"Do you guys always act like this here?"
Ling saw that there were no more issues and walked out.
"No, we usually don't act like this."
"Let's go, I'll take you to see our President."
Anton led Ling toward the construction site.
Hoshimi Aya followed behind, looking around curiously as well.
As soon as Ling walked in, she was captivated by Ben's imposing figure, recalling Anton's words in her mind.
That existence, like the king of all beasts—Ben's majestic and powerful body seemed to embody all of that.
"H-hello."
Ling glanced back at Hoshimi Aya and timidly extended her hand toward Ben.
But Ben's reaction made Ling's jaw drop. She saw Ben subserviently shaking her hand.
This stark contrast made it hard for Ling to process for a moment.
Then Ben moved aside, revealing the President standing behind him.
A young girl was being held up by the engineer from before.
It was Grace holding Koleda.
Grace held Koleda up, facing Ling and Hoshimi Aya.
Then Grace poked her head out from behind and smiled at the two of them.
Suddenly, Hoshimi Aya thought of something and moved behind Ling, lifting Ling up as well, poking her head out to reveal a smile.
"A-Aya!"
"What are you doing!"
"Put me down right now!"
Ling's face flushed with embarrassment at Hoshimi Aya's sudden action. Then Ling covered her face, not wanting anyone to see this awkward scene.
"Cough, cough, cough!"
"Hello, I am Koleda Beiloborg, the President of Bai Zhi Heavy Industry."
Koleda, being held by Grace, introduced herself as if nothing had happened.
It was obvious this wasn't the first time.
"Hello, my name is Ling, and I am from Phaethon."
"You should already know that."
"This is Hoshimi Aya behind me, you can just call her Aya."
Although Ling was a bit shy being held up by Hoshimi Aya, she still introduced herself out of politeness.
"Wait, Hoshimi Aya?!"
"Are you that Void Hunter Hoshimi Miyabi?!"
Koleda suddenly remembered something upon hearing the name and asked in surprise.
"No, well... you can think of us as twins."
"I am not the one you know."
Hoshimi Aya explained.
"I see, then it's fine."
"Alright, now it's time to discuss serious matters."
Saying this, Koleda pulled herself free from Grace's hands.
Hoshimi Aya also put Ling down when she saw this.
However, after being put down, Ling grabbed Hoshimi Aya's ear and squeezed it hard before letting go.
"Don't do that again!"
Ling pointed at Hoshimi Aya, speaking sternly.
Hoshimi Aya turned her head away; Ling's words went in one ear and out the other.
"Phaethon, Anton might have already told you some things."
"Although our company won the subway project, progress hasn't been smooth because enemies have been interfering..."
Koleda looked at Ling and recounted the recent events.
Including how several of their machines had fallen into The Hollow, and matters concerning this commission.
They also learned the approximate locations of one or two of those machines.
...
Soon, the group headed toward The Hollow.
Since it was a major commission, Hoshimi Aya went along too.
After a long trek, the group found the first machine.
As for the Etheralss encountered on the way, Hoshimi Aya instantly vaporized any they met.
So most of the time was spent traveling, and they quickly arrived at a floor of an abandoned building.
Just as the group approached, a sweet female voice was heard.
"Please do not come any closer."
"This is my and my lover's private domain."
Ben heard the voice, put down the pillar in his hand, and scratched his head in confusion, "How can there be a girl's voice?"
After Ben finished speaking, a yellow excavator appeared on the floor of the abandoned building.
"It's you guys! The bad guys trying to break up me and Mashiro-kun!"
The excavator glared fiercely at the group below.
"Wow! It's been a few days."
"I didn't expect the excavator to have grown into such an outstanding young lady."
Grace looked at her creation with fascination.
"Uh... please allow me to disagree with your assessment."
Hoshimi Aya remained silent. Aside from the voice, how could the machine above possibly be associated with a young lady?
"By the way, who is Mashiro-kun?!"
"It couldn't be that run-down unfinished building below, right?"
Ben wondered.
It seemed Ben's words hit the excavator's sore spot. The excavator angrily jumped down, revealing its weapons.
"Can I just slice it up directly?"
Hoshimi Aya asked.
"Probably not. We need to bring it back intact."
Koleda said quietly.
Hoshimi Aya heard this, nodded, and removed her hand that had been resting on her sword hilt.
Then the group began a tug-of-war. Hoshimi Aya quickly looked for a suitable spot to deliver a heavy kick.
Suddenly, many Etheralss appeared from the unfinished building behind the excavator. The excavator couldn't handle it and directly struck the unfinished building down.
In the end, Grace gently comforted the excavator and persuaded it to return.
...
Outside The Hollow, at Bai Zhi Heavy Industry,
The group began discussing the claw machine, the second machine.
After the discussion, they adjusted their condition slightly and set off again.
The journey continued as before, with Hoshimi Aya single-handedly eliminating all the Etheralss along the way. Of course, this was partly because others weren't as fast as Hoshimi Aya.
After passing through one unfinished building, the group finally arrived before the second claw machine.
"The pursuers have finally arrived."
"I've been waiting for a long time."
The claw machine spoke in a cocky tone.
Ultimately, after a series of battles, the claw machine was persuaded by Anton.
...
Since there was no information on the third machine, the pile driver, they didn't need to enter The Hollow again for the time being.
After bidding farewell to the Bai Zhi Heavy Industry group, Hoshimi Aya took Eous back to the Video Store.
After all, there was nothing for her to stay at the construction site for. She wasn't going to stay and haul dirt, was she?
---------------------------------
I hope you're enjoying the fanfiction so far! If the fanfiction has you hooked and you can't wait to see what happens next, you can unlock 30 or more chapters in advance over on my patreon: patreon.com/FTLGenBen
Also every bit of support means the world to me so if you're loving the ride, don't forget to drop a Power Stone, Thanks.