Chapter Summaries

The Grabber ran amok at Belobog Heavy Industries, and Red One, Blue Two, and Yellow Three discovered that it had found them after they sent their system logs to their master. Koleda fought the machine while the three watched, then they decided to support her just as another rumble sounded behind them.

• The Grabber damaged company property and attacked an ordinary excavator while Red One, Blue Two, and Yellow Three watched from behind a crate.
• Yellow Three confirmed that they had sent their system logs to their master after the trio received the signal that had affected the construction machines.
• The Grabber discovered Red One, Blue Two, and Yellow Three and knocked away their hiding place, prompting them to prepare to fight.
• Koleda arrived with a sledgehammer and pincers, struck the Grabber, and began fighting it as the trio watched from cover.
• After Blue Two estimated that Koleda might need help as the fight wore her down, Red One, Blue Two, and Yellow Three prepared to join her, but another rumble sounded behind them.

Anton and Ben fought the tunneling machine while Grace tried to hack its system and shut it down. Her attempt disrupted it, but the machine escaped toward Red One and his companions.

• Anton and Ben worked together to damage the tunneling machine’s legs and keep its attacks away from the company.
• As Ben tired, Grace arrived and used battery grenades to paralyze the machine, then climbed into its cockpit to hack it.
• Grace encountered repeated access errors but found a hidden intrusion in the system and tried to remove it.
• The tunneling machine briefly stopped, then sped toward the nearest Hollow before Anton and Ben could catch it.
• The tunneling machine headed directly toward Red One and his two companions, who had been watching from hiding.

Red One entered Overpower Mode and defeated the tunneling machine and grabber, but overheated and collapsed after the fight. Koleda and the others discovered Grace had been inside the tunneling machine, then saw her emerge injured but alive.

• The tunneling machine crashed through a wall, trampling Blue Two and Yellow Three and trapping Red One against its saw.
• Red One activated Overpower Mode, kicked the grabber aside, stopped the tunneling machine's saw, and used the machine to knock the grabber down.
• Red One was forced out of Overpower Mode by overheating and collapsed, then got back up while Blue Two and Yellow Three kept their distance from his heat.
• Anton and Big Ben arrived and reported that Grace had climbed into the tunneling machine's cab, prompting Koleda and the others to worry about her.
• Grace appeared atop the disabled tunneling machine, announced that it was taken care of, and revealed blood running down her face.

Grace discovered that a damaged key program, not a rival company’s virus, had caused the construction machines to go berserk. After repairing it enough to awaken the tunnel boring machine safely, she offered to repair Red One and his brothers.

• Ben reported that the accident had caused at least thirteen million Denny in damage, though no one had been injured.
• Grace showed Koleda and Ben the incomplete, virus-like program she had removed from the tunnel boring machine and ruled out the rival companies as its source.
• Grace explained that the program was a key that could start intelligent heavy construction machinery and give it instructions, and that its incomplete state had caused the machines to go out of control.
• Grace transmitted her repaired version of the key, briefly awakening the tunnel boring machine before soothing it and shutting it down again.
• Grace explained that the machines had souls housed in logic cores, then offered to repair Red One and his brothers.

Grace traced the signal to a missing Belobog Heavy Industries prototype inside a Hollow, prompting Koleda to plan its recovery. Ben then discovered that Red One, Blue Two, and Yellow Three’s investment contracts required them to work for free, but Butler intervened and made them agree to sign.

• Grace decoded the signal as BLG_prototype and told Koleda and Ben that the prototype was transmitting from inside a Hollow.
• Grace proposed retrieving the prototype and its valuable logic core, and Koleda agreed to find the pile driver and recover it.
• Ben apologized to Red One, Blue Two, and Yellow Three for the accident, but Red One insisted they had orders to get the contracts signed.
• Ben revealed that the contracts required the three machines to work without pay and gave Hawking Hongke control over their working hours.
• Red One, Blue Two, and Yellow Three protested until Butler connected, after which all three calmly agreed to sign.

Huojin considered his stalled biology research while Butler reported several matters, including an unusual signal tied to a likely target of the Order of the Condemned. The chapter ended with Butler telling him that Trigger needed weapons he would have to make himself.

• Butler told Huojin that Red One, Blue Two, and Yellow Three had signed contracts to work at Belobog Heavy Industries for a month.
• Huojin asked Butler about biological specimens because his research had stalled for lack of unusual samples.
• Butler reported that Phaethon's HDD system consumed at least 80,000 Denny of electricity per day, mostly because Fairy was running at high frequency.
• Butler said the signal from Red One, Blue Two, and Yellow Three came from Lumina Square and likely pointed to the Order of the Condemned's target.
• Huojin decided he could send Iron Guards to retrieve the suspected test subject covertly rather than go himself.
• Butler reported that Trigger had completed prosthetic adaptation training but needed Huojin to make suitable weapons and equipment.

Wise and Belle restocked the video store before Shepherd brought Wise a secret commission, but a companion Hollow disaster cut off Belle’s route home. Wise activated Fairy’s surveillance search and Hongke Unlimited Company’s rescue service to find her.

• Wise and Belle argued over their movie choices as they carried their purchases back to the video store.
• Belle took Wise’s car keys and left to choose movies from other suppliers while Wise stayed to meet Shepherd.
• Shepherd asked Wise to accept a secret commission to clear malfunctioning mechs from a Hollow, and Wise agreed to schedule it for later.
• Wise learned that a companion Hollow disaster had prompted Public Security to restrict roads Belle might have traveled.
• Fairy offered to search nearby surveillance footage and activate private security rescue services, and Wise authorized both.

Belle drove into a Hollow outbreak and was teleported to an unfinished building, where she spotted two girls being chased by Ethereals. Wise and the Iron Guards entered the Hollow, defeated the Ethereals, and began searching for Belle as Wise waited anxiously at the video store.

• Belle drove toward a videotape supplier, encountered fleeing pedestrians and Ethereals, and escaped in the family car.
• A spatial rift teleported Belle and her car to an unfinished building, where she saw two girls pursued by Ethereals.
• Two Iron Guards entered the Hollow and fought the Ethereals until reinforcements arrived and defeated the Alraune: Charged.
• Eous (Wise) entered the Hollow with Iron Guards and search-and-rescue supplies after Fairy identified several nearby life signs and selected a rescue plan.
• Wise monitored the search from the video store and hoped Belle was safe.

Iron Guards rescued civilians throughout the Hollow while searching for Belle, and Wise grew increasingly worried as Fairy reported their progress. A timid high school girl finally provided a lead on Belle, sending two Iron Guards toward the place she indicated.

• Iron Guard squads rescued trapped civilians, while one squad fought a Frenzied Thug and escaped through a spatial rift with two men.
• The rescued men could not identify Belle, and the Iron Guard squad escorted them toward the Hollow’s exit.
• Fairy reported that five squads had found eleven trapped people and that another squad was fighting an upper-tier Ethereal.
• Wise learned that an Iron Guard squad had found an important lead on Belle after choking on his coffee.
• A timid high school girl gave Belle’s location to an Iron Guard, and two others hurried toward it after defeating a Farbauti.

Iron Guard 813 found Belle while rescuing her from the out-of-control mech Guardian, and the arriving Iron Guards defeated the machine. Belle contacted Wise and learned that his commission was to clear out Guardian and possibly other rogue mechs.

• Iron Guard 813 was struck by Guardian but recovered and located Belle and another girl hiding in a narrow lane.
• Iron Guard 813 grabbed the girls and ran as Guardian landed, while reinforcements arrived and attacked the mech.
• The Iron Guards disabled Guardian’s weapons and leg, then destroyed it and recovered its intelligent core, which had been affected by Ether crystals.
• Eous arrived after the battle, and Belle contacted Wise through Fairy’s communications network to confirm that she was unharmed.
• Wise told Belle that he had taken a commission from Shepherd to clear out-of-control mechs and still had more work to do.