Nikke, something’s seriously wrong with this evacuation point! Chapter 93 93: You Never Saw Me Here, Understand?

Ti rewound to when the group had just split up.

About twenty minutes into the search, Rose's team found the destination.

It was a narrow path hidden within the cliffside. If you weren't paying attention, you would never notice it. Behind a patch of overgrown grass, between cracks in the rocks, there was actually a passage wide enough for two people to walk side by side.

Rose took the lead while No. 03 guarded the rear as they carefully entered the path.

"Wait."

Halfway through, Rose suddenly spoke in a low voice. Both of them froze.

"Captain, what is it?"

"There are footprints… very fresh. But why are they on the rock wall?"

Rose stared at the faint footprint imprinted on the cliff. Looking upward, she soon spotted a second footprint about three ters higher on the opposite wall.

"A wall jump…"

Her voice was filled with disbelief.

The footprints clearly belonged to a human-sized female. In other words, they most likely belonged to a Nikke.

More importantly, leaving visible marks on solid rock already exceeded what ordinary Nikkes could do – yet this person had practically run up the wall.

Still, there were people capable of such things.

Almost imdiately, the words Goddess Squad surfaced in Rose's mind.

But she couldn't believe it.

There was no reason for the Goddess Squad to appear here. They should still be fighting on the front lines.

"Let's keep moving for now," Rose said quietly.

If it really was the Goddess Squad, then ironically their safety would be guaranteed.

The only question was: why were they here?

Judging from the footprint size, she couldn't determine exactly who it was. Maybe Red Hood… or perhaps Dorothy?

Regardless of who it was, Rose suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to et them.

Soon, the two reached the end of the narrow path.

At first glance, it looked like a dead end, but Rose stood before the stone wall and fell into brief contemplation.

"Captain, could the entrance actually be above us?" No. 03 tilted her head upward.

"No. It's here."

Rose's gaze sharpened as her fingers brushed across the rock surface.

"There's sothing behind this wall."

"Should we blow it up?"

No. 03's eyes sparkled faintly. Ever since unrestricted combat training began, she had developed an unhealthy enthusiasm for explosives.

"No. Stop trying to blow everything up. This place won't survive your thods."

After carefully observing the wall, Scarlet stepped back slightly and unsheathed Fleetly Fading.

She swung only twice.

Then the blade slid back into its sheath.

At the sa instant, the rock wall crumbled into pieces and collapsed to the ground, revealing a hidden passage leading deep into the mountain.

There were unmistakable signs of artificial construction.

"Captain, this…"

"Let's go. This should be the place the Lieutenant wanted us to find."

Sword in hand, Rose walked straight inside.

"Stay five ters behind . If any traps activate, retreat imdiately and notify the others. Understood?"

"Yes."

Although they had prepared themselves ntally, the place was even more desolate than Rose expected.

Traps? Security systems?

None.

Who would place deadly traps inside a governnt research facility? If they malfunctioned, the precious researchers would die first.

There was no electricity. The two carried portable lights as they advanced through the pitch-black corridors.

The silence was absolute.

Still, they weren't particularly afraid. To them, the only truly terrifying thing in the world was the endless swarm of Raptures.

Inside, Rose found docunts abandoned during the evacuation years ago.

Anything truly important had already been destroyed. The things left behind held little recovery value.

Mostly logs and maintenance records.

After thoroughly searching the level and finding nothing important, they arrived at the end of the corridor.

There, they found an empty elevator shaft descending into darkness below.

For a lee Nikke squad, this posed no problem.

As long as there was a ladder, they could climb.

After checking its stability, the two descended roughly twenty ters before reaching the bottom.

The area wasn't large, but the mont they saw the equipnt there, both froze.

Because it was too familiar.

So familiar that neither of them knew what to say.

When they had first awakened and accepted their identities as Nikkes, it had been before machines exactly like these.

The final awakening process for a Nikke took place inside sothing resembling these incubation chambers.

Except this room was charred black.

The central chamber had exploded so violently that only fragnts of reinforced glass remained, and nearby machinery had partially lted from extre heat exposure.

"Captain! Captain, over here!"

No. 03 suddenly called out excitedly.

In her hands was a bouquet of flowers.

"This…"

Flowers?

Why?

"I found them in the corner over there! And this too!"

She held up a postcard.

...

To my dearest friend,

May that person guide your path.

May you rest in peace.

...

There was no signature.

Or perhaps the sender had intentionally omitted one.

"Did so kind of accident happen here?" No. 03 muttered softly.

"…No matter what, put the flowers back where you found them."

Rose sighed.

"This is clearly beyond our authority."

Whoever the flowers were ant to honor, they shouldn't interfere for now. Better to report everything to Lieutenant Ron and let him decide.

Besides…

The bouquet was far too fresh.

Just like those footprints.

"Let's leave quickly. I have a bad feeling about this."

"R-right!"

The two imdiately retraced their steps.

A twenty-ter climb ant little to them. With a few bursts of montum, they easily leapt upward.

But the mont Rose reached the top–

A chill shot from her spine straight to the top of her head.

In that instant, before she could react at all, a shadow appeared directly before her.

Too fast!

That thought flashed through her mind–

And then she realized the figure had already dragged her down into the elevator shaft.

"Captain!"

No. 03 scread.

Rose couldn't even respond.

For a brief mont, she had forgotten how to breathe.

There was no point resisting.

No point struggling.

This wasn't even a fight.

It was pure domination.

Speed. Strength. Neural response.

Every aspect overwhelmingly surpassed her own, leaving not even the slightest possibility of resistance.

"Who… are you people?"

The figure asked softly.

Her voice was incredibly gentle, like a kind older sister next door.

"We're… the lee squad," Rose answered honestly.

"Lieutenant Ron ordered us to explore this area. Please believe us – we an no harm."

The shadow fell silent for a mont.

Her gaze shifted toward the flowers.

Only after confirming they had been returned untouched did she finally nod.

"What you're here for is none of my concern."

"The important thing is this…"

"You never saw anyone here. Understood?"

At that mont, every ounce of pressure weighing down Rose vanished.

The next instant, the shadow leapt upward from a standstill and disappeared through the top of the elevator shaft.

A while later, No. 03 shakily climbed back down and looked at Rose, who was still lying flat on the ground staring upward.

"W-Who was that…? Did she really let us go?"

"…We never t her."

Rose slowly sat up.

"From this mont on, erase that person from your mory. Never speak of her again."

As expected of that person…

Even after the figure had completely vanished, Rose's heart was still surging violently.