NIKKE, Swordmaster Ark Succubus Daily

“You can think of the outpost as an aircraft carrier in the literal sense,” Li Zuoyi said.

"...Kid, do you really want to reclaim the ground?" Rita asked seriously.

Since the failure of the second ground reconquest war more than 60 years ago, which mobilized almost the entire Ark's forces, everyone knows that it is no longer possible to reconquer the ground, although the government and military have not said it outright.

Many people have lost hope of retaking the ground.

“Yes, that’s really what I think,” Li Zuoyi said. “From the moment I became commander, my goal has been to eliminate Lecher.”

For some reason, Rita always felt that when he said those words, he sounded like a wise old man, but the flame burning in his eyes was still intense.

“Very good, very good!” Rita, who hadn’t felt such enthusiasm in a long time, jumped off the chair, stood on tiptoe and patted his shoulder like an elder. “Let me, as Niki, help you defeat Rachel. It is also Niki’s mission to reclaim the ground.”

"Then, can the repairs be cheaper later?" Li Zuoyi asked, holding Rita's hand with emotion.

Rita laughed and said, "Of course... no way! Do you think raw materials are free?!"

"Can we postpone your and Sandy's wages for now? I'll pay you back when I'm successful in the future."

Do you think I'd believe that?!

"Please, at least fix some things for free..."

"Where did you come from, this sweatshop manager?!"

……

……

Pure Land of Bliss, CEO's Office.

Li Zuoyi was summoned by Ingrid, who said she had something to discuss.

As soon as he entered, he saw the special forces.

"Yinhua, Emma, ​​Bestie, why are you here?"

"Commander, hello..."

Bestie was still as shy as ever; she blushed and lowered her head when she saw him.

"Ah~ Commander~~ I'm so glad you're alright~"

Emma's gentle voice is still so soothing.

"Ah."

Yin Hua simply replied with a curt statement.

“I also called in the special forces,” Ingrid said, stepping out from behind the table.

"What kind of mission is it?" Li Zuoyi asked.

“No, I wanted to send the special forces to your outpost, so I came to ask for your opinion,” Ingrid said. “I heard that your outpost has few people and insufficient firepower. While the special forces are under your command, they will also set up an armory there to sell Elysium weapons and be responsible for the daily weapon maintenance of Niki at the outpost.”

"...What kind of discount?" Li Zuoyi was concerned about this.

This was naturally the Pure Land of Bliss trying to win him over, but he hadn't expected it to be so direct.

Since that's the case, it would be better if he were to be more direct.

"Haha!" Ingrid laughed heartily. "It's really easy dealing with someone like you. I don't dislike you. Well then, all the weapons sold at the outpost will be 30% off."

She had her own calculations; after all, these were just everyday weapons for the Nikis, so she shouldn't lose much.

This is a good opportunity to equip the outpost with some firepower systems, saving us some money... Li Zuo nodded in agreement.

After chatting for a few more minutes, Ingrid ordered the special forces to set off for the outpost.

Only Ingrid and Li Zuoyi were in the office.

“You’re quite popular on the Ark now, I’m sure a lot of people have offered you opportunities.” Ingrid crossed her arms and stared straight at him as she said, “So, how about it, interested in choosing Elysium?”

With such a powerful commander and the strongest special forces, Elysium's status in Ark will be greatly enhanced.

For this reason alone, it's worth investing a lot of resources to win him over.

As for Shuen, she was delusional to think that she could control him with her frail body.

Seeing Li Zuoyi remain silent, she asked again, "Or is it that the sincerity I showed just now wasn't enough?"

"I want a weapon that won't break," Li Zuoyi said, not answering her question directly, but instead stating his own request.

“…A sword?” Ingrid pondered for a moment and said, “But the one I gave you last time was already the best that Elysium could forge.”

However, it broke in the fight against heretics and could not be repaired.

“Isn’t there something even better? I just brought it back a couple of days ago,” Li Zuoyi said, looking at her.

Ingrid paused for a moment, then understood his meaning. She slowly narrowed her eyes, looking at the greedy man before her, and said:

"...You actually want materials from heretics to make your personal weapon."

"Is that not allowed?" Li Zuoyi asked.

Since even Elysium, which boasts the highest military technology within the Ark, cannot produce materials capable of contending with the Heretics, why not just use the Heretics' materials directly?

He was naturally unwilling to simply hand over such a precious heretic to the Ark; he wanted to at least tear a piece of flesh from those guys' mouths that he could eat.

One of the reasons was the dream about Indivilla.

“This is the property of the Ark, and I cannot make a decision on it personally,” Ingrid replied coldly.

“As one of the three major corporations, Pure Land of Bliss must have already received the parts of the heretics that need to be studied,” Li Zuoyi said with a smile. “And there must be the heretics’ mechanical whip blades inside.”

Seeing Ingrid's ever-changing expression, he knew he had guessed correctly.

After closing her eyes and thinking for a long time, Ingrid finally sighed and said, "I understand. The items will be delivered to the outpost in a couple of days. But I must remind you, if you try to play both sides, you'll end up with nothing."

“You don’t need to worry about that,” Li Zuoyi said.

……

After Li Zuoyi left, Ingrid felt exhausted and collapsed onto the sofa, as if she had been thoroughly exploited.

However, as long as I can get him on my side, it's still considered a paradise, if you round it up.

Chapter Fifty-Eight: The Date

On weekends, the Royal Promenade of Ark is always bustling with activity, and you can always see couples holding hands, chatting and laughing.

The fountain square on the Royal Promenade is full of beautifully dressed men and women waiting for their female or male companions.

Li Zuoyi was one of them.

He arrived ten minutes early; it's always a good thing for men to arrive early for a date.

"Brother~~~"

From afar, Li Zuoyi could hear the vibrant sound of the peony.

He looked in the direction of the sound and saw Peony, wearing a pale yellow dress that went past his knees and had no shoulders, jogging towards him.

But suddenly she stopped abruptly, straightened her hair, placed her hands in front of her, carrying a small khaki bag, and walked gracefully toward him in high heels.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting, young man," Peony said, her cheeks slightly flushed as she looked at him.

Seeing him staring at her again, she felt a little embarrassed and raised her hand to scratch the back of her head, but then Sakura's voice came through the invisible earpiece:

"Don't raise your hands above your head, you idiot!"

Yes, Rosanna and Sakura both offered her advice in preparation for today's date.

Sakura helped her choose suitable clothes. Sakura said that the clothes she used to wear were too masculine... After a long time of searching, she finally chose this slim-waisted, off-the-shoulder dress and the essential high heels for a lady.

The dress is beautiful, but... um, it's a little uncomfortable because it's so tight around my stomach...

The shoes are nice, but I'm not used to walking in them; they're a bit uncomfortable on my feet...

Peony chuckled awkwardly and lowered her hand that was about to scratch her head.

"Anik, what are you doing...?" In Li Zuoyi's eyes, Anik was slowly pacing around him, looking him up and down.

As for why Anik appeared before him while others couldn't see him...

Around noon, Li Zuoyi received an anonymous package.

When I opened it, there was only a pair of contact lenses and a piece of paper inside.

The character 'Li' was handwritten on the paper, and Li Zuoyi immediately recognized it as Anik's handwriting.

After all, he had seen his parents' signatures on test papers many times when he was a child.

Then Li Zuoyi checked that there was nothing wrong with the contact lenses and put them on directly.

After putting it on, he could see Anik appear in front of him.

However, Anik couldn't speak; she could only communicate through pop-up dialog boxes.

Before he could ask her anything, Li Zuo saw that it was almost time, so he hurriedly put on his contact lenses and rushed to the agreed location.

As if hearing his thoughts, Anik stopped in front of him, blocking Peony's view, and a dialog box popped up:

Before confirming your abilities, I need to examine your physical condition, which may take some time.

This is what you meant by coming in person... Li Zuoyi was speechless.

"Young man, is there something on my face?" Peony asked with some concern when she noticed him staring at her.

Oh no, I almost forgot... Li Zuoyi replied, "The peonies are different today; I got so engrossed in looking at them."

Let's just say something random to get by for now.

"Mmm—" Peony covered her burning face, her heart filled with joy.

I'm so glad I didn't come wearing my usual outfit.

Sakura's voice came through the invisible earpiece again: "It's almost time, go invite him now..."

Ignoring Anik for the moment, Li Zuoyi took Mudan's hand and said, "It's almost noon, let's go to a restaurant to get something to eat first. I've already looked up some famous restaurants nearby, and I've also decided on our afternoon itinerary, is that alright?"

"Yes, I'll just follow you, brother..." Peony gently took his hand, her eyes looking at him with a slightly dreamy gaze.

"Truly, as expected of the Commander, even when dealing with Niki, he's made thorough preparations." Sakura exclaimed, then picked up another walkie-talkie and said, "Rosanna, it's your turn."

“OK.” Rosanna watched the two people below from the rooftop of a high-rise building next to Royal Promenade.

The original plan was to have Peony suggest the upscale restaurant she had already prepared, where all the guests had left and the head chef had been waiting for a long time.

However, she also considered that her husband had taken the initiative to invite her and had already made arrangements with those well-known restaurants.

Fortunately, the restaurant owners were all easy-going people. As long as you slammed the gun on the table in front of them, they became very willing to help.

“They’re going into the ‘Seaside’ restaurant. Get ready before the gentleman goes in,” Rosanna said to her men, adjusting the walkie-talkie channel.

After giving her instructions, she noticed two suspicious-looking people on the Royal Promenade. "Who are those two...?"

……

"Lapi, hurry up, the commander is about to be lost." Anis called to Lapi behind him to catch up.

“Anis, why do we have to follow the commander? Today is one of his rare days off.” Lapi was wearing casual clothes today, the light blue dress that the commander had bought for her last time.

"The important thing is the date, the date!" Anies said. "Don't you want to know the details of the Commander's date? You might be able to use it when you go on a date with the Commander in the future."

“Dating the Commander…” Lapi seemed unable to deny the reason given by Anis.

"Gentlemen, it's quite a coincidence that we met here."

Lapi turned her head and saw Sakura from the Black Queen's Army walking towards them.

"Are you out shopping on your precious day off?" Sakura forcefully grabbed their hands and said, "Well, I happen to have a place to recommend. Come with me."

Anis brushed aside Sakura's hand and looked in the direction of the commander again, but he was no longer in sight.

"Ah, it's all your fault, you made me lose track of the Commander," Anis said to Sakura in frustration.

"Commander? Is he here too?" Sakura deliberately looked around.

Labi sighed helplessly; it seemed his luck was truly bad.

"Well done, Sakura!" Rosanna's cheers came through the earpiece, but then she seemed to have noticed something and said, "It seems there are gangsters from the outer district nearby. I'll go take care of them."

"Don't be angry. Let's go find the Commander together later. Now let's go eat some dumplings. I know a really good one." Sakura comforted Anise and chuckled.

"You're treating!"