After Anis and Neon settle their ignorance, they go about their own business.
"On vacation, it's definitely time to drink carbonated drinks..."
"Gurgle gurgle--"
"And a super-sized Pert Pie!"
"Wait a minute, where did the snack I just bought go?"
Anis opens the fridge, only to find that the snacks in it have long been gone.
And the culprit, at this time, pretends to be immersed in firearms.
"Neon! You did it, right!"
"Oh~ based on my scans, Anis' firepower has increased tenfold or more at the moment, and his firepower is still increasing!"
"That was the grape-flavored Pert Pie that I finally managed to buy! Give me back my Pert Pie!"
"It's too late to say anything now, Anis. It went into my stomach last night."
"Ugh ugh ugh, my Pert Pie!"
Clang, clang, the two are fighting in a complicated mess.
Neat, who was standing nearby, shook his head helplessly. Neat sometimes feels a little embarrassed about having two friends who are stubborn and like to make trouble.
Get rid of a little emotion in his mind.
Neatly looked at Grim and suddenly asked: "Commander."
"Is there any news from Marian?"
Grim shook his head: "not yet."
"But I think it will happen soon."
Grim just wondered if Ingrid would contact him.
Incoming communications from the Elysion channel.
"Wait a minute, neat, I need to take a call."
"Okay, Commander."
Grim went into the corridor of the hostel, put in-ear headphones to his ears, and then connected communication from the Elysion channel.
"It's me, Ingrid."
In the projection, a brown-haired and blue-eyed authoritative woman dressed in a White Elysion uniform appears. Her name is Ingrid, the current CEO of Elysion, whose status in the Central Government is equivalent to that of a Deputy Commander-level official, and she is one of the very famous important figures in Ark.
"Good evening, President Ingrid."
Grim greeted him politely.
Ingrid nodded to him: "good night, Grim. Just get to the point. Marian's brainwashing is over. Tomorrow morning, at The Outpost, I'll bring it myself."
"Regarding other small details, we will discuss when we meet."
"It's been accepted. Thank you for your help, President Ingrid."
"You're welcome. I have other business to attend to, so I'm hanging up now."
Beep.
After shutting down communication, Grim walks into the dorm and tells the three little ones that Marian will be returning to the squad.
However, the atmosphere in the hostel became quiet.
"Marian probably won't recognize us now, right? Anis said as he lay on his bed and chewed on Pert Pie: "after all, Commander said Elysion should do a thorough brainwashing on him to prevent brain erosion from destroying his brain."
"But Marian after brainwashing is really no different from a baby."
.....
Anis, who was talking to herself, immediately noticed the heavy atmosphere in the dormitory.
Obviously, none of those present wanted to discuss the matter further.
After all, erosion, for Nikke, is like cancer.
Once infected with erosion, unless immediate memory erasure is performed, it is essentially tantamount to no longer being salvageable.
Seeing the awkward atmosphere in the dormitory, Anis, who had started the conversation, immediately swallowed her Pert Pie and apologized to Grim: "Ah, I'm Sorry, Commander, and everything. I didn't mean to start this conversation. Let's just say I didn't say anything."
Grim shook his head: "Don't worry, Anis."
Neon smiled: "that's right~ after all, Master is not a fragile person."
"After all, aren't we preparing to seek Liberation? As long as we get the Liberation formula from the Pilgrims, we don't have to worry about erosion anymore."
"Come to think of it like that, Liberation is the strongest weapon!"
Anis rubbed her messy hair and rolled her eyes at Neon: "Well, you are indeed a big dreamer, Neon. If it were me, if the thing called Liberation was so easy to get, then Ark would have defeated Rapture and taken back the Surface."
"After all, even if we can actually get the formula, I predict that none of us will live much longer."
"The higher ups of the Ark will definitely send professional assassin Nikke to break our necks!"
"So, neat, Neon, and Commander, I'm so happy to be friends with all of you. If there is a soul in this world, after we die, let's be ghost friends together... Hehehe...."
Anis describes it so vividly, It scares Neon away from caring for his firearm, that he almost drops parts of the weapon in his hand onto the Surface.
"Anis, can you stop saying such scary things?"
"Huh, scary?"
"I just gave the worst-case scenario. I didn't expect Neon to be so shy."
"I am not ashamed at all."
As the two chatted, neat walked over and gently held Grim's hand: "Commander."
Grim loosened his furrowed brows and looked at his slightly worried face: "neat?"
"Commander, I just want to say, don't worry."
"Because I believe that the soul exists in this world."
"As Nikke, our memories may be erased by The Ark in the future, but as long as you are willing to continue to accept us, the memories buried in our souls may awaken at some point."
Grim looked into neat eyes that were calm and jeweled.
He took a deep breath, then nodded: "neat, I get it. Thank you."
"It's all right, Commander."
"I just did what I was supposed to do."
Only after Rapi said this did he realize that he had unknowingly grasped Grim's hand.
And as he pulled out his hand while blushing, Anis and Neon on the side were glaring at him.
Anis roared, expressing harsh condemnation: "neat!"
"At first I thought you were a good person."
"I can't believe you're holding the Commander's hand right in front of us right now!"
Neon stuffed the firearm parts into a drawer, then pushed his glasses: "neat, the execution must be carried out immediately!"
Rapi stammered as he averted his eyes: "Anis, Neon, me..."
"Don't explain!"
"I want to hold it too. Anis jumped out of bed with a hiss, hugged Grim's other arm, and rubbed against it: "Ah, Commander, you smell so good-- Hmm? Why does it smell like alcohol?"
Grim's expression hardened: "there is no smell of alcohol. You must be imagining it."]
"The Great Detective Neon is on the case!"
"Let me kiss him too!"
Neon also leaned over, grabbed Grim's other arm, and sniffed: "Hmm—Sir does smell of alcohol, like a high-end cocktail."
Hearing that Neon also detects alcohol, a slight suspicion arose in neat's eyes: "Commander doesn't usually drink, right?"
The three exchanged glances and soon learned the truth of the matter.
"In that case, there is only one answer left."
"Commander, which woman did you date this afternoon?"