NIKKE, When the Milky Way Blossoms

"commander!"

They successfully dodged the attack from the third tentacle.

Marian, pinned beneath Phoenix, saw her commander in a dazed state and had no time to think. She could only cling to the man's body and continue rolling away.

"Bestie, suppressive fire!"

Inside the transport plane, Yin Hua, having finished observing the battle situation, disregarded whether the small-scale bombing would cause secondary damage to Phoenix.

As she gave Bestie the order, she raised her sniper rifle, aimed the muzzle at the tip of the tentacle that was attacking Marian, and then pulled the trigger without hesitation.

Clang—Clang—Clang—!

Under the sniper's fire, the armor-piercing bullets hit the bullseye every time, forcing the tentacle to deviate slightly from its trajectory, and finally, it crashed onto the concrete ground several meters away from Phoenix.

"Carry him on your back and run!"

Without needing much prompting from Yin Hua, Marian, having narrowly escaped disaster, was already carrying the limp and powerless commander on her back, maneuvering around the transport plane and the tentacles on the ground.

"Commander, please hold me tight!"

Despite Niki's pleas, Phoenix, whose head was throbbing from the jolting, kept his eyes tightly shut, his mind blank and unable to hear any of her pleas.

This level of concussion is considered a very minor form of head injury in medical terms.

However, for someone at this moment, even if the head injury is minor enough not to cause fainting, it can still be quite deadly on the battlefield.

Boom!

The sound of shattering rocks rang out, and a fourth tentacle burst from the ground, heading straight for the girl's calf.

Yin Hua's bullet followed closely behind, striking the tentacle and causing it to pause briefly in mid-air, giving Marian enough time to react.

Pah pah pah pah——

Immediately, a rapid-fire barrage of submachine guns followed.

Although the caliber and power of this series of bullets were not as great as those of a sniper rifle or a Vulcan cannon, as long as they could penetrate armor, a sufficient number of bullets would still cause the tentacles to spark and scatter various joint parts on the ground as if they had been dismembered.

Disable one mechanical tentacle and empty one magazine.

Unable to reload temporarily, Nikki had no choice but to grit her teeth and rush toward the transport plane as fast as she could, praying that she could get the commander safely into the cabin.

"Prepare for takeoff!"

Seeing Marianne's do-or-die decision, Yinhua also resolutely reached out her hand, doing everything she could to reduce the distance the other person needed to run.

Snapped!

Five seconds later, the two Nikis successfully clasped hands.

Before Marian's expression could relax, a shattered tentacle suddenly trembled and exploded not far from her side. The silver-white core inside, like a venomous snake hidden under a rock, seized the opportunity and pounced on the girl's neck.

In the blink of an eye!

Behind Marian, Phoenix, whose senses had slightly returned, immediately reached out his right hand and grabbed at the silvery-white tentacle axis.

However, perhaps because his mind was not clear enough, the man's prediction was obviously not accurate enough. Not only did he fail to grab the other party, but his arm, which was in place in advance, was pierced through by the sharp tentacle axis.

Shila-

A sharp, metallic scraping sound suddenly rang in Marianne's ears, causing the girl's pupils to contract sharply.

The next second, she felt her body uncontrollably lose its balance to the right, and her back felt light. If Yinhua hadn't held her hand tightly, she probably would have fallen to the ground.

Even so, the scene caught in the corner of her eye did not miss Marian's uneasy mood.

In the distance, her commander was seen with his mechanical right arm caught by the silver tentacles, dragged for twenty or thirty meters like cargo, before finally being swallowed up by an underground cave half the width of a person.

"commander?"

Unable to accept reality, the girl stared blankly at the distant hole in the ground, the sudden failure and change washing over her mind.

That tentacle axis was clearly aimed at her, so why did the commander block it...?

That tentacle axis was clearly aimed at her...

It was clearly aimed at her...

Why block it...?

"Hey! Calm down!"

Noticing the intense emptiness in Marian's expression, the experienced Yin Hua immediately understood that this was a precursor to Niki's "mindset shift" after suffering severe mental trauma.

For these humanoid weapons, any shift in their mindset would mean instability in NIMPH's control, and the central government would forcibly re-brainwash them.

In other words, it means restoring factory settings.

Snapped!

Left with no other option, the special forces captain slapped Marian across the face and roared:

"Calm down! That guy's not dead yet, we can still catch up with him!"

"It's...it's not too late."

"Yes, yes... there's still time... the commander won't die... he won't die..."

Thanks to Yin Hua's reminder, Marianne's pupils quickly regained their former clarity.

With a flick of her right wrist, she knocked the empty submachine gun magazine to the ground, then immediately and steadily inserted the full magazine from her left hand into the gun.

"The commander won't die... the commander won't die..."

The girl kept repeating the same sentence as if she were hypnotizing herself.

Then, ignoring Yin Hua's advice, she took two steps at a time and rushed into the cave in the blink of an eye.

what is this?

As Yin Hua watched Marian's figure disappear, an extremely strong sense of unease rose in her heart.

not right...

This is not the state one should be in after regaining normal rationality.

Marian...is she still undergoing a mindset shift?!

……

……

slam-la-

Splash splash splash splash—!

A large number of small stones rolled along the trail left by Phoenix as he was being dragged, creating a thunderous sound like a downpour in the gradually widening tunnel.

The ancients have already proven this through their actions.

Whether it's a horse dragging a person or a boat dragging a person, as long as they are still human, being dragged on rough ground for a long time will inevitably lead to their death.

Therefore, Phoenix felt it was unnecessary to risk his life to further develop this theory.

We must find a way to break free from that tentacle axis.

So, the man, who felt the whole world spinning, suppressed his fainting, nausea and pain, reached out his left hand and quickly groped around at his waist, soon pulling out a large-caliber revolver from its holster.

Then, the pistol that was meant to execute Leitch was mercilessly pointed at his own right elbow by someone else.

boom! ! !

One shot.

boom! ! !

Two shots.

boom! ! !

Clang clang clang—

When the trigger was pulled for the third time, the fragile elbow joint of the prosthetic limb finally could not withstand the impact of the bullet and broke in two on the spot.

Then, losing the external pulling force, Phoenix immediately rolled sideways with the remaining inertia.

"Cough—! Cough cough cough cough—"

Having successfully avoided being dragged to death, the man, his back covered in blood, lay helplessly on his side, panting heavily.

unexpectedly,

Before he could even get a proper rest,

Anik's terrified screams echoed through his mind.

[Invading Virus!]

[That Lecher's corrosive virus is infiltrating my chip!]

"..."

Hearing the AI's tearful screams, the man slowly opened his eyes, rolled over to face the ground, placed his left palm on the floor, and asked in a low, impatient voice:

"……Then what?"