Most Shang Jianyao were very proactive. As soon as he said it, he did it, quickly pulling out the Chart of Blessings from the Celestial Stewards, adding a statue with a mirror face next to the eight patterns on it.

Jiang Bai Mian watched helplessly, only offering one piece of advice:

"You only have three hours to rest. Don't delay Xiao Hong from recuperating."

Without raising his head, Shang Jianyao waved his left palm, making an "OK" gesture, while his right hand held a pen, drawing swiftly.

Without requirements for accuracy or fidelity, he completed his masterpiece in less than twenty seconds.

Jiang Bai Mian secretly glanced at it, then silently prayed that the February Steward, "Dawn," wouldn't inflict divine punishment because of this.

In the following time, following the pairing of one Awakened and one Modified human, the four members of the "Old Task Force" took turns resting on the sofa in the living room, with Genava remaining steadfast.

Of course, he also took the time to replace his high-performance batteries, placing the half-used ones into the charger.

——In this situation, he wanted every high-performance battery within him to maintain at least fifty percent charge, to prepare for any possible accidents that might occur later. At that time, even if he needed to continuously fire lasers, he could ensure sufficient energy.

The quiet night flowed slowly towards dawn in an unspeakable torment. For Jiang Bai Mian and Shang Jianyao, as Awakened, they weren't worried about not being able to sleep in this environment. However, Bai Chen and Long Yuehong found it a bit difficult to relax and toss and turn.

Among them, Bai Chen was relatively better, with enough experience, and adjusted his state quickly, entering a deep sleep. Long Yuehong forced Shang Jianyao to suggest, "Should I knock you unconscious?"

In the end, he was temporarily implanted with the thought, "Remain calm even if Mount Tai collapses before you," and successfully fell asleep.

After several rotations, the solidified night was finally pierced by the distant light bit by bit.

"It's dawn..." Jiang Bai Mian said to herself, staring out the window.

Long Yuehong, who had awakened from his sleep, frowned almost imperceptibly:

"The 'Assassin' didn't come after all, and our memories weren't altered."

He had just reviewed the key memories he had recorded earlier and found nothing abnormal.

"No one sleepwalked, no one fell into a 'True Dream'," Bai Chen added.

This meant that the "Old Task Force" hadn't been attacked any further.

After listening carefully, Shang Jianyao slapped his right fist into his left palm with a "smack":

"I understand!"

"What do you understand this time?" Jiang Bai Mian asked, half helplessly and half with a strange expectation.

Shang Jianyao replied with a proud expression:

"They were scared away by us!"

Jiang Bai Mian shook her head:

"Unlikely.

"Perhaps the 'Assassin' has already come, but seeing us heavily guarded and no one showing any signs of fatigue, they chose to retreat quietly."

"He didn't even attack Little Red, who is the most asymmetrical," Shang Jianyao clicked his tongue in wonder, acting as if the enemy's symmetry OCD was unqualified.

Long Yuehong had a mechanical arm on one side and the original human arm on the other, making him the most asymmetrical person there in appearance.

And the most symmetrical was the intelligent robot Genava.

Of course, he wasn't completely symmetrical either. The weapon modules loaded on his left and right arms were somewhat different. Even when not in use, the two sides looked almost completely identical, but there was a significant difference in weight.

Long Yuehong, with "Remain calm even if Mount Tai collapses before you," wasn't startled and muttered steadily:

"Are the enemies still waiting for a better opportunity?"

This can't go on.

As soon as Long Yuehong finished speaking, Jiang Bai Mian nodded with a solemn expression:

"This can't go on. There's only a thief for a thousand days, but no one can guard against a thief for a thousand days."

The "Old Task Force" initially hoped to follow the vine and find the enemies, lock them down, with themselves in the dark and the others in the light, but yesterday it was reversed.

And on the way to the "True Self Church" stronghold, Jiang Bai Mian had designed a corresponding plan, intending to trick the enemy, but who knew they were too cautious and used the power of "Nightmare" from the very beginning.

This not only almost wiped out everyone in the "Old Task Force" except Genava, but also made it impossible for them to lock onto the target and carry out subsequent actions, falling into a rather passive situation.

"Yes," Long Yuehong agreed with the team leader's statement.

Shang Jianyao looked him up and down in surprise:

"This doesn't seem like you."

"What doesn't seem like me?" Long Yuehong instinctively retorted.

Shang Jianyao laughed:

"You're always worried, afraid of danger, and like stability."

Long Yuehong paused for a moment, recalling the past.

He suddenly shivered and "hissed":

"What do we do now?

"Keep holding out here with them? There's always a time when we're not focused enough. We are, after all, uh, carbon-based humans, not intelligent beings."

"Find a way to get rid of the enemy?" Bai Chen suggested.

Jiang Bai Mian nodded, glanced at Shang Jianyao, and said:

"This operation can probably only go this far. We'll try to shake off the claws of 'Nightmare' as soon as possible and head to the Wasteland 13 ruins."

To convince Shang Jianyao, she added:

"Since we found anomalies and gained some harvests in the previous two Buddhist holy sites, it's likely that we won't come back empty-handed from the Holm Fertility Treatment Center either.

"When the harvest is substantial, our strength will definitely increase again. For example, if the predictive ability of the 'Six Senses Beads' is significantly improved, then we can launch a counterattack and deal with 'Nightmare' and its claws."

Shang Jianyao was silent for a moment and said:

"Losing this opportunity, it will be very difficult to find 'Nightmare' and its claws again."

Jiang Bai Mian had prepared her answer and said seriously:

"We are investigating the cause of the Old World's destruction and the origin of 'Heartless Disease', and 'Nightmare' is likely to be related to these two things.

"As long as we keep going, we will encounter them again sooner or later."

Shang Jianyao was silent again, and after a minute or two, he looked at the ground and sighed:

"It's just a pity about Odick..."

Jiang Bai Mian understood that he meant that if they could join forces with the "True Self Church" as soon as possible and defeat "Nightmare", there might still be a chance to reclaim Odick's "stolen" sentience. If they missed this opportunity and waited until the future, it would be too late.

After turning a series of arguments and reasons in her mind, Jiang Bai Mian only replied to Shang Jianyao with one sentence:

"This is the graylands."

"This goddamn world!" Shang Jianyao cursed out loud, while Long Yuehong muttered silently in his heart.

Genava was more concerned about another issue:

"How do we get rid of the lurking enemy?

"Should we use ourselves as bait and dig a trap?"

"The enemy is too cautious. I'm afraid they'll wait until we reach our limit before taking action. By then, even if we have countermeasures, they won't work," Jiang Bai Mian shook her head. "As for how to get rid of them, that's simple."

She pointed to the floor:

"Ask the 'True Self Church' for help. They will still help with this little matter."

Leading the "Old Task Force" members with various expressions, Jiang Bai Mian went all the way down to the bottom floor.

She didn't walk too fast and successfully reached her destination, meeting Cliff, the "Dream Breaker."

Jiang Bai Mian briefly explained the "Old Task Force"'s predicament and concluded:

"Please help our Church conceal our whereabouts."

Cliff nodded:

"Your pursuit of 'Nightmare' aligns with our tradition of fighting 'Nightmare'. We won't be stingy with help in such trivial matters."

He instructed the "True Self Church" member beside him:

"Find twenty people to come over."

While waiting, Cliff explained to Jiang Bai Mian and others:

"I will have them form groups of four and go to different places.

"This way, the Awakened who senses human consciousness from afar will not be able to distinguish which group is you."

What a good idea... Long Yuehong praised sincerely.

He had heard Shang Jianyao mention that Awakened were unable to distinguish which consciousness corresponded to which human without seeing them, unless there were particularly obvious characteristics, such as the consciousness of a person on the verge of death being very weak.

After praising, Long Yuehong hesitated and said:

"What if that 'Assassin' is lurking nearby and following us?"

"Impossible, his symmetry OCD can't hold out for that long," Jiang Bai Mian said with considerable confidence.

Cliff of the "True Self Church" was slightly surprised when he heard about symmetry OCD.

The next moment, Bai Chen raised another loophole:

"One of them can still look through memories, which can confirm our identities."

Jiang Bai Mian chuckled:

"I have my own clever plan to ensure he can 'come', but he can't go back."

Is it another empty fort strategy? Long Yuehong thought reflexively.

At this time, the "Dream Breaker" Cliff couldn't help but sigh:

"In such a short time, you have found out so much information. Your abilities are truly admirable."

"You flatter us, you flatter us," Shang Jianyao became modest.

Before the twenty people from the "True Self Church" arrived, Jiang Bai Mian pulled several members of the team aside and told them her method of countering memory viewing.

She lowered her voice and said:

"From now on, constantly recall the scene and feeling of being watched by the 'Nether Maiden' in the Alertness Church.

"Simply put, keep the memories of that scene at the most active state, so they are easily read, and when that person checks our memories, he can experience it as well"

Saying this, Jiang Bai Mian revealed a smile:

"'Nether Maiden' controls fear, and that person is a timid and weak individual. The combination of the two might bring us pleasant results."

Her inspiration came from Shang Jianyao relying on memories related to Xiao Chong's aura (the crack) to scare the Awakened at the "Mind Corridor" level in the "Endling" domain into revealing traces.

Although the "Old Task Force" members only had scene memories and did not involve the "Nether Maiden's" aura, this was a genuine Steward, and one that restrained the other party. The effect wouldn't be too bad.

After listening to the team leader's words and looking at her smile, Long Yuehong had a thought in his heart:

So ruthless...

...

Nearby block, in a small truck.

Welf opened his half-closed eyes and looked at Xu Lan beside him:

"They found a bunch of 'decoys', and I dare not rashly look through their memories again.

"Are we just going to let them run away?"

Xu Lan, who was in a state of blindness, nodded and said with a relaxed smile:

"It's okay, let them go."