"Hunter?!" x2
"Hunter?"
Three voices rang out in succession.
It wasn't just Tsukishiro Yanagi and Roland who exclaimed in surprise; even Hoshimi Miyabi's eyes lit up involuntarily when she heard this title.
Even the members of the Obols Squad standing nearby couldn't help but look sideways upon hearing this alias.
Especially that blonde, mature beauty with a ponytail among them.
Although he hadn't seen her remove her mask to reveal the eyes beneath, Andrew still inexplicably felt as if he were being stared at by her.
But what surprised Andrew was that he couldn't actually detect her line of sight.
If not for Andrew's senses being keen enough, combined with the fact that she made no attempt to conceal her movements, Andrew wouldn't have even perceived that extremely subtle gaze landing on him.
It confused him slightly.
After all, Andrew had only ever felt this kind of state from monsters whose vision had severely degenerated and who relied on other senses to perceive their prey.
However, Andrew didn't think too much of it, simply dismissing it as some unique technique belonging to a sniper to conceal their gaze.
After all, before actually meeting one, who could have imagined that someone whose vision had deteriorated to the point of being almost non-existent could still become a sniper?
Under this complete misunderstanding, the oblivious Andrew couldn't help but sigh with emotion.
The Defense Force was unexpectedly full of talent; they even had people who had mastered such high-difficulty techniques.
However, regarding her gaze, Andrew had no intention of getting to the bottom of it.
After all, although she had been staring straight at him, Andrew didn't sense any hostility from her in his perception.
On the contrary, it looked like...
As if she were projecting feelings for someone else onto him. Similar to a friend of a friend?
Strange thing.
He clearly didn't know many friends in New Eridu, let alone someone who had connections with the military.
Quickly running through everyone he knew in New Eridu in his mind, Andrew still couldn't figure out who the person she might know was.
Although he was a bit baffled, Andrew still chose to refocus his attention on the file in front of him containing the latest data on the 'Carrot' from Hollow Zero.
Likewise.
Perhaps because the timing wasn't quite right, although she kept staring straight at him, she didn't show any intention of coming up to strike a conversation with him either.
So Andrew simply threw her gaze to the back of his mind.
Meanwhile, Tsukishiro Yanagi looked at Hoshimi Miyabi, who had exclaimed in surprise alongside her but was clearly hiding a fighting spirit that couldn't be concealed at all, appearing as if it were her first time knowing his codename as well.
She couldn't help but hold her forehead with her hand and complain to her Section Chief, who was completely unreliable in most situations other than combat:
"Why do you also look like you just heard about it, Chief? Didn't you invite him as a helper because you knew his codename?"
Faced with her intelligence officer's retort, Hoshimi Miyabi spoke with absolute righteousness:
"I have confidence in his strength because I lost to him in a contest of strength before, it has nothing to do with the codename!"
She had confidence in his strength because she lost a strength contest?
However, this was actually quite in character for the martial arts idiot Section Chief, wasn't it?
On the side, Andrew couldn't help but scratch his head in confusion, wondering for a moment when exactly he had competed in strength with Hoshimi Miyabi.
Why did he himself have no memory of this event at all?
Once the people present learned of Andrew's title, they no longer had any doubts or intentions of stopping him.
Neither the intelligence officer specializing in information gathering nor Roland, the Commander-in-Chief of Scott Outpost, could possibly be unfamiliar with the hottest title in New Eridu these past few days.
Anyone who had seen that video footage couldn't possibly doubt his strength.
Moreover, right now in New Eridu, the people who could be called 'Hunter' or called themselves 'Hunter' had long since become a state of 'one and only one' thanks to the City Administration's efforts.
Not to mention that in the face of such danger, presumably no one would be so suicidal as to run over and impersonate him.
Being able to win against Hoshimi Miyabi in a contest of strength was already proof enough that his capabilities would absolutely not hold them back.
Roland, who hadn't reacted immediately, subconsciously pressed his thumbnail hard against his fingertip.
Only when a stinging pain came from his finger did he dare to confirm that everything in front of him wasn't a hallucination conjured by his mind before dropping dead from sudden death after pulling several all-nighters and receiving the sudden intelligence of Nineveh's resurgence.
What kind of dumb luck did he step in to suddenly get another incomparably powerful reinforcement, and one who came knocking on the door himself?!!
Forcibly suppressing the excitement in his heart, the original worry in his heart was greatly alleviated at this moment.
Subsequently, Roland immediately became serious.
Every second delayed meant Nineveh would take a step closer to the Shiyu Tower, and the danger would increase by a fraction.
The current situation wasn't good enough to start celebrating immediately.
All intelligence collected and summarized by the advance troops earlier was brought out without reservation, and Roland immediately began to explain it to the few people present at the fastest speed.
It had to be said, worthy of the Defense Force; they really had a knack for organizing intelligence.
Although part of the reason was that the opponent's advancing target had been very clear from the start, making it easier to predict.
But to be able to bypass the Ethereal swarm and obtain so much intelligence on Nineveh in just under twenty minutes, the Defense Force could be said to have given their all.
Looking at the intelligence Roland brought out.
Nineveh's route within Hollow Zero, average movement speed, current status, and most importantly—Nineveh's current Ether energy intensity.
Although the time for organizing the intelligence was short, it could be said to be very comprehensive.
"Normally speaking, when an Ethereal moves from a high-concentration Ether environment to a low-concentration Ether environment, due to the scarcity of Ether energy, the Ethereal's energy intensity and threat level will also be weakened to a certain extent by the environment."
Looking at the intelligence in his hand, the expression on Roland's face involuntarily became a bit grim as he said:
"But this time, now that Nineveh has already arrived at the outer perimeter of Hollow Zero, the threat level has not dropped but risen instead. Currently, it is about to reach the limit of Level 6."
Looking at the rising curve Ray had made based on the Ethereal threat level data continuously transmitted back over these short twenty minutes.
Roland voiced the main reason why he couldn't help but worry earlier, even when he knew Hoshimi Miyabi was coming to support.
"If this continues, I estimate it won't take long for Nineveh to go a step further and completely become a new Level 7 Ethereal within Hollow Zero."
"By then..."
The rest didn't need to be said.
Just hearing it, everyone present instantly realized what the sudden appearance of a new Level 7 Ethereal in Hollow Zero represented.
Although a Level 6 Ethereal and a Level 7 Ethereal sounded like a difference of only one digit, making people feel as if they were nearly the same, the actual situation could be said to be worlds apart.
Every increase in an Ethereal's level meant its threat to humanity would immediately increase exponentially.
Ordinary Ethereals might still offer a chance to evade, but Nineveh...
Not to mention the ability to gather Ethereals, which would inevitably be much stronger than before due to the significant increase in Ether energy intensity.
The current Withering Sickness and pollen were already terrifying wide-range indiscriminate threats. What if Nineveh advanced further to Level 7?
One had to know that the effect intensity and spread range of the Withering Sickness were closely related to Nineveh's Ether activity intensity.
Wait until it increases to Level 7...
Such a future... just imagining it slightly made Roland, who had been a soldier all his life and had never been afraid regardless of the situation, involuntarily shudder.
Completely eliminating a plant-type Ethereal like Nineveh was inherently incredibly difficult, but the status of this event had now reached a point where it must be eliminated at all costs.
In Roland's heart.
Even in the worst, absolute worst-case scenario, they had to interrupt Nineveh's ascension process and make its Ether intensity fall back to the Level 6 degree.
While seriously flipping through the materials organized by the Defense Force in front of him, the latest photo of Nineveh taken suddenly caught Tsukishiro Yanagi's attention.
She immediately looked up at Roland and raised a question:
"What is with this state of Nineveh?"
"I was just about to speak about this matter."
Seeing that photo, after exchanging a glance with Ray, the scholar from the Huaisita Academy stationed here specifically to conduct Ethereal research, Roland spoke without reservation regarding Tsukishiro Yanagi's query:
"Regarding the changes occurring on Nineveh's body, Ray, as the outpost scholar, has never seen them in the Hollow before. Plus, the time given to us for reconnaissance from the occurrence of the event until now is too short, so currently, we don't have a clue either."
However, although he said they didn't have a clue, Roland still put forward the most likely possibility the two had deduced based on existing conditions, saying:
"According to our current speculation, this might be a mutation caused by Nineveh's ascension."
"Incorrect!"
Andrew frowned and did not accept Roland and Ray's speculation. Instead, he spoke with some disbelief:
"This is... the Frenzy Virus!"
Others might not recognize it, but as someone who had received specialized popular science education from Fabius and had personally seen and experienced it, how could Andrew not recognize what this was?
Although he quickly calmed down again.
The expression on Andrew's face, which had originally been relaxed as he purely treated this as coming to help, instantly became grave.
It was also from this moment on.
The nature of the matter changed. It had shifted from support provided purely out of Andrew's personal sense of responsibility toward Hoshimi Miyabi into a Hunter's duty.
Because in this moment, Nineveh had become Andrew's hunting target.
However, the term Andrew spoke of, which they had never heard before, caused the people present to tilt their heads and look over in confusion for a moment.
In a place no one noticed because everyone was looking at Andrew.
Isolde, who had been standing silently at the side from start to finish without expressing any opinion, still had a calm face, but even though she tried her best to control it, she still involuntarily widened her eyes slightly.
She completely hadn't expected that this experiment would actually yield unexpected harvest.
So she couldn't help but speak up and ask:
"Frenzy Virus?"
Regarding Isolde's eagerness, Andrew, thinking she was purely concerned, didn't suspect anything at all.
The expression on his face was very serious, and subsequently, he began to explain at the fastest speaking speed to the people present who couldn't possibly have heard of it.
"It's called a virus, but actually, these are highly invasive special scales scattered by the Gore Magala."
"Once infected, the monster will become extremely aggressive, mentally manic, disregard pain, and will even attack its own kind."
"And its transmission is basically through scales spreading in the air, or by direct attack from an infected monster. The symptoms displayed after a monster is infected are the appearance of irregular black-purple crystals or veins on the body surface."
Saying this, Andrew's finger tapped lightly on the photo.
Pointing at those crystals on Nineveh's body that looked very disharmonious and the changed body color, he said:
"Just like this."
However, the doubt Andrew didn't voice was:
Clearly, in the final analysis, the Frenzy Virus is also an organism. How could an organism be directly transmitted to the Ethereal Nineveh, which is completely not a living creature but similar to a silicon-based or energy lifeform?
Unless...
The Frenzy Virus had already mutated when it infected Nineveh.
That is to say, just like that Rathian, it treated the Ethereal and Ether energy as food, and subsequently, after active acceptance, directly turned into something like an Ethereal.
But the Frenzy Virus itself shouldn't possess the ability to directly absorb energy outside of its instinctive needs on its own.
Then, the greater probability should be that while its original carrier underwent changes due to Ether, it caused the Frenzy Virus to also undergo an accidental mutation along with it.
Added to the black gauze on Nineveh's body that clearly didn't appear due to the influence of Frenzy Sickness.
Without a doubt.
The cause of Nineveh's infection was definitely not purely because of scales drifting over from a spatial rift, but rather there was another source of infection.
And that source itself had undergone further mutation due to accepting Ether energy while infected with the Frenzy Virus.
Moreover, it looked like it had completely mutated and fused as one with the Ether energy.
As for why Andrew didn't suspect at all that it was the Gore Magala or even the Shagaru Magala itself appearing in New Eridu.
The reason was very simple.
Not to mention the Shagaru Magala, even if just a Gore Magala appeared here, after mutating, the Frenzy Virus it scattered incessantly from all over its body would have already caused every single Ethereal in the entire Hollow Zero to catch the Frenzy Sickness.
By that time.
For New Eridu, which only had one city left, one could already completely say 'it's the end of the world', rather than it just being a single Nineveh right now.
As for where the biological tissue of another monster on its body actually came from.
For Andrew, who had just hunted in the Forbidden Lands, the shell composed of crystals that could be faintly seen under the black gauze on Nineveh—which was completely identical—had actually already placed the answer directly in front of Andrew.
____
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