Nikke, something’s seriously wrong with this evacuation point! Chapter 37 37: Comparing Answers

Liliweiss had completely lost consciousness. Her brain had fully shut down. Even if she were given an antidote round right now, her body would still need ti to recover. Even if that ti was less than a minute, it could still be enough for her to be killed.

Yet even in unconsciousness, Liliweiss still tightly held onto the dagger.

It was the last thing she touched before falling into darkness, sothing given to her by her Commander.

Charon stood up, took out the small device, and placed it onto the gate.

Soon, whatever it did, the electronic panel that had constantly displayed "Insufficient Authorization" finally showed:

[Ergency Unlock]

And with that, the tightly sealed elevator doors finally opened.

Looks like Karen hadn't lied about this part.

Charon glanced at the remaining mission ti, five minutes left. He had to hurry and carry Liliweiss inside.

A Nikke's weight in combat mode was no joke. Even with his training, Charon had to exert real effort to drag her in.

"...Hah."

He exhaled sharply. Outside, gunfire roared, clearly, the NPC units were still dominating. After all, the Raptures couldn't break through a kill zone ford by more than a dozen of those units.

But once they disappeared… things would get ugly.

Just as Charon was about to focus on finishing the mission, the electronic panel flickered–

A familiar face appeared on the screen.

[Hello, Mr. Charon. Is everything going smoothly?]

"Not surprising, Ms. Karen," Charon said calmly. "So far, so good… but I doubt you're here just to ask that."

[Oh my, what do you an?] Karen feigned surprise, then returned to her usual charming smile.

"Drop the act," Charon said flatly. "I only suspected it before, but now that you're here, I'm certain, you're the one behind all this."

[That's a bit of a stretch, isn't it? I don't quite understand what you're saying. I'm just here to check on Miss Liliweiss's progress.]

"You don't think it's strange," Charon continued, "that you know the governnt's setup in such detail? You knew nearly every step, and even provided targeted 'solutions.' Do you think I'm stupid, or do you think the governnt's intelligence departnt is?"

[Hmm… interesting. Go on.]

Charon crossed his arms and leaned against the wall.

"The governnt's goal is obvious, they want Liliweiss dead. From what I understand, there are three main reasons."

He raised one finger.

"First: she killed Gluttony with absurd ease, sothing humanity couldn't do at all before."

Second finger.

"Second: her test data proves she's far beyond the governnt's control. Like you said, she could flip the entire board whenever she wants."

Third finger.

"Third: during the test, even if it was under my command, she abandoned a human commander and withdrew. I think she made the right call, but in the governnt's eyes, it ans she could kill anyone if ordered."

"Or worse, beco a 'demon king' and destroy humanity's last hope."

"So she has to die. But not by human hands. Because she's still humanity's hope. The soldiers, us commanders, we all support the Nikke project. What, are they going to kill all of us too? They had no choice."

Karen smiled and applauded softly.

[Brilliant. That matches everything I know.]

"So they contacted Alex," Charon continued, "and reached out to the only two VTC researchers here, you and Abe. Though now it seems they only contacted you."

[Well, Professor Abe is a pure researcher devoted to defeating Raptures. She'd never agree to destroying Liliweiss. You're doing great so far, I have no objections.]

"You and Alex planted a virus in her system. What I don't get is, why not activate it imdiately back then?"

[Two reasons.] Karen answered plainly now.

[First, I needed to test the NIMPH effects. And installing the backdoor required both you and Abe to be out of the way.]

[Second… I couldn't let you die. The governnt specifically wants you alive.]

"How touching," Charon said expressionlessly.

"So why approach again and again?"

Karen smiled.

[Simple. I never intended to truly destroy Miss Liliweiss.]

She continued without waiting:

[Do you know what the relay station has beco?]

[It's now a transfer hub for Raptures. The Queen produces them in orbit, sends them to the station, and from there, to Earth.]

[Their core code is implanted there. And interestingly, the process is very similar to how NIMPH is implanted into a Nikke's brain.]

[The war has lasted a long ti. Raptures are getting stronger, more nurous.]

[At this rate, humanity will eventually be wiped out.]

[So I thought… how can humanity survive?]

She smiled wider.

[And then I realized–]

[If humans beco friends with Raptures… wouldn't that solve everything?]

She looked straight at Charon.

[Miss Liliweiss is the first gift to them.]