On the way back to the "Underground Ark," Long Yuehong glanced at Genava, who was arm in arm with Shang Jianyao, and looked towards the co-pilot seat, saying:
"Team Leader, after the 'Salvation Army' people give us the information, will we have to set off for the Iron Mountain Ruins?"
He still wanted to stay in Redstone Town for a few more days.
Once they left here, with their target directly set on the Iron Mountain Ruins, let alone a room, they might not even have a tent to live in!
"No rush." Jiang Baimian's answer relieved Long Yuehong. "We should at least wait until Wei is fully recovered. He is our team's strongest fighter."
Shang Jianyao, who was being praised, immediately turned to Genava and said:
"I can now interfere with the electromagnetic signals you receive!"
In order to show flaws and be more like a human, Genava didn't sit upright as usual but imitated Shang Jianyao, leaning back against the seat and resting his metal elbow on Shang Jianyao's shoulder.
"That is indeed a problem," Genava said in a low voice. "In addition to improving the sound collection device, I also want to increase the proportion of biomimetic materials on my body. That way, when facing 'Mind Corridor' awakeners who can interfere with electromagnetic signals, the impact on my 'sense of touch' will be significantly reduced."
He hoped to be able to directly use his "skin" to measure environmental conditions such as temperature and humidity, just like humans.
And his core components were all protected by insulation.
"I'll see if the company has any relevant research results later." Jiang Baimian thought Genava's idea was valid.
But if facing "Shattered Mirror" domain awakeners who could distort environmental information, this would likely not work.
Shang Jianyao obviously thought of this as well, spreading his hands and tilting his head slightly, saying:
"Everywhere is an illusion, why bother being serious?"
At this moment, Bai Chen, who was driving, thought of a question:
"I wonder what the relationship is between 'Nether Maiden' and 'Shattered Mirror', these two Lords of the Cycle?"
"Ask when we pass by the Vigilance Church later." Jiang Baimian turned her body and looked at Shang Jianyao with a smile. "If the two Lords of the Cycle have a bad relationship, doing similar actions and saying such words in Redstone Town will get you beaten up!"
Shang Jianyao smiled:
"First of all, they have to be able to beat me."
"Not to mention those 'Mind Corridor' level awakeners who came because of the General Education Conference, even the Vigilance Church itself is not something you can deal with. 'Nether Maiden' is constantly watching here. Do you want to be suppressed in the 'Underground Ark' like DiMarco, never to get out again?" Jiang Baimian discouraged Shang Jianyao's inflated confidence.
Amidst the laughter, the "Old Task Force" returned to the outside of the Vigilance Church.
Except for Bai Chen, whose gene optimization effect was relatively poor and whose modifications didn't involve muscles or strength, the other four members each carried a crate on their backs.
Frankly speaking, with Shang Jianyao's sensing range, he could completely remotely control the electric car in the second basement level and immediately issue a warning if anyone approached, but Jiang Baimian didn't think it was necessary to affect Shang Jianyao's rest for such a matter. Anyway, military exoskeleton devices and biomimetic smart armor were kept nearby and could be taken out at any time, making them the best choice.
Entering the church, which was painted in bright red and interspersed with gold, Jiang Baimian saw a man without a mask sticking to the wall, moving timidly, as if afraid of being suddenly attacked from behind.
Just then, a person jumped down from a ventilation duct, making an "ah" sound in mid-air.
The man walking along the wall was clearly startled, rolling sideways while trying to draw his gun.
The person who scared him, as soon as he landed, took advantage of the momentum to leap forward, rushed out of the side door, and disappeared into the hall.
"What's going on?" Long Yuehong was puzzled.
Shang Jianyao thought for two seconds and then clapped his right fist into his left palm, saying:
"This is an evolved version of hide-and-seek:
"Scare Game!
"The people who play not only have to hide and not be discovered but also have to seize the opportunity to scare others."
Although he was wearing a monkey mask, making it impossible to see his expression, his body language told Jiang Baimian that he really wanted to play.
"That's not how it is." A deliberately lowered voice came from the ventilation duct above them.
Bai Chen looked up and found a church guard wearing a white shell mask hiding there.
The church guard leaned out slightly and said quickly:
"This is a ritual to fear heretics. The purpose is to make believers always maintain a heart of fear through sudden, unpredictable scares."
"What if they are scared to death?" The compassionate Pudu Zen Master replaced the playful, novelty-seeking, and strange Shang Jianyao.
The church guard replied with a disdainful tone:
"Then they are heretics."
If someone was scared to have a heart attack, then they would naturally go to see the Lord of the Cycle, "Nether Maiden."
"I see… So what does their large-scale mass look like?" Jiang Baimian asked curiously.
The Vigilance Church's was "hide-and-seek."
The church guard in the ventilation duct recalled:
"It seems that everyone gathers in a closed building, and everyone disguises themselves as different demons and monsters, enjoying scaring each other to their heart's content."
This guard was a Dustman.
"Oh…" Shang Jianyao's tone indicated that he thought it was very interesting.
Jiang Baimian didn't intend to give him a chance, thanked the church guard, and led the way out.
"Do you want to check if the jeep is damaged?" Genava politely reminded.
This wasn't to say that his emotional intelligence had improved significantly, but rather that he analyzed that directly saying "it's the opposite of the opposite" would reveal what the price Da Bai paid was.
The corners of Jiang Baimian's mouth under the mask forced themselves into a smile:
"Yes, I do."
She looked up again, towards the ventilation duct just now:
"Have you heard of 'Shattered Mirror'?"
"A Lord of the Cycle." The church guard hiding inside answered.
His attitude was neither friendly nor hateful.
…………
After an hour of recreational relaxation time, the members of the "Old Task Force" returned to their respective rooms.
Jiang Baimian lay on the bed, glanced at Shang Jianyao, who was already fast asleep on the opposite side, raised her hand to cover her mouth, and yawned.
She had been taking time these past few days to roam within the "Sea of Origins," hoping to encounter the second Isle of Fear as soon as possible.
After a while, at the juncture of the sea and sky, which was flickering with faint light, an island that resembled a desolate mountain appeared.
Jiang Baimian immediately felt a little excited and quickened the frequency of paddling.
She didn't try to materialize transportation to assist herself, because that would consume even more of her mental energy.
Finally, Jiang Baimian arrived at her destination, a desolate place with withered trees, and nimbly climbed up.
Nothing unusual happened.
She went around in a circle and found a large cave on the desolate mountain inside the island.
Jiang Baimian cautiously walked in and suddenly felt that the flat square in the cave was a little familiar.
She quickly looked around and gradually understood where the familiarity came from:
This was exactly the same as "Pangu Biology's" underground parking lot, except that there wasn't a single car besides the pillars.
Jiang Baimian's heart stirred, and she walked towards the elevator that led to the underground building in her memory.
Then, she got lost.
This was different from the situation when she was outside the cave. At that time, she could visually see the various landmarks, and she just had to walk towards the corresponding location without getting lost.
Jiang Baimian had to spend some time re-locating her current position and drawing a correct route map.
Relying on the route map, she spent a lot of effort and finally arrived at the elevator area.
She pressed the 647th floor, and as the corresponding elevator went down, it seemed that she really returned to "Pangu Biology."
But when she found room 14, which belonged to the "Old Task Force," and pushed the door open, she found it empty, with no one in sight besides the tables and chairs.
Jiang Baimian was silent for a moment and went to the correct elevator area, all the way down.
349th floor, Zone C.
Jiang Baimian followed the map and walked to room 12, which represented her home.
Through the window, she saw that it was empty, and the coffee table seemed to have accumulated dust.
The entire floor was eerily quiet, as if it had been abandoned for a long time.
Jiang Baimian opened the door, walked in, and sat down in her favorite spot.
After sitting for a while, she felt that her mental energy was almost exhausted, and her figure quickly became transparent.
Returning to reality, Jiang Baimian opened her eyes and stared fixedly at the ceiling shrouded in darkness.
She could hear Shang Jianyao's long breathing in her ears, and in her perception, there were two groups of consciousness and bioelectrical signals representing humans next door.
Jiang Baimian slowly exhaled, and her body and brain slowly relaxed.
She fell asleep unknowingly.
…………
The next morning, after the "Old Task Force" had just finished breakfast and charged their batteries, they saw Ulrich, the temporary chairman of the Ark Management Committee, appear on this floor.
"Town Guard Captain Tan Jie asked me to deliver some information." Ulrich bowed with a hand on his chest, using the etiquette of a steward rather than a member of the Vigilance Church.
"The information that the 'Salvation Army' sorted out?" Jiang Baimian was a little surprised. "It's only been one night."
It should be known that when Xu Datong and Li Shouyi bid farewell to them, it was already almost dark, and limited by the scarcity of energy, most people slept very early at night.
Sometimes, it wasn't that they didn't want to stay up late to work, but that they didn't have the conditions.
"Worthy of being the 'Salvation Army'," Shang Jianyao exclaimed with admiration. "They do what they say and are very hardworking!"
Ulrich didn't answer because he didn't understand the situation and didn't know how to answer.
He just handed the information in his hand to Jiang Baimian.
Jiang Baimian casually flipped through it and found that it was mainly the information about the Iron Mountain Ruins that she already knew.
Soon, she flipped to the last page.
There was only a simple sentence on this page:
"Lin Sui is suspected to be related to the Eighth Research Institute."
This… Jiang Baimian's gaze suddenly froze.
ps: Recommend a book,《My Infinite Has a Script》, mainly focusing on script-killing infinite flow