Nikke, something’s seriously wrong with this evacuation point! Chapter 27 27: Do you have any clues?

Andrew let out a long, heavy breath of relief.

He really didn't want to imagine what would have happened if Charon hadn't co back.

First, Liliweiss, no matter how she explained it, she would still be seen as soone who abandoned her superior and left the battlefield despite possessing overwhelming power. That alone would classify her as a deserter.

If that happened, Alex's faction would seize the opportunity to interfere with the continuation of the Nikke project. They might not completely destroy it, but they would certainly make future developnt far more difficult.

Second, VTC would also suffer a severe blow. The military could easily shift all bla onto them. After all, the original mission given by the military was only long-range observation, yet VTC had pushed for direct engagent, and even the investigation regarding the orbital elevator could be dragged into it. In the eyes of the governnt, VTC's "cris" could easily beco unforgivable.

The truth was, compared to the governnt, VTC placed far more importance on the Nikke weapon system. Their cooperation was essential for developnt and future evolution of Nikke units. For Andrew, such super-soldiers were necessary, human soldiers simply couldn't handle the pressure of fighting Raptures alone.

"Andrew, I rember you said you basically replaced Alex's position, right?" Charon suddenly asked before heading to the VTC research facility.

"More or less. At least that's the level of authority I've been given right now."

Andrew waved his hand, and the soldiers who had been standing by imdiately dispersed. For them, not having to fight Raptures was a relief, they moved faster than anyone else.

"Alright, it's just the two of us now. Ask whatever you want." Andrew walked alongside Charon as they headed toward the command center.

So Charon explained everything that had happened in the logistics center, focusing especially on the manual control lever for the orbital elevator.

"Do you know the pulling sequence for the lever?" Charon frowned.

Andrew opened his mouth, confusion written all over his face.

"…What?"

Well. That was bad.

Seeing the "you're completely useless" look in Charon's eyes, Andrew got annoyed.

"Damn it, I only have the sa clearance level, it doesn't an I know everything right now. Wait here, I'll check imdiately!"

By then they had reached the command center. Andrew suddenly beca energized.

"I'll bring you answers! Go see your new sweetheart or whatever!"

"Get lost!" Charon laughed and cursed back, then turned toward the VTC research facility.

There was no rush.

Even if he rushed now, it wouldn't help. He wasn't a specialist in NIMPH research, his knowledge was basically zero. If Abe and Karen couldn't solve it, then rushing in would only cause trouble.

And more importantly, he was Liliweiss's commander. He couldn't afford to act emotionally in front of other soldiers. He represented more than just himself.

Most importantly, he trusted VTC's technical capability.

Through familiar corridors, Charon arrived at the laboratory.

Unexpectedly, the one waiting at the entrance this ti was Abe, holding a cup of coffee.

"You're here." Abe said expressionlessly, taking a heavy sip. Her dark circles seed even worse than before.

"Karen is treating her. I'll explain the situation."

Without waiting for a response, she pushed the door open and walked in.

Typical engineer-type behavior, huh?

Charon followed her into the lab.

Inside, Karen stood in front of a machine, her expression more serious than he had ever seen before. Liliweiss lay inside a diagnostic chamber with her eyes closed.

"What happened?" Charon asked, clearly caught off guard by her sudden hospitalization.

"Don't rush. Co here." Abe led him to the control panel.

On the screen was a waveform chart.

"This shows Liliweiss's energy output during combat. It reflects how much of her internal power she is using… well, explaining it fully would take dozens of pages, but you should be able to see the problem."

"There are gaps." Charon imdiately noticed the periodic flat interruptions in the waveform.

"Exactly. Those correspond to the monts she experienced dizziness. In those instants, her body refused to execute her commands."

"You an… NIMPH malfunctioned?" Charon frowned deeply.

"Impressive. You got it instantly," Abe said, putting down her empty coffee cup. "Yes. NIMPH."

"It seems that at those monts, the NIMPH in her brain issued a 'STOP' command. Even the strongest Nikke, Liliweiss, cannot override an instinct-level command like that."

"Heh, I actually have sothing to add here, Professor Abe, Commander." Karen smiled as she stepped forward. "Good news and bad news. Which one would you like first?"

"Bad news." Charon answered imdiately.

"Oh, so that's your type, Commander…"

Then she continued:

"The bad news is, Liliweiss's NIMPH had a piece of code embedded inside it. It can interfere with NIMPH behavior, mainly restricting Nikke actions. 'Stop' is only the most basic function."

"Yes. And that code is surprisingly high-privilege. It can even self-replicate. If left alone, the consequences would be catastrophic." Abe added.

"And the good news?" Charon asked.

"The good news is, it's already been deleted by and Professor Abe~" Karen smiled brightly. "So Liliweiss will be back to normal soon~"

"Based on the data collected from the belt, fortunately that code didn't interfere with her combat performance yet. But if it had continued replicating, within a month she might have beco completely immobile. At that point, we would have had to replace her entire NIMPH, but…" Abe hesitated.

"Unfortunately, current technology cannot replace NIMPH. Its integration with the brain is irreversible," Karen finished smoothly.

"So now there's only one question left." Charon stepped forward, staring at Liliweiss.

"Where did she get infected with that code?"

He turned back, his gaze sharp.

"Do either of you have any clues?"