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

After Ujiaxu said these words, Hiei Jing immediately noticed the eyes of the Southern Federal team members around her looking at her. Under the dark goggles, she didn't know what kind of emotions their eyes conveyed.

Indeed, if it weren't for Zero Nine's detection ability, their team wouldn't have been able to reach this point safely, and that was without losing one member.Without Zero-Nine's ability, these team members would have to bear the extremely high risks of investigation, especially when a protected outsider said such words from such a position, it was indeed suspected of being sarcastic.

Such unthinking and impulsive behavior made her suddenly stand on the opposite side of everyone. Hiiragi admitted that her rash behavior was ill-considered. It may be the best solution to let a little girl suffer in exchange for a safer route forward for them... But like this Something is too wrong...

"Wait a minute." She grabbed Ling Jiu's arm and was about to hand it to Ujia Xu. Hiiragi looked directly at Ujia Xu and made up her mind, "She needs to rest. During this time, I will be responsible for the investigation."

"What are you... joking?"

"Hiiragi Shizune?"

Hiiragi's response was beyond Ujiaxu's expectation. He had no idea that Hiiragi would make such a decision for Lingjiu. The two had only known each other for a few days and had never had a decent close relationship, but why would she? To do this for Zero Nine?pity?Pitiful?Because his behavior constituted bullying to her?What a joke!She has no idea what this guy really looks like! !

"I'm not kidding. I have two years of mercenary experience and have carried out countless reconnaissance missions. Although I don't understand how to define the credibility of the mercenary certificate of the Newborn City in your Southern Federation, this is the only thing I can do now. The credible certificate provided, as for the detailed information, you need to check it at the terminal of the special business processing center.”

Hiiragi Jing said, taking out his second-level mercenary certificate and raising it above his head.A smile slowly appeared on the corners of the mouth under the mask of the Southern Federation members as he glanced around: "Although they are just mercenaries, their combat capabilities are slightly inferior to those of the elites of the Southern Federation... But in terms of courage, I believe I can do the job. , what do you think?"

This sentence immediately caused the team members who had just looked at her to look away, and the strange words made them embarrassed.

A group of elites from the Southern Federation actually exchanged the pain of a little girl for their own safety. Such face-to-face ridicule came from a little girl who was a mercenary in the Newborn City, which hurt them the most.

At the beginning, they were not disgusted with Ujiaxu's approach, but the order from the top restricted them: this was a specially approved experiment by the Ministry of Science, an experimental project directly promoted by the Southern Federal Government.

And when Lingjiu demonstrated his abilities in front of them, the shock made them increasingly recognize this kind of experiment, and they also relied more and more on the sense of security that Lingjiu's abilities brought them. After all, who wouldn't want to in this world? Safe or not?Everyone tacitly agreed that this would happen, and over time they became accustomed to it, becoming numb and accustomed to it.

Just as the team fell into a strange atmosphere, Jiaheng, who had been watching, suddenly spoke: "We are close enough to the target. Before the ether is completely mature, most of the approaching monsters will choose to continue watching from a distance. They All attention is on the front. As long as we keep vigilant and slow down the speed of advancement, there will be no problem with safety. Besides, Captain Wu, didn’t you say it yourself: Second injection in a short period of time will greatly reduce the effect, and may also cause the medicine to fail. Since there is no need to inject if it is not necessary, it would be more beneficial for our subsequent actions to let Zero retain his strength, wouldn’t it?”

Jiaheng has already expressed his position on the exercise of power in the team. This question is certainly not asking for Ujiaxu's personal opinion.After glancing back and forth between Hiiragi Jing and Wu Jiaxu with gloomy eyes, he could only silently put the needle back into his pocket and turn around to leave.

"Don't think too much. I'm not helping you. I just considered the need to evacuate quickly after seizing that special etheric substance. Without the combat power of Zero Nine, it will be very troublesome." Seeing Hiiragi Shizune asking Jiaheng looked over and waved his hands repeatedly in response to the other party's misunderstanding.

Is that all?

This woman will definitely not be so kind. She must have some other intentions...

Hiiragi looked back at Ling Jiu beside her. She still stretched her arms forward, her eyes filled with embarrassment about what had just happened.

"Put it down, there's no need for injections."

Pressing down Lingjiu's arm and pulling down her rolled-up sleeves, only at this moment will you feel that the Lingjiu in front of you is an ordinary girl, instead of killing a mutant in two or three hand-to-hand combat in the dense forest. warrior.

Phew—the feeling of disparity between Zero and Nine has become much more balanced.

"That...thank you."

Hiiragi, who turned to leave, did not hear the whisper behind Lingjiu's lips after regaining consciousness.

Under Jiaheng's control, the team continued to move forward. In fact, just as she said, they were close enough to the current position of the light pillar, as long as they climbed over the mountain in front.

The hill in front seemed to be only about 200 meters high, but the uphill road was rugged and difficult. The wet ground looked very slippery, and the exposed rock surface was covered with moss. After spending nearly half an hour, they finally made it quickly. Climb the top of the mountain.

This area is not suitable for the growth of those huge trees. The team finally broke away from the suppression of those tall trees here. The long-lost sky that lost the canopy appeared above their heads. If it weren't for this place, Hiiragi would not even know what was above them. The full moon is so dazzling, and the light of the light pillar is slightly dimmed by its brightness.

However, the beam of light still only existed in the sights of Hiiragi Jing and Lingjiu. Others in the team did not see the existence of the beam of light.

However, this refreshing feeling of being out of the dense forest did not last long. From the moment she looked over the ridge and looked ahead, her body and mind were once again enveloped by a huge sense of depression, which was worse than the feeling of walking in the dead forest. Even more depressing.

Not just her, everyone in the team was shocked by the scene in front of them. Everyone held their breath, as if suppressing the urge to blurt out.

It's a sinkhole!A huge sinkhole!Its size can almost accommodate half the size of the newborn city, but in this sinkhole there is not only the same dense forest, but also a city swallowed up by the dense forest.

Chapter 44 Inside the sinkhole

"Not right..."

This visual impact made everyone in the team stunned for a while. When they all came to their senses, Jiaheng suddenly said such a meaningless sentence.

"What's wrong? What's wrong? Is there danger?" She thought that Jiaheng discovered the enemy situation before everyone else, which made Hiiragi nervously look around for possible dangers, even though she had been harsh in her previous conversation with Wu Jiaxu. , but she also had to admit that Lingjiu's detection ability was much better than that of human flesh search. However, Hiiragi quickly noticed that Jiaheng's eyes were still focused on the sinkhole in front, not some of the surrounding areas. one place.

"According to the data, the area around the Newborn City should not have the geological conditions to form such a large-scale karst negative terrain." Jiaheng bent down and picked up a handful of soil from the ground, groping as if searching for impurities in it.

"That...is a natural disaster?"

Facing such a huge pothole, this was the first thing that came to mind. However, this was just a tentative question. Hiiragi also knew that her simple blind guess was not reliable.

Sure enough, Jiaheng immediately denied this speculation: "It can't be a natural disaster. The pollution alarm did not report the existence of pollution. There is also a big difference between this irregularly shaped sinkhole and the bomb crater. Compared with the abandoned city that has experienced natural disasters, this crater The buildings inside the cave are also more completely preserved. Besides, do you think a small town like this is qualified to suffer a natural disaster? The scale may not be small now, but in the pre-war period... I'm afraid it would be difficult to even draw a map. .”

"Then how did this place appear?" Hiiragi Jing really didn't know what else could create such a devastating spectacle besides natural disasters.

"It looks more like a large-scale subsidence here, causing the entire town to sink into the ground." Jiaheng narrowed his eyes and expressed his speculation, "I'm afraid it can only be man-made, and the equivalent of burying it underground The terrifying explosives completely destroyed the underground support structure to bury this place, probably to achieve some strategic purpose..."

Jiaheng's description was very indifferent, but Hiiragi's heart was extremely complicated. She originally thought that the New Era wasteland world indirectly created by natural disasters was enough, but other things from the hands of humans before the New Era were far richer than she imagined. .

"It was a crazy era. All forces were trying their best to destroy their opponents. There might be something more terrifying than natural disasters." Jiaheng shrugged and told Hiiragi not to think too much about this issue. This kind of mentality of tracing back to history is not available in this situation now.

"Lingjiu, did the light beam come out of this crater?" The data from the dark energy detector in his hand showed that it had reached its peak. At this time, the only way to confirm was with Lingjiu.

"Well..." Lingjiu stretched out his hand toward the center of the sinkhole, "There."

Even though she couldn't see the so-called 'beam' with her naked eyes, Jiaheng couldn't help but glance deeply in the direction indicated by Ling Jiu, and then she began to look around the sinkhole.

The height of the sinkhole from the ground reaches about [-] meters, and the surrounding cliffs are tilted at almost a vertical angle of [-] degrees. It is definitely not feasible to go down directly.

"Everyone, get ready for rappelling." Jiaheng said, turning to look at Hiiragi with a chuckle, showing the straps on his body and saying, "You don't have the experience or equipment for rappelling, right? Then why don't you go with us? Let me go together..."

Before Jiaheng finished speaking, Hiiragi had already started shaking her head crazily to express her heartfelt rejection. She could still accept riding on a powered paraglider with Ren Xi, but in front of her was the dangerous woman from the Southern Federal Ministry of Science. Abseiling together was unbearable for her anyway. If she had no choice, she wouldn't even want to walk with Jiaheng in the dense forest. Who knows when this cunning guy will make some unexpected move.

"It's just a joke, your rejection is really sad..." Hiiragi Jing's funny and intense reaction made Jiaheng laugh, but in Hieragi Jing's opinion, only Jiaheng himself knew whether it was serious or a joke.

"Lingjiu, take her down?"

"clear."

I originally thought it was another member of the Southern Federation, but I didn't expect that the person Jiaheng made his next sentence was actually Ling Jiu. When Hiiragi looked back, she saw Ling Jiu, who was already ready to go, standing not far behind her.

Because of the exoskeleton, Lingjiu's preparations were simpler. He only needed to hang up the ropes and pulleys and everything he needed before rappelling was ready.

"But she...ahem?!!!"

"Don't move, I'm fixing it."

Before Hiiragi Jing could finish explaining her complete doubts, Lingjiu suddenly hugged her up. Lingjiu clung to her body without leaving any gap, and the lingering fragrance lingered around her. After a slight pause, Lingjiu hugged her. Hiiragi immediately started to struggle in panic, but Lingjiu held her in his arms very forcefully, and his other hand quickly bound Hiiragi and himself tightly together.

Hiiragi didn't expect that Lingjiu, who had always been submissive, would suddenly have such a tough attitude, even to the point of being impatient. Was it because her performance was too procrastinating? In desperation, she could only freeze and wait for the fix to end. However, this The fixation process was far more embarrassing than she imagined.

"Jump up."

"what?"

After being tied up for a few times, Ling Jiu suddenly said something. Hiiragi, who gave up thinking in embarrassment and shame, did not understand the meaning for a while until Ling Jiu repeated it a second time.

"Jump up, grab my waist with your feet, and don't let go until we land." Perhaps it was Hiiragi's hesitation that made Lingjiu mistakenly think that the other party doubted his ability. Lingjiu immediately added, "I It’s very powerful.”

Of course I know you are very strong, but that's not what I care about!

Her brain almost shut down at this moment, and Hiiragi's heart was screaming like a storm. She had no idea that she would have such close physical contact with Lingjiu, and it would have to be in full view of everyone!But Lingjiu's clear eyes were full of expectation, and the requirement of abseiling also left Hiiragi no other choice.

How can you be so coy when the other person doesn't even care about a little girl?Lingjiu's calmness made Hiiragi full of guilt. The rest of the thoughts in her mind were briefly and fiercely exchanged for a while. Finally, Hiiragi gritted her teeth and straightened her waist, following Lingjiu's request and wrapping her legs around the opponent's. Waist.

But when the softness of the inner legs of her legs pressed against each other's, Hiiragi's face instantly boiled. The psychological defense she had finally built was instantly defeated. Without looking in the mirror, Hiiragi knew that the blush that started on her neck had probably spread to her earlobes. Okay. With the mask, goggles, and darkness blocking all of this, Hiiragi really wouldn't be able to hold on anymore.

It was extremely shameful and embarrassing to remain hanging on Ling Jiu. Fortunately, this dilemma did not last long. The team members prepared quickly. After a few minutes, all members of the team had hung up the rope, and Ling Jiu also hugged him. He followed Hiiragi Jing to the edge of the sinkhole.

Hiiragi, who had her back to the sinkhole, couldn't see the scene behind her, but she could feel a cool breeze blowing from the bottom up on her back, which made Hiiragi, who was not afraid of heights, feel uneasy.

Three ropes were thrown toward the bottom of the sinkhole. After confirming the firmness of the ropes, a team of more than [-] people slid down in batches.

A few minutes later, the first group of people who landed safely sent a safety signal to the following echelons by shaking. After more than a dozen team members slid down one after another, it was finally the turn of the duo of Ling Jiu and Hiiragi Shizune.

"Relax your body and don't be so tense."

Hiiragi's stiff body acted as an elbow to restrain Lingjiu's movements. Lingjiu, who couldn't free his hands because he picked up the rope, lightly tapped Hiiragi's buttocks a few times to signal. He didn't expect this sudden move. The attack almost made Hiiragi, whose nerves were tense due to nervousness, scream out.

"What's wrong? Is the strap too tight?"

"No...it's nothing." Hiiragi took a deep breath and tried to calm down his mood, and tried to move his body closer to relaxation. Not only did his relaxation have an effect, but Lingjiu took the initiative to avoid being restrained by Hiiragi's elbow. , after tying the rope, Lingjiu turned around and jumped back holding the rope.

The pulleys of the Southern Federal team members all have automatic devices. The fact that they are not manual brings great convenience to the descent process. They can also adjust the descent speed according to needs. No wonder the height of this sinkhole was not set by them. In eyes. .

When it comes to the abseil process, the cool breeze blowing by makes the hot face feel much more comfortable.At this time, Hiiragi Jing faced the sky because of Lingjiu's turn. As she descended a little bit, the area where the dense forest and the town were intertwined became increasingly clear in her sight.

Like all pre-war towns swallowed by dense forests, plants are the dominant ones here. They climb everywhere, spread throughout the former's body, and do everything they can to expand, but the traces left here have not been completely erased. , those broken walls of reinforced concrete are still standing.

I don’t know how long it took, but the dense forest and buildings hid all Hiiragi Jing’s sight. At this time Hiiragi Jing and Lingjiu finally set foot on the ground. Finally, Jiaheng and Wu Jiaxu also arrived here from the other two ropes. The team members who were on alert were waiting for further instructions.

No one dares to act rashly. Everyone knows that this sinkhole is the final core area.Seize the ether-like substance and then withdraw quickly... Everyone has recited it silently in their hearts countless times to strengthen their memory.

"Wait! I saw it! That beam!"

Suddenly someone among the team members let out a suppressed exclamation. Others in the team also discovered the changes in their realization. The same was true for Jiaheng and Wu Jiaxu. The beam of light that stayed in Lingjiu's mouth was truly displayed for the first time. In front of their eyes.

To them, the change of the light beam is just something from nothing, but in Hiiragi Jing's eyes, the change of the light beam is by no means that simple.

The color of the light beam deepened in a trend visible to the naked eye, from light blue to deep blue, and the bright light almost tore through the night. It was exactly the same as that time when JD destroyed the city. I wonder if the same is true in Lingjiu's eyes?

"Hoo hoo hoo hoo!!!"

Just as they were immersed in the shock of discovering the light beam, a beast roar once again tore apart the tranquility around them.

A huge wild dog is clinging to the cliff not far away with its head facing down. Its sharp claws allow it to crawl on the cliff. Not only it, but more mutant beasts are heading here. Coming closer, it seems that the outer mutant defense has failed after all.

Chapter 45 Human corpses in the sinkhole

The cold and hard rock wall at the back provides everyone with that pitiful but extremely important sense of security. It is the fragile link that maintains the last rationality of their thinking. The wildly beating heart reaches this level in both frequency and intensity. The limit of movement of muscle mass.

Even the elite warriors of the Southern Federation, who had fought numerous battles, could not keep their composure when the monster labeled 'A-level high-risk' by the data passed nearby.

They were so close to the monster, so close that they could smell the fishy smell emanating from the monster, so close that they could clearly see the scale patterns on the monster's body, and even feared that their heartbeat and breathing would be sensitive to the monster. perceived by the senses.

The huge body just a few meters away from them snaked forward. The friction between the gray scales and the ground and the rock wall continued to make strange rustling sounds. The moonlight falling from the sky shone on the armored body like a flowing stream. of living water.

Giant scaly python... No one would have thought that this extremely dangerous mutant monster would appear here.

As the name suggests, this is a python-like mutant creature that mutated due to pollution and viruses. There are many records about it from both the Southern Federal Government and the Newborn City Government. They are basically distributed in the hills in the eastern region of the Southern Federal Government. In that area Although there are not many incidents where vehicles or human strongholds are attacked by it, every attack will affect the residents of human strongholds near the attack site.

These huge and terrifying monsters move at a speed that is extremely inconsistent with their size. Their hard scales can even block the attacks of large-caliber heavy machine guns. Human strongholds lacking heavy firepower are almost unable to resist.

Just like ordinary pythons, their hunting method is to strangle their prey with their own powerful strength and then swallow it whole. Therefore, in addition to the number of deaths clearly recorded in the official accounts from the mouth of the scaly python, there are also records of a large number of missing people. There's no guarantee that it wasn't created by it, since it can swallow prey several times larger than it, and it's no problem for humans.

Someone once dissected a severely corroded and extremely twisted off-road vehicle from the body of an adult scaly python that was over 30 meters in size. There were very few human remains inside the vehicle. According to subsequent inspection reports, this small amount was found. The wreckage came from at least three people, which means there were more than three passengers in the swallowed car.

This kind of information that the car and people were swallowed together sounds very much like a fabricated rumor exaggerated by some people to attract attention, but in fact the authenticity of this information has been confirmed by the al-Qaida government and written into the database.

This kind of monster, which is clearly distributed in the hills to the east of the Southern Federation, actually appears here, and becomes one of the group of mutant beasts pursuing the light beam.

Fortunately, the scaly python in front of him was attracted by the light beam in front of him and other mutant beasts that were also competitors. It didn't seem to find the more than twenty humans on the edge of the rock wall, or even if it did, it didn't. Compared with the more important temptation ahead, this is not enough for the human beings who are stuffed between their teeth, and it is not worth mentioning.

As the scaly python advanced, the last end of its tail disappeared into the shadows ahead. It was not until more than ten minutes later when the lingering power that filled the air gradually dissipated that Hiiragi Jing and others finally dared to let go of their suppression. The extreme snoring, the close pressure feeling really makes people breathless, and the wanton breathing has never made people feel so luxurious.

"It seems that we still underestimated the danger of the operation..."

Jiaheng's whisper caused the entire team to fall into silence. The dangers represented by mutants and the scaly python that just appeared were not at the same level at all. The re-evaluation of high-risk actions has made it difficult to calm down.

"Then... what should we do?"

Ujiaxu's breathing was the heaviest, his tone was urgent and anxious, his eyes were turning and he kept glancing around, and his trembling steps also took half a step back toward the rope.It can be heard that after seeing the pressure brought by facing the scaly python, his original opinion has long since disappeared, and there is no trace of his intention to fight against Jiaheng just now.

Does such a person actually think that he is qualified to be the captain of this team?Because you have been under the teacher's halo for so long, do you already believe the image of yourself in your mind that is true?

Glancing disdainfully at the man who was filled with fear, Jiaheng didn't have much energy to ridicule him. Instead, he suddenly turned to Hiiragi at this moment of depression: "Have you ever had a similar experience? These monsters were attracted by the beam. There will be a fight to the death, right? A bloody contest with the final winner?"

"Uh, um!"

Hiiragi Jing nodded. Although he fell into a coma and did not witness the final battle that took place in the crater, Han Nianling's description could still confirm that there was only one winner in the end.

"You all heard it."

This kind of affirmation from Hiiragi Jing, the person who experienced it, is credible. This is why Jiaheng suddenly turned to Hiiragi Jing for verification. She glanced at the surrounding team members and said in a relaxed and slightly mocking tone: "We don't need to fight against all the attracted monsters. We don't even need to fight against the final winner. We just need to take advantage of its weakness after the fight to take away the ether-like substance..."

Hiiragi couldn't help but nodded to Jiaheng's plan, not to cooperate with Jiaheng's performance, but because she really believed that this plan was feasible. According to Han Nianling, the witch from the ruined city was the final winner. But he had to escape under the attack of the Newborn City security team. If the security team had been prepared, they might have been able to seize the existence that attracted countless monsters.

It's a pity that these only stayed in Han Nianling's dictation. Hieragi Jing regretted more than once why he suddenly fell into coma and missed the most exciting part of JD's abandoned city experience.

Hiiragi's affirmation and Jiaheng's plan sealed the final goal of the operation. After confirming that the area was temporarily safe, the team began to explore the city in the sinkhole.

It was originally thought that the mutants who occupied the sinkhole first would use this complex terrain to set up layers of defense, but what was surprising was that the mutants' reaction was not as frequent and violent as before in the outer reaches of the dense forest.Perhaps there were too many arrangements on the outside, so that the number of individual mutants in the sinkhole was insufficient, and they placed the required guard positions deeper.

Monsters and monsters, monsters and mutants... the conflicts between the two have started all over the sinkhole, and the roars of fighting and killing each other are endless.

We were clearly in a sinkhole that was no less dangerous than an abandoned city, but from the first step into the depths, our quiet eyes were involuntarily attracted to the surrounding buildings.