NIKKE, When the Milky Way Blossoms

boom! ! !

……

……

"call--"

"call--"

The burning lungs deliver scorching air to the throat, like sandpaper or a razor blade, causing unbearable pain in the throat.

Sweat secreted from the pores on its own, ignoring the brain that was already suffering from dehydration pain, and worked hard to lower the body temperature to prevent cells from dying in large numbers due to excessive heat.

At this moment, Phoenix, who was moving through the buildings, felt like a program full of bugs but still working. If any external force intervened or he was bumped, he would immediately report an error.

"call--"

"call--"

He climbed the stairs of an office building with all his might, found a room by the window, broke down the door, and stumbled and fell to the ground, panting heavily.

Within the sea of ​​consciousness, on a flat radar map with a radius of 600 meters, scattered red cursors are wandering around.

Judging by the distance, it seems unlikely we'll find it anytime soon...

suddenly!

Before Phoenix could finish expressing his feelings, large swarms of red dots, flashing like locusts, were rapidly approaching him from 30 degrees south of west on the radar map.

"You must be joking..."

Faced with such a desperate scene, the man, unwilling to give in, gritted his teeth, propped himself up, and looked out the south-facing window with his gun.

After a few breaths,

Suddenly, four figures flashed past in the rapidly shaking sniper scope. Phoenix, barely able to react, quickly turned his gun around to look back.

Black beret with red ribbon, light brown long hair, black short tight-fitting jacket, sheer black stockings...

Ok?

Lapi? ???

Chapter Two: Four Silly Girls

In the southern part of the K-1 district, a four-person squad composed entirely of non-mass-produced Nikis has temporarily evaded Lecher's pursuit and is reloading ammunition in preparation for the next round of retreat.

Among them, a tall woman with burgundy hair, after fully loading her magazine, said indifferently:

“Lavi, Anis is too badly injured. The best way for us to take her away is to cut off her head.”

"Huh? Christine, do you want to hear what you're saying?"

Before Lapi could reply, Anise, whose right leg was badly injured, suddenly raised her head and stared intently at Christine's elegant and charming face. Like a startled cat with its fur standing on end, she excitedly and seriously rejected Christine's suggestion.

"Don't even think about it! Did you hear me, you snob?"

Should I say it again? Don't even think about it!

Unfortunately, the tall woman named Christine ignored the ruffled kitten and continued to look at the commander of the Niki squad—Lavi.

“Captain, there are still over fifty Lechers chasing us. We can’t retreat at Anise’s limping pace. We can’t risk the entire squad for her sake.”

"But the team cannot be without artillerymen."

After mounting the magazine in the rifle's slot, Lapi, hidden behind cover, calmly gave Christine the answer she least wanted to hear.

“Without Anise’s heavy firepower cover, we will lose our ability to destroy the terrain, Christine, you should be well aware of that.”

Christine had anticipated Labi's answer. Even so, she still frowned in dissatisfaction and turned to look at Anise.

"We are Niki, Niki who can reconstruct her body by simply retrieving her brain."

Anise, what are you so afraid of? Do you think we'll abandon you halfway through?

"Huh?! Christine, the way you're saying that is like a ticket scalper saying their tickets are the cheapest in the scalper circle."

The chestnut-haired girl made no attempt to hide the disdain in her eyes, saying, "Do you believe it yourself, Christine?"

“Anise, even if you don’t believe me, please understand one thing: I alone have no right to discard your brain.”

The accusations and suspicions raised by her teammates made Christine's expression slightly gloomy.

"Let's look at it from a different angle. Doesn't your stubborn behavior indirectly put your teammates in danger?"

"Following this logic, your suggestion actually puts me in danger!"

Anis was about to say something when a large hand suddenly patted her shoulder.

The last member of the squad, Lorf, who was in charge of close combat, stepped out from behind the chestnut-haired girl and said in an unfriendly tone:

"Hey, if you're scared, you bat, then quietly fly away. Stop your babbling and you're really annoying me."

She just finished speaking.

Christine, whose complexion was already not good, seemed to have been stimulated by something very strong. In an instant, her scarlet pupils contracted into dangerous snake-like eyes.

"As expected of someone who's used to being someone's dog. How about this, you, Lorf, go and distract all the Lechers, and I'll retreat with Agnes and Lapi behind her back."

"Ha, why should I cover your retreat?" The even more hot-tempered Lorf narrowed her pupils in the same way, baring her fangs and sneering disdainfully:

"Christine, you're trash who can be discarded by your teammates at any time, do you even deserve to be called that?"

"What did you say, you wretched dog..."

"Everyone, please be quiet!"

The impending verbal battle between the two was calmly interrupted by Lhapi.

“Lolf will lead Anise to retreat from the northwest, while Christine and I will draw Lecher’s attention before retreating from the northeast. Everyone, meet at the southern terminus of Metro Line 5 in the K-3 area.”

Upon hearing the captain's order, Lorf and Christine, who were humanoid combat weapons, had no choice but to suppress their anger, glare at each other, and then prepare to carry out their missions.

However, just as Lorf was about to carry Anise on her back...

boom! ! !

On a life-size billboard a dozen meters in front of the four people, an unknown celebrity with a smiling face was mercilessly pierced through the crotch by an armor-piercing bullet.

"careful!"

Faced with this unexpected turn of events, Christine, who reacted the fastest, flicked her tactical belt and pulled out a tactical grenade used to interfere with infrared detection.

Immediately, just as she was about to throw the tactical grenade behind her, her reason prevented her from doing so.

and many more……

Judging from the black hole in the star's crotch, the caliber of this bullet doesn't seem to be from Lechner's industrial style, but rather more like a product of the Ark military.

Could it be... one of our own?

Just as doubt began to creep into Christine's mind, another gunshot rang out, and the crotch of the celebrity spokesperson on the billboard was once again brutally riddled with bullet holes.

Both shots were fired at a completely harmless location, clearly indicating that the enemy was using bullets to signal goodwill to their squad.

What Christine could think of, how could the meticulous Labi not have thought of it?

She spoke to the operator of the ark, who was far away on the ground:

"Which teams are still in Region K?"

"...Lavi, based on my current authority, there are no other teams staying in the K region besides you, but it cannot be ruled out that there are teams with a high level of secrecy still secretly carrying out missions in the K region."

By the way, I have some information here that might be useful to you.

Four days ago, a regular squad numbered 055-A went missing in the K region. Note that they were neither missing nor dead.

This is the only squad in the information I can currently find that might have fired a signal to you.

Four days ago?

Upon hearing the information provided by the operator, a hint of surprise couldn't help but appear in Lapi's bright red eyes.

How can an ordinary small team survive on the ground after being out of contact for four days?

How did you do it?

After pursing his lips slightly, Lapi, having made up his mind, stood up and turned to look at the approximate location where the sniper had fired...

……

……

"This silly girl! How can she still be looking at me like that?!"

In the office building, Phoenix, who had been racking his brains, almost choked with anger when he saw Lapi get up and turn around.

At this moment, in his mind's eye, on the south side of the planar radar responsible for wide-area detection, there was a huge red dot slowly moving northward.

Desperate and helpless, the man could only raise his voice, trying to get it to the ears of the four silly girls 400 meters away.