NIKKE, Swordmaster Ark Succubus Daily

"What kind of reason is that?" Anies complained.

As Marianne gazed at Yin Hua's retreating figure, a faint, almost imperceptible crimson tinge appeared in her eyes.

Lhabi then went directly to Yinhua and spoke with her.

“Commander, I’m sorry, Yin, Yin Hua, she…” Bestie sounded like she was about to cry.

Lapi, a former teammate, picked up where Besti left off, saying, "Yinhua has always been a commander in the special forces and often argues with Besti. She might not be used to having you around."

Li Zuoyi understood. In other words, Yinhua didn't recognize him at all and thought he was just a cannon fodder commander.

"I understand, let's go with her," Li Zuoyi said with a smile.

"Are you sure everything's okay?" Marian asked the commander softly.

Instability in command is a major taboo for a team.

Chaotic command can very well lead to a team's peaceful demise.

"It's alright," Li Zuoyi said with a smile. "She has her own pride."

I have mine too...

At this moment, Yinhua, who was walking in front, seemed to have finished arguing with Lhapi. She turned her head and said, as if to compromise:

"I'll obey your orders normally, but in battle, you have to listen to me, okay?"

Li Zuo smiled at her but did not answer.

“I’ll take that as your agreement.” Yin Hua turned around and said, “I’ll give you a perfect mission report when we get back.”

"Hehe~, Commander, this is Yin Hua apologizing." Emma covered her mouth slightly and said with a smile, "This is the first time she's written a report to the Commander, can we forgive her?"

Commanders can exchange their reports for credits at the military headquarters. The better a commander's performance is on paper, the more credits they will receive.

Although Li Zuo had only done two ground missions, he was aware of this kind of thing.

Before Li Zuoyi could answer, Yinhua shouted, "Enemy encountered!"

Dust billowed on the horizon as countless Lechers raced toward it at full speed.

Li Zuoyi could already feel the ground starting to tremble.

In the face of an unexpected situation, the Nikis were naturally prepared to fight.

"Left flank: 25 artillery-type Lechers, 32 machine gun-type Lechers, and 22 hover Lechers." Emma took the machine gun from her back, loaded it, and calmly reported the situation in the direction she was responsible for.

"Right flank, 13 artillery-type Lechers, machine gun-type..."

Members of the special forces, including the already retired Lapi, exchanged intelligence in a short time as easily as breathing.

Based on what was just said, Yin Hua automatically took over command of the team: "Formation SUT, counterattack..."

But before she could finish speaking, Li Zuoyi interrupted her, saying:

"Formation: SUT. Counterattack force: Marian and Anis on the right flank. Special forces: Besti and Lapi in the center. Emma and Yin Hua on the left flank. Snipers, prioritize taking out the hovering Lecher! Machine gunners..."

……

……

After the battle, the ground was littered with the metal remains of the Rachel.

"You!" Yin Hua grabbed Li Zuoyi by the collar and said coldly, "What are you doing, acting on your own initiative?! You'll get us all killed!"

"You acted on your own initiative; I did not grant your request."

The smile on Li Zuoyi's face was gone. He looked down at Yin Hua and said, "If you think I've said anything wrong, you can point it out."

"..." His orders were correct, Yinhua knew that perfectly well, but what angered her was...

"But what I did just now was wrong, I apologize." Li Zuoyi sincerely apologized to the girls around him.

"No, no, it's nothing!" Bestie was flattered and quickly waved her hand to indicate that there was no problem.

Li Zuo looked at her and thought: I apologized because I was afraid you would turn into your battle-ready form...

When Bestie was fighting just now, she didn't look so delicate at all; instead, she looked like a killing star descended to earth.

He now understood why she was the captain.

The other Nikis also expressed their understanding.

“That’s how it is. I’ll be in charge of everything, big or small, within the team.” Li Zuoyi then looked at Yin Hua and said earnestly:

“You can question my orders, but you cannot issue orders without my consent. This is not a request or a discussion; this is an order.”

After a brief moment of thought, Yin Hua turned her head away and said, as if reluctantly, "Tsk, I understand."

This guy doesn't seem to be a complete failure; let's trust him for now.

"Hmm!" Li Zuoyi smiled again. "You can include this in the mission report."

“Write it yourself…” Yin Hua was really impatient this time.

"Lavi A-Meng, I'm counting on you for this mission report as well~"

"……learn."

"Lavi! Let him do his own thing!"

"It's been a long time since I've seen Yinhua so happy." Emma, ​​who was standing to the side, covered her mouth and laughed as she watched this scene. "Also, even though it's possible to deal with the heretics, everyone seems to firmly believe that they can go back."

Bestie's eyes lit up when she saw the displeased Ginka. "Commander, you're amazing! You managed to make Ginka lose her composure like that..."

"That's really amazing!"

……

……

three days later.

In what appeared to be the center of a meteorite crater, Li Zuoyi looked around and wondered, "Why don't I see the Metis troops?"

"Three days should be enough for them to run around." Yin Hua slightly opened her eyes, and the scanner in her eyeballs began to scan the surroundings.

"Is there no signal from them?" Anies asked.

Bestie fiddled with the detector, while Emma watched from the side and said, "I can't see anything."

After three days of getting to know each other, the special forces and the counterattack force finally became familiar with each other.

Marian suddenly looked at the ground and said:

"right here."

“…” Lapi squatted down, brushed away the thick dust on the ground, revealing a patch of skin.

Chapter Forty-Eight: Bait

It was a small patch of skin, which, upon identification, was not human tissue, but the metallic cadmium.

Niki was buried underground, and Li Zuoyi immediately shouted for his team members to dig.

Soon, the three Nikis were dug out of the ground.

“Metis’s forces…” Labi recognized their identities.

The three of them huddled together with their eyes closed, as if they were hiding from some impending danger.

"Is he dead?" Li Zuoyi asked.

Yin Hua checked them one by one and said, "No, they are still alive, but the extra auxiliary batteries in their bodies have failed and are in standby mode."

So, the group took out several spare batteries from the resources they had brought and inserted them into their bodies.

The first to wake up was the bright yellow-haired Niki. Unlike the other Nikis who all looked like humans, her legs were mechanical. Li Zuoyi guessed that this was to support the heavy electric sniper rifle that had been broken beside her.

"Um... thank you. I thought I was going to be buried in the ground for the rest of my life. I am Maxwell."

Maxwell patted his head and emptied the sand from his ears.

"The villain has been resurrected!"

A white-haired woman named Niki, to Maxwell's left, suddenly sat up, her red cape on her shoulders tattered.

"Drake, why are you always so loud?" Maxwell slapped his left ear with a helpless expression. "Is your hearing system broken? It sounds like there's an echo..."

"Sorry……"

Li Zuoyi thought that Niki would be arrogant because of her jumping around, but he didn't expect her to apologize properly.

"The hero appears!"

The short girl with blonde twin ponytails jumped up, her blue cotton-padded jacket half off and hanging on her arm.

"Ah—Laplace, Drake, you two!" Maxwell covered his right ear, his face drooping. "Oh no, we really can't hear anything over here."

After several days of learning from Nikki, a special forces soldier, Li Zuoyi was able to give instructions to the team using their hand gestures, albeit with some difficulty.

He raised his hand and clenched his fist, signaling the Nikis to be on alert and prevent a sudden attack by the heretics.

After all, Metis's forces were being hunted down by heretics.

The counterattack team and the special forces dispersed in an orderly manner, neither too far apart nor too close, just enough to provide mutual cover.

"How are your bodies?" Li Zuo asked the three Nikis from the Metis forces. "Are they able to make it back to the Ark?"

Now that we've located the Metis forces, we should take them and leave as soon as possible.

Knowing that he was the squad leader who had come to provide support, Maxwell examined his own and his companion's bodies and said, "Although they look okay, there are too many small injuries inside... Well, we can barely make it back."

Hearing this, Li Zuoyi felt relieved and said, "In that case, let's leave quickly. We can talk about any intelligence on the way."

So, leading the Metis troops, Li Zuoyi, along with the counterattack force and special forces, embarked on their return journey.

"How is the heretic Indivilla?" Li Zuoyi asked.

He has essentially completed his mission; all that's left is for the heretics to stay away.

Maxwell thought for a moment and said, "We've survived until now, probably..."

"He's probably dead already!" Laplace laughed, throwing his head back. "Killed by my hero, 'whoosh—'!"

"No, it should be me, the villain, who killed him with a 'bang!'!" Drake said with a villainous smile, half-covering his face.

Maxwell slumped his head, sighed wearily, and said to Li Zuoyi:

"In the end, she transferred all the electricity in her body to Laplace, and her final blow hit the Heretic directly and killed her. The fact that we are still alive is proof of that."

"..."

Stunned by this fact, Li Zuoyi remained silent for a moment, then pointed to the meteorite crater at his feet, which was several hundred meters in diameter, and said:

"So these are the traces left from your battle?"

"Ah."

"Amazing..." Li Zuoyi was amazed by the current top-tier strength of Niki.

Perhaps the strength of Metis's army has surpassed that of the original Goddess army.

“Of course, because I am a hero!” Laplace, pleased with the praise, rubbed his nose with a smug look.

“The rest is just waiting for the Ark to send people to collect the Heretic fragments,” Maxwell said. “After all, you can’t find the scattered fragments without special equipment.”

Li Zuoyi was completely relieved.

The fragments of the heretics will likely spark another battle among the major factions within the Ark.

It might also expose those damned guys.

Then...

Li Zuoyi snapped out of his reverie, sensing something amiss. He glanced around, then immediately gave the order:

"All personnel in combat readiness!"

The girls didn't know what was going on, but they did as they were told, raising their guns in a defensive posture centered on their commander.