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

The establishment of the blockade meant that Bouton might not be able to easily contact them in a short period of time. Instead of waiting, it would be better to do something. Hiiragi Jing, who had nothing to hesitate, simply agreed, "While Irene and I are out, Please take good care of Ruoxiang." Of course she had no intention of taking Ruoxiang with her. Recuperating from her injuries was what Ruoxiang had to do first.

"That's natural." Wen Yanman smiled, and Yujian seemed to become much more relaxed. She suddenly said to the door: "Mi Lang, come in."

The handsome young man walked into the conference room in response, holding two wine glasses, one large and one small, and a dark glass bottle in his hands, which made Hiiragi frown slightly.Sure enough, white and dense foam flowed from the glass bottle into the cup along with the orange-yellow liquid, and Hiiragi's guess was verified.

liquor……

Hiiragi's rules for classifying whether a drink tastes good or not are very simple. Sweet means good to drink, and bitter means bad to drink. Bitter and irritating alcoholic drinks are what she dislikes the most. For her, wine can be used. Only when the wound needs to be disinfected.

"This is the specialty wheat wine of Vibus. Before the war, it was the best-selling drink exported to the world by the Kingdom of South Austria. Nowadays, it is basically supplied to the nobles of Ofanto. The officials on the island in the center of the river are actually mainly consumed by The wine-making process used by the person who was sent to supervise the wine-making has been completely inherited from before the war. I can’t bear to take out this bottle of private wine.” Even after Man’s words reached this point, Hiiragi couldn’t refuse, so he could only take the wine glass and then He poured it into his mouth forcibly.

"Hmm...cough cough cough..." Hiiragi couldn't feel the smell of wheat or the unique craftsmanship at this moment. She only knew that the bitter and pungent taste spread quickly after swallowing the mouthful of liquid, causing a burst of excitement. She coughed violently, and at the same time, tears welled up together with a key word she captured from Man's words - wheat wine.

Chapter 6 Detouring the town

The cracked road has long lost its original smoothness, and the weeds growing out of the cracks intersect with the remains of the asphalt road to create a desolate scene.Several serious landslides encircled a large amount of mud and rocks and cut off the road surface. This forced the team to walk on the river beach on the other side to bypass the cut-off area. The leader of the team seemed to have experience with the wheels getting stuck in the sand several times. Those thick logs tied to both sides of the camel and cow were there to deal with this situation.

I don’t know how long they marched from Vibus. Finally, with a shout and the crack of a whip in the air, the bumpy ox cart at the end of the team slowly stopped in front of a fork.

“Okay, probably what he said was meant to be shot here.” The leader of the team, whose speech was slurred due to missing two front teeth, turned around and shouted towards the shed of the bullock cart, and Hiei Jing and Irene, who could no longer hold themselves back, scrambled to jump out of the carport. The poor road conditions made their driving experience not very good.

"Rough... Rumor has it that (this) place is weird, you should be careful..."

The person responsible for sending them here is the leader of a small caravan who has a good relationship with Man. He usually helps purchase the supplies needed for the tavern when traveling to and from Vibus Town and other strongholds, but the depth of communication between the two parties is limited to The discounts are not available to others. Of course, it is impossible to explain the true purpose of Hiiragi Jing's trip and the relevant promotion meeting. They just took a ride for the reason of going out to search for supplies.

Although he was wondering what kind of supplies could be found in such a remote place, the leader did not ask any more questions. Of course, someone who could organize a small caravan in the wasteland and maintain it to this day would not be stupid enough to delve into what the other party obviously did not want to say. After giving a "take care" greeting, he continued to drive the ox cart to follow the caravan in front to the next location.

Another road at the fork connects Hiiragi and Irene's destination. According to Man's introduction, it is a small town that existed before the war. In addition to its remote location, it is unlike most war towns. There is almost no difference between the former town. If there is anything special, it is that during the war, the Kingdom of South Austria established a large prisoner of war camp in this area.

Due to the high standard of the prisoner-of-war camp, the building materials are very strong, and the geographical location is remote and the buildings are relatively intact and have not been affected by the war. The prisoner-of-war camp is simply a natural fortress for the post-war wasteland world. It is said that in the past few decades, There used to be a large group of bandits who occupied the prisoner of war camp and established their own base. The strange thing is that it didn't take long for these bandits to give up here.

Later, various forces including Dominion caravans, wanderers, and even the local government of Ofanto wanted to establish supply points and outposts here, but they all gave up here in a short period of time. This strange phenomenon It spread quickly around, and various rumors about the town began to ferment.

It is said that prisoners of war who were once imprisoned became ghosts after suffering inhuman abuse and torture.It is said that a group of powerful mutant beasts occupy this place as their lair.It is also said that because the town was built in a valley, landslides and mudslides destroyed the place and made it uninhabitable. The message spread more and more widely, so that the original name of the town has long been forgotten. "Xing Town" became its new name in the wasteland world.

As time went on, the road conditions became worse and the town of Vibus was established as a trading hub. Most people gradually stopped passing by here. Like most of the pre-war buildings, the town gradually became a forgotten pre-war place. Ruins, perhaps it is for this reason that the liaison officer of the Information Team of the Advancement Council chose this place as a hidden meeting place.

Hiiragi took out the pistol that Man had given her before leaving Vibus Town and inspected it. The shape of the gun was quite small and simple, and the weight after being loaded with bullets was also very suitable. It would not affect the feeling of holding it, but there was no chance for further inspection. Despite its power and shooting feel, after all, Mann's tavern couldn't provide a soundproof place as a shooting range for gun testing.

"Let's go, Irene." The real feeling of regaining the hot weapon brought a lot of comfort to Hiiragi, but she knew that the most reliable way to deal with possible dangers next was Irene, the witch.

Irene walked silently and consciously in front of Hiiragi. Her taciturn and expressionless attitude seemed no different from the former tyrant, but Hiiragi always felt that something was wrong with Irene now. She was in the car just now. She didn't say much when there were outsiders, but now she couldn't help but ask: "Um, did you really not think of anything?"

After confirming that the meaning of Eileen's ambiguous words last night and the biggest common factor between Vibsburg and Vibsburg was "wheat wine", she asked Mando for a glass and gave it to Eileen to taste. Irene had no more words to express beyond her brows.

"No……"

The tone from the back of the black windbreaker was flat and there was no fluctuation at all. Hiiragi Jing, who had only been with Irene for a few days, could not use his knowledge of the other person to judge. After realizing that it was unrealistic for him to try to guess the tyrant's mind, Hiiragi Jing She no longer thinks about anything. How to seize the time and use this Tyrant limited time experience card most efficiently is what she needs to consider.

This time we walked for quite a distance. The deeper we went, the more dilapidated and desolate the road became. The sediment accumulated on the road and brought by the rain almost completely submerged the asphalt road. However, not far ahead, the road led straight to A tunnel through the mountain.

In front of the tunnel, a blockade made of wooden planks, stones, vehicle wreckage and other debris can clearly be seen. However, latecomers have already opened up a path for further advancement, and there are anxious marks left on the obstacles scattered on the ground. The traces and severe deformation were most likely directly caused by explosives.

"It smells like a wild beast...maybe it's a mutated beast."

Suddenly, Irene, who was walking in front, opened her mouth to give a warning signal. Hiiragi immediately put the gun on the combat position on her chest. She sniffed the air subconsciously, thinking it was a subtle clue that only Irene, a witch, could detect. Unexpectedly, I actually smelled something different from normal air.

Smelly, not the stench of corruption but... the stench of feces?This smell is all too familiar to Hiiragi. She could smell it from the window whenever she stayed in the tavern for the past two days. The entire town of Vibus is like a large livestock settlement and no one has taken care of even the most basic hygiene. The smell is better only in the pub.

After confirming that both of them were ready to fight, Erin took the first step towards the tunnel. The tunnel through the mountain was not too long. Judging from the bright light from the exit in front, the length of the tunnel should be less than 200 meters, but the dark environment was still there. Need to turn on the flashlight to move forward.

The humidity inside the entire tunnel is very high, and the graffiti on the wall has completely faded. Only the outline can be barely seen under the cover of moss. When they walked to the middle section of the tunnel, they saw the source of the stench.

The ground in the middle of the tunnel collapsed into a huge pit for unknown reasons, and the pit was filled with animal feces mixed with bone fragments and hair residues. Densely packed white maggots were twisting their bodies in this feast. Flies and mosquitoes as big as your thumb are flying wildly in this area.

"Get closer to me." Erin said. Black smoke suddenly erupted from her body and enveloped the two of them. The insects that tried to get close to them immediately fell to the ground and struggled until they became stiff.

It's really convenient... Hiiragi deeply experienced the benefits of traveling with Irene. She didn't have a fully enclosed protective device. The bites of these mosquitoes were the second most harmful thing. The contaminating viruses and bacteria they carried were the most troublesome. , due to poor hygiene, more than half of the contamination diseases and diseases in the wasteland are actually spread by these guys.

"This seems to be used as a toilet by a certain mutant beast." The tunnel only has two entrances and exits and is dimly lit. Defecation is also one of the most vulnerable times for mutant beasts. This is indeed a relatively safe toilet, but the floor area is Water pools in the potholes, making it difficult to tell how fresh it is after soaking.

"Let's move on." After being completely nauseated, Hiiragi and Irene continued to walk towards the exit of the tunnel. No accidents happened until they walked out of the tunnel. The road extended downward to form a gentle slope, and the rumored detour not far ahead The small town of Xing is located on both sides of the road at the foot.

The town is not large, and this road is already the main body of the town. The open space near the mountains on the outside is already covered with lush vegetation, but traces of field ridges and canals can still be seen. If it were not for those who rumored that this town It really looks no different from those pre-war ruins. It's better that there is nothing else but dead ruins in the town.

Of course, the small town was not their ultimate destination. The rusty sign on the roadside stated the destination of their next trip: Southern District Atonement Prison - go straight ahead for 500 meters.

Hiiragi glanced at Irene, who immediately answered: "I didn't find the breath of other creatures..."

It seems... quite safe?So is the liaison officer of the Promotion Association really here?Just when Hiiragi was doubting the danger here, out of the corner of his eyes he suddenly caught a glimpse of a black shadow flashing across a roadside courtyard.Hiiragi suddenly drew his gun and pointed it in that direction but found nothing. The ruins of collapsed walls and low weeds obviously did not hide any dangerous places.

"I didn't find anything." Hiiragi looked at Irene again and got the same affirmative answer. Even the tyrant didn't notice... So is this just his own problem?Is it really just a nervous delusion?

Suspicious, Hiei Jing did not relax the gun in her hand, but just motioned to Irene to continue moving forward. She trusted Irene's perception and also trusted her own feeling, because with the help of this feeling, she had escaped from death several times, dangerous. The alarm bell has not sounded, so we can only move forward.

Chapter 7 Monster Walking Dead

Hidden under the dead silence and terrifying rumors, there are many traces of human activities left around the town, including simple and rough bonfires surrounded by stones and meat drying racks built with dead branches. There are also relatively complex fortifications such as concrete bunkers and steel-framed sentries.

Among the rumors about the bypass town, at least the content that 'all parties want to occupy this place for a long time' is not a rumor, but they really did not stay without exception. The town eventually became what people call the 'Bypass Town' ', will eventually be buried under the weeds and tree canopy, leaving only ruins to prove the existence of mankind.

So is the rest of the rumor true?

Judging from what was discovered in the tunnel, it seems that the rumor that "a powerful mutant beast has taken over this place as its lair" is most likely to be close to the truth, but in Hiiragi Jing's opinion, other rumors are not impossible, yes!She believed even the most outrageous thing about "ghosts of dead prisoners of war".

Dead bodies can stop rotting and turn into zombies, get up again and attack living people. What does a few ghosts mean? Do those outrageous and unbelievable things happen in the apocalypse?

But the black shadow he saw... They were about to leave the town, and nothing strange happened around them, which made Hiiragi, who had always believed in himself, couldn't help but be shaken.

"careful!"

At this moment, Irene, who was walking at the front, suddenly let out a low drink. She stretched out her hand to grab her sickle from the smoke and placed it in front of her. Only then did Hiei Jing notice that there were several people popping up from the back of the roofs on both sides of the street. A suspicious humanoid shadow.

Are they bandits lying in wait here to rob passers-by?

The scorching sun above her head was so dazzling that Hiiragi had to cover her forehead too little to create a shadow for her eyes. But when she saw the true appearance of those black shadows, she was shocked to find that these humanoid creatures were not human beings, but...orangutans?As if suffering from a skin disease, the black hair is falling off to varying degrees on various parts of the body, which is a bit funny. The swollen upper limb muscles and the fangs that squeeze the facial features into a deformed and ferocious shape make people unable to laugh at all.

Mutated beasts...something doesn't seem right!

The creatures on the roof have no pupils in their eye sockets, only the whites of their eyes covered with dense bloodshot eyes. Most of their bodies have shocking wounds. The most exaggerated thing is that the abdominal cavity of one of them has disappeared, and you can even see it through the rotten cavity. The vertebrae wrapped in muscles seemed to feel no pain. These creatures were completely unaware of the flies that kept biting the wounds around them. In other words... they really felt no pain.

Many characteristics indicate that they are not mutant beasts but walking corpses, dead corpses that can move. However, this conclusion breaks Hiiragi's inherent knowledge. Isn't it true that only humans can become walking zombies?Shouldn't animals take the path of mutant beasts after being attacked by pollution?

Could it be that the retreat of those forces before was because of them?

Hiiragi Jing had no time to be shocked. Just a moment after Irene took up her stance, a sudden, harsh roar came from nowhere and echoed over and over again in the valley, and the zombie-like monsters on the roof suddenly raised their long, rough hands. Spears and stones were thrown towards Hiiragi and Irene on the road.

Some of the projectiles thrown by monsters with damaged arm muscles were weak and fell to the ground against the bevel of the roof before they flew very far, but more projectiles still had fatal power, and even the spearheads were not dealt with. The complete spear actually penetrated deep into the ground with brute force, and those stones that were as big as a human head even knocked out terrifying holes in the wall and the ground.

Irene wielded the sickle to cut off the first round of attacks aimed at the two people, and then Hiiragi and Irene quickly spread out to the left and right and ran towards the interior of the buildings on both sides of the road.

"boom!"

Debris like a rainstorm poured down from the top of her head. The anti-theft door that had been in disrepair was more fragile than imagined. She was smashed into pieces like a fragile dead tree without exerting much force. The bright and dark lighting environment suddenly changed. Hiiragi's vision was a little blurry for a moment.

"Hoohoho..."

The speed of these monsters was faster than Hiiragi imagined. Before she could observe the indoor environment, she heard a low roar approaching quickly from behind. The pistol that had been loaded turned around without hesitation, but she shot the opponent in the chest. Location.

The bullet exploded into a bloody crater on the pectoralis major that had expanded to the extreme. The monster's body was only slightly shaken by the impact of the bullet, and then it made a gesture to continue to pounce towards Hiiragi. It just couldn't take a step forward. The second bullet that followed half a step accurately hit the head, and the huge body immediately fell to the ground without any response.

Just after the first one was eliminated, several identical monsters rushed into the building from the door or windows, ignoring and trampling on the corpses of the same kind, and launched another round of attacks towards Hiiragi Jing.

There is no pain, plus the head is a fatal weakness, and there is no fear of death... Hiiragi Jing can't help but not believe that the various performances of this creature reflect its characteristics as a walking corpse...

boom! ! !

When several huge monsters suddenly poured into a narrow indoor environment and pounced on the same target, collisions with each other became inevitable. However, the destructive power caused was still beyond Hiiragi's expectation. She saw two collisions with her own eyes. The monsters together staged a tragic scene.

The sound of a series of broken bones was particularly clear. One party's head hit the other party's chest, and the other party's lower limbs stepped into the other party's abdomen. Compared with the exaggerated upper body, the lower limbs seemed extremely weak and stepped on two similar bodies. There was a bloody hole, and the two huge bodies were almost nested together with flesh and blood intertwined. What made people's teeth sore was that neither party was dead. They roared and struggled in vain to add more tears and wounds to their respective bodies.

Isn't this thing intelligent?What about the use of weapons just now?

If more and more monsters weren't approaching, she would really like to use a dagger to dig open the skulls of these monsters to check whether there are crystal nuclei in them. There is no doubt that these monster walking zombies are superior to ordinary walking zombies in terms of physical fitness. But they don't know which stage of evolution they belong to, and for Hiiragi Jing, who saw this kind of monster for the first time, he can only make a judgment based on the purity and size of the crystal core.

After firing all the bullets, Hiiragi quickly ran towards the stairs while replacing the new magazine and resetting the rear slide. He used the indoor environment to delay time. When Hiiragi had just moved to the second floor and was about to continue holding on, he heard an unexpected sound outside the window. A second, longer roar sounded.

"Boom boom boom!!!"

When the tail end of the roar was still echoing in the valley, the roof of the two-story building was suddenly violently penetrated, and several huge bodies fell into the second floor together with countless rubbles.

Hiiragi reacted immediately: That roar!There is someone...something commanding them from behind!Just like the commander in The Walking Dead!

No wonder these unintelligent zombies know the simple tactics of ambush high up in the building to attack targets on the open road, and also know how to use thrown objects to attack from a distance. However, once they lack command, they become clumsy and sluggish, and the attack is chaotic. .

"call--!"

The strong sense of crisis prompted Hiiragi to give up the intention of shooting and bend down to dodge. Almost as soon as she reacted, a thigh-thick wooden stick protruded from the thick dust and swept over her head, slightly. The wooden stick that was swung past the tip of his hair shattered against the wall of the building.

If he had received a solid blow to his head, he would undoubtedly have died on the spot...

Raising her hand to kill the monster that attacked her, Hiiragi continued to retreat back. Except for the fact that their skin was not hard enough to be pierced by bullets, all other abilities of these monsters were already at the level of a first-level swift zombie. Faced with the siege of these monsters, she We can only fight and retreat.

It's just that this ordinary two-story house didn't have much space for Hiiragi to move around. More than a dozen monsters kept swarming in her direction from the roof openings and stairs. Hiiragi, who had emptied the magazine again, felt a sinking feeling in her heart. He suddenly pulled out an extremely rough weapon behind him.A simple cut steel pipe and a wooden stick that could barely be called a gun stock with screws on it were tied together with circles of wire. Only the function of firing ammunition could barely establish a connection with the 'gun'.

Hiiragi didn't dare to put this thing against his face to aim. He just put his hands on his waist and pointed in the general direction and pulled the trigger.

The muzzle flash suddenly exploded, and pungent black smoke rushed out from the muzzle. It was so smokey that she couldn't see the effect of the shot. Even if she was prepared, she used her best strength to control the gun's violent tremors. It still made her hands numb and her ears ringing.

This is the thermal weapon used by most autonomous civilian caravans. It fully reflects the ingenuity and craftsmanship of the people at the bottom of the wasteland world. Its rough appearance is an important weapon for protecting the life and property of the caravan time and time again. The short-barreled model used for firing shotguns in Hiiragi's hand is even more powerful.

The two monsters closest to Hiiragi fell to the ground the moment the gunfire rang out. The other two did not have their heads injured and died, but judging from their shattered limbs, they no longer posed a threat.

After the first shot, Hiiragi did not continue to load the ammunition. The loading process of this gun was very troublesome. Before she fired the second shot, it had been completely torn apart by the surrounding monsters. Besides, someone had already taken over the battle here...

"Back off!"

The black figure broke through the window and entered. The huge blood sickle danced in a circle. The blade of unknown material easily cut open the walking dead in front of him. In just a few breaths, the remaining seven or eight monsters turned into rotten meat piled on the ground. Hiiragi Jing had to be grateful that the tyrant was on her side at this time.

"The guy in charge ran away. He ran very fast... I didn't catch up." Irene casually flicked the blood stained on the blade and it was easily thrown away. The shiny blade was brand new again.

Sure enough, Irene's words confirmed Hiiragi's conjecture. There was indeed a unified command behind these monsters. She pulled out a dagger and stirred it for a while in the exposed and broken monster's head. There was no trace of the viscous liquid mixed with blood and brain. Unnecessary foreign matter was found.

This is just an elementary monster, so what kind of existence will it become after evolving again and again...

"Don't worry, they are not the protagonists of this town, maybe they are just passing by." Hiiragi casually pulled a piece of cloth from the ground and wiped the dagger clean. Of course, she did not say it casually to comfort Irene. Although these monsters are very Strong but able to be penetrated by pistol bullets in the head, it is destined to be difficult to pose a threat to an army full of hot weapons. Maybe those throwing methods will have some effect... but only some effects.Since even Ofanto's army can be driven away, that is not something these monster walking zombies can do.

But if it weren't for them, what kind of danger would be hidden here?

Chapter 8 Meeting in prison

The Southern District Atonement Prison can also be called the "Southern District Atonement Prisoner of War Camp". Before the war officially broke out, the tense atmosphere had permeated all over the world. The Kingdom of South Austria, foreseeing that there would be some minor frictions with neighboring countries in the future, started early. Construction work on this building.

During the period when it was put into operation, the prisoners held here were all mid-level and senior officers or noble sons captured by the Kingdom of South Austria on the battlefield. Therefore, although it was a prisoner of war camp, the environmental conditions were not harsh and were even quite generous.

Once you cross the boundary between the sentry box and the gate railing, you have entered the prisoner of war camp. A large amount of open space has been opened between the gate and the prisoner of war camp. The area that was originally intended to prevent prison escapes and open up the field of vision has many more tents and sleeping bags. , and even a field surrounded by stone fences. These are of course not products of the prison construction period, but remnants of post-war visitors who tried to live here, but they also left, leaving a desolate and unpopular wasteland. The defeat made Hiiragi couldn't help but feel regretful. People have not given up their efforts to develop for survival, but the cruel wasteland will not show any mercy.

We're here... Standing in front of the arched door, Hiiragi glanced at the metal plate on the right wall. The words 'Southern District Atonement Prison' were still clear, and had not been corroded by rust due to the anti-rust treatment process. .

There are four marble pillars on the left and right of the prison door. The so-called carvings are quite exquisite even to Hiiragi, who lacks aesthetics. Is this really a prison?Anyone who comes will have the same questions as Hiiragi Jing.

"This is it. Man said that the code words will be left at the gate." Hiiragi paced back and forth while picking up the manuscript that Man had given her. It recorded the code translation and comparison content of the promotion meeting, which is the so-called Code book.

To be honest, Hiiragi felt a little unbelievable when Man handed such an important thing into her hands. This meant that the lifeblood of the entire Promotion Association intelligence team was in her hands, and they had just met not long ago. .But Man seemed unfazed by her inquiry, saying only that she had proven that she could be trusted, and that the codebook might have been updated after such a long time.

It has to be said that Man's method is very clever. She did not hide her suspicion at the beginning, but after confirming her identity, she gave them a lot of trust. No wonder she was able to maintain a good relationship with the officials on Hexin Island and became the owner of the tavern. Being able to get along well with caravans from various dominions, there is nothing uncomfortable about interacting with them.

Soon, Hiiragi found a code word belonging to the Promotion Association carved between the patterns of the stone carvings near the base of the wall. It would be difficult to find it if you were not looking for it. Whether it was the real Promotion Association or the secret agent of Orfanto, at least there were incidents. Making progress, Hiiragi translated the short pattern characters one by one against the code book and quickly came up with the contents - second floor library, third row, first column, first book.

Sure enough, it's not that easy. You still have to go to this prison.

"The target is inside, Erin, let's go..."

Without them having to do anything, the prison door had already been opened by the visitor before them, but this time Irene's steps were not as decisive as before but hesitated for a while.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't know, it's a bit strange..." Erin shook her head slightly. She obviously didn't sense danger, but she always felt inexplicably weird when she saw this building.

"Be careful, don't be too far apart." Even Irene said so, and Hiiragi Jing couldn't be careless. The next encounter is bound to be more dangerous than those monster walking corpses before.

After walking through the gate and stepping onto the pavement paved with stone bricks, the exposure from the hot summer sun seems to have been reduced a bit. This is a square, with flower beds and potted plants on both sides extending along the road to everywhere, but the bright flowers have long disappeared. , all kinds of weeds have become dominant here, the trees that grow wildly in the larger open space have destroyed the originally smooth lawn, and the roots of the underground trees have destroyed most of the neatly arranged stone brick pavement.

In the center of the circular square in the middle of the road stands a marble stele. It has no carvings or decorations and is just a simple geometric shape. "May the great king pardon" - the eight characters carved on the stele are still there today. Clear.

Walking through the square is the interior of the first building. It seems to be just an office building and there is no need to explore. The glass door that restricts access to the rear has long been reduced to fragments.