Nikke, something’s seriously wrong with this evacuation point! Chapter 103 103: I Seriously Doubt You're Human

Charon crawled forward with difficulty through a tunnel barely wide enough for an adult to squeeze through.

The sll in the air could only be described as overwhelmingly foul; that unbearable stench filled every corner of the path ahead.

But he had no choice except to keep moving.

To avoid drawing attention from certain people, he was really going all out.

To distract himself from the sll even a little, he started talking to Abe, who was guiding him from ahead.

"What do you think about soone like Oswald?"

[I'm not interested in the governnt's hounds.]

"Not even a little opinion?"

[I've seen too many people like him. Young n full of passion, wanting to serve their country, only to eventually discover that the thing they devoted themselves to is exactly what they hate most.

But by then, they're already trapped too deep to escape.]

[In the end, there are only two paths.

Either they sink completely and beco the very thing they once despised…

or they put a gun to their own head and end it all.]

"Uh… honestly, you're probably right."

[Or they beco a third kind of person.]

Abe's voice beca distant.

[Like that man.]

"Andersen?"

[At least within my experience, there's never been a second man like Andersen.]

"Hey! Then what about ?"

[What are you, so little kid fighting over praise from an adult]

Abe sounded completely speechless.

[Oi, don't tell you're actually trying to compete for affection now? Seriously, don't disgust .]

"I was just trying to lighten the mood…"

[First of all, I barely even talked to that guy.

And as for you, you're just so shaless bastard who forced his way into my life!]

At that mont, the drone suddenly sped up.

[Whatever. The exit is right ahead. There's a river outside.

Wash that disgusting filth off yourself first. Otherwise nobody's going to want to stand near you.]

"Got it, m–"

He almost called her "Mom" out of habit again, but managed to stop himself.

Jokes repeated too many tis blur the line between teasing and disrespect.

Still, despite her sharp tongue, Abe truly had been taking care of him without holding back.

Whether it was because of Ana, or simply because she herself was kind, Charon knew he would rember it.

...

The winter rain was freezing to the bone, but the stench covering his body was even more unbearable.

The mont he finally crawled out of the sewer, he imdiately dove into the icy river.

The water near the drainage outlet wasn't exactly clean even though it was flowing water, so after jumping in, he quickly forced himself ashore despite the discomfort, then hurried upstream to wash himself properly.

Winter.

Rain.

Wilderness.

Bathing in a river.

Honestly, probably only soone like Charon could pull that off.

[Sotis I seriously doubt whether you're even human.]

Watching the whole scene from nearby, Abe sighed.

"D-Don't joke around… I-I still feel cold too, okay…?"

Well, fine.

He wasn't actually that unaffected.

After hurriedly washing the filth away, he climbed onto the shore shivering, rushed beneath the nearest tree, stripped off his filthy clothes, dried himself with a towel while trembling violently, then changed into a fresh set of clothes – naly, his old military uniform.

Kids, don't try this at ho.

He had an HP bar backing him up, so he wouldn't die imdiately. Ordinary people absolutely could.

By the ti he finished changing, half his health bar was already gone.

Fortunately, his body temperature stopped dropping.

After wolfing down so food with healing effects, Charon finally let out a sigh of relief.

[Nice body.]

"That's your only comnt?" Charon complained. "Anyway, what now? Coming with ?"

From here onward, he would begin a long journey on foot.

With the rain and the heavy load slowing him down, it would probably take more than two days to reach his destination.

[The signal isn't really the issue, but the drone battery probably won't last that long.

Just store it inside your 'magic' and take it out when needed.]

"By the way, Abe…"

Charon extended his hand as the drone hovered over his palm, preparing to land.

"Earlier, he said the Goddess Squad was going to intervene. What exactly did he an?"

If they were really talking about his smuggling deal with Abe, that sounded ridiculously overblown.

[If nothing unexpected happens, he probably ant the lee squad situation.

If it's confird that they've shown signs of defecting to the Raptures, then the Goddess Squad may personally move in to suppress them.]

There had never been a Nikke traitor before.

But once even one Nikke defected, it would no longer be a matter of if another appeared – only when.

The seriousness of that possibility alone was enough to justify the Goddess Squad stepping in.

"Then… Liliweiss…"

[If it's her, you don't need to worry too much.

Liliweiss undergoes a full-body examination every year around this ti to maintain her systems as long as possible and delay total failure.

It should be happening right about now.]

[And honestly, the situation isn't serious enough to require her personal involvent anyway.]

Abe's explanation eased Charon's mind slightly.

If possible, now truly was not the right ti to see Liliweiss again.

Her lifespan had already begun affecting her physical condition.

What Abe called "dical examinations" were, put bluntly, desperate attempts to prolong her life.

To put it harshly, Liliweiss might not even have five years left.

Her existence was more than just political leverage against humanity's leaders; she was also humanity's ultimate pillar against the Raptures.

As long as she remained alive, humanity might lose the surface cities, but the Ark beneath the earth would survive.

By normal logic, Liliweiss's lifespan practically determined humanity's titable for retreating into the Ark.

And so, to delay that day as much as possible, the governnt was forced to do everything it could to extend her life.

What irony.

But that was only the broad, surface-level perspective.

In Charon's eyes, Liliweiss had already changed and grown – but he didn't dare gamble on whether she could stay emotionally stable after seeing him again.

After all, he himself had removed her NIMPH.

Even a one-in-ten-thousand chance of a ntally unstable Goddess of Victory losing control was too dangerous to risk.

More importantly, he still hadn't obtained the panacea.

He still couldn't offer her hope for survival.

And he didn't believe he could safely walk away after eting Liliweiss in her current state.

Whether he escaped through suicide tricks or cruelly abandoned her again, either choice could shatter her emotions once more.

And if that happened…

who knew what kind of world would exist by the ti he returned again?

Suppressing the flood of complicated emotions within him, Charon broke into a run.

And once he forcibly pushed all those feelings aside, he began thinking about how exactly he was supposed to deal with the Goddess Squad when they eventually ca after him.

Embarrassingly enough, aside from the already deceased Sleeping Beauty, he didn't actually know a single other mber of the Goddess Squad.