Nikke, something’s seriously wrong with this evacuation point! Chapter 84 84: You’re Seriously Using Them to Produce the Pe

On one rare day without a mission, Charon wasn't training for once.

Instead, he was lying on the rooftop basking in the winter sunlight when the radio at his waist suddenly crackled to life.

After answering it, Barnes's voice ca through.

[Lieutenant Ron? Co… co to the command room for a mont.]

Charon thought for half a second before replying, "Understood."

This was probably the first ti Barnes had ever voluntary contacted him.

Normally the man just drifted through each day doing the bare minimum. He barely interacted with the other Nikkes either. The only real exchanges between them had happened because Charon occasionally brought him supplies to "maintain the relationship."

Don't misunderstand.

It was basically psychological bribery.

If Charon wanted Barnes to stop causing trouble, that kind of bribery was necessary. As for where those supplies ca from, Barnes never asked.

The mont Charon arrived outside the command room, he saw Rose hurrying over from the opposite direction.

"Rose? What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I ca to see the lieutenant… You too?"

A trace of urgency lingered on Rose's face, as if she were suppressing certain emotions. But whenever she faced Charon, she still forced herself to wear her trademark gentle smile.

"The lieutenant called over."

"In that case, please go ahead first." Rose stepped aside politely.

Charon glanced at her, nodded, and entered the command room directly.

The door shut behind him.

He knew perfectly well Rose wouldn't obediently wait outside.

There was an eighty percent chance she was already preparing to eavesdrop.

...

Inside the room, Barnes was puffing away on a cigarette Charon had given him a few days earlier–one of the few hard currencies left these days.

The mont he saw Charon, Barnes imdiately put on a serious expression.

"Lieutenant Ron, I called you here for a simple warning." Barnes lowered his voice. "Your recent behavior has exceeded your authority."

"That's news to . Mind explaining?" Charon crossed his arms.

Exceeded his authority?

He genuinely didn't rember ever replacing Barnes and issuing direct orders to the Nikkes. Besides, this observer position had practically been invented on the spot–how much authority it actually had was unclear even to him.

"I'm talking about those Nikkes." Barnes adopted a lecturing tone. "A Nikkes duty is to risk their life fighting for humanity. As humans benefiting from their sacrifice, we shouldn't interfere with their judgnt or actions."

"Since you're officially an observer, then focus on observing. Stay out of areas beyond your authority."

"You have to understand–they're prototype units. Combat losses are part of the final data collection. If the data becos inaccurate, can you take responsibility and provide corrected results?"

He paused before continuing.

"Humanity's resources are limited. Every single coin must be spent wisely. That's why these prototype models need perfectly accurate data–to pave the road for future generations of Nikkes."

It sounded reasonable enough.

Too bad he kept glancing at the script on his monitor every few seconds while talking.

"..."

Charon stared silently at Barnes, trying to see through him.

Despite technically outranking Charon by half a rank, Barnes clearly didn't dare maintain eye contact. He quickly looked away, completely different from the confident act he had while reading from the script.

"A-anyway," Barnes coughed awkwardly, "starting next mission, you're forbidden from entering within one hundred ters of the battlefield. I can even apply for a reconnaissance drone for you. The latest model. How about it?"

"I'll pass." Charon shrugged. "Instead of that, maybe hurry up and get those repair parts approved for them. Three Nikkes are already unable to fight."

"I know, I know! You don't need to remind about that..." Barnes waved impatiently. "That's all. You can go now. I'll handle the drone application."

Charon narrowed his eyes slightly but didn't bother arguing further.

After all, he wasn't the true commanding officer here–just soone forcibly inserted into the unit.

Still…

Sothing was obviously wrong.

From Barnes's wording, Charon could already tell:

His rescue efforts on the battlefield had interfered with so larger military plan.

...

When Charon stepped back outside, no one was there.

Rose had vanished as if she had never appeared in the first place.

Did she hear the conversation?

Rose was smart–easily the smartest person in this squad.

If even Charon could read between Barnes's lines, then what conclusions had she reached?

...

Later that afternoon, atop the dormitory building, Charon basked beneath the winter sunlight while dialing a satellite phone.

"Hey–wait, don't get excited first. Is Professor Abe there?"

"No, it's not that I don't want to talk to you. Be good and hand the phone to Professor Abe first."

A brief pause later–

"Ahem. Professor Abe, what exactly is going on with the lee squad's missions lately? It feels like headquarters is trying to get them killed. Don't tell the whole squad's going to be wiped out before I even reach the place I'm aiming for. Help investigate what's happening."

"Paynt? What kind of paynt do you want?"

"...I'll think about it later. Stop ssing around, this is important."

"Alright. Thanks."

After hanging up, Charon let out a long breath and opened his map.

Rose's current location was only a little over ten kiloters away now.

Once the nearby missions were finished, he would probably have to part ways with this squad during the journey toward the next destination.

Honestly, he could even leave imdiately if he wanted.

There was no need to wait for them anymore.

At this point, only seven Nikkes in the lee squad could still fight normally. The remaining three had either lost limbs or suffered injuries severe enough to make combat impossible.

Charon lay back down without resuming training.

He trusted Abe's efficiency.

Sure enough, less than thirty minutes later, an email arrived.

The contents were short.

But after reading them, Charon's expression darkened instantly.

Then he sucked in a sharp breath.

"These bastards actually dared to do this…"

His face filled with disbelief.

"This is insane. It's only been a few years."

From the day Liliweiss first debuted on the big screen until now, only five years had passed.

And they'd already forgotten what Nikkes existed for?

Instead of properly valuing and utilizing such a powerful unit–

they were raising them as test subjects?

The email's explanation was brutally simple.

The lee squad had never truly been created to reclaim territory.

Its real purpose was a different kind of "stress test."

Under increasingly intense life-and-death pressure, whichever lee Nikke survived until the very end would be rewarded with a Fairy Tale-model body and officially beco Fairy Tale Unit No. 6, joining the Goddess Squad.

And how would they narrow it down to one survivor?

Simple.

Natural attrition on the battlefield.

The weak would die.

The strong would remain.

That was all.

From beginning to end, the sole purpose of the lee squad was to produce the "Perfect Candidate".

Nothing more.

And Charon, completely unintentionally, had slowed that process down.

The reduced casualty rates. The worsening supply shortages.

Those were all planned.

Which was why Barnes, as soone aware of the truth, had no choice but to step in. But because Charon was technically an outsider, Barnes couldn't reveal the full details directly. That was why he could only issue vague warnings indirectly.

What a waste.

An absolutely fucking colossal waste.

During the ti he had spent with them, Charon had genuinely grown close to the squad.

Whether it was Rose, the hopelessly doting older sister…

Scarlet, the sword fanatic…

or even the ordinary Nikkes transford from ordinary people–

they were all living beings.

Yet they were being treated as disposable fuel for manufacturing a Fairy Tale-class Nikke.

Charon could not just stand by and let this happen.

But he also couldn't simply kill Barnes.

That man was only a puppet standing at the front.

The ones truly responsible were the people behind him–

the Central Governnt itself.

Looks like…

he would have to find another way to solve this problem.