NIKKE, Swordmaster Ark Succubus Daily

"How much do you need?" Li Zuoyi asked.

"I don't know, we'll bring back as many as we can," Cecil said.

"Won't so many cores attract Nihilista?" Li Zuoyi worried that the signals emitted by so many cores might expose the location of the paradise.

“Who do you think I am?” Cecil asked.

"Cecil?"

“…He’s a genius scientist.” Cecil turned around and gently tapped him on the head with a chop. “Of course I thought of that, don’t worry.”

Li Zuoyi agreed.

He then gathered all the Nikis he could deploy in the open space in front of the glass obelisk.

There are three forces in total: the successors of Paradise, the Ark's counterattack force, and the Metis force, as well as the Rapunzel.

Li Zuoyi told them about the core collection plan Cecil had mentioned.

"For the sake of efficiency, I've decided to split into several small teams to handle this," Li Zuoyi told them.

He turned to Metis's squad and said, "Metis's troops will be with me on this mission."

Laplace can't stay so withdrawn forever; it's also his responsibility to help Niki and her friends with their psychological issues.

"Ah...but I..." Laplace, wearing the hood of her combat padded jacket, looked bewildered. She couldn't summon her weapon right now, and the commander should know that...

“This is an order, Laplace,” Li Zuoyi said to her.

"I...I understand." Laplace knew the importance of this task, took a deep breath, and nodded heavily.

“And what about us?” Anies asked, pointing to himself.

Their counterattack force is the one that always stays by the commander's side, so why is that brat's force allowed to go on missions with the commander?

“Anis, don’t question the commander’s decision.” Although Lapi said this, his slightly displeased gaze occasionally drifted towards Metis’s troops.

Nien stood silently behind them, her eyes reflecting a white light, making it impossible to see her expression.

“Since it’s your request, I will comply.” Isabel’s tone was gentle, but her gaze toward Laplace was quite gloomy.

“Brother…” Rapunzel raised her hand, “Can I join your team? If you faint again, I can help treat you.”

Actually, she had been thinking about something all night.

Is the commander who has lost his memory still the same commander?

Although she could sense that his spirit was that of the Commander, could a Commander who had lost all memories of their time together, and who didn't even remember the Goddess Force, still be the Commander she knew?

Could we say it's someone else?

Rapunzel knew she was being dramatic, and she should be content as long as the commander was alive.

Her feelings for him were also driving her to get closer to him... she couldn't resist.

But, for the commander at the time, was she accepting someone else?

As a former leading candidate for pope, Rapunzel placed great importance on spiritual purity.

In her eyes, such behavior was tantamount to infidelity... She couldn't accept it, which was why she didn't tell Dorothy that he was the commander.

So, at least a little bit, let me see traces of you as the commander, she thought.

Seeing that Rapunzel was clasping her hands together and looking at him with a rather complicated expression, and since Li Zuoyi had no reason to refuse, he agreed.

Dorothy sighed upon seeing this.

……

Li Zuoyi led the Metis troops and Rapunzel to a grassland.

They were going to deal with a Lord-level Rachel.

When Li Zuoyi first encountered Lapi and the others, he was still struggling to deal with the lord-level Laicher.

Now, he shouldn't need to exert too much effort.

However, the main purpose this time was Laplace, and also to check how much Anis and Isabel's boosts would drop if he wasn't present.

The Metis squad marched in a triangular formation, with Li Zuoyi in the middle and Rapunzel beside him.

Laplace walked ahead, and although Maxwell asked her if she wanted to stand behind, she refused.

Li Zuoyi was watching her closely. Although she had become withdrawn, was she still aware of her responsibilities...?

"Leitcher signal detected ahead!" Maxwell drew his weapon.

Li Zuoyi saw Laplace's body tremble slightly, as if he had been stunned.

Chapter Ninety-Eight: No Longer a Hero

so terrible……

Rapunzel thought the battle was terrible.

Although Lecher was eventually destroyed, the process in between was truly agonizing.

She was quite experienced in combat, but she had never seen anyone like Laplace who actually hindered the fight like this before.

Laplace inexplicably charged forward alone and was knocked away by Lecher.

If that were all, it wouldn't be so bad, but after she got up, she rushed forward without looking at her surroundings, disrupting her teammates' attack rhythm.

If the commander hadn't given the order, she might have disrupted her teammates' positions, which could have caused them unnecessary harm.

To be honest, Laplace's behavior was very distressing for Rapunzel, since she was responsible for the team's healing.

But seeing Laplace standing there in a panic, like a disciplined child, Rapunzel couldn't bring herself to scold her.

Rapunzel also knew that Laplace was unable to unleash his full potential due to psychological factors.

Laplace was too eager to prove himself, to prove that he was useful and not a burden, but the more he tried to do so, the more likely he was to make mistakes.

It would be better to comfort her now.

Rapunzel walked over to Laplace, who was hanging her head, and, trying her best not to upset her, said:

"I understand how you feel, but forcing a fight like this will only put the team at a disadvantage. It would be better to think things through before taking action."

“Hmm…” Laplace responded softly.

Maxwell, who was standing nearby, knew Laplace's personality best: eccentric and confident. She had often lectured Laplace for her various troublesome behaviors.

But seeing Laplace so downcast, Maxwell didn't speak to her as he usually did, and said:

"Although it did cause some trouble, the result wasn't bad. In experiments, the process is sometimes not important; getting accurate results is the most crucial thing. Laplace, you are a hero; you can definitely overcome this."

Laplace looked up at Maxwell and said, "I am the hero..."

“Yes, Laplace is a hero,” Maxwell said with a smile, encouraging her.

"Heroes are only temporarily dormant. Why, you ask?" Drake gave himself a thumbs up and said, "Because I, the great villain, am still here! Get ready, I can't wait to defeat you!"

“Everyone…” Laplace was encouraged, a glimmer of light appearing in his eyes, “Yes, I am a hero, I…”

"Hero? Don't make me laugh."

After absorbing the Lecher, Li Zuoyi walked over to them, tossed the core in his hand to Maxwell, and said to Laplace, "Where was your heroic demeanor just now? Did you bump into Maxwell and almost let her particle cannon hit Drake? Or did your erratic movements interfere with Rapunzel's treatment?"

"me……"

Laplace didn't dare to meet his stern gaze, lowered his head, clutched his chest, and was having trouble breathing.

“Brother…” Rapunzel originally thought he would comfort her so that she could get out of the gloom sooner.

Li Zuo glanced at Rapunzel, signaling her to stop talking. He grabbed Laplace's collar, forcing her to look at him, and said:

"If this Lecher were inside the Ark, do you know how many casualties your actions would cause?!"

"Do you really have to wait until people lose limbs and bleed, wail in front of you, and lie dead in the streets because of your mistakes, before you realize how outrageous you've been?!"

Laplace's pupils dilated, his breathing became rapid, and he couldn't utter a word.

Li Zuoyi gave her a hard push, and Laplace staggered backward and sat down on the grass. He turned around and gave her a cold look.

“From today onwards, you are no longer allowed to call yourself a hero, because you are not worthy. You are just an ordinary Niki who relies on the high-end equipment of Misilis. In that case, you should take off your equipment and give it to other Niki as soon as possible.”

After saying that, he left without looking back.

Rapunzel glanced at Laplace, whose eyes were filled with tears, sighed, and caught up with the commander.

"Brother, I know you want to play the bad cop... but isn't what you're saying a bit excessive?"

"Black face? No, I just wanted to scold her." Li Zuoyi said, "Truly worthy of being Shu En's friend."

"Shuen?"

“Ah, one of my… friends,” Li Zuoyi said. “The two of them seem to have completely opposite personalities, but they are actually equally arrogant and proud, just in different ways.”

If we had to put it in perspective, Laplace would actually have caused more serious consequences.

When faced with danger, people instinctively gather around heroes, but if something happens to a hero, it can lead to irreversible consequences.

Therefore, a strong dose must be given, just like with Shuen.

"So, brother, you also have your reasons for doing this, right?" the long-haired princess said.

"more or less."

Rapunzel glanced back at Laplace, who was being helped up by her companions. Although this was not in line with her usual style, it did give her a commander-like feel.

……

When they returned home that evening, all the teams that had gone out had returned safely.

Li Zuoyi also inquired about the performances of Isabel and Anies.

The conclusion was that even in his absence, the enhancement still existed, but it decreased by at least 90%.

Next came controlling the variables, and I started to explore slowly.

He had spoken to both of them separately about the experiment, but they didn't seem to care about being experimented on.

So this day.

Anis pulled the commander to a secluded spot and gave him her first kiss.

That evening, Isabel arrived as expected and eagerly slipped into his bed. Fortunately, he restrained himself and simply kissed her.

But as compensation, he was pinned to the bed and kissed for several hours.

The next day, Li Zuoyi found an excuse to replace Maxwell and Drake with Isabel and Anis.

The post-battle summaries of the day showed varying degrees of improvement, but based on the first day, the increase was approximately ten percent.

Then Anis pulled him into her room, closed the door, and she immediately hooked her breasts and pulled them down...

That night, I did the same thing with Isabel again...

The post-battle debriefing on the third day showed that the two had been enhanced by 20%.

Post-battle summary on the fourth day: Isabel's enhancement increased by 70%, and Anis's enhancement increased by 30%.

……

Once they had pinpointed Nissilista's exact location, Li Zuoyi drew the following conclusion:

Niki's enhancement level is positively correlated with the depth of affection, and the enhancement is also positively correlated with the intimacy level of the previous night, but the effect only lasts for about a day.

Chapter Ninety-Nine: I'm Here to Join You

Epilogue of Chapter Ninety-Nine.

Li Zuoyi was summoned to Cecil's laboratory.

"Why are you turning your collar up?" Cecil noticed that his collar was turned up, covering his neck, and he could vaguely see the red marks on his neck.

"I think this looks cool," Li Zuoyi said, adjusting his collar.

Actually, it was Anies who lay down on his body and pressed 'little strawberries' one by one.

What do you mean, 'This is the mark I gave to the commander, from now on he belongs to me, Anis'? Anis really likes to act recklessly.

If Isabelle sees him, given her temper, he probably won't be able to leave the room for the entire next day.