Nikke, something’s seriously wrong with this evacuation point! Chapter 28 28: Is It Really That Simple?

At this stage, since there was only one Nikke, barely deployed for a week, the Rapture side couldn't possibly have developed any code-based attack specifically targeting Liliweiss.

And besides, Liliweiss almost always fought at long range. Outside of her encounter with the Tyrant-class Rapture, she rarely engaged in close combat. If there truly existed a Rapture capable of remotely hacking her mind and injecting malicious code, then humanity might as well abandon the Nikke project entirely.

From a technological standpoint, such a capability should not exist. At best, any code implantation would require close-range physical interaction.

So Charon reached a preliminary conclusion:

The virus was not from the Raptures.

It ca from "their own side."

Now the real questions were: when, who, and for what purpose?

Even for political motives, it made no sense to sabotage Liliweiss. The optimal approach would be to control her, not damage her. If soone truly had the capability to interfere with NIMPH-level systems, direct control would be far more valuable.

And yet, even with that logic, Charon still couldn't fully eliminate the possibility of governnt involvent.

What made it even stranger was that the code didn't seem designed to seriously harm Liliweiss, it barely interfered with her at all. Almost like it existed only to cause inconvenience.

"Indeed."

Abe seed to have anticipated Charon's suspicion. After all, since Liliweiss arrived here, only the VTC research team had handled her directly.

"I know what you're thinking," she said calmly. "But you should understand, we have no reason to disrupt the Nikke Project."

That was true. The VTC was currently one of the most active organizations pushing forward the Nikke initiative. Abandoning it would an catastrophic losses for them. Their technology, manpower, and infrastructure were already fully aligned with Nikke developnt.

For Charon, a super-soldier like Liliweiss was necessary. Fighting the Raptures placed unbearable pressure on ordinary human troops.

"...You're right," Charon said with a sigh. "We shouldn't suspect VTC."

Their future was tied directly to the Nikke project. That left only one possibility:

The governnt.

More precisely, Alex's faction.

"Wait. The belt."

Charon suddenly raised his head.

"That belt, was it made by VTC?"

"No," Abe replied, slightly surprised. "We didn't originally plan such a device. But during last night's governnt eting, it was decided we should take the opportunity to collect Liliweiss's combat data. So Karen and I assembled it overnight."

No wonder it looked so rough, yet oddly refined at the sa ti.

"Karen," Abe asked, narrowing her eyes, "who supplied the materials?"

"I took them from the armory," Karen replied casually. "Colonel Alex was quite generous."

Alex…

Charon closed his eyes.

He couldn't continue thinking yet.

"Check the belt," he said. "We must ensure nothing like this happens again."

"Karen."

"On it~"

Karen quickly brought the belt over. Abe imdiately connected it to a small terminal and began scanning.

"I apologize," she said calmly. "I didn't expect sothing like this. I failed to double-check it."

"If this is sabotage from an anti-Nikke faction," Charon replied, "then there was nothing you could've done anyway."

Even if this attempt failed, Alex likely had other thods. But the core question remained the sa:

Why?

Sabotage at this timing made no sense. Liliweiss was actively gathering valuable battlefield data for humanity.

One minute later, Abe spoke.

"There is indeed a hidden code inside. Extrely well concealed. It's disguised within the original scanning system source code. Even I almost missed it."

She paused.

"And one more thing, the authority to modify this source code… belongs only to the military."

"Any chance of a hacker?"

"Not impossible," Abe said. "But it would require physical access. And soone capable of infiltrating military systems, modifying core code, and escaping silently… does not exist in my knowledge."

Silence fell.

Charon felt sothing was wrong, but he couldn't connect the pieces.

Everything pointed toward Alex.

He could even confront him directly with this.

"Charon," Abe said seriously, "you may want to use this opportunity to your advantage."

"…I'll think about it."

Charon picked up the belt, glanced once at the unconscious Liliweiss, then turned away.

Behind him, Karen watched his back with growing interest.

"You're interested in him?" Abe asked flatly, sipping coffee.

"Oh, it's hard not to be," Karen replied with a faint smile. "But I wonder where his real interest lies~"

Command Center

Charon burst into the command center.

As expected, no Alex. Only Andrew.

"You look like you're running to your execution," Andrew said, startled. "What happened?"

Charon explained everything.

Andrew's eyes lit up.

"Hah… interesting. Very interesting. So even he slipped up at a ti like this."

Just then, the phone rang.

Andrew answered, listened for a mont, and his expression turned serious.

"Understood. I'll handle it imdiately."

He hung up.

"You're late," Andrew said, looking at Charon. "He defected."

"…Defected?" Charon frowned. "To the Raptures?"

"No. Unauthorized departure from the front line. Officially classified as desertion."

Andrew smirked.

"But that actually makes things easier for . I'm now the highest authority… aside from you."

He grabbed his coat.

"I'll go catch him. You rest for now."

At the door, he added:

"And about that gate sequence, if there's still no answer tomorrow, I'll use my authority to force it out."

Charon sat down slowly.

Holding the belt in his hand, he fell into thought.

Was everything… really that simple?