"Mmn, the testing is mostly done. The only thing left is the field test."
Twiggy spoke calmly about her experimental progress, but from the corners of her mouth that refused to flatten, it was obvious she was feeling quite smug right now.
"That's great, I'm ready anytime."
Geno clenched his fist in excitement; he had been waiting for this day for too long.
Finally, he could step out of the Hollow!
After exchanging a few more simple pleasantries, the group walked together on the way to the cafeteria.
However, Geno's next sentence broke the harmonious atmosphere.
"By the way, Twiggy, have you been doing well lately?"
Because he was always out exploring, Geno was frequently away from the base; the last time he came back was already half a month ago.
The atmosphere suddenly grew thick, and the distance between the two seemed to shrink along with it.
And among the remaining two, there was obviously one who could read the room.
"Oh my, I suddenly need to use the restroom. Number 5, come with me."
"Mmn."
This sudden 'tactical bathroom break' left only Twiggy and Geno in the small space.
Ever since the Silver Squad regained consciousness, Geno had been spending long periods outside, utilizing the unique advantages of his Ethereal identity to conduct exploration work.
The rare alone time, which they hadn't had in a long while, made them both a bit at a loss.
"I... I'm doing pretty well. How about you? How was the harvest recently?"
Twiggy was the first to break the silence, like a wife at home asking her husband, who had worked all day, about his work.
"Well, the harvest was just so-so. But I heard that Public Security seems to be intent on cracking down on smuggled supplies recently, so the Night Watchers are having some difficulty moving goods. The black market hasn't been affected much; after all, you know, even if it were the end of the world, the black market would still exist."
Geno shrugged. The black market was like grime in a corner; you think you've cleaned it up, but in reality, you just can't see it.
Not to mention, there are unknown big shots backing it from behind.
"Is that so? By the way, have you recently..."
"Twiggy!"
Twiggy wanted to continue asking Geno about his recent situation, but was interrupted by a flustered voice.
"Twiggy! Something bad happened! Wah!"
The newcomer was in a panic, and accidentally tripped over her own feet, taking a hard fall.
"Ouch! My horns!"
"Lucia? What's wrong with you? Why are you so panicked?"
The newcomer was none other than Lucia. Geno hurriedly stepped forward to help her up, and Twiggy swallowed the words she was about to say, joining them at Lucia's side to check her condition.
"Ow ow ow, my horns aren't broken, are they? No! That's not what's important! Geno! Twiggy! Something bad happened!"
Seeing Lucia's nervous face, Twiggy and Geno looked at each other, completely unable to understand her behavior.
"Calm down first."
"I can't calm down right now! Anyway, just come with me first!"
With that, Lucia dragged them by their arms and ran outside in a rush.
-----------------
Inside the reception room, Geno and Twiggy sat on the sofa, their expressions grave as they looked at the elderly person opposite them. Like Lucia, the elder had sheep horns, but her face was aged and exuded a kind aura.
Just a moment ago, Lucia had brought this elder, the current Chieftain of the Night Watchers, to the Silver Base.
And their arrival also brought a piece of news.
The Night Watcher's channel had been completely cut off.
"Is there really no way left for the Night Watchers?"
Twiggy frowned, asking the old Chieftain.
"Yes. Since last month, Public Security's investigation into Hollow Raiders reselling smuggled Hollow items and the Proxies leading the way has become increasingly strict."
The old Chieftain caught her breath. For an elderly person to brave the danger of coming into the Hollow, she had obviously exhausted her energy.
"And this morning, when a few young lads from our tribe went to contact old clients to dispose of the goods, they were caught red-handed by Public Security, and all our goods were confiscated."
"Then what about your people?"
Geno nervously pressed the old Chieftain. Losing the goods didn't matter, but if something happened to the people, that would be trouble.
"They are fine. The lads ran into the Hollow as soon as they noticed the situation was bad. It's just that our old clients were all arrested by Public Security. Furthermore, we can't contact our other regular trading partners either; most likely, something happened to them too."
In summary, the Night Watcher's channel was completely hopeless. Moreover, Public Security now knew that Sheep Thirrens were involved in this smuggling ring, so it would likely be even riskier for the Night Watchers to appear at trading venues again.
"I understand, Old Chieftain. Thank you for making this special trip."
The old Chieftain nodded gently. The journey had obviously tired her out significantly, and she soon left with Lucia's support.
For a moment, only Geno and Twiggy remained in the reception room.
They both sighed in unison at the current situation.
"Sigh, that's really terrible news."
"Yeah. Originally, we were doing it with ease and plenty of room to maneuver. But now, we'll have to scramble and crawl through the black market in a rush."
Geno was helpless. As he said before, even if the world were destroyed, the black market would still stand tall. But the problem was, the black market wasn't 100% safe either.
The reason it's called a black market is because it's illegal. Double-crossing among trading partners is commonplace, and the prices in the black market are not just a little bit lower than what we got through the Night Watchers.
Generally speaking, only things that are particularly hard to sell are thrown into the black market for disposal.
If they could only obtain funds from the black market from now on, they would probably have to live frugally for a while.
"There's no other way. It seems we'll have to go to the city to develop."
Twiggy closed her eyes gently and crossed her arms, appearing not particularly concerned.
"Oh? Does our Miss Twiggy have a solution? Why not enlighten this humble one a little?"
Seeing Twiggy starting to act pretentious, Geno's playfulness instantly rose, and he played along with her words.
"Hmph hmph hmph, this young lady long anticipated that this situation would occur one day, so I prepared Plan B in advance!"
"Eh~ As expected of Miss Twiggy."
Geno smiled and skillfully clapped his hands.
Twiggy obviously enjoyed this very much, putting her hands on her hips to bask in Geno's flattery.
Outside the door, the two girls who had been eavesdropping for a while, Number 5 and Number 6, looked through the crack of the door at Geno and Twiggy having fun inside and couldn't help but complain.
"Just like children."
"Hehe, that's Twiggy for you, isn't it? And don't you think these two are very shippable?"
Number 5, who subconsciously wanted to say 'shipping everything will only harm you', glanced at the two inside—whose atmosphere was so natural they seemed like an old married couple—and silently swallowed the words back down.
"Indeed, very shippable."
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