northernbook Chapter 328 Hoshimi Miyabi: More Partners
Chapter 328 Hoshimi Miyabi: More Partners
"Breaking news! A cavity has just appeared on 14th Street. The Cavity Investigation Association has dispatched an investigation team to the scene for emergency response, and the evacuation of residents in nearby neighborhoods is also underway."
In a room filled with various videotapes, the evening news is playing on a television. A rabbit-like creature stands on two legs, staring at the television screen, then runs to the sofa behind it and calls to a woman wearing headphones.
After taking off her headphones, the woman glanced at the creature and then called out to the man behind her who was holding a videotape box.
"Brother, come quick, look at this news."
"What's wrong?" The man looked at the TV curiously. "14th Street, I remember it being over there... Wait a minute."
As he spoke, the man turned around and placed the boxes on a computer desk. The man's name was Zhe, and the woman sitting on the sofa was his sister, Ling.
As for the mysterious creature, it is a kind of intelligent machine called Bomb, which has a high level of intelligence. It was originally developed by a lady named Wanzhou as a tool to help people explore the void.
As for the Void, it is a supernatural disaster phenomenon with an unknown cause. It can devour everything, and its internal space is chaotic, filled with monsters and ethereal matter.
Of course, the above is all vague information known to the general public; how much the higher-ups know is unknown.
Aether, however, is a corrosive substance that, with prolonged contact, can transform intelligent life into a monster called the Ebony, making it extremely dangerous. But it is also a valuable resource. Neo-Elido mines this substance, processes it into energy, and transmits it throughout the city via the Ethereal Tower. Relying on ether and new technologies, Neo-Elido is able to completely control all the voids within its territory.
As for why it's called New Elidu, you can tell from the name itself.
Several years ago, a massive void disaster swept through the old Elidu. Since then, the old city has fallen and the new city has been built on the ruins of the old city. It was later called Void Zero. A defensive line was built near the void that destroyed the old Elidu in an effort to prevent the void from expanding again, while also monitoring and studying Void Zero.
The siblings, Tetsu and Rin, are also victims of this disaster. Now they run a video store on Sixth Street and live an ordinary life, or at least that's how it appears on the surface.
“Yes, it’s in the Janus District.” Rin answered Zhe’s guess while holding Bomb. “They said it has already broken through Level 3 control.”
Meanwhile, Zhe was typing on his computer, gathering information, when his expression turned serious.
"Sure enough, the police happened to be conducting a search operation in that area today, so the evacuation may not go smoothly."
"That is to say..."
"Let's prepare in advance, maybe some work will come knocking on our door soon."
Zhe's job was obviously not the one at the video store. As mentioned above, the etheric matter in the void is a high-quality resource, and there are various undamaged devices inside the void, the benefits of which are enormous.
Where there is profit to be made, a group of unofficial individuals will naturally venture into the Void alone without permission to explore; these people are collectively known as cave raiders. But as mentioned above, the space inside the Void is chaotic and disorderly, requiring a tool called a "carrot" to safely leave the Void.
The so-called "carrot" actually refers to a bomb that has void data and has already planned its route. These bombs are usually the result of a series of complex calculations by organizations such as the Void Survey Association based on the latest void data.
However, the tomb raiders obviously did not have such an official channel to obtain [radishes]. But there was another group of people in the shadows who could make [radishes]. These people accepted the tomb raiders' commissions through the dark web and gave them the corresponding [radishes]. These people, who seemed to be leading the tomb raiders away with ropes, were called rope craftsmen by the tomb raiders, and the official name of that dark web was the rope web.
Zhe and Ling are rope craftsmen on the rope net. The brother and sister jointly run a rope net account called Phaethon and quickly become legendary rope craftsmen, admired by many people.
The business Zhe mentioned naturally refers to the business on the rope net. After all, in a newly formed hole, it's possible that someone wants to rescue their loved ones as soon as possible, or that a cave raider wants to take advantage of the chaos to make a fortune.
"All that's left is to wait."
So the two of them sat on the sofa and quietly watched the evening news, which was reporting the latest developments on television.
“Ahem, uh, well… citizens, I am the sheriff of Janus District, currently overseeing the manhunt on 14th Street.”
On the screen appeared a tall man in a sheriff's uniform. His name was Bringer, the deputy chief sheriff of the Janus District Sheriff's Office, and a strong candidate in the next mayoral election.
"I'm very sorry, the manhunt has been affected by the sudden cave-in disaster here."
The manhunt he mentioned was for the Red Fang Gang, the masterminds behind the recent terrorist attack on the research institute. He appeared on television to remind the public that these people are a group of very dangerous criminals and to be careful.
Then, an indignant man suddenly interrupted; he was a TV reporter in charge of the live broadcast. His purpose in intervening was to urge the police to bring the Red Fang Gang to justice, to first [illegible] and then [illegible].
The reporter's words were so obscene that they could not pass censorship, so the TV station had no choice but to censor them. Even Bollinger, who was standing next to him, looked at the reporter with cold sweat on his face.
He was a little worried that the live stream might be cut off, but fortunately it was not interrupted.
As the manhunt continued, the building where the Red Fang gang was located was completely surrounded. In the end, in order to force the Red Fang gang to submit, the Public Security Bureau even deployed the air police's riot control helicopters.
Just as the pilot of the riot helicopter spotted the entire Red Fang gang questioning Bollinger about whether to carry out physical suppression through an unknown bright light, the reporter interrupted Bollinger and gave the order in his loudest voice.
"What?! They've found those bastards from the Red Fang Gang?! What are you waiting for, sir?! Select the highest caliber!! Execute—Justice—!!!"
Riot control helicopters then launched missiles, followed by an explosion in a room on a high floor of a residential building.
"Let's return to the scene on 14th Street. Shortly after the cave-in disaster, an explosion occurred in a high-rise apartment in a nearby residential building. It is understood that the explosion was caused by the Sheriff's Department. In the operation to crack down on the illegal violent gang Red Tooth Gang, the Sheriff's Department and righteous citizens took swift and decisive action, deploying the armed forces of the Air Police Unit."
As of press time, the leader of the Red Fang gang remains at large, presumably having fallen into the hole. The police chief declined to comment. Bomb disposal troops are en route; please do not approach 14th Precinct! We will continue to monitor the situation.
Suddenly, the door to the room was violently flung open. Following the loud noise, Tetsuya and Rin looked towards the doorway. Standing there was a pink-haired, large-breasted girl named Nicole, a partner Tetsuya and Rin met on the rope net.
Since she's here, it means business is coming to her.
"No need to look anymore! I was directly involved in the explosion mentioned in the news!"
Nicole rushed into the room, explaining the situation as she ran to the television.
“The situation is urgent! Billy, Ambi, and my client have all fallen into that hole! I desperately need the rope maker's help—this is my lifelong request!”
Nicole then stood in front of the television, but Zhe showed no concern for Nicole's lifelong plea, since they heard Nicole's so-called lifelong plea more than three times a month.
Of course, Nicole couldn't just give up, since her target and two companions were still inside the void.
Finally, after Ling and Zhe closed the shop and confirmed that there were no suspicious people nearby, Nicole was allowed to explain in detail what had happened. After a while of joking around, Nicole briefly recounted their previous conflict with the Red Fang Gang.
In short, Nicole and her team's target was a safe in the research institute that the Red Fang Gang had previously attacked, which led to the conflict with the Red Fang Gang. When they tried to use the power of the Public Security Bureau to get rid of the Red Fang Gang's pursuit, they were tricked by that emotionally charged reporter.
Her target and two companions fell into the void, and she went through a lot of trouble to escape from the Fourteenth Street after making sure no one was following her, before she was able to find the siblings Tetsu and Suzu for help.
Ultimately, in exchange for settling all previous debts in one lump sum and giving Zhe and his team a share of the profits from this commission, Zhe and his team accepted the commission.
Nicole breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing that the two had accepted the job, just as her stomach rumbled. After instructing Rin to treat Nicole's injuries, Tetsuya went out to buy her a bowl of ramen, then sat down at the computer he called H.D.D. to make final adjustments. Just then, the latest news came on from the still-on television.
"Breaking news: the newly appeared Void has been fully taken over by the Anti-Air Section 6. Miss Yae Sakura, a member of the Anti-Air Section 6, is heading into the Void to deal with this crisis. We believe that with Miss Yae Sakura's help, this crisis will soon be over."
Upon hearing this, Nicole couldn't sit still any longer. Ignoring Rin, who was still tending to her wounds, she suddenly stood up and began urging Tetsuya to hurry up.
After all, if Yae Sakura of the Anti-Air Division 6 discovered her target, the request would definitely fall through. This made Tetsuya realize that this request was not simple. However, Nico herself stammered and couldn't give a clear explanation. The reason she accepted the request was simply because she was attracted by the very generous reward.
This made Zhe cover his face and sigh, but this was actually Nicole's style. After all, Nicole's financial situation was not optimistic. Although she was doing the work of a cave raider, she was always in the red for various reasons. She simply couldn't refuse such a well-paid commission.
He had heard of the Six Anti-Aircraft Techniques, in fact, who doesn't know about them these days?
Established by the youngest member of the Void Hunters in history, the department recruits only the elite of the elite and is the trump card of New Elidu in its fight against the Void Disaster.
Meanwhile, Hoshimi Miyabi's identity as a Void Hunter has also led to the Void Section 6 having a huge reputation among the public. This department is internally divided into two teams: one is a team led by Hoshimi Miyabi himself, which mainly explores the Void Zero; the other is led by a person named Kiana Kaslana, who is specifically responsible for suppressing sudden Void disasters like this one.
The Yae Sakura mentioned in the news is a member of the latter group. Like Hoshimi Miyabi, her fox-like identity and her shrine maiden attire have earned her immense popularity. Although her long, thin ears, which don't resemble fox ears, often make people question her fox-like identity, this is merely harmless banter among fans.
However, the intervention of Section Six in the air has indeed brought some trouble to the three of them. After all, they know Yae Sakura's strength, and it would be easy for her to suppress such a newly formed void.
If the other party discovers Nicole's target, they'll probably have to find a way to get it from the Hollow Investigation Association or the Sheriff's Office.
So Zhe quickly finished H·D·D debugging and sent Nicole with their bomb—Ies—to the void.
After receiving Nicole's instructions, Zhe quickly activated H·D·D. A ring of bright light appeared in his pupils, and the next second his senses synchronized with Ies next to Nicole.
Since the Anti-Air Section 6 had intervened, Nicole needed to monitor the enemy's actions at all times. Therefore, after watching Ies enter the void, Nicole left the scene.
After entering the void, Zhe manipulated Ies's body to search for information about the void. Then, with H·D·D's ultra-high performance calculation, he quickly discovered a spatial rift. After passing through the spatial rift, Zhe soon found Nicole's partners Billy and Anko.
At this moment, they were being chased by a group of skeletons. After helping the two escape, Zhe successfully reunited with them.
After checking the two's physical condition, Zhe secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, both of them had excellent ether resistance and had not experienced any corrosive effects after being in the void for some time.
Billy, whose full name is Billy Kidd, is an android who has passed the Turing Test. Because the mechanical AI in New Elito is very intelligent, any android who passes the test can have human rights and become a legal citizen. Therefore, New Elito is not lacking in androids like Billy.
Anbi is a girl with short silver hair and amber eyes. Her full name is Anbi Demara, the same surname as Nico. She was originally found by Nico in the Hollow, but because she was seriously injured and had lost her memories and was obsessed with her past, Nico gave her the surname Demara.
Both of them were members of the Hole-Breaking Organization founded by Nicole, namely the Cunning Rabbit House. Nicole's request was simple: to take the two of them and the target of their current mission out of the Hole.
Through their conversation, the location of the safe, their target, has been determined. However, the safe is currently being guarded by Whitey, the leader of the Red Fang Gang.
Because the two of them accidentally fell into the hollow hand and didn't have a [radish], and the white man who turned into the Yi Hai was not an ordinary Yi Hai, after weighing the pros and cons, the two of them decided to find the exit first, which is why they didn't bring the safe with them.
Now that Zhe has helped, leaving the void is no longer a problem. The next step is to figure out how to take that safe out.
He secretly took it out before Yae Sakura even noticed, hmm.