NIKKE, When the Milky Way Blossoms

Several decoy missiles were launched from both sides of the transport plane and flung westward, while the aircraft, under the pilot's control, veered into a difficult low-altitude flight maneuver and headed towards the back of a building to the east.

Immediately, an explosion rang out, and the air-to-air missile, worth over 100 million credits, exploded in mid-air like fireworks.

"Quick! Marian!"

Just then, Phoenix seized the opportunity and shouted to the girl beside him:

Are you confident about this distance?

"No problem, Commander!"

Without hesitation, Marian, who had already pulled the pin on the grenade, swung her arm and tossed the high-explosive grenade high into the air, accurately landing it in one of the cannon barrels of the Hive missile launcher.

boom--! ! !

Flames shot straight into the sky!

Perhaps because the launcher was undergoing a reloading operation, a mere hand grenade managed to detonate the ammunition depot, shattering the Hive missile launcher into countless pieces, a truly horrific sight.

"Whoa~ Hey special forces captain, did you see the explosion?"

Seeing that his dirty trick had worked, Phoenix immediately yelled into the team voice chat:

"One to zero."

"whispering sound."

On the other side, seeing the explosion in the distance that resembled a small mushroom cloud, Yin Hua wrinkled her delicate nose and turned her head to look at Bestie.

"Load it directly into the container."

"……Oh."

Upon hearing the captain's order, Bestie, whose eyes flashed with a hint of madness, abandoned her usual delicate appearance and excitedly released her self-imposed restrictions, activating the missile cargo container at the bottom of the transport plane.

Boom boom boom boom——

In the blink of an eye, dozens of ground-attack missiles were launched from the container one after another, rushing toward the various weapon systems of Secret Material H.

explosion!

The explosion lasted for more than a minute!

Despite the anti-air firepower of the Tyrant-class Lecher, more than a dozen ground-to-ground missiles still managed to escape the defense network, destroying a total of seventeen fire control devices before finally stopping.

"Seventeen to one."

Through the earphones, Yin Hua spoke words that sounded calm but were actually smug, with the corners of her mouth already starting to turn up.

"..."

"What? Did you go deaf?"

"..."

Just wait for me!

Just as someone was cursing the shameless girl, several special notification sounds for joining the team suddenly popped up in the team channel.

"Instructor, Maruchana reporting for duty."

"Instructor, Nadja reporting for duty."

"Instructor, Tia reporting for duty."

"Instructor, Tswai greets you..."

"Instructor, Ai Yin is heading towards..."

"Instructor..."

Nine crisp, clean reports plunged the team into an eerie silence.

With the permission of the intelligence department, Maruchana, who was leading her students back to the battlefield, was now anxiously awaiting Phoenix's response.

Not only her, but the other eight students felt the same way.

In the end, everyone disobeyed the instructor's orders and chose to risk their lives to help him fight.

Instructor, he...

He must be very angry right now...

"You came just in time!"

Teachers and students: "?"

"Listen to my orders! I'm going to kill this Lecher today!"

"Emma! Bestie! Close the distance! Our mission is to take down this Tyrant-class Lecher!"

"Take my ass! This is Ark's property!"

"Hey, how about I shoot it down and give it to you?"

"Ah, this is the betrothal gift I'm preparing to marry you."

"You...you bastard! What are you saying?!"

"Huh? Didn't you hear me? Do you mean I need to say it again?"

"Shut up, you third-rate bastard!!!"

Maruchana: "..."

The students, Niki: "..."

Marian: "..."

Chapter Ninety-Seven Untitled

There's an old saying: when poor, use tactical maneuvers; when rich, use firepower.

Logically speaking, including Silver Flower, Phoenix can currently command as many as twelve non-mass-produced Nikis.

Based on the three-person Niki squad, the current battle situation is equivalent to four Niki units simultaneously besieging a Tyrant-class Rachel.

Among them, there is also a trump card from the Pure Land of Bliss.

With such a formidable lineup, all that's needed is to steadily and methodically push forward. Given Phoenix's commanding abilities, it's only a matter of time before Secret Material H falls.

However, the red light that flashed intermittently and Anik's unstable posture prevented him from doing so.

Similarly, Ningya and Sapol, whose fates were unknown, wouldn't allow him to dawdle like that.

Then,

Phoenix, prioritizing saving lives, was forced to resort to aggressive tactics.

Under the man's strong command, Tia and Diesel, wielding heavy firepower, blasted away several of the most important firepower turrets of Secret Material H. Nadja, Maricana, and others threw out a large number of smoke grenades and chaff, making the battlefield shrouded in smoke, like a "fairyland".

Then, taking advantage of the gray smoke as cover, Commander Fei and his Nikkis rushed into the Tyrant-class Lecher's architectural body without hesitation.

One hour...forty-eight minutes...

When someone risks their life to navigate through a hail of bullets.

In his mind, Anik, who was engaged in a computational battle against the corrosive virus, was reporting the time to him every minute.

—That's the countdown that started from when Ningya got injured.

— Three hours.

Excluding the panacea of ​​antidote, the only way to save a corrupted Niki is to brainwash her within three hours.

Subtracting the distance required for transport planes to bring the wounded back to the Ark, the time it takes for elevators to descend, and the Ark's cumbersome approval process, the effective rescue time estimated by artificial intelligence is actually only a pitiful two hours and twenty minutes.

This number is the theoretical maximum duration derived from repeated calculations.

According to Anick, the actual rescue time was a paltry two hours and five minutes.

In other words, Ningya has only seventeen minutes left before she is completely eroded.

From initial composure to growing anxiety, Phoenix, unable to accurately express his location in words, eagerly grabbed Tia's soft, fair hand. Ignoring the sidelong glances of others and the bewildered expression on the girl's face, he immediately led the students from behind the cover into the smoke-filled area ahead.

"I'll adjust your position for you, you just keep shooting."

In an environment where visibility was less than a meter, the instructor gestured for the students to carry her rather heavy rocket launcher, saying:

"Fire one shot and run, then keep firing as you feel like it."

After saying that, the man immediately dragged his left hand toward the muzzle of the cannon and quickly adjusted the firing angle for Tia.

"Wait for my order."

Without giving the girl any chance to respond, the commander turned and ran out of the smoke, dividing the other eight people into two groups and assigning them to the left and right sides.

Ten seconds later...

Once everyone was in position, Phoenix's voice calling for Tia could be heard in the team voice chat.

"Fire."

"Yes!"