"The Dead End Butcher is dead?"
Inside the Hollow Special Operations Section, chaos erupted the moment the team received observation data and analysis reports from the Dead End Hollows.
The Dead End Butcher... dead?
The Chief of Communications Division immediately printed the data and rushed it to the deputy minister's office.
The deputy minister was just as shocked. As far as he could recall, they had long planned to take action against the Dead End Butcher, but due to various complications, the operation had been postponed again and again.
And now, completely unexpectedly, this news had landed on his desk.
"Was this an unsanctioned operation by Section Six?"
The communications chief immediately shook his head.
"Definitely not. Section Chief Hoshimi Miyabi and her team have been at headquarters all day. There's no way it was Section Six, and the other sections have no reason to act without authorization either."
It could've been the Security Bureau, the Defense Forces, or some other department...
Or perhaps the work of a civilian expert...
Either way, it had to be investigated.
But the priority now was to send someone to the Dead End Hollows to confirm the situation and handle any cleanup.
The deputy minister spoke calmly,
"Have Section Four send a team. And make sure the Security Bureau is informed—have them deploy extra personnel to maintain order on-site."
There was no need to guess what would happen next.
Once the media caught wind of changes at the Dead End Hollows, they would swarm the area in droves.
And the moment the Hollow Raiders found out it had entered a decline phase, they'd storm in to scavenge—making everything even more chaotic.
After the communications chief left,
The deputy minister sat in silence for a while before deciding to personally call the Defense Forces to verify whether the Butcher's death had anything to do with them.
In the Janus District, on 13th Street.
Zhu Yuan was on patrol as usual, riding in a squad car with her senior partner, Qingyi, checking the streets in her jurisdiction.
No suspicious activity so far.
Since she took over the area, public safety had steadily improved. Especially on 6th Street, where there had only been one minor incident in the past year.
Zhu Yuan picked up her communicator.
"Seth, I've reached 13th Street. How's everything on your end?"
Seth's voice came through clearly.
"Reporting in, Captain—everything's normal."
Satisfied, Zhu Yuan returned the device to its holder and let out a small breath of relief.
Another peaceful day in her sector.
"Senior, let's head over to 6th Street next."
"Sounds good. We haven't grabbed our coffee today either."
Just as they were about to drive over—
The car's phone suddenly rang.
Zhu Yuan picked it up.
"Hello, this is the sub-unit of the Criminal Investigation Division under the Urban Order Department of Janus District. This is Captain Zhu Yuan."
A mechanical voice came through the line.
"I'm calling to report—there are hundreds of civilians in Canvas Lane about to be killed in a bombing orchestrated by Vision Company."
"Canvas Lane? That's outside the Janus District... Hello? Hello?"
But the call had already been cut off.
Zhu Yuan remembered seeing news about Canvas Lane, and had heard of Vision Company's demolition plans—but hadn't the civilians been relocated?
Uncertain if the tip-off was real, she turned to Qingyi in the passenger seat.
"Senior, someone just reported that hundreds of civilians in Canvas Lane are about to be killed by a bombing from Vision Company. Should we—"
Before she could finish,
The phone rang again.
Zhu Yuan quickly picked up.
"Hello, this is the sub-unit of the Criminal Investigation Division under the Urban Order Department of Janus District. This is Captain Zhu Yuan."
This time, the voice on the line was Bringer, her superior.
"Zhu Yuan, there's been a sudden situation at the Dead End Hollows. We're short on personnel. Take your team and head over there to assist."
"But I just received a report—"
"No buts. This comes straight from HQ. Your orders are to prioritize maintaining order near the Dead End Hollows."
She had just gotten a report that could involve hundreds of civilian lives, yet she had no time to investigate it properly.
Noticing her hesitation, Qingyi gave a small smile.
"Why not hit two birds with one stone?"
"Senior, what do you mean?"
"If I remember right, Canvas Lane is close to the Dead End Hollows. Since we're already headed there to maintain order, dropping by Canvas Lane along the way wouldn't exactly count as disobeying orders, would it?"
Zhu Yuan's eyes lit up. She smiled.
"Leave it to you, Senior. I'll notify Seth to gather the Security Personnel and head over for crowd control. Meanwhile, we'll check out Canvas Lane ourselves."
The caller had sounded suspicious—
But Zhu Yuan wasn't willing to take chances. She had to investigate Canvas Lane—just in case it meant preventing a tragedy that could claim hundreds of innocent lives.
Just as Zhu Yuan and Qingyi were driving toward Canvas Lane...
At that moment, inside a video store on 6th Street—
Wise had just put down the phone and spoke seriously,
"Fairy, did you modify the voice just now?"
Fairy's voice responded,
"Master, please rest assured. I already modified your voice, so the other party won't recognize it. I also masked your call location, so there's no need to worry about the Public Security Bureau tracing the source."
Wise finally let out a sigh of relief.
"Alright, let's check in on Belle's side."
He had been the one to place that emergency call.
The goal was simple: draw in the authorities and shift Vision Company's attention—giving him, Belle, and Nekomata a better chance to carry out their rescue operation.
At that moment, Belle was already piloting a Bangboo, heading into the Hollow with Nekomata.
So far, everything was going according to plan.
Their communication with Belle reconnected.
"Belle, Nekomata—what's your status? Have you reached the target location?"
"Meow—not yet. We've been blocked by a really, really huge train car. The ground here is all cracked and uneven… It looks like some kind of unbelievable battle just happened. There's no way around it."
The image of the train car was transmitted back to the 6th Street video store through Bangboo.
Wise saw the state of the car and immediately frowned.
"It's heavily damaged… looks like it was thrown here by a powerful Ethereal. Belle, Nekomata—be careful."
"Meoww—that kind of strength is terrifying."
She noticed something odd.
"Wait, why are there two indented handprints here? Are you telling me someone threw this with their bare hands?"
"Impossible. No human could possess that kind of strength."
But there was no time to dwell on that.
What mattered now was how to get past the train car and reach the other side.
Just as the group was brainstorming—
A voice came from the carriage.
"Um, excuse me… are you investigators from the Hollow Investigation Association?"