The grayish-green jeep drove slowly on the mountain road withering vegetation, heading towards the distant wilderness.

"What is Team Leader waiting for? Why is she driving so slowly..." Just as Long Yuehong had this thought, he saw the jeep stop by the side of the road.

Jiang Baimian cleared her throat and said,

"Which of you will sit in the passenger seat?"

When they set off, Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong had surprisingly both given up the passenger seat and chosen the back row, as if they were saving the seat for Bai Chen.

Uh... Just as Long Yuehong was feeling lost, Shang Jianyao very actively pushed the door open, got out of the car, and moved to the passenger seat.

Jiang Baimian looked straight ahead and issued the order:

"You give directions, act as a manual navigation."

Then, she added as if it were normal:

"My price is that I have trouble with directions."

"Road idiot..." Shang Jianyao suddenly understood.

Long Yuehong was stunned for a moment before realizing:

So Team Leader chose the "Shattered Mirror" field, and the price was being a road idiot...

No wonder she drove so slowly after getting in the car, she was afraid of getting lost!

"Road idiot..." Jiang Baimian asked in a joking tone:

"What? Do you think it's funny?"

Long Yuehong subconsciously replied:

"No, the price is a very serious matter."

To enhance his persuasiveness, he added:

"Can anything be more bizarre than Shang Jianyao's price?"

Jiang Baimian nodded secretly and glanced at Shang Jianyao:

"I thought you would laugh."

Shang Jianyao replied with a serious expression:

"I already laughed."

As he spoke, he began to smile.

Jiang Baimian gritted her teeth:

"Start giving directions!"

"First, I need to know where we are going." This was the calm and rational Shang Jianyao.

Jiang Baimian had already decided on the destination:

"A place no more than two kilometers from the entrance of the underground building, choose wherever you want."

"Why limit it to within two kilometers?" Long Yuehong was the first to express his confusion.

Jiang Baimian looked in the rearview mirror:

"We came to the surface to prevent Shang Jianyao's exploration of that psychological shadow from causing an accident, and the 'weirdness' from leaking out, affecting the surrounding neighbors, right?

"Now we don't have to worry about them, but we have to consider ourselves.

"Being two to four kilometers away from the company should still be within the range of perception of the strong who have entered the 'New World' or the Awakened who have explored the depths of the 'Mind Corridor'. If something goes wrong, they can quickly provide assistance."

"That's right..." Long Yuehong felt that the Team Leader's considerations were really comprehensive.

His choice to stay in the "Old Task Force" didn't mean he was no longer afraid of death or various accidents.

"You must believe in the mercy of my Buddha." This time it was the half-mechanical monk, Master Pudu, who responded.

Of course, in the real world, he couldn't get a metal body and red light in his eyes.

After him, it was the straightforward Shang Jianyao:

"Do we still need directions now? Isn't there only one road?

"Let's talk about it when we enter the Blackmarsh Wilderness."

Having only one road meant that there was only one formed, relatively wide road, but there were still quite a few natural "roads".

Am I not afraid of driving up the mountain? Jiang Baimian, who wanted to retort to Shang Jianyao, felt inexplicably guilty.

After driving along the withered yellow road for a while, Jiang Baimian, relying on her excellent eyesight, noticed an army approaching in the distance.

They had dozens or hundreds of people, all wearing the gray-black uniforms of "Pangu Biology" Security Department, driving multiple vehicles, and dragging artillery pieces.

Among them, the most conspicuous in their team were several armored vehicles that looked very heavy.

"Colleagues..." Shang Jianyao was a little happy.

"What are you happy about?" Jiang Baimian asked, turning her head.

She had already determined that they were about to encounter an action brigade from the company.

Shang Jianyao answered seriously:

"Meeting is fate, why not invite them to participate in tonight's bonfire feast."

"When did we say we were going to have a bonfire party?" Long Yuehong was confused.

Shang Jianyao nodded:

"I got the idea after seeing them."

I'm so stupid, why am I paying attention to him... The price is getting more and more serious! As Long Yuehong muttered to himself, the two teams got closer and closer.

When they were only a hundred meters apart, Jiang Baimian realized that she had met an acquaintance.

It was Wang Beicheng's 23rd Action Brigade!

During the No. 1 Marsh Ruins incident, the reinforcements "Pangu Biology" sent to them were this action brigade.

"Is that you?" Wang Beicheng, who was sitting in the passenger seat of an armored jeep, poked his head out.

Compared to last year, he was still handsome, but seemed a little more tanned.

"Long time no see!" Shang Jianyao stretched his right hand out of the window and waved it a few times.

After they got out of their respective vehicles and stood by the side of the road, Jiang Baimian smiled and asked Wang Beicheng:

"Brigade Commander Wang, are you returning from the No. 1 Marsh Ruins?"

Wang Beicheng, who was almost ten years older than Jiang Baimian, replied with a calm attitude:

"Yes, for the past year, we have been rotating with two other brigades to garrison the No. 1 Marsh Ruins, doing what we can to explore."

Speaking of this, he smiled and gave a military salute:

"I must thank you on behalf of my entire team.

"Without your request for assistance, we wouldn't have had the opportunity to participate in the excavation of the No. 1 Marsh Ruins.

"An unexplored city ruin is really a gold mine!"

In the past year, every time the 23rd Brigade returned to "Pangu Biology" for rest and recuperation, they brought back a large number of "spoils."

Although these wouldn't directly belong to them, "Pangu Biology" was still quite generous and would convert them into contribution points in proportion. The entire 23rd Brigade's employees made a fortune.

This didn't include the gains they made from trading with those forces and hunters who were authorized by the company to enter the No. 1 Marsh Ruins to explore.

Jiang Baimian shook her head and smiled:

"Without us, you would have gone there anyway.

"After knowing that an anomaly appeared north of the Yuelu Train Station, weren't you rushing there?"

"But that way, we would have missed a lot of important information and wouldn't have been able to avoid several hidden dangers." Wang Beicheng's attitude was quite sincere. "Besides, didn't you also support us with an armored vehicle and a heavy machine gun?"

"The company has already converted them into contribution points and rewarded us." Jiang Baimian glossed over it and asked curiously, "Did you find anything in the No. 1 Marsh Ruins?"

Wang Beicheng raised his hand and touched the gray-black beret on his head:

"That laboratory was destroyed, and we only found very few things.

"Currently, we have explored one-fifth of the ruins. There are quite a few valuable research materials, involving various technologies, but there shouldn't be anything you are interested in..."

Jiang Baimian nodded:

"Did you encounter those 'Higher Mindless Ones'?"

"We encountered them twice at the beginning. Because we obtained information from you in advance, we handled it fairly properly, and there were no casualties. After that, we haven't encountered them again. They may have retreated to a certain area of the ruins that has not yet been explored clearly." Wang Beicheng didn't hide anything.

No, they should have gone to work... Long Yuehong silently replied in his heart.

Wang Beicheng didn't continue this topic, because there were quite a few related matters that needed to be kept confidential, and he hadn't yet confirmed the authority of Jiang Baimian and others.

He looked at Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong, and smiled:

"I heard that you have been promoted to D5?

"You've done a lot of big things in the past year or so."

Seeing Long Yuehong a little surprised, Wang Beicheng smiled and added:

"A relative of mine has a colleague on your floor, and he heard about your affairs.

"Isn't that how it is within the company? With relatives and friends."

"Yes." Long Yuehong nodded slightly.

At this time, the honest Shang Jianyao corrected Wang Beicheng's statement:

"D7, we are already D7."

"Ah?" Wang Beicheng didn't hide his surprise and turned his gaze to Jiang Baimian.

He didn't know where Jiang Baimian's team went or what they did afterward.

This wasn't something he could understand with his current authority.

Shang Jianyao immediately helped Jiang Baimian add:

"D9."

"Really?" Wang Beicheng couldn't help but want to confirm.

"Just lucky, just lucky." Jiang Baimian replied with a modest attitude.

Wang Beicheng looked left and right and sighed slowly:

"Only a little over a year, and you've been promoted so many levels... You've really done a lot of big things."

As the captain of a D8-level action brigade, he knew better than anyone how difficult it was to go from D8 to D9.

He had been in this rank for more than five years, and when he met Jiang Baimian last year, she was only D6.

"This was bought with our lives." Shang Jianyao solemnly pointed to Long Yuehong's mechanical arm.

Wang Beicheng expressed his understanding:

"I remember you had another companion, she..."

"She underwent genetic modification and is recuperating." Long Yuehong was worried that Wang Beicheng would say something unlucky, so he quickly gave the correct answer.

Wang Beicheng, who originally wanted to chat with Jiang Baimian's team a little longer, suddenly lost interest and barely maintained his politeness:

"We have to return to the company to rest and recuperate. Have a smooth journey."

"See you tomorrow!" Shang Jianyao was very polite.

Jiang Baimian, with a smile, also said:

"See you tomorrow."

…………

After saying goodbye to Wang Beicheng and his 23rd Brigade, the "Old Task Force" entered the wilderness and found a place with water and stones to set up camp.

Although it was still early, Shang Jianyao couldn't wait to hold the "Six Senses Beads," the "Life Angel" necklace, and the medical record restoration, and enter the "Mind Corridor."

Inside the "Iron Mountain City Second Food Company," Shang Jianyao shrank in the darkness at the second-floor stairwell. Only when he heard footsteps coming from the end of the corridor did he quietly sneak up to the third floor.

ps: Asking for guaranteed monthly tickets at the beginning of the month, it's doubled, so you can vote with confidence~ The second update will be at half past twelve noon.