The New Eridu Public Security Director had just picked up the phone when the report from the experts on the other end made her eyes widen in shock.

"What did you say? The data decrypted from the dennies contains Professor Arche's virtual lifeform information?"

"Yes, Director. We're currently decrypting the key and attempting to awaken Professor Arche..."

"Wait there. I'm coming immediately."

With that, the Director hung up and immediately jumped to her feet.

Unable to sit still any longer, she strode toward the door, ready to head straight to headquarters to verify the decrypted data herself.

But just as she reached the entrance, something occurred to her. She turned abruptly and walked back inside the bureau.

She quickly found Zhu Yuan and Qingyi.

"The information from the dennies brought back by the Golden Bangboo and Platinum Bangboo has been decrypted," she said seriously. "Go inform Mr. Sam Li and the other Adepti right away—ask them to come take a look."

Zhu Yuan nodded quickly. "Yes, I'll call Mr. Sam Li and the others immediately."

The Director waved her hand. "No need for calls. You and Qingyi will split up—head to the Hare's House and the Hollow Zero Operations Division to bring them here in person."

"Understood, Director."

With that, the Director rushed out, got into her car, and sped toward headquarters. Zhu Yuan and Qingyi each took a patrol car—Zhu Yuan heading for the Hare's House, Qingyi for the Hollow Zero Operations Division.

...

Ten minutes later, Zhu Yuan arrived at the Hare's House.

The moment she saw Sam Li, she said quickly, "Emp— ahem, Mr. Sam Li, the experts have decrypted the information from the dennies. The Director wants you to come see it immediately—it seems they've discovered something important."

She wasn't entirely sure what it was, but judging by the Director's urgency, it had to be something extraordinary.

Sam Li didn't hesitate. "Understood. Let's go."

He grabbed his coat and prepared to leave with Zhu Yuan for headquarters.

Just then, Billy, Nicole, Anby, and Nekomata came rushing out from the back room.

Billy frowned. "What dennies? What information? Sam Li, Zhu Yuan, what are you even talking about?"

Zhu Yuan quickly explained everything—the numbered dennies, the Golden Bangboo and Platinum Bangboo, and what had happened at the bureau.

The Hare's House had already heard most of this before.

"Do you all want to come too?" Zhu Yuan asked.

Billy turned to Nicole. "Boss Nicole, since there's no commission today anyway, let's go take a look."

Nekomata nodded eagerly. "Yeah, Nicole, we've never been to the Public Security headquarters before."

Nicole coughed lightly. "You're right. Miss Zhu Yuan, sorry for the trouble."

"No problem," Zhu Yuan replied with a small smile. "Hop in."

She was just as curious herself.

What kind of information could have been hidden inside those dennies that would make the Director react like that? Could it be... something about the deepest secrets of Hollow Zero?

Whatever it was, they'd find out soon enough.

Once Nicole, Billy, Anby, and Nekomata were in the car, Zhu Yuan started the patrol vehicle and drove toward the city center, where the New Eridu Public Security headquarters was located.

Half an hour later, Zhu Yuan's car arrived at the headquarters gate almost at the same time as Qingyi's, who had brought Cloud Retainer and the other Adepti along.

"Mr. Sam Li, Lady Xianyun, Mr. Moon Carver—this way, please," Zhu Yuan said respectfully.

She led them through the corridors to the data research wing of the building.

At the entrance, several security officers blocked their path. Zhu Yuan quickly made a call to the Director.

Half a minute later, both the Janus District Chief and the Headquarters Director personally came out to greet Sam Li and the Adepti before leading them inside.

...

As they entered the data laboratory, a strange figure made of shimmering holographic light came into view.

The Director gestured toward the projection. "Mr. Sam Li, Lady Xianyun, Mr. Moon Carver—this is Professor Arche, one of New Eridu's first-generation Void Hunters."

She then explained the professor's background and how he had come to be here.

Professor Arche had once ventured alone into Hollow Zero with two Bangboo, slaying several Annihilation-class Ethereal before finally reaching the core of the void—where he witnessed its very origin.

However, he was then besieged by countless World-Destroying Ethereal and perished deep within Hollow Zero.

Before his body was destroyed, Professor Arche had imprinted his life data onto the dennies and instructed the two Bangboo to collect the fragments and bring them back to New Eridu.

Over the decades, the Golden Bangboo and Platinum Bangboo painstakingly gathered most of the fragments. But exposure to the void's corruption caused them to forget their original mission, turning them into "dennie collectors" wandering through different voids.

Fortunately, with Sam Li and the others' help, the two Bangboo were finally captured, allowing the specialists to decode the information stored within the dennies—and thus, bring Professor Arche back to life.

Upon hearing the Director's explanation, the Adepti—Xianyun (Cloud Retainer), Moon Carver, Mountain Shaper, and the others—were all astonished.

Such a thing as a living being reborn from pure data truly defied belief.

Xianyun tilted her head slightly. "Even after losing one's body and life, to revive through preserved life data... an ingenious idea, indeed."

The Director nodded. "Professor Arche specialized in life sciences. Over a century ago, he achieved groundbreaking results in the study of virtual lifeforms."

Even so, to this day, Professor Arche remained the only individual in all of New Eridu who had ever succeeded in digitizing life itself.

Truth be told, even the other department heads who had been briefed on this were equally stunned. None of them had imagined that the dennies retrieved from Hollow Zero contained Professor Arche's own life data.

As Sam Li, Xianyun, Moon Carver, and the others observed the holographic figure, Professor Arche's eyes—digital though they were—seemed to focus on them in turn.

Though he no longer had a physical form and was, strictly speaking, a digital "virtual being," he could still sense them through his visual, perception, and etheric modules.

And the auras he felt from Sam Li and the Adepti were extraordinary—powerful, ancient, and unlike anything he'd encountered before.

It left him deeply astonished.

Decades had passed, and these unfamiliar young faces before him—surely, they must be the new generation of Void Hunters.