Chapter 64: Rub It Yourself

Mo Chen sighed deeply, his tone carrying a hint of helplessness.

"I'd like to comfort her, but it's not like she'll actually listen to me."

If Eunhwa were the type to accept consolation, she wouldn't have stubbornly pushed herself even after losing more than a hundred matches.

"That's not true," Emma said, shaking her head gently, her voice filled with warmth. "If there's anyone in the Ark who can get through to Eunhwa, it's you, Commander."

"Don't be fooled by her icy demeanor toward you. In truth, she cares about you a lot."

"Cares about me?" Mo Chen's brow twitched.

The kind of care where she dreams of ending me?

"She's studied your battle records meticulously and has tried multiple times to engage with you," Emma hesitated, her expression thoughtful. "I suspect her anger after the recent battle, and your decisions, reminded her of something painful from her past."

Eunhwa's tragic experience with an arrogant and incompetent Commander had left a lasting scar.

Now, Mo Chen's bold decisions likely resurfaced those haunting memories.

Mo Chen felt at a loss for words.

How was this the same thing?

He wasn't some reckless fool.

Still, he understood how to resolve this: he needed to demonstrate that his actions were calculated and deliberate, not reckless gambles.

In simpler terms, he'd have to thoroughly convince—or overpower—her doubts.

As their conversation wound down, evening crept in. Before leaving, Emma offered one last suggestion.

"If you can, join the group chat more often. Vesti has been muttering about wanting to talk to you, but she's too shy to make the first move."

Emma's gaze lingered on him, carrying a subtle, knowing smile.

"I'll try," Mo Chen replied.

Time moved swiftly, and a month passed in the blink of an eye.

During this time, the Raptures launched repeated offensives against the outpost base. Each wave was larger and more ferocious than the last.

Among their ranks, more specialized Raptures appeared.

While their raw combat abilities weren't exceptional, their unique traits proved immensely troublesome.

Some possessed attacks that penetrated barriers, while others emitted nanobot particles to repair other Raptures mid-battle.

The ongoing battles pushed the defenders to their limits.

Had it not been for the timely assistance of the Counters and Absolute, the frontlines might have already collapsed.

Yet even with the reinforcements, the defenders were utterly spent.

Most of the Nikkes hadn't closed their eyes for days.

Fatigue, pain, and weariness gnawed at their minds, despite their mechanical bodies.

Adding to their despair, the base's supplies had nearly run dry.

Bullets, food, water—every essential was in critically short supply. Even spare parts for the mass-produced Nikkes were gone, leaving no replacements.

To make matters worse, the Raptures had entrenched themselves near key chokepoints, cutting off supply routes to the base.

In the past, the Ark had sent periodic supplies, but now communication was severed, leaving the base a stranded, forgotten outpost.

"I'm so done…"

Anis lay sprawled across the Commander's couch like a defeated fish, unwilling to budge an inch.

"Commander, could you rub my shoulders for me?"

Anis's voice carried a hint of exhaustion from the continuous battles over the past few days. While her body might have been spared, the mental strain was relentless and overwhelming.

What she didn't realize, however, was the position she had chosen to sprawl out on the couch. Her loose neckline had fallen just enough for Mo Chen's line of sight to inadvertently catch the snow-white curves of her collarbone—and the valley beyond.

"Rub them yourself," Mo Chen coughed awkwardly, quickly looking away. "And why do you keep coming to my room instead of staying in your own quarters?"

"Because your couch is so much more comfortable, Commander," Anis said matter-of-factly, grinning mischievously. "Actually, how about we make a deal?"

Her expression, sly and playful, immediately gave Mo Chen a bad feeling.

"No."

Mo Chen's refusal was instant and firm.

"Oh, come on. You don't even use this couch most of the time! Just let me crash here for a few days," Anis persisted, her tone bordering on wheedling.

"You've got a couch in your own room," Mo Chen replied, exasperated.

"It's not as comfy as this one!" Anis shot back.

At that moment, the door swung open, and Rapi walked in, her face set with a seriousness that immediately commanded attention.

"The Raptures are attacking again," she reported.

As expected, this attack was even more ferocious than the last.

Fortunately, they had anticipated the onslaught and reinforced the defenses.

Listening to Rapi's briefing, Mo Chen fell silent, his mind turning over the details.

Something didn't sit right with him.

The Raptures' attacks were relentless, their intensity far beyond anything he'd observed before.

But this felt different. It was more than just an escalation—it was wrong.

As he reviewed the battlefield reports and scanned the tactical maps, the uneasy feeling in his chest grew stronger.

The Raptures were attacking with an unusual fervor, throwing themselves at the defenses with reckless abandon.

While such behavior wasn't unprecedented for Raptures, this time their aggression bordered on suicidal.

Even in the face of the base's overlapping crossfire, they charged forward with no regard for self-preservation.

Mo Chen's thoughts drifted to the Raptures at the power plant during a prior mission.

Those had exhibited a surprising level of cunning and coordination.

A spark of realization flickered in his mind.

"Rapi, what's the current Alva particle concentration?"

Rapi hesitated, puzzled by the sudden question, but quickly checked the monitoring system.

"98.7%. The interference from the Alva particles has completely cut off communication with the Ark. The frontlines are relying on fiber-optic cables to transmit data for now."

Mo Chen's gaze turned to the screen showing live footage from the frontlines.

The entire field was bathed in a crimson haze.

Faint, ominous glimmers of red eyes peeked through the fog.

Visibility was abysmal, the dense particles reducing the range to barely twenty meters.

Disrupted communications, near-zero visibility, and an unprecedentedly ferocious assault...

Mo Chen's eyes narrowed.

Mo Chen muttered under his breath.

A plan was beginning to take shape in his mind.

"To the command center!"

With urgency, the group made their way to the operations room. The reports flooding in were increasingly dire.

"The western wall has been breached by a Lord-class Rapture! There's a gap in the defensive firepower grid! The frontlines are on the verge of collapse. Units are launching counterattacks to reclaim the position!"

The situation was precarious; the defensive lines were about to fall apart!

So soon?

Mo Chen's heart sank.

The western wall, constructed with reinforced concrete over ten meters thick, had been withstanding relentless assaults for years. But after repeated wear and tear, it could no longer endure, and now the Lord-class Rapture had completely smashed through it!

Everyone in the room felt the weight of the situation.

If the Raptures broke through the defenses, the entire outpost could fall!

"Commander!"

Even Rapi, normally composed, was visibly shaken.

On the digital map, the red dots representing Raptures continued to multiply, crowding the area outside the base like an ominous flood.

If this flood broke through, it would spell utter disaster.

It was a make-or-break moment.