Somewhere in a corner of the Dead End Hollow...
Nekomata held Perlman, still stuffed inside his box, with one hand and pressed one of her short blades against his neck with the other. She advanced steadily, surrounded and protected by more than thirty armed men.
Perlman, meanwhile, kept begging Nekomata for mercy as she held him hostage, trying to talk her into sparing him with his rather unimpressive sweet talk.
But if Nekomata were really that easy to fool, all those years of living would have been for nothing.
"Captain, the Carrot says we can reach the Hollow exit if we go through that wall."
One of the armed men pointed at a section of wall and addressed the captain positioned toward the inside of the rear ranks. The captain nodded, then signaled for the rocketeers carrying launchers behind them to blast a passage through the wall.
Bang-!
Before they could blow up the wall, a huge hole suddenly burst through it, kicking up a cloud of dust. Then someone walked in through the opening.
"All this dust. If I'd known, I wouldn't have smashed the wall. Should've just climbed over it... Well, well! There are still some fish that slipped through the net here!"
Everyone inside the Hollow watched Red One swagger in, covered in "tattoos," wearing a gold chain and gold rings, with a highly futuristic red-and-black spear resting across his shoulders.
When Nekomata saw Red One, she instinctively asked:
"B-Billy?"
Red One: "Billy? What the hell is that?"
"Stop! Don't move! Put down your weapon!"
The armed men quickly formed a protective ring in front of Nekomata and Perlman, raising their weapons to aim at Red One, ready to perform an American quick draw at any moment.
"Heh, why's a bunch of fakes barking so much like the real deal? Whatever, at least I get a warm-up!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Red One burst forward from where he stood, lowering his body as he charged straight at them. Their bullets came flying the moment he moved.
Red One deftly alternated his arms as he spun the metal spear, its shaft leaving afterimages in front of him. He precisely blocked every incoming bullet with a series of clanging impacts.
In just a few seconds, Red One had plunged into their ranks like a wolf among sheep.
Every thrust of Red One's spear shattered a gun in their hands, and a few punches and kicks afterward put its owner to sleep. Anyone who dared approach for close combat received an even more direct punch or kick from Red One, suffering a localized fracture before flying away.
Nekomata and Perlman watched it all with their mouths hanging open, her cat ears twitching at the sound of each fist striking flesh.
"Wh-what kind of monster is this?"
The captain froze for a moment as he watched Red One mow through the crowd. Then he snapped out of it and hurriedly addressed the rocketeers beside him:
"What are you standing there for? Fire!"
"Captain, we'll hit our own men..."
"I said fire!!"
Under the captain's shouted orders, five hastily fired rockets flew straight toward Red One.
Red One had already noticed them. He kicked an approaching armed man away, and without any further visible movement from him, the rockets exploded around him.
The explosions kicked up a huge cloud of dust, leaving everyone else unable to see what had happened to Red One. Just as the captain thought they had killed him, Red One shot out of the dust.
He bent low, holding the spear in both hands with its tip pointed straight ahead. The front and rear of the spearhead opened, exposing the nozzles of miniature thrusters. As they erupted with red light, their powerful thrust pulled Red One forward so fast he left afterimages.
Almost instantly, Red One was in front of the captain. As terror gripped the man, Red One released the spear, letting it fly, then drew back to punch.
Using only his momentum without adding any force, he shattered the captain's helmet outright. The man's face twisted so severely that it dragged his whole body through two and a half midair rotations, sending him flying more than ten meters.
Everyone else still conscious was utterly dumbstruck by the sight, unable to react.
Red One planted his feet and beckoned with one arm. The spear that had flown away circled around and returned to his hand.
Red One shouted, "Your accomplices outside have all been brought to justice, and I've taken out your captain too! Surrender if you know what's good for you, and you'll be spared!"
After those words from Red One, everyone who still had the ability to resist surrendered.
Of course, Huojin had instructed them not to kill anyone during this operation. Otherwise, Red One really could have killed them all in under a minute.
Soon, Red One was joined by a group of Iron Guards who came to clean up. Looking around again, he saw people sprawled all over the scene, with plenty of weapon fragments still scattered across the ground.
Whether these people died did not really matter, anyway. He genuinely had held back. The less severe cases would only have broken bones, while the more severe cases, like that captain... that one, he did not know about.
Red One looked around and stood his spear on the floor beside him. He approached Nekomata, who slid her short blade back into her prosthetic limb when she saw him coming, remaining only slightly wary.
From what Red One had just said, Nekomata could at least tell that he should be on her side, and she did not sense any malice either.
Red One said, politely yet impolitely, "Hey, lovely cat Thiren miss, is the little runt in that box beside you Perlman?"
"...Meow?" Nekomata froze at his words and instinctively meowed before coming to her senses and answering, "Ah, y-yes, this is Perlman."
"...Bullshit! Who are you calling a runt? I'm not short! You ****..."
Perlman, who had been frightened up until then, immediately lost it when he realized Red One had called him a runt, shouting in anger.
Red One lowered his head to look at the furious little dwarf wriggling wildly below him and nodded. He glanced around, then took something from an unconscious man who had not yet been tied up and taken away.
"****... W-wait, wh-what are you doing? No, don't! I was wrong, I'm..."
Nekomata: "Hey, wait, you can't..."
Not knowing what Red One intended to do, Perlman instantly came to his senses. Seeing Red One aim a handgun at his forehead, he hurriedly begged for mercy and admitted his fault, but Red One still pulled the trigger.
Red One: "Bang!"
With a tranquilizer dart now sticking out of his forehead, Perlman promptly fell asleep like a baby.
Red One could no longer hold back his laughter and burst out laughing, clutching his stomach.
Red One: "Wahahaha! That's killing me! Look at that pathetic little runt! Hahaha..."
Nekomata: "..."
Nekomata stared, stunned by what he had done. Red One laughed for quite a while before finally stopping, turning to Nekomata and asking slowly:
"I forgot to ask. May I know your name, lovely cat Thiren miss?"
Nekomata's ears twitched before she snapped out of her daze and answered, "...Ah, my name is Nekomiya Mana. You can call me Nekomata, meow~."
Red One: "A pleasure to meet you, lovely Miss Nekomata Mana!"
With Red One calling her lovely at every turn, Nekomata grew a little shy and politely asked in return, "What about you? What's your name?"
Hearing Nekomata's question, Red One smiled confidently and struck the Starlight Knight's signature pose, saying:
"Since you've asked with such sincerity, I shall graciously tell you.
I am the one! Who ends all evil! Who shines within the Hollows! Who saves everything!
-The Starlight Knight!!!-"
Nekomata: "..."
Nekomata stared speechlessly at Red One, who was positively overflowing with chuunibyou, her feline eyes losing all desire.
Seeing Nekomata look at him like he was an idiot, Red One could only put on a different, more serious demeanor and introduce himself:
"Ahem, my name is Red One, and I'm an officer of the Hongke Unlimited Company! Lovely Miss Nekomata, until the real Public Security officers arrive, this place is under our full control.
"But don't worry. The residents still in the demolition zone will be fine. Our people have already dealt with the bombs' detonators and signals!"
Nekomata looked relieved at that and said, "That's wonderful! Everyone's safe now. Red One, thank you all!"
The sudden thanks left Red One a little embarrassed, and he instinctively scratched the back of his head as he said:
"No need to thank me, no need! Hehe, what are you thanking me for? Hahaha... Anyway, anyway, I still have a mission. I'm off!"
Nekomata: "A mission? What mission do you have?"
Red One: "They just want me to fight an Ethereal called Dead End Something. That'll let the residents in the demolition zone evacuate faster."
Nekomata: "Dead End... the Dead End Butcher!? I-it-it, it's really dangerous!!"
"Don't worry~. I'm not going to fight the Dead End Butcher single-handedly. I have companions! Enough talk, enough talk. Goodbye, lovely Miss Nekomata. I bet that guy Yellow Three would really like your type!"
With that, Red One left without looking back. Watching his retreating figure, Nekomata wore a conflicted expression for some reason and could not help murmuring:
"...Companions, huh? There's nothing wrong with being alone... I wonder how Nicole and the others are doing now."