Within the Hollow, at the temporary base of the Bangboo Trafficking Group.
"Boss, we've got quite a haul of Bangboo recently. If we dismantle them all, we could probably sell them for a good chunk of money."
A Bangboo trafficker sat beside his leader, eyes gleaming as he looked at the steady stream of Dennies pouring into the ledger.
Being in this line of work made far more than any legal job, though it did come with its hassles. Without specialized devices to lure in Bangboo, capturing them wasn't easy.
Luckily, most people wouldn't notice if a Bangboo suddenly disappeared from the streets. Many of them didn't even have owners and just wandered around aimlessly, so there was little worry about someone tracking them down.
That was precisely why they hadn't been caught until now.
As the two chatted, in a nondescript corner nearby, a recently awakened Pei peeked out, quietly observing the area.
Behind it were several other Bangboo who had also woken up. They had no combat capabilities, making them little help to Pei.
But Pei wasn't going to abandon them because of that. Every Bangboo here—as long as they were still alive—counted. It would rescue every last one.
"Eh-ne eh-ne. (The exit's right there. I'll go distract them in a bit. You have to seize the chance to escape. Don't get caught again!)" Pei turned to look at the Bangboo showing clear signs of fear, speaking in a stern tone.
The little Bangboo all nodded immediately. Right now, they just wanted to escape. Nothing else mattered—not even Pei risking its life for them.
"Eh-ne... (Zhong Yan, this is what you taught me...)"
With Zhong Yan's face flashing through its mind, Pei made its decision and boldly stepped out into plain sight, walking straight up to the two Bangboo traffickers.
"Eh-ne! (You bastards! I'm right here!)"
The sudden appearance of Pei stunned the two mid-conversation. It took them a moment to realize a Bangboo had escaped.
"Damn it, I told you we should've kept them in cages. You—go catch it for me."
Pei's escape infuriated the boss. He glanced at his underling and issued the order without a second thought.
To him, Bangboo were just tools humans used for convenience. Their systems were programmed not to harm humans, so he never saw them as a threat.
What he never imagined was that Pei, being a Bangboo designed for use in the Nin-Village, wasn't bound by those restrictions. The ninja who would do anything to achieve their goals had long since modified their Bangboo into combat machines.
The trafficker walking toward Pei had no idea of the danger he was in. He even naively assumed Pei was no different from the others. Not even when Pei drew its twin blades from behind did he feel the slightest bit threatened.
That is, until a flash of cold steel shot by—
Before he could react, his legs gave out from under him, and he collapsed to the ground.
Agonizing pain spread through his body, and only then did he realize Pei had sliced through his lower leg with a single stroke. Blood poured from the cut, revealing exposed flesh and bone—a gruesome sight.
"Ahhh!"
The trafficker's scream echoed through the base. In front of him, Pei raised its blade again and, without hesitation, stabbed it deep into his skull.
The moment his brain was damaged, his life ended.
It had all happened so fast. The other trafficker hadn't even processed what was going on. Only when Pei came charging toward him, blades raised, did he frantically grab for his weapon in panic.
Meanwhile, the rescued Bangboo had successfully reached the exit. But before they could rejoice, over a dozen traffickers came rushing in from all directions.
Attracted by the earlier screams, they had come to investigate—only to run straight into the escaping Bangboo.
On Pei's end, its body was already damaged. The boss, being large in size and wielding an Ether spray specifically designed to counter them, proved too much to handle.
After being hit with a second dose of high-concentration Ether spray, Pei's already weakened systems shut down temporarily. That's how the boss was able to defeat it and lift it up by the ear.
"Whose Bangboo is this?! It can actually attack humans? Must be loaded with some real valuable parts..." He glanced at his underling's corpse, unease flickering in his eyes.
Thankfully, Pei was still a Bangboo. It couldn't withstand high doses of Ether spray. Otherwise, he might've been the one lying dead instead.
"Boss! We caught the ones that tried to escape!"
Other traffickers, hearing the commotion, had managed to recapture the fleeing Bangboo and came running over to show off their success.
"Damn it! So that was their plan! Contact the merchants in the city—have them order some cages specifically for Bangboo. We nearly had a disaster today." The boss now understood Pei's plan.
It had tried to create a distraction so its comrades could escape. For a Bangboo to come up with something like that—that was terrifying.
"Boss, found one more just waking up. I caught it just in time."
The voice came from another direction. Turning to look, they saw a trafficker dragging a Bangboo by the ear.
It was none other than One-Denny-Boo—the very Bangboo Pei had been desperately searching for.
Due to its degraded condition, One-Denny-Boo had taken longer to awaken. It had run right into a passing trafficker and was caught before it could even attempt to flee.
"Eh-ne! (Pei! Are you okay?!)" Seeing Pei weakly dangling from the boss's grip, One-Denny-Boo began struggling violently, trying to break free.
Pei, hit twice with high-concentration Ether spray, was in terrible shape. Even its visual system was now glitching.
The fact it was still conscious spoke volumes about the quality of its internal components.
Seeing all its beloved companions captured again, Pei, who had held out some sliver of hope, now fell into despair.
It didn't even have the strength to struggle anymore—much less rescue everyone.
"Eh... ne... (Zhong... Yan...)"
"Eh... ne... (Save... us...)"
"Eh... ne... (I'll never... wander off again...)"