Zenless Zone Zero: I'am a Dullahan!

With a loud thud, the two of them slammed onto the relatively soft ground of the training arena. Zane was thrown into disarray, his head spinning as stars danced before his eyes.

Qingyi had already released her grip and landed steadily on her feet. Naturally, she didn't come crashing down like Zane.

She was a master of weapons, but even without them, she was still a formidable hand-to-hand combat expert. The capabilities of an Advanced Automaton were beyond question.

When it came to technique, Zane still had a long way to go.

Qingyi stood up, showing no concern for Zane. She was well aware of his abnormal physique, something she'd long noticed during training. Because of that—and because she'd held back—she dared to use a move that would otherwise be deadly.

If it had been an ordinary person, their neck would've snapped instantly.

Of course, she would never do that to a regular person. Why use a short spear if a long one would do? And why use a long spear if hand-to-hand combat was enough?

Qingyi put away her three-section staff. The match was over, and the result was clear—she had won.

She helped the still-dazed Zane to his feet. Watching him gradually recover, she smiled slightly.

"Oh dear, my disciple's gotten a bit lax."

"You didn't even guard against my disarming move. And during close combat, you completely let your guard down. That was careless…"

Zane waved her off to show he didn't need help, stretching his aching limbs with a scowl.

"Master, that was just mean. You call that an instructional fight?"

"You were totally showing off and went out of your way to bully me…"

Even if he had used a bit of Ether energy to enhance himself, he wouldn't have ended up in such a mess. But it was true—compared to Qingyi, his combat strength in normal form wasn't much to write home about.

Of course, that was only when compared to her.

Against someone like Belle, he could easily take on ten of himself.

Qingyi stepped aside, listening without rebutting him—just smiling faintly.

Oh dear, looks like she'd been caught in the act of giving her disciple a hard time…

A thought struck her. Her expression settled as she tilted her head, twin ponytails swaying with the motion.

She looked at Zane with mild curiosity.

"By the way, your fighting style doesn't feel as steady as it used to. I thought I'd trained that out of you…"

"Did something happen recently?"

Qingyi knew Zane well—and knew his fighting habits even better. She had already sensed something was off during their bout.

"Steady, huh…"

Zane raised an eyebrow, thinking it over. He realized she was right—he'd been constantly looking to create openings, a little too eager for results.

As for the reason…

"Master, come here. I want to show you something."

He pulled Qingyi to the side. Seeing how mysterious he looked, Qingyi frowned slightly, curiosity piqued.

Once they reached the corner of the arena, Qingyi watched as Zane pulled out a small black sphere from who-knows-where.

"What's this? Some kind of new tech?"

"I don't see any mechanical structure…"

Watching the sphere float in Zane's hand, Qingyi instinctively thought of some kind of Ether device.

Zane shook his head.

"Senior, this is a Hollow."

He often alternated between calling her "senior" and "master" in conversation. Worried she might not understand, he clarified,

"The kind of Hollow from a Hollow disaster."

Qingyi blinked.

She blinked again.

And again.

Her processing core had temporarily shut down.

Several seconds passed before she slowly recovered.

Her expression was calm, but her internal systems were heating up.

"Zane, are you saying... you're holding a Hollow in your hand right now?"

Zane nodded.

His combat instincts had been subtly influenced—mostly by this Lamia Hollow he was still integrating, not yet fully absorbed.

With time, that influence should fade.

"This is the Lamia Hollow. I just got it yesterday. I also have another one—the Cretan Hollow. You've heard of that one, right?"

He continued explaining to Qingyi.

Hollow... got it...

Qingyi furrowed her brows deeply.

Why did he talk about Hollows like they were everyday goods?

In all her memory—spanning who knows how many centuries—this was the first time the word "goods" had ever applied to a "Hollow."

Complete silence.

"Master?"

Sensing something was off, Zane called to her. Qingyi turned her gaze to him and softly muttered,

"Disciple... what if I'm too afraid to stay near you anymore?"

The fact that he still called it a Hollow meant this little black ball could very well still erupt and expand.

Compressed to this extent, a Hollow's Ether concentration at the moment of detonation would be inversely proportional to the time it took to go off.

Which meant, when it did explode, the Ether concentration nearest to Zane would be terrifyingly high.

Not just Advanced Automaton—even lesser Ethereals could be crushed and corroded by that force.

Qingyi pursed her lips.

"Hey, senior, don't be scared."

Zane chuckled, waving his hand as he tucked the Hollow away.

But Qingyi shook her head.

"If the Hollow erupts, I'll probably be corrupted into a powerful Ethereal. Then I'd be just like you."

"If I could stay sane, that'd be fine… but something like that…"

Advanced Automaton Ethereal?

Tsk…

Zane met her gaze and gave a reassuring smile.

"Senior, when it comes to these two Hollows, I'm not the key or the switch to the bomb. I'm the gunpowder."

"I won't let them explode. As far as you're concerned, they're just decorations."

Qingyi relaxed a bit. Given how much Zane valued her, he wouldn't be careless here.

Still, when she heard that last part, she rolled her eyes at him.

"Decorations," really? He actually thought of that?

If anyone else found out, there'd be mass panic.

"This is a secret, right? Since you've told me, I'll definitely keep it."

Some things needed to be said. Now that Qingyi knew the truth, she no longer worried about Zane's condition. As for the Hollows…

She'd find some time to process all of it.

It wasn't that she fully understood the situation yet. She'd simply accepted the concept and shunted it to another part of her processing core for analysis.

After all…

To really make sense of it, she might need to just sit there for a while.

In some ways, intelligent machines surpassed humans in information processing. But in others, they fell far short.

Zane had no idea about Qingyi's current state. He still planned to ask her about that Yano matter. After all, she was basically a walking New Eridu Library.

Not far away, Zhu Yuan—panting after her workout—glanced over curiously.

What were her seniors and Zane whispering about over there...?