NIKKE, Swordmaster Ark Succubus Daily

"Commander, Peony has replied." Marian's hand roamed over the commander's body, reminding him that he should reply.

“But now you…” Li Zuoyi felt that the hand was making no attempt to conceal its desire, and was reaching down to a lower place.

“It’s alright.” Marian nibbled on the commander’s ear, lightly licking the earlobe with her tongue, and said, “It won’t stop you from typing. Hurry up and reply, or she’ll be getting impatient.”

……

Peony Club.

"Hey bro, so slow." Peony stared at the message on her phone screen that hadn't moved for a long time.

"Could he be thinking about how to refuse?" Rosanna leaned over and glanced at him.

"Hmm~ Rosanna... Ah, the guy replied to me, he said he's willing to go!"

Peony was so happy she almost jumped for joy. She continued chatting with the young man for a long time, and they decided on the location and time for their date.

Chapter Fifty-Six: It's Time to Keep the Promise

Deputy Commander's Office.

"Are you alright?" Anderson was startled when he saw Li Zuoyi's very dark circles under his eyes.

He's now a key target of the military's attention; it wouldn't be good if something happened to him.

Although he hoped Li Zuoyi could keep a low profile, the contribution of bringing back the heretics was too great, and it couldn't be covered up by simply changing the report.

"It's nothing, I just slept a little late," Li Zuoyi said wearily, rubbing his lower back.

“…I know Marianne’s death is a blow to you.” Anderson had already heard about it in last night’s report. “But I hope you can look forward. Her death was definitely not meaningless.”

"Hmm..." Li Zuo nodded, still wearing a seemingly sad expression.

“Now I’m going to inform you of something,” Anderson brought the matter back to the point. “After last night’s emergency meeting, the military has confirmed that the body you brought back is that of the heretic Indivilla.”

He took a deep breath and continued:

"Originally, we only hoped that you could bring back the Metis troops, but you have exceeded expectations, which has greatly exceeded Ark's expectations and brought great benefits and hope to Ark."

Anderson took out a red brocade box from under the table, opened it, picked up a blue heart medal inside, and personally pinned it on Li Zuoyi's chest.

"This is a medal that can only be awarded to those who have made great contributions to the Ark. In the 100-year history of the Ark, only seven people have received this honor."

"Were those seven people also given the badges in the deputy commander's office?" Li Zuoyi asked Anderson.

“I know you’re unhappy, but the fact that Ark has obtained heretics is still a secret from the public.” Anderson patted him on the shoulder. “Once Ark’s research yields results in a year or two, it won’t be such a simple award ceremony.”

In other words, to avoid giving the public too high expectations, they should temporarily hide it... Li Zuoyi reluctantly accepted it.

"That's not all." Anderson placed a stack of documents in front of Li Zuoyi, flipping through them one by one, and said:

"This is a special document approving your rank to jump three levels. You are now the youngest captain in history."

This is your personal allowance adjustment document. You will receive an additional allowance every time you go to the ground to perform a mission in the future.

This is a document that increases the annual funding for outpost bases by 50%.

These are documents from the three major companies granting them priority purchase rights for various special commodities;

This is……"

These documents numbered over a dozen, and to be honest, they were quite numerous and luxurious. Any one of them might be something an ordinary commander could never obtain even after a lifetime of hard work.

Li Zuoyi even acquired the right to use a house in the Ark Central District worth one billion credit points.

He picked up the document and slowly looked at it, his brows furrowing more and more as he read. "I... I didn't realize I was being watched by so many forces."

The military, the government, and various factions within the three major corporations all unanimously wanted to acquire him.

This is investing in a rising star who may emerge in the future; no amount of money is too much.

Anderson looked out the window and said seriously, "Next, you may be facing threats that are not just on the ground."

The implication is that there is also danger from within.

"Don't be fooled by their current efforts to curry favor with you. Once you choose one of them, the rest will automatically become your rivals, or even your enemies."

Anderson turned around and saw Li Zuoyi's expression. He paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "However, this shouldn't be a bad thing for you."

"Okay, come on, let's see who will become my enemy." Li Zuo grinned, his eyes full of excitement.

Perfect timing! Now he can openly and legitimately go after those who betrayed him and the Goddess Force.

That was excellent cover.

……

……

Missilis headquarters building.

In Shuen's private meeting room, Li Zuoyi sat on the sofa, pointed to Shuen across the table, and asked:

"Shun, answer me honestly, how many squads did you send to find Indivilla?"

Indivilia once said that she captured many of the girls who came to her.

Li Zuoyi was furious at the time, believing that these Nikis were likely sent out by Shuen.

Now he's here to verify.

"What? You suddenly came all this way just for this?" Shuen was getting impatient, but since this man had done her a great service again, she had no choice but to answer:

"With only the Metis forces, how could the other scrap metal have been entangled with the heretics for so long?"

Li Zuo stared into her eyes and suddenly changed the subject: "How is the treatment for the Metis troops' erosion going?"

Mentioning this, Shuen unconsciously lost her momentum, because she had not told Ark about the corruption of the Metis forces.

But what she least expected was that this man also helped her keep the news hidden.

“Still frozen…” Shuen clenched her fists; she had no way to save Laplace.

If we really want to save him, we need to erase all the memories from his brain.

Reset your memories and start over like a baby.

But then what's the difference between that and being dead?

“This is your own fault.” Li Zuoyi showed little sympathy.

If Shuen hadn't sent the Metis troops out without authorization, he wouldn't have almost been killed by Indivilla.

He continued, "By the way, you haven't forgotten our previous agreement, have you?"

She would grant him one request if he brought back the Metis troops.

Hearing this, Shuen's eyes widened in fear as he looked at him, his gaze darting away as he argued, "The Metis troops are in an infiltrated state, so they don't count..."

"Doesn't that count..."

Li Zuoyi walked around the table, stood in front of her, forcefully grabbed her chin, lifted it up, and looked her directly into his eyes, saying:

"I don't really care, but it won't be long before news of the Metis forces being corrupted spread throughout the Ark."

He realized that Metis's forces were her Achilles' heel.

“You…” Shu En didn’t expect him to threaten her so bluntly, and tears slowly welled up in her eyes.

“I’ll ask you one more time, how many teams did you send to find the heretics?” Li Zuoyi said deliberately. “So, if you lie again, I will still tell people about the Metis forces.”

"No, I already said there are no other teams..." It was clear that Shuen wanted to act the same as before, but now that she was in a completely weak position, she couldn't be tough at all, and looked like a pitiful little girl who had been bullied.

If you ignore Shuen's terrible temper, she is actually quite good-looking, with a slender figure and fair skin that add to her appeal.

just,

"Kneel down." Li Zuoyi released her chin.

"Huh?! I..."

He glared at her, and Shu En immediately stopped talking.

"Kneel down." He emphasized, repeating it again.

Having been coerced before, under his cold gaze, Shu En had no choice but to slowly kneel down and beg for mercy, saying, "This, this is enough, isn't it?"

"Hands on the ground, don't move," Li Zuoyi ordered again.

"Do you want me to kowtow? How many times would be enough?" Shuen did as he was told.

But then she felt immense pressure on her back—he had actually sat directly on her back, using her as a chair.

"Ugh—it's so heavy! Get up quickly, hurry up..." Shuen felt immense humiliation and pain.

"If you lie down, think carefully about what will happen to the Metis troops." Li Zuoyi leaned forward, propped his elbows on his legs, and rested his head on his hands as he spoke:

"Compared to almost losing my life, this punishment is nothing."

Threatened again, Shuen had no choice but to abandon the idea of ​​lying down directly. Her thin arms struggled to support his weight, and she felt that she really couldn't support it if the weight were any heavier.

"What, when will you, when will you be willing to get up?"

"Okay, wait until I'm satisfied."

Then Li Zuoyi spent a fairly satisfying hour in Shuen's private meeting room.

Shuen lay limply on the floor, the carpet beneath her soaked with sweat. "That's enough, isn't it? My promise has been..."

"What promise?" Li Zuoyi feigned ignorance. "I never said that this counts as you fulfilling your promise."

"You, you..." Shuen's voice trembled, unable to believe this man was so shameless. Her tears soaked the carpet. "How long are you going to torture me...?"

"That depends on you."

After Li Zuoyi left, the female secretary, who hadn't seen the CEO for a long time, peeked into the meeting room and saw the CEO struggling to get up, sobbing softly, with tears of humiliation in her eyes and a damp carpet beneath her.

Before long, rumors began to circulate among the Ark's top brass.

The recipient of the Blue Heart Medal chose Missilis.

Chapter Fifty-Seven: A Dream

"Three hundred million is gone just like that..."

Li Zuoyi sat in his office, clutching the report Rita handed him, looking at the numbers at the end of the report with a headache.

He thought he could at least install a few more weapon systems, but he didn't expect that all that was left was the construction of some fortifications...

"There's no other way. After all, you said you wanted to use the best materials, and because the commanders of the outposts kept changing, the outposts were actually in a state of disuse. Just updating the aging infrastructure has cost a lot."

Rita sat in a chair, holding a cup of hot water in her hands, and said like an old lady, "But there are rewards too. The current outpost can hold out for three hours even if it is attacked by a Tyrant-class Lecher, or five hundred Lechers. Don't be discouraged, kid."

"..." Li Zuoyi rubbed his forehead.

"What's wrong, kid?" Rita asked, noticing his pale face. "Didn't you sleep well?"

Li Zuo shook his head and said, "It's nothing."

Actually, Marian came again last night, but that's not the point.

The key point is that he kept having the same dream in the latter half of the night; he dreamed of Indivilla.

In her dream, she kept saying that she was about to disappear and hoped that he could save her, all she needed was a fragment of her body.

Like a ghost...

"Didn't they say the funding for the outpost base was increased by fifty percent?" Rita continued the previous topic and asked.

“That’s true, it’s just that it went from three million to four and a half million,” Li Zuoyi said.

The amount given was indeed substantial, but if the construction were to proceed according to Li Zuoyi's requirements, this sum would be far from sufficient.

"Kid, why are you so determined to build this place up?" Rita put down her water glass and asked him.

Although the outpost is relatively close to the ground, it is not as easy for Lecher to find, especially with the support of the Ark.

In her opinion, the kid was being a little too cautious.

"The outpost was given great hope by the Ark more than 60 years ago before the Second Ground Reconquest War, which believed it could serve as a bridgehead for the reconquest of the ground."

Li Zuoyi said, "Its duty is to quickly become a local stronghold after the counterattack takes over important areas on the ground. Therefore, the Ark has equipped the outpost with a flight system."

“…Could those rusty thrusters under the foundation be…” Rita’s eyes widened.