A Vulpo Girl's Life as a Rhodes Island Operator

Most likely, they were people from the Reunion Movement in disguise!

"Damn Reunion Movement! They actually set us up!"

They were definitely officer-level combatants within the Reunion Movement, perhaps even stronger!

At the very least, they had the strength to serve as core members of that terrifying Reunion Movement guerrilla force!

"Run! Spread out! Make sure the message gets out!"

And this squad leader's order was indeed the right choice.

If they charged desperately into formation and entered Fengling's casting range, she had plenty of ways to wipe out the entire squad.

But if they scattered and fled, it would be difficult for Fengling to take them all down without letting even one slip away.

After all, even catching a dozen pigs would take some time!

Fengling's burst mobility was only relatively high. At best, it counted as "excellent"; it was still far from "exceptional," let alone anything more absurd.

Ignoring the wounded for now, the storms Fengling stirred up everywhere prioritized the fleeing soldiers who could still move.

Unfortunately, despite Fengling's best efforts to stop them, two or three still escaped.

Fengling gritted her teeth and stomped her foot angrily.

Returning with her weapon in hand, Fengling used storms to gather the disabled remnants one by one, as though she were tossing out garbage.

The squad leader, meanwhile, was ultimately struck by a horizontally flying wind blade from Fengling and left behind.

Having lost too much blood from his wound, his body growing cold and his strength gone, the squad leader abandoned any thought of escape.

The battle was over.

The Vulpo girl before him felt different again.

That wild, bloodthirsty, malicious smile had vanished, replaced by a calmness as still as a lake.

This ever-changing girl made it impossible for the squad leader to tell which side of her was real.

"Are you out of your mind or something?"

Even in this situation, the captain's attitude did not soften. Facing the girl who seemed utterly unhinged in his eyes, he mocked her directly.

"A little. But if you think I fight by relying on something like a 'power-up' or 'split personality,' that's far too insulting."

Temporarily freed from the battle's frenzied state, Fengling regained her calm.

Of course she understood her own problems.

After all these years, Fengling was not stupid. She would never leave her flaws unresolved.

Especially psychological flaws she had already recognized.

She had used certain special methods of self-suggestion.

It was just that... there had been a tiny little side effect...

For now, that could be left unsaid.

Fengling's earlier "loss of control" could not really be called losing control. Rather, she had kept the negative emotions triggered by stress—anger, brutality, and the like—within a reasonable range and unleashed them upon her enemies.

So even under normal circumstances, Fengling's chosen combat methods would not differ much.

Her decision to kill the enemies before her was the result of rational thought, not impulse.

At most, in a completely normal state, she would manage her facial expressions better and avoid some of the more excessive behavior.

As for the seductive charm she displayed before her enemies...

That was Fengling's revenge.

—You wanted to force excessive things on me? You wanted to see me make all kinds of expressions? Fine.

But bear the consequences yourselves.

It was an understandable mindset, but by no means a healthy one.

Yet for a girl who had lived alone in the Lungmen Slums, to have adjusted herself this far through her own efforts alone...

To face the wounds in her heart and keep all her actions under control without hurting those who did not deserve to be hurt was already no easy feat.

And with time, within the environment of Rhodes Island, Fengling would slowly, slowly get better and better. That was beyond doubt.

Fengling restored the weapon in her hand and switched its front and rear ends once more.

She pressed the front end of the weapon against a soldier's throat.

Time was tight, and some fish had slipped through the net earlier. Enemy reinforcements could arrive at any moment.

"Next, I ask. You answer."

"What was your purpose in coming here?"

The soldier nervously glanced at his captain. He opened his mouth, but in the end chose to say nothing.

"What a pity."

With a sharp hiss.

A solid Air Blade suddenly gathered at the weapon's tip and pierced the soldier's throat.

Fengling would not let anyone here go.

Repay kindness with kindness, and grievances with justice.

If one repaid grievances with kindness, how would one repay kindness?

Fengling had clearly shown no hostility during their first encounter.

Though she had made preparations, softhearted Fengling had still given them a chance.

If they had communicated properly, Fengling would certainly have chosen to subdue them as best she could rather than kill them.

But since these people had chosen to treat Fengling in the cruelest possible manner, and had acted on it...

If Fengling had truly been an ordinary girl, her fate would already have been imaginable.

This outcome was one they had chosen for themselves.

If people like this were allowed to go, who would they be left to harm?

The next innocent girl?

Or the Reunion Movement's friends?

"You! You have no right to take away our right to live!"

Pierced through.

"We're soldiers! You're violating Ursus law! Ahhh!!"

Killed with a single strike.

"I'll talk! I'll talk! We were ordered by the commander-in-chief of the Third Army—Grand Duke Baikal—to investigate the Reunion Movement! A deserter reported some information to us, saying the Reunion Movement might be conducting suspicious deals with outsiders. Then we did capture an Infected and verify it. The higher-ups suspected that the Reunion Movement was actually a force cultivated by some rival noble, which was why they gave us such broad authority to loot, burn, and kill as we pleased! And we heard from that Infected that a large quantity of Originium ore had recently gathered here, so they chose this time!"

So...

This sudden attack...

Was just a fucking power struggle between Ursus nobles?!

Fengling raised her head.

She looked at the flames that had already erupted everywhere.

So many painstakingly cultivated crops, so many homes built through countless efforts, all had been reduced to ashes.

It felt absurd.

I Watched Television!

Oripathy had brought the people of the Reunion Movement together.

For nothing more than the most basic goal of living like human beings, they resisted and fought against those who persecuted them.

When their angry cries reached the ears of Ursus nobles, those nobles could actually interpret them as, "Other nobles are causing trouble for us and secretly established the Reunion Movement."

Arrogant and conceited.

Fengling had not expected that the first stop after leaving home would show her such a sight.

She had long read about Ursus's magnificent snowy landscapes in books.

She had also admired Ursus's gorgeous architecture on television.

The various dances of Ursus were renowned throughout Terra as well.

This nation's aesthetic sense and pursuit of art were both extraordinarily outstanding.

Yet Fengling had not seen any of those things on this journey.

Instead, she had seen this nation's Infected raising banners to survive. She had seen how Ursus nobles—or perhaps some of them—turned their butcher's blades toward the Infected.

"How many of you came in total?"

Since someone was willing to speak, Fengling saved herself a great deal of trouble and continued questioning him.

"About... two thousand. All from our area."

"Besides you, what other teams infiltrated this place?"

"I... I really don't know!"

"Okay."

Fengling nodded.

"Thank you."

A muffled thud sounded.

The soldier who had just given Fengling information collapsed limply to the ground.

This time, the Air Blade gathered at the tip of the silver-white War Club turned it into a spear.

One thrust through the heart.

Thus, the capabilities of Fengling's custom-made weapon were finally fully revealed.

Although Fengling made it look flashy.

Fengling knew perfectly well that the more intricate a weapon was, the more troublesome it would be if it malfunctioned.

So the War Club itself was extremely sturdy. Aside from one end being able to spread apart into a shape more suited for using Originium Arts, it had no other little mechanisms.

The material used was an alloy developed by some of Rhodes Island Engineering Department's wildly imaginative colleagues.

This material possessed extremely high strength and fairly good toughness, while also offering slight energy-gathering and conduction effects that amplified Originium Arts.

For Casters, this alloy did not provide as much amplification as materials specially used to make staves.

For those accustomed to melee weapons, there were also more cost-effective options at the same price.

So although this material was not produced in large quantities, it ended up being affordable for someone as compatible with it as Fengling.

Anyway, after hearing that Dobermann was paying, a senior member of the Engineering Department learned of Fengling's needs and proposed this design to her.

Apparently, because few people had needed it for so long, they had even kindly lowered the price.

That senior was also a Bloodfiend.

Her name seemed to be Closure?

Since the other party had been far too talkative and utterly overwhelming in terms of knowledge, even Fengling had been talked into a daze and agreed to the plan.

Later, she heard that Instructor Dobermann's face had turned green when she learned about it...

But it had to be said, it was genuinely a good item, and Fengling found it extremely easy to use.

Perhaps Senior Closure had hidden a trap in the price, but she had definitely not compromised on the item's quality.

And apart from the staff end, Fengling could use any part of the War Club as a medium to condense highly compressed, circulating airflow, up to no more than one meter in length.

This was the truth behind how Fengling could turn a "War Club" into all kinds of weapons.