"Proxy, turn on the speaker! We want to talk to Caesar... That idiot, she's trying to scare us again with another one of her jokes..."
"Waaah, please just tell us you're joking..."
"Proxy, answer !"
...
The group kept calling out, demanding Caesar show herself.
But Belle could hear the tremble in their voices—despite their hope that this was all just a joke, they were truly worried.
She stayed silent.
She couldn't bring herself to shatter the illusion Lucy, Piper, and the others were clinging to. She couldn't say the words again—couldn't confirm that Caesar was really gone.
But on Wise's end, Lucy, Piper, and Burnice had already broken down in tears.
And then ca her brother's voice.
"Belle, answer us, what the hell is happening over there? If you don't say sothing soon, Lucy and Piper are going to strangle ... Cough cough... Sis, save ..."
Belle finally replied in a choked voice, "Caesar... really is dead."
Lucy's sobbing ca through again. "No... No way. It's not true. Caesar can't die. You can't fool ..."
Belle let out a sigh. "..."
She had nothing more to say.
As cruel and heartbreaking as it was—that was the truth.
Just as everyone was drowning in their grief...
Suddenly—
Belle heard the voice of fairy in her earpiece. "Master, spatial fluctuation detected. Warning: spatial fluctuation detected. Imdiate evacuation advised. Imdiate evacuation advised..."
The sharp alarms echoed in her ears, snapping her out of the sorrow.
She quickly warned Billy and Clorinde. "Be careful—there's spatial disturbance in the area. A new high-tier Ethereal might be appearing..."
Caesar had only just fallen.
Billy and Clorinde were both still recovering from battle.
If another high-tier Ethereal showed up—or worse, multiple—they wouldn't stand a chance.
Clorinde drew her sword, scanning their surroundings. "Is it that sa monster again? Where is it?"
Billy also looked around, panic and grief mixing. "Damn it... Damn it all... Boss, why did it have to be you and not ...?"
If he'd gotten to the flint first—if he'd been the one to make that sacrifice—Boss Caesar wouldn't have had to die.
Frustrated and overwheld, Billy pulled out his twin pistols. "Where are those Ethereals? I'll take them all down..."
Just as he was about to vent his fury—
Belle shouted, "Above us—!"
The mont she spoke, Billy and Clorinde looked up.
High above them, dozens of ters in the sky, a spatial rift had silently opened.
At once, everyone tensed, ready for battle.
But the next thing that erged wasn't a high-tier Ethereal—or any Ethereal at all.
It was a massive, oval-shaped stone, like a giant egg.
Billy blinked in confusion. "What the... Did the Hollow just lay an egg?"
Belle's eyes lit up with realization. "That's not an egg, Billy—look at the patterns on it! They're the sa as the ones on Sam Li's birdcage!"
Once the markings beca clear—
Billy's face lit up too. "It's Sam Li! He's finally here!"
Before Billy could even shout his na—
The huge stone burst out of the rift. And then—BOOM—it exploded midair.
At the sa ti, a familiar voice rang out.
"AAAAAHHH—What the hell is going on?! Billy! Clorinde! Proxy! Get out of the way—!"
It was Caesar.
As the stone shell shattered, Caesar burst free—finally seeing daylight again, and seeing Billy, Clorinde, and the others.
The mont Billy saw her—
"Boss! I thought you were dead! You scared the hell out of ...!"
Clorinde also exhaled in relief. "Caesar's alive... That's a miracle."
Belle imdiately relayed the news to her brother. "Caesar's alive! She's alive—she made it back!"
A second later—
With a loud thud, Caesar and her motorcycle crashed to the ground nearly in unison.
Panting heavily, Caesar pushed herself up from the ground, hurriedly brushing off sparks from her shoulders. She looked over at Clorinde and Belle.
A grin broke across her face.
"Yo. Clorinde, Proxy—long ti no see."
Clorinde finally relaxed. "Caesar... you actually pulled off a miracle."
Belle let out the breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. "You really scared us this ti. But thank the stars you're back..."
Caesar scratched her head sheepishly. "Yeah... it's good to see you all again."
But then—
She glanced around.
"Where's Billy? I saw him just a second ago."
From sowhere beneath her, a hand weakly lifted.
"Boss... I'm right here..."
Startled, Caesar scrambled to her feet—only to realize she'd been sitting on Billy the entire ti.
Apparently, when she fell from the sky, she'd landed right on top of him.
No wonder the landing didn't hurt.
Though nearly flattened, Billy grinned ear to ear as he climbed up, ignoring the dust on him.
"Boss, you're finally back! We thought the lake of fire took you for good..."
Caesar chuckled. "Well, it did take . But just before I hit the fire, a bunch of rocks appeared out of nowhere and wrapped around and the bike. Everything went pitch black—I thought I was done for. But the mont those rocks shattered, I ca falling out of the sky."
As she recalled what had just happened, sothing clicked in her mind.
She quickly looked around, clearly searching for soone.
Clorinde noticed. "Caesar? What are you looking for?"
Caesar frowned thoughtfully. "Strange... He saved . He should be nearby."
"Who?" Clorinde asked.
Caesar smiled. "Sam Li, of course. No one else can control those rocks like that. He had to be the one who saved ."
Billy nodded. "Yeah, those patterns were just like the ones on Sam Li's birdcage."
He also turned, scanning the area for any sign of Sam Li.
But before they could spot him—
Lucy and Piper's voices ca through Belle's earpiece again:
"Proxy, what's going on over there? I swear I just heard Caesar's voice. Didn't you say she was dead?"
"Ugh! I knew it! Another prank!"
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