"Tch, this thing's actually pretty handy. I've really got Hoshimi Miyabi to thank for it."
Zane glanced at the ID card in his hand with a faint smile, then put it away and focused on sensing the locations of the Cretan Hollow and Lamia Hollow.
One was currently near Soldier 11, the other carried by Nocturne. Though he couldn't pick up any movement around the Hollows, he could still locate their positions.
Soldier 11's Hollow was just a backup. The Cretan Hollow with the little black cat, Nocturne—that was the real key.
Back when Xin had arrived on the rooftop, Nocturne had already sensed her presence. Zane had gone along with it, letting her leave the building.
Now, under the Hollow's cover, Nocturne was stealthily tailing Xin. Through the Hollow beside it, Zane could track her position.
"Bringing Nocturne along turned out to be a smart call. Use Panta for combat, Nocturne for recon—seems like a pretty solid setup."
Zane let out a soft sigh. In a fight, even ten Nocturnes wouldn't stand a chance against Panta; in stealth, ten Pantas wouldn't catch Nocturne.
Recalling what Trigger had told him about the sector layout, Zane leapt down, wind rushing past his ears, landing steadily on the ground seconds later.
He was just about to start scouting the area when a sudden thought stopped him in his tracks.
He raised a hand to his mask and felt along its surface—only to find a tiny bump, no bigger than a fingernail.
He paused.
"Senior, huh... really leading by example, aren't you?"
He lowered his hand, revealing a small tracking device in his palm—plain-looking and inconspicuous under the night sky.
He felt a bit of relief. Ever since the Qingyi incident, he'd developed a habit of being cautious around unknown contacts—and this time, it had come in handy.
"Hiding it on the mask... Clever. Out here alone in the dark, I never would've noticed it unless I was already suspicious."
"And even if someone found it when the mask came off—it wouldn't matter. The job would already be done."
Zane studied the tracker's signal on his phone with some amusement. He had thought Xin's move to remove his mask earlier had just been a play for dominance—
But she had planted a tracker too.
Or maybe both.
She was meticulous, no doubt about it.
"This thing..."
Zane didn't destroy the tracker. Instead, he tucked it away—might come in handy later.
Then he turned and resumed his original path into the distance.
...
Not far away...
"Is he really from the Hollow Special Operations Unit 6?"
Xin looked down in thought. She still didn't fully believe in Zane's identity. She had no memory of anyone like him, but she couldn't pinpoint any flaws either.
Hoshimi Miyabi's ID had thrown the whole situation into murky waters.
He had learned about this operation and arrived undetected.
If he really was from Unit 6, then that meant they had someone planted inside the Staff Army.
Unfortunately, she had no leads.
"Whatever. At least we've got a way to track him. For now, I need to focus on the current task."
Xin shook her head and looked into the distance.
There, the soldiers of Obsidian Squad were mobilizing toward the front lines.
A major battle was about to unfold.
...
"So that strange energy I sensed earlier... was him."
Suspended midair, a slanted, floating high-rise loomed like a small island. Zane sat on its edge, arms braced behind him, watching the battlefield below with a relaxed expression.
He had already mapped out the Obsidian Squad's positions, and the tracker was dealt with.
No one knew he was here.
From now on, he was just a quiet observer.
Just a spectator.
...
On the ground, mechanical rumbles echoed across the terrain.
Multiple units were advancing toward their assigned objectives.
Boom!
A thick cannon let out a deafening roar. As a glowing shot landed, it blew apart the debris and rubble blocking the path ahead.
Tank treads churned forward, dragging a fortress-like steel behemoth behind them.
Cold, metallic mechs marched in formation alongside it, their surfaces gleaming under the lights.
A fully armored soldier rose from atop the beast, upper body exposed.
He stared forward, arms resting calmly—completely unshaken by the imminent battle.
Obsidian would always stand strong. That was his unshakable belief.
One by one, squads moved to fortify the defense line.
Behind the formation, personnel from Heaven's Judgment stood by, awaiting orders.
Xin was there as well.
Inside a temporary camp, she stood in full uniform, silently analyzing a holographic projection simulating the Hollow's layout in this zone.
Obsidian Squad was positioned at the critical point.
Due to the spatial distortion, the Ethereals could only break through from that area—the squad's job was to hold the line.
As for eliminating the Ethereals—especially the two high-risk entities—that task fell to the other forces.
"With four jets and two composite units on defense, those rebel infiltrators shouldn't be able to threaten the mission."
"Let's hope this goes smoothly."
Xin looked outside the tent, to the large cleared ground not far away.
There, sixteen Jian 20 fighters were stationed beside a massive transport aircraft.
Their 'ace weapon' was stored inside the transport.
According to intel from the day before, the two high-risk Ethereals approaching were quite different.
One had powerful defenses but slow movement, low aggression, and low threat.
The other was the complete opposite—and, more critically, it could fly.
As she recalled the data on the latter, Xin's eyes narrowed slightly. She remembered: Nineveh had always been under the Hollow Special Operations Unit 6's jurisdiction.
Could it be that the masked man had come here because of this?
Xin felt like she had just found the missing piece.
When people have a reason for acting, it's always more convincing than when they don't.
She opened a palm-sized device and checked "Zane's" current location, then let out a small sigh of relief.
He was still far from their position.
...
Outside the tent, a resting pilot furrowed his brows, glancing toward a nearby spot.
"Wait... was that a cat just now?"
"Must be nerves. There's no way there'd be a cat in Hollow Zero..."
He shook his head and shrugged it off.
Meanwhile, in the shadows, a little black cat crept to a higher perch, amber eyes glowing faintly as it silently observed the scene.
Nocturne's expression showed a hint of curiosity.
It didn't know what Zane planned to do—only that it needed to follow the pink-haired woman for now.
The massive "birds" nearby were things it had never seen before, sparking intense curiosity.
But it didn't move.
It held itself back.
Birds that big... it couldn't beat.
...