Long Yuehong glanced at the corpses and injured on the ground and noticed that Bob's companions were also dead.
He didn't know whether to feel fortunate or sorrowful about this.
At this moment, Jiang Baimian's instructions came through the intercom.
He immediately questioned Longen:
"When you were following that white giant wolf, what did you live on? I mean, what did you eat?"
Longen, whose brown hair was greasy and dirty, recalled and said:
"We would help it hunt, and we got what was left over.
"However, this didn't happen often. The prey we could get each time was limited, and there were many of us.
"Most of the time, we would follow the white wolf into a cave. There were a lot of food deep inside, all from the Old World—canned food, luncheon meat, biscuits, puffed snacks, all sorts of things.
"Although they were mostly expired, they were still edible and didn't cause any problems..."
A cave with a large amount of human food from the Old World? The more Long Yuehong listened, the more puzzled he became.
This was too abnormal, or rather, too unnatural and bizarre.
He then asked:
"Do you know how many exits the cave has?"
"Many, definitely more than one. We've walked through three," Longen replied after some thought. "They are located in different parts of the mountains. Heh, that cave is really big. Maybe there's a passage that leads directly out of the mountains."
Long Yuehong quickly reported this situation to his team leader.
He wanted to ask in detail about the location of the other two exits, but Longen was a relic hunter who had just arrived in the Northern Shore Mountains and wasn't too familiar with the area. He might be able to find them if he led the way, but it was impossible to describe them verbally.
Thus, faster than the Pangu Biology's Forward Camp rescue team, Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao, and the others arrived.
When Longen and the other lightly injured people saw Bai Chen wearing a military exoskeleton and Genaeva in a black military uniform, they were dumbfounded and speechless.
The "Old Task Force's" configuration was beyond their imagination!
--During the battle, they were in an abnormal state, and their observation of various situations wasn't so keen. Moreover, Genaeva didn't entangle with them and went straight for the white giant wolf, so they subconsciously ignored the existence of such a robot.
As for the military exoskeleton on Bai Chen, they assumed it had been transferred to Long Yuehong.
This was acceptable.
Relic hunters, even bandit gangs, with deep connections in First City could get their hands on a "scrap" old-model military exoskeleton without it being too rare.
But now, just what they saw included two military exoskeletons and a robot, and the models weren't too outdated.
Such a configuration could storm the Forward Camp and easily occupy it!
Of course, this was on the premise that they had a certain understanding with those powerful lone rangers and reached some kind of agreement.
"You can take off your equipment to save power," Jiang Baimian casually instructed and looked at Longen. "Are you willing to accept employment to help us find the other exits of the cave?"
Longen nodded hurriedly:
"Yes, no problem!"
Not to mention being hired, even if he had to work for free, he could only answer that way now.
He then showed a painful expression:
"Can you let me rest for two days to recover from my injuries? It hurts when I walk now."
"No problem. We also need to rest and observe the situation," Jiang Baimian said understandingly.
Her eyes flickered as she looked at Longen again, saying with a smile that wasn't quite a smile:
"You didn't see those two military exoskeletons just now, right?"
Longen shuddered violently and blurted out:
"No! I didn't see anything!"
In fact, Jiang Baimian wasn't that concerned about this matter. Otherwise, she wouldn't have come to warn Longen herself; she would have let Shang Jianyao try to "persuade" him.
At Pangu Biology's Forward Camp, there was nothing to worry about in leaking the "secret" that they had two military exoskeletons. Would anyone dare to rob them?
Even if someone had such thoughts, they would have to consider whether they and their team had the strength.
As for those powerful lone rangers, as long as they didn't belong to the type that could restrain robots, they wouldn't clash with the "Old Task Force" because of greed.
Those very few who could restrain robots would also have to seriously consider whether a team that could get their hands on two military exoskeletons and had a robot following them had any other hidden strength or powerful background.
Therefore, the leakage of this matter would more likely earn others' respect and awe.
The "Old Task Force" only needed to be wary of two things: first, that an elite team from First City's regular army happened to enter the mountains and heard about this; second, that those lone rangers united for wealth.
The former could be forewarned, and the latter could be approached through Wang Fugui.
After receiving Longen's repeated assurances, Jiang Baimian glanced at the other lightly injured and considered having Shang Jianyao do this to avoid tarnishing her image and appearing like a villain.
In the next second, those lightly injured people shivered and shouted in a hurry:
"I don't know anything!"
"I didn't see anything!"
……
Jiang Baimian's lips twitched slightly as she slowly exhaled.
She didn't specifically deal with the companions of the dead who were still alive.
Were such things rare in the graylands?
With the "Old Task Force's" current strength, were they afraid of them retaliating?
She also had her team members cooperate with her to provide further treatment to the injured to prevent them from waiting for the Pangu Biology's Forward Camp's medical rescue, as the mountain roads were difficult and it would take those people a while to arrive.
When the Forward Camp's rescue team arrived, the corpses and blood-red soil shocked their eyes.
Jiang Baimian noticed that Wang Fugui and Wei Te, who claimed to be scared out of his wits, were among them.
She said preemptively:
"We rescued these people who were bewitched by the white wolf."
Wang Fugui's eyebrows twitched as he gave a thumbs up.
Wei Te was stunned at first and then searched for his missing companions, but only found two corpses.
He quickly found a familiar person and asked about the situation of the other companions.
The relic hunter who had also been controlled by the white giant wolf sighed:
"They were all eaten by the white wolf."
Wei Te's face sank again, and he stopped talking.
When cleaning up the scene, the injured took away their weapons and belongings, leaving the rest to the "Old Task Force." The Forward Camp's rescue personnel did the same.
This was considered the spoils of war for Jiang Baimian and the others.
…………
After returning to the Forward Camp, Jiang Baimian didn't interfere with the treatment of the injured and gathered her team members to discuss the situation where they parked.
"I can now understand why Wei Te was able to escape back then," Jiang Baimian sighed and said, "That white giant wolf can only 'charm' or control a limited number of people each time. Hmm, but the total number seems to be very large. It's almost formed a small army of followers."
Long Yuehong said cautiously:
"According to Longen, he seemed to be 'charmed,' but also a little different. He didn't have such a strong possessiveness or, uh, mating desire for the white wolf, but rather expressed submission to its charm."
"Perhaps it's a kind of mind control." Shang Jianyao raised his hand and touched his wig. "It's a pity I'm not bald; otherwise, I could have contended with it."
Jiang Baimian couldn't understand his train of thought this time and nodded.
"It's a good thing we discovered it early. It seems that our preparations had some deviations."
The cognition they strengthened with the Reasoning Clown was focused on not being attracted to the white giant wolf.
Bai Chen quickly added:
"Also, some survivors said that they loved the white wolf too much and chose to work for it and please it."
"Could 'charm' and 'control' exist simultaneously? Like human awakeners, with more than one ability?" Jiang Baimian muttered to herself.
No one could answer her. Only Shang Jianyao clenched his right fist and struck his left palm.
"What a waste!"
The overlap between these two abilities was too high.
After speculating about the white giant wolf's situation for a while, Jiang Baimian turned to the biggest problem:
"That cave is very large, and the other exits may be several kilometers or even more than ten kilometers away. There are also a lot of human food stored inside. What does this make you think of?"
What? Long Yuehong couldn't think of an answer for a moment.
At this moment, Shang Jianyao said with a smile:
"Corporation."
Almost at the same time, Bai Chen also said:
"Underground Ark."
"That's right," Genaeva expressed her agreement.
Jiang Baimian nodded slightly.
"Could that cave be a shelter, or a secret base, that humans built for themselves before the Old World was destroyed?
"What places would its other exits lead to..."
With this guess, Jiang Baimian suddenly had a new inspiration and continued thoughtfully:
"Could that white wolf not be a natural aberration, but a product of some experiment?"
That experiment may have taken place deep in the cave or in a secret base connected to one of the cave's exits.
As soon as she finished speaking, Shang Jianyao opened his mouth and responded:
"Awoo!"
Jiang Baimian's expression froze for a full two seconds before she understood what this guy meant:
The white giant wolf and the monsters in the secret laboratory of Ruin No. 1 in the Swamps had something in common.
"Huff, judging from Ruin No. 1 in the Swamps, this might involve the secrets of the Old World's destruction," Jiang Baimian said, gradually becoming excited.
This was the "Old Task Force's" main mission.
Team Leader, I'm so scared of you like this... Long Yuehong felt a little apprehensive when he saw Jiang Baimian's excited face.
Genaeva also seemed to have a sense of mission, moving her metal neck and saying:
"After Longen recovers from his injuries, we'll look for the other exits."
Jiang Baimian was about to respond when she suddenly noticed someone approaching.
The man was thin and dark, wearing a long-sleeved black t-shirt with sewn-up traces and dark blue canvas pants.
Wang Fugui.
Wang Fugui came to the "Old Task Force's" side and smiled in a casual tone:
"Would you like me to help you deal with the items you harvested this time? I don't think they're of much use to you."
Before Jiang Baimian could respond, Shang Jianyao looked at Wang Fugui with sympathy and said:
"Don't you have any clothes to change into?"