"Who the hell are you? Where's Belle and Wise?"
Anby's voice came through the line. Normally, Amillion wouldn't answer a call casually, so if she did, it meant there was no real danger.
On the sofa, Belle knelt with her arms resting on the backrest, her curious gaze flickering between Zane and Amillion.
She could hear the call clearly.
Zane glanced at Belle, suddenly having a good idea. Smiling lightly, he felt rather pleased with himself.
"I have the Proxy siblings in my hands. Connect me to Nicole, or else..."
"Hold on, right away."
Anby's voice came quickly, tinged with a hint of seriousness.
She hadn't expected this at all.
On the sofa, Belle's eyes widened as she listened.
What was Zane planning now?
"This is Nicole. Who are you?"
Nicole's voice soon came over the line.
"Who I am doesn't matter. What matters is how much the Proxy siblings mean to you."
"Fifty thousand Dennies. Pay up, and I guarantee their safety."
"So? Think it over?"
Zane's voice carried an amused, unfathomable tone.
To Belle, he sounded exactly like a real "kidnapper"—one perfectly in control.
She stared at him wide-eyed, completely confused by what he was trying to pull.
Even Wise, focused on the HDD system earlier, found his attention drawn over.
...
Meanwhile, at Hare's House.
"Fifty thousand Dennies... Ugh, how is it exactly the full balance of Hare's House...?"
Nicole frowned, feeling cursed.
Hare's House didn't have a bad income, but the expenses were high, and debts were still unpaid.
That little balance was meant for things like electricity, food, and other essentials...
"Nicole, isn't it kinda weird? Only fifty thousand? Who kidnaps for that little?"
Anby sounded suspicious.
Who would kidnap Phaethon, the legendary Proxy, just for fifty thousand Dennies?
She knew how strong the Proxy siblings were.
"Maybe they already got a big payoff from Phaethon... figured out Hare's House situation... and settled for this much."
Nicole's expression twisted, automatically filling in a "reasonable" explanation.
"Boss Nicole! Something's off! Why would Amillion choose to call—and use Phaethon's credentials?"
Billy moaned from the side, clutching his head.
If Hare's House's account was wiped, his gun oil budget—and his already tiny salary—would be next.
Knowing Nicole's style, she would absolutely say: "Save on gun oil, skip the salary—but you can't starve."
"Nicole Boss, maybe it's because Amillion's language module glitched! You said to 'make do' even if its core cracked, you said to 'make do' even if its shell broke... and you did order the Bangboo to start making money!"
Billy's mind raced, immediately producing a "logical" theory.
Nicole frowned even harder.
Had she been too harsh before?
"Nicole, I think it's more likely that someone's threatening Amillion using the Proxy siblings. You know Amillion would never betray us."
Nicole nodded quickly as she listened to Anby.
Anby was right.
It wasn't because of saving money—it had to be coercion.
"So, Nicole, what now?"
Anby leaned closer and asked.
"What else? Pay up!"
Nicole gritted her teeth.
This blackmail was definitely just a side effect.
Damn it—Hare's House didn't even have much left, and now someone was bleeding it dry.
"Aaaghh! Bastards!"
Nicole pounded the table in anger.
But they were using the Proxy siblings as leverage. She had no choice.
Suppressing her fury, Nicole began negotiating with Zane about how to transfer the Dennies.
...
Back at the video store.
"Looks like you two really matter a lot to Hare's House."
"At least more than fifty thousand Dennies,"
Zane said, glancing at Belle with a small smile.
Belle simply looked at Amillion, then at Zane, and after a short pause, said slowly,
"Very few people can get Dennies out of Hare's House without a cost. Zane, you're one of them."
Hearing Belle's not-quite-praise, Zane just waved it off, crouched down, and ruffled Amillion's head with a playful grin.
"Haha, that was fun."
"Now, mind explaining things to them? Even if I told them I'm Zane now, they probably wouldn't believe me."
For him, the Dennies thing was just for fun—he'd never actually take it seriously.
Otherwise, it wouldn't be a joke anymore.
Seeing the faint apology in Zane's expression, Belle found herself understanding him even less.
In the end, she had to use Amillion to explain everything.
After a lot of effort, Nicole finally accepted the truth.
Once the call ended, Nicole and Billy's shocked cries were still echoing in her ears.
Belle rubbed her temples and sighed as she looked at Zane.
Thinking about the upcoming "interview" with the Hare's House people, she already dreaded how chaotic it was going to be.
"By the way, aren't you afraid they'll get mad?"
Although, judging from their voices, no one sounded mad—only shocked.
"With their personalities, they shouldn't get angry over something like this. But if they do, I'll sincerely apologize."
"And maybe throw in a few big jobs. Nicole will probably forgive me... Ah, I just got the urge to mess around a little. Couldn't help it."
Zane shrugged casually.
Belle stared at him, shaking her head slightly in curiosity.
"I really didn't expect you to do something like that."
"It doesn't fit your personality at all."
Right now, she felt that Zane was way more complicated than she thought.
Her understanding of him was still shallow.
Hearing this, Zane finished the last sip of soda from his cup, set it down, and tapped the side of it with his finger, sending out a crisp echo.
"Personality, huh? Why rush to conclusions so soon?"
"After all, you don't know yet whether the real me is the one with no masks—or the one still wearing a mask."
Zane figured he wasn't someone pure by any stretch—and didn't intend to be.
"Tsk... I feel like you're deliberately trying to sound deep."
"Huh? Really?"
After a bit of light banter, Zane's expression turned serious again as he got to the main reason he came to the video store.
After explaining the situation with the Public Security Bureau, neither Belle nor Wise minded that Zane had used the video store as a cover, and readily agreed to help.
Then, Zane brought up another serious matter—
those two people who had left his place of transformation and were now temporarily detained by the military.
"You want us to help you find where they're being held?"
Wise frowned slightly.
He naturally wouldn't just stand by, but this kind of thing was tricky.
Because the ones holding them were the Defense Force.
"Investigating the Defense Force is really tough,"
Belle said bluntly.
Still, she wanted to help—knowing how much those two people mattered to Zane.
"Even it can't do it?"
Zane looked at the HDD system.
Compared to him, Belle and Wise, who had worked with Fairy for a while, knew the system much better.
Following his gaze, Wise realized who Zane meant.
He was a little surprised at first, but quickly understood.
With all of Zane's secrets—and the fact that the safe containing Fairy had come from them—of course he knew about Fairy's existence.
Maybe he even knew some details about it.
(If he knew Wise's thoughts, Zane would've apologized—because honestly, he didn't know much more about Fairy than the Proxy siblings.)
Before Zane had arrived, Wise had even issued a "gag order" to Fairy because her existence was too sensitive.
Now, it seemed unnecessary.
...
"Exiting standby mode. Activating full systems. Power consumption will increase—please be advised."
Fairy "woke up" from standby and gave a quick warning to Belle.
Belle clearly didn't care.
The electricity bill wasn't due for a few days yet—she hadn't realized how serious this could get.
After explaining the situation to Fairy, Belle asked,
"Fairy, can you do it?"
"There are too many unknown variables. I cannot give a definite answer."
"I need specific information on the target."
Hearing this, Zane didn't delay and shared the data he got from the Public Security Bureau.
"Confirmed. The targets are not under Defense Force control. They are classified as temporary illegal residents. I can access non-military systems to locate their holding site."
Getting a positive answer, Belle smiled happily for Zane.
Under her command, Fairy quickly began analyzing the data.
Moments later...
"They're actually being held in…"