"Um… excuse me, are you from the Hollow Special Operations?"
A timid voice suddenly echoed from inside the carriage, startling both Nekomata and Belle.
"Meow—who's talking? That scared the fur off me! Manager, look, it's a girl in the carriage!"
This was the first time Nekomata had encountered something like this—he was immediately captivated by the strange yet intriguing scene.
Curious, Nekomata asked,
"Miss Carriage, could you help us out? We're in a bit of a hurry, so if you could just lift your leg a little…"
Belle chimed in,
"Please, Miss Carriage, we'd really appreciate it."
Wise sighed and shook his head.
"Sis, don't join in the nonsense. You'll scare the poor girl even more."
Right as he finished, the voice came again from the other side of the carriage.
"Excuse me, are you investigators from the Hollow Investigation Association?"
Nekomata promptly reminded her,
"Miss Carriage, it's customary to introduce yourself before asking for someone's identity. Whether in the professional world or on the streets, it's just good manners."
Hearing that, the girl became even more flustered and hurriedly apologized.
"S-sorry! I didn't know that. Um… I'm Corin. I work for a housekeeping company. Gemini, 150 centimeters tall, 85 pounds, love cleaning. My citizen ID is 1314765452—"
"Wait, wait! You don't need to tell us that much, meow. More importantly, why are you here?"
"I was with my companion when we were attacked by a very dangerous Ethereal. We got separated during the escape, and I got lost. Luckily, a really strong guy threw this carriage over to protect me—otherwise, I wouldn't have made it out alive…"
Nekomata's ears twitched in surprise.
"Meow?! So the carriage really was thrown by someone? That explains the human handprints."
Belle was just as shocked.
"That's hard to believe. Who has that kind of strength? Do you, big bro?"
Wise replied, exasperated,
"C'mon, don't joke around."
Even if it was thrown by a person, it had to be one of New Eridu's top combatants—those legendary figures they had no access to.
Then, another soft voice came from the other side of the carriage.
"Um, Investigators… you have a Bangboo with you, right? Could you take me along?"
"Of course!"
"Great, I'm coming over now."
"…How exactly are you planning to get through? Let's see if there's a way you can squeeze through…"
Nekomata dropped down and peeked underneath the carriage. The gap was so narrow that not even a kitten could crawl through, let alone a human.
Suddenly—
A harsh buzzing sound rang out.
Nekomata's fur stood on end and he slapped his ears shut.
"What's that noise? It's so loud!"
Before they could figure it out—
A chainsaw suddenly tore through the carriage wall from the other side.
Nekomata yelped and dropped to the ground, clutching Eous in fright.
"Meowww—where'd that chainsaw come from?!"
The chainsaw kept cutting through, deeper and deeper—until finally, with a clang, a large chunk of metal was sliced free and slammed to the ground, kicking up a thick cloud of dust.
"Phew—thank goodness I didn't tear my apron…"
As the dust cleared,
A young girl with light green hair, dressed in a maid uniform, stepped out in front of Nekomata and Belle.
"Investigators, I made it through! A Nekomata and a Bangboo… Ah! I didn't mean any offense—I just didn't realize the one talking to me earlier was Bangboo-sama…"
"Just think of me as Bangboo!" Nekomata declared proudly.
"No time to waste. The carriage is open—we need to move!"
The moment Nekomata thought about the hundreds still waiting to be rescued in Canvas Lane—and Sam Li's unknown fate—his anxiety spiked.
He quickly urged Belle to pick up the pace.
With Fairy's help, they soon located an exit from the Hollow.
As they escorted Corin out, Fairy's voice chimed in again.
"Warning: sustained drop in Ether activity detected within the Hollow. Disaster rating for the Dead End Hollow has been officially adjusted from B-level to C-level. Probable cause: Notorious Ethereal—Dead End Butcher—may be deceased."
"C-level?"
"Phaethon, what do you mean by C-level, meow?!"
"…It's nothing. Let's just keep going."
Belle was stunned.
Ever since the Dead End Butcher emerged, the Hollow's threat level had remained steadily at B-class, with signs of climbing even higher.
But now—Fairy was saying it had dropped?
And the Dead End Butcher… might be dead?
What the hell had happened?
There had been no word of any official operations recently…
Then, her brother Wise's voice came through the earpiece.
"Belle, the Dead End Butcher is most likely dead. There may be official operatives inside the Hollow. Be careful."
Belle responded calmly,
"Don't worry, Brother. We're almost at the target."
There was no time to dwell on whether Sam Li had really taken out the Butcher.
After saying goodbye to Corin,
Belle, piloting Eous, rushed ahead with Nekomata.
Soon, they reached the designated location—
And saw a train approaching from the distance.
Nekomata immediately scooped Eous up into her arms.
Perfect timing—the train's coming. Phaethon, get ready—"
"Got it. Nekomata, help me get on board."
"Leave it to me, meow!"
Nekomata cradled Eous in his arms, and the moment the train drew near, she hurled him upward with all his might.
"Proxie, it's up to you now!"
Bang! Eous landed squarely on top of the train.
The instant he regained his balance, Belle took control and guided Eous toward a ventilation hatch. Just as planned, they would enter through there and hit the emergency stop button—it was all they needed to succeed.
With the goal within reach, Eous squeezed himself into the ventilation shaft.
Thud! He dropped into the train car below.
Thanks to their prep work, the landing was steady this time. He even managed to strike a stylish pose upon impact.
But the moment he looked up—
Eous froze. And so did Belle, who was controlling him.
What… was going on?
Why was the train car full of heavily armed personnel?
Before Belle could even react, over twenty armed operatives turned toward Eous, staring at him in confusion.
Then—
Twenty-plus rifles immediately locked onto him.
Belle was completely stunned.
Just as Eous was about to be riddled with bullets, the train's window suddenly shattered—someone's foot smashed through, kicking an armed guard straight across the compartment.
It was Nekomata.
"Phaethon, get back! Leave this to me."
In a flash, Nekomata vaulted through the broken window, flipping and twisting through the narrow space of the train car. In seconds, he had already knocked out three or four guards.
But it wasn't enough.
Nekomata had to both shield Belle's Eous and face over twenty fully armed enemies—it was overwhelming, and his movements were heavily restricted.
Just as he was struggling to hold the line...
Suddenly—
BOOM!
Without the slightest warning, a golden spear dropped from above the train—slamming straight through the car like a massive nail.
It pierced clean through the entire compartment—
And pinned the car to the tracks with brutal force.
The train car couldn't withstand the blow. With a thunderous crash, it screeched to a stop.
No one was ready for it.
The massive inertia sent everyone inside tumbling to the floor.
"We're under attack—calling Captain, calling Captain!"
"Captain, do you read? Please respond if you can hear this—!"