NIKKE, When the Milky Way Blossoms

The mini flashlight attached to the scissor handle illuminated the man's right shoulder and chest, and the realistic injuries clearly shook Pepper's newly transformed aura.

Then, she murmured to herself with a hint of heartache:

"Moderate tear of the right pectoralis major muscle, tear of the humeral tendon, and possible soft tissue contusion on the right rib side."

Commander, your body can't withstand the recoil of that weapon. Continuing to fire might…

"Analgesics."

A deep, husky voice drowned out Pepper's words. The young doctor, who had never experienced war, looked up in surprise and happened to meet her commander's eyes.

Before this, Pepper had always thought that the Commander's eyes were gentle, calm, or serious.

But it was only at this moment that the girl realized how superficial her understanding had been. Her so-called gentleness, easygoingness, and seriousness were all just an illusion.

They did their utmost to conceal the hint of madness in the commander's eyes, as well as the aggression and tyranny that could easily cause panic.

"Yes, Commander."

Pepper pursed her lips and obediently took out three emergency painkillers, each no bigger than a little finger, from the pocket of her short vest. She then skillfully inserted the needles into the man's already purple skin.

After a while...

rustling sounds—rustling sounds—

Six Lechers, using a combination of location signals and the cacophony of gunfire, appeared one after another on the adjacent street to the east of the southern underground entrance.

If they had emotional systems, they would be incredibly excited right now, because there isn't a single Letcher in this world who could resist tearing apart the bodies of humans and Niki—how wonderful that would be…

Boom! ! !

Suddenly! In the Lechers' digitized visual sensors, the body of one of their kind exploded into fragments without warning.

The gunfire that followed was like the most convincing warning sign in the world, indicating that their path was blocked.

[Detecting concealed targets...]

Realizing that a threatening unit was lying in ambush on the southern section of the road, the mechanical spiders immediately turned all their cannons towards the firing direction.

Boom! ! !

In the brief moment it took to turn its head, another of its kind was knocked to the ground by an armor-piercing bullet, the flying chip fragments reflecting a silvery luster in the moonlight.

[Warning! Thermal imaging lock failed; no biosignals detected.]

A triangular symbol indicating invalidity popped up in the Lechers' visual interface, and the backup program immediately activated, guiding the mechanical spiders to launch an indiscriminate sweeping attack from left to right along the road to the south.

Boom! ! !

Another muffled thud occurred. The third selected Lecher had its core destroyed while dumping ammunition. The "dead" machine, having lost its balance system, was pushed backward by the recoil of the machine gun and began to spin in place, accidentally hitting another of its kind not far away and blasting it into pieces like a garbage can.

Boom! ! !

The sounds of impact, signifying death, continued. The last Lecher, witnessing the destruction of its kind, sent a final message to its kin and leader in less than two seconds.

[120.44 / 30.24, High Threat Target]

Boom! ! !

"Attention all personnel... The threat on the east side has been temporarily eliminated."

On the fourth floor of the department store, Phoenix, who had just sat up, spat out a mouthful of bloody foam on the ground. Behind him, five large holes, still filled with dust, were quietly "attached" to the wall.

Click!

The bolt was pulled back, and the smoke-filled cartridge case flew out and landed on the ground with a clear, melodious bell sound.

Ding! Ding ding ding ding!

Chapter Eleven: I just had surgery.

"Attention all personnel... The threat on the east side has been temporarily eliminated."

The moment the anti-materiel sniper cannon stopped roaring, the moment Phoenix's voice reached every Nikki's ear, whether it was Lapi, Christine, or the bewildered Anise and Sugar.

They were all deeply moved by the commander's calm and composed tone and the content of his words.

"Ha! Commander, someone as rare as you must be very popular with the girls in Ark, am I right!"

As she loaded ammunition into her shotgun, Lorf laughed heartily and continued to tease:

"This damn sense of security is like a drug for women, I'm almost tempted, baby."

"Anis and Sugar are in position. Commander, please give further instructions."

Unlike Lorf, who still had the leisure to joke around, Lapi, after being shocked, silently handed over all decision-making power to the commander.

If it were in the past, she would have already led the group of Nikis to meet up with the commander.

After all, under normal circumstances, no commander would dislike Niki coming to meet them, and no commander would risk their life against Rachel for Niki.

Therefore, their new commander is definitely not a normal commander, so she should not treat their abnormal commander in the same way she treats normal commanders.

"spit--"

As soon as Lhabi finished speaking, the sound of a man spitting came through the earpiece.

"There are too many Lechers, and we don't have enough firearms for long-range combat."

Labi, Anis, Shug, and Christine retreated 200 meters south to the crossroads, then found cover to fire, before slowly retreating east to guide Lecher to the east. Labi was responsible for planning the specific strategy.

"Lolf, take Merry to the eastern part of the complex and find a secluded spot to hide. Await my orders."

Lhapi: "Understood, Commander."

Lorf: "I'll make sure the mission is accomplished, darling."

"Then... let's begin."

Shila-

The microphone was temporarily turned off, and someone who had been suppressing their physical reaction finally couldn't hold back the discomfort from their lungs. A mouthful of thick blood foam gushed out of their throat after being squeezed through their lungs.

"Coughing and vomiting—!"

A blood-red plum blossom, glistening with fine foam, stained the dirty floor.

As the price for firing five shots in eight seconds, Phoenix undoubtedly suffered internal bleeding in his right lung due to the violent recoil of the sniper rifle.

"Commander! I... I need to administer a clotting agent into your right lung."

Pepper, who was standing to the side, saw that the commander's mouth was full of blood. Her hands were gripping the medical instruments, and she was already red with anxiety. However, she did not dare to touch him directly, fearing that the commander had something more urgent to do next.

Phoenix, however, did not try to exert unnecessary force in this regard.

He had studied medicine seriously at the Ark Military Academy. Compared with the medical technology of the previous generation, the medical technology of the current generation is obviously much more magical and efficient.

"Then trouble you."

"If the commander doesn't treat him soon, then... eh?"

The young doctor, still absorbed in persuasion, suddenly froze, realizing that she had subconsciously assumed the commander was the kind of stubborn idiot who wouldn't accept any treatment advice because she had watched too many melodramatic movies.

"Okay! This surgery is very simple, I can finish it right away!"

As if fearing Phoenix might change his mind at the last minute, Pepper quickly reached out, gently wrapped her hand around the back of the commander's head, and hugged his head, saying:

"Please lean on my shoulder, Commander."

Knowing the surgical procedure Pepper was about to perform, Phoenix was confident he wouldn't feel embarrassed, so he leaned on the girl's shoulder following Pepper's lead.

Unfortunately, he was wrong.

How wrong.

This girl usually wears a wool sweater, and I didn't notice she was particularly well-endowed, but how come when I leaned against her my entire right arm... just sank in?

Although he wouldn't be so easily swayed by such a situation, he was undeniably filled with embarrassment.

And what about Pepper?

It was actually her first time performing an emergency surgery outside the emergency room, so how could she have known that this would happen when the patient was leaning on her shoulder?

Fortunately, she had already blushed with worry because of the commander's injury, so as long as she managed her expression well, the only one who would feel embarrassed was the commander.

And the embarrassment is doubled.

With this thought in mind, Pepper, who was gradually becoming more at ease, took a deep breath, stopped thinking about the pressure on her chest, and quickly focused her attention to prepare for the surgery.

"Commander, please exhale slowly. You don't need to exhale all the air from your lungs. If you feel like coughing up blood, just cough it up. Don't worry about my clothes."

……

"I will insert the needle into the lower part of your throat, into your trachea, and inject a small amount of alveolar clotting agent."

……

"Commander, the surgery is about to begin. There will be some pain during the insertion process, so please bear with it and do not move."

……

"Injection successful, please inhale slowly... Good, inhale slowly."

……