NIKKE, When the Milky Way Blossoms

The girls responded enthusiastically, with Alice's voice being the most excited.

"Your Majesty, are we secretly infiltrating the Queen of Hearts' fortress?!"

"Yes."

The preoccupied Rudmila habitually indulged Alice's childlike innocence, but the sorrow in her eyes unintentionally made her forget to maintain a smile.

This was Her Majesty's first mission with Lieutenant Phoenix, and to be honest, she was truly shocked by his audacious actions and decisions the moment she climbed down the rail shaft.

That's incredibly reckless!

Seriously, really... that's incredibly reckless.

Rudmila had seen her share of fanatical commanders who were obsessed with the Ark and willing to charge into Lecher's territory for it.

But this was the first time she had ever seen a commander like Lieutenant Phoenix who, while outlining a plan with no chance of survival, spoke as if he were preparing what to eat for breakfast.

How did this man live to be so old?

As Alice waved goodbye to her as Isabelle took her away, the Queen, overwhelmed with mixed emotions, suddenly felt a strangely familiar electric current surge through her right hand.

—A sense of electric current representing destruction.

Damn...

It's just an alloy track, so why is her right hand reacting?

In a flash, Rudmila didn't have time to think. She immediately released her right hand, placed her left hand on the uneven part of the track, and barely managed to steady herself. She quickly turned her head to look down and said:

“Attendant, there are circuits hidden inside the alloy tracks here.”

Circuit?

Walter didn't understand tracks or circuits. Similarly, Phoenix and the others didn't understand these things very well either.

Is it normal to have circuitry in the track?

You might be able to get some answers from Bai Xue, but asking the illiterate members of the special squadron would be asking the impossible.

However, before Rudmila could even offer an explanation, reality slammed into everyone's noses.

laugh--! ! !

A deafening scraping sound suddenly rang out, and the Lecher parts sliding on dozens of tracks stopped moving without warning. The sound was so loud that it was as if a high-speed train had been forced to pull its brake lever.

What followed was a deathly silence that seemed to freeze the very air.

Before the lieutenant gave the order, no one made a move except for Isabel, who brought Rudmila to the ground.

what happened?

An old saying goes, "When things are out of the ordinary, something strange must be going on." Such a commotion happening so inexplicably—something must be about to happen...

Rumble rumble rumble rumble—!!!

Just as Phoenix was both wary and inwardly grumbling, sure enough, rows of neatly arranged tracks slowly moved toward the nearest wall in front of everyone.

If that were all, no one would think there was a problem.

However, the natural movement of those tracks successfully etched a sense of unease into the lieutenant's mind.

It lacks the heaviness of heavy machinery; on the contrary, it possesses a natural trajectory that is almost akin to that of a living organism.

Is this city alive?

Recalling his past combat experiences, a wildly imaginative and even terrifying idea popped into Phoenix's mind.

In the known plot information, only three Rachels of unparalleled size have appeared so far: the consciousness fragment of Indiveria, "Secret Material H", the Devouring Tyrant who seized the far north research base, and the Rachel transport plane mother whale that has been wandering in the sky for a hundred years.

However, given that the Sky Ring City itself is a giant Lecher, the three Lecher models mentioned above are undoubtedly insignificant in terms of size.

[Phoenix, forty Lechers are preparing to descend from above the orbital shaft.]

Perhaps because he had spent a lot of time with someone, Anik was able to more or less perceive the other person's thoughts from the fluctuations in Phoenix's consciousness. So, without the lieutenant saying anything, the artificial intelligence immediately began to cooperate tacitly.

[A comprehensive scan is underway, and a virtual 3D map is being constructed...]

Anik's high workload caused the chip at the back of the man's neck to gradually heat up, and Phoenix, knowing his extremely bad situation, did not hesitate, raising his gun and pulling the trigger towards the rail shaft.

boom--!

The gunshot rang out, and a Lecher that crawled out of the entrance like a cockroach was instantly pierced through the core by a bullet, falling from the sky with a string of sparks and making a dull thud that could shake the heart.

"All launcher crew members, follow me. The rest will be under the command of Huaerqiulei, and Lapi will be responsible for tactical guidance."

The lieutenant deftly pulled back the bolt, enjoying the crisp sound of the spent cartridge case exiting the barrel, and ordered the infatuated woman in the air, "Isabel, come with me too!"

After saying that, the man turned and ran wildly northward, leaving a bewildered Huaerqiulei standing there staring at Lapi.

"Instructor...does he mean for us to cover the rear?"

The inexperienced commander could only grasp this much of Phoenix's actions and orders. However, her thoughtless remark clearly provoked discontent among the squadron members.

In Ark, "last man" is equivalent to betrayal and treachery, a derogatory term unique to Ark.

So, Marianne, who always appeared gentle but only reserved that gentleness for Phoenix, immediately hardened her pretty face upon hearing Valerie's guess and coldly warned:

"Commander, please watch your words!"

"Hey! What kind of attitude is that?!" Nien, who was standing next to Valkyrie, immediately raised her eyebrows upon seeing Marian's attitude, and was about to retort, "Master was just raising a reasonable question..."

Unfortunately, before this girl, who idolized firepower, could finish defending her commander, Lapi, whose expression was equally unpleasant, interrupted her.

"Everyone spread out in a cross formation as planned. The southern squad is responsible for the activity on the south side of the tunnel, while the remaining squad members guard the track entrance and conduct crossfire to conserve ammunition."

And another thing! Remember your place, Niki cannot question the Commander.

boom--!

Just as the demonstration in Lapi ended, Helen, who had been on guard for a long time, pulled the trigger at the perfect moment, shooting and killing Lecher, who had just poked his head out of the wellhead. Her tone was extremely arrogant.

"Forty-odd Lechers and you call that the rearguard? Are you looking down on our squadron, or on our commander?"

Nien: "..."

Huaer Qiulei: "..."

Wasn't it agreed that Niki couldn't question the Commander?

It was Valkyrie who suggested bringing up the rear, and Nien's objection was only directed at Marian. How could Niki, with a rapier at her waist, dare to directly question him as the commander right away?

Are all the Nikkis under the instructors this wild?

Chapter 271 Continuing Forward

The situation within the special ground intelligence squadron is delicate and complex; the thirteen women may have more than thirty private chat groups.

However, despite the internal strife, when outsiders have objections to their commander, it is an unspoken understanding that they should unite against external forces.

Therefore, after Helen's questioning, more than a dozen ladies, including Mihara, Marian, and Diesel, cooperated by pulling the trigger on Lecher, who was swarming towards the well, thus standing up for the noblewoman with their actions.

Bang bang bang——!!!

Bullets struck either Lecher's hydraulic joints or his ammunition supply system, knocking these incomprehensible mechanical spiders to the ground and smashing them into piles of scrap metal.

In just a few seconds, the orderly and coordinated shooting, comparable to aiming at vital points in a dismemberment operation, demonstrated the combat skills of Lapi and the others, successfully refreshing Walchore, Rudmila and others' perception of Niki.

There was no other way; they always fought with the idea of ​​"destroying the core of the Rachel," just like ordinary people when facing zombies, they would think more about smashing the other party's skull than about crippling the zombie's vision or mobility.

Those who have experienced the Resident Evil crisis will surely understand this deeply.

"us……"

Huaerqiulei stared blankly at the wellhead, watching the Lechers, their bodies crackling with electricity, plummet like dumplings. Her expression suddenly hardened, and she changed her words:

"All counter-attack troops, listen up! Open fire towards the orbital entrance!"

……

……

"Fire."

Deep inside the tunnel on the north side, the moment the man uttered that word indifferently, Anise, Tia, and the others who had followed the commander all the way here immediately fired a shot at the distant tunnel wall.

In an instant, the rolling flames expanded and burst open, and then, as the smoke cleared, a small gap appeared above everyone's view, at a height of sixty or seventy meters.

“Isabel, use your light wings to carve scratches on the wall at sixty-centimeter intervals, until you reach a notch.”

As Phoenix spoke, he opened his one-on-one communication with his adjutant and gave a concise order:

"Everyone retreat to the north and join me."

"Yes, Commander!"

Amidst Labi's response, the lieutenant's attention remained mostly focused on Anik's gradually improving 3D map.

The artificial intelligence, aware of his thoughts, hesitated for a few milliseconds before confirming a second time:

I do not recommend evacuating from the weapons depot. These fully enclosed transport containers likely contain large quantities of gunpowder. While bullets do not detonate the gunpowder, don't forget that high temperatures can ignite the primer of most ammunition.

【high temperature?】

Faced with Anik's well-intentioned reminder, the lieutenant asked in return, somewhat puzzled.