Outside the Cretan Hollow—or more accurately, just outside the subsidiary Hollow of the Cretan Hollow.
This place was once a subway station, abandoned after the sudden outbreak of the Hollow disaster.
On the subway tracks, Su Chen and Nicole were advancing toward Anby and Billy under the guidance of Belle, currently linked to the Bangboo Eous.
It was Su Chen's first ti entering a Hollow, and he looked around with great interest.
All around were derailed subway cars—so even flipped over—alongside shattered chunks of structures strewn across the ground, creating a scene straight out of a cyber-apocalypse.
If one turned slightly, they could also spot black crystalline formations—resembling obsidian—glinting faintly in the dim light.
A strange, unsettling energy filled the air, constantly attempting to seep into their bodies, though its intensity wasn't particularly high.
'Feels like my body's slightly heavier than usual. Is this the effect of Ether energy corruption?'
Su Chen thought to himself as he walked through the Hollow.
There was a faint discomfort in his body, triggered by so unknown force within the Hollow.
Thankfully, his physical capabilities far surpassed human limits—ten tis the norm, in fact—with a 90-point Ether resistance score. This level of discomfort was like having a fly land on him—barely noticeable unless he focused on it.
"Proxy, have you located Anby and Billy's direction yet?"
Nicole asked with a trace of urgency.
Inside the video store, they were old friends.
Outside the store, their roles shifted to Proxy and Agent.
"Don't worry. I've already pinpointed their location—they're not far from us."
Belle, speaking through Eous, replied seriously, "However, there are Ether energy signatures along the way. Most likely so Ethereal are blocking the path."
"Just a few Ethereal? We can handle that," Nicole said as she elbowed Su Chen. "Right, Su Chen?"
"Of course." Su Chen nodded casually. "Although... could you give a quick rundown on Ethereal? Their combat tiers, for example."
"Wait, you don't know anything about Ethereal?"
Belle tilted her bunny ears, clearly surprised.
Ethereal were basically required learning in New Eridu. How could a Hollow Raider not know anything about them?
Nicole stepped in to explain for Su Chen. "He just arrived in New Eridu recently and isn't familiar with the local Ethereal classifications."
Based on what Su Chen had revealed over the past few days, Nicole had already concocted a full backstory in her mind.
He hailed from another city outside New Eridu—once a fad figure there. After that city fell completely to a Hollow, Su Chen had wandered to New Eridu... and literally landed on top of her.
"…Alright."
Belle still felt sothing was off but accepted the story anyway.
Clearing her throat, she began her explanation under Su Chen's expectant gaze: "In New Eridu, Ethereal are classified into ten levels, nad after tallic elents from Antimony to rcury."
"The weakest, Level 1 Ethereal—Antimony Class—are a bit stronger than normal humans. A regular person can take one down with so smarts, though they usually appear in groups."
Su Chen nodded lightly.
From what he knew of the storyline, regular folks could handle the weakest Ethereal… although most of them would die when the second one showed up.
"Taking on those is a difficulty rating of 1. As Ethereal levels go up, the difficulty increases exponentially—roughly by a factor of 3 to the power of n. That ans for Level 10 Ethereal—Osmium Class—the difficulty is 3 to the 9th power, which is…"
"Defeating one would require a well-trained army of a thousand soldiers. As for solo takedowns, only those with Void Hunter capability stand a chance."
As she spoke, Belle made a show of trembling slightly.
"New Eridu sounds way too dangerous."
Su Chen's face turned a bit serious.
A thousand-person military unit, well-trained no less… that would be a whole battalion of the city's defense forces.
And their weapons weren't your average pistols—they regularly carried gear with elental reactions, even Ether-powered cannons.
If it took a battalion to bring down a Level 10 Ethereal, even he would be limited to self-preservation.
Trying to chip away with dodge-based invincibility fras would be almost useless.
Especially since the Hollow's Ether energy let Ethereal heal mid-fight. If your damage didn't cross the threshold, you could spend all day and still fail.
"Of course not," Nicole cut in. "Level 7 and above Ethereal are rarely encountered. They only appear in the deepest zones of original Hollows. In general, anything above Level 4 is considered high-tier."
At present, New Eridu only had six original Hollows. Including Hollow Zero—Limbo, which birthed the six originals—there were only seven Hollows in total capable of producing Level 7 or higher Ethereal.
The rest were all derivative Hollows, like the subsidiary one they were in now. These lacked the Ether density to spawn high-level Ethereal.
"Well, that's a relief."
Su Chen instantly relaxed.
Level 7 ant 3 to the 6th power.
Doing the math in his head, that ca out to a difficulty rating of 729.
That? He could solo.
"Hey! Why do you suddenly look so smug?!"
Belle stared at Su Chen, confused by the cocky swagger in his walk.
All they did was explain the Ethereal tiers—how'd he get this arrogant all of a sudden?
"Because I realized life here might not be so hard after all."
Su Chen replied with a cheerful grin.
"Are you underestimating the Ethereal?"
Belle's tone grew serious.
She couldn't stand the look of overconfidence on Su Chen's face. Underestimating Ethereal could get you killed.
Too bad her serious tone ca through the Bangboo's voice, which only made her sound even cuter.
"Not at all. I just happen to be very good at running away."
Su Chen chuckled and patted Eous's bobbing bunny ears.
"Besides the ten official levels, there are also Ethereal that exceed the system entirely—extra level threats. They can destroy entire cities! Against those, even running isn't an option!"
Belle shook off Su Chen's hand and tried to scare him.
"And where exactly would one encounter such absurdly powerful Ethereal?"
Su Chen smiled calmly.
"So far, only Hollow Zero has confird their existence. The other original Hollows might contain them too."
Belle answered honestly.
"Well, there you go. Just don't do anything stupid like walking right into those places. I imagine not many people are that suicidal?"
Su Chen shrugged, still unfazed.
Even if he did run into an extra level Ethereal, his rolling invincibility fra bug ant he could absolutely get away.
Sure, it wouldn't look pretty—but it worked.
Besides, he wasn't likely to encounter one any ti soon.
By the ti he did, he'd probably have finished a hundred pulls—choose-your-own SSR. By then, even the Ethereal would be scared of him.
"No ambition whatsoever!"
Belle turned Eous's head away in a huff.
n like this… would never win her approval.
"Alright, alright, just kidding."
Su Chen chuckled as he patted Eous's head. "I trust that as the finest Proxy, Phaethon would never let their collaborators fall into such danger, right?"
In the storyline, whether it was their main account [Phaethon] or their alt [Klee], the sibling duo always had a 100% success rate.
With their help, even Hollow Zero could be explored with confidence.
"Even if you flatter out of nowhere, I won't feel happy about it!"
Belle huffed—but Eous's ears twitched adorably, clearly pleased.
Back in the video store, seeing his sister suddenly blushing, Wise clenched his fist tightly.
This damned guy—always hitting on girls the mont he gets a chance!
Make a girl mad, then cheer her up again to look all clever and charming?
Su Chen was clearly a seasoned ladies' man.
He was now certain—the video store entrance needed a sign that read:
[Su Chen and Dogs Not Allowed!]
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