NIKKE, Swordmaster Ark Succubus Daily

"So, when will the other gangs arrive?" Li Zuoyi asked.

At this moment, a small building next to the clock tower suddenly exploded, and a trail of smoke resembling that of an RPG could be faintly seen. Many furtive figures had already appeared at various street corners.

"It seems they've arrived." Li Zuoyi gripped his dark gold longsword and said, "Leave the rest to me."

143. I'll leave it all to you.

As Rosanna and Sakura hurriedly led their men into the Rose Society's territory, they saw scattered, mangled corpses and rushing blood flowing into the sewers on every street they passed.

As one can imagine, the commander and his team engaged in fierce battles with members of various mid-level gangs, resulting in countless deaths.

They soon discovered that, apart from the corpses they had seen at the beginning, the closer they got to the clock tower, the more corpses appeared to be facing away from the tower. These people did not seem to be attacking, but rather fleeing, only to be intercepted and killed along the way.

Moreover, without exception, all of these people died from lacerations, and the wounds on their bodies were smooth and clean.

Upon seeing this, Rosanna and Sakura exchanged a silent glance, both confirming that these were the work of the Commander.

Only he has the ability to do that.

When they arrived at the clock tower with their men, they found only Peony sitting on the stairs in front of the tower, soaking wet and covered in blood. In front of her, there were piles of corpses several meters high, and some strangers were cleaning up the rest of the bodies.

"Oh, you've arrived." Seeing her two good friends finally arrive with their entourage, Peony got up and came down the stairs. She said to them, "The battle is over."

“What happened here?” Rosanna asked.

"The first gang to arrive here was taught a lesson by us, and they got angry and called in even more people. After we blocked their reinforcements, the other gangs probably thought we were out of strength, so they came out from the shadows..." Peony said excitedly, "At first we were a little overwhelmed, but after the commander intervened, everything changed..."

After listening to Peony's captivating explanation, Sakura tapped Peony on the head with her long-stemmed pipe and asked, "So, where is the Commander now? Is he injured?"

She and Rosanna were both people who had experienced big battles. In the outermost layer of the outer edge zone, such a bloody battle, where you could step on an organ with just a casual step, might attract the attention of the Ark and might even be classified as a serious incident, thus prompting an investigation.

However, in the middle levels far from the Ark, this was just an ordinary battle. The bloodshed between the middle-level gangs was often much more brutal and bloody.

"Commander, they've been picked up by President Mastin's men." Peony said, rubbing her head. "What a coincidence, President Mastin's men showed up not long after the battle ended."

What a coincidence! They had clearly been observing for a long time... Rosanna and Sakura thought at the same time.

However, since it was President Mastin's arrangement, there's probably nothing to worry about.

……

Tetra headquarters, president's office.

Having already showered and changed his clothes, Li Zuoyi looked at Mastin leaning against the desk in front of him and asked, "What is 'the organization'?"

On her deathbed, Cheryl blamed everything on the 'organization', but she didn't say a word about what that organization was.

"do not know."

Unexpectedly, Mastin, who was hoping to glean some information, simply shrugged and shook his head vigorously.

"You asked me to investigate something, and you don't know anything about it?" Li Zuoyi was dissatisfied that he was still being secretive at this point.

“First of all, all I asked you to do was be the opening guest of the Gold Coin War. And then, I really don’t know what ‘organization’ is.” Mastin spread his hands and shook his head, then added a back-and-forth shrug.

"..." Li Zuoyi stared at him, his brows furrowed.

“Not only do I not know, but I estimate that even most of the high-ranking officials in the Ark government don’t know what the ‘Organization’ is,” Mastin said. “However, there are only two things that are certain: the ‘Organization’ is a huge criminal organization that encompasses more than just human trafficking, and this incident confirms that the ‘Organization’s’ headquarters is located in the core area of ​​the outer perimeter—the inner district. As for the inner district, the Ark government and the three major corporations know very little about it. The only one who might have specific knowledge of it is… the Tribunal.”

Li Zuoyi recalled what Madam Jin had said to Louise in front of the clock tower.

'Although you're also a member of a major gang in the inner district, the Rose Gang has just as many powerful backers there...'

“Ha—” Li Zuoyi sighed and said, “And there’s the matter of Anies… The murderer wasn’t Cheryl. It’s said that the organization tried to recruit her, but she refused and was then poisoned.”

“As expected, she is too…” Mastin said with a hint of regret.

"What do you mean?" Li Zuoyi asked.

“It wasn’t just Anies, the rabbit twins, or many of Tetra’s stars, Niki, who died like this while they were still human,” Mastin said. “They were chosen by Tetra to be the stars of tomorrow, but they all died in various ‘accidents’ just before they were about to embark on their careers.”

"Is the goal to infiltrate Tetra?" Li Zuoyi thought of the board of directors of Missilis, and the so-called Lemon who was nominated...

Lemon has become parasitic on the Misilis family, and now there is an organization that has been trying to infiltrate Tetra for a long time. Is this organization also related to the traitor from back then?

“Hmm.” He pushed up his sunglasses and said, “They are all outstanding children, and it is precisely because they are outstanding that they were chosen. But it is also because they were chosen that the ‘organization’ has their eyes on them and wants to use them as pawns to infiltrate Tetra.”

This is also why he has been promoting celebrity Niki for many years—to compensate them and at the same time reduce the occurrence of such incidents.

Li Zuoyi recalled Anies's usual optimistic and cheerful demeanor, "At least they won't remember the painful memories before they died."

“Those who die ‘accidentally’ and are made into Niki will choose to have their memories erased, but Anies, who was murdered, chose to have them preserved,” Mastin said. “Because she wanted to find out the truth about her death.”

Li Zuoyi mentally compared Anies, who usually slept in late, loved carbonated water, and was a bit unhygienic, to the person in his mind, and felt that they were not the same person at all.

“But a few years after becoming Niki, she gradually lost her motivation,” Mastine said. “Because she began to feel that she was no longer human, but just a prop, a prop with human memories.”

Fangzhou's policy of suppressing Niki... Li Zuoyi knew the reason for her change.

“But just recently, after she returned from the ground, she went back to Tetra and asked me to help her find the murderer who killed her, in consideration of the thirty years she had worked for Tetra,” Masdin said.

"Why..." Li Zuoyi didn't understand why he suddenly wanted to look for it now after so many years of neglect.

Ma Shiding approached Li Zuoyi, and Li Zuoyi saw his reflection in Ma Shiding's sunglasses.

“Perhaps he wants to give everything he has to someone,” Mastin said.

"Whether it's her heart, her body, her future, or... her past."

Perhaps it was because they didn't want to lie to that person when they talked about the past. If that person knew that they had been murdered and the killer hadn't been found, that person might investigate at all costs.

Perhaps in her eyes, as the president of one of the three major corporations, I am omnipotent, but she misjudged me. Even I can only find people connected to her back then and then hand them over to others to deal with.

It's really heavy...

"Isn't this still coming back to me?" Li Zuoyi shook his head and sighed, then turned to leave, intending to go back to the outpost and give Niki, who liked to leave her socks lying around, a good hug.

“What if I hadn’t contacted you, but someone else?” Mastiff asked.

"I know, I'll pull out the last tuft of your hair."

Li Zuoyi pushed open the door and found Little Red Riding Hood and the black and white rabbit standing in the corridor, their eyes darting around.

They were definitely eavesdropping...

"Let's go back," Li Zuoyi said, waving his hand.

"Ah, yes!"

"Yes……"

Bran and Noal caught up with the commander, while Little Red Riding Hood followed behind looking distressed.

What to do? Anies and the Commander... it seems like it's also a pure love story.

So, as someone who values ​​pure love, who should I support?

144. Dorothy's Visit to the Ark Project

Fangzhou Military Headquarters, Deputy Commander's Office.

Deputy Commander Burningham said to his old classmate on the other end of the dedicated phone line:

"Anderson, you, your people are causing trouble in the outer district, making such a huge commotion. Do you think you could control them...?"

A calm voice came through the microphone:

"I said I wanted to cooperate with him, not control him. Don't misinterpret my words. Also, how can you break through the middle layer of the outer perimeter without putting in some effort?"

“You, you really are protecting him,” Burningham said. “Who exactly is he?”

"People who can realize our ideals."

"Do you really think he can eradicate all those cancerous growths?" Burning asked, lacking confidence.

“He already proved himself back then with what happened to Missillis,” Anderson said. “And you really went to great lengths to cover for him last time. If your people hadn’t gotten to the Missillis board of directors before the police, he might be in exile by now.”

“So, is our next target that iron lump in the inner district?” Burningham asked.

"No, it's the Second Court." There was a pause on the other end of the phone, then he said, "Sorry, let's talk about the details later. I have a meeting in five minutes, so I'll hang up now."

"Call ended," came Anik's voice from the receiver. "This call was not monitored."

Burning put down the phone, let out a long sigh, and called to Barbie Taki, who was already waiting outside the door, "Come in."

The doorknob turned, and Barbie Taki entered, bowing to Burningham and saying, "The visitors to the park have arrived."

"Let her in."

A pink-haired woman walked in, smiling, and gave Burningham a simple bow, her demeanor graceful and her movements elegant.

Knowing that she was an envoy sent by Paradise, Burning stood up and showed his respect, "Welcome to the Ark. I am Burning, the deputy commander of the Ark military."

“I’m Dorothy, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” Dorothy’s smile widened as she observed Burningham’s expression.

There was no reaction...

Sure enough, not only the civilians of Ark, but even the Ark's higher-ups had forgotten about their Goddess Squad, even though their names were once known to everyone...

"So, Ms. Dorothy, what is the purpose of your visit to the Ark?" Burningham asked.

Barbie Taki encountered her while on a mission on the ground, and she expressed her intention to make contact with the Ark, and even gave the Ark some technology that it still didn't have—optical camouflage technology that could evade Lecher's search.

Burningm handed it over to a laboratory to verify the feasibility of the technology.

With this technology, the Ark might no longer need to hide underground, but could establish a base on the surface, and a counterattack against Lecher would no longer be a pipe dream.

In order to obtain complete information about the technology for the sake of the Ark, Burning wanted to have Barbie Taki contact her frequently.

Recently, she expressed her desire to visit the Ark.

After much deliberation, Burningham agreed.

“I’ve always wanted to see what this last sanctuary of humanity looks like,” Dorothy said with an innocent smile.

She had once considered destroying this place, but after learning that the commander was still alive, she changed her mind.

The Ark can still be the Ark, but it can no longer be the Ark of corrupt governments and tycoons. It should be the Ark of Paradise, the Ark of the Goddess Force, the... Commander's Ark.

She came here mainly to see the commander and, incidentally, to check on the Ark's condition.

By the way, Isabel should be waiting for her outside, right...?

……

Outpost.

Looking at the amount of money that Ma Shiding had transferred to his account on the computer, Li Zuoyi said to Ma Shiding on the phone:

Did you transfer an extra 100 million to me?

“No, no, this is the money for the person who finished up,” Mastin said. “Even if someone is rich, I won’t just give it away.”

"Then why don't you just give it to Mudan? Anyway, she's too stupid to think about embezzling," Li Zuoyi said.

“Actually, Peony said she couldn’t find the person who tipped her off and covered it up,” Mastin said.

“Can’t find him…” Li Zuo thought to himself, the organization Cheryl mentioned was practically all-powerful, and hiding someone in the outer region would have been incredibly easy, yet they were still discovered…

Unless it was leaked by an insider, could it be Clau...? Come to think of it, there seems to be no need for her to personally disguise herself as a police officer and go to Cheryl's house, except to increase the risk of exposure...

"You can keep the money for now." Mastermind seemed to remember something and added, "Oh, right, since Cheryl is dead, the Gold Coin War can't function without a manager. Can I appoint you as the manager?"

"I'm very busy..."

"Five percent of the profits each year will be yours."

“But you can still find time for management.” Li Zuoyi immediately said, “Leave it to me.”

"Then, the adorable rabbits are in your care."

After hanging up the phone, Li Zuo looked out the window and realized that it was already dark outside.

Today, the command center was unusually quiet. Little Red Riding Hood said she had something to do, Nien went to the special forces armory to test the newly arrived weapons, and Anies went back to the dormitory to wear the clothes he had just ordered online.

Yinhua has finished the paperwork during the day, so she should get some rest early today.

Just then, my phone received a message.

Li Zuo glanced at it and realized it was Isabel's.

Honey, did I bother you?

No, is there anything I can help you with?