Hearing Genava's words, Jiang Baimian opened her mouth but didn't say anything.

She had remembered one of Genava's core settings:

Protecting humans and serving humans.

Long Yuehong subconsciously said:

"They won't necessarily eat humans..."

As he spoke, he fell silent.

At this moment, Shang Jianyao and Bai Chen passed beneath the rows of naked corpses hanging to dry from the higher reaches of the cave and arrived at the ravaged depths.

Bai Chen scanned the area without the slightest reaction to the scene, simply commenting:

"A complete 'Heartless' group."

This was the terminology used by wasteland wanderers. They felt that using "tribe" or "clan" to describe a small society composed of "Heartless" was an insult to humanity and preferred to use the term "group" instead.

Jiang Baimian quickly recovered and frowned.

"With two ability-awakened 'Advanced Heartless' among these dozens of 'Heartless,' the ratio is obviously abnormal.

"This cannot be explained by mere coincidence or natural mutation; there must be a reason behind it."

How rare "Advanced Heartless" were could be seen from the fact that An Ruoxiang, Wu Shoushi, and their ruin hunter team hadn't been very wary of similar situations when exploring the No. 1 Swamp Ruins.

"Unless this itself is what's left of several thousand or tens of thousands of 'Heartless'," Bai Chen added, completing Jiang Baimian's logic.

In places like the No. 1 Swamp Ruins, apart from the special circumstances that Xiao Chong brought, the number of "Heartless" was sufficient to support the birth of multiple "Advanced Heartless."

Jiang Baimian "Mmm"ed:

"Let's split up and search this place, examine the bodies, and see if we can find any clues."

Long Yuehong pulled himself together, cooperating with Bai Chen to search every corner of the cave.

After a long while, Genava reported the initial autopsy results:

"There are no needle marks or traces of surgery on these corpses."

This initially ruled out the possibility of scientific experiments causing the abnormality of this group of "Heartless."

Because to conduct experiments, regular blood sampling for analysis and comparison was a necessary step, and there would likely be some traces left behind.

And sometimes, using surgery to judge the effect of the experiment was also an option.

Shang Jianyao squatted beside a corpse, holding his chin with the back of his hand and said:

"Almost all the corpses show traces of radiation, including the appearance of lymphoma and other conditions."

"You even know this?" Long Yuehong was a little surprised.

Shang Jianyao pointed to Genava:

"You can always trust Old Ge."

Just now, Genava had communicated with him about this.

He forced it.

Bai Chen pursed his lips:

"This doesn't prove anything.

"Many 'Heartless' operate in areas with serious pollution; otherwise, they would have been completely eliminated by the regular forces of the major factions."

"Not necessarily," the honest Shang Jianyao began to refute. "There are so many wasteland wanderer settlements that those major factions haven't taken over either. They have limited manpower, and there are too many places to hide."

"But those wasteland wanderer settlements are mostly in harsh environments, barely able to sustain life. Those relatively suitable for farming, with water resources that haven't been polluted, have been occupied by the major factions," Long Yuehong replied for Bai Chen.

Jiang Baimian clapped her hands:

"Okay, okay, let's continue searching."

Seven or eight minutes later, Jiang Baimian squatted beside a mutilated corpse, touching the metal decoration on his blue striped cloth pants, and said to herself:

"Very strong magnetism..."

"Is this an Old World trend?" Shang Jianyao leaned over, looking curious. "People of different genders wear pants with different magnetic poles. Once men and women get close to a certain extent, they will be directly attracted to each other. So, if you don't have feelings, please keep a sufficient distance?"

What kind of thinking is this… Jiang Baimian admitted that she couldn't keep up with this guy's train of thought at all.

Fortunately, she didn't need to bother thinking about how to respond to this guy. The "sharp-eared and keen-eyed" Genava had already spoken:

"I also discovered this problem.

"The metal decorations on the clothes and pants of several corpses have been magnetized."

Jiang Baimian's eyes flickered, and she stood up and said:

"Is this because they are wearing their original clothes, while the remaining 'Heartless' replaced them with those of the wasteland wanderers?"

So, one is magnetic, and the other is not.

Jiang Baimian's guess was quickly confirmed because Long Yuehong and Bai Chen found items such as baseball bats, daggers, kitchen knives, and iron rods near another exit of the cave.

Among these, as long as they were made of metal, more or less residual magnetization was present.

Based on this, Jiang Baimian gave her own speculation:

"This 'Heartless' group should come from a place with heavier pollution, where a strong magnetic field exists for some reason.

"However, it is currently impossible to determine whether they originally settled there or passed through during migration."

"Is the significantly higher number of 'Advanced Heartless' among them affected by the strong magnetic field?" Long Yuehong was more concerned about this issue.

Shang Jianyao laughed:

"You can try it.

"Maybe you'll succeed?"

I'm not stupid… Long Yuehong grumbled in his heart.

Shang Jianyao became more and more excited as he spoke:

"If it really works, you can find someone else to test whether the awakening of abilities can be inherited..."

Uh… Long Yuehong hesitated.

"Whoa," Jiang Baimian interrupted Shang Jianyao's fantasy, "Awakeners have been around for so many years. If it could be inherited, do you think the company would let you, let me, remain single?"

"Maybe it's just a lack of suitable pairings," Shang Jianyao tried to insist.

Jiang Baimian ignored him and looked around:

"We're going to visit other wasteland wanderer settlements nearby to find out if there are any areas nearby with heavier pollution and disturbed magnetic fields.

"Well, let's bury the corpses here, bury them deep. Take away all valuable items; don't waste them. They can be traded later."

…………

In a wasteland wanderer settlement located in city ruins, several members of the "Old Task Force" met the leader known as the elder.

—This settlement relied on the original city's sewer system and developed into a society of nearly three hundred people.

Their main food was edible moss and mushrooms. The environment of the sewers and hidden parts of the city ruins was only suitable for these plants.

Therefore, as soon as Shang Jianyao saw the elder, his first question was:

"Is it delicious?

"Are the mushrooms and moss delicious?"

The elder was in his forties, with messy brown facial hair, and his eyes seemed a little nearsighted.

He smiled with a hint of pride:

"These have been screened for several generations, so the taste is definitely not a problem."

After saying that, as if afraid that the "Old Task Force" would take notice, he tugged at his blue coarse cloth clothes and added:

"It's just that the yield is a big problem. We've planted them in so many places, but it's still not enough to eat."

Frankly speaking, if these outsiders hadn't found their way directly to the door and demonstrated their strength, he definitely wouldn't have received them.

Jiang Baimian asked with great interest:

"Mr. Dawson, normal mushrooms and moss shouldn't be able to be planted like this, right?"

Dawson unconsciously rubbed his hands:

"There used to be a research institute here, specializing in improving mushrooms and moss. We found the materials they left behind and experimented for a long time.

"I'm still working on this."

Clap clap clap, Shang Jianyao clapped his hands and said:

"Very impressive. Can we trade meat cans for your mushrooms and moss later?"

Dawson was stunned for a moment, and his face lit up with joy:

"Okay."

Long Yuehong suddenly felt a little scared:

"Besides mushrooms and moss, what else do you usually eat?"

He originally wanted to ask if anything bad would happen if they ate too many mushrooms and moss, but thinking that the other party would definitely not answer truthfully, he gave up the idea and planned to have Genava quantitatively test for toxicity later.

Dawson replied casually:

"We also organize hunting trips, and mushrooms and moss also attract rats."

After chatting for a while, Jiang Baimian glanced at the rusty pipes outside and asked tentatively:

"Mr. Dawson, are there any areas nearby with heavier pollution and very disturbed magnetic fields?"

Dawson asked in confusion:

"What is a magnetic field?"

"…" Jiang Baimian quickly adjusted, "It's a place where the metal you carry becomes heavier…"

Dawson recalled and said:

"There is no such place nearby."

As Long Yuehong, Bai Chen, and others were disappointed, Dawson changed the subject:

"But we once had a hunting team that went to a place relatively far to the west, where there is the situation you described..."

You're such a tease… Long Yuehong couldn't help but grumble in his heart.

Dawson continued:

"But I advise you not to go. It's very uncomfortable to stay there for a long time. There is also a very powerful bandit group nearby. They are called 'Zorro' and have dozens of cannons!"