The recovery of Hans went surprisingly smoothly, thanks to Anton's help. Now, they just needed to bring him back to the site for minor maintenance before he could resume work.
As for the remaining two machines, they would need to be re-located, which meant some time would still be needed.
Zhong Yan didn't mind the delay, but he didn't exchange contact info with the folks from Belobog. Instead, he simply said he'd return in three days.
Until then, there would be no contact between them.
His air of mystery only made Koleda and the others more curious about who he really was. But since he had no intention of revealing anything more, they didn't press him for answers.
Pushing too hard might alienate a rare and valuable ally—none of them wanted to risk that.
So, the group soon escorted Hans out of the Hollow. Zhong Yan, on the other hand, casually stayed behind under the pretense of needing more time—because someone was still waiting for him.
Once the Belobog crew had fully departed, Zhong Yan finally turned his head to the side and spoke, unhurried and steady: "You've been hiding long enough, haven't you? Still not coming out?"
As his voice faded, the disguised Jane stepped out from the shadows of a nearby corner.
Realizing she'd been discovered; she dropped the act and covered her mouth with a quiet chuckle. "I didn't expect us to run into each other again so soon. I thought I'd never see you again in this lifetime."
Last time, Zhong Yan had saved her life, and Jane hadn't been able to forget it since. She had searched for him with near-obsessive determination—and now, fate had brought them together again at just the right moment.
Usually, mystery evoked fear. But when you knew the mysterious figure meant you no harm, fear gave way to curiosity.
Jane was in that state now—or perhaps she simply wanted to repay the man who'd saved her. After all, without him, she'd probably still be in the hands of the Mountain Lion Gang, being tortured.
"I wanted to thank you for saving my life back then. How about a meal together at Lumina Square? My treat," she said, striking a subtly flirtatious pose in hopes of leaving a stronger impression on him.
Truthfully, it did stir some unspoken thoughts in Zhong Yan—but he wasn't stupid. He knew Jane's true motive was to see the face behind his mask.
"There's no need for dinner. But I do have a favor to ask," Zhong Yan said after a short pause.
"Oh? Something you need help with? What kind of favor?" Jane asked, clearly intrigued.
"Belobog once took on a project involving a memorial plaza. Do you know where that plaza is now?" Zhong Yan asked. Seeing Hans earlier had reminded him.
That memorial plaza was where the entity known as Sacrifice was sealed—a strange creature rumored to be a man-made Ethereal, possibly linked to the Exaltists.
He hadn't asked Belobog about it directly because he wanted to act alone.
Besides Sacrifice, there was also a prototype mech buried at the plaza—one tied to Koleda's father, Hors Belobog, the former president. According to the current timeline, anyone who knew the full truth had likely already been silenced.
In short, Zhong Yan didn't want to drag Koleda into unnecessary trouble. Handling this on his own would be much simpler.
"The memorial plaza? That place fell into the Hollow long ago. Why would you want to go there?" Jane raised an eyebrow, clearly baffled.
The plaza had been swallowed up during the expansion of Hollow Zero years ago. Nobody had been there since. In fact, most people only remembered it existed because of its sheer size.
"Didn't you say you wanted to repay me? How about answering that question as payment?" Zhong Yan replied. Jane's grasp of psychology was sharper than most—if he wanted to keep his identity secret, keeping things brief was key.
Jane paused for a moment before nodding. "Alright, if you need help, I'll help."
With that, she pulled a small device from her pocket using her tail—no bigger than her palm, loaded with Carrot data.
"Head out of this Hollow using the official route. When you reach the next Hollow where the plaza is located, this Carrot data will show you the way."
Zhong Yan accepted it, genuinely impressed. Undercover agents really were built different—Jane had casually acquired something most people couldn't touch.
Without a formal application, only professional Proxies could usually generate Carrot data like this.
Whether Jane got it from the Public Safety Bureau or through less legitimate channels, Zhong Yan didn't care.
The important thing was that this Carrot data would lead him straight to the plaza. And with Kamui, he didn't have to worry about the travel time at all.
With that, he activated Kamui—and vanished on the spot.
Jane, caught off guard by the sudden departure, froze in place. A moment later, she stomped her foot in frustration.
"Damn it! He just vanished like that!"
...
Following Jane's Carrot data and using Kamui's spatial warp, Zhong Yan quickly arrived at the sunken Pioneer's Memorial Plaza.
Compared to its game counterpart, the real-life Pioneer's Memorial Plaza was massive. Surrounding it weren't half-built towers or construction skeletons, but an entire zone of abandoned buildings.
The plaza was about half the size of Lumina Square—and by the look of things, it had never been fully completed.
But Zhong Yan wasn't paying attention to the scenery. He raised his head and looked toward the massive stone pillar at the plaza's center.
That's where the strange being known as Sacrifice was sealed.
And in front of that pillar stood a large white machine—
Belobog Heavy Industries' prototype mech.