Nikke, something’s seriously wrong with this evacuation point! Chapter 164 164: Welcome Back, Ace

[How should I put this… I actually kept suppressing it until today because I wanted to see this exact mont, you know?]

"???"

[You don't get it. You've already done the whole 'coming back from the dead' act once yourself, so this ti, couldn't you let have a turn too?]

"..."

Charon raised a hand as if he wanted to say sothing, but stopped himself halfway and quietly chose to play ostrich instead.

Fine then. Let see your performance.

The atmosphere around them could no longer rely be called solemn. It had beco so serious that Charon almost couldn't bring himself to say anything at all.

Thankfully, this ti, he wasn't the protagonist.

[Bzzz– Bzzz–]

Without any warning, the lights in the cafeteria suddenly went out.

Imdiately afterward, every electronic device–including the Nikke communication terminals, their phones, even Charon's Shittim Chest, and the electronic nu board in the kitchen–all emitted a nostalgic 8-bit startup sound effect.

"Enemy attack?!" Scarlet instantly reached for her blade.

"Seriously, right now?!" Red Hood's lips curled into a savage grin. "Showing up while everyone's mourning a comrade? They've already made peace with dying, huh!"

Even though she still had a slice of pizza in her hand.

Liliweiss's expression darkened, but instinctively she looked toward Charon. Even through only his silhouette, she could make out the helpless look on his face.

A trace of suspicion rose in her heart.

But in the very next second, a blue glow suddenly shone through Charon's clothes from his chest–it was Shittim Chest. The beam of light shot out from the device and struck the empty center of the dining table directly.

Imdiately afterward, countless blue streams of data particles rapidly constructed and reconstructed themselves within the beam.

At the sa ti, the base-wide broadcast system suddenly began blasting fast-paced electronic rock music.

[The stage is set, ladies and gentlen! Please give a thunderous round of applause!]

[Pilgrim Base System Administrator: SLEEPING BEAUTY]

The two holographic lines exploded across the air overhead.

The music not only didn't stop–it beca even more intense.

Now everyone was stunned.

But the mont they saw the second line, nearly everyone's eyes widened in shock.

Then, accompanied by the exploding text, a petite white-haired girl appeared before them.

Wearing a blue-and-white skintight hacker suit that hugged her body, Sleeping Beauty's figure manifested before everyone's eyes.

She floated in midair with her hands on her hips, wearing a confident grin so bold it bordered on arrogant. Her ruby-like eyes glead brilliantly within the darkness.

[CUT! CUT! CUT! What's with this depressing atmosphere!? This is "Pilgrim," a place that brings hope–not so morial service for the dead!]

Snow White's mouth fell wide open, and the spoon in her hand plopped straight into her soup without her even noticing. A flash of realization suddenly struck her mind.

That voice… she recognized it.

Red Hood was utterly confused.

Dorothy's gaze sharpened. An expression of disbelief surfaced on her face before she instinctively looked toward Charon.

Scarlet's eyes widened as she stared at the girl, seemingly realizing sothing, before finally letting out only a soft sigh.

Rose and the others from the lee squad simply thought the scene looked unbelievably cool–it was a spectacle unlike anything they had ever seen before.

Rapunzel rely clasped her hands together as tears stread down her face once more.

"May the Lord show rcy…"

As for Liliweiss–the true protagonist of this mont–she raised her head and stared blankly at the petite figure who still carried traces of Rose within her appearance.

Her lips trembled.

"Y-you are…"

Ignoring everyone else's shock completely, Rose's gaze settled upon Liliweiss.

The arrogance on her face gradually softened.

She floated over until she was right before Liliweiss, just like she often did with Charon back in their hideout.

[You know, Senpai… if you keep telling everyone I'm dead, it's going to cause a lot of trouble.]

"Ro-Rose…"

Liliweiss shakily raised a hand, trying to touch that little face.

And Rose cooperated, leaning into the gesture when Liliweiss's hand overlapped with her cheek.

Even though she touched nothing at all, to Liliweiss, the hologram before her felt more vivid and alive than anyone else.

Then Rose's figure flickered and reappeared nearby on the floor.

Her appearance changed.

A translucent flight suit materialized over her body.

[Senpai, even if you might not rember it anymore, you once said you wanted to see the beautiful blue sky again.]

She snapped her fingers.

Charon imdiately felt Shittim Chest heating up in his chest–Rose was consuming an enormous amount of processing power.

In the next instant, the surrounding world vanished.

The entire cafeteria, except for the floor beneath them, transford into a breathtaking scene ten thousand ters above the earth.

Not only everyone else–even Charon himself widened his eyes in shock.

When the hell had this girl ported over the projection functions?!

Wasn't that supposed to be the entertainnt room system from the hideout?!

[I still can't personally take you up there myself… but I perfectly reconstructed the sky data from that day. Every cloud. Every ray of sunlight. Exactly as it was.]

The deafening roar of jet engines erupted from every direction around them.

It was the sound of fighter jets breaking the sound barrier.

Amid everyone's gasps, two holographic fighter jets burst through the clouds.

Liliweiss's eyes reddened almost instantly.

Those were her aircraft from back then.

Even the wingman was there.

[Right now, I don't have a body. But I can fly as data. And this ti… I'll never fall again.]

Then everyone's perspective shifted into the cockpit view–exactly the scenery the invincible pilot of those days would once have seen on a regular basis.

anwhile, the wingman aircraft flew ahead, trailing a long rainbow-colored smoke line across the sky.

The smoke ford gigantic words.

[Welco Back, Ace.]

Back then, Liliweiss had been the ACE of the air force–the strongest trump card.

As the passionate music gradually quieted down, all the projections vanished.

The cafeteria returned to its original appearance.

Rose, anwhile, remained sitting quietly on Liliweiss's lap in hologram form.

[So? Did you like it, Senpai?!]

Liliweiss finally snapped out of her daze.

Tears burst from her eyes almost instantly.

"Y-you made such a huge spectacle out of this… now I want to cry again. How are you going to compensate for that?"

Yet despite her words, she was smiling.

"But haven't you already started crying?"

Their eyes t.

Both of them revealed dazzling smiles that looked exactly alike.

"But… not bad flying, my wingman."

"Waaah… whoaa…" The glow in Red Hood's eyes had beco almost absurdly intense. "Th-th-that thing just now–what WAS it?! It was super insanely cool! Can you do it again?!"

"Red Hood…" Scarlet and Dorothy's expressions darkened almost simultaneously.

"Ugh… my bad…" Red Hood laughed awkwardly and obediently shrank back into her seat, pitifully looking toward Snow White for help.

But Snow White ignored her completely.

"I have to admit… that was incredibly cool. You even managed to fool . Did you plan this whole performance from the beginning?" Charon asked jokingly.

[Hehe. Anyway… thank you, my Commander~]