NIKKE, when the stars bloom

Boom! ! !

"Attention everyone... The threat to the east has been temporarily eliminated."

On the fourth floor of the department store, Phoenix sat up and spat blood foam on the ground. Behind him, five large holes still filled with dust were quietly "sticking" to the wall.

Click——da!

The bolt was pulled, and the smoking shell flew out, then fell to the ground, making a clear and pleasant bell sound.

Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!

Chapter 11 I just had an operation

"Attention everyone... The threat to the east has been temporarily eliminated."

The moment the anti-material sniper gun stopped roaring, the moment Phoenix's voice reached the ears of every Nikki, whether it was Lavie, Kristen, or Anis and Sugar who arrived late and were confused.

They were all deeply shocked by the commander's calm and steady tone and content.

"Ha! Commander, a rare breed like you must be very popular among the girls in the Ark. I guessed right!"

Rolfe, who was loading the shotgun with ammunition, laughed heartily and continued to tease:

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

"Anis and Sugar are already in place, please give your instructions, Commander."

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

If it were in the past, she would have led a group of Nikkis to meet up with the commander by now.

After all, under normal circumstances, no commander would mind Nikki coming to join him, and no commander would fight Letcher for Nikki.

From this, it can be concluded that their new commander is definitely not in the category of normal commander, so she should not treat their abnormal commander in the same way as a normal commander.

"spit--"

As soon as Rabi finished speaking, the sound of a man spitting could be heard in the earphone.

“There are too many Letchers, and we don’t have enough firearms for long-range combat.

Rabi, Anis, Sugar, and Christine retreated two hundred meters south to the intersection, then found cover to fire, and then slowly retreated eastward, guiding Letcher to the east. The specific plan was planned by Rabi.

Rolfe, take Merry to a hidden place in the east building complex and wait for my order."

Rabbi: "Understood, Commander."

Lolph: "Promise to complete the mission, baby."

"Then... let the action begin."

Shila-

The microphone was temporarily turned off. Someone who was trying hard to suppress his physiological reaction finally couldn't bear the discomfort from his lungs anymore. A mouthful of thick blood foam was squeezed through his lungs and flowed out of his throat.

“Cough, ugh—!”

A blood plum blossom with fine foam stained the dirty floor.

As the price of firing five shots in eight seconds, there is no doubt that Phoenix's right lung has been hit by the violent recoil of the sniper rifle and has caused internal bleeding.

"Commander! I…I need to pump a coagulant into your right lung."

Pepper, who was standing by, saw the commander's mouth full of blood. She was holding medical tools in both hands and her face was already red with anxiety, but she didn't dare to start directly, for fear that the commander would have more urgent things to do later.

In this regard, Phoenix did not try to be unnecessarily strong.

He had studied medicine seriously at the Ark Military Academy. Compared with the medical technology of humans in his previous life, the medical technology tree of humans in this life was obviously much more magical and efficient.

"Then trouble you."

"If the Commander doesn't treat me, then...eh?"

The young doctor, who was still immersed in persuasion, was stunned for a moment, and then he realized that it was because he had watched too many melodramatic movies that he subconsciously thought that the commander was also the kind of stubborn idiot who would not accept any treatment suggestions.

"Okay! This operation is very simple, I can do it right away!"

As if she was afraid that Phoenix would change his mind at the last minute, Pepper quickly reached out her hand, gently went around the back of the commander's head, hugged the commander's head, and said:

"Please lean on my shoulder, Commander."

Knowing the surgical technique that Pepper was about to perform, Phoenix felt that he would not be embarrassed, so he followed Pepper's strength and leaned on the girl's shoulder.

Unfortunately, he was wrong.

How wrong.

This girl usually wears a woolen sweater, and she doesn't look very attractive, but how come when I leaned over to her, her entire right arm just...sank in? ? ?

Although he didn't feel embarrassed in this situation, he was still filled with embarrassment.

And what about Pepper?

It was actually her first time to perform this kind of emergency surgery that was not performed in the emergency room. How could she have known that this situation would occur with the patient leaning on her shoulder?

Fortunately, her face had turned red with anxiety because of the commander's injury, so as long as she managed her expression well, the commander would be the only one who would be embarrassed.

And it's doubly embarrassing.

Thinking of this, Pepper gradually calmed down, took a deep breath, stopped thinking about the problem of chest pressure, and quickly concentrated his attention to prepare for the operation.

"Commander, please exhale slowly. You don't need to exhale all the air in your lungs. If you can't help but want to cough up blood, just cough directly. Don't worry about my clothes."

……

"I will insert the needle down your throat, into your trachea, and inject a small amount of alveolar coagulant."

……

"Commander, the operation is about to begin. There will be some pain during the insertion. Please be patient and do not move."

……

"The penetration is successful, please breathe in slowly... Very good, breathe in slowly."

……

"The coagulant injection is complete, and the operation is complete."

“Cough, ugh—!!!”

The moment Pepper said "the operation is completed", Phoenix immediately sat up, lowered his head and vomited a large mouthful of thick blood mixed with coagulant onto the ground.

"Hu-hu-"

After spitting out blood, the man felt relaxed and took deep breaths of air. He soon felt that his lungs no longer made the annoying foaming sound with every breath like before.

It seems that the blood coagulant has taken effect, and the effect is amazing.

At the same time, Rabi's voice was repeating tirelessly in the team voice.

"Commander, we have led the Letchers to the crossroads. There are fifteen to twenty of them. Please respond if you hear me."

"Commander, we have led Letcher to the crossroads, the number is..."

"I heard you. Keep retreating. There are several flying Letchers coming from your left. Focus on cleaning them out. Lolfe and Merry are not allowed to act without my order."

Just now, Phoenix had just finished assigning the task.

Soon after, Anis's dissatisfied voice was heard in the team voice chat.

"Commander, where were you just now? Can you please stop disappearing all the time? It makes you look like a scumbag who just runs away after doing something and doesn't even spend the night with you!"

"…Uh, well, this is what I did. I just had an operation."

"Oh~ So he went for an operation. Rabbi, the commander said he just went for an operation. I told you not to be so anxious. Pepper is one of the best doctors in the Ark. She will definitely be able to handle this kind of thing.

Commander, do you think I'm right? After all, it's not necessary to tell us in advance about such a small matter as surgery.

As long as the commander is alive, you don't have to say hello to us even if you get hurt!

After all, surgery is a small matter!! And it may involve the commander's privacy, so it is normal not to tell us in advance!!

You see, I was right! Commander!!!"

Phoenix: “…”

Chapter 12 Errors of Judgment

Under Anis's endless verbal attack, a commander finally wisely chose to apologize and said that he would remember to report to her before disappearing in the future.

His attitude was so sincere that even Anis herself was a little speechless.

The reason why she said so much just now was not because she was really angry, but because she was dissatisfied with the commander for not asking them for help when they encountered difficulties.

This man dared to perform surgery without telling them tonight, and he will dare to act alone without telling them tomorrow night. If they encounter difficulties in the future, he might even dare to be so arrogant as to ask them to go first and he will be responsible for covering their retreat.

If he does all the work, what is the use of Nikki then?

But Anis never expected that despite her restrained sarcasm, the commander actually chose to apologize to her, and he apologized to her in front of everyone on the team voice chat.

This really scared Anis. For a few seconds, she even suspected that this was the last notice before the leader planned to make things difficult for her.

But soon, the girl denied her dark and suspicious thoughts, and continued with a relaxed expression while firing at Letcher:

"Hey! Commander, you said it yourself. You must tell me about any injuries in the future... Well, you can also tell Rabi."

"But before that we have to survive tonight."

In the team voice chat, Phoenix's tone gradually returned to its original calmness from the guilty tone at the beginning, as if he was talking about something that had nothing to do with him.

"With this level of Letcher, there is a high probability that there will be a lord-level leader. You all should be careful."

"Understood~ Commander."

……

"How's the injury?"

Inside the building, Phoenix stared at Pepper's face intently, while Pepper concentrated on observing the commander's right shoulder, her delicate eyebrows twisted into a knot.

"commander……"

"The Letchers are almost there."

Someone with experience anticipated Pepper's subsequent long speech and said quickly:

"Let's just say the conclusion."

After hearing what the commander said, Pepper's mouth, which had just opened, closed immediately. After a few seconds of thinking, she explained the extent of her injuries to the commander in an orderly manner.

"The tendon connecting the humerus and pectoralis major muscle in the right arm is torn, and capillaries are ruptured over a large area. Part of the nerves in the right arm will die within eight to twelve hours, causing paralysis of the right arm.

Commander...if your injury continues to worsen, you will have to undergo amputation surgery even if you return to the Ark."

"..."

Outside the window, the roar of artillery fire continued, and the already tense atmosphere became even more solemn as Pepper spoke.

Twelve hours?

After hearing this cruel number, Phoenix silently lowered his head and stared at the sniper rifle beside him. His expression was unusually calm, and his thoughts drifted far away.

Sugar's erosion virus will definitely exceed the three-hour brainwashing treatment period and must be destroyed according to Ark's rules.

Therefore, he had thought of several plans from the very beginning.

1. Control Sugar and wander aimlessly on the ground until you meet the "Pilgrim" organization that can remove the erosion.

2. Follow the protagonist's behavior in the original plot of the game, allow Sugar to be corrupted, and then return to the Ark to conceal the information. Everything depends on her and her own luck.

3. Kill Sugar.

No matter from which angle you look at the above options, the third one is definitely the most rational and safest choice.

According to Sugar's character, Phoenix even felt that he could tell the truth directly to her. After accepting the reality, she would choose to sacrifice herself and would not let everyone bear the moral pressure.

As for the other two options...