The Fire-Chasing Herrscher Who Destroyed the World

"What a strong smell of blood!"

This was Cocolia's first reaction when she walked into the house.

This place looks like it has been cleaned. Both the sand in the yard and the wooden floors in the house have been cleaned. At least there is no trace of blood stains. But for some reason, that disgusting fishy smell still lingers.

Maybe this is the power of time. Everything that has happened in this world will leave traces, traces that cannot be erased no matter what. The act of hiding and covering up these traces is actually nothing more than meaningless deception.

"Sure enough, I guessed it. I got here early and had time to set up the scene. Bronya, take the hostages to find a suitable room. Natasha, go guide and set up the tactical mecha. This way Come, the so-called neutral no-man’s land has become our home court.”

"Uh! Uh! Uh--"

Bronya had no objection to this arrangement, and simply and roughly pulled Kiana, whose hands and feet were electronically shackled, towards the depths of the house. Kiana, whose mouth was also gagged, let out a series of inarticulate groans.

"She was extremely emotionally unstable today and was not in the best condition to perform the task."

Natasha stood next to Cocolia and judged softly.

"Based on your mercenary mission evaluation criteria, Bronya, who is extremely angry at the moment, is indeed not suitable for the mission. But this only considers the impact of emotion on ability. In other words, your assessment is just Based on ability factors in a single battle, a qualified commander needs to consider more factors. In comparison, the decline in status caused by emotional fluctuations is not a decisive factor. If used properly, it can even lead to benefits for one's own side. direction."

"Really, every time this topic comes up, you can talk endlessly."

Seeing Natasha putting her hand on her forehead with a helpless look on her face, Kokolia smiled easily.

"I can't help it. I was once more or less an officer, so you can just treat me as an occupational disease."

"That's not true, is it?"

Natasha leaned lazily against the wall and pulled the hood down on her head.

"Isn't your current identity also a 'Commander'?"

"Ah, that's right..."

"So, as a commander, what do you think about this? Why don't you tell me? I really want to know what those 'big men' were thinking when they drove us at will."

Natasha's tone showed no sign of being a subordinate, but Cocolia didn't think there was anything wrong with it. She seemed to enjoy the atmosphere of the conversation.

Raven was not her subordinate in a strict sense, he was just a mercenary who was paid to do things. There was only an employment relationship between them, without any personal feelings, so in the past countless days and nights, Cocolia's trust in Raven was even much higher than that of Bronya.

After all, human emotions are complex, but money is pure. As an employer, you only need to provide a high enough salary to ensure the loyalty of such a master. It is much simpler and easier than speculating on each other's thoughts with ordinary subordinates.

Under this premise, there is no need to care whether Natasha's attitude towards her is good or bad.

It's just that... this topic really fits with what she wants to say.

"It's very simple. To me, it's best for Bronya to stay in such an angry state. At least this anger shows the attitude towards the enemy, and I don't need to worry about a certain situation."

"So, what if she acts calm, or is she nervous or anxious?"

"That means...hehe, you are the only one who will accompany me to trade today."

Cocolia tilted her head and laughed, and Natasha also grinned to both sides, but the facial muscles were somewhat stiff.

In order to prevent Cocolia from seeing the clues, she just laughed for a moment, then quickly lowered her face and complained:

"How should I put it? It's unsurprisingly disgusting."

"You can feel sick, and I never felt not sick. But if you want to survive better, this is a skill you have to learn."

Natasha snorted and shook her head in disbelief.

"Forget it, I'm just a mercenary who gets paid to do things. I only need to think about how to survive in the battle. As for things outside the battlefield, haha, I don't bother to think about it."

"Is this...what a pity."

"What's a pity?"

As Natasha asked, she was secretly wary - it was not that Cocolia had never talked to her before. She tried her best to convince herself that it was just a conversation between "friends", but if Cocolia She would never be surprised if he used those methods on her and looked for possible clues in her words and expressions.

Especially at such a sensitive time, in half an hour, the two parties will agree on the time to exchange hostages. In this case, you must not show your feet in front of Cocolia...

"What's the pity?"

Cocolia imitated the raven's appearance and leaned her body gently against the wall.

"Of course it's a pity... Nata, I actually value you quite a lot. Even your current thoughts... Haha, I thought the same way when I was a captain more than ten years ago - observing and exploiting people's hearts, and managing complex relationships. Internet, I didn’t care about these dirty and disgusting things. At that time, I only knew how to act according to the rules. So, I arrested a colonel named Alexei and got the stolen goods while he was reselling arms. , but what was the result? Just because the other party had a higher position than me, and just because the other party had stronger connections, I was the one who was finally tried. They put Alexey's crime on me and successfully put me on trial. Thrown into jail..."

"Huh? Cocolia, please speak human terms! You should know very well that I only care about money and don't want to know about my employer's past. Besides, it's not like you to talk in such a roundabout way, right?"

"Is this... hard to understand?"

Cocolia smiled bitterly and shook her head.

"Let's put it this way, I actually understand that many of the things I do are difficult to escape from the evaluation of 'harmful to the world.' You can understand that I feel guilty, but I also understand that those who do unrighteousness will inevitably die. Sometimes it is not just Human beings’ naive illusions. Especially when we see a figure like Thunder and Lightning Ryoma who once shocked the world, we can take down him so easily... So, it’s hard for me not to worry about whether I will follow the same path as Thunder and Lightning Ryoma.”

"I know, I know! But what does this have to do with me? Please! You don't expect me to save you when the time comes, do you? I am a mercenary who gets paid to do things. A mercenary who has breasts is a mother. The situation is not good. I will only take Bronya and run away. Of course, if the price offered by the other party is enough, I won’t mind changing the court on the spot.”

"Of course I know this."

Cocolia pursed her lips tightly and stood in front of Natasha.

"Nata, I just want to ask you one thing - you also like children, right? Those children in the orphanage... once something happens to me, you are the only one who is willing to take care of them. Your dream is not Buy an island and build a villa on it to live a happy life? The rewards I have given you for the tasks in the past few years are almost enough, but if you live on the island alone, with Bronya at most, it will be a bit Be alone."

"Haha, okay, okay, I've finally convinced you..."

Natasha shook her head exaggeratedly. She didn't understand what made Kokolia crazy, and he said these words to her uncharacteristically, as if she was explaining her funeral. However, it seems that if she doesn't agree, it will be very troublesome later, and some of what Cocolia said is not unreasonable. For example, once something happens to her, no one in the orphanage will care about the children except Natasha. , for example, Natasha really likes these children.

So, no matter what happened, Natasha decided to agree first.

However, in order to prevent Cocolia from taking advantage of her, she quickly turned around and walked outside, saying as she walked:

"I agreed, okay! The agreed time is coming soon, I have to quickly set up the tactical mecha!"

Seeing the dark cloak disappearing around the corner of the entrance, Cocolia's eyes gradually narrowed into slits. She curled her long golden hair with her index finger, with a hint of playfulness in her smile:

"Raven... this code name is really appropriate. However, I still don't understand why she still wears a cloak in broad daylight..."

"Mother Cocolia, the interior has been decorated. I chose the room closest to the northwest corner. It is a suitable size, not too spacious, but also enough to use my hands and feet. There is only one door and one window in the room, and the window is facing the wall of the house. , the tactical mecha can conduct fire blockade there. "

"Very good. In this way, this place will really become our home court... Haha, I don't know what the guy named Mikael thought, but he actually agreed to a place where there is no third party. This It's his own fault, don't blame me for cheating, huh!"

"Well...if he happens to show up and see this, will he..."

Bronya does feel that this kind of behavior is not good, but of course it is not a moral obsession. Mercenaries are people who will do whatever it takes to get paid for completing tasks. She is just afraid that such actions will anger the other party and threaten Xier's safety. .

"Don't worry, Bronya. I have deployed drones around the area. There are very few people here. Once the other party appears, it will be difficult to cover up their whereabouts."

She knelt on one knee in front of Bronya, gently rubbed Bronya's head, and added softly:

"Believe me, Bronya, how could I make fun of Xi'er's safety?"

Bronya's lips wriggled twice, and finally she no longer struggled with this issue.

"Then... Natasha and I are not here. Is there no problem at the orphanage?"

"Oh? Bronya, do you think I am the kind of person who is so careless that I don't even defend my stronghold? Don't worry, Xing, Rosalia and Lilia should have been picked up by now. We have arrived at the ME club building. I have set up a trap for the orphanage. If they use such despicable methods, I am afraid they will get a big surprise. "

"I see."

Bronya nodded mechanically, turned around and walked back to the room she chose.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu"

Seeing her figure, Kiana, who was firmly tied to the wooden bench, immediately started struggling.

Bronya raised her eyebrows and rubbed her eyes again, although it was only for a moment... Although the girl in front of her was completely different from her in appearance and personality, Bronya still felt... He mistook it for Seele.

She was also kidnapped, and she didn't know what kind of treatment Xi'er would receive... Thinking of this, Bronya removed the rag from Kiana's mouth by some strange means.

"Bah, bah, bah! Untie this young lady quickly... Ouch! Ouch!"

Bronya stuffed the rag back decisively.

She covered her face again, turned her head and glanced at the closed door behind her, and then lowered her voice and said:

"Be honest, someone will come to pick you up soon, do you understand?"

Kiana nodded repeatedly, but when she saw Bronya turning around to leave, she shouted again.

"Ohh Ohh ohh!"

"What did you do again?"

Bronya frowned and walked back to Kiana. The latter stopped screaming at this time, but stretched her face forward obediently.

Bronya understood and took off the rag from her mouth again.

This time, Kiana did not yell anymore, but asked with a silly smile:

"Um...can you change it to something cleaner? Uh..."

Bronya stared at her coldly. After about half a minute, she let out a long sigh and wanted to hold her head with both hands.

"Are you stupid?"

How could you possibly reason with the kidnapper at this time? Do you have any sense of consciousness and urgency as a hostage? Did you know that this can easily stimulate the kidnappers and lead to extreme actions?

But then, she came up with an excellent idea - a method that could not only satisfy Kiana's request, but also relieve a little of her anger.

"Hey! Wait! Why are you taking off your socks when you say so...wait! Don't come here! Help...wuwu!"

…………

"Hey! Cocolia, the target has appeared, and there is only one person."

"He didn't take any hostages?"

"It looks like I didn't bring it with me. I probably can't take care of it alone, but when we agreed last night, we didn't seem to mention that we would exchange hostages in person..."

"I understand... guide him to the negotiation location as planned."

Raven took off her hood, smoothed her collar, and took off the miniature microphone - she had a hunch that this thing was no longer useful.

"Yo? No hat this time?"

Mikael closed the car door casually, not forgetting to tease the raven. The latter blinked and shook his head noncommittally, so Mikael quickly followed up with an explanation:

"Well, when we were fighting the night before yesterday, you would rather get kicked by me than hold on to your hood. Does this have any special significance?"

The raven squinted and smiled, but what he said was cold:

"No comment."

"Okay! But the subject of today's negotiation should be the hostage exchange issue in the hands of both parties, right? You'd better take me to see Cocolia as soon as possible."

After saying this, Mikael gestured to Natasha, who understood and then became more and more silent.

The same courtyard, the same road, but the time has changed, the purpose has changed, and the feelings along the way are completely different. It was the same place yesterday. Every step Mikael took was slow and heavy, but now he was extremely brisk. After a while, he was brought into the room by Natasha.

Cocolia was sitting lazily on the sofa. When she saw Mikael arriving, she tilted her head and smiled slightly.

"Haha, I'm a little younger than I thought."

Mikael shook his head, first walked around the room to confirm Kiana's situation, and then sat down directly next to Cocolia.

"you……"

"What? Is this seat reserved?"

"No."

Cocolia gritted her back teeth. She didn't expect this young man to take the initiative so easily... But it doesn't matter. Negotiations are not just about words, strength is also important...

"Ahem! I always speak my mind. After all, time is precious, so I made a request directly: First, I must take Kiana away. Second, I didn't kidnap Xier, I just I rescued her along the way, but she is quite cute, so I am not going to hand it back to you. However, Xier feels that being alone is too boring, and she wants me to take Sister Bronya back to keep her company, so you can. Look...third, I..."

"enough!"

Cocolia was caught off guard by Mikael's straightforward request. Not only was it a matter of timing, but also...she had never seen such a shameless person!

"There is no sincerity, you are not here to negotiate at all!"

"How can you say that? This is pure slander!"

Mikael shrugged nonchalantly and stood up from the sofa. This sudden action triggered a series of reactions in the already tense atmosphere. Cocolia, Natasha, and Bronya drew their guns almost at the same time. Cocolia's gun was pointed at Mikael. Bronya's gun was pointed, and Natasha's gun...

"Natasha, what are you doing!"

Bronya angrily asked the raven who pointed the gun at Cocolia, but Cocolia didn't seem too surprised.

"That's it... In the end, you still chose which side, Nata. I originally planned to..."

Cocolia's words ended here and were stopped as soon as they were good, but they just brought back the raven's memory of the conversation not long ago.

"Kokolia..."

The shock lasted only a moment, but even this brief moment was enough for Cocolia, a former soldier, to pull out the second pistol on his waist.

However, Raven's reaction speed was certainly faster than that of an ordinary person like Cocolia. She had every chance to shoot before Cocolia released the safety on the pistol, but her trigger finger trembled, and in the end she did nothing.

The situation was at a stalemate for a while, until Mikael sighed quietly:

"Really, why do we have to do it... Let me tell you a secret first - this is the place where Xi'er was kidnapped yesterday, and the reason why I chose the negotiation location here is because..."

After the words fell, everyone's eyes seemed to have a red filter added to them. If you look closely at the walls, roofs and floors, you can see that they are all stained with blood. There is even a small amount of flowing blood remaining between the textures and gaps of the wooden floor... …

The place had never been cleaned, as if this hostage exchange had never been an exchange.