NIKKE, When the Milky Way Blossoms

"Where to go?"

"Where else can we go? Let's just get a regular office. I heard from the boss that the young CEO, Missilis, is coming to interrogate us personally."

"Come here in person...to interrogate?"

"Yes, interrogation."

……

……

"Hey, you're Phoenix, right?"

In the clean and tidy staff office of the rehabilitation center, Phoenix looked at the girl with purple-streaked bangs in front of him with some surprise.

To be honest, he never expected that his first meeting with this Ark Insect would be in such a setting.

Without shackles,

There is no magnetic ring either.

No protective measures are taken.

It's unclear whether the leaders of the rehabilitation center have lost their minds, or if this insect girl has started acting out again, engaging in mindless micromanagement.

"Hey! Didn't you hear me? Have military academies stopped caring about etiquette when recruiting people these days?"

Seeing that the guy who had crippled her employee was only looking at her, Shuen's signature look of disgust immediately appeared on her face.

“I’m actually too lazy to delve into such trivial matters. Here’s what we’ll do: I’ll set up a verified account for you online. You can record a video on that account of yourself kneeling down and apologizing to Missilis. That will be the end of it.”

"..."

Phoenix, who was still considering his next move, did not respond to Shuen's request for the time being, but instead asked Anik to find out if the surveillance cameras in the office were turned on.

"Hey, didn't you hear me talking to you? Are you deaf?!"

No, there's no one in the monitoring room responsible for monitoring this office.

Amidst the clamor of the Missilis CEO, Anik delivered a wonderful answer that would greatly satisfy the mentally ill.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Shuen."

Phoenix greeted Shuen politely, his expression suggesting he hadn't heard a thing she was saying.

"Let's make a deal."

"what?"

Upon hearing the word "deal," Missilis CEO, whose rhythm and train of thought had been disrupted, suddenly dropped her annoyingly sour expression and raised an eyebrow, asking curiously:

"A trade? You don't actually think that a poor guy like you would have something I want, do you?"

"Give me permanent ownership of Yuni and Mihara."

Phoenix ignored Shum's trash talk, or rather, he chose to have Anick record all the instances of trash talk for him.

“Misilis’s stock price has fallen sharply recently, hasn’t it?”

"what?"

Upon hearing the man's words, Shuen, who was recently troubled by the stock price, suddenly furrowed his brows, which had been raised.

"What are you trying to say, you poor wretch?"

"Keep listening, and you'll find out what I'm trying to say."

The man stood up from the sofa, strolled over to the girl, looked down at the short man who seemed to have no concept of "respect," and said quietly:

"The more the stock price falls, the more unstable the CEO's position becomes. In addition, the Missilis conglomerate is so large that it monopolizes nearly half of the daily necessities in the Ark."

Even I, an outsider, can guess that there are many people within the conglomerate who want you to get out, right?

"you……"

"Shh-"

The man gently placed his finger on the kid's lips, bent down, and met his eyes with his aggressive gaze.

“If you transfer ownership of Yuni and Mihara to me, you can tell me five names.”

"Five names of members of the Missilis organization that you never want to see again."

Chapter 41 Winning Hearts and Minds

From childhood to adulthood, apart from her father who was killed by Letcher, Shuen had never felt any sense of oppression from anyone else.

Ingrid?

That old woman, whom no man likes, is not worthy of her fear.

Anderson?

She's just a deputy commander who prioritizes the overall situation; she's not even as good as Ingrid.

Burningham?

That short, fat pig grinned at her whenever he saw her, and would be eternally grateful if given a little money; he was utterly useless.

Only the man in front of him,

Only his eyes reminded Shuen of the time when his father pressured the board of directors.

Those were eyes that dared to kill.

It wasn't the rage of a desperate killer, nor the indifference of an assassin, nor the excitement of a serial killer. It was a chilling obsession that kept you awake at night.

She had seen it in her father when she was very young.

That means if I say I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill your composure and your madness.

"You... what makes you think you can kill the people on the Missilis board of directors?"

As her heartbeat gradually returned to normal, Shuen slapped away the man's fingers that were pressed against her lips, wiped her lips with disgust, narrowed her eyes, and asked softly:

"You think I'm stupid? You say you can kill, and I'm supposed to believe your nonsense?"

You don't have to believe me.

Phoenix simply smiled gently at this, stroking the kid's cheek again with his right hand. "But plenty of people believe it, don't they?"

"Give me your dirty hands..."

Having never had his face pinched like that by anyone other than a blood relative, Shuen was no longer interested in listening to someone's riddle.

Enraged, she was about to raise her voice to call in the prison guards standing outside the door when, unexpectedly, the man's right hand suddenly reached for the back of her head.

Immediately afterwards, an irresistible force forcibly pulled her head and body together.

"Shh-"

A man's cold, menacing voice rang in my ears.

At that moment, Shuen's mind went blank, and she felt as if a giant python was coiling around her body. At her throat, a rough hand pressed gently yet roughly against her trachea, making it difficult for her to breathe.

"You were tempted when I made the deal, weren't you?"

The demon whispered, its chilling killing intent revealing the girl's outwardly strong but inwardly weak nature, causing her to instinctively tremble.

"Since you want to make them disappear from this world in this way, is it possible that they also want to make you disappear from this world in the same way?"

You can refuse the deal, and I can certainly make a deal with your adversary, can't I?

Don't forget, Miss Shuen, you are the CEO of Missilis, you are incredibly wealthy, you enjoy the best material life on the Ark, and you are surrounded by sycophantic dogs.

but me,

It's a miserable life.

Even if they kill you and then discard you like a used tool, someone as noble as you is already dead.

When a person dies, they lose everything, especially when they die along with a worthless life—it's not worth it at all.

"Cough...cough..."

The girl, her face flushed, struggled, raising her hands to try and pry open the devil's arms. However, having lived a life of ease since childhood and neglecting physical fitness, she could not budge him even with her bare hands.

"I...I'll give you money...whatever you want...cough...I'll give you anything..."

She vowed that once she stepped out of that door, she would definitely send that damned guy there...

"Sweetie, when you're angry, you need to learn to relax your expression. Otherwise, others will know you're angry and will naturally be wary of you, understand?"

"?!"

Before Shuen could recover from his astonishment, Phoenix's lips were already close to the brat's ear, whispering words that were enough to make the other person's mind wander.

Have you ever wondered why Ingrid and the others are so lenient with you?