NIKKE: The Apocalypse Arrives, But the System is 100 Years Late

At that moment, Mo Chen abruptly stood up.

It's time!

"Rapi, you take the Seventh Squad. Anis, Neon, you'll lead the Eighth Squad!"

"Yes!"

Rapi and the others straightened up with renewed vigor. They had been waiting for this moment!

"Head immediately to support the east and south fronts!"

"Yes!"

"…?"

"Huh?"

The Nikkes were stunned. They felt like they must have misheard.

"Commander, could you repeat that order?"

Rapi asked, her tone cautious.

"You heard me right," Mo Chen repeated. "Go support the east and south. Right now, move!"

As soon as the Raptures had begun their assault, Mo Chen had started piecing everything together.

Anis, still confused, blurted out, "Commander, are we retreating or something? The Raptures are attacking in the opposite direction!"

"Stop talking and go already."

Mo Chen smacked her lightly on the head.

"Do I look like someone who'd abandon a battle?"

Although they didn't fully understand the logic behind his orders, Rapi and the others obeyed and moved out to the frontlines.

It's still not enough. Mo Chen ran a mental simulation of the battlefield.

Even with the infected Raptures and the vanguard squads aiding the counteroffensive, the sheer scale and ferocity of this attack were unprecedented.

This was likely the final, and largest, assault.

Manpower! There's still not enough manpower.

He massaged his temples, letting out a heavy sigh.

At that moment, the door swung open. Crisp footsteps echoed through the room. Mo Chen looked up, momentarily startled.

Eunhwa?

Eunhwa stood there in full gear, a sniper rifle slung over her shoulder, her combat attire immaculate and ready.

Wasn't she supposed to be sulking in her room?

Noticing his bemused expression, she clicked her tongue disdainfully. She tilted her chin up with an air of pride.

"Don't think I'm so fragile. I'm not some delicate flower."

Not fragile?

Lady, you've been holed up in your room for over half a month.

Mo Chen was speechless.

But he wisely decided not to provoke her. If he annoyed her now, she might blow up the entire command center.

"Hmph, you've got some brains after all," Eunhwa remarked, her gaze scanning the tactical orders displayed on the screen.

She glanced back at Mo Chen, a flicker of admiration quickly hidden in her eyes. "At least this way, I won't have to worry about the base getting wrecked because of your antics. Nobody wants to die a pointless death."

Mo Chen: "…"

Eunhwa seemed to have deduced the Raptures' strategy as well, but the way she said it grated on him.

Seeing Mo Chen not moving, Eunhwa frowned.

"What are you waiting for? Do you plan to let them all die first and then pick up the pieces?"

Her words are just as sharp as Anis's.

Mo Chen composed himself and said sternly, "Absolute squad, deploy to reinforce the east and south immediately!"

Eunhwa clicked her tongue again, throwing out a curt "Got it," before turning to leave.

Still not convinced, huh?

He sighed helplessly. He finally understood what Emma meant by Eunhwa being "very strong-willed."

At the same time, the battlefield witnessed a sudden and dramatic change.

The previously quiet eastern and southern fronts were now swarming with an overwhelming number of Raptures, their numbers far exceeding initial expectations.

When Anis reached the eastern front, she was ready to make a snarky comment about the Commander's paranoia. But one look into the distance froze her in place.

On the horizon, a sea of crimson dots surged forward like a blood-red tide, rushing toward their position.

It was a Rapture horde!

And from the sheer scale of it, the eastern and southern fronts now faced far more Raptures than the northern and western lines.

To make matters worse, a staggering number of Lord-class Raptures had appeared, several times more than before!

Anis immediately relayed the situation.

In the operations command room, the other Nikkes turned their eyes toward Mo Chen, their expressions a mix of awe and reverence.

The Commander had foreseen this all along!

Mo Chen, however, wasn't surprised; if anything, he felt a sense of relief.

From the outset of the battle, Mo Chen had sensed that this Rapture assault was unlike any before it.

While their behavior wasn't akin to human strategy, it did bear a resemblance to animal instincts.

This was evident in their evolutionary forms—most of which were modeled after beasts.

But that didn't make them mindless.

Their instincts allowed them to take the shortest path and exploit weak points in defenses.

Certain Raptures even prioritized attacking the most dangerous Nikkes first.

However, in this battle, the Raptures had been relentlessly attacking the northern and western fronts while ignoring the eastern and southern lines, even though the distances between these points were only a few kilometers.

It just didn't add up.

The battle fog, the disrupted communication signals—all these factors seemed too coincidental. It felt orchestrated, as if something was being concealed.

Thinking back to the Raptures at the power plant, and recalling elements from later developments in the story, Mo Chen pieced it all together.

There's an intelligent Rapture commanding them from the shadows!

That revelation tied everything together.

The northern and western assaults were diversions. The true target was the southeast!

And sure enough, a massive force of Raptures emerged simultaneously on the eastern and southern fronts.

Thankfully, Mo Chen's earlier preparations had dispatched the Counters and Absolute squad to intercept the surprise attack.

"Well played. A feint and a flank. Guess someone's been reading Sun Tzu, huh?"

Mo Chen let out a long breath.

As the battle progressed, the Raptures on the northern and western fronts diminished rapidly, just as he predicted.

The pressure on those lines eased significantly, giving the Nikkes a moment to regroup and breathe.

This reprieve was thanks in part to Mo Chen's covertly controlled Rapture forces.

At the battle's outset, Mo Chen had strategically released his infected Rapture units onto the field. As the fighting intensified, his hidden allies struck without warning, catching the enemy Raptures off guard.

Even when these controlled Raptures fell, the residual Punishing Virus they carried would infect others nearby, creating chaos among the enemy ranks.

Without these measures, defending against thousands of Raptures with just a handful of Nikke units would have been impossible.

As for the eastern and southern fronts, Mo Chen wasn't worried.

He had already sent forward scouting units to reinforce those lines.

With their assistance, holding the line was well within reach.

And as the battle unfolded, it went just as he had anticipated.

The fighting on the eastern and southern fronts was fierce, but both lines held steady without any catastrophic losses.

But Mo Chen wasn't done.

Stripping off his outer layer, he began stretching and warming up.

He then stepped out of the command room, ready to enter the fray.

Walking through the deserted and silent passageway, he arrived at the initial western frontline.

The battlefield was a desolate wasteland, riddled with craters and shrouded in lingering smoke. The ground was littered with Rapture carcasses and shattered debris. 

Here and there, remnants of Nikkes could be seen—a severed arm, a blown-off leg—testaments to the intensity of the battle.

The devastation spoke volumes about the ferocity of the confrontation.

At the frontline, the tide of Raptures had been pushed back, giving the Nikkes a much-needed reprieve. They seized this opportunity to regroup, tending to the wounded, restocking their ammunition, and reinforcing their positions.

The moment Mo Chen arrived, his presence immediately drew the attention of the Nikkes.

Heads turned, their gazes filled with recognition and admiration.