Soldier 11 acted as if she hadn't heard Nicole's words, continuing to stare at Sam Li, waiting for his answer.
After a moment,
Sam Li shook his head and said, "I have no intention of breaking the contract."
Seeing how firm Sam Li's response was,
Nicole smiled brightly.
She walked up to Sam Li and patted his shoulder. "You really are someone I can count on. You have a great sense of commitment."
Sam Li: "..."
Soldier 11 let out a sigh. "What a pity. If I had a partner like you, I would definitely feel at ease."
After a brief silence,
Soldier 11 continued, "If you ever change your mind, you can come find me anytime. Here's my phone number."
Sam Li shook his head. "I don't have a phone."
It had been a month since he arrived in this world.
Every day, he either drank coffee, walked birds, or wandered the streets.
He had no need for a phone, nor had he thought about buying one.
Soldier 11 turned to Nicole with a questioning look. "Hare's House's employee benefits?"
Nicole answered seriously, "We've just been too busy and didn't have time to buy Sam Li a phone. We'll make sure he gets the newest model later."
Billy chimed in excitedly, "Boss Nicole! I've had my phone for three years now—shouldn't I get a new one too?"
Nicole gave him a swift kick. "Your phone still works. Use it for another two years."
After that,
the group left the restaurant together.
Before parting ways,
Soldier 11 took out a pair of headphones from behind her back—the ones Anby had thrown to her earlier.
Now,
Soldier 11 tossed them back into Anby's hands. "Here, take it back. Don't expect me to thank you. You know that's not going to happen."
Despite Soldier 11's sharp tone,
Anby didn't seem to mind and said nothing.
She simply picked up the headphones and put them back on her head in silence.
Then,
she turned around and left with Nicole and the others.
After only a few steps,
Soldier 11's voice called out again from behind. "Wait... why do you still have that song in your headphones? You should've deleted it long ago."
Hearing Soldier 11's question,
Anby stopped walking. After a moment of silence, she replied, "Because I knew you'd delete it. If I deleted it too, it would be gone forever."
Soldier 11 clenched her fists. "You—you'd better delete it. I hate it."
Once upon a time,
to help Soldier 11 master the technique of Blazing Bladework, the two of them had created that nursery rhyme together.
And now,
only a few years later, they were like strangers.
At Lumina Square,
under the streetlamp,
Soldier 11 stood still, staring at Anby's figure as she walked farther away. She muttered to herself, "Idiot...
How could I ever hate it? I never deleted it. I kept it safe in my drawer all this time."
She stood there for a long time.
Finally, Soldier 11 relaxed her clenched fists, a small smile appearing on her lips. "Thank you, Zero. You helped me again."
Watching Anby disappear into the distance under the lights,
Soldier 11 turned resolutely, walking in the opposite direction—into the darkness of the night.
Some people live under bright lights.
Some people live within the darkness of night.
Soldier 11 chose the latter.
Not because she liked the darkness,
but because she had long understood: if no one stayed behind to guard the darkness, others would never be able to move forward freely in the light.
And Soldier 11
chose to be the one who guarded freedom in the darkness.
...
Ten minutes later,
on the other side of New Eridu, at Sixth Street,
After Belle and Soldier 11, along with Nicole and the others, parted ways,
Belle received a message from her brother and immediately returned to Sixth Street.
By then,
she had reached the entrance of the video store.
"Brother, I'm back! I brought you dinner!"
Belle called out as she walked into the store.
She entered the control room
and saw Wise sitting in front of the computer.
"Brother, what's wrong? I called you several times."
"Huh? You're back... I've been repairing the footage Eous sent back. It's almost done."
"Let Fairy handle the repair for now. You should eat first."
"Okay—"
"Objection! Fairy also needs enough electricity to function! Master, please pay the electric bill quickly!"
"..."
Originally,
when Nicole and the others returned to the city with Soldier 11, they immediately sent Eous back and invited both Belle and Wise to join them for dinner.
In the end, Belle went, but Wise found an excuse to stay behind—
to focus on repairing the footage taken inside the Hollow.
Specifically,
the recording from when they flew into the sky and fell back down. It hadn't been very clear at the time, and both Belle and Wise wanted to review it properly.
A few minutes later,
with Fairy's help, they finally completed the restoration.
The video started playing.
Belle and Wise stared intently at the screen.
They watched a stone pillar emerge from underground, and saw Sam Li lift it and hurl it into the sky.
"Brother, slow it down here! I want to see how Sam Li jumped up."
"Alright, Fairy, play it at three times slow motion."
Unfortunately,
even at triple slow motion, all they saw was a blur as Sam Li grabbed Eous and leaped onto the stone pillar.
"Fairy, make it five times slow motion."
"Master, your eyesight might be bad. I recommend jumping straight to ten times slow motion."
"..."
"Fairy, switch to ten times slow motion."
Resisting the urge to smash Fairy, Wise activated ten times slow motion, and they finally managed to track Sam Li's movements.
They saw Sam Li take a few steps, grab Eous, and leap straight into the air.
It wasn't as complicated as Belle and Wise had imagined.
Using the simplest of movements, Sam Li accomplished something that seemed impossible.
"Brother, Sam Li just chased after the flying stone pillar like that. Isn't that way too unbelievable?"
If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes,
they never would have believed it.
Wise's expression grew serious. "There's an old saying: 'With enough strength, even a brick can fly.' If you're strong enough, it's possible."
But still,
Sam Li was just human.
Where did that kind of strength come from?
Belle said seriously, "Brother, do you remember what the teacher once said?"
Wise was puzzled. "Which part?"
Belle recalled, "Before the teacher disappeared, she said: 'This world isn't as simple as it seems.'"
The two sat there quietly,
replaying the footage of Sam Li soaring into the sky over and over at ten times slow motion.
They even replayed the moment he landed—
with just a stone pillar, he had nearly killed a powerful Notoriety Ethereal.
In the end,
Belle and Wise concluded:
Sam Li was far stronger than they had ever imagined.
...
Meanwhile, elsewhere that same night,
Nicole kept her word. She took everyone to a phone store and helped Sam Li pick out a brand-new phone.