Four hours later, Lucy finally led Corin and the Blazewood group as they punched through the rebels' front line.
It wasn't due to poor command or the Outer Ring people being afraid to die. No matter how badly they'd been shaken, the rebels were still a force that New Eridu had failed to completely eradicate for years.
The opening collapse, Caesar's flanking maneuver, and the resulting chaos had left them leaderless and disjointed—but their core strength remained intact. Their technological level still surpassed Blazewood's, and given enough breathing room, they could've held out for quite some time.
In fact, even after Lucy personally entered the battlefield, it still took a full four hours to finally break them.
"Prisoners stay behind and dig the pits. After counting the bodies, send their former colleagues off properly. Search them thoroughly—keep anything valuable," Lucy ordered briskly. "Corin, handle the records. I'm going to find Caesar."
She swung a leg over her motorcycle, giving Corin's head a quick rub before leaving.
Corin, already used to this, lowered her head slightly and let out a soft nasal sound she barely heard herself.
"Mm."
Lucy nodded in satisfaction, kicked the stand up, and twisted the throttle.
Exhaust poured out as the bike roared forward. In no time, Lucy pushed it to top speed, vanishing into the distant sea of sand until even the swirling yellow dunes swallowed her completely.
Half an hour later, the full moon quietly sank, replaced by a thin band of orange light rising along the horizon.
On a road paved in gold by the dawn, Lucy rode hard toward the sun's stretched silhouette, heading deeper into the vast desert to meet another shadow waiting there.
She was a brave warrior, completing the most dangerous mission alone. Even armed with nothing but a small round shield and a short sword, she remained as resolute as ever.
Lucy believed that with her blade—and her own strength—she would reclaim the glory that belonged to her—
…Pighead?
Lucy froze.
Not far away, Caesar heard the motorcycle and turned around. When she saw Lucy, she broke into a goofy grin and waved energetically.
But Lucy didn't look at Caesar right away.
Her gaze was completely seized by the figure beside her—a swollen, battered, unrecognizable pigheaded mess.
Lucy slammed the brakes and jumped off before the bike fully stopped. Frowning deeply, she poked the unconscious pighead's head with her baseball bat. No reaction. Eyes still tightly shut.
She sighed.
At that moment, Lucy knew it—Caesar's hands had gotten itchy again.
"…Fine," Lucy said helplessly. "So, Caesar. Who is this? Is he the Ninth Division's military commander we were looking for?"
Finding the Ninth Division's military commander was a huge deal—not just for Lucy, but for the entire Outer Ring.
For one thing, his identity alone could fetch an enormous price, whether sold to the rebels themselves or to New Eridu.
More importantly, Lucy had managed to squeeze some information out of captured rebel grunts. The reason the Ninth Division handled the raid was because they were responsible for internal stockpiling and transport. The looting itself was almost incidental.
Their warehouses were built inside Hollows, and the "key" was in the military commander's hands. Catching him meant a massive payout.
Enough to keep Corin hired from Victoria Housekeeping well into next year—and still have plenty left over.
But…
This bruised, caved-in-chested, twisted-limbed, ragged thing—barely human even from a distance—was really the military commander?
Lucy pulled out her phone. On the screen was the ID photo of the Ninth Division's military commander—passed from Belle to Fairy, then to Rain, who'd hacked it from the rebels.
She compared them again and again.
There wasn't the slightest resemblance.
Lucy sucked in a sharp breath.
"…Is this guy really the military commander?"
She turned to look at Caesar.
Caesar immediately averted her gaze, pretending not to notice Lucy's stare, whistling innocently.
That lasted until the air behind her grew colder and colder, and the scraping sound of a baseball bat dragging across sand felt like a fire being lit in a woodshed.
Lucy advanced with an icy expression, clutching stacks of shoujo manga.
Only then did a chill run down Caesar's spine. She shuddered, scratched her head, and laughed awkwardly.
"Hehe… I don't really know either. He's just tough. I blew up all the armored vehicles and fuel tankers with a sparkstone, and he still didn't go down. I pinned him and wailed on him for two straight hours—never made a sound, wouldn't surrender."
"That kind of resolve is exactly what you'd expect from a military commander!"
Lucy sighed again.
Two hours without a sound?
Did you knock him out and then keep beating him anyway?
And refused to surrender?
Lucy recalled all the rebels she'd encountered on the way here—those people had an impressively flexible definition of dignity, paired with an unshakable confidence in it.
She looked up again.
Caesar was staring back at her with wide, innocent, slightly dopey eyes. Then she smiled, hands on her hips, chin lifted proudly, eyes slowly closing as her chest rose and fell…
Confidence incarnate.
Lucy clicked her tongue, waving her hand in surrender.
"…Whatever. I'm not even going to argue with you."
"Hehe!"
Caesar instantly knew she'd gotten away with it. She slipped around behind Lucy and slung an arm over her shoulder.
"Come on, Lucy, don't be mad! This guy's already the strongest around. If he's not the military commander, who could be? Even Lighter might not beat him if he showed up!"
She winked one eye and stuck out her tongue, trying to imitate Bernice's playful flair—though without Bernice's madness or charm, it just made her look even goofier.
Lucy shook her head and brushed Caesar's arm off without a word.
"A famous idiot like you should really talk less. If Lighter hadn't been unable to tank the explosion, I really would've sent him over," she said flatly. "But as things stand… even if this guy isn't the military commander, he might as well be."
"Who are you calling an idiot?! Lucy, even if you become the Overlord, you're still part of my Sons of Calydon. Call me Boss!"
Lucy didn't answer.
Her eyes flickered as her gaze settled on the military commander's left arm.
"Hm? Is this rebel tech?"
She removed the device and examined it carefully. After a moment, she noticed a tiny LCD panel on the back, about the size of a fingertip.
Tentatively, Lucy grabbed one of the commander's fingers and pressed it against the armor.
Instantly, something clicked inside. Mechanical sounds rattled and shifted.
Caesar's eyes sharpened. Without hesitation, she slapped the device away and raised her small round shield in front of Lucy.
"Lucy, careful!"
Lucy shrank back, peeking nervously from behind Caesar.
They watched as the device suddenly extended sharp edges, pulling outward. It split open from top to bottom, forming two hinged halves. Patterns emerged across its surface, rugged and ominous—
And soon enough, it became a coffin.
It lay neatly in the sand pit, perfectly stable.
Lucy stared.
"…Well. At least we don't need to figure out how to transport this pighead now," she said dryly. "Caesar, push the bike over. There's rope on it."
"Got it!"
Caesar quickly wheeled the motorcycle over, then stuffed the military commander face-down into the coffin.
While Lucy tied the ropes, Caesar hopped onto the bike. When Lucy finished and clapped her hands, Caesar turned back with a flourish, pointing her thumb at the seat behind her.
"Missy, hop on!"
"Tch. Don't think that looks cool," Lucy said, cheeks faintly red as she wrapped her arms around Caesar's waist and climbed on.
Caesar laughed loudly and twisted the throttle.
Under the rising sun, the bike sped toward the horizon, dragging a coffin behind it.
As they rode, Caesar suddenly remembered something.
"Oh, right—Lucy. What did Lighter go off to do?"
"Him?" Lucy said, gripping her side ponytail to keep it from whipping around. "I sent him to pursue the remaining rebel forces."
"Just him?" Caesar was startled, almost turning around. No matter how much she trusted Lighter, sending him alone seemed reckless.
What if the rebels panicked and ran into a Hollow? Should he chase or not?
"Of course not," Lucy replied, clearly offended by the implication. "There's no way I'd send Lighter alone."
She straightened, confidence radiating from her voice.
"An Investigator volunteered on her own. I sent her along with him."
"Who would've thought Blazewood would get an Investigator sightseeing here? And her commission success rate is one hundred percent—guaranteed. A genuine rising star."
Caesar's eyes widened. "Seriously? Someone like that? What's her name?"
"Hmm…" Lucy tilted her head, thinking. "I think it was Ruby. She had a black-and-white doll with her—probably one of the city's latest Bangboo research models. The ether concentration on it was really high."