NIKKE, When the Milky Way Blossoms

The next second, a sonic boom rang out, and the woman vanished without a trace.

……

Ode——!

As Honglian gradually regained her composure, she slashed through nearly a hundred Leichers and was about to reach the vicinity of Tianhuan.

Ode——!

Suddenly, a dark red figure appeared in her field of vision, forcing her to subconsciously raise her knife and make a protective blocking motion.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The explosive sound of clashing metal shot into the sky.

As the knives collided and cut each other, a cluster of dazzling pale golden sparks burst forth.

Time seemed to freeze in the mud at that moment.

There was no time for shock, no time for thought. The white-haired girl instinctively glanced to the side at the dark figure that was about to pass her by.

A pair of sweet almond-shaped eyes that are forever gentle and tender...

An elegant face so familiar it's almost forgotten...

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The swords flashed and the two swordsmen switched positions and turned to look at each other almost simultaneously.

Her memories were so shattered that they had no trace of their origin. Her soul, overwhelmed by a mix of emotions, stared blankly at the woman in the distance, her delicate lips trembling slightly.

"……elder sister?"

"..."

no respond.

Or perhaps, the woman's action of throwing the knife and charging forward was a response to Honglian's words.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

On the snowy plain, a mournful wail once again erupted from between the blades, lingering for a long time.

Chapter 240 Parting Ways

Red Lotus is gone, and so is White Snow.

A dragon's breath fire burned two members of the Goddess Squad to ashes.

If an ordinary commander were faced with such a terrifying emergency, he would probably be completely panicked. But Fei was different; even a fool could guess where those two white-haired men had gone.

Most likely, they headed north to chase after that damned fire dragon, Nihilistha.

“There is a high chance that Lecher’s army will surround us over Tianhuan. Everyone should retreat south immediately. Rudmila will lead the way and retreat to the nearest large city in the south.”

After confirming that Signa and Delta, who were part of the counterattack force, had also returned to the team, Phoenix decisively chose to lead his eighteen subordinates, Nikki and Valkyrie, to evacuate from the far north.

Whether it's the Goddess Force or the Heretics, the overwhelming power they just displayed has completely proven that most of the Nikki produced by Ark are no match for them.

To put it bluntly

—Apart from Alice and Snow White who can perform team tactics, and Mihara and Yuni who can coordinate their abilities, the rest of the girls without abilities, including Niki, are unable to reach the qualified level to cooperate with the Goddess Force due to the insufficient performance of their prosthetic bodies.

"Are we just going to leave Bai Xue and the others like this?!"

However, to Phoenix's surprise, Valkyrie, the original protagonist of the game, suddenly fell ill at this time.

The girl, who seemed to have an absolute affinity for Niki, anxiously tugged at the man's sleeve and said:

"Instructor, there are so many Lechers from Sky Ring, and Snow White's ammunition is simply not enough!"

Phoenix couldn't hear what Valerie was saying, nor did he want to pay attention to what she was saying. He waved his hand and had Lorf pick up the woman, who was full of passion, and prepared to retreat south as quickly as possible.

"I order you to release me! I am the commander of the counterattack force, and I have not received orders to obey the special squadron!"

"Little beauty, stop yelling and let your big sister give you a hug."

Despite Valerie's warning, Lorf completely ignored it and continued walking forward while making sarcastic remarks.

Unexpectedly, Delta suddenly took two quick steps to block her path, his expression calm, and even saluted Phoenix's position.

"I'm sorry, our commander, Valkyrie, is of the same rank as you, and our troops are indeed not required to obey the orders of the special squadron."

Lorf: "..."

Since the matter had been brought to such an official level, even the audacious Lorf dared not act recklessly. If she escalated the conflict between the two sides, her lieutenant would probably have to go to a military court again.

"Rudmila, lead the way. The entire squadron is retreating to the south."

A man's cold, almost ruthless voice rang out across the burning snowfield. Not only was Walchure stunned, but even a few of the Nikis, including Lapi and Rudmila, instinctively focused their gazes on the lieutenant.

No one responded...

It wasn't that Mihara and the others were dissatisfied with their men's decision; it was simply because Her Majesty the Queen, who was leading the way, hadn't moved an inch.

"Lavi, let's retreat along the same route."

Seeing Rudmila standing still, Phoenix's patience ran out.

Now, he is no longer the barefoot commander who was betrayed by the central computer on his first trip to the ground. He is responsible for the lives of the twelve Nikis in the squadron, and there are still many people in the outer perimeter who are just getting their lives back on track and need his protection.

Even if we take a step back and assume he dies here, what will happen to Elysium, which Ingrid just rebuilt?

"Remember, the combat power of Bai Xue and Hong Lian is beyond our reach, Hua Erqiu Lei."

Before leaving, the lieutenant glanced at his bewildered cadet and, in the end, kindly offered a word of advice:

"Problems that the two of them can solve together don't need your help, and problems that they can't solve together won't be solved by having several of you help."

As for you, your desire to achieve your own self-gratification is your own business; don't make others pay the price with their lives for your self-aggrandizement.

After saying that, Phoenix waved his right hand again, signaling Lapi to lead the entire squadron to retreat south.

He glanced at Huaerqiulei and the others again before finally fixing his gaze on the pitiful Alice.

"……Feel sorry."

……

sieve--!

The powerful blade energy, capable of stirring up the wind and clouds, cut and blew the ice crystal particles accumulated on the snowfield.

Two figures, almost invisible to the naked eye, roamed freely across the land, frightening all the polar animals into trembling and hiding in their burrows.

"Don't you recognize me, Rose?!"

After exchanging hundreds of blows, the white-haired Honglian confirmed once again that the woman before her was her sister who had killed her commander and comrades for her sake, and who had willingly died by her hand in the end.

Unfortunately, the woman with black hair and bloodshot eyes remained unmoved by her questioning and immediately unleashed a slash.

Clang, clang, clang—!

In the instant the blades clashed, the heretic, with a gentle demeanor like a rose, smiled and nodded, answering Honglian's question in a light tone.

"My name is Normantechesh."

Chapter 241 Tia, you are truly a genius

"Are we... really just going to retreat like this?"

Trailing at the back of the group, Master's expression grew increasingly strange as his pace quickened.

Although she had always longed to be a romantic, free-spirited, cunning pirate like Jack Sparrow, the sense of loyalty that ran deep in her bones made her feel that the lieutenant's actions were both right and disappointing.

Although he had only known Alice for less than four hours, the innocent and carefree girl had promised her that she would become a crew member of the great Captain Master someday.

Damn it, this is her first crew member!

The thought of his crew going to cause trouble for that fire dragon made Master wonder if the commander of the counterattack force had been drinking too much rum and had ruined his brain at such a young age.

All five of them, including Niki, couldn't even put together a missile launcher. How were they going to fight the air force?

Are you really planning to sit here as spectators and watch Alice take down a mechanical dragon all by herself with an anti-material sniper rifle?

Master couldn't understand Valerie's thought process, so she could only pin her hopes on her reliable commander. But who knew…

Who knew that the lieutenant... he would be so reliable that he parted ways with the counterattack force on the spot?

"Actually, there are twelve of us against five of them, and our lieutenant is better at fighting than their commander. Why don't we just kidnap them?"

As a "pirate," Master's thinking has always been simple and brutal. From her perspective, she could have easily used force to compel the other side to comply in that situation.

However, Tia, who was in front of her, turned around and said something that sounded very much like a student.

"Would it be illegal if we kidnapped them?"

Master: "..."

Is this a matter of breaking the law? Is breaking the law the key point of this issue?