Two hours later.
Sol arrived at Blazewood, having hitched a ride with Belle and Wise.
At the same time, the Cunning Hares also arrived with a large shipment of supplies.
That's right—Nicole was here for business.
With Billy's familiarity with the Outer Ring, the Cunning Hares knew exactly how Tour de Inferno worked.
To protect the oil resources that the Outer Ring depended on from being eroded by ether, the Motor Alliance had to throw ignition stones into Cinder Lake every year, causing the natural gas to burn fiercely and halt ether from spreading downward.
Meanwhile, the faction that reached Cinder Lake first and cast in the ignition stone would become the Outer Ring's overlord, holding the responsibility of judging justice and the power to assign transportation routes. This was a unique cultural tradition of the Outer Ring.
It was a grand festival of the Motor Alliance—every faction treated it with utmost importance. It concerned the lifeline of the Outer Ring and their future development.
Therefore, during this period, the Outer Ring's consumption enthusiasm would surge as they prepared thoroughly for Tour de Inferno.
No matter how poor the Outer Ring was, they could still squeeze out quite a bit of profit now.
Seeing the business opportunity, Nicole came with a huge stock of anti-corrosion meds and healing meds.
However, something puzzled Billy.
This year's Tour de Inferno seemed to be happening earlier than usual.
...
In Blazewood.
After three or four days apart, Belle, Wise, the Cunning Hares, and the Sons of Calydon gathered again.
Everyone met at the town entrance, and the atmosphere was lively.
After last time—working together to capture Pearlman for The Vanquishers, and teaming up at Port Elpis to fight Bringer—their relationships had grown closer and more familiar.
"Sol, we meet again!"
Burnice waved excitedly and greeted him, "Tour de Inferno is about to start—the most festive event in the Outer Ring! There'll be Burnice's special fuel drinks and thrilling motorcycle races. You'll definitely love it!"
"I figured as much. That's why I came."
Sol smiled, also feeling a bit excited.
Burnice then looked around at all the familiar new friends returning to her side and planted her hands on her hips.
Her eyes curved as she laughed joyfully. "Aha! Everyone's together again—this is great!"
She loved lively crowds. She loved friends. With so many friends gathered, nothing could be better.
"I'm happy too. The Cunning Hares found a new business opportunity."
Nicole rubbed her chin with cunning delight. "I'm definitely going to make a killing at this Tour de Inferno."
She'd already prepared her plan—bundling anti-corrosion meds with healing meds.
The more you bought, the bigger the discount—down to as low as 95%.
With that, those bikers would be shoving dennies into her pockets. Just thinking about it made her grin.
"Anyway, why did you call us here again?" Belle looked at Lucy curiously.
"The route for Tour de Inferno passes through some Hollows, and they're not routes we regularly use, so we need a professional Proxy to map them."
Lucy's expression sharpened as she spoke seriously. "And I thought—there's no Proxy more professional than Phaethon, right?"
"Heh-heh, looks like you've got good taste."
Belle puffed her chest proudly.
"Boss Caesar, why is Tour de Inferno happening earlier this year?" Billy asked, confused. "Normally, according to the usual schedule, there should still be some time left."
"It's because of a weapon experiment inside New Eridu!"
Caesar said with some anger.
"A weapon experiment inside the city?"
Everyone turned their attention to him.
Caesar nodded firmly. "Some time ago, a massive iron sphere was fired from inside the city toward the Outer Ring. It landed outside a Hollow right next to Blazewood."
"It triggered a huge ether fluctuation, increasing ether activity in this entire area."
"And the Hollow where Cinder Lake is located was affected too. If Tour de Inferno was held at its usual time, the oil would've been polluted by ether long ago."
In fact, they only learned something had happened at Cinder Lake because the overlords, The Vanquishers, sent word.
If Pompey hadn't discovered it early, the oil would've been ruined by the time they arrived for the festival.
"Huh? That's awful!"
Belle said angrily, "Such dangerous weapons and they don't even designate a proper testing area? This time it caused ether activation—what if next time it hits the town directly?!"
Sol nodded, once again sighing at the brutality of New Eridu.
Testing weapons so casually—no sense of public safety at all.
Before he transmigrated, something like this would've earned ten death sentences.
"You're right, but we can't control the bigshots in the city. There's nothing we can do."
Lucy sighed helplessly.
"Anyway, we've already reported it to the New Eridu Public Security. They said it might've been a private armed group and promised there won't be a next time."
Caesar scratched his head, speaking optimistically. "We don't know the details, so let's just trust them for now. Oh—by the way, we already hauled that iron sphere back. Want to take a look?"
"Sure, I'm curious what kind of weapon can be fired from inside the city all the way to the Outer Ring."
Belle nodded—she was very curious.
The Cunning Hares definitely wouldn't miss this either. This kind of news had intel value.
Led by Caesar and the others, they arrived at a temporary warehouse belonging to the Sons of Calydon.
Inside the warehouse, a silver-white iron sphere with a diameter of one meter sat in the center, smooth enough to reflect light.
"This is it," Caesar said seriously, pointing at the sphere. "This thing is crazy heavy. It used to be glowing red, and it was electrically charged. It took us two days of work to drag it back."
"..."
Sol stared at the sphere, finding it more and more familiar.
Although its appearance had changed a lot, he could feel a familiar trace inside it.
"Big Daddy said it's valuable—a high-strength alloy refined with strong electricity. Should sell for a good price, and it's great for upgrades."
Lucy sighed. "A blessing in disguise, I guess."
"Mm, well said."
Sol nodded, fully confirming the sphere's origin.
It wasn't from any city weapon test, nor from a private armed group.
Two or three weeks ago, he had been undercover with Anby and Jane inside the Black Panther organization.
At the beginning of that undercover mission, he had a scene with Zhu Yuan and the Public Security officers.
To sell his handcrafts at a better price and make the act more convincing, he fired an oversized super electromagnetic railcannon.
And this huge iron sphere was the result of that shot. He just didn't expect it to land in the Outer Ring and affect the Hollows.
Truly, life was too full of absurd coincidences.
Thankfully, he had controlled the power and specifically aimed toward an uninhabited area—otherwise things would've gotten really stupid.
Sol made a mental note to adjust the trajectory more precisely next time—couldn't risk wiping out the entire Outer Ring.