"What did you come here for?"
"I—we're…" "Spit it out!"
"I—it's not that I don't want to talk, I—I really don't know!" The Mole was practically beside himself with panic; he genuinely had no idea why the rebels had come here.
For several years prior, he'd been working undercover in New Eridu's Defense Force.
Call it undercover, but in truth he was playing both sides—selling this side's intelligence to that side, and passing that side's intelligence back to this side.
As a result, although the Mole's rank wasn't all that low, he knew nothing whatsoever about the important matters within the rebel ranks—especially since he'd only just rejoined the unit.
But an answer like that wasn't about to satisfy Number 11, so under the threat of Number 11's force, the Mole could only frantically wring his brain cells dry, trying to dredge up something more important to deal with these two grim reapers before him.
"I've got it, I remember now! The person who made contact with me once said they came here to launch an attack on New Eridu! That's why they used my connections to get hold of so many automatons."
The Mole remembered: back when he'd been in the Defense Force, he'd been in charge of managing the warehouse, and he'd usually fob off old stock and defective goods on the Hollow Raiders, which earned him a tidy little sum too.
And the reason the rebels were willing to expose him—their long-buried little money-making whiz—was precisely so they could obtain a large quantity of automatons loaded with the Defense Force's latest intelligence.
And the whole purpose of doing so was to prepare for the attack on New Eridu later on.
"An attack? When do you make your move? And how many people are there in other locations?"
Number 11's interrogation went on, but the Mole truly couldn't reply with anything more.
"I really don't know! Hero! I only just got back to camp not long ago myself! Seeing how cooperative my attitude is, won't you please let me off, Your Eminence?"
Seeing that Number 11's hand showed not the slightest intention of pulling back, the Mole, sniveling and blubbering, was about to drop to his knees—not a shred of backbone to speak of.
And it was precisely this sudden move that caught Number 11 a little off guard, the long blade in her hand slipping away from the man's neck.
Then the Mole's face changed in an instant; next he flicked Number 11's saber aside, and at the same time fired off a backhand shot. Pew! Bang!
Number 11 dodged the shot with ease, but the Mole's aim had never been to kill Number 11 at all.
The moment he broke free of Number 11's control, he bolted off toward the area beyond the corner, shouting as he ran. "Enemy attack! Heeelp ( ; ω ; ) save meee!!!"
The Mole's pathetic display quickly spread word of the trio's infiltration throughout the entire camp.
Faced with the fact that they'd been exposed, Number 11 and Anby had no choice but to sprint at full speed back the way they'd come.
"Damn it, we actually got played!"
"Forget all that—those guys will be chasing us down any second now, run!"
Seeing that their pursuers would catch up at any moment, Anby hurriedly urged Number 11 to strip off her military uniform, then scooped up Eous and pressed on toward the Hollow's exit in the distance.
About a minute later, the entire base entered a state of high alert once more.
Several thousand soldiers searched desperately for any trace of the two-and-a-Bangboo.
"You bastards! What the hell are you good for?! You let people slip in twice! Where've the gatekeepers gone?!"
"Sir, those two—they were found dumped at the camp gate, and now there are two people in uniform mixed in among us." "Bastards! The whole lot of you are useless! Deploy the automatons for me right now!"
Once the rebel officer's order came down, the messenger didn't doubt the officer's command in the slightest, and immediately activated every one of those top-grade goods the Mole had brought back.
To the accompaniment of orderly marching footsteps, these automatons began carrying out the man's order, intent on wiping out both Number 11 and Anby.
Yet in the course of this, it was inevitable that some soldiers got caught in the crossfire, resulting in casualties.
"Have these guys gone mad?! Just to catch the two of us, they won't even spare their own people."
The two ran blazingly fast, and were extraordinarily nimble besides; even the automatons had a hard time keeping up with their speed.
But with the rebels getting in the way, those automatons could soon seize a few suitable openings to attack.
However, these automatons' attacks mostly dealt area-of-effect damage, and so the soldiers who were holding up Anby and the others were also within the strike range.
Number 11 and Anby, relying on their nimble footwork and formidable combat prowess, could still avoid getting hurt, but those soldiers had no way out at all.
Watching this scene before her, where the soldiers' lives counted for absolutely nothing, the rage in Number 11's heart became hard to restrain. "These bastards!"
"Calm down a little, Number 11—we're not out of danger yet."
Compared to Number 11's endless ranting about the present situation, Anby was far more composed.
Rage alone could solve nothing; calm, clear thinking was what mattered most.
"Proxy, can you lead us to the nearest Hollow exit?"
Anby had it all figured out: even if they left the military camp, the predicament they faced wouldn't change in the slightest.
If anything, this way the automatons would have free rein instead.
But Anby had already found the optimal solution—as long as they found the Hollow's entrance under the Proxy's guidance, they could then shake off these hunks of metal for good.
The two of them carried Eous through the whole military camp; inside Eous's head, a map of the entire camp had long since been drawn out.
The next thing they needed to do was follow Eous's lead, dodge the automatons' pursuit as best they could, and thereby escape with their lives.
"Found it—this is the shortest route."
Having finished calculating the route, Eous stood up and, taking off on its stubby little legs, dashed swiftly toward the exit. "Hurry, keep up! This way!"
Urging on the two behind it, Eous rounded a corner up ahead.
"Uwaaah!!"
Hearing Eous's startled cry, the two hurriedly quickened their pace and headed for their goal.
There they saw an automaton, its sights locked firmly onto Eous, as though it were assessing the threat the little one posed. Then, as Anby and Number 11 came up behind it, they instead directly triggered the automaton's program; it immediately abandoned Eous and launched an attack in the direction the two were coming from. "Blaze, unsheathe!"
"There's an opening!"
With the Thunder-Fire Blades joining forces in power once again, even the latest-model automaton was no match for them.
Still, the most irritating thing about mechanical enemies is that, even when they clearly know they can't win, they'll still call for backup.
Thankfully the two of them dealt with it cleanly, so presumably there'd be a brief stretch of time without any more pursuers.
"Phew! Good thing I've got you two! Over here—the Fissure's about to open!"
With that said, Eous picked up its pace by a few more steps; the potential unleashed at this life-or-death moment made it look exactly like a real rabbit.
____
👻🔥Seek: Walnut-chan🔥👻
🔥 New history: Naruto: Is it reasonable to beat up an Otsutsuki with Hamon, right?
Let's hit these goals:
🎯 100 Powerstones = 1 extra chapter for the public!