Life as a mercenary turned into a girl is a bit difficult

Zero Nine is right!There is indeed something wrong with this girl who calls herself Ruoxiang!

But why?

After this was confirmed, Hiiragi immediately became alert. Judging from the previous behavior of the other party, she seemed to have Blessing's intention of getting close to her, but her true intention of getting close to her was not clear yet. The person on the stage Why would a world-famous singer want to sneak up on him?Wouldn't it be easier to just let the guards take her away?

Thinking of this, Hiiragi couldn't help but glance towards the hall...

"I'll give you a piece of advice, Hiroyuki. You'll have a lot more trouble than me by attracting the attention of those people. For example... I'm going to testify that you are assassins who want to murder me. To be honest, I'm not willing to do that... "As if she had a glimpse of Hiiragi's inner thoughts, Ruoxiang, who hugged her chest with one hand and held her chin with the other, kept smiling calmly, "This knife has her fingerprints all over it. To put it bluntly, you two are just employees of the institute. Personnel, with my influence, whether it is Changming City or Newborn City, isn’t it obvious how to choose between us?”

Ruoxiang is indeed right. If the situation really comes to this point, even if Han Nianling intends to protect them, it cannot represent the thoughts of the entire Newborn City. No matter how reluctant he is to face the coercion of the other party to maintain his own identity, he has to consider the real conflict. The consequences, not to mention that so far she still doesn't know whether Ruoxiang's purpose of approaching her is malicious, at least try to have a conversation first.

"Ling Jiu, put down the sword for now..."

However, before Hiiragi Jing could finish speaking, Lingjiu immediately interrupted her: "Hiiragi Jing... just now, she had the same aura as mine on her body, and she was using that power... to invade you."

The same...aura?Invade me?Hiiragi was slightly startled. The so-called same breath refers to...

Before I could think about the meaning of Ling Jiu's words, Ruoxiang had already spoken again, but this time what came out of Ruoxiang's mouth was not just simple words: "I'm sorry. , can you please first ask this lady to ‘put down the knife’.”

"?"

The indifferent and gentle voice spoke out the syllables one by one. Except for the slight emphasis on the last three words, there was nothing noteworthy. However, such an ordinary sentence was clearly spoken in the clear voice of a girl. A sense of unreasonable irritability aroused in Hiroyuki's heart, as if a sharp and harsh noise had swept through his eardrums, leaving a slight stinging and itching sensation.

Immediately afterwards, there was a crisp impact sound of metal falling to the ground, which woke Hiiragi. Following the sound, his eyes finally fixed on the silver table knife lying on the ground. It was the same knife that Ling Jiu was holding before. knife.

"Zero...nine?"

The figure in front of her still maintained a vigilant and ready posture, but her body was constantly trembling, especially the right hand that was holding the knife just now. It was as if she was trying to break free from the shackles of an invisible force. The knife was obviously not taken off by Lingjiu's free will.

"Hiiragi Jing, hurry up!"

"'Quiet'."

Lingjiu suddenly turned around and shouted at Hiiragi, but before she could shout out, another instruction from Ruoxiang grabbed her throat. She could only open her mouth in vain but couldn't make any sound, just like what she just said. He became quiet as he spoke.

This time Hiiragi finally confirmed the special ability used by Ruoxiang. Can he restrict the movements of others by just speaking? !

The scene in front of her combined with Lingjiu's posture and warning as if she was facing a formidable enemy, an incredible thought suddenly emerged from her mind: Could it be that this Ruoxiang...

"Are you... a witch?"

Her throat gradually became dry and slightly hoarse, and the possibility of Ruoxiang's identity gradually filled Hiiragi's heart with fear, but why?If she was really a witch, how could she become the singing idol of Changming City?If not, where does this strange power come from?

"Witch? Some old men in the Propaganda Department occasionally use this word to call me, as if it refers to a being with such transcendent power, but I still prefer my own name." Ruoxiang's answer brought out more surprising things. Surprising amount of information, her identity as a witch seems to be known in Changming City...at least by government personnel in the Propaganda Department, but she herself has not had much reaction to her identity as a witch.

Could it be that Ruoxiang is just like Zero Nine - another artificial witch created by the Science Department of Changming City?Is this kind of power that can control others just by opening their mouth too incredible?And there is another question that she still can't figure out until now.

"What is your purpose in approaching me?"

Ruoxiang's pupils dilated a bit, and she seemed to be particularly surprised by Hiiragi Jing's inquiry: "Didn't I say it at the beginning?"

"Ugh?"

"Of course I hired you as my bodyguard. Didn't I say that from the beginning?"

Chapter 26 Purpose of Contact 2

As a guard?

Just...just this?

Hiiragi was slightly startled by the completely unexpected reply. This was indeed the only request Ruoxiang had ever made after knowing her identity as a mercenary, but of course she would not be naive enough to believe Ruoxiang's words easily.Ruoxiang's credibility had been completely cleared after she witnessed the other party's superb acting skills, not to mention that the other party tried to use that weird power to affect her sanity before.

Hiiragi didn't immediately show any conviction or doubt, but looked at Lingjiu, who was still imprisoned.Ruoxiang, who understood the meaning of Hiei Jing's gaze, reached out and snapped her fingers. With a crisp sound, the invisible shackles were finally released from Ling Jiu's body. The sudden disappearance of the confinement made Ling Jiu fight back before he could withdraw his strength. Staggered.

"Are you okay?" Seeing a subtle arc flashing through Lingjiu's fingertips, who had not yet regained her footing, Hiiragi hurriedly supported her and distanced her from Ruoxiang to prevent an accident. After seeing Ruoxiang's ability, She then made conflict avoidance a priority in her communications.

Ability to directly affect the minds of others, and force others to follow one's orders just by speaking... Faced with such a strange ability, Hiiragi really couldn't think of any effective way to deal with it. Just thinking about it made her feel... It shudders, but why would Changming City master such an existence? What is the connection between Ruoxiang, who is most likely a witch, and the artificial witch Lingjiu from the Science Department of Changming City?But it seems that Lingjiu and this Ruoxiang don't know each other.

Just as Hiiragi was thinking about how to reply without irritating the other person, Ruoxiang suddenly spoke up and skipped the part where Hiiragi was supposed to reply, "Okay, I admit that it was indeed my fault before. You guys have something wrong." It's natural to be wary, so if you have any questions, I will try my best to answer them. As for my proposal just now, how about you think about it slowly for a few days before making an answer?" After saying this, Ruoxiang spread her hands helplessly.

I originally thought that relying on my abilities and acting skills would be more than enough to deal with an ordinary girl mercenary, but whether it was Ling Jiu's sudden appearance or Hiiragi Jing's vigilance, it was something I had not expected.

Ruoxiang himself seems to have the idea of ​​​​avoiding conflict, but it is still beyond common sense to let him go so easily, but Hiiragi hopes that the current situation can be controlled anyway.

"Um..." Seeing Ruoxiang's expression that she was ready, Hiiragi raised her first question tentatively after pouting her lips, "Are you...really a witch?"

"Why do you care so much about this issue? Didn't I tell you that I don't know it myself." This repetitive question made Ruoxiang a little impatient, but she still patiently explained it, "As for my previous experience, I My memory is a bit fuzzy. I have been living in an internment camp in Changming City since I became conscious. Soon after, a group of people came to me and took me to an inexplicable place. After staying there for a few months, I was taken away for propaganda. He became a public figure, and that's what you see today."

Orphan camp?Fuzzy memory?Amnesia?

Ruoxiang's expression of her life experience was simple and general. It was certain that she had definitely hidden a lot of information. Hiiragi Jing did not expect that Ruoxiang's statement just now would really reveal everything in detail: "So, what did you just say? What’s going on with ability?”

"I also don't know the origin of this ability. I slowly recalled it during my time in the internment camp."

"recall?"

"Yes, although I didn't recall the previous memories, I recalled this special ability of mine. Those old men call it the spirit of speech. Simply put, I can use my words as a carrier to exert my ability to express the consciousness of others. Hint, of course, you can also force a specific order, just like what I just did with that, um... Zero-Nine?"

"It's just that the mandatory instructions are more restrictive. They do not include syllables that have no substantive meaning such as exclamations. The length of three valid syllables is the limit of my current ability, and I can only use words that can be understood by the person being ordered. Only with the language can it take effect. I am helpless with things like monsters and zombies." Ruoxiang shrugged her shoulders and said regretfully, "Originally, I had a very good life in the internment camp with this ability. Yes, but within a few days, people from the Changming City government came to our door."

The lingering scent of a witch? !

After listening to Ruoxiang's description, Hiiragi immediately understood the reason why Changming City discovered Ruoxiang. When the witch uses her ability, she will produce the "witch's lingering fragrance" that is sadly currently detected by human equipment. Important cities like Changming City are very important to Ruoxiang. She didn't dare to relax for a moment in this test, not to mention that if Ruoxiang used her ability frequently without knowing it, people from Changming City naturally came to her.

If Ruoxiang did not lie about this matter, then this is most likely the way Changming City controlled the witch Ruoxiang.But if Waka is really a witch, why doesn't she attack humans?

"Do you have any more questions?" Seeing Hiiragi lowering his head slightly and seeming to be lost in thought, Ruoxiang tilted his head and looked in the direction of the hall inexplicably, and then there was a hint of urging in his tone.

"Last question." Hiiragi collected her thoughts, put aside her doubts for the time being and continued to ask, "Why me?"

"what?"

"Why choose me? You want reliable guards in Changming City. There are many channels, whether it is private organizations or black tower companies, but why did Pianpian choose me? One, one is from the Newborn City and looks... uh, weak. Mercenaries?"

"intuition."

Ugh?

Regarding this question, Ruoxiang blurted out without thinking, "When I saw your photo on the list, I realized that you are not simple. If you are around, very interesting things will definitely happen. Look, it is so, isn't it? This is because of you The person named Lingjiu who appeared has an aura very similar to mine... By the way, is she the same as me?"

"No, she is different." Hiiragi quickly took a step towards her side and used herself to isolate Ruoxiang's eager gaze from Lingjiu behind her. In her opinion, Lingjiu was just a poor victim of the artificial witch experiment. It is fundamentally different from a real witch.

"Okay, that's it for today. I look forward to our next meeting. I hope you can give me an answer as soon as possible." After finishing Hiiragi Jing's last question, if Ruoxiang didn't stay, she bent down to pick up the place where Lingjiu dropped it. The table knife on the ground smiled and waved to Hiiragi and Lingjiu, then left the balcony and walked to the hall without stopping.

Hiiragi Jing didn't expect Ruoxiang to leave so simply. She looked at Ruoxiang's back through the balcony glass door at a loss. Before she could go far, two tall men spotted her. He immediately walked towards her, and after a few simple exchanges, the two of them hugged Ruoxiang and quickly left the dinner hall.

Chapter 27 Han Nianling’s Judgment

I originally thought that I was just participating in a high-level entertainment, and was taken by Han Nianling in the name of a guard just to go to a place where I had never been exposed to the so-called experience of a class leader, and to facilitate future tasks. The only thing in the whole process was The only thing that needs attention is to avoid excessive contact between Zero Nine and people from the Central Science Department.

Hiiragi never thought that she would meet the second real witch besides the tyrant on such an occasion. Her true identity turned out to be Ruoxiang whom she had heard about since she approached Changming City. The other party came to her door for some suspicious reasons, and the feeling of contact with him was completely different from the inherent impression she had already formed in her mind.

She did not pose a major threat to Changming City but instead became an important tool for the Changming City government to maintain social stability.She is highly integrated into human social life as a public figure, and has won the love of a large number of fans with her singing.Although his intention was unknown, he had a normal conversation with her. It was hard to imagine that Ruoxiang would belong to the same group of witches as the notorious tyrant and the druid who destroyed Green Valley City.

Because of this, even though the currently known information has basically confirmed the identity of the witch Wakaka, Hiiragi still has doubts about whether Wakaka is really a witch in her heart from time to time.

What should I do next?

Ruoxiang is still waiting for her reply about her willingness to protect her. Her inquiry does not deny her right to refuse. The best result is to directly reject Ruoxiang's proposal and have no further contact with the other party and completely resolve the matter. Page, until the time in Changming City is over, he can successfully return to Chusheng City, but this is just wishful thinking.

Hiiragi didn't believe that Ruoxiang would give up so easily after doing so much and even revealing her identity and ability to communicate. With her weird ability, it would be easy to attack them and those around her, even without using it. She can also threaten them by 'reporting Zero-Nine's identity to the Ministry of Science'.

This matter is difficult to solve with my own abilities alone, so maybe I can only ask that person for help...

The tangled mentality lasted from the end of the dinner to the return to the hotel. When everyone else returned to their rooms, only Hiiragi, Lingjiu and Han Nianling were left to set foot on the floor where they lived. Hiiragi Jing was about to speak, but he didn't know how to speak.

Before she could call Han Nianling to stop, the other party took the initiative to stop in front of her room door, turned to look at Hiiragi Jing and raised her eyebrows: "Tell me, what's the matter with you?"

"Hehe..." Hiiragi Jing laughed a few times. She was not surprised that Han Nianling could see through her inner intentions. They came back in the same car, and all she could think about at that time was about what if The anxiety in her heart about Xiang's matter is probably written on her face without concealment, and Lingjiu's depressed look is even more obvious. It seems that she is still very concerned about the fact that she was suppressed by Ruoxiang's ability.

"Well... we met Ruoxiang during the dinner, the girl who was responsible for singing..." Hiiragi took a deep breath and sorted out her messy thoughts, "This Ruoxiang seems to be... a witch. "

Han Nianling had already opened the door to her room before Hiei Jing could finish her words. Her serious look showed that she attached great importance to the meaning conveyed by Hiei Jing's words. Although there were only three of them on the whole floor, Han Nianling still He looked around warily for a few times and then gestured to the room with his eyes: "Come in and talk."

This is the first time Hiiragi Jing has set foot in Han Nianling's hotel room. Cheng Shu's layout is not much different from her and Lingjiu's rooms. However, Han Nianling himself has no time to take care of it and has to store some important information, so he is prohibited from working. It became even more messy because of the people who came in to clean up.

"Tell me, what happened while I was away?" After closing the door tightly, Han Nianling lowered the curtains and made sure they were in a relatively closed space before continuing the topic.

Hiiragi Jing carefully reviewed the details of the incident with Ruoxiang and explained everything in detail. Since Han Nianling is a research expert in the field of witches, her analysis must be more accurate than her own.

"A real witch?" Ruoxiang narrowed her eyes and looked at Ling Jiu, "Are you sure that she is not the product of another artificial witch experiment by the Ministry of Science?" It's not unreasonable. This is also where Hiiragi Jing is suspicious. Only Ruoxiang himself knows which parts of what he said to Hiiragi Jing are true.

"Her breath is very strong..." Lingjiu's statement provided a certain degree of credibility. Since even Lingjiu, who has a keen sense of perception, said this, no matter how amazing this reality is, he can only choose to believe it.

"So, her ability... relies on language to influence people's minds, and can even force others to act accordingly... I understand this meaning, right?" Han Nianling's confirmation was obtained by Hiiragi Jing nodded desperately in the affirmative, but her doubts did not diminish much, "Three valid syllables? And language that can be understood by the subject... Are these the only restrictions?"

"Most likely I still have some reservations..."

"Not 'most likely', but definitely. Do you think such a person will reveal all his abilities to you when they first meet?" Han Nianling took out his notebook and analyzed his analysis one by one. For the record, "If what she said is true, let alone the Southern Federation, at least she can easily ascend to a near-god position in the entire human lingua franca area. The information carrying capacity of a single syllable in lingua franca is very rich." , even three syllables are enough to achieve whatever she wants to do.”

"But she didn't. Judging from the Propaganda Department's arrangement of Ruoxiang's schedule and her own life trajectory, it seems that the Propaganda Department has absolute control over this witch. No ordinary person with a normal mind would be willing to let alone a witch. My life is strictly restricted by others, so I am very curious about what methods the Changming City Management Committee used to control her."

"Lingjiu, how did you feel when Ruoxiang used her ability on you?" Han Nianling turned to look at Lingjiu to get more accurate clues from the person who experienced it.

Although that memory was very humiliating, Lingjiu still expressed his feelings at that time: "My body was very stiff, I felt like I couldn't use my strength, as if I was controlled by some kind of force..."

"But..." As soon as the words changed, Lingjiu's expression suddenly became decisive, "I felt an electric current at that time. If you can give me a little more time..."

"Okay, I get it. I can probably draw a conclusion. However, these inferences are based on currently known information. Most of them are just personal subjective guesses and cannot be completely relied upon." Han Nian Ling put down the notebook in his hand and expressed his judgment, "Ruoxiang's ability does not seem to work on objective things. It can only work on the individual who receives the information."

"To put it simply: the 'don't move' command she gave to Lingjiu did not create a force to suppress Lingjiu in the outside world, but restricted Lingjiu's control of his own body muscles... almost more It is close to an ability similar to 'hypnosis', but the 'don't move' command is limited to the external movement form of the body. This command does not prevent Zero Nine from controlling other ways of the body. This is also Zero Nine's The reason why the ability still works.”

"So, that means Ruoxiang's ability is not that strong?"

"No, you are wrong, this ability is very strong." Han Nianling directly rejected Hiiragi Jing's statement, "Ruoxiang's ability has a wide range of applications, especially in terms of concealment. You can use your ability just by talking, whether it is It is extremely efficient to extract information from others or directly use it in combat. Changming City actually regards her as a public figure who maintains social stability. It is really overqualified... Or maybe there are other limitations on her abilities. It cannot produce the effects I inferred..."

Chapter 28 Reply from the other side

Changming City TV Tower is the most special one even among the high-rise buildings in Changming City. With a height of 110 meters, it is the tallest building in Changming City.

Unlike other high-rise buildings in Changming City, the Changming City TV Tower is not a legacy building from the pre-war world. After all, the TV tower with the function of transmitting signals was confirmed as the first batch of targets as early as the beginning of the war. The entire Southern Federation There are no radio and television towers that can continue to be used.

Shortly after the federal government organized troops to regain the Changming City area, the project to build a TV tower was put forward in the morning. This was not only to realize the use of FM radio and digital TV in the newly recovered Changming City and its surrounding areas, At the same time, it can also promote the dominance of the Southern Federal Government over the entire Southern Federation through more effective means. This TV tower, which represents the level of human large-scale engineering in the post-war world, was successfully installed in the center of Changming City after a construction period of one and a half years. Urban areas are rising from the ground.

In the past year and a half, more than half of the steel production controlled by the Federal Government of the Federal Republic of South Africa has been used in the construction of TV towers. However, the results achieved are also very significant. The Changming City TV Tower put into use has so far operated the largest number of television towers in the Federal Republic of South Africa. FM radio and terrestrial digital TV channels, even if the wasteland environment seriously interferes with the signal, major human settlements far away from Changming City can still clearly receive Changming City’s TV and radio show.

Like the city wall that protects Changming City, this TV tower is also the world-famous pride of Changming City. In order to cope with the large number of foreign tourists arriving in Changming City recently, the TV tower was originally only open to the public one day a week. During the short opening hours, there is still an endless stream of tourists coming to visit. Although the open area only has one and two floors, they are still happy to learn about the appearance and history of the building from the docents arranged by the TV Tower.

Of course, even the most senior commentator of the TV Tower does not know the full picture of the TV Tower, including the staff who work in the TV Tower almost every day: there is a structure ten meters below the TV Tower. Located in a very special underground space, no one knew that this was the residence of Ruoxiang, a girl who touched the hearts of countless people in the Southern Federation with her singing.

The interior of the unusually spacious room is decorated in a girlish style. The main pink color of the curtains and wallpaper does not appear childish. The large makeup table is lined with brand-name cosmetics that are the envy of many women. The exaggerated size of the wardrobe is embedded with a side of exquisite workmanship. There are floor-to-ceiling mirrors, and many dolls are piled up in the closet and corners. One of the huge dolls is the most eye-catching. Even so, the interior space of the room does not look crowded.

"Uh... um... ah..."

The crisp music from the wall broadcast suddenly came to mind in the room, and the dim environment in the room was instantly illuminated by the lights. Ruoxiang, who was forcibly awakened from her sleep, frowned and buried her face in the soft pillow, moaning in pain*& , but this level of protest was ignored, and the disturbing and repetitive music and lights continued.

It was obviously impossible to continue sleeping. Ruoxiang stood up from the bed unwillingly. The remaining fatigue and soreness from last night made her body seem much heavier, and she could not help but shake a little when walking.As the golden signature of Changming City, Ruoxiang's job at the dinner last night was of course not just as simple as singing a few songs. She had to attend some of the distinguished guests with special status or holding large orders until the dinner was official. She didn't get a break until it was over.

"click~"

At this moment, there was a clear sound of unlocking from the closed door. Three uniformed cleaners pushed a trolley into the room. Behind them, several well-equipped armed personnel could be seen reaching out to open the door. Some of the doors were closed again.

"Hello." After seeing the three female cleaners, Ruoxiang immediately rubbed her eyes and couldn't help but reveal a smile. While speaking, she stretched out her hand to point at each other and then moved her palm downwards in a circle at the height of her chest. Finally, the pen makes a thumbs-up gesture.

After receiving Ruoxiang's greetings, the three of them pointed at Ruoxiang in unison and gave a thumbs up and smiled in response. Then they started cleaning Ruoxiang's room as usual. After seeing them, the feeling in Ruoxiang's heart was forcibly awakened. The energy to wake up has subsided a lot.

Ruoxiang has come into contact with many people since arriving here, but these three people can really be called friends. Unfortunately, the three of them are deaf-mute people specially found by the Propaganda Department. They would be arranged to come once, but they could not hear Ruoxiang's singing or chat with Ruoxiang. For this reason, Ruoxiang spent a long time learning sign language by herself to achieve the goal of basic communication with the three of them.

Ruoxiang, who was in a better mood, turned around and walked into the bathroom. Her loose nightgown was thrown out of the room. This was the only place where surveillance couldn't be seen. It could be seen that some of the people responsible for supervising her were still willing to give her charity. Her dignity as a human being, of course, is also inseparable from her own weakness. Apart from the ability called the 'Word Spirit', she is no different from an ordinary human girl. This kind of herself is really the same as those recorded in the data, which is enough to destroy a human being. Are the existences of the base also witches?But isn't this the reason why he is imprisoned here?

When she came to the mirror on the sink, Ruoxiang gently closed the bathroom door, then covered her mouth and coughed hard a few times and stuck out her tongue at herself in the mirror. A few scarlet lines appeared on the pink tongue coating. The bloodshot and burning sensation in the throat gradually became more obvious.

"Is that person...really also a witch?"

Rinsing her mouth with water to wash away the blood, Ruoxiang stared at herself in the mirror and fell into deep thought. Such a situation had never happened to her in her past experience of using abilities, but just last night she faced the girl named Lingjiu. When she gave the order, she felt an obvious sense of pressure in her throat. Especially after the second order was given, the pressure almost made her retch.

It was originally just a fun out of fun, but I never thought that there would be such an unexpected delivery. Their appearance might make my boring life a little more fun.

After a simple cleaning, Ruoxiang put on a dress and walked out of the bathroom quickly. The three of them did not have much time to stay in the room. They had not seen each other for a while, so she had to have a good chat with them. .

However, what surprised her was that the three cleaners who usually stayed in the room for a period of time left early today. The presence of another figure in the room made her original good mood instantly drop.

It was a middle-aged man with a stout figure and a formal suit. At this time, he was sitting on a light blue sofa and reading the report in his hand with a serious face. The moment Ruoxiang walked out of the bathroom door, his eyes immediately shifted to On the other party's body, he pushed the earphone hanging in the cochlea.

"Did you act without permission again last night?"