regarding Andrew's doubts, Belle shrugged and pulled up other information found on the website, displaying it on the screen in front of him.
"It's not just that! In the short time since you came back, there have already been many comments in the threads saying that people from the Hollow Special Operations Section 6 have appeared at the corresponding locations!"
As she spoke, Belle began to pull up various posts from the 'Grotesque House' website.
As long as it was a relatively popular post, the latest comments underneath would often mention sightings of personnel wearing the uniforms of Hollow Special Operations Section 6 nearby.
Even under many posts that weren't very popular but looked plausible, such comments had appeared.
And this situation was increasing over time.
The arrival of personnel from Hollow Special Operations Section 6 to conduct investigations directly pushed the fame and gimmick of the Grotesque House to a new peak.
A hobbyist website that originally belonged to a small circle was now being widely circulated.
Countless newcomers flooded in, taking the popularity of this website up another level.
And the fan fiction describing the monster's vengeful spirit, bolstered by this influx of traffic, saw its popularity rise by several tiers.
Meanwhile, Andrew saw a photo of his equipment before it was even fully completed in a previous reply thread.
11.
Case solved.
It turns out that for this post to come true, there was also a contribution from her.
Belle, who had already browsed through everything before showing it to Andrew, could no longer stop the smile on her face.
With an increasingly brazen smile, she gently nudged Andrew's side with her elbow and asked, "So, Andrew, are you still going to wear this newly made armor out later?"
Although he clearly knew Belle was gloating, Andrew, who was already numb to the situation, had no desire to sanction her.
After thinking it over, Andrew nodded decisively and said, "Wear it! This is exactly the outfit I'm wearing!"
"Huh?"
Hearing Andrew answer so decisively, Belle looked at him with some surprise. Her original gloating quickly turned into worry.
She said with some hesitation, "But, continuing to wear this means you'll be treated as a monster by people when you go out later, right? Even though you go out to hunt those monsters every time to protect others, ending up like this because of such a thing..."
Although she didn't finish her sentence, the meaning Belle wanted to express was already very clear.
Previously, although Andrew also went out every day wearing materials from various monsters, he had never been feared as a monster.
Not only that.
Because of that previous attack, if Andrew went out wearing the Odogaron set now, he would immediately be surrounded as a hero by the fans that had been expanding constantly over the past two days.
But if he switched to this current Diablos set...
With no one recognizing this armor, people would have preconceived notions due to the articles and rumors.
Therefore, the attitude of most people would immediately change from crowding around him to panic and fleeing.
The difference between the two was merely changing into a different set of armor; the time interval didn't even exceed two days.
But the gap in people's attitudes toward what these two armors represented was too huge.
It was so huge that some people with fragile minds wouldn't be able to accept it.
However, Andrew was simply a thick-skinned person.
Regarding this situation, after realizing it, Andrew's mindset was not only unaffected in the slightest, but he actually became more satisfied.
But Belle couldn't be happy after knowing this. She frowned and suggested, "Andrew, let me use Phaethon's account to post and help you dispel the rumors, okay? Plus, if you use your own account to post an explanation, the public opinion will be turned back very quickly."
Yet Andrew immediately shook his head and said disapprovingly, "No, no, no, this is fine. This is actually great right now."
Looking at the confused Belle, Andrew opened his mouth to explain, "My goal in hunting in New Eridu isn't to be a hero surrounded by the masses. If I wanted to be that, wouldn't it have been better to show my face from the start? Besides, hunting isn't a game where people can safely watch from the sidelines!"
"Even if it's just hunting a Paolumu, it's very dangerous for those ordinary people to simply stand in the distance and watch."
The previous Diablos hunt was already at the level of walking a tightrope. If Andrew's speed in blocking had been even a little bit slower, the number of casualties would have risen exponentially.
Fortunately, although the Diablos is a Flying Wyvern, it doesn't have a breath attack.
With just purely physical collisions, under the blockage of Andrew's lance, he successfully minimized the hunt's impact on the environment.
And if Andrew hadn't happened to be right at the scene...
In the time it took for him to rush over, facing a furious Diablos, the ordinary people at that venue would have faced an ending of ten deaths and no life.
A Diablos that had just stepped onto the path of becoming a Deviant was already like this, so what about those on a higher level?
Especially those with wide-range attacks or breath weapons?
Moreover, Andrew didn't care at all about the so-called evaluations and opinions of these strangers who weren't his friends.
After shaking his head, Andrew continued, "Under these circumstances, at least the first thing others do when they see me isn't to stay and peek around observing, but to run far away. This is much more useful than some useless public reputation."
"Besides, the other author is already constantly working hard to clarify things, so let's just let nature take its course."
Of course, Andrew wouldn't have a brain fart and do something stupid like declaring 'I am the evil of this world, a trial you must overcome' or anything like that.
But utilizing these rumors to quickly clear the area was indeed much more convenient.
With this appearance that could be called terrifying...
There was no need for procedures like shouting and persuading. As long as he wore this outfit, people would automatically start running away the moment Andrew stood there.
The pity was that after he hunted more in the coming period and people reacted again...
The effect wouldn't be as strong by then.
Seeing that Andrew already had a plan, Belle silently stopped her action of preparing to send out the clarification post she had already typed up, and instead saved it to the drafts.
Since Andrew had decided to utilize these rumors now, Belle naturally wouldn't spoil Andrew's plan.
However.
Although she wouldn't post it now, when the effect of the rumors gradually faded and could no longer be utilized, it would be time for this article to come in handy.
And after knowing Andrew's plan...
Belle moved her gaze away from the H.D.D System. Her waist twisted lightly, and the chair beneath her spun around under the force, facing Andrew.
Resting her cheek gently on her hand and leaning lazily against the H.D.D System desk, Belle spoke up to remind him, "Andrew, although your plan is indeed good, Hollow Special Operations Section 6 has just openly declared on the internet that they will keep tracking you."
"Although you can indeed keep ordinary people away, that newly appointed Void Hunter is preparing to chase you indefinitely~"
Looking at Andrew, a comical smile appeared on Belle's face as she reminded him, "What do you plan to do then? Keep running away like today?"
"What?"
Hearing this, Andrew felt a bit numb.
Wasn't it just successfully slipping away from under their eyelids by using traces to mislead them?
So sore about losing? To think they would want to keep chasing?
However, the words had already been spoken just now. To change his tune...
Sure enough, avoiding collateral damage to the innocent was more important!
Thinking of this, Andrew waved his hand directly and said decisively, "Don't worry, my stealth technique is number one in New Eridu; absolutely no one can find me! Besides, I still have the Gouram!"
If it were anyone else's ordinary vehicle, given Section 6's tracking capabilities, they might be able to track and locate it very quickly through the vehicle.
But the Gouram was different!
Who could have thought that the function to change forms, which 'Big Daddy' mentioned as an additional feature back then, would now become the most important function on Andrew's motorcycle.
Even that extreme speed had to rank second.
After all, when conducting counter-tracking in the city, high speed wasn't useful under the effect of cameras. But a vehicle that could change its form at will was different.
This kind of function could completely be called 'too OP' during counter-tracking.
Under these conditions...
Andrew didn't need to prepare multiple vehicles for replacement at all, nor did he need to worry that the other party could trace him by sourcing the vehicle's origin.
With the two combined, if he could still be found like this, Andrew would accept his fate.
For his subordinate department to have such strong tracking capabilities...
Andrew admitted that the Mayor, that old fox, deserved this favor.
However, having found the reason why he was raided by Section 6, the most urgent thing now was to take advantage of this free time to make the gifts for the three of them.
After all, no one could say for sure what would happen later.
But just as Andrew achieved his goal and prepared to return to the Smithy's workshop to start making the clothes, Belle asked, "Hmm... but speaking of which, although this material looks very big, if you make clothes for three people in a row, will there be enough left for you to make equipment later?"
"Hmm... calculating the size of the material, simply making three portions of clothes should be relatively ample."
Andrew thought for a moment and said, "But if I were to make equipment as well, it definitely wouldn't be enough at all. The problem is, I don't need weapons and armor made from its material."
Actually, if not for the fact that the material carved using that hunting method was complete and perfect enough, the material from one Paolumu would be a struggle even to make clothes for three people.
After all, no matter how you put it, it was just the material from one Paolumu.
It was just that what surprised Belle the most was...
Andrew prepared to use all the Paolumu material to make clothes, instead of defensive armor or weapons.
After all, apart from its size being above average, this Paolumu didn't have any special features, and the strength of its material was no different from other Paolumus.
This meant that after making its material into armor, for Andrew...
Not to say it was useless, but it could only be said to be of little help.
Spending this effort to make a complete version of Hunter armor that was essentially chicken ribs—tasteless to eat but wasteful to discard—it was better to make a set of clothes for Belle and the others that were beautiful and could enhance defense at the same time.
As for weapons, it was the same.
Spending this material to make a pure decoration to put in the warehouse, it was better to make it all into clothes.
However, a lot of the rubbery shell from its tail should be left over after making the clothes. At that time, it could be made into close-fitting soft armor similar to bulletproof vests to hide under clothes.
It would presumably be quite good for self-defense for those friends of his who often faced danger.
If there was still enough left to make close-fitting armor, Andrew actually had a very suitable buyer in mind—Von Lycaon.
As the one from Victoria Housekeeping who specialized in facing the upper class, several encounters in the Hollows previously indicated that his job wasn't as simple as just being a butler.
But because of this, he was actually not short of money at all.
Plus, based on Andrew's understanding of him from their few interactions, selling the equipment to him wouldn't lead to the situation Andrew worried about where someone would rely on power to commit crimes.
Upright and reliable.
So thinking about it carefully, he could indeed be said to be very suitable.
However.
When Andrew walked into the Smithy, he discovered that a little tail seemed to be following behind him.
Turning around, he found Belle following behind him, revealing a smile that wasn't quite a smile.
"What?"
Looking at Andrew's somewhat confused face, Belle immediately said with a bit of grumpiness, "You won't have forgotten the thing you promised me just now as soon as you turned around, right?"
Saying this, Belle directly pulled Andrew and walked towards the second floor.
At the same time, she said, "We'll talk about the gift later. Now, let's fulfill the agreement from just now~"
Andrew had made the Diablos Charge Blade by pulling an all-nighter.
The subsequent hunt, plus the chase and escape from Hoshimi Miyabi, had only taken up the morning. As a result, this matter caused the time to jump directly from noon to evening.
Although there were bold words at the beginning, they soon turned into nonsense from Belle's mouth.
It wasn't until Belle couldn't hold on anymore, even relying on healing potions, and began to beg for mercy, that Andrew, though somewhat unsatisfied, finally showed consideration for her weak stamina and physical constitution, choosing to let her go.
But not long after carrying her back to the room on the second floor of the video store to rest...
Andrew, who had just prepared to start work in the workshop, saw an uninvited guest once again.
Evelyn, wearing her usual work uniform and holding a notebook like a recipe in her hand, walked into Andrew's workshop with a serious face.
Looking at the newcomer, Andrew poked his head out in some confusion to look behind Evelyn, but didn't find the figure that was almost inseparable from her.
He immediately asked with some confusion, "Eh? Evelyn? Why don't I see Astra Yao? Are you actually here by yourself this time?"
Regarding Andrew's question, Evelyn nodded without changing her expression and said, "Yes, I came to find you to discuss and verify the learning progress in cooking over the past two days, and also..."
Click.
?
After walking into the workshop, as Evelyn silently locked the door leading to the shop behind her first, Andrew couldn't help but feel a bit puzzled.
Discussing how to cook doesn't require locking the door, right?
But Evelyn remained calm regarding Andrew's confused expression, continuing to speak as if she had done nothing just now:
"The Young Miss said that she has been busy with events during this period and simply has no time to accompany you. At the same time, because it is a closed filming, there is no way to invite you to the scene to watch. So she asked me to come and comfort you, who couldn't go to the scene."
____
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