A corpse was thrown high and far, landing in the swamp ahead, splashing countless mud droplets.

It was embedded in the dark, rotten surface, sinking inch by inch.

Next to it were two similar scenes, only buried deeper in the mud.

Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong gazed for a few seconds, then retracted their gazes and turned to walk towards the jeep.

Jiang Baimian didn't ask who wanted to ride the heavy motorcycle first. She directly put on the helmet and straddled it.

Carrying a submachine gun on her back, she turned to look at Shang Jianyao and the others, unable to hide her smile.

"I've wanted to get one for a long time, but I never had the chance."

Before she finished speaking, she twisted the throttle, making the heavy motorcycle emit a low and violent roar.

Jiang Baimian leaned forward. Although it was her first time riding, she struck a professional pose.

The roar grew louder, and the heavy motorcycle shot out like an arrow, heading towards the distance along the edge of the swamp.

"The romance of steel and fuel..." Long Yuehong whispered enviously, "And freedom and wind."

In the roar, the heavy motorcycle turned back and stopped not far away.

Jiang Baimian supported herself with her foot and pulled up the helmet's visor, chuckling dryly.

"This, um, Bai Chen, which way should we go?"

Bai Chen looked down at her scarf and responded loudly,

"Follow the jeep."

"Huh? What did you say?" Jiang Baimian raised her hand to touch her ear, but it was blocked by the helmet.

Her smile remained unchanged as she pulled the visor down again and rode the heavy motorcycle back to the jeep, as if it was her own decision.

Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong got into the car one after the other, and Bai Chen returned to the driver's seat and started the jeep.

Just like that, they moved through the Black Marsh Wilderness at a relatively slow speed, changing direction from time to time, weaving and detouring.

During this process, Jiang Baimian repeatedly used reconnaissance as an excuse to ride the motorcycle, leave the team, and speed off to different places.

Nearly two hours later, Bai Chen stopped the jeep, which seemed to be a little overwhelmed.

She opened the car door and said to Jiang Baimian, who had just roared back from afar,

"Chief, we're almost at that settlement."

Jiang Baimian supported herself with one foot and pulled up the visor.

"What are your thoughts?"

Bai Chen touched the rather rough skin on her face.

"I'm worried that if we go over like this, it will cause an overreaction from the wasteland wanderers in the settlement. They are always very vigilant in this regard.

"How about this, you guys wait here, and I'll ride over on the motorcycle, make contact, and then come back to lead you over? If they don't let us in, then I'll try to trade outside."

Jiang Baimian nodded slightly.

"Our firepower is indeed intimidating."

The Black Marsh Iron Serpent hide tied to the top of the jeep was even more frightening.

She immediately got out of the car, parked the motorcycle, and took off the helmet, handing it to Bai Chen.

Watching Bai Chen's back disappear into the sparse woods ahead, Jiang Baimian opened the jeep's door and sat in the driver's seat.

"Want one?" She smiled and picked up a crude cigarette from the armrest box.

This was loot from before.

The yellowish-black tobacco emitted an indescribable fragrance.

"No, thank you." Long Yuehong and Shang Jianyao shook their heads at the same time.

"You two, this is a luxury item!" Jiang Baimian put down the crude cigarette. "I don't know how many people who have been to the battlefield are crazy about it. It allows their spirits to relax, so they don't break down. It's the same as how alcoholic beverages can make people forget many unpleasant things they don't want to remember. Ah, many people only become happy when they're drunk."

"That's not true happiness." Shang Jianyao suddenly sang a line.

"Oh, you're singing now." Jiang Baimian opened her mouth slightly and scolded with a smile.

Shang Jianyao nodded seriously.

"I like music."

"But the lyrics don't seem quite right..." Jiang Baimian rubbed the metal device in her ear.

Shang Jianyao said as if discussing an academic issue,

"The lyrics can be modified to fit the current scene. This helps to express things better."

"..." Jiang Baimian waved her hand. "That's not the point. You interrupted me, and I almost forgot what I was going to say!"

She breathed out in annoyance.

"I mentioned the cigarette to bring up the topic of war trauma.

"Although the battle you just experienced doesn't reach that level, it's still necessary to pay attention. However, whether it's cigarettes, alcohol, or even controlled drugs, they are not good coping mechanisms and easily lead to serious addiction, which is bad for your health.

"If you feel too tense, stressed, anxious, irritable, or have difficulty concentrating, you can always talk to me. I've taken some psychology courses."

"Yes, Chief!" Long Yuehong responded loudly. "Earlier, on the way, Bai Chen also talked to us about this. I feel much better now."

"Good." Jiang Baimian praised. "Since the company approved the establishment of this Old Task Force, the best thing I've done is approve Bai Chen's application. Tsk, my judgment is good, right?"

Without waiting for Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong to respond, she leaned back in the driver's seat and rolled her eyes slightly.

"I don't know when Bai Chen will be back. We're idle anyway, so let me tell you some things, things I haven't told you before."

Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong immediately sat up straight, as if they were still in school.

Jiang Baimian chuckled.

"Don't be so focused! Pay attention to the outside! Aren't you afraid of a rocket flying in and blowing us all up?

"Okay, back to the topic. Didn't I say before? On the Ashlands, besides the very few creatures, the most dangerous enemy of humanity is always humanity.

"So, which humans can be considered dangerous?

"Long Yuehong, what do you think?"

Long Yuehong recalled for a moment.

"People wearing exoskeletons."

In the previous battle, the role of military exoskeletons had made a deep impression on him.

He even suspected that it would become one of the sources of his nightmares.

"Yes, and you can also add people wearing bionic intelligent armor. These two types of people alone can deal with a team or even wipe out a small wasteland wanderer settlement." Jiang Baimian turned her gaze to Shang Jianyao. "What else do you think?"

"Teams equipped with heavy weapons, teams with outstanding firepower, people who have installed specific types of biological prosthetics or have undergone corresponding mechanical and electronic modifications." Shang Jianyao said three things in one breath.

Jiang Baimian nodded slightly.

"Indeed."

She stroked her left arm with her right hand.

"It has brought me great improvements, but the original is still better. You must cherish it!"

She immediately added,

"Also, there are monks from the Order of Monks and gene-enhanced humans. You may not know, in many factions, people like you are called 'Chosen Ones.'"

"Why is that?" Long Yuehong asked in astonishment.

Jiang Baimian laughed.

"It's because you come into contact with it too often, and you are yourselves, so you don't realize the value of this technology.

"Among all the factions, only our company and the White Knights can stably perform gene enhancement and produce the corresponding serums.

"Think about it, a person who is tall, strong, fast, with quick reactions, strong coordination, strong balance, strong immunity, strong self-repair ability, extremely energetic, with excellent vision, and not low in firearms talent, wouldn't that be like a darling of the gods to ordinary people? Wouldn't they be synonymous with danger?

"However, don't be too quick to become arrogant. Some factions extremely reject gene technology, believing that it is a blasphemy against nature, against the heavens, and against the gods, and is the main cause of the Old World's destruction."

Jiang Baimian took a breath and continued,

"And stronger than gene-enhanced humans are people who have undergone genetic modification. They often possess abilities that humans do not have. In this regard, those corrupted Subhumans who have become twisted also have similar manifestations. I have even seen Subhumans who can complete photosynthesis on their own and do not need to eat for three months.

"However, genetic modification technology is still very immature, and the failure and mortality rates are quite high. Don't try it lightly."

Subhumans were originally normal humans, but during the Great Cataclysm that destroyed the Old World, they were contaminated, resulting in deformities.

Although most of them died shortly after being contaminated, some people survived and passed on their deformities to their descendants.

These people are discriminated against by normal humans, expelled from settlements, and insultingly called "Subhumans."

Due to their physical changes and similar experiences, the Subhumans inevitably hate normal humans, always carrying intractable resentment, and the two sides have gradually become mortal enemies.

In this situation, the term "Subhuman" truly spread on the Ashlands and became a "scientific name."

And in the New Calendar era, many years after the Old World's destruction, strong pollution still persists in some places, and deformation has not disappeared from humans, still creating new Subhumans.

Of course, most Subhumans today are the result of natural reproduction.

"There are such Subhumans..." Long Yuehong knew what Subhumans were, but had never heard of the kind Jiang Baimian described.

Jiang Baimian hummed and looked at Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong respectively, saying as if nothing had happened,

"Besides those mentioned earlier, there is another type of person who can be considered dangerous, even very dangerous."

"What kind of person?" Long Yuehong was unusually curious, as was Shang Jianyao.

They had learned about the things mentioned earlier in textbooks and training, but no one had put the relevant content together from the perspective of "dangerous humans."

Jiang Baimian lowered her head and smiled.

"Awakeners."

"Awakeners..." Long Yuehong and Shang Jianyao repeated in a low voice.

Jiang Baimian raised her head and looked at the two of them.

"Awakeners refer to humans who have undergone strange mutations for some reason. They all possess some strange and terrifying abilities.

"Some people once thought that the abilities of some Awakeners should be described as funny, but later, facts proved that even the funniest abilities can become very terrifying in the right circumstances.

"To date, no faction has figured out the rules for the emergence of Awakeners. All experiments to artificially create Awakeners have failed. Therefore, the number of Awakeners is very small and not easy to encounter. That's why I didn't rush to tell you before.

"Oh, right, this is confidential knowledge."

Long Yuehong asked with concern,

"Chief, you've made the Awakeners sound so strong. If we encounter one, how should we deal with it?"

Shang Jianyao was silent, not saying anything.

Jiang Baimian smiled and said,

"Except for a small number of very powerful Awakeners, most Awakeners' abilities have range limitations, and the range is not large.

"Based on this, if you encounter them, try to keep your distance and use guns to solve the problem remotely."

"So that's how it is..." Long Yuehong began to imagine the corresponding scene.

Shang Jianyao nodded slightly, as if thinking about something.

Seeing this, Jiang Baimian added,

"Also, don't only focus on these dangerous humans. Our bodies are too fragile. If we're careless, even a seven or eight-year-old child can kill us."

…………

Bai Chen rode the heavy motorcycle and, after a series of detours, actually went deep into the swamp along a seemingly rotten road.

Ten minutes later, a small red dot appeared on the road ahead.

A gently swaying red light.

This was a warning.