Nikke, something’s seriously wrong with this evacuation point! Chapter 77 77: The lifespan of this lock was over

"Zero casualties… huh?" After seeing the report, Lieutenant Barnes looked like he wanted to say sothing, but after thinking for a mont, he ultimately held it back. "Good work. Ah, right… you may return and rest now. Prepare yourselves before the next mission."

"Yes." Rose did not look nearly as happy as expected. After respectfully backing out of the lieutenant's tent, she imdiately headed toward the area where the Nikke squad was resting.

The mission of this unit was, essentially, to infiltrate military bases that had been occupied by Raptures, eliminate the Raptures entrenched there, and then reclaim the facilities for humanity.

In other words, they were a sharp blade thrust deep into the enemy's rear lines, creating an opening for the human coalition–or rather, for the Goddess Squad fighting on the frontlines–to launch a counterattack. At least, that was how Barnes described it.

Though when he said those words, he had looked uncertain and evasive the entire ti. Still, Rose could only chalk it up to Barnes simply being incompetent by nature.

It didn't matter anyway. Barnes was basically just a tool for assigning missions. His main purpose was to tell them what their next target was. As for how the mission was executed–that had nothing to do with him.

"Scarlet~"

Rose pushed open a door and entered what looked like a garage.

This place was one of the spoils of war from the latest operation. Most of the surrounding buildings had not been destroyed by the Raptures and remained in good condition. Though there was no electricity or running water, they were more than enough to shield people from the wind and rain, so the lee squad had chosen this place as their temporary base of rest.

Until the next mission arrived, their duty was simply to remain stationed here and await orders.

The lee squad consisted of ten mbers. Two had been assigned to protect Barnes, while the remaining mbers had gathered inside this garage. It served not only as a resting area but also as a training ground. Given the nature of the lee squad–and Scarlet's personality in particular–there was no way she would simply waste ti idling around.

"Hm? Where's Scarlet?" Rose looked surprised. Her training-obsessed little sister was nowhere to be seen in the agreed training area. That was completely abnormal.

"Scarlet… she went out with the lieutenant a little while ago." One of the Nikkes lowered her sword and spoke cautiously. "Um, Captain, could you maybe go check on them? Scarlet looked kind of angry, and the lieutenant, he…"

"So that's what happened." Rose smiled gently. "Don't worry. No matter how she looks, Scarlet's sense of honor is greater than all of ours. No matter what happens, she would never raise a hand against a human. Besides, we have this."

She lightly tapped her own head while smiling.

NIMPH.

After the Fairy Tale models, all Nikkes were equipped with these nanomachines embedded within their brains. They allowed inexperienced Nikkes to adapt to the battlefield atmosphere quickly, while also enforcing a fundantal rule: humans must not be hard.

It was normal for these newly born Nikkes to be unfamiliar with such things. Even though they had been born into an era where Nikkes were mass-produced, they still did not truly understand what kind of beings Nikkes actually were.

"Still, you're right. Leaving the squad without permission isn't a small matter. Before the lieutenant notices, I, as captain, should take responsibility and bring the two of them back."

…

At the sa ti, Charon and Scarlet were walking along a narrow forest trail.

The path was covered in moss, clearly untouched for many years–possibly even since before the Raptures invaded the surface.

After all, once a military base was established nearby, civilian roads like this would naturally have been sealed off.

At that mont, Charon was staring at the display on his terminal, watching the markers on the minimap.

"It should be sowhere around here…" he muttered, before glancing back over his shoulder. "Hey, say sothing, would you? Hearing nothing but footsteps is kind of creepy."

Not far behind him, Scarlet silently followed with an icy expression. Her eyes were filled with irritation.

"Alright, alright, I admit using my personal safety to pressure you into coming was wrong. But I really don't have a choice here. I need your help."

"Stop making a fool of , Lieutenant. Finish whatever business you have quickly and return to the squad." Scarlet was genuinely exhausted.

She truly never expected this.

She had only just settled down and already arranged her training plans. She had even been preparing for a fiery sparring session with her beloved older sister. Life could not have felt more satisfying.

Yet less than a few minutes after arriving, this guy suddenly approached her and claid he needed help going sowhere.

Naturally, her first reaction had been refusal. After all, it had nothing to do with the lee squad's mission. She had every right to ignore him.

But then this man sohow managed to fail even at shaless pestering. He simply apologized and turned around to leave.

Straight into mountains where Raptures could appear at any mont.

Scarlet's scalp nearly exploded from stress.

She had seen plenty of cowards terrified of death before.

But she had never seen soone so utterly unafraid of dying.

If she just let him wander off and he ended up dead out there, then fine–her being dismantled afterward wouldn't matter much. But if it dragged her sister and the entire lee squad down with him, that was absolutely unacceptable.

So no matter what, she had to ensure this idiot stayed alive, even if it ant gritting her teeth and following him.

Besides…

It wasn't as if she had no interest in Charon whatsoever.

The sword strike he perford earlier still replayed itself inside her mind.

There had been no exquisite technique behind it. In fact, from a swordsman's perspective, his stance and force application had been crude and clumsy.

And yet, with that single slash, he instantly killed a Rapture.

Humans–even with firearms–often couldn't even damage Raptures.

But he had done it.

If Scarlet were to dismiss it as re coincidence, then she would have to start questioning whether all her years of swordsmanship had been learned for nothing.

She wanted to know exactly what kind of existence Charon was.

A weak and fragile human, yet absurdly fearless.

And more importantly–

When he asked her to teach him swordsmanship before…

Had he truly been sincere?

"We're here."

Charon's sudden voice snapped Scarlet back to reality.

She hadn't sensed any danger at all, so her gaze imdiately shifted toward him.

"This place is…" Scarlet's eyes moved past Charon and toward the massive villa ahead of them.

Three stories tall.

Including the courtyard, the estate probably covered over two thousand square ters. The road leading to the front gate had long since been blown apart. No one knew what had happened here years ago. Now, greenery had swallowed everything.

"No clue. Probably so rich person's sumr estate or sothing from back then."

Charon pulled a crowbar from sowhere unknown and began tapping lightly against the chain wrapped around the iron gate.

The MVP Crowbar.

This ti, Charon had deliberately stuffed several of them into his backpack. In this world, tools like these were plentiful. Unfortunately, their quality wasn't as good as the previous one he once had, aning they no longer possessed the rule-defying lockpicking ability.

But physical lockpicking still worked just fine.

…What exactly was he doing?

Scarlet narrowed her eyes in confusion.

Even if he intended to break the chain, tapping it lightly like that shouldn't possibly accomplish anything–

Huh?

Before she could finish the thought, the rusted chain that Charon had tapped only a dozen or so tis suddenly snapped cleanly into two pieces and dropped to the ground.

"Looks like this thing's lifespan was over,"

Charon casually remarked without explaining further, then pushed the gate open and walked inside.

Scarlet: …

Having no other choice, she followed him in.

There was no sign of Rapture presence here.

At least for now, it seed safe.