Jiang Baimian's words didn't align with her thoughts. She inquired about intelligence related to the "Old Task Force" mission:
"What do you know about the Iron Mountain ruins?"
Ulrich, who was meticulous and serious, didn't show any slackness or perfunctoriness in front of Jiang Baimian and the others just because he had become the temporary chairman of the Ark Management Committee. He acted as if he had returned to the past, facing the tyrant DiMarco, his attitude respectful to the point of being impeccable.
This might be his instinct and habit.
Before DiMarco was eliminated, he had been a deacon and butler for half his life.
And his half-life was almost a lifetime for many wasteland wanderers.
Even if they were lucky enough not to encounter any disasters or dangers, the combination of extreme malnutrition and a harsh environment could cause them to suffer from illnesses as they aged, until they passed away, often just after or even before they turned forty.
Therefore, in some wasteland wanderer settlements, people over thirty-five were considered elderly.
Ulrich organized his words and answered Jiang Baimian's question:
"No one in the Ark or even the entire Redstone Collection knows much about the Iron Mountain ruins.
"After the chaotic era, when order was initially restored here and there was surplus energy to expand the source of supplies, the Iron Mountain ruins had already been mostly excavated and were of little value. And we found the smuggling business, so..."
Ulrich didn't finish his sentence, but the meaning was clear even to a child.
He paused and added:
"Perhaps the Mountain Monsters would know better.
"They lived deep in Iron Mountain not many years after the Old World was destroyed, so they should have had contact with the ruins on that side of the mountain."
"Yes," Jiang Baimian nodded slightly.
At the same time, she muttered to herself:
You were born after the New Calendar and don't know that "Underground Ark" already had a lot of surplus energy in the middle of the chaotic era. It's just that DiMarco focused on fighting Yan Hu and the residents of Lake Heart Island at that time. Later, people from the Vigilance Church came to preach...
Following Ulrich's answer, Jiang Baimian asked about another matter she had previously arranged:
"It's been almost a year. How has your contact with the Fishmen and Mountain Monsters been?"
Ulrich leaned forward slightly, sitting on only half of the sofa.
He replied in a measured tone:
"This year, the Fishmen and Mountain Monsters suffered serious damage from attacking Redstone Collection, so they haven't attacked here from time to time. The situation is relatively stable.
"They are not repulsed by our contact and hope to exchange the minerals from the mountains and the specialties from the lake for more useful smuggled goods such as food, weapons, and medicine.
"But they are still very wary of humans and harbor obvious hatred. If the people of the Ark hadn't not participated in the defense of Redstone Collection, I don't think the contact would have been so smooth.
"After many contacts, some Fishmen and Mountain Monsters have softened their attitudes towards us a lot. I also instructed those responsible for the transactions to talk to them more about humanity and civilization, repeatedly telling them that what makes humans human is not their appearance. They seem to like listening to these things, or at least they don't mind chatting with us."
Before leaving Redstone Collection, in order to satisfy Shang Jianyao's "great ideal" of resolving hatred and preventing the Fishmen, Mountain Monsters and Redstone Collection residents from attacking each other, and to prevent him from using "Reasoning Clown" to achieve false peace, Jiang Baimian specifically instructed the members of the Ark Management Committee to organize smuggling teams to contact the Fishmen and Mountain Monsters, to narrow the distance between the two sides through their interaction and the instillation of certain ideas.
She didn't expect this to be effective in a few years. This was something that would happen at least after one or two generations died and the hatred was basically forgotten.
Moreover, it was necessary to strive to maintain the "truce" between the two sides, meet the basic material needs of the Fishmen and Mountain Monsters through smuggling, suppress their desire to return to Redstone Collection through communication, and show strength to deter their minds...
In short, this was a complicated and difficult matter, definitely not as simple as Shang Jianyao moving his upper and lower lips.
Thinking of this, Jiang Baimian suddenly paused.
She was stunned to find that, for the current Shang Jianyao, this might really be a matter of moving his upper and lower lips a few times.
He was now an Awakened at the "Mind Corridor" level and possessed the ability of "Thought Guidance"—this could respectively show the characteristics of "Thought Implantation" and "Reasoning Clown". It wouldn't be too easy to make the Fishmen and Mountain Monsters accept a certain idea and thought.
Moreover, the number of the Fishmen and Mountain Monster subgroups was not too large. Shang Jianyao could "cover" them all in ten and a half months if he worked hard and was discreet.
Then "guide" them to listen to the radio regularly to consolidate the "curative effect."
This should allow the Fishmen and Mountain Monsters to always live in peace with the residents of Redstone Collection until all those subhumans with deep-seated hatred died.
As for the Redstone Collection, with the Vigilance Church watching, Shang Jianyao would definitely not be able to do things on a large scale, but fortunately, the townspeople of Redstone Collection were not interested in the poor mountains and bad waters. As long as the Fishmen and Mountain Monsters didn't provoke them, most of them were willing to maintain the status quo.
In the blink of an eye, Jiang Baimian's expression changed slightly, and she almost shook her head in front of the team members, Long Yuehong and others, and Ulrich and others from the Ark Management Committee.
She was actually starting to consider using Awakened abilities to forcibly resolve the affairs of Redstone Collection!
In her eyes in the past, this was a very evil act, directly twisting the will of others with abilities, and there was no essential difference from creating puppets, only suitable for use against enemies.
And although she still thought it was not advisable, she couldn't help but list the corresponding plans.
"Huff, we still have to respect the will of the Fishmen and Mountain Monsters and can't joke about being a big villain and then do things that a big villain would do...
"However, if in the future, it is impossible to suppress the Fishmen and Mountain Monsters' urge to return to Redstone Collection, and no way can be found to make the townspeople here accept it, in the face of a possible large-scale bloody conflict, temporarily suppressing it with abilities to allow them to continue to maintain peace is also worth considering...
"On the Ashlands, you must not have moral perfectionism, which sometimes kills many, many people... Compared to their will being temporarily twisted for a few years, letting more people survive and welcome the dawn, guilt is nothing..." Jiang Baimian glanced at Shang Jianyao.
She didn't know which Shang Jianyao was in charge of the body now. Anyway, he didn't show any signs of being eager to do anything because of Ulrich's words.
"You've done a good job. This matter must be persisted in for a long time." Jiang Baimian nodded to Ulrich, Yu Tian, and Bode.
"The smuggling business with the Fishmen and Mountain Monsters will also bring us benefits." Ulrich said that even if Honorary Chairman Xue Shiyue didn't tell them, the Ark Management Committee would continue to do this.
Jiang Baimian hummed and pondered for a while:
"When is your next transaction?"
Ulrich didn't answer directly and said:
"Whenever you want, but you have to tell me one day in advance so that I can send someone to contact them."
Wow, this former butler and current chairman is really considerate and has understood my unspoken intentions... No wonder people with money and status in the Old World wanted to find a good butler... Jiang Baimian glanced at Long Yuehong and Shang Jianyao from the corner of her eye and found that one was puzzled and the other was lost in thought.
After a little thought, Jiang Baimian asked:
"Is it okay to see the Fishmen tomorrow afternoon and the Mountain Monsters the day after tomorrow afternoon?"
"No problem," Ulrich said calmly as ever.
After exchanging other things and sending away the three members of the Ark Management Committee, Jiang Baimian stood up and stretched unceremoniously:
"Stay on this floor tonight and try to see the Fishmen and Mountain Monsters before Old Ge comes."
Long Yuehong finally couldn't help but ask:
"Team Leader, I can understand seeing the Mountain Monsters to get more information about the Iron Mountain ruins, but what's the point of seeing the Fishmen?"
Jiang Baimian smiled slightly:
"I wanted to do this last time, but at that time we were too weak, and knowing too much might not be a good thing.
"Do you remember the Fishmen Envoy?"
"I remember," Bai Chen was the first to answer.
Shang Jianyao had been awake for too long today, and his dizziness had become severe again.
Jiang Baimian said with a smile:
"The first to discover Yan Hu's temple was not the Fishmen Envoy, but some young people in the Fishmen tribe.
"They went to the island, entered the settlement, discovered the temple, felt that it was a bit strange, didn't dare to go in, and sent someone to notify the Fishmen Envoy.
"I was wondering if they were waiting for the Fishmen Envoy in the town at that time, and did they exceed half an hour..."
Hearing this, Long Yuehong suddenly understood.
He remembered the third precaution the company gave when exploring Lake Heart Island:
"You cannot stay in the temple for more than a quarter of an hour, in the area near the temple for more than half an hour, and in other places on the island for more than three days."
The group of Fishmen did not enter the temple and did not stay on the island for more than three days, but they were likely waiting for the Fishmen Envoy in the area near the temple, which was the settlement, for quite a while!
Long Yuehong tentatively asked:
"Team Leader, do you want to investigate if there were any abnormalities in that group of Fishmen at that time or after?"
Clap clap clap, Shang Jianyao forcibly supported himself and applauded.
Jiang Baimian nodded with satisfaction:
"Yes."
After saying that, she pointed to the door:
"Let's get something to eat first, then go to bed early and get up early. We won't be going out tonight."
As soon as she finished speaking, Shang Jianyao deliberately lowered his voice and said:
"Really not going out?
"Aren't you going to listen to what those people at the Vigilance Church are arguing about?"
"Not for the time being," Jiang Baimian shook her head.
Shang Jianyao, who was seeking novelty and oddity, continued to lower his voice and said:
"Different interpretations of the doctrine are reflected in daily life as different customs, customs..."
He deliberately emphasized "customs" once.
Jiang Baimian hesitated.
"It's still early anyway," Bai Chen interjected.
"Okay," Jiang Baimian exhaled. "Let's visit Song the Vigilant at the Vigilance Church to avoid being said that we are impolite."
ps: Recommend Sweeping the World's new book, *Mirror Administration*. His opening this time is actually quite amazing and completely different from his previous style.