"All right, Proxy, according to your plan, all three machines have been sent to their designated positions. When do we start pinpointing the prototype's location?"
Anton said excitedly.
"Grace, can you hear me? We'll be counting on you to operate the machines and send a signal to the prototype."
Belle contacted Grace.
Grace: "Roger! I'm counting on you kids now. Do your best and call out to your senior!"
"We got a response from the tunneling machine... Wait, all three machines have received a signal from the prototype!"
"Haha, great!" Anton threw up his arms and cheered.
"BOOM!"
Anton turned serious. "Grace, what was that sound?"
Belle: "Grace? Are you all right?"
"It's nothing serious, just a few Ethereals," Grace said unhurriedly.
Belle checked Fairy. "Grace! Something's wrong! I've detected a high-intensity Ethereal heading your way! Looks like the signal might agitate them too!"
Koleda made an immediate decision. "Proxy! Anton! Let's hurry over and back them up!"
[Whoa... they're so united. I'm crying, I'm crying.]
[Koleda had a fight with Grace yesterday, but she still cares about her.]
(The plot doesn't follow the protagonist; it follows the main characters. The protagonist is only a supporting character in the story, and the audience's main perspective remains on the narrative.)
Xia Linxi used Ellen to fight monsters like crazy. "She's unbeatable for clearing new content, but even so, aren't there a few too many monsters to fight in this story? When will we get auto-battle?"
[666, here comes someone asking for auto-battle in an action game.]
[The clumsy-fingered crowd is gonna explode. I hear there are even more overtuned bosses later on.]
[Streamer, look who's talking. You've got Ellen, but I'm still in the story going makabaka with Soldier 11!]
[Then isn't it even worse for me, losing my 50/50 to Nekomata? I'm doing nothing but scraping the bosses...]
"All the Ethereals have been driven back!"
Anton killed the last Ethereal with his drill and turned around.
"Grace! How are you?"
Koleda rushed to Grace's side instinctively.
"Don't worry, communication with the prototype is still ongoing."
"Who's asking about the communication? I'm asking if you're hurt!"
Koleda felt like she was about to go mad with anger.
"Ah, uh..."
"Ow, ow, ow! Koleda! You actually jumped up and hit me on the head!" Grace clutched her head and stared at Koleda.
Belle immediately stepped in to smooth things over. "All right, all right, Koleda. Everything turned out fine, didn't it?"
The atmosphere fell silent for a while. Even Anton and Ben said nothing.
"I'm sorry. I made you all worry."
Grace was the first to apologize.
Koleda turned her head away, acting tsundere. "As long as you know!"
"Anyway, it's over now. What matters is that no one's hurt."
[Tsundere red-haired little loli! Wait, why does this feel a little romantic...]
[You feel it too, person above? A dumb beauty like Grace is exactly my type.]
Seeing Grace apologize of her own accord, Koleda didn't intend to dwell on it either. "Proxy, we can move on to the next stage of finding the prototype, right?"
Fairy came through and calculated the prototype's location, and Belle immediately directed Eous toward it.
"This..."
Ben looked at the photo Wise had sent over and spoke in puzzlement.
Koleda: "What is it, Ben? Is there something wrong with this photo?"
Ben shook his head. "There's nothing wrong with the photo itself, but I remember this place. Before the former president disappeared, Belobog Heavy Industries landed a project: Visionary Memorial Square."
"And this structure isn't a tower. It's the monument in the center of the memorial square!"
"What did you say?" Koleda's eyes widened. "The prototype is in the square that guy never finished building back then!?"
[This is getting a little creepy...]
[Why does this feel strangely fated? An unsolved mystery from years ago, an old machine from years ago, an old place from years ago...]
[Person above, don't scare me! I'm just watching a stream at night, and now I have to get spooked too.]
"The prototype showing up here... It's almost like the former president wanted to tell us something."
Anton rubbed his chin as he spoke.
"Friday also said before that its mentor Khors was calling it," Ben added.
Koleda shook her head. "You're overthinking it. Even if the pile driver did say Khors's name, all that stuff it said about reinforcing the seal and whatnot was just nonsense."
For some reason, Koleda suddenly remembered what that so-called Proxy assistant had said to her yesterday:
Very often, it was the sinner who was the hero...
Koleda suddenly felt a flutter in her heart, but she couldn't put the feeling into words.
It was probably just her imagination. Over the years, she had made plenty of excuses for that guy, but every single one had been disproven.
Let it be.
I'm tired.
That was what Koleda thought.
"Never mind." Grace spoke up, breaking the somber mood. "Let's hurry over and see for ourselves."
"We're almost at the monument. Everyone, watch your step."
Anton warned them. He had just dodged a nail at his feet.
"Anton, let the Proxy ride on the machine," Koleda instructed. "Grace, you're walking slowly. Is something wrong?"
"I'm just thinking."
Grace shook her head and quickened her pace a little.
"Good. If you're hurt and trying to hide it from me, you'll be sorry."
Though Koleda said that, there was still concern for Grace in her eyes.
After all, that high-intensity Ethereal really had been tough to deal with.
"Hey, hey! Shorty, is that any way to talk to your big sister?"
Grace teased, a smile curling at the corners of her lips.
"No, it isn't! And you're not my big sister!"
Koleda retorted, her face bright red.
"I just don't want to lose another member of my family ever again," Koleda said softly.
"What? Koleda, what did you just say? I didn't hear you," Grace asked.
"Nothing!" Koleda hurried forward a few steps. "Come on, keep up!"
Watching Grace and Koleda, Belle laughed to herself.
They really aren't honest with themselves.
Both of them clearly felt sorry toward the other, yet for some reason, they remained unwilling to say it aloud.
The two of them held completely different opinions of "Khors Belobog."
Perhaps that was what kept them from speaking their minds.