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

Chapter 57 What’s in the Water

"call……"

Even in the deepest moment of peaceful and peaceful sleep, the already established biological clock can drag the consciousness out of deep sleep without hesitation.

The fragment of consciousness did not hinder the body's instinctive actions. His sleepy brain kept shaking left and right, and the hands slapping his cheeks continued to stimulate his mental state to recover quickly. Maybe splashing cold water on his face would be more effective, but underground The potable fresh water resources in the environment are quite precious, and physical means are also the best method at the moment.

How long did I sleep?

Hiiragi turned over and looked at the watch worn on the inside of his right wrist. In this extremely dark environment, the fluorescent time display of the watch did not require additional lighting to be seen clearly.

34:[-] pm...sleep for about an hour.

Although it was only a short hour, it was extremely important to Hiiragi. Ever since he came out of Epoch Square, his body had been in an overload of exercise. First, he climbed into the front of the car and used all his strength to hang his body on the line of life and death, and then It is to follow the inside of the subway and close the position to escape from the monster.

I am afraid that my physical fitness has exceeded that of many adults. However, human beings have limits after all. After another successful escape, Hiiragi finally felt that it was difficult to support, so she just found a place to rest in the underground environment. environment is easier said than done.

For this reason, Hiiragi had to push down the mine cart he was riding in. The mine cart turned upside down was a narrow, closed but safe shelter, and then he used metal sheets and ropes to pull it up at the far end of the tunnel. An alarm line gives them enough time to escape even if it takes someone to catch up from behind.

"Hiiragi...are you awake?" Just after he checked the time, the sound of Hei Shi's inquiry came from the next door. It must have been the friction of clothes that caught his attention.

The front and rear seats of the transport mine cart are separated into two small spaces after being turned upside down. Although I would like to remove the middle seat to gain more space, I may not be restless after insisting on unwinding the position. Hiiragi had no choice but to give up her sleeping position.

It is impossible for ordinary people to wake up faster than themselves in a short period of time, which means that there is only one possibility, "Hingcang, didn't you fall asleep? It may be difficult for us to have a chance to rest next time. Hiiragi frowned slightly, obviously she had repeatedly emphasized the importance of this rest to Ping Cang before falling asleep.

After a brief silence, Hengsang replied in a slightly embarrassed voice: "Sorry, I'm a little worried about this... so I haven't been able to sleep."

After listening to Hengcang's answer, Hiiragi realized that it was really difficult for Hengcang, an ordinary person, to fall asleep in such a dangerous environment. Having difficulty falling asleep due to tight nerves was the reaction that a normal person should have.

"Well, my mental state is very good. Although I haven't fallen asleep, I have been sleeping for a while. I won't be sleepy." Pingcang hurriedly signed the guarantee. Hearing that Pingcang was forcing himself so hard, Hiiragi felt a little guilty, "No , I was too anxious and didn’t think too much, don’t worry, I will protect you.”

After saying these words intended to comfort the position, the other party seemed to fall into silence again. Hiiragi got out from under the car after waking up. The first thing he did was to stretch his body as much as possible and huddled in it for a long time. The discomfort of being in a small space is finally released.

The cordon that extended from a distance to the vicinity of the shelter was not triggered. It seemed that those of Ofanto did not continue to pursue them, perhaps because they were distracted by other things and had no time to take care of the two of them.

But the situation before them cannot be said to be good. They don't know whether this tunnel they hastily chosen to avoid pursuit is Ruoxiang's route. Otherwise, they will have to risk encountering Ofanto's troops and return to the previous one. Change stations to find the right road.

I can only take one step at a time...

The track in front of them had already been buried by the collapsed ruins on both sides of the tunnel. Naturally, they did not have to expend great efforts to turn the transport truck back over. The two of them started walking again, stepping on the mud that fell to the ground due to the collapse of the top floor.

As the two of them continued to go deeper, the air gradually became humid. The underground environment was not abnormally humid, but the humidity here was too obvious. The ticking sounds of water droplets falling at different frequencies became more frequent and dense, and they were all over the walls on the left and right. Various blocks of black moss and fine water seeped out from the cracks in the wall, converging on the ground not far away to form a swamp that could submerge one's ankles.

Looking further ahead, this is the case as far as the lights can reach... This is definitely not a picture that can be created by a simple sewer break.

Hiiragi couldn't help but stop. What she saw in front of her made her hesitate... But from the hand-drawn map obtained by the Orfanto soldier, it turns out that this is indeed a passable road, wait a minute!Could it be that - they are located directly under the bed of the NC River? !

Hiiragi couldn't help but feel a chill when she thought that a hundred meters above her head was the core area of ​​the famous NC ruined city. What she didn't expect was that she had walked such a long distance and would even leave the Southern Federation if she continued forward. It was a place she had never thought of. Would nomads really go this way?Is it too late to turn back now?

The mud that seeped in from the cracks continued to accumulate in the tunnel. The further they went forward, the closer they were to the ceiling above their heads. Finally, after crossing the highest point of the mud accumulation, a pool of several meters deep appeared behind the mound. Seeing that the entire tunnel was submerged, Hiiragi's heart dropped to freezing point.

Could it be that the hand-drawn map of the Orfanto soldier was wrong?

"Look! There's a boat here!"

At this moment, Heng Cang picked up a rope from the corner. The other end of the rope actually extended to the inside of the wall. As Heng Cang pulled, the black waterproof membrane used for camouflage was torn apart, and behind it turned out to be manual excavation. There is an open space, and seven inflatable kayaks tied with ropes are placed side by side inside. The sides are collaged with white tape to form different numbers.

"It's a piece of cloth! Ruoxiang really passed by here!"

The surprise was not enough, a familiar piece of soaked cloth was attached to the lower side of a kayak. Due to the angle, I immediately noticed its existence, and the position closest to the exit was obvious. There is a kayak missing, so it can be confirmed that the two nomads who took Ruoxiang hostage left from here.

"Good job closing the position!" Hiiragi hurriedly stepped forward to lend a hand, and the two of them pushed a kayak out of it. After all, it is used to travel in a narrow tunnel. The kayak is not large, but it has enough space. Hiiragi It's more than enough for Heikura and two people, and it's much roomier than a transport truck anyway.

Putting the life jackets on their bodies haphazardly, the two of them used the paddles one after the other to quickly stir the water surface. The undulating water waves hit the rock walls on both sides and made an ethereal sound.

Neither of them had any experience in rowing. They thought they would just need to simply swing the paddle back and forth. However, they realized the difficulty after actually getting started. Just straightening the bow of the boat was already very difficult. Fortunately, the narrow tunnel did not More room to move around, and using the oar to prop it open as they were about to hit the wall barely counted as a way for them to keep moving forward.

But before they could be happy, the kayak that was moving forward seemed to have hit something. The first half of the kayak was lifted up half a meter, and then fell back to the water and returned to calm. But at this time, the two hands playing with the paddles The people were frozen in place like stone statues, and when they looked at each other, panic and astonishment could be seen in each other's pupils.

What they just ran into seemed to be a living creature...

Chapter 58 The captured acting school

Naturally, no clues can be seen in this dark and turbid sewage with just a little light. When the water returns to calmness, it seems that everything that just happened was an illusion. Only the heart that keeps beating wildly against the chest confirms the truth before. .

What was that just now?

Hiiragi didn't dare to think too much. In fact, she couldn't think of anything. Even in the entire southern federal database, there were too few records about aquatic monsters, and most of them were spread among the people and it was difficult to verify their authenticity. The contents of the rumors are similar, mostly based on the experiences of residents witnessing unknown giant water monsters emerging from the water on the river bank.

Compared to the monsters living on the ground, humans currently know very little about the monsters living in the water. After all, there are not many opportunities for contact. Humans who live a difficult life on land naturally do not have much energy to explore the bottom of the water, but it is certain. After hundreds of years of rainwater erosion and sedimentation, the degree of pollution at the bottom of the water is much higher than that of the ground environment.

Information recorded in relevant popular science books in the pre-war world shows that the biological diversity of water is not inferior to that of land, and is even richer. Therefore, under the influence of pollution, there must also be various dangerous mutant beasts. The danger will never be Absent from every corner of the wasteland.

He kept his stiff posture like this for a long time, until the cold wind blowing from the tunnel made Hiiragi shiver, and then he slowly came back to his senses.

After confirming that there had been no sound around her for a long time, she picked up the oar again and slowly rowed the oar in the extremely depressing atmosphere. She was careful not to stir up a splash of water.

On the one hand, they were eager to speed up the boat and get ashore quickly, but on the other hand, they did not dare to make any noise to stimulate the unknown existence under the water. From this moment on, the process of sailing became a torment of silence and unwinding.

Fortunately, the underwater creatures seem to have no desire to attack the surface ships for the time being. Apart from the violent collision just now, they have no other contact with them. Could it be that... the existence under the water is also deliberately avoiding the surface of the water? of them?Such a guess may be too optimistic, but facing the current situation, Hiiragi can only believe so.

I don’t know how long they have been paddling on the boat, but the kayak hit something again. Although this time it was only a relatively weak contact, the accident still made the two people tremble and dare not even take a breath. , eyes nervously paying attention to any possible movement in the surrounding waters.

etc!We are... arriving!

After looking around nervously for a long time, Hiiragi discovered with embarrassment that they had already arrived on the other side. The ship and submarine were touching the land they were thinking about. Due to the darkness of the environment and the fact that all their resources were placed in the waters on both sides. Didn't find it.

Hiiragi and Hirakura climbed out of the boat almost on their hands and knees, not even daring to stay in the shallow water that was only submerged to their ankles. After their feet finally left the water and stepped onto solid ground, they both collapsed to the ground. The muscles that had been tense for a long time gave off an unbearable sense of soreness, and the two of them were exhausted even though they had not exercised excessively.

In fact, looking back now, I realize that this waterway is actually not too far. Normally, it takes about 10 minutes to complete the road section.

While taking a rest and being quiet, I looked around with the help of the searchlight. Sure enough, there was a kayak parked on the shore that had already arrived. It must be the vehicle that Ruoxiang and the others boarded. Not only that, there is also a place here. It is a small dock built of wood. It seems that the people of Offanto intend to use it for a long time.

But in this case, why didn't they get rid of the threat in the water? Isn't the prerequisite for long-term use of the facilities here a safe environment?Is it because they don't care about the risk of the boat being knocked over at any time, or is it that the threat in the water just appeared not long ago?

In any case, they both chose the right direction in the hasty exchange of fire with the enemy and crossed the waterway without any danger. Such good luck even Hiiragi himself found it incredible, but it seemed that the good luck was blessing them. That’s it for now.

"Who are you?!"

Just when Hiiragi stood up and was about to take off his weapons and equipment from the kayak, a loud shout suddenly came from behind, and then countless searchlights shone on them, illuminating the originally dark tunnel as bright as day. Looking at the slender shadow of her body cast on the ground under the lighting, Hiiragi realized that this time it might be more serious than bad.

"Face us! Lie on the ground with your head in your hands!"

Faced with countless guns pointing at him, even Hiiragi could only obey the other party's orders. A series of footsteps gradually approached, and the other party seemed to be slowly approaching this side. Suddenly Hiiragi heard one of them through the mask. He made a dull inquiry: "Captain, they seem to be two children."

"You... are you here to save us?"

Just as Hiiragi was thinking about how to use her deceptive appearance to get out of the predicament, Hengcang, who was lying on the ground, suddenly said. Before she could react, Hengcang had already put on a cry: "We...we are already trapped. I've been underground for a long time...I, I really want to go home."

Hiiragi quietly turned his head and glanced at Hengcang, and then he was surprised to find that Hengcang actually had tears streaming down his face at this time.

Good... so amazing...

She never thought that Hengcang had such superb acting skills. If she hadn't stayed with Hengcang during the entire tunnel exploration process, otherwise she would have believed that he was just an ordinary boy who panicked after accidentally falling underground.

"This is underground in JD's abandoned city. How did you get here?"

"Dad said he was going to find something useful around the abandoned city of JD, but he hasn't been home for several days... so I brought my sister here to search... and suddenly a big hole opened in the ground... "Hing Cang sobbed while weaving their origins intermittently.

At this time, it was best for her to cooperate with the closing, but no matter how hard she tried, Hiiragi couldn't squeeze out any tears. She had to bury her face in the muddy mud to make herself look as embarrassed as possible to better fit the closing. The story setting, and more importantly, hiding her face behind the mud, she knew very well what kind of danger her face would bring under what circumstances.

"Are you from the Confederate States?"

"Yes...yes, our home is east of Changming City of the Southern Federation..."

"Okay! Shut up first!" The man interrupted Heng Cang impatiently, "What do you think?"

"Can they really safely pass through the entire underground and come here from the Southern Federation?"

"Is it an undiscovered safe passage?"

"Keep an eye on them and I'll report to the superiors."

Of course, simple words can't dispel the other party's doubts, but they can only continue until there is no good solution, and they have to do everything in their acting. Hiiragi Jing jumped into the arms of Heng Cang at the right time, just like a really frightened little girl looking for He was protected by his brother, and Hengcang also patted Hiiragi's back very clearly and said comforting words such as "Don't be afraid, my brother is here."

Of course, she didn't place all her hope on the opponent's statement. After the performance just now, these people seemed to have relaxed their vigilance and jumped into Heicang's arms just to hide the dagger between them so that they could fight at any time.

Finally, a few minutes later, the man who was called the captain returned, pointing his gun at the two of them and delivering the final verdict.

"Take them to Post No. [-]. The commander will interrogate them personally."

Chapter 59 First meeting Ofanto

Until now, Hiiragi still can't believe that she came to the land of Ofanto. All she did was follow the subtle clues left by Yu Ruoxiang and continue to explore the underground world.

In this process... she left the Southern Federation. She never thought that she would set foot on the land outside the Southern Federation in this way, and now Ofantuo, a settler in another land, is claiming to be disgraced. Take them two visitors from the Confederacy in a 'friendly' way.

But compared to the Orfanto soldiers who fired directly at them before, these people already seemed very friendly.

There were four Orfanto soldiers here, arranged in groups of two and one, escorting them forward. Although they did not directly point their guns at them, their eyes were always paying attention to their every move.

Hiiragi didn't expect that he could make these professional soldiers completely let down their vigilance with just words of closing positions. It was impossible to escape without being familiar with the terrain and having no clue about Ofanto's deployment. So, ever since With no worries about her life for the time being, she patiently observed these unfamiliar armed forces.

The weapons and equipment of Ofanto soldiers are naturally very different from those of the Confederation. It can be seen from the military uniforms alone that most of the Confederate military uniforms are mainly cement-colored urban camouflage, while the uniforms of these Ofanto soldiers are single. The dark brown windbreaker seems to be made of similar material to chemical protective clothing. The body armor of the same color has a very small range of protection, limited to the chest and lower abdomen. It may be specially equipped for the troops stationed underground to move in small spaces. of.

The weapon in her hand is of course a model that Hiiragi has never seen before. The biggest difference is the larger bayonet holder located under the barrel. She only has such large bayonet holders in some places in the Southern Commonwealth. We have seen civilian homemade weapons with high failure rates and insufficient firepower that require bayonets to make up for the damage.

"boarding!"

After walking for a while, Hiiragi saw a familiar thing - a rail transport vehicle? !The style is not much different from the rail car of the Confederate Federation that Hiiragi and the others took before. The difference is that there is no eight-pointed star painting of the Confederacy on it, and the interior space of the rail car is slightly larger.

It seems that there is a consensus between both parties to reuse the pre-war tracks in the subway as a faster transportation method.

The cracked rock walls and dense mosses of the long and narrow tunnels make up the same scenery in the underground world. However, if the submerged tunnel just now is used as the dividing line in the underground world, then the degree of damage on the Orfanto side is obviously higher than that of the Southern Federation. It's a lot more serious over there.

The walls were covered with dense cracks, and the debris from the walls piled up into continuous ruins on both sides of the tunnel, with some debris falling from time to time.

I don’t know how long the car ride took, but it was so long that even Hiiragi felt that the mud on her face had dried and solidified into hard lumps. Although she felt uncomfortable, Hiiragi was not in a hurry to peel it off.

"Crack!"

The Orfanto soldier sitting in front of the control console suddenly reached out and pulled the lever at hand. The transport vehicle's speed dropped rapidly. Jiarui's harsh brake sound made Hiiragi and Heikura shrink back, but for the four Austrians, This is something that Fanto soldiers have long been accustomed to.

The completely stalled transport truck came to a steady stop. The next second, the surrounding dark environment suddenly lit up. Several spotlights above the head shed a cold light. Although the light was not strong and could even be said to be extremely soft, it still made people feel uncomfortable. The two of them felt extremely uncomfortable after staying in the dark environment for a long time. Tears instantly filled their eyes under the strong stimulation. Hiiragi could only barely open a small gap to observe the surroundings.

"The Xunyou Team was ordered to return to camp with the command 'Ofanto comes first, the community lasts forever'." The four Ofanto soldiers wearing sunglasses jumped off the transport station and raised their hands to salute. Not far in front of them, a huge The gate railings are in the tunnel, and the gates made of welded steel frames and barbed wire of astonishing specifications form the forward defense position in front of the valve.

Just as several people finished speaking, a bright green light suddenly lit up on the top of the valve. At the same time, a small door on the side of the valve that was narrow enough to only accommodate one person made a crisp sound, which was the sound of the keyhole opening.

Before the two of them could fully adapt to the lighting, the four members of the environment team impatiently pushed the two of them into it.

Behind the valve is another subway platform that Ofanto transformed into a base. Compared with all the subway platforms Hiiragi has visited before, this should be the smallest one. On the left is the track and on the right is the platform. This is what you see at first glance The general view of the platform has been revealed, but Ofanto's transformation here is quite complete. Defensive positions have been set up in various key passages and high places overlooking the entire subway station.

This stronghold may have just been established. Dozens of handymen wearing worn overalls are busy inside the platform. They are constantly moving materials parked on the rail transport platform into the platform. It is different from the transport vehicle Hiiragi and the others were riding in just now. These transport platforms are just a large iron plate with four wheels, on which materials loaded with wooden boxes are piled and fixed with ropes.

"Hurry up! There are still four strongholds that need to be loaded and unloaded!"

"The time is almost up, haven't you all eaten?!"

Two overseer-like figures kept yelling at the porters on the platform. After seeing the two, the captain of the Ofanto soldier team hurriedly stepped forward: "Wait, which transport team are you in? Are you next? Where is the station?”

"No. 0104. After unloading these materials, we will return directly to the headquarters..." It seems that this Xunyou team has a high status. Facing his inquiry, the supervisor who had been showing off to the workers just now immediately put on a flattering smile.

"Well, since you are going back to the headquarters, take us with you. Four adults and two children, a boy and a girl. There should be room in your car."

"Of course, but these two children..."

"Falling from the surface is probably a new road that has not been explored by us. Take us back as soon as possible. The commander-in-chief attaches great importance to this information. There will never be any mistakes in things underground. You should know."

"Then... after the commander-in-chief gets the information he wants..." the voice of the fat man dressed as an overseer became lower and lower, and the soldier captain understood what he meant, "I have no right to deal with them now that they are the property of the community. Step in, but I can apply for you if you want.”

"I understand, I understand!" The supervisor glanced at Hiiragi quietly past the captain's, and then immediately turned around and shouted to the workers who had just finished unloading the goods and had not yet come to rest for a while, "You bunch of lazy people, get on the bus quickly. , if you delay your trip, don’t bother to have dinner tonight.”

Just now... what happened?

During the conversation between Captain Ofanto and the supervisor, Hiiragi was always paying attention to the interaction between the two. Although they were far away and the noisy environment made it impossible to hear the conversation, the supervisor was projecting his thoughts to her. The brief but greedy look made her feel a little cramped.

Sure enough, these Ofantor soldiers had no intention of letting them return to the surface safely, but she had never placed any hope that these Ofantor soldiers could do this, and an escape plan gradually took shape in her mind.

Chapter 60 An encounter in the detention room

Incredible...

Since they first boarded the transport convoy, Hiiragi and others have passed through five stations. They are large and small, with different personnel. However, without exception, they have all been transformed by Ofanto into warehouses and transportation nodes for storing supplies. , it is not difficult to tell from the conversations of those Ofanto soldiers that these are only part of the large number of underground strongholds in Ofanto. In comparison, the few underground strongholds in the Southern Federation are pitiful.