After listening to Jiang Baimian's explanation, Long Yuehong weakly raised his steel right hand:

"Team Leader, what I meant was, how did you know that group of people wanted to investigate the cause of the Old World's destruction and the five great sacred sites of Buddhism?"

Wasn't it just inquiring about information about the Iron Mountain Ruins from the Hill Men?

Jiang Baimian made an "uh" sound:

"The valuable things in the Iron Mountain Ruins have long been emptied. If there are any secret places, after so many years, there probably isn't much left. The only thing worth investigating by a major force like the 'Salvation Army' should be the Second Food Company, this Buddhist sacred site."

As one of the earliest "developed" city ruins, the Iron Mountain Ruins have been plowed through by people again and again. Apart from the "anomalies" buried very deep, involving the Second Food Company, one of the two Grand Stewards, there is no reason why anything else could have been hidden from batches after batches of major force members and ruins hunters.

"And investigating Buddhist sacred sites is likely to uncover very high-level secrets, not simply targeting Buddhism." Jiang Baimian didn't make her words absolute, "This is the most logical deduction, but there may be exceptions. When the time comes, we'll try to probe them after contacting that group of people."

Long Yuehong was still a little worried:

"Team Leader, aren't you afraid that they are openly members of the 'Salvation Army,' but secretly collaborating with the Eighth Research Institute?

"If we share our findings on the cause of the Old World's destruction and the origin of the 'Heartless Disease' with them, it might lead to our deaths."

Even if that group of people didn't belong to the Eighth Research Institute's special envoys, there was still the possibility of leaking the "Old Task Force's" information, making the Eighth Research Institute pay more attention to this place and send more powerful individuals to erase the clues.

Jiang Baimian chuckled:

"Don't worry, I'm not an idiot. I won't open my heart and reveal everything to others as soon as I go up. Of course, I'll slowly probe and decide what can be said and what can't be said based on the situation.

"Let's go, let's set off!"

She waved her hand and took the lead out of the meeting room on the second basement level, turning in a certain direction.

Bai Chen and Long Yuehong hesitated and didn't speak, while Shang Jianyao's face lit up with a smile.

The honest Genaver quickly shouted:

"Wrong way, the elevator is over there!"

"..." Jiang Baimian casually put the delicate monk mask on her face.

At this moment, Shang Jianyao approached Genaver and started talking to him in a "whisper":

"Bai Chen became an Awakened, and the price she paid was 'road blindness'."

Did you have to say it so loudly? Jiang Baimian gritted her teeth.

After Shang Jianyao finished speaking, he immediately put on the monkey mask with the hairy face and pointed snout and fled towards the elevator.

His mental damage had recovered for the most part, and he was in especially good condition in the morning.

Jiang Baimian calmed her mood and followed behind.

She had slowly noticed a problem these past two days:

One or several of the personalities within Shang Jianyao had a strong love for role-playing. After returning to Redstone Town and taking out the monkey mask again, he had become increasingly "lively"...

"'Road blindness' is the price corresponding to the 'Shattered Mirror' domain?" Genaver couldn't keep up with Shang Jianyao's "rhythm," so he had to discuss it with Long Yuehong on the side.

Just knowing is enough, don't say it out loud. Didn't you notice that Bai Chen walked a little faster? Long Yuehong muttered in his heart, feeling frustrated.

He was worried that Genaver would keep asking questions incessantly, so he reluctantly nodded with the most perfunctory attitude and simply replied:

"Yeah."

Bai Chen walked next to them, a faint smile on her face at some point.

As soon as the five members of the "Old Task Force" took the elevator and arrived at the church hall, they saw Chug and several other people, whom they had met before, finishing their worship of "Madam Underground" and planning to find the hidden Wary Church members and befriend them.

"Bai Chen!" Chug spotted their group with sharp eyes.

He enthusiastically approached them, walking very quickly.

The smoky-eyed woman, Mu Chi, and the floral-shirted youth, Shao Liang, followed closely behind.

After arriving in front of Bai Chen, Chug looked around and his gaze suddenly settled on Genaver.

This robot was 1.9 meters tall, with silver-black metal bones, wearing a dark green military uniform, and his eyes were glowing red. He had followed local customs and put on a horse-face mask.

Chug was surprised for a moment. The first thought that flashed through his mind was:

Can intelligent robots also grow and become larger?

He remembered that Bai Chen's previous intelligent robot was about the same height as her, and its "skin color" wasn't silver-black either.

In an instant, Chug's common sense told him that this was impossible.

He began to suspect that the reason Bai Chen had new companions and was willing to leave the familiar area was because her original robot had been destroyed.

—It could be repaired if it was broken.

"Good morning," Bai Chen nodded politely, courteously, but distantly to Chug.

Seeing this, Long Yuehong's heart returned to its original place.

Chug, who wasn't wearing a mask, smiled and said familiarly:

"I didn't expect you to actually be the honorary chairman of the 'Underground Ark' Management Committee."

At this time, Archbishop Deluo of the "Friendly Hand," wearing a white robe, walked to their side.

Seeing him, Shang Jianyao suddenly took two steps forward.

His gaze, cast from behind the monkey mask, collided with Deluo's gaze.

Zzz!

In the church hall, the wall lamps lit up simultaneously, then quickly dimmed.

Zzz, these wall lamps flickered on and off, and everyone heard a clear electrical sound.

The Wary Church members hidden in the shadows subconsciously shrank into deeper places, making themselves a little safer.

An Awakened at the "Mind Corridor" level... Chug, Mu Chi, Shao Liang, and others were startled, their expressions changed slightly, and they instinctively took two steps back.

Seeing this, Jiang Baimian walked to Shang Jianyao's side and asked in a slightly deep voice:

"What happened?"

"I didn't do anything." Deluo spread his hands, turned his body, and handed his back to the "Old Task Force."

Shang Jianyao nodded in agreement with his words and said with a smile:

"When two strong individuals meet, shouldn't similar scenes appear to create an atmosphere?"

So you directed and acted out that scene just now? Good job, from now on you can't watch more than two hours of Old World entertainment materials every day! Take the essence and discard the dross! Jiang Baimian felt a pang of heartache.

What kind of Old World entertainment materials are these that have "poisoned" this guy so much?

"How did you know I was strong?" Deluo turned back and smiled amiably.

"Your hair told me," Shang Jianyao's sincerity was hidden behind the mask.

"Ah?" Deluo touched his remaining hair in confusion.

Jiang Baimian silently took a breath and slowly exhaled.

She took a step towards her side front, blocking half of Shang Jianyao behind her:

"He means that Chug and the others' attitude towards you and your age all indicate that you have a high status and must be very strong."

"Your observation skills are truly sharp," Deluo unraveled the doubts in his heart.

He didn't hide his curiosity and asked amiably and kindly:

"I heard that you overthrew the 'Underground Ark's' former owner, Dimarco's, rule?"

"Yes." This was well known in Redstone Town, and Jiang Baimian didn't think there was anything to hide.

"Most of the time, you don't seem to stay here, and you haven't taken a large amount of resources from here either. Why did you do this?" Deluo asked again.

Shang Jianyao raised his right hand and pressed it on his left chest, answering in a loud and serious voice:

"To save all of humanity!"

Deluo and the others were obviously stunned.

Several seconds later, Chug suddenly realized:

"You guys are from the 'Salvation Army'?

"There aren't many 'Salvation Army' members who still adhere to this ideal, except for those old people."

"No." In order to prevent Shang Jianyao from talking nonsense and misleading his former friends, Bai Chen took the initiative to deny it.

Jiang Baimian took the opportunity to flip her wrist and look at her watch:

"Sorry, we have something to do. We'll talk later."

"Okay." The members of the "Friendly Hand" were always friendly.

Watching the "Old Task Force" walk out of the Wary Church and get into the jeep that they had driven from the Iron Mountain entrance the night before, Chug sincerely sighed:

"They are indeed very strong. There really is an Awakened at the 'Mind Corridor' level."

Deluo nodded slightly:

"And he's not the leader of this team."

Obviously, the tall woman was.

Hearing this sentence, Chug, Mu Chi, and Shao Liang were silent once again.

...

After nearly a year, the "Old Task Force" entered Redstone Town again.

It was the same as before, with no obvious changes. The vast majority of people were vigilant enough to hide themselves to ensure their safety.

The only exceptions were the local Hunters Guild and the Visa Trading Company, which belonged to the Ark.

"Why haven't we encountered Viell?" Long Yuehong said casually.

Jiang Baimian replied with a smile:

"After what happened last time, he probably doesn't want us to appear in front of him again."

Since Viell couldn't stop the "Old Task Force" from going anywhere, he could only avoid them himself.

As they spoke, Jiang Baimian and the others arrived at the Security Office located at the bottom of the underground shopping mall.

The current captain of the Town Guard and Security Officer of the Security Office, Tan Jie, sat behind his desk, expressionlessly looking at this group of familiar people.

He imitated Han Wanghuo by not wearing a mask to gain the trust of all the townspeople.

"I heard you received a group of people from the 'Salvation Army'?" The honest Shang Jianyao was always direct.

Tan Jie, who had black hair, brown eyes, and a baby face, replied succinctly:

"They want to buy a batch of military exoskeletons from 'United Industries' and also plan to go to the Iron Mountain Ruins."