"Mmm… mn-na-na… wah-da mn-na…"
Under the watchful gaze of the two rebel soldiers, a short, round, roly-poly Bangboo appeared before them.
"Huh? Why would there be a Bangboo here?"
One of the guards took a look and discovered it was a Bangboo.
The Bangboo was sitting in a corner against the stone wall not far off, its two little hands rubbing at its eyes in a sniffly, whimpering way, looking for all the world as though it had malfunctioned.
"Mn-na… mn…"
The endlessly repeated "mn-na" sounds echoed in the ears of the two men; that feeble yet adorable little voice—surely even the most stone-hearted person in this world wouldn't be unmoved by it.
At the very least, the two guards before it wouldn't.
"It looks like something's wrong with it. How about we take it back and have a look?"
"But neither of us knows how to fix it."
"It's fine, there's someone in the army who can."
As they talked, the two of them walked over toward the Bangboo, the weapons in their hands tucked away for the time being.
After all, who would stay on guard against an unarmed Bangboo that had already broken down?
And yet it was precisely this act that soon made them taste the bitter consequences.
"Suppressing fire!" "Thunderclap!" Two beams of light, one red and one blue, flashed before their eyes, and then everything went pitch black; just like that, the two guards toppled prettily under the assault of the Thunder-Fire Sword.
Objective complete. "Number 11, well done." "Heh heh, didn't I say it would definitely work?"
After Anby and Number 11 dealt with the guards, the Bangboo that had been sitting on the ground whimpering also stood up, wearing a smug, triumphant expression.
This Bangboo was, of course, Eous, controlled by Belle; it had used the Bangboo's adorable appearance to lure the enemy over, after which Anby and Number 11 finished them off.
After that, the two of them could change into the enemies' clothes, and then they'd be able to sneak into the rebel encampment.
"Move fast, don't let them spot us."
Anby urged them on while stripping the military uniforms off the two men.
Number 11 did the same, and the two of them quickly changed into the uniforms, then picked up the other party's guns and walked into the encampment.
Once they'd put on the military uniforms, the two of them could move through the interior of the camp completely unhindered.
The rebels' uniforms had also been modeled on the old uniforms of the former Defense Force, of the type offering all-around protection against Ether Corruption, so their faces couldn't be seen at all.
And so, without anyone suspecting a thing, the two of them carried Eous along and pressed onward into the depths of the camp.
"Great, they didn't notice us at all."
Slipping into a corner, Eous lowered its voice and spoke excitedly.
"We still need to be careful. There are only a few districts left that we haven't toured. Proxy, have you recorded it all down?"
The two of them carried Eous around through the various districts of the encampment, while Eous was responsible for recording everything it saw.
At the same time, the three of them also overheard quite a bit of intelligence about the rebels along the way.
For instance, there now existed within the rebel ranks a powerful class of troops known as [Newborn Soldiers].
And this class of troops was strengthened by a serum brought in by the bishops of the Cult of Praise, who were cooperating with the rebels.
"The Cult of Praise again. Still, no intelligence yet about any mole inside New Eridu."
The group walked and stopped through the camp, relying on Eous's navigation; they tried their best to avoid coming face-to-face with people, so most of the intelligence they heard came from the soldiers' idle chatter.
Just as they were preparing to continue gathering intelligence from other areas, an unexpected voice reached their ears.
"Hey! You! Yes, you two! What's that thing you're carrying in your arms?"
Upon hearing this voice, the two and the Bangboo instinctively froze for a moment; the voice felt somehow familiar, yet they couldn't recall where they'd heard it before.
But hearing the other party calling out to them, the two couldn't very well ignore it, and could only turn around to respond.
"It's a Bangboo. It looks like it's broken, so we were about to take it to get repaired."
"Hm? A Bangboo?"
That rebel leaned in closer, seemingly wanting to get a good clear look at this Bangboo.
However, the moment he saw Eous's appearance clearly, he was suddenly astonished.
"This look! It's that bastard! Where did this Bangboo come from?! Speak, now!"
The man's emotions flared up all at once, and then he whipped out the pistol he carried on him, pointing it at Anby and Number 11.
The two were instantly alarmed; forcibly suppressing the urge to fight back, they still tried to talk their way out of it.
"Sir! We don't know anything either—we just picked it up while on patrol."
Anby spoke in a pinched voice, having no idea why this rebel before her cared so much about Eous.
"Picked it up? Impossible! Absolutely impossible! I will never forget this damned casing! That bastard who can turn into an Ethereal—he disguised himself in this harmless little form and deceived my sincere feelings!"
At this point, the rebel's identity had become quite obvious: he was precisely the Mole colonel who had been kicked flying by Geno before.
Right now he had only just gotten up off the infirmary bed; when Geno had kicked him out earlier, most of the damage had been absorbed by that mecha soldier before him, so he had only suffered some superficial flesh wounds.
As well as wetting a pair of pants.
Of course, these details aren't important. What's important is that, back then, the Bangboo form Geno had taken before turning into an Ethereal was completely a cosplay of Eous.
As a result, the Mole was now extremely deeply impressed by Eous's appearance.
"I couldn't be mistaken—this little thing is exactly what that guy looked like before! Hand it over, there must be something wrong with it!"
Although Eous's paint job was quite old and worn, and its model wasn't a one-of-a-kind type, the Mole, holding to the principle of "better to wrongly kill ten thousand than let a single one slip," still wanted to destroy it utterly.
While he was at it, to take a little revenge for his fragile young heart.
"Hand it over! Are you going to defy orders?!"
Seeing the two before him delaying and refusing to act, the Mole's patience was completely exhausted, and he reached out his hand to snatch Eous away himself.
"Don't you dare touch it!"
The Mole stretched out his hand, but before he could even touch Eous, a long blade had already swept across his neck.
Feeling that cold, murderous chill against his neck, the Mole, most shamefully, wet his pants once again.
"L-let's talk this out nicely! You! Who on earth are you people?!"
Listening to the Mole's trembling, quavering voice, Number 11's blade didn't hesitate in the slightest, still pressing tightly against his neck.
Anby, meanwhile, poked her head out around the corner, looking all about to see whether anyone nearby had heard the commotion.
"You don't need to know. Next, I ask, you answer—understand?"
"Understood! Understood, understood, understood! I've always been the best at knowing which way the wind blows—please, you've got to keep your hand steady! Eeeeoww~"
Watching this pathetic, spineless display from the Mole, the three of them—Eous included—were utterly speechless, and then they began the interrogation.
____
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🔥 New history:COTE: Counterattack System
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