Nikke, something’s seriously wrong with this evacuation point! Chapter 91 91: The Stone Monument at the End

No one knew what had gotten into Barnes, but after that dinner, he absolutely refused to leave the underground shelter anymore.

The door stayed tightly shut at all tis, and nobody knew what he was doing inside.

One thing was certain, however.

One day, while the Nikke squad was away from base, a drone delivered an airdrop package. It contained food and daily necessities.

Yes – only for Barnes.

As for whether there had been a share intended for Charon, nobody knew.

And even if there had been, Barnes probably wouldn't have handed any of it over.

From the mont Charon chose to side with the Nikkes, Barnes had already considered him a dead man.

And dead n didn't need supplies.

As for what exactly Barnes told headquarters when requesting those supplies, Charon couldn't care less.

Right now, the only thing that mattered was figuring out how to survive without external support.

Nothing else mattered.

And so, the current situation beca this:

Barnes stayed inside his safe bunker twenty-four hours a day. Eating, sleeping, and handling all communication from within. Mission assignnts and reports were now handled entirely remotely, skipping face-to-face contact altogether.

Conveniently, this also made Charon's plans much easier.

Scavenging food from supply points had always been Charon's personal capability, not the lee squad's. As long as he stayed with them, they could continue living without worrying about food or supplies.

But just like with Liliweiss before, Charon couldn't stay beside them forever.

Teaching a man to fish was better than simply giving him fish.

And now was the perfect ti to finally make use of his new tool.

[Universal Agricultural Staff].

Until now, Charon mostly used it to create crowbars and fishing rods, but those were rely bonus functions.

...

"Everyone, assemble."

Inside the training ground, every Nikke – including Charon himself – carried large backpacks stuffed full of canned food, water, and survival supplies they had stockpiled earlier.

Honestly, if those supplies were brought back and sold within human territory, they could easily buy VIP access into the Ark. Plenty of wealthy elites would gladly pay absurd prices for such "luxury goods."

Wearing his officer uniform, Charon stood before the neatly lined-up lee squad.

At this point, he no longer looked like a re observer.

He looked like a real commander.

And judging from the way everyone interacted with him now, that wasn't far from the truth.

Officially, they were coworkers.

In reality, Charon had gradually beco the true leader of this squad.

The Nikkes wore different expressions:

confusion, anxiety, forced composure…

But not a single trace of hesitation.

Whatever awaited them ahead was simply their fate.

And anything was better than dying pointlessly.

"Check your belongings. If everything's ready, we move imdiately."

The mont Charon gave the order, the Nikkes followed without hesitation, leaving the base behind.

Of course, they would still complete their assigned missions.

It was just that… the missions might take a little longer than usual.

Their destination this ti was an unknown area more than ten kiloters away – completely outside their designated operation route.

No one knew what dangers lay ahead.

No one knew what existed at the destination.

But because they trusted him, nobody asked questions.

They simply marched.

For Nikkes, ten-plus kiloters was basically nothing. The heavy packs on their backs felt weightless compared to their physical strength.

Still, they worried whether Charon, being human, might need rest midway.

What left them stunned, however, was that after running the entire distance, Charon wasn't even breathing hard.

System power, kid.

As long as he controlled his pace within a certain range, his stamina recovery completely offset the exhaustion, allowing him to maintain a constant speed indefinitely.

The Nikkes could only stare in disbelief.

"It should be around here." Charon looked at the marker on his minimap. "If I'm not mistaken, there should be ruins of a secret research facility nearby."

"Then let's split up and search," Rose imdiately understood his intent. "Scarlet."

"Understood."

The lee squad instantly divided into five groups of two.

One group stayed with Charon.

The remaining four spread out.

Though it had never really been ntioned before – because only Scarlet and Rose had nas – the other eight Nikkes were known only by numbers.

The one accompanying Rose was No. 03.

The one beside Charon was No. 07.

"Didn't expect you to stay with , Scarlet." Charon smiled slightly at Scarlet and No. 07.

"Because everyone else has ranged suppression capability," Scarlet replied seriously. "To protect you, a close-combat specialist is more suitable."

"Then let's begin searching as quickly as possible."

"No worries, Lieutenant!" No. 07 energetically hugged the oversized gun in her arms. The thick barrel made it obvious the weapon originally belonged to a Rapture. "No matter what kind of Rapture shows up, I'll blow its damn head off first!"

"Alright, alright." Charon rubbed her head.

That sort of affectionate gesture was no longer rejected by most of the ordinary Nikkes.

After all, as mass-produced lee models, they had always been treated as disposable units. Normally, abandoning one was considered more efficient than spending resources to rescue her.

But Charon was different.

Even for "worthless" Nikkes like them, he treated them kindly.

He spent ti and effort searching for ways to help them survive.

He even opposed the governnt for their sake.

That alone was enough to earn their absolute loyalty.

As for Rose and Scarlet …

Their gratitude was just as deep.

But head pats were still a little too early for them.

Thirty minutes into the search operation, Scarlet noticed the scenery ahead gradually opening up.

Near the mountainside, the dense forest suddenly ended at a clear dividing line.

Charon led Scarlet and No. 07 past the forest boundary.

Before them stretched a vast open field.

No thick woods.

Only endless green grasslands surrounded by mountains.

Small animals played freely across the adow.

And upon noticing the trio's arrival, they didn't flee.

Instead, they cautiously approached, observing them from a safe distance.

"A place like this actually exists…" Scarlet muttered softly.

anwhile, hearts were practically appearing in No. 07's eyes.

"Waaah, that rabbit is so cute… That's a rabbit, right?"

"Probably. Wonder if we can catch it and eat it."

"Eh?! No, Scarlet! Bunnies are cute! How could you eat the bunny?!"

While the two Nikkes briefly relaxed for once, Charon's gaze moved past everything else toward a distant point.

At the very end of the grassland…

There stood a small stone monunt.

Charon's breathing quickened slightly.

But he forced himself to take a deep breath, calming his emotions.

Only then did he slowly begin walking toward the monunt.