before Zane could say anything, the connection was cut.
Maybe he had no idea Zane was still around.
At the same time, because a second device hadn't fallen off and was still active inside the mech, the three from Hare's House—on their way to the Hollow's exit—also heard the voice.
"Target capture?"
Nicole stroked her chin thoughtfully. This was sounding way more complicated than she'd originally thought.
"Boss, Nicole... sounds like the military has a very specific target in mind with Zane."
"Feels like there's something big behind all this."
While overclocking the truck engine, Billy shouted over his shoulder.
Then suddenly, an idea hit him. He raised a hand dramatically.
"I've got it! It's just like that Star Emblem Knight movie a few months ago! The military must be running some shady secret experiment—and Zane is the escaped test subject!"
Billy's eyes lit up. Seeing the plot of Star Emblem Knight come to life had him all fired up.
"See? That explains why Zane has an Ethereal body but still acts like a regular person!"
"Just like in the movie, next step's for the Star Knights to team up with the test subject and bring down the evil research group!"
"Sure, there aren't any Star Knights here... but we've got high-intelligence, region-suppressing, firepower-focused tactical constructs! Hahaha... Looks like—"
He didn't get to finish. As they turned a corner, several collapsed pillars loomed ahead. Billy, too busy talking, didn't notice.
In a flash, Anby grabbed the wheel and swerved hard, just barely avoiding a crash.
"Watch the road, Billy!"
Thunk! Nicole quickly pulled back her now-slightly-red hand, blew on it, and glared at Billy.
If not for Anby's quick reflexes, they would've smashed straight into the wreckage.
Then she glanced at the back of the truck, eyes narrowing.
No sign of waking up from the ones Zane had taken down. Still breathing, but totally unconscious.
Nicole and Anby didn't react to Billy's wild theory, but Eous seemed to be deep in thought...
...
"Whew... that was close. I almost blew our cover. Good thing I kept calm..."
Outside the military perimeter, Nicole finally exhaled.
Even with a solid story, pulling off the act had been no small feat.
But with things settled and her hands full of "profits," she felt like she was floating. Being rich felt amazing.
"Nicole Boss, speaking of the new Star Emblem Knight merch dropping next week..."
"Approved!"
"Woohoo! Long live Nicole Boss!"
As Billy celebrated, Nicole turned to Anby and asked curiously, voice low.
"Anby, earlier you said we could've sold it to the rebels or someone like that—it'd just be super risky. Now that the military's taken it back, I'm still curious…"
"If we had sold it to the rebels, how many Dennies would we be looking at?"
Anby looked up at her and replied,
"Based on the damage, current cost, and tech value, it would've gone for around seven to nine million Dennies."
"Seven million...?"
Nicole nodded slightly—then her eyes went wide.
"Wait, what did you say?!"
"How much?!!"