A huge cloud of dust burst into the air. Anton froze. "We're screwed..."
Belle sauntered back out. "It's fine, Anton. What are you so worried about?"
Anton covered his face. "Someone just died on the construction site. You think I wouldn't be worried? ...Forget it, forget it, hurry and save him!"
As the dust cleared, the black-haired man stood there quietly, one hand held slightly out in front of him, its other end touching the enormous yellow machine.
[That hand looks so powerful. One look and you can tell it's perfect for...]
[Hubby! So handsome! He just showed off big-time again!]
Xia Linxi said nothing, but red hearts appeared in her pupils again.
Anton: ɿ(｡･ɜ･)ɾⓌⓗⓐⓣ?
Belle looked at the man. "Brother Heng!"
She turned to look at Anton, who was still standing there dumbstruck:
"Don't be so surprised. He's a tenant staying at our place for now. His strength is in the top tier in all of New Eridu, even by a conservative estimate."
Anton swallowed. "Holy moly, bro, did you see that?"
He reckoned he could stop that enormous yellow machine too, but there was no way he could do it as effortlessly as that...
And the man didn't even seem to be exerting himself, as though he were gently touching a feather...
Was this guy really human???
"Sorry, the system is still in the final stage of debugging, so there was a little mishap."
A black-haired girl with goggles on her head emerged from the top.
"Could you please hold it a little longer? It'll be done once it stays still for a bit."
She looked at the tablet in her hand. "Good kid, I'm just installing a plug-in. It really doesn't hurt at all..."
Lu Yingheng smiled. "All right."
The enormous yellow machine tried to keep struggling, but Lu Yingheng pressed down slightly with his palm, and it was instantly forced to stay put.
"Hahaha, young man, you're truly blessed with natural strength! Interested in coming to work for Belobog Heavy Industries?"
A bear Thiren walked out, carrying a white pillar on his shoulder that looked incredibly heavy.
He had the honest, good-natured head of a bear, a thick gold chain around his neck, a loose white work jacket, and a dark shirt printed with golden patterns underneath.
Belle thought, Is he the president who's like the king of beasts?
Standing nearby, Lu Yingheng couldn't help laughing. "Ahem."
Belle reached out a hand without thinking. "Hello."
To her surprise, the fearsome-looking bear Thiren immediately stepped forward and clasped her hand in both of his:
"Hehe, hello, hello, Miss Proxy."
"Our president has been waiting for you for a long time."
Belle stood there in a slight daze. "Ah... so you're not the president?"
"Grace! Put me down!"
A child's young voice rang out. The next second, a little girl with wild red hair was lifted up from behind.
"Look, look! This is our president!"
The bear Thiren and Anton both pointed at the little girl with wild red hair.
The moment the little redhead saw Belle, she immediately grew serious. "I'm the president of Belobog Heavy Industries, Koleda Belobog."
[Pfft... what an adorable contrast! I didn't expect that fearsome-looking bear Thiren not to be the president. The president who's like the king of beasts is actually a little girl?]
[Ahem... first of all, I'm not a lolicon. Second, I'm not a lolicon. And finally, I'm not a lolicon... but this little girl is seriously cool, isn't she?]
[Someone finally gets me! I'm not a lolicon either! The person I like just hasn't grown up yet...]
Xia Linxi happened to catch sight of those bullet comments. "All you lolicons, get electrocuted! A hundred thousand volts!"
Lu Yingheng stood to the side. "Take your time discussing things. If anything happens, call me. I'll be there right away."
Belle paused. "Oh, right, Brother Heng, I forgot to ask you earlier. How did you suddenly show up here?"
Lu Yingheng swept a hand through his hair, looking very pleased with himself:
"I just recovered a little memory of my abilities, so now I can turn invisible. I followed you to see if you were in any danger, I guess."
Anton's eyes grew wider and wider. "What? Bro, you can turn invisible too? Combined with that monstrous strength of yours..."
Lu Yingheng smiled. "All right, if you're not in any danger, I'll get going."
Lu Yingheng waved a hand. "Word Spirit: Meishō."
The next second, Lu Yingheng vanished before their eyes.
[Scared me to tears. Top-tier monstrous strength plus invisibility...]
[Enemy: What do you mean I suddenly died?]
[Just kidding. You'd be walking down the street and suddenly get turned to dust.]
Koleda looked at the Proxy beside her and mentally marked them as people not to be provoked:
"Miss Proxy, that person just now was..."
Belle still hadn't recovered from the fact that Lu Yingheng had regained an ability either:
"Oh... he's our tenant. He has amnesia now, so he's staying with us for the time being. But before he lost his memory, his strength was probably number one in all of New Eridu... in the top tier, I mean."
Belle had actually intended to say he was number one, but that seemed a little too showy, so she chose to add "in the top tier."
"Let's get down to business, then. Anton may have mentioned it to you before.
"Our company has secured the subway project, but someone has been secretly working against us, so we haven't been making smooth progress."
Koleda explained truthfully, then seemed to remember something:
"Oh, right. This black-haired woman with the goggles is our Grace. She specializes in researching machinery. This bear Thiren is our Ben. He handles the accounts."
Belle nodded. "Can you tell me exactly what's going on? What do you need me, a Proxy, to help with?"
Ben sounded a little indignant. "Our company is fairly new, and we've made some progress in the industry, which is why we won the bid. But a lot of established companies have their eyes on this subway project and keep secretly throwing obstacles in our way."
"Unfortunately, three children got lost in a Hollow last week!"
Grace chimed in from the side. Belle had more or less figured out her way of speaking: the children she meant were those enormous machines.
"They're intelligent heavy-duty construction machines for use in Hollows, independently developed by our company."
Ben spoke seriously.
Grace added, "They're central to our competitiveness: intelligent machines capable of operating safely inside a Hollow for long periods."
"But a few days ago, three of the children suddenly went deep into the Hollow, and they still haven't come back."
Belle fell into thought. "So you want me to go find those three children and bring them back?"
"Right, right! We're counting on you, Proxy!"
Anton pressed his palms together at the side and spoke earnestly.