NIKKE, Swordmaster Ark Succubus Daily

At some point, Anis stood at the foot of the bed, looking at Li Zuoyi with a speechless expression. "He can actually have such a heated discussion with Niki about that kind of lewd book."

“Lapi, let’s go back.” Anis said to Lapi beside him, “I told you not to worry about this commander. See, Niki is already taking care of him.”

“But Anis, you were walking much faster than usual just now, I thought…”

Seeing that resentful face turn towards him, Lhapi felt he shouldn't continue the conversation: "Even so, we can't leave. We are here today..."

“Anis, you should knock before entering.” Li Zuo stared at Anis: “That’s basic etiquette.”

“I knocked, and I knocked really loudly!” Anis said, annoyed. “Who knew you didn’t hear me because you were discussing those filthy books with the other Nikis.”

"I never thought I'd reach this level." Li Zuoyi curled the corners of his mouth.

"What are you so smug about?" Anies covered his face.

Honestly, why is the commander always like this at times like this?

“You must be Anis and Lapi.” Marian stood up, poised and graceful. “I am Marian from the Silver Lance Corps. Thank you for bringing me and the commander back to the Ark.”

'The Commander and I,' Marian deliberately read out each word carefully.

“Ah, I remember now, you were one of the ones in the bag.” Anis and Marian exchanged glances: “You were the one who left the Commander alone on the ground to face danger, Niki.”

"That was a special case; I was protecting the commander..."

Before Marian's retaliation was over, Anis began his pursuit again:

“Lapi and I also protected the Commander, and we even encountered the Transcendent-class Raicher, but both Lapi and I were still able to move afterward, but you…”

Anis feigned surprise: "Is it that you, Marian, are not capable enough?"

Lapi sensed something was wrong with the atmosphere and looked to the commander for help.

“Yes.” Marian’s eyes turned cold and became extremely serious, as if she had become a different person. “It is because of my inadequacy that the Commander had to face danger alone on the ground.”

The atmosphere around Marianne became extremely oppressive, as if something had changed.

Li Zuoyi hadn't expected Marian to care so much about this.

“Oh, oh, so honest.” Anis was somewhat startled by the sudden change in Marian.

"Alright, you all did your best back then, let's stop here." Li Zuoyi stopped the matter as soon as he saw that things were not going well.

He looked at Anis and Labi, bowed his head deeply, and said sincerely, "Thank you for saving me and my team."

"It's nothing, Commander, you saved us too." Anis was not used to the commander's attitude.

“We survived only because of the commander,” Labi replied earnestly.

"So you've come to see me?" Li Zuoyi tried to lighten the mood.

“That is also one of our objectives,” Labi replied.

Li Zuoyi noticed that Anis and Lapi were fully armed: "Are you going to go to the ground again later?"

“No, we’re here to pick you up, Commander,” Labi said. “Someone wants to see you.”

"Who?"

"Ms. Ingrid, CEO of Gokuraku Jodo."

Li Zuo was taken aback. The CEO of Pure Land, one of the three major companies in Ark, wanted to see him?

why?

Chapter Eight Ingrid

"Elysium, one of the three major companies within Ark, primarily responsible for providing military and transportation industry resources within Ark. And the CEO of this company wanted to see me; he even sent a car to pick me up..."

“I’m starting to become popular too.” Li Zuoyi chuckled. “Looks like I need to think carefully about what conditions to propose. By the way, anything less than ten million credits is out of the question.”

“Commander, I’m sorry to disturb your sweet dreams.” Anies turned to look at the silly commander. “But we’re already downstairs at Elysium headquarters.”

"Commander, does your body still hurt? Do you need me to help you?" Marian, sitting next to Li Zuo, took his hand with great concern.

"It's alright, let's go. A hundred million credits are waiting for me." Driven by money, Li Zuoyi ignored the pain in his body and got out of the car.

Anis asked Marian, "So, how did you end up following us?"

Marian placed her hand on her chest. "The Commander is still my Commander, so naturally I should stay by his side and protect him."

"Is the commander you're logging into now also him?" Lapi asked, somewhat surprised.

“Could it be that Labi and Anis also…” Marian was somewhat surprised.

According to regulations, Niki cannot undertake two missions with the same commander.

After completing the mission, Niki's relationship with the Commander will be immediately severed.

None of the three of them had ever seen anything like this before.

Unfortunately, before the three could have a discussion, the people from Pure Land of Bliss took them to the upper floors of the Pure Land of Bliss company.

In a pure white hall, Li Zuoyi met Ingrid, the CEO of Gokuraku Jodo.

The white coat with a red shirt that she wore resembled the cloak of an ancient general, exuding the aura of a strong woman.

"Nice to meet you, Commander Li Zuoyi." Ingrid spoke with an imposing air and a firm voice, "I am Ingrid. I have already heard about your situation. Let's get straight to the point."

Without any unnecessary formalities, well, this woman is very much to Li Zuoyi's liking.

"So, can you satisfy me?" Li Zuoyi's smile looked mysterious and unpredictable.

It's decided. Since it suits my taste so well, I'll just take 200 million credits.

"I see, so you already knew." Ingrid crossed her arms and nodded. "Don't worry, I'll prepare a battle that suits your abilities."

"Fight? Where's the money?" Li Zuoyi was stunned.

“What money?” Ingrid said, “I called you here to have you enter the simulation room to test your abilities. Anik’s sister AI, Inke, can almost realistically simulate situations on the ground. You and your Nikki just need to do your job.”

As they were talking, someone brought Marian's weapons and equipment.

"No, where's the money?" Li Zuoyi was still bothered by it.

After whispering a few words to the researchers who approached her, Ingrid said to them, "The simulation room is ready. You may go in now."

"No, money..."

"Commander, let's go in." Anies grabbed Li Zuoyi's sleeve and led him towards the simulation room. "The other party is one of the CEOs of the three major companies. In terms of status, he is at the same level as the deputy commander of the central government, which means he is the commander's superior. Commander, you'd better stop dreaming."

Marian comforted the distraught commander, and the group entered the simulation room.

Four hours later.

Ingrid's phone rang.

It was a message from Anderson: 【Where are Li Zuoyi and the others?】

They've already left.

How were Li Zuoyi's mock exam results?

Ingrid typed quickly: [Inke asked me how much he paid for his military academy diploma.]

This looks bad.

[It's not just bad, Inke said his actions on the battlefield were tantamount to suicide, like the commander jumping out to fight Lecher on the right to buy Niki time to fire...]

Judging from your tone, it seems there's something even worse.

Ingrid sighed: [She ran out of cover to create firing lines for Niki, leaped to save Niki from being focused down, and there's much more I don't want to say.]

Did he do that in the simulation room?

No, because of his physical condition, he verbally described his actions to Ink, and each time he struck a strange pose and shouted, "My turn!"

[...the behavior was roughly as we expected.]

Ingrid had to admit: "Yes, he's hiding something."

A portion of the Beyond-level Lecher that Li Zuoyi's team had encountered was sent to her company.

Through the efforts of a certain partner, Gokuraku Jodo obtained its core components.

Ingrid also saw with her own eyes the longsword still stuck there and the huge gap it had created.

Moreover, the heads of the squad members he brought back remained active even after many days without any preservation devices.

The paper knife and vase that Anderson brought left her speechless.

If she hadn't worked with Anderson for so long, she would never have believed such a thing existed in the world.

The shock was indescribable.

On the other hand, Anderson offered a different conclusion: "A cover-up? I think he's very likely to make those choices during his fight with Lecher."

[The more illogical something is, the less likely it is to arouse suspicion... What a strange commander.]

This was the first time Ingrid had ever been interested in a commander.

Anderson made a decision: [Find a reason to transfer him away from the Ark Central District; he cannot be brought under the central government's radar yet.]

[It's an outpost, somewhere far from the Ark and close to the ground.]

"Hmm. I'll give them the most difficult task possible, and we'll set the deadline for one week from now."

[The task of restarting the power plant?]

【Okay. That's settled then. I'll leave the cleanup of this chat log to you.】

Ingrid didn't reply. She pressed an icon on her phone, and all her messages with Anderson disappeared.

Without a backup, it cannot be restored.

Even the best hackers couldn't find a single clue.

Gazing at the night view of the Ark through the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, Ingrid murmured to herself, "Li Zuoyi, who exactly are you?"

……

“I am the commander!” Li Zuoyi said to the sullen Anis.

“I know!” Anies pointed to the various high-end items in the command room, “but the difference between this and Niki’s is just too great! Soft, high-end sofas, solid wood desks, and there are even trees in the Ark that can be used as tables… and a refrigerator that can actually cool things down? My refrigerator in my room is all moldy, and there’s no water in the bathroom…”

They were reassigned to an outpost because they messed up Vice Commander Anderson's mission.

He also renamed his troops the Counterattack Force.

They are now inspecting the only two usable buildings in the outpost: Niki's dormitory and the commander's office.

"I am the commander!" Li Zuoyi repeated, emphasizing his identity as the commander.

I have every right and justification to own these things.

"Ugh! I'm so angry!" Anis stormed up to the second floor of the office building. "I'm going to forcibly requisition the bathroom in the Commander's room to take a shower! And this time, the Commander is not allowed to peek!"

"Why do you say I spied on you last time?" Li Zuoyi was puzzled. Was his reputation really that bad?

"I'm sorry, Commander, Niki's dormitory building doesn't have running water yet, so she'll probably have to use your bathroom for the next couple of days." Lapi looked somewhat apologetic.

"It's nothing, you can use it, and so can Marian, don't worry about it too much," Li Zuo said to Marian, who was standing to the side in a daze.

"Ah, ah—thank you, Commander." Marian seemed to wake from a dream, and gave Li Zuoyi a gentle smile: "When I'm taking a shower, Commander, you can come and peek."

Why assume I would spy on them?

Li Zuoyi once again doubted his reputation.

“If you give the order…” Lapi closed his eyes, as if he had no choice but to accept it.

"So why would I go and spy?"

After playing around for a while, Labi and Marian went back to their dormitory to get a change of clothes, and the sound of Anis taking a shower could be heard from the second floor.

Li Zuoyi sat on a solid wood chair, and the image of Ark's artificial intelligence, Anik, appeared on the computer in front of him.

"When do you plan to secretly execute Ethel Bridges?" Anik asked.

"Hmm~ Anyway, let's go say hello tonight." Li Zuo stood up. "Let's take advantage of the time we still have to prepare..."

"Go spy on us?"