NIKKE, Swordmaster Ark Succubus Daily

"But how could the money have disappeared?"

Peony still couldn't understand.

"Ah, you're not only stupid, you're a bit dumb." Li Zuoyi snatched the black card from her hand and said, "It's not that it's gone, it's that it never existed. There was never any money in these cards to begin with!"

"But my friend..."

"She lied to you and then tried to pin the blame on you."

"What evidence do you have!" Peony crushed the black cards and glared at him.

Li Zuoyi pointed outside the door, "When I scanned the card just now, I triggered a trap in the card. They should have surrounded this house by now."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a fierce gunshot rang out, and the door panel shattered into pieces.

Both Li Zuoyi and Mudan managed to dodge the attack using their own abilities.

"Later, remember to introduce your friend to me. I'd like to express my gratitude to her in person." Li Zuoyi drew his long sword from his waist.

"How could this be..." Peony was still questioning her life, but she knew now was not the time to hesitate, so she pulled out her machine gun from under the sofa.

No matter what, the priority is to leave alive so that she can confront him directly.

At that moment, voices urging surrender came from outside the house.

"Terrorists heading to Paradise, listen up! You are surrounded! Surrender immediately and accept the sanctions of the Ark Central Government!"

"You were a terrorist?" "You were a terrorist?"

Li Zuoyi pointed the tip of his sword at Mudan, while Mudan pointed her gun at him.

"Uh-huh?"

"You're not?" "You're not?"

"I can't be." "I can't be."

The two quickly answered each other.

“I don’t want to be shot as a terrorist,” Li Zuoyi suggested. “We need to cooperate.”

At this point, there was no other way.

Regardless of whether Peony is a terrorist or not, escaping is the most important thing.

Chapter Thirty-Two? The Queen of the Underworld?

'Bang bang bang bang'

Li Zuoyi pressed himself against the wall and glanced out the window. The wall, which was being used as cover, now had several more bullet holes.

The other party was also keeping a close eye on them.

“I can see seven people from my side.” He turned to look at Peony at the other end of the room and asked, “What about your side?”

Peony squatted down and quickly walked towards him in small steps, saying, "About ten people."

“There might be more we haven’t seen yet…” Li Zuoyi roughly understood the current situation; it wasn’t looking good.

He can't just go out and reveal his identity now, and if the other party remembers his face, he might be investigated later.

There happened to be a funny clown mask nearby, so he picked it up and put it on.

Remembering the swordsman's amazing feat in front of C1's gate, Peony asked hopefully, "Can your swordsmanship defeat them?"

In the glance Li Zuoyi had just made, he saw that the soldiers outside were wearing proper armbands, unlike the 'unregistered' unit he had encountered before. Even if he killed them, it wouldn't matter.

He said, "Regardless of their capabilities, the other side is a regular army of the central government. If we kill them in the outer area, the residents here will be the ones who suffer."

Peony glanced at the longsword in his hand: "I know! I just wanted to ask if we could use the scabbard or something to knock them unconscious..."

"You watch too many TV dramas..."

"Is it not okay?" Peony looked somewhat disappointed.

“No, I can.” Li Zuo sheathed his sword and said, “However, if we hold back, the other side may not be willing to do so.”

That is, the issue of gun line.

Without knowing the location of all the enemy personnel, rushing out recklessly might result in taking down five or six people, but it's not guaranteed that you'll be able to evade the fire of the others.

Li Zuoyi can enhance his physical body with his mental power, but he is not bulletproof...

If he's shot in a vital area, he'll be finished.

If it were just a simple escape, he might have a chance on his own, but with Mudan involved, it's practically impossible.

Use your mental power to create flames or form a barrier with strong winds...

No, Li Zuoyi doesn't want to use this ability in front of everyone on the Ark.

Previously, it was Lapi and the others who helped cover it up, but this way, it's easy for someone with ulterior motives to notice.

"What should we do?" Several more bullet holes appeared in the wall next to Peony, and she felt that the enemy was slowly approaching them.

Li Zuoyi now had no choice but to take a risk: "We need to find a way to make some noise to attract their attention. We'll both break through in the same direction, and then..."

"All we need to do is distract them, right?" Peony smiled confidently. "I'll do it."

"You have a way?" Li Zuoyi looked at her in surprise.

Could she actually be the type who is wise in disguise?

"I'm counting on you from now on. I trust you, swordsman."

Peony stood up abruptly and walked out the door openly. She threw the machine gun aside, raised her hands, and shouted:

"I'm out! Look at me!"

"Very well, that way I've captured all their attention..." Peony waved her arms at the curious soldiers: "Look at me! Look at me! Look at me!"

The soldiers were all puzzled by her actions and subconsciously looked at her, with the same thought popping into their minds: Is this person not smart enough?

I overestimated her intelligence... Li Zuoyi listened to Mudan's shouts outside and realized that he was the real fool who had acted so wisely just now.

He thought that Peony would do something like kicking down the crumbling wall, raising dust to obscure the opponent's vision, and quickly maneuvering around the opponent to avoid being targeted by multiple guns.

Who would have thought that she would use this method to get out and attract all the gunfire?

Do you think of yourself as a tin man?

Just like in a shooting game, when you're being targeted by multiple guns, a pro will try to avoid their attacks, but his bronze-level friend dares to just go straight out and engage in a direct gunfight with the opponent.

"I am Peony from the Peony Society, not a member who has entered Heaven." Peony tried to state her identity, hoping that the other party would understand that they had the wrong person.

"The Peony Gathering? Never heard of it." The squad leader shook his head. "Anyway, they're all lowly people from the outer districts, and potential terrorists."

The squad leader raises his arm, and as soon as he lowers it, his men will fire.

Sensing the other party's murderous intent, Peony cried out again, "I really didn't..."

"Idiot, even though you bought yourself enough time, if you do this again next time, I'll abandon you."

The swordsman's voice reached my ears, but a blur flashed before my eyes, followed by a gust of wind that blotted out the sky.

The strong winds whipped up dust, creating violent mini tornadoes on the flat ground.

Peony steadied herself, but the sand squinted her eyes, making it impossible to see anything. Her ears were filled with sharp whistling sounds, and she could hear nothing else.

But it came and went quickly; the tornado lasted only ten seconds before dissipating.

When Mudan opened her eyes again, the soldier in front of her was lying motionless on the ground, presumably unconscious.

Wow, that's amazing! Is that swordsmanship? Incredible!

Peony was incredibly excited, feeling just like the swordsman she had dreamed of as a child.

"No, don't move, you monster!"

Upon hearing the sound, Peony immediately turned around and saw the swordsman holding the hilt of his sword, stabbing a soldier unconscious with a backhand.

But near a pile of garbage close to the house, two soldiers stood with their guns raised, trembling as they aimed at the swordsman.

"A fish that slipped through the net..." Li Zuoyi dealt with everyone he could see, but he still missed someone closest to the house, and there was someone else...

Just as the two soldiers were about to pull the trigger, Li Zuoyi was about to dodge when he heard Mudan roar angrily.

"Ahhhhh!!!"

He saw Peony rushing towards the two soldiers. The soldiers tried to turn their guns around, but Peony had already reached them.

She clenched her fists and punched them hard in the abdomen. The two men arched their backs, trembled like shrimp, and then collapsed.

The two soldiers collapsed limply, and Peony turned to the swordsman and said, "That's it!"

But instead, she saw a swordsman with his hands raised, and a group of men in black suits beside him aiming guns at him.

Upon seeing the men in black automatically part, a woman dressed quite boldly stepped out, exuding a powerful aura.

The woman's striking black and white hair, parted in two, was eye-catching. She wore an expensive-looking white fur cloak, and her exposed forearms and right lower abdomen were covered in intricate tattoos.

"It's good to see you so energetic, Peony." The woman seemed to know Peony. She carried a Thompson submachine gun and walked over to Li Zuoyi in her black boots, glancing at him.

"Peony, is he your latest underling? I just saw him, he's pretty good. Hey bro, are you interested in coming here?"

"Rosanna, why are you here?" Peony didn't expect another queen of the underworld to appear here and questioned her.

Chapter Thirty-Three: I Don't Want Your Money

"Why?" Rosanna laughed as if she had heard a joke, "Now in the outer region, who doesn't know that you, Peony, have 300 million credits? Even if I am the boss of Hedonia, I also want to earn some pocket money."

Hedonia… Li Zuoyi had a vague impression of it; Hedonia seemed to be a rather large mafia organization within Ark.

While he was in military school, he would occasionally hear news of Hedonia fighting with other gangs for territory, but strangely, the news never reported on these things.

It appears to be a powerful organization.

"I have no money at all!" Peony shouted at Rosanna, "So, you'd better let the swordsman leave!"

"Even if I believe you, do you think the hyenas in the outer perimeter who can smell your scent will believe you? They'll just tear you to pieces..."

Rosanna became serious. "If you don't resolve this 300 million issue quickly, a lot of people in the outer region will die. I advise you to hand it over as soon as possible."

"I thought I had it, but now I really don't!" Peony rubbed her hair in frustration. Money, money, money, why does everyone only want money?

Why was the 300 million thing exposed...? Li Zuoyi frowned under the clown mask.

Not only are the underground banks looking for them, but the Mafia is too. Doesn't this make things even more complicated?!

Just then, an unfamiliar voice came from the direction of the peony.

"I'd like to know, Peony, how did you get 300 million?"

Li Zuoyi looked in the direction of the sound and saw a woman in a black kimono walking towards him, followed by a group of people in formal Japanese attire, each of whom was carrying heavy weapons.

“Oh my, isn’t this the leader of the Qingming Society, our Miss Sakura?” Rosanna raised her gun, a smile of excitement on her face. “You want a piece of the pie too? Sorry, Hedonia has already reserved it.”

“Rosanna, Qingming has never needed you to tell him what to do.” Sakura said haughtily, holding a long pipe and raising her chin.

The Qingming Society... Li Zuoyi heard that it was a conservative gang, like a yakuza organization in the Far East.

Unlike the high-profile mafia like Hedonia, which can engage in street brawls, the Ching Ming Society appears low-key and reserved, and there are rumors that they manage most of the black market in Ark.

Undoubtedly, the Qingming Society is also a lord of the dark side of Ark.

With the two major factions of Ark gathering here for the sake of 300 million, Li Zuoyi felt a bit of pressure.

"Peony, tell me, where did that money come from?" Sakura asked, holding her pipe.

Peony was somewhat conflicted. She knew that these two wouldn't let her go unless she said something, so she said:

"I got it from my friend."

“Which friend?” Rosanna then asked.

Li Zuoyi had heard about this so-called friend several times, but he didn't know who it was. If he could find out its identity, he could act on his own.

But to my surprise, Peony sat down cross-legged on the ground like an old man, and said with her head down, "She is my friend, and I will not betray my friend."

Li Zuoyi sighed helplessly. "Your friend has clearly betrayed you. You really are a complete idiot."