"It's not up to you, Belle…"
"Wait!"
Belle raised both hands in front of her, her expression serious. She knew she couldn't escape, so she decided to protect her pride instead!
"Let me make this clear, Zane—I would never talk behind your back!"
"If I've got something to say, I'll say it to your face!"
"Right up in your face!"
Never back down, never give up, never fear hardship—that's the way she always lived!
With the air of a noble martyr, Belle's presence began to rise dramatically, prompting Zane to raise an eyebrow.
Was she really about to go all out?
Electric energy flickered in his hand, then shifted to ice, before a few wisps of fire flared to life. Soon, a stream of pure water swirled and gathered in Zane's palm.
Belle's eyes widened at the sight.
"Wait—I'm not ready for this!"
She'd learned her lesson—many times, in fact—and had prepared for Zane's favorite ways of messing with her.
But this? She'd gone out of her way to prepare a conductor for electricity attacks, and now it was useless!
Right before the water enveloped her, one thought flashed through Belle's mind:
Defeated before the battle even began!
...
"A second target?"
"Mhm. While you were busy with other stuff, I took a few commissions related to the Dead End Hollows—and then a special one came in."
On their way back to Sixth Street, Belle walked side by side with Zane, updating him on recent developments.
"This morning, a high-paying direct commission came through the Inter-Knot to me and my brother. But the client didn't say what they wanted—just that they'd DM us with details later."
"My brother was suspicious because our new account is still low-level, and the way they contacted us was shady. He thought there might be some secret behind it—or worse, some Inter-Knot scam..."
Belle sighed and continued.
"Later, we figured the client might be from Belobog Heavy Industries. They contacted us again, said it was something important, revealed they knew we're with Phaethon, and asked for an offline meeting…"
"We were still hesitating, but the commission fee is really high. You know how the video store is on the verge of bankruptcy because of Fairy's electricity bills. It's hard to say no…"
She sighed again.
"Ugh, I still don't get how she managed to pull that much power, how the power company turned a blind eye, or how she used it all up without us noticing…"
And now Belle was left footing the bill.
Well, no helping it—she was the one who "raised" the AI after all.
Belle sheepishly touched her hair, a small smile tugging at her lips.
"So…"
Meeting her gaze, Zane responded gently.
"So you want me to go meet them for you?"
Belle nodded quickly.
Her brother was originally going to go with her out of concern, but his schedule overlapped with the meeting Zane had with the mysterious person. So Belle asked Zane to go in her place—this way, her brother wouldn't worry, and the commission could still be figured out. Two birds, one stone!
"No problem. Pretending to be Phaethon? That's child's play."
Zane waved it off casually, already understanding the situation and not bothered by it. It wasn't a big deal—he could check things out and explain later.
Besides, it was a good excuse to head back into Dead End Hollow while he was free.
That Hollow was going in his collection!
"Yay! Zane, you're the best!"
Belle cheered quietly, clearly delighted with his agreement.
She had apparently already forgotten how, not long ago, Zane had used water to keep soaking and drying her clothes, turning her into a sopping mess over and over.
The two made their way back to Sixth Street together.
...
At the same time, over at the Janus District branch of the Public Security Bureau, the Criminal Investigation Special Task Force was up to their necks in work.
One case involved the Lamia Hollow incident and the series of crimes triggered by its expansion and sudden disappearance.
The other was a location with absurdly high electricity usage—suspected to be tied to illegal activity and now under investigation by the Special Task Force.
It was the power company that first noticed something off. After reporting it to the regular security officers and finding nothing, they decided to hold onto the payment records without alerting anyone, quietly passing the case to the Special Task Force...
Why did both of these "big cases" land on their desk? Because both incidents happened in the Janus District—and within the district, the Special Task Force held unique authority.
As Zhu Yuan's senior would put it, "It's our responsibility."
Inside the Public Security Bureau's Special Task Force office...
"Zhu Yuan, you should be pretty familiar with this place."
Qingyi sat with one leg crossed over the other, holding a dossier. She raised an eyebrow at Zhu Yuan.
"What? You think... I'm familiar with it?"
Zhu Yuan was reviewing footage about raiders who fled after harming civilians during the Hollow's collapse. She was planning to track down the remaining fugitives when she turned toward Qingyi.
Wasn't her senior working the "high electricity usage" case? What did that have to do with her?
"Because I remember you've been there before. Look—it's that video store on Sixth Street. The one where the store manager paid the power bill."
Zhu Yuan took the dossier and looked at it, puzzled.
The Sixth Street video store? Of course she remembered. After all...
She studied the information in her hands, surprised and a little confused. Sure enough, she knew the two people in the report—they were the store's managers...
But they didn't seem like criminals. They didn't look like the kind to get involved in anything illegal.
Then, like a flash of insight, it clicked.
Zhu Yuan looked over at Qingyi, her bright eyes blinking.
"Senior."
"You think this was Zane's doing?"
"With how much electricity we're talking about, there's no way that tiny video store—Belle and Wise included—could've pulled it off. It has to be Zane. He's pretty tight with them, after all…"
The more she spoke, the more convinced she became.
Her interactions with Belle and Wise had been limited—she only knew Belle a bit from seeing her at Tanuki House and hearing about her through Zane.
Nearby, Seth was still fumbling with files on his computer. Hearing their conversation, he gave them a confused look.
Wait... was Zane really that complicated?
Wasn't he just some good-hearted handyman with a bit of Ether compatibility?
What was going on here...
Seth felt completely lost.