NIKKE, When the Milky Way Blossoms

Chapter 273 Everyone in Place

[Tianhuan S-012, breakage rate 17.62%]

[Tianhuan S-018, breakage rate 12.97%]

[Tianhuan S-009, breakage rate 28.66%]

Total number of missing Lechers: 191

After undergoing multiple layers of encryption, statistical data is transmitted through signal towers to unknown areas.

Rather than describing Phoenix's team as a virus invading the veins of Sky Ring City, it would be more accurate to describe them as dozens of shards of glass, like grains of sand.

The entire group of twenty-one people truly wreaked havoc wherever they went, leaving the underground area riddled with holes and in ruins.

Ironically, the reason why the damage rate was so high in each region was not due to Niki, but rather to the mechanical spiders that relentlessly pursued them.

They seemed to think that if they couldn't handle the invaders, they could handle Tianhuan City.

……

An underground parts processing plant, at a fork in a freight route.

Phoenix climbed up from below the "T" tunnel like a mole, but did not choose to show himself immediately.

The reason is simple: there is a Lecher unit on patrol at each end of the "I"-shaped passage. If you rush up there rashly, you will definitely be attacked from both sides and riddled with bullets.

Therefore, the lieutenant hiding below reached his right hand into his tactical belt without hesitation and took out two smoke grenades.

The next second, a crisp knocking sound echoed in the silent tracks.

Clang! Clang!

A large amount of particulate matter burst out from the smoke bomb, quickly obscuring the already narrow freight passage.

Then, as Lecher rushed over following the commotion, just as he was about to turn the corner to look into the smoke-filled, dark passage, a bullet destroyed Lecher's "heart," killing him instantly.

So, the frightened Lechers naturally stopped caring about anything else and moved their guns to fire into the smoke.

However, they were unaware that the real culprit had immediately retreated below the T-junction after firing a shot. As for the shells they fired, they were destined to only tear apart the Lecher compatriots who were far away on the other side, just arriving around the corner.

In less than half a breath, the two Lecher troops on the left and right suffered heavy losses from their own artillery fire, their numbers reduced to less than half.

"withdraw."

Seeing that there were still a dozen or so Lechers in the passage, guns pointed at each other, the lieutenant knew that he could not force his way through, so he had no choice but to change his route on the spot and urge Lapi and the others to return the way they came.

Starting from the initial weapons depot, we advanced approximately 1.2 kilometers north, but the actual detour was 7.74 kilometers. The journey took two hours and twenty-four minutes.

Seeing someone "frustrated" once again, Anik, who had been chattering incessantly, continued to remind him in his capacity as artificial intelligence:

Phoenix, expect to feel mentally fatigued in seven hours, leading to a gradual decline in your cognitive abilities, making it difficult to make sound judgments about the situation.

Seven hours?

Upon hearing the data provided by Anick, Phoenix, who felt full of energy, couldn't help but be somewhat skeptical of the other party's judgment.

Am I that short?

[Incorrect. Being able to maintain a high level of mental performance for ten hours under intense mental activity already surpasses the level of most humans.]

It's very likely that this is positive feedback based on your body's transformation rate.

To be honest, if the current situation weren't so dire, Anick would have loved to chime in with someone's words, "You are indeed very short."

Unfortunately, they were pressed for time and didn't have the leisure to bicker as usual.

What do you plan to do? We are still at least five kilometers away from the main body of Sky Ring Fortress. Ignoring other factors, the closer we get to the fortress, the stronger Lecher's defenses will inevitably become.

You have an estimated seven hours of peak performance remaining, but if we continue at this pace, seven hours won't be enough to allow you to breach the fortress.

Then I won't go.

The AI's repeated reminders successfully changed the lieutenant's plans, but then again, the decision to go to Sky Ring Fortress was just one of Phoenix's many contingency plans.

From the very beginning, the reason he risked infiltrating Sky Ring City was simply that he didn't want to engage in a gunfight with Lecher on the vast terrain of the snowfield.

Phoenix didn't necessarily have to go to Sky Ring Fortress; he just thought that if he could take a look while he was there, he might as well go and see it, so that he could keep those old guys in line when he returned to the Ark.

Since Anick said there was a high probability he wouldn't be able to go, there was no need for him to risk his life. He could just stay put and fight a guerrilla war in the underground of Tianhuan City.

Even if we take a step back, it's impossible for Honglian, Baixue, and Dorothy to actually stand outside and fight for seven hours straight, right?

……

……

Boom——! ! !

The violent tremors of the earth forced the distant snow-covered hills to collapse, revealing gray-black rock layers that had not seen sunlight for a long time.

The creature, now a full size larger than before, roared excitedly, raising its scarlet hands that had been slammed to the ground. From the cracks that let in light, scorching steam faintly emanated.

"That man, that woman, they're both here! Excellent! Excellent—!!!"

The mother gorilla's harsh roars failed to elicit a response from those present; even her teammate Normantechesh gave her the cold shoulder. Of course, there were always exceptions...

Take, for example, Shirayuki's electromagnetic cannon.

boom--!

A buzzing sound rang out, and amidst the chaotic dodges, a burst of sparks erupted from his shoulder, blossoming into a dazzling flower. But that was all…

"!"

The fact that they didn't see the expected scene of the mother gorilla's shoulder being shattered genuinely surprised Bai Xue and Hong Lian. However, the sniper quickly recovered and unhesitatingly increased the power of his electromagnetic cannon from the original 80% to an overclock of 105%.

By using a longer charging time to obtain more savage muzzle energy, one also rapidly increases their own danger level.

"Jiejiejiejie——!"

Upon seeing the pale blue plasma emanating from the muzzle of Bai Xue's gun, Xiao Cao was naturally not going to let the other party pull the trigger so easily. It laughed in its classic villainous voice, then kicked off the snow with both legs and leaped straight towards the spot where Bai Xue was crouching.

"Are you pretending I don't exist?!"

In the air, seeing that Xiao Cao dared to ignore her, Dorothy was immediately annoyed and raised her eyebrows, aiming her gun at the ugly shark tooth, intending to fire and blow its head off.

But then...

From the eastern horizon, a pale purple beam of light stretched for several kilometers and struck Dorothy's body in an instant. If it weren't for the fact that the fairytale-type Niki's cybernetic defense was also ridiculously high, this shot would probably have pierced through Dorothy's body on the spot.

Boom——! ! !

The earth trembled again. Faced with the overwhelming pressure of Mount Tai, the snow, which was gathering energy, had no choice but to grit its teeth and get up to dodge.

"Dorothy!"

Honglian, still entangled with her sister, used all her strength to deflect the attacking longsword, glancing sideways at her nemesis who had fallen to the ground.

"Is he dead?!"

"……cough."

Hearing the drunkard's unpleasant words of concern, a thoroughly humiliated Ms. Dorothy rose angrily from the snow, turned to glare eastward, and watched as the delicate figure, resembling a jellyfish, slowly drifted towards them. She couldn't help but reply irritably:

"I won't die even if you die."

Chapter 274 Two Supports

Liberellio was very angry.

Not only was her beautiful dream ruthlessly interrupted by the Queen, but she was also forced to travel a long way to Sky Ring. She thought the Queen was finally planning to gather the heretics to attack the Ark. But what happened? She was only summoned to provide support for Xiao Cao and Normantchesh.

"Can you guys finish this quickly? I need to go back and catch up on my sleep."

The little jellyfish, her spirits dampened and her face etched with morning grumpiness, suddenly pouted, and several flexible energy gun barrels, resembling tentacles, behind her instantly aimed at Red Lotus, Snow White, and Dorothy...

Om-! ! !

The simultaneous firing of the first beam forced Snow White, who was still dodging the onslaught, to raise her cloak and take the brunt of the pale purple beam.

On the other side, the moment Guren saw Liberellio pointing a gun at her, she was about to raise her sword, but unexpectedly, Rose in front of her raised her hand and blocked the gun's trajectory with the blade of her long sword.

As for Dorothy...

The humiliation of being shot down during the sneak attack drove Atao to unleash her full power on the spot. In an instant, she broke the sound barrier, creating two towering waves of ice crystals as she charged towards Liberelio at low altitude.

Then, two beams of energy, one pink and one purple, scattered across the snowfield.

……

……

Rumble, rumble, rumble——

A deafening roar, comparable to the detonation of a missile, suddenly echoed continuously underground in Tianhuan City.

Even with military-grade noise-canceling technology in their tactical headsets, Phoenix and Walter still felt their brains and hearts trembling uncontrollably with the vibrations of the space.

The terrain is changing; the city's underground structure is modular, and there's a 98.28% chance the enemy intends to block our path.

As Anik reported the situation while continuously updating and reconstructing the 3D map, the lieutenant, whose head was spinning from the roar, struggled to maintain his logical thinking and asked: