NIKKE, When the Milky Way Blossoms

It's just a broken leg, nothing to brag about.

“You are very good,” the lieutenant said, emphasizing each word.

Hearing the man's joyful tone, Sakura could tell that this was not just the thug bluffing after being beaten, but a genuine compliment to her.

Even a young girl who has seen many storms and experienced all walks of life can be a little bewildered at this moment.

It's like...

It was as if she hadn't broken the leg at all, but rather the lieutenant had accidentally fallen and broken it while walking at night. And yet, she was the kind person who took the initiative to help him up.

Rumor has it that the assassin lieutenant might not be entirely mentally sound...

At first, she didn't believe it. After all, people with mental problems either couldn't survive on the Ark or on the ground; there was no way they could have it both ways.

But now it seems...

Is this rumor actually true?

Chapter 162 The Heart to Recruit Quietly Changes

In the darkness of the night, in an alley, a man kneels on one knee in front of a young girl, raising his hand to touch her wrist.

If this scene were shown to someone unaware of the situation, they would probably think it was a passionate love story.

Sadly, it's not.

Looking at Phoenix's prosthetic limb, countless thoughts raced through Sakura's mind like a stampede of horses.

The Qingming Society's status in the outer region is almost like that of a local tyrant, but in the eyes of the Ark Consortium, such a desolate villager is not worthy of any respect.

Even she, as the head of the household, was actually under Mastin's control.

But the man before her was different.

These days, nearly 70% of the forces in the entire Ark are in turmoil because of a lieutenant and commander named Phoenix.

Even today, forces continue to join this struggle due to various new and old grudges.

Given the size and social standing of the Qingming Society, any attempt to get involved in such an undercurrent would only result in them being used as pawns.

It's still the kind of disposable gun that's destined to never see the conflict end.

"You need treatment. I will send you back to the Ark after the treatment is over, Lieutenant."

Unlike Phoenix's desire to recruit talent, Sakura, focused only on its own territory, had no intention of getting too involved with a hot potato.

The man immediately pulled out his phone and dialed the receiving channel of the military jeep.

"Rinka, have the association send another car over, with the doctor in it. Kamimura is in the food storage room in this neighborhood."

"Hi."

"Oh, by the way, could you also ask Dr. Takikawa to prepare? I need to bring a patient with a comminuted fracture of the femur..."

Hearing that the mafia heiress was going to arrange medical staff for herself, Lieutenant Phoenix, who had her own nanomedical equipment, naturally didn't want to waste the time.

"No need. Just send me back to the Ark now, and we'll be even."

Only a certain unscrupulous person could say such a thing. He killed dozens of someone's men one minute, and then asked them to help him get around the next, and then had the nerve to say something like "we're even."

Fortunately, after a few blinks, Phoenix realized that his words were somewhat arrogant and not conducive to his future recruitment of the other party into the cabinet, so he quickly changed his tune:

"No, you send me back to the Ark, I'll help you resolve the legacy of your family's drug cultivation, and then we'll be even."

"?!"

When the lieutenant uttered the words "drug cultivation," Sakura, who had been about to say something, suddenly fell silent, her calm expression turning somewhat gloomy.

The fact that Qingming Society secretly cultivates hallucinogenic plants to make hallucinogens is known only to its core members. Because it involves huge interests, any leak would bring about annihilation. Therefore, no one would be foolish enough to leak this information.

So many years have passed, and even the scouts of the Ark are unaware of the Qingming Society's underhanded tactics. Why would an escaped lieutenant know about them?

Or maybe we should just kill him...

A faint killing intent rose from the depths of Sakura's heart once again. She was indeed a conservative, but she was ultimately a member of the underworld. Compassion and ruthlessness were not mutually exclusive.

However, everyone involved had blood on their hands, and Phoenix's sensitivity to murderous intent was far beyond that of ordinary people. In just a breath, he noticed that Sakura's attitude towards him had changed.

"Don't rush to kill me. I know you've always wanted to cancel this project before the family completes the training, and gradually transition the Qingming Society's business from an illegal industry to a gray industry."

The man made no attempt to conceal his knowledge of the Qingming Festival, and even disregarded following the script, stating bluntly:

“It’s actually very simple. I’ll come back tomorrow or the day after. Just tell me where the garden is, and I’ll burn it all down for you. That’ll be the end of it.”

"..."

Upon hearing the lieutenant's violent solution, Sakura's immediate thought was that it was ridiculous and absurd. If she could really just burn it down, couldn't she do it herself? Why would she need him to do it?

However, the girl quickly discerned another layer of meaning in Phoenix's words.

The reason she couldn't burn it herself was because the planting plan was arranged by the previous head of the family, and the profits involved were unimaginable.

As the current head of the family, the only way for her to overturn the policies set by the older generation is to come up with a more profitable or less risky alternative.

This is very difficult; Cherry Blossom has been searching for a long time but has not found a single clue.

But... what if it's an intruder who comes to burn it down?

If successful, she could even use this as an excuse to suppress the arrogance of her family members and then re-plan the future development direction of the Qingming Society.

"Please get in the car first. This matter needs to be discussed in detail. I don't need a few more days."

Having weighed the pros and cons, Sakura's attitude underwent another complete reversal, and the murderous intent that had been rising within her vanished without a trace. She bent down, wrapped the lieutenant's right arm around the back of her neck, hoisted half of the man's body onto her shoulder, and walked out of the alley.

……

……

The roar of military jeeps once again echoed across this impoverished land.

Inside the car, Sakura, sitting in the back seat with Phoenix, asked again with a slight hesitation, "Lieutenant, are you sure you don't need treatment?"

To this question, the man simply spread his left hand and said, "Do you have any cloth? Give me a piece of cloth, something the size of a handkerchief will do."

blah-

Just then, a tearing sound was heard. Phoenix had barely finished speaking when Sakura tore a small piece of her kimono fabric from her clothes and handed it to the man.

Such a decisive and efficient decision almost made him think that the person sitting next to him was not the leader of the Qingming Society, but someone he was fighting alongside on the battlefield...

Gollum—

The dull creak of the rails paused Phoenix's assessment. Then, the girl pulled out an unopened bottle of medical alcohol from a hidden compartment in the car and handed it to him.

At this moment, someone's intention to recruit others began to show signs of turning sour without them even realizing it.

This……

That's way too thoughtful.

Even though it was the first time we met, how come this young lady acted like we'd been married for years, knowing each other's thoughts with just a glance or a gesture?

They are the perfect teammates, a match made in heaven.

“What follows is a government secret, Ms. Sakura.”

Phoenix, putting aside his thoughts, stuffed the folded fabric into his mouth without even checking if Sakura had done as he had asked. He trusted that she certainly wasn't that curious.

Glug glug glug—

Seventy-five-degree medical alcohol was poured down from his shoulder. Under Anik's control, the nano-metals rippled and surged like seaweed in the ocean, trying every means to ensure that every grain of metal was baptized by the alcohol.

Guluulu——

Once the bottle of alcohol was poured out, the pungent smell of ethanol filled the carriage.

Then, knowing he was about to undergo surgery without anesthesia, Phoenix gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, placed his right hand on the fractured part of his thigh, and awaited the impending pain.

In order to recruit teammates,

What is this little pain?

Chapter 163 This way it will be much faster

At the young lady's command, Rinka Uto stepped on the brakes.

The nanomaterials, already transformed into sharp blades, eagerly pierced the man's thigh, avoiding major blood vessels and heading straight for the fractured femur.

It's impossible to say it doesn't hurt.

No matter how fast the knife is, the severed pain nerves will still slowly become aware of the fact that they have been cut, and then dutifully begin to send pain signals to the brain.

Moreover, since the bone fragments embedded in the muscle need to be removed, without the help of X-rays, Anik can only check each tear to see if there are large bone fragments inside the wound.

The pain caused by reopening the wound truly felt like countless knives were rampaging through the muscles; describing it as being cut into a thousand pieces would not be an exaggeration.

Cold sweat began to trickle from Phoenix's forehead; the smell of blood slowly seeped into the ethanol-saturated air.

The man's muffled groans, which he tried to suppress, were like the roars of a wounded wild beast when it encountered danger, and they reached Sakura and the maid's ears with perfect clarity.