Two days later.
"Okay, I'm ready."
Hoshimi Aya said, carrying a rectangular portable box.
She had already decided what to do in the Outer Ring.
Save Pompey, and get rid of the traitor next to him.
She had already thought of a suitable reason to eliminate that traitor.
If you don't look at me properly, it means you look down on me, so you deserve to die!
Or, what's with that look in your eyes? Are you looking down on me?
Both reasons were quite suitable.
"Aya, you seem very excited."
"Speaking of which, it's my first time going to the Outer Ring too."
Ling said with a smile.
"Hmm, even though Aya is coming along."
"But you two can't let your guard down when you get to the Outer Ring, understand?"
Zhe reminded them.
"Got it, big brother."
"With Aya here, any bad guys will be easily dealt with."
Saying that, Ling hugged Hoshimi Aya's arm.
"Alright, Ling, be careful on the road."
"If anything happens, you must tell me immediately."
Zhe reminded them again.
"Got it, big brother, then Aya and I are off."
After speaking, Ling pulled Hoshimi Aya away, waving goodbye to Zhe as they left.
Soon, the two arrived at their previous location, where Billy was waiting for them.
"Manager, Aya, you're here."
"Without further ado, let's set off."
With that, Billy got into the car, Ling took the co-pilot seat, and Hoshimi Aya sat in the back with the red piglet Bangboo.
Soon, the group drove onto the Outer Ring road, leaving the city.
"Wow! Aya, look, it's so vast!"
Ling admired the scenery outside the window.
"How is it? The scenery of the Outer Ring isn't bad, right?"
"Driving here is also incredibly exhilarating."
Billy replied with a smile while driving.
"...Looks pretty good."
Saying that, Hoshimi Aya silently drew her blade. After all, she remembered that a car would crash into them head-on soon.
"Hmm, but this road is too close to The Hollow."
"And there are so many Voids around..."
Ling looked out the window. Six or seven Voids could be seen at a glance.
"Haha, there's no helping it. The Outer Ring doesn't have much Aether technology."
"It's hard to eliminate The Hollow, and even Aether resources can't be mined."
"Manager, do you see that big guy over there?"
Billy changed the subject.
Ling looked over at his words.
"That kind of machinery... is it an oil pump for extracting oil?"
Ling said with some uncertainty, as she had never actually seen such a thing before.
"As expected of the Manager. This area is called the Old Oil Well District, and the residents here still rely on oil to make a living."
Billy gave a thumbs-up when he heard Ling immediately say the name.
"Look ahead!"
Hoshimi Aya looked ahead at the large vehicle that suddenly appeared around the bend.
Just as Hoshimi Aya was about to go out and deal with it, chopping it into pieces, she realized it wasn't an ordinary truck or anything, but a tanker truck!
"Billy, turn right!"
"Enter The Hollow!"
Ling said urgently.
Billy quickly turned the wheel to the right, and their truck drove into The Hollow.
...
Inside The Hollow.
"Ling, are you alright?"
Hoshimi Aya asked, concerned, seeing Ling's troubled expression.
"I'm fine."
Ling shook her head, but the feeling of being eroded by Aether wasn't pleasant.
"We need to get out of here quickly."
"Ling can't stay in The Hollow for long."
"This incident was definitely not an accident!"
"Someone is targeting us!"
Hoshimi Aya said seriously. Although she really wanted to say who was targeting them, that would be too abrupt, so she could only proceed step by step.
Billy and Ling immediately became alert upon hearing Hoshimi Aya's words.
"Aya, you mean... someone knew our whereabouts and deliberately arranged for someone to crash into us?!"
Ling pondered.
"That possibility cannot be ruled out."
"Manager, what should we do next?"
Billy asked.
"The moment before we fell into The Hollow, I sent a distress signal to big brother."
"He will definitely find a way to help us from outside."
"Once we get out, we'll find an opportunity to investigate who did this!"
Ling thought. Aya saying this surely meant she had already confirmed it.
Moreover, that tanker truck was indeed very suspicious.
Their luck couldn't be so bad as to encounter such a thing right after setting off.
"That's great. Hearing you say that, Manager, I feel relieved."
Billy breathed a sigh of relief.
"But Manager, you can't stay in The Hollow for long, can you?"
"But don't worry, there are anti-erosion medicines in the car that I bought to help."
"And a few Void data stakes that were phased out by the city."
Billy went to the car's trunk and took out several bottles and jars.
Ling saw this, took the medicine bottle and syringe, and injected herself, after which she felt better.
"Bangboo, the Son of Caledon, must carry Carrot, plus the new data acquired by the data stakes..."
Ling pondered.
"Hmm, got it."
"Without further ado, let's set off quickly."
Hoshimi Aya nodded.
Then she took the data stakes.
And went to an open area to install them.
"Aya, you guard this side, Billy and I will go install another one over there."
"We'll retrieve this one when we come back."
"Aya, you must guard it well."
"Also remember to keep an eye on the car, don't let it be destroyed by the Etheralss."
Ling said to Hoshimi Aya.
"No problem."
"Just leave it to me."
Hoshimi Aya made an OK gesture.
Then Ling and Billy left with the other two data stakes.
"Hey, wait a minute?"
Hoshimi Aya suddenly realized something and asked with some confusion. "I remember these were supposed to be done one by one, weren't they?"
Suddenly, the roar of Etheralss came from all around.
"Attracted by the data stakes?"
Hoshimi Aya wondered. Then, numerous individual Etheralss appeared not far from Hoshimi Aya.
But they were all minor characters, the most common Etheralss.
"Tsk, aren't there any interesting ones?"
After saying that, Hoshimi Aya drew her blade and made several horizontal sweeps.
Directly slicing all these ordinary Etheralss in half at the waist.
"How boring."
Hoshimi Aya sheathed her blade, looking around.
Sometimes, being too strong is also a kind of trouble.
After waiting for a while, Hoshimi Aya saw no Etheralss appearing and walked towards their car.
After all, the car hadn't been checked yet.
When they fell into The Hollow, they entered a spatial rift, and the car suffered no damage.
Meanwhile, with Ling and Billy.
The two had just finished collecting data from two data stakes and were preparing to return.
But just then, a big guy appeared.
Elite Etherals, Ferocious Madman.
This massive brute roared at the two of them.
"Oh no, it's a big one!!"
Billy exclaimed in shock.
"Let's go back quickly! We'll be safe with Aya."
Ling reminded him.
Then the two started running back, heading towards Hoshimi Aya's previous location.
And the big guy followed closely, chasing Ling and Billy.
...
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