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

"You're welcome, I also have my purpose." Han Nianling's calm voice came over. She seemed to have packed her suitcase and was walking towards here step by step. At this time, Hiiragi Jing also Button up the last button of your combat uniform - you're ready!

However, just when Hiiragi raised her head, the next thing that came into view was a black muzzle, less than half a centimeter away from her eyebrows. The short half centimeter seemed to directly remove the cold touch from the muzzle. It was as if it had been passed on, and the person holding the handle of the gun and pointing it at her was Han Nianling who had just treated her injury.

"...Huh?" Faced with this situation, Hiiragi's mind had not turned around for a while, and she was dumbfounded... So what exactly happened?

"Now that the injury has been resolved, let's talk about your situation." Han Nianling's emotionless words came from under the gas mask. Although it was no different from the business just now, it really made people feel happy. People noticed the coolness in it.

my business?The inexplicable Hiiragi Jing still remained in a dazed state, wondering what exactly Han Nianling wanted to do?

"tell me your name."

name?

Although she was still confused, after taking a look at the black muzzle of the gun, Hiiragi answered truthfully: "Hiiragi... Hiiragi."

"Hiiragi Jing, male, came to Newborn City with the refugees three years ago and was temporarily taken in by the Temporary No. 15 Orphanage. He registered as a mercenary two years ago and is [-] years old this year..." Han Nianling reported as soon as Hiiragi Jing's words fell. gave a brief piece of information about her, "With my authority and registration, it is not difficult to obtain the basic information of my task holder at the Special Business Processing Center. Because of the special nature of the task, I need to ensure the reliability of the mercenaries participating in the task. sex."

The so-called confidentiality agreement of the Special Business Processing Center is a piece of waste paper in the face of high-level authority.Hieragi Jing naturally knows this in her heart. As a senior researcher, Han Nianling's investigation into these is understandable, so why bother asking her name... Wait a minute, could it be said? !

When she thought of something, Hiei Jing's eyes suddenly widened and she suddenly realized something.

"No matter what period or age, the gender information of the character Hiiragi Jing is shown as male, so why are you, who takes over the mission in Hiiragi Jing's name, a female?" Han Nianling's gun muzzle was directly pressed against Hiiragi Jing's forehead. , the cold touch became more clear and direct. Hiiragi was really panicked now. He was treating her wounds one second, but he pulled out a gun and put it on her forehead the next. She had no doubt about this performance. Will the moody Han Nianling really pull the trigger? Her head is no harder than the swift walking zombie.

"I don't like hurting young people, especially a beautiful girl like you, but the prerequisite is an honest child, so tell me: Who are you? Another spy of the al-Qaeda government? What is your purpose in taking this mission? ?" This sentence is full of warning, "Besides, don't think about taking power and resisting."

Of course Hiei Jing had this idea, but it was only a momentary thought. She would not do such a thing foolishly. Han Nianling's performance in supporting her just now has proved that she has good combat capabilities. At such a distance, Her success in seizing the gun was close to zero, not to mention what would happen to the mercenaries outside even if she took the gun?A senior researcher who can give them high rewards, a second-level mercenary whom they have only cooperated with once, all fools know what choices to make.

"I'm really Hiiragi..."

"Um--?"

Han Nianling drawled a long nasal voice, and made subtle movements with his finger on the trigger. This made Hiiragi Jing's scalp numb: "Please, please listen to my explanation, there is a reason for this!"

"Say."

"I...I was...a male not long ago, to be precise, before I went to bed the day before yesterday, but after a long sleep and a strange dream...I became like this. Please believe me, I said It's true." After stumblingly describing the cause and effect, Hiiragi Jing was not stupid, but the process was too unbelievable. If it hadn't really happened to her, even she wouldn't believe it.

Unexpectedly, Han Nianling gave her a chance to continue speaking after a period of silence: "Then... describe the content of your dream."

"It's about the JD Abandoned City Nuclear Wasteland... At the beginning of the day, there was a large-scale military operation by the Shengcheng Army against the JD Abandoned City Nuclear Wasteland. In the dream, I participated in the operation as a mercenary force..." Hiiragi Jing recalled. He recalled the general content of the dream, "The purpose of this mission is to destroy the witch tyrant."

Hiiragi Jing, who was lost in memories, didn't notice the slight pause in Han Nianling's breathing.

"As a result, the battle situation got out of control, and the Tyrant deviated from her planned route. I was selected as a member of the induction team to lead the Tyrant into the encirclement net. However, the missiles of the standing army were launched before the Tyrant completely entered the encirclement net. The operation failed, and the Tyrant Escaped, the induction team...died under the firepower of the First City, and then I woke up."

Hiei Jing closed her eyes and said everything she could. She also gave up on herself. If Han Nianling still didn't believe her explanation, there was nothing she could do about it and pull the trigger. She had a lucky escape in the face of the fast walking zombies. Now if Perhaps it was destined to die here.

"Okay, I believe you for now."

However, unexpectedly, the cold feeling on her forehead was removed. Hiiragi opened her eyes and looked at Han Nianling in surprise. She couldn't believe that the other party actually believed her statement?

"I have also read your physical examination form at the health center. Although as far as I know, there is no way to completely turn a man into a real woman, but humans know very little about the secrets of this world. Excluding the cause of some force that is currently incomprehensible to humans, in addition..." Han Nianling suddenly turned around and showed Jingjing the magazine he had just pulled out of the pistol in his hand - empty!

"I'm sorry, it's so funny to see you scared, I can't help but want to bully you."

what--?

Hiiragi thought about it again, and fell into a daze again. She felt that her brain had not caught up with the opponent's rhythm. Is there really anything wrong with this kind of thinking? Just now, she really believed that her brain was about to burst. !Did it turn out that the gun pressed against his head had no bullets at all? !Does this guy think this kind of death threat is just a 'bully'? !

"Oh, by the way, there's one more thing..." Han Nianling, who was carrying her suitcase and walking to the door, seemed to remember something. She stopped and turned around to say something to Hiiragi Jing as she pushed the door open.

"That moan you made just now was so cute."

Chapter 19 Unexpected gains

Wipe off the dirt on the hunting knife with rags picked up everywhere. When you rub the blade with your fingertips, you can clearly feel the blunt edge of the curved edge. After all, this is just a hunting knife made of ordinary steel. The processing in the small workshop is precise. The degree is limited. Even if it is penetrated from the soft tissue of a swift zombie, it is still difficult to avoid the damage to the blade. Moreover, the black blood of most monsters is corrosive to metal objects to a certain extent. Weapons that have not undergone certain anti-corrosion treatments are in the outside world. The service life is not long, and it can barely support even one high-intensity battle.

How could she use such a thing on the battlefield if the information didn't match and she couldn't take out her original weapon?

"Stone...and this..."

A hand holding her carrying equipment suddenly stretched out in front of her. Just by listening to the voice, she knew that the owner of this hand was Si Ling. He was not the only one who arrived here. When Han Nianling was treating her just now, Other mercenaries also arrived here one after another. Before that, they had been conducting investigations on different floors and areas. However, facing these people again, Hiiragi's mentality had quietly changed.

It's obviously not too far away from here. Even if the damaged office building slows down the speed, why are Xiaoliu and Han Nianling outside the office building the first to come to the rescue... Was there an accident or some other reason? Hiiragi Jing and... I don’t want to go into too much detail, but it is still necessary to maintain the cooperation between the teams so far. At least the employer Han Nianling and Xiaoliu, a half-hearted mercenary, can still give some trust...

Damn... Thinking back to that so-called 'treatment', my face felt hot again, and even the roots of my ears turned red. Is this guy really a senior researcher?

Putting aside the distracting thoughts in his mind, he reached out and took the carrying tool from Si Ling. The weight in his hand was much lighter than before. After all, the damaged and deformed protective plate had already been taken out of the compartment and thrown aside. , which is good: it reduces the weight and relieves the pressure on the chest, which is more conducive to the recovery of the wound. The pain lingering in the ribs makes Hiiragi unable to perform some larger movements. I just hope that he will not encounter it again in the future. What an emergency.

"That... stone..." Si Ling did not leave immediately after Hiiragi put on the carrying gear. Instead, he stood there and watched Hiiragi put on the carrying gear. After hesitating for a while, he said intermittently, "You real……"

"What Xiao Liu said is true. Now that you've heard it all, do you still want to ask me?

Hiiragi Jing already gave the answer before Si Ling could tell the complete question. Hiiragi had already known what Si Ling wanted to ask. The moment Xiao Liu discovered the truth, she knew that the secret could no longer be kept secret. , in this case, it is better to admit it directly and generously.

"What's wrong? Is it because of this that you start to doubt my strength?" After putting on the carrying gear, Hiiragi looked at Si Ling. It was obvious that there was nothing visible under the dark goggles, but Si Ling still looked at her indifferently. He opened his eyes as if he had done something wrong.

"No...no, just...confirmation..."

"Haha, how is this possible? This is definitely not what Si Ling means, but Miss Shitou, you are really awesome. Xiao Liu has already told me: use a hunting knife to kill a first-level swift zombie at close range. This It’s really amazing. With such a performance, who dares to doubt your strength, Shitou?”

Uncle Lin, who came from not far away, joined the conversation and solved Si Ling's problem with a few simple words. Hiiragi Jing's question was not intended to embarrass Si Ling, but he just didn't want his gender issue to become a problem. Uncle Lin was right about the triggering factors. The death of the first-order swift zombies was a kind of proof and a kind of shock. At least it eliminated the hidden dangers caused by contempt to a large extent.

"By the way, Shitou, wait a minute, I'll give this to you..." Just as Hiiragi Jing was about to turn around and leave, Uncle Lin suddenly called out to her. Hiiragi Jing turned around in confusion, and the object in Uncle Lin's hand attracted her attention for the first time. In her eyes, a crystal particle less than the size of a fingernail was lying quietly in the center of the black tactical gloves, which was extremely conspicuous. There was no extra light in the dim room, and the crystal itself exuded a dim white fluorescence.

At the first glance of seeing this little thing, Hiiragi's heart skipped a beat. In the past, when the little knowledge about this thing was rarely needed, even when it was needed, it still needed some knowledge. I thought about it carefully, but this time it all came out from the dust-covered corners of my mind.

Crystal Nucleus - A crystal conceived in the pituitary gland of high-level monsters.

The explanation from the research institute is: the agglomerates of mutated genes and viruses caused by pollution appear in the body of living monsters as a jelly-like gel dispersion. They are the center of all monsters, which is why monsters The weak points are mostly concentrated in the head, and once the monster is severely injured and falls into a state of death, the gelatinous dispersion will initiate a special self-protection measure - condensation.That’s what we see now.

They do not know the specific use of this thing called a crystal nucleus. They only know that the characteristics of the crystal nucleus are very hard and cannot be damaged by conventional cutting methods. However, this does not prevent the mercenaries from using the crystal nucleus. It is enough to pursue and value it only for one reason - the research institute acquired it at a high price, and the acquisition was measured in units of grams.

Even though the small pill in Uncle Lin's hand looks insignificant, it is actually of extremely high value.

"This thing was dug out of the brain of that first-order zombie. Since you killed it, that one is yours."

Uncle Lin's words hit Hiroyuki's eardrums one after another. Hiroyuki looked at the corpse of the first-order swift zombie in surprise. Sure enough, there was a bloody hole dug out at the back of the corpse's head. This crystal crystal was touched out from there, but this made her even more confused.

"But... doesn't the formation condition of the crystal nucleus mean that it must be at least a second-order monster?"

Yes, not every monster can possess a crystal core, otherwise crystal core resources would be so scarce. Second-level monsters are almost a necessary condition for the formation of crystal nuclei. In other words, monsters with crystal cores can be classified as second-level monsters. category.

But the second-level monster is not so easy to kill. If you want to hunt it, you must pay a very high price, and even so, it is impossible to guarantee that you will definitely get a crystal core. At least the battle that Hiiragi experienced just now directly proves it. However, this monster does not yet have the strength of a second-level monster.

"Usually, this judgment is correct, but this first-order swift zombie is an abnormal mutant... So I gave it a try. Do you think this is an unexpected receipt?"

As he spoke, Uncle Lin pointed at the corpse. To be precise, he pointed at the fleshy tail that grew behind the first-order swift walking corpse. Only then did Hiei Jing remember that it was because he did not expect that the other party would actually have This tail did not escape the attack and was knocked away.

Usually, zombies from the same evolutionary branch have roughly the same physical characteristics and are easy to distinguish. Occasionally, the extra limbs produced by mutations are mostly useless deformed limbs. However, the tail of this swift zombie is not simply useless. The deformed limbs, the hard knock given to Hiiragi is enough to explain the problem. It has a complete skeleton structure and muscle layout, and is a real and usable tail.

And this can be classified into another category of apocalyptic monsters: mutated individuals.Monsters belonging to this group are more aggressive and dangerous than their peers, but relatively speaking, they are also more likely to produce crystal nuclei in their brains.

But what surprised Hiiragi Jing was not only the appearance of the crystal core, but also Uncle Lin's behavior. Did the other party really hand over the crystal core to her so easily?This makes Hiiragi feel a little incredible, knowing that a small crystal core is the culprit of internal conflicts in most mercenary teams.

Seemingly sensing the doubts in Hieragi Jing's heart, Uncle Lin grinned, but after realizing that his gas mask blocked his facial expression, he instead gave a thumbs up gesture: "Don't worry, I'm in this business. It has been almost ten years, and I have a clear idea of ​​what I should touch and what I should not touch. You are still a newbie and can kill the fast walking zombies. You will definitely be better in the future. This crystal core is only two grams, so I can give you a new one. A better melee weapon is worth the mission reward from my employer."

Uncle Lin's words showed poise and calmness, which greatly changed Hiiragi's impression of this middle-aged mercenary. Regardless of his overall personality, at least an old mercenary with such awareness and insight could be hired. He is quite a respectable person in the military circle.

After listening to Uncle Lin's words, Hiiragi no longer had any doubts and took the small crystal core from Uncle Lin's hand.

This was the first time Hiiragi had come into contact with such a thing in her two-year career as a mercenary. She couldn't help but take off the glove on her left hand and touch it in the most direct way.

The warm feeling is very comfortable when you hold it. The crystal core, which tends to be transparent, seems to contain a starry sky. In the dim light, you can vaguely see the countless light spots inside the crystal core.

It's hard to imagine that this crystal nucleus, which is as beautiful as a work of art, actually came from the brains of those ugly and disgusting monsters. From the mixed red, white and black brains, the strong contrast always feels a bit unreal.

"Have you finished your rest? The employer has been waiting for a long time." At this moment, the crow's voice came over. I don't know when he stood at the entrance of the corridor, quietly looking at the people in the room, Hiiragi always had the feeling that the crow's gaze stayed on her body for a long time, but she couldn't get effective confirmation under the goggles.

"But it's only now, the injury from the stone..." Si Ling couldn't help but ask, it seemed that after confirming Hiiragi Jing's gender, he paid extra attention to Hiiragi Jing.

"It doesn't matter to me, let's continue the mission." Hiiragi carefully put the crystal core into the inner bag and then picked up the gun placed by the wall to indicate that there was nothing wrong with her body. It was okay to grit her teeth with this level of injury.

She didn't know that at the moment when the crystal core was put into the inner bag, the necklace that was close to her chest suddenly flickered. The light was not strong. The change in the blink of an eye and the barrier of the clothes did not make anyone aware of it. People saw that the necklace that had returned to calmness returned to its original state, as if nothing had happened just now.

After completing the dangerous investigation of the office building, the members of the mercenary team set out again towards Area 04A.

No one knew: more than ten minutes later, a petite man in a leather coat came to the office building and stepped up the stairs to the second floor, which was in a mess after the battle. There was a faint but faint smell in the air here. There was a familiar aura, and the scarlet pupils followed the source of the aura and turned to the dented bookshelf.

Waste papers and information folders were piled up in a messy manner. Such messy scenes could be seen everywhere in the post-war world, but the lingering atmosphere could make people see something different inside.

"New...sister?"

A red light flashed in the shadow under the hood.

Chapter 20 Han Nianling’s warning

The fishy smell can be smelled even a hundred meters away. The turbid river water makes it impossible to see the true appearance of the river. Parts of the wreckage and unknown roots can be seen everywhere in the river. There is no algae vegetation, and all kinds of garbage are floating on the slow and calm river. Only when a few huge bubbles occasionally appear on the surface of the river can you know that the depths of the river are not as calm as they seem.

The JD River flows through the entire city of JD City from south to north, passing through 06, 04A, 01B and other urban areas along the way. When human civilization still took root here, the human residents here seemed to praise it as the "JD City". mother river.But today, when JD City has long since disappeared, the objects nurtured by this mother river are no longer human beings...

The cement bridge connecting the two sides of the river collapsed as early as the war years, leaving only a few lonely and incomplete bridge piers standing in the middle of the river. Standing on the edge of the broken bridge and looking down, you can see the water surface with a drop of more than ten meters below. From the turbid color, I could see a vague outline. I didn't know whether it was the remains of a broken bridge that sank into the river or the ruins of a vehicle.

The steps on the edge shook off a few dangerous gravels. As the debris fell into the black river water, there were a few crisp sounds and ripples. However, this movement was not as superficial as it appeared. It looked so simple, but Hiiragi vaguely seemed to see a few black shadows surging where the gravel just fell, and he didn't know what was lurking in the deep water.

"It is very dangerous to stand there. The life of this bridge has far exceeded its useful life and may collapse at any time."

Han Nianling's voice suddenly came from the earphones, interrupting Hiiragi Jing's exploration of the river. She looked back and saw Han Nianling standing not far behind with a suitcase, looking at the things she had packed. It seems that most of the inspection work here has been completed.

Because of the injury, Hiiragi Jing did not participate in the task of guarding the surrounding area like other mercenaries, but stayed with Han Nianling to ensure her personal safety. This can be regarded as a relatively special consideration. However, Hiiragi doesn't really like such special treatment. It seems to remind her of her differences from others, especially now that her secret has been exposed...

However, I don’t know if it’s an illusion. Hiiragi feels that her current physical condition is not that bad. The bruises caused by the original impact have almost recovered. Except for the pain at the subcostal fracture caused by some larger movements, it seems that there is also pain. Nothing, at least there is no problem in dealing with one battle.

Han Nianling's reminder was not unreasonable. Standing on the bridge, Hiei Jing could feel the faint shaking under her feet. Soon even this last wreckage would inevitably be submerged into the turbid river water.

Hiei Jing, who walked off the broken bridge, subconsciously glanced at the suitcase in Han Nianling's hand. She suppressed her desire to ask and turned her head around them: "Then... what should we do next?"

"Go south along the river. The message of the gathering has been sent out. We will set off when the team arrives..." Han Nianling said his plan while looking towards the south. The more he looked at the sky over there, the more he looked at it. It became increasingly hazy. What caused this scene was the impurities and pollution in the air. The location in that direction was also the core area of ​​JD Abandoned City.

Along the river...to the south...

Hiiragi's eyes fell on the asphalt road running along the river at her feet, but at this moment, her thoughts extended along this road into the distance, reaching the vague memory fragments deep in her brain. , this road seems... to be part of the witch's route, but her vague memory makes her unsure of the details at this moment.

"Han...Han employer."

An impulse is growing in her heart along with Hiiragi Jing's doubts: Hiiragi Jing wants to directly ask Han Nianling what the purpose of coming here is, but as a senior researcher, Han Nianling will never ask. She was a small temporary second-level mercenary who revealed something, and direct questions revealed her intentions too much, but maybe she could get all the information through indirections.

"Employer Han, do you really believe what I say? Regarding the changes in my body... this kind of thing."

"Didn't I say it before? There are too many phenomena in this world that humans cannot understand. The changes that have happened to you are very unbelievable. I just choose to believe for the time being and retain a skeptical attitude. Everything needs to be verified later before I can draw a conclusion. ." Han Nianling still looked at the southern sky without taking it back, as if she didn't pay much attention to Hiiragi Jing, and her words were just repeating the reasons given before and did not have anything Hiiragi Jing wanted. clue.

"Just...for this reason?"

"That's why."

"Is there nothing else? For example, some other examination, or... my dream..." Hiiragi Jing was really unwilling that her temptation did not have the desired effect. Such a formulaic answer was almost watertight, and she had to take some measures. With some more aggressive questions, she had a vague suspicion that the final reason why Han Nianling stopped was that she must have known something at the moment she told her dream, and these clues could be connected with her dream.

"Um--?"

As Han Nianling made a long nasal sound, she turned her eyes back to Le Hiongjing, and then she walked step by step in front of Hieijing, looking down at him condescendingly with her height advantage of one head, such oppression The feeling made Hiiragi feel a little bad.

"I can't answer anything about dreams. After all, I'm not an expert in this field. As for checking..."

"Snapped!"

"ah!"

Suddenly, her buttocks were slapped without any warning, causing Hiiragi to let out a surprised cry. She blushed and hurriedly covered the slapped area and stepped back a few meters away. Hiiragi simply couldn't. She didn't expect that when all her attention was focused on Han Nianling's face wearing a gas mask, the other party would actually make such an unexpected move. This sudden attack was simply unreasonable.

"What are you doing?"

"Okay, the inspection is over."

Han Nianling waved his hand lightly and said, "It feels the same as the one that supported you when we first entered the nuclear wasteland. It's very good. I didn't make any mistake."

"Wha...what, what do you mean?" Hold on?Wait, could it be said that it happened during the climb?Hiiragi recalled that when she stopped Xiao Liu from shooting, someone suddenly supported her from behind and helped her to climb up. But even then, what does this have to do with her problem?What kind of inspection is this action?

"Remember: if there are any strange problems next time, I won't be so gentle."

Han Nianling directly ignored Hiiragi Jing's question, but said to himself and waved his hand indicatively. There was no trace of joking in his indifferent tone. No matter how slowly Hiiragi Jing's mind turned, Han Nianling understood at this time. The true meaning hidden in Nian Ling's words... this is a warning.

Sure enough, am I still too naive?No matter how young the other party looks, he is still a senior researcher at the institute. He is much more mature mentally than himself. It is indeed too impulsive to try to take a chance.

Thinking back to what happened just now, Hiei Jing felt a little scared, but...her testing was not so fruitless. Han Nianling's warning just now was itself a clue. Her words just now most likely touched on some core information, and It is very likely that it is about her dream. Even though the reality has changed beyond recognition, there are clues that are interconnected with reality, but wanting Han Nianling to speak... is simply whimsical.

"Employer Han, the southern area has been inspected and no danger has been found for the time being. Do you want to set off?"

Just when the atmosphere between the two fell into silence, Uncle Lin's voice suddenly sounded in the earphones. At the other end of the road along the river where they were, it was the mercenary team that had assembled, Hiiragi quietly She breathed a sigh of relief. She was a little worried at first, but it seemed that the 'interaction' between her and Han Nianling was not seen by them.

From here, the mercenary team's route heading east took a turn and headed south along the river. After completing all detection tasks in Area 06, it entered Area 04A to start a new round of detection work.