Nikke, something’s seriously wrong with this evacuation point! Chapter 106 106: The Dream Had Already Ended

"Communicate?" Rose stood at the very front of the group with a smile, looking directly at the fiery and spirited woman before her. "Please, elaborate."

Before joining the lee squad… no, even back when they had just beco Nikkes, Rose and her younger sister Scarlet had admired the Goddess Squad just like every other girl who dread of becoming a Nikke.

Fairy tales.

The beautiful dreams children cling to.

Their existence had brought humanity hope–and a dream. A beautiful, illusory dream.

At least, that was how Rose saw it now.

When that admiration from the past stood before them as cold reality, what it brought was very likely not salvation, but judgnt upon heretics.

She only wanted to survive.

To survive in this world together with the comrades she loved like family, and with the younger sister she cherished most.

She no longer admired the Goddess Squad.

The dream had already ended.

Red Hood looked at Rose's eyes. That wary, scrutinizing gaze made her deeply uncomfortable. As a mber of the Goddess Squad, wherever she went, people welcod her with admiration and unconditional trust.

Yet now, comrades who should naturally trust them were looking at her this way.

It felt strange.

She scratched the back of her head, about to say sothing, but Rapunzel stepped forward first.

"Allow to introduce myself. My na is Rapunzel. If possible, would you allow to perform a compatibility examination on all of you?"

"I refuse."

The mont the words left Rapunzel's mouth, Rose imdiately answered with a smiling yet absolutely decisive rejection.

"W-Why? Rapture parts are almost completely incompatible with the goddesium used in Nikkes. And Raptures have a habit of reclaiming fragnts of their allies' bodies. If those parts are not removed quickly–"

"Then does Lady Rapunzel intend for us to lie here helplessly with missing arms and legs, waiting to die?" Number 3 smiled without warmth. "After installing these limbs, not only was I not corrupted by the Raptures, I can even use this arm to slaughter even more of them."

"They're actually really convenient." Number 4 had already replaced all four limbs. Her hands no longer even had fingers; she relied entirely on alloy claws and clamps to hold things. "But I'm pretty satisfied with this pair. At least it's steadier when holding a sword than the last one."

"…"

When Rapunzel saw Number 4's appearance, she covered her mouth with both hands. Her breathing quickened to the point where she could barely speak.

She had seen many Nikke corpses before. She thought she had almost grown used to it.

But she had never seen beings like this before.

And the most shocking thing was–

they genuinely believed they were living well.

"Oh my, Lady Goddess, you really can't bla us for this." Rose's voice remained as gentle as ever. "Our goddesium supply was cut off a long ti ago. If we didn't commit these so-called 'heresies,' we would have had no chance of survival at all. We would have simply died in this forest, abandoned with no allies and no support, becoming scraps not even the Rapture army would care to consu."

"I don't know what the important people above have told the Goddess Squad…" Rose's expression changed. Her bloodshot eyes stared directly at Rapunzel. "But this is the only way we could continue living."

"…Or are we not even allowed to survive?"

That single sentence instantly rendered Rapunzel speechless, despite all the prepared argunts she had in mind.

She did not know much. She knew the lee squad's supplies had been obstructed, but according to the reports, the latest shipnt had already arrived.

Clearly, however, the current lee squad no longer cared about those supplies at all.

They had already chosen this path long before the shipnt ca.

"Hah…"

At that mont, a sudden laugh rang out beside her.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Red Hood swept her eyes across every Nikke present. "Your supplies got cut off, you lacked maintenance materials, you got bossed around by an idiot commander…"

"And instead of dying, you tore parts off the enemy and ard yourselves with them so you could keep fighting?"

Her tone was light, energetic, overflowing with spirit.

"That's not heresy at all like that idiot said. That's tal as hell!"

"I seriously never knew Rapture parts could actually be used." She pointed at Number 4. "You–was it Number 4? Can I touch your legs for a second? Ah, just to clarify, I'm not into girls. I just wanna know whether Rapture limbs can still feel stuff. You know what I an, right?"

This sudden emotional shift completely threw Rose off balance.

All the anger she had prepared had nowhere to go.

She could only stare blankly at Red Hood.

Years of reading people had taught her one thing imdiately:

Red Hood genuinely ant every word she said.

All her rhetoric and carefully prepared argunts seed aningless before this woman.

This woman reminded her of Charon.

The Lieutenant was the sa.

The only thing he ever saw was how to help them live better–and the benefits of surviving. Politics, dignity, ideals… none of that mattered more than staying alive.

"Enough of your joking."

At that mont, a voice suppressing anger ca from behind the crowd.

The group quickly parted as Scarlet slowly stepped forward, sword in hand.

"No matter your purpose, leave. Take one more step forward, and even the Goddess of Victory shall have her blood stained by my blade."

"Oh?" Red Hood whistled.

Completely ignoring Scarlet's hostility, she instead stared at her with great interest–and even deliberately took a step forward.

The surrounding lee squad mbers imdiately changed expressions in alarm.

"So the lee squad is full of cool characters like this?"

"Look, I stepped back again. Look, now I stepped forward again. Bleeeeh~"

She repeatedly hopped back and forth right in front of Scarlet.

Even though she was technically the one being threatened, she looked utterly unconcerned, leaving everyone nearby sighing helplessly.

Only Scarlet's veins bulged visibly as she slowly unsheathed her sword.

"Very well. It seems you have prepared yourself for death."

"I don't mind sparring with you," Red Hood replied casually. "But I use a gun and you use a sword. That's pretty unfair, isn't it?"

The mont she heard this, Scarlet halted.

Then she stared at Red Hood.

"Then cast aside your weapon. Even barehanded, I possess the strength to fight."

"Ohhh, thank you for cooperating!"

Red Hood casually tossed aside her massive sniper rifle, Wolfsbane.

Rapunzel instinctively caught it with both hands, her face filled with confusion.

"W-Wait, Red Hood, this violates regulations!"

[It's fine. Let her do it, Rapunzel.]

At that mont, Dorothy's voice ca through the earpiece.

[That Nikke… you can tell just by looking at her eyes. She's the type who practically has "martial artist" written on her face. Completely lacking elegance, of course, but soone like Red Hood would definitely get along with her. Since they're unard, just let them have fun. I'm going to enjoy so tea anwhile.]

"..."