"..." Next, after holding her breath and staring intently for a good two or three minutes, 9033—whose little nose had begun to glisten with sweat—finally shook her head hard and said excitedly, "No!"
"I know Captain Mark!"
"But that really isn't Captain Mark..."
"Captain Mark is the Hunters' commander. He's a really good person, tall, strong, and handsome. He isn't some scary monster like this!"
"Xiadou, you're lying to me, aren't you?"
After saying that, 9033 glared at Xiadou with a stern face and wide eyes, as if she were angry with her and thought Xiadou was deliberately slandering the Captain Mark she admired.
Her emotions running high, her cheeks flushed pink, and her eyes brimmed with hurt, frustration, and resentment.
"Haha!"
Xiadou laughed, then shook her head and explained, "Then that settles it!"
"He should be the Captain Mark you know. Apparently, he was killed when a traitor slit his throat during a mission on the surface. They used a Vicious Beast's spike. Our people all saw it!"
"Oh, right!"
"The guy who did it was this sleazy fellow with a green tag. It had the number 4068 on it, I think?"
Then Xiadou told her what she knew, and sure enough, she saw 9033's pupils contract slightly as her expression turned dazed.
But she didn't let that stop her. She continued, "And then..."
"After he went back seriously injured, they must have implanted a Spine Gu in him. That's the thing on his back. Then he turned into this."
"Those people on that huge metal pot sure are reckless. How could they use a Spine Gu to save someone?"
As she spoke, Xiadou sighed helplessly and spread her hands at 9033, who was listening in a daze. Her eyes, too, were full of pity.
After all, this Mark