Moles are cowardly creatures. To kill Soldier 11 and the others, Mr. Mole had prepared multiple backup plans.
First, the rebel soldiers...
Second, the poison gas bombs...
Third, these iron doors, sealing off the entire hall...
As things stood,
aside from the defeated rebel soldiers, the other two plans had succeeded.
With poison gas and a sealed space, survival was nearly impossible.
Even if Soldier 11 had temporarily recovered her strength, sooner or later, she would still succumb to the accumulated poison and die in Mr. Mole's trap.
Mr. Mole laughed wildly, "Since you're all about to die anyway, let me tell you—my real target isn't you nobodies, but the weapon the Defense Force is testing. Too bad you won't live to see the day they fail."
"You rebels think you can take on the Defense Force head-on?" Soldier 11 sneered.
Getting carried away, Mr. Mole said, "You're doomed anyway, so it doesn't matter if you know. The trump card I hold will completely blindside you—two unformed Notoriety Ethereals. It cost me dearly to obtain them. Once they're catalyzed, they'll become terrifying weapons of war. The troops at the test site won't be able to withstand their slaughter..."
Clearly eager to see Soldier 11 and the others despair,
Mr. Mole revealed his final trump card: the two Notoriety Ethereals.
After hearing this,
everyone was stunned—except for Sam Li, whose eyes lit up.
Notoriety Ethereals.
And two of them.
Just as Belle had predicted—the C97 Hollow had not declined.
The anomaly in Ether activity was due to the presence of those two Notoriety Ethereals.
The Hollow's range hadn't shrunk either, all because of them.
Soldier 11 frowned deeply. "We can't let Mole succeed. We need to get out of here and stop him. Crimson Eyes, have you found a way to open the mechanical lock?"
Belle said helplessly, "Sorry, I can't do anything."
At that moment,
no one noticed—
Sam Li had been keeping his hand pressed against the door. He had already figured out the mechanical structure inside and just needed to use Geo to open it.
Meanwhile,
through the communicator, Mr. Mole kept shouting, "Soldier girl, your expressions of despair are beautiful—"
But the next second,
click—
The huge iron door shook violently and, without warning, swung open.
It was Sam Li who had used Geo to unlock the door.
At once,
the entire hall fell silent.
Billy was the first to react. "Ahahaha! The door's open! We're saved! Sam Li did it! I remember now, back in Canvas Lane, Sam Li opened the train door too! I almost forgot he's also a locksmith."
Nicole, using all her strength, shouted, "Sam Li, save us! Carry us out! I don't want to breathe in this poisonous air anymore!"
Soldier 11 said seriously, "That mole must still be upstairs. Sam Li, you handle the rescue. I'll go upstairs and drag that damn mole out."
Without another word,
Soldier 11 drew her knife and charged upstairs.
Through the communicator, Mr. Mole's panicked voice shouted, "Ah—damn it! Why is this happening?! Stop her! Stop her! Don't let her come up—"
The screeching voice was unbearable.
Sam Li couldn't stand it any longer. He raised his hand, and a chunk of stone dropped from the ceiling, smashing the communicator to pieces.
Right after,
Sam Li personally carried Nicole, Anby, Billy, Nekomata, and Eous out of the hall, preventing them from inhaling more poison gas.
Meanwhile,
sounds of fighting echoed from upstairs, but quickly fell silent.
Soon,
Soldier 11 returned, dragging a small figure by the collar and throwing him at the others' feet.
Only then did they see Mr. Mole's true form—he was a mole-like human.
Soldier 11's gaze was sharp. "Speak. Where are the two unformed Notoriety Ethereals?"
The mole-like creature screeched in a sharp, grating voice, "Forget it! You won't get anything out of me!"
In the next moment,
Soldier 11 unsheathed her blade and pressed it against the mole's throat.
The mole-like man trembled violently. "Spare me! I'm just a harmless little mole! Let me live, and I'll give you endless wealth!"
Soldier 11 pushed the blade a little closer.
The mole-like man shrieked, "Stop! I'll tell you! I'll tell you! The catalytic chamber is on the fifth floor! You'll see it when you get there! But, ahahaha, it might already be too late. Just a few of you won't be enough to stop the catalysis—the Notoriety Ethereals will tear you apart!"
After getting the information,
Soldier 11 knocked him out with a swift blow to the back of the head. "Sam Li, keep an eye on them for me. I'm going up."
Not wasting a second,
she rushed to the fifth floor—and was stunned by what she saw.
A massive catalytic device filled the room, dense with swirling Ether, and inside, something monstrous was taking shape, radiating a horrifying aura.
Just standing nearby
made her feel sick.
Soldier 11 tried to destroy the catalyst.
But the moment she touched it, the device flared with a blinding light, as if it was about to explode at any second.
It couldn't be destroyed directly.
First, they had to cut off the device's Ether source—or else the entire thing would detonate, causing unimaginable devastation.
An Ether explosion of this scale would definitely trigger the Hollow.
Battling the effects of high Ether erosion, Soldier 11 found some documents on a nearby table.
Luckily,
they included the locations of the "Ether Collection Devices."
One was in the next building.
The other was several kilometers away.
Soldier 11 rushed back to the first-floor hall and told Sam Li what she had found.
Sam Li, honoring the commission contract, asked calmly, "You're the client. Should I destroy the semi-finished Notoriety Ethereal directly, or take out the Ether collection devices first?"
He could do either.
But destroying the completed Notoriety Ethereal would yield higher system points.
After hearing him out,
Soldier 11's expression grew serious. "I tried. The catalytic device has absorbed too much Ether. Destroying it directly would trigger a massive explosion and cause Ether activity in the C97 Hollow to skyrocket, putting the Defense Force at risk during their weapon test. We must destroy the Ether collection devices first—cut off its power. You take the one several kilometers away, and I'll handle the closer one... Be careful."
Sam Li didn't argue. "Leave it to me."
For Nicole and the others' safety,
before he left, Sam Li moved them outside the building. "I'll be back soon."
Anby leaned against a rock. "It'll probably take me about two hours to recover."
Nicole looked at Sam Li and reminded him gently, "Sam Li, this is your first solo mission. Please be careful with the Ethereals."
Billy, still lying on the ground, said, "Sam Li, we'll be waiting for you—"
Belle stepped forward. "Let me come with you. I'll lead the way."
...