Nikke, something’s seriously wrong with this evacuation point! Chapter 111 111: The Extraction Switch

An hour later, the plan Charon proposed had already been delivered to Dorothy.

At this mont, Red Hood had also returned to the Wings of Victory. The four Fairy Tale-model Nikkes sat together, discussing whether the proposal was feasible.

"Unexpectedly… this might actually work?" Red Hood rubbed her chin, excitent written all over her face. "That guy's seriously pretty clever."

"Red Hood, whose side are you on exactly?" Dorothy shot her a cold glare.

But internally, Dorothy was evaluating the proposal as well.

And the conclusion was…

…it actually was workable.

True, absolute fairness was impossible. The difference between a human body and a Nikke's construction was simply too large.

But this was already the fairest duel format they could realistically achieve.

Nearby stood an abandoned underground facility. No Raptures. No monsters. Completely untouched for a very long ti.

The lee Squad would capture a certain number of low-level, purely ranged Raptures and release them inside. Their weapons would be modified so they could fire only red paint rounds. This was to prevent them from damaging the facility or seriously injuring anyone.

Naturally, Charon and Dorothy would also use paint weapons–

but theirs would fire blue rounds.

Because of the overwhelming difference between them, Charon would be allowed to enter the facility first and search for advantageous positions.

One hour later, Dorothy would enter.

Then the battle would begin.

The first person hit three tis by red paint rounds–

or once by a blue round–

would lose.

Of course, lee attacks against the Raptures were permitted. In fact, banning that would have been ridiculous.

But destroying Raptures offered no reward whatsoever.

At its core, the whole thing had beco a real-life mock combat exercise.

Since paint rounds caused no actual damage, they also wouldn't trigger NIMPH restrictions.

Perfect.

And relatively speaking–

it truly was fair.

"Dorothy… is this really okay?" Rapunzel looked conflicted. "Making a wager with a human lieutenant… what if he actually gets hurt…"

"It's fine. Let him co."

Dorothy elegantly lifted her teacup.

"No matter what happens, the Goddess of Victory will never lose."

"And at worst, this is simply a slightly more serious ga. No one will be hard because of it."

"Oho! Give it everything you've got, Dorothy!" Red Hood was visibly fired up.

"So then…" Snow White suddenly spoke. "Why accept the challenge in the first place?"

Dorothy froze for a mont.

…Yeah.

Why had she accepted?

Thinking back on it now–

even she didn't know.

"Perhaps I simply acted on impulse," Dorothy said softly, absolute confidence shining in her eyes. "Either way, I won't lose."

anwhile, on the surface–

or more accurately, inside the research facility–

Charon stood at the entrance leading deep underground toward the geothermal generator area. Holding a crowbar, he repeatedly smashed at an old rusted lock.

[I still think you've completely lost your mind, provoking Dorothy like this.]

"That's not madness," Charon replied while prying the heavy tal hatch upward. Beneath it lay pure darkness.

"I'm going to win."

[I genuinely can't tell whether that's confidence or arrogance anymore. And exposing this place… are you sure that's okay?]

"No problem."

As Charon climbed downward, he laughed softly.

"I'm pretty sure more than just us have been here before. In fact, among the current governnt, at least two people already know this place exists."

[…?]

"Anyway, let's focus on the important stuff first."

Charon quickly descended deeper underground.

Had he started preparing for tomorrow's duel already?

No.

Not at all.

In fact, he had absolutely no intention of preparing for the duel itself.

Instead, together with Abe's drones, he began inspecting the geothermal generator at the deepest level, searching for a way to repair it.

anwhile, the lee Squad had gone out to capture Raptures.

They didn't need many–

around twenty was enough.

The weaker, the better.

For the current lee Squad, handling sothing like this had beco incredibly easy.

Fortunately, the Wings of Victory had basically everything onboard–

including paintball guns and paint rounds.

Otherwise this entire plan would've beco painfully awkward.

Finally reaching the bottom level, Charon opened his backpack and released every single drone Abe had provided.

The drones operated under swarm control and were entirely managed by Abe herself.

The only troubleso issue was signal transmission.

But this wasn't their first ti dealing with that.

Back when he'd been trapped underground before, they had controlled the drones through wired connections.

This ti was no different.

The antenna remained outside the laboratory while Charon dragged a massive cable behind him as he entered deeper inside.

An old-fashioned solution.

Crude–

but effective.

Under the illumination of dozens of drones, Charon barely managed to make out the appearance of the chamber.

He didn't particularly care what the generator itself looked like. That part was Abe's responsibility.

But the mont the room lit up–

his attention was instantly captured by sothing else entirely.

Charon's pupils trembled.

His breathing gradually beca heavier.

Because he had never imagined that the thing he had been searching for ever since entering this Disguise Mode…

would actually be here.

Since entering this simulation, he had never received any information regarding the extraction point.

But because of the dog tags, he absolutely could not afford to "die and reset" the way he had before.

He needed to extract properly this ti.

And clearly–

this timing was perfect.

At this point, he was almost convinced this damned Disguise Mode had known what he wanted from the very beginning and intentionally saved this for the most critical possible mont.

It was a switch.

A lever completely out of place with everything around it.

A lever he had pulled countless tis back in Zone Zero.

The mont he discovered it, a new marker appeared on his minimap:

[Extraction Switch]

Near Sleeping Beauty's lonely grave on the grasslands.

If he wanted to extract there, Charon would need to reach that location within one hour after pulling the lever–

then survive for ten minutes.

That would complete extraction.

Charon took a deep breath.

No matter what–

the things he needed to accomplish were already nearly complete.

It seed his "conversation" with Dorothy would beco the final battle of this Disguise Mode.

Interesting.

Looks like he absolutely had to win now.

If everything went smoothly–

he'd claim a beautiful victory, arrange the future of the lee Squad…

…and extract.

At that mont, Abe's cold voice rang out.

[What are you grinning about over there, idiot? Get over here. I'm going to explain what materials we'll need.]

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming."

…

Central Governnt – Secret Laboratory.

Liliweiss stepped out of the maintenance chamber and stretched lazily.

"Mmm~~~"

She looked through the glass toward the female researchers.

"Thanks, everyone. I feel great~"

[N-No problem! As long as you feel comfortable, Lady Liliweiss!]

[We succeeded, Lady Liliweiss! Your projected lifespan has been extended again! The previous thod really worked!]

Most of the researchers were practically overjoyed.

After all, extending Liliweiss lifespan was the deepest wish of everyone who knew the truth.

[U-Um… aren't you happy?]

"It's not that I'm unhappy."

Liliweiss smiled gently.

"It's just… if I can't fight anymore, then a lifespan like that…"

"Well, regardless, I'm truly grateful to all of you. Thank you."

"I get to live a few more days now~"

After chatting with the researchers for a while, Liliweiss left the laboratory and entered the changing room.

The maintenance process was now completely finished.

Her only priority now was returning to the squad as quickly as possible.

"Hmm?"

Casually opening her phone, Liliweiss imdiately noticed the massive ssage Snow White had sent her.

At first, she had even found so parts amusing while reading.

Until finally–

the blurry photograph Snow White had attached appeared on her screen.

A picture of Lieutenant Ron.

Liliweiss's movents stopped completely.