Jiang Baimian turned around upon hearing that and looked over.
At the same time, she quickly drew her "Icetear" pistol, which used 9mm bullets.
After observing carefully for a while, Jiang Baimian asked:
"Did you see what that figure looked like?"
Shang Jianyao answered while remaining vigilant:
"The clothes were tattered, but very thick, like a groundhog."
Jiang Baimian wasn't nervous and blurted out in surprise:
"You know what a groundhog is?"
If she remembered correctly, it was Shang Jianyao's first time out of the company and onto the surface. The only place where groundhogs appeared inside the company was the "Research Area," which didn't match Shang Jianyao's status as a recent college graduate.
The only reason she could think of was that there were pictures of groundhogs in the textbook, and Shang Jianyao made his judgment based on that. But it was difficult for someone who hadn't seen the real thing to make such an association.
Shang Jianyao pointed to the opposite bank of the river with the other hand that wasn't holding the gun:
"There's one over there.
"It looks a lot like the pictures in the textbook."
"..." Jiang Baimian looked in the direction Shang Jianyao was pointing and indeed found a very nervous groundhog.
The groundhog cried out and burrowed back into its hole.
"Keen observation skills." Jiang Baimian gave her evaluation after holding back for a long time.
Bai Chen looked up at the sky:
"At this time of year, at this time of day, wearing so much, and being alone, it should be a wanderer in the wilderness. Don't worry too much. There are many of us, and we have weapons. He won't dare to approach.
"The only problem is that he might be connected to some bandit groups and attract some trouble, but we won't stay here for too long and will leave soon."
"If there really are bandit groups, it'll be a good chance for you to practice!" Jiang Baimian retracted her gaze and smiled at Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong.
Long Yuehong's heart trembled:
"Team Leader, aren't you worried that the bandit groups will have more people and stronger firepower?"
Jiang Baimian chuckled:
"This place isn't too far from the company. The Security Department often sends teams over for training and exercises. If there were bandit groups with more people and stronger firepower, they would have been cleared out long ago.
"Moreover, many bandit groups on the Greylands might not be what you imagine. They're closer to wanderers huddling together for warmth in order to survive. They won't have too many guns or too many people because they can't get enough supplies. Sometimes, the weaker guys in the bandit group are just other people's rations.
"Of course, those famous bandit groups aren't so easy to deal with. They have all found ways to survive for a long time."
Rations... Long Yuehong was inexplicably horrified to hear that:
"Team Leader, how can you describe such cruel things in such a calm tone?"
"When you've been on the Greylands for a long time and seen a lot, you'll get used to it." Jiang Baimian looked down at the water kettle on the solar charging panel.
Shang Jianyao was still vigilant about his surroundings, but this didn't stop him from asking questions and acquiring knowledge:
"Why are people in settlements also called wilderness wanderers? The one just now was the real wilderness wanderer."
Bai Chen pulled up the scarf around her neck and said with a slightly grave expression:
"Because settlements are never stable.
"Changes in water sources, land quality, weather conditions, and monster migration all affect whether a place can serve as a settlement. Once the environment changes, people have to wander again and look for new settlements.
"And of all the factors, the biggest impact on them, making them migrate more frequently, is actually whether they have been discovered by a large force."
"Why?" Long Yuehong asked curiously.
Bai Chen glanced at him:
"On the Greylands, the most infamous are not the largest bandit groups, but the 'Slave Catching Teams' of 'First City'. They often break through settlements and capture people to use as slaves.
"In the mines and factories occupied by 'First City,' countless slaves have turned into corpses."
Jiang Baimian nodded slightly and added:
"Some bandit groups do the same, especially those that occupy mines."
"If it weren't for the fact that 'First City's' 'Slave Catching Teams' would also capture bandit groups, I think the most active industry on the Greylands would be slave trade." Bai Chen didn't know what she was recalling, glossed over it, and turned the topic back, "In addition, the output of many settlements cannot fully support all the residents. They must often leave the settlements and go to the wilderness to find fruits, hunt wild animals, and pick up various items to exchange for what they need. From this perspective, they are still wilderness wanderers."
As Long Yuehong listened, he thought of himself.
Although for so many years before, he could only eat meat once a week and often woke up hungry in the middle of the night, at least the basic food and clothing were not a problem.
Compared to those wilderness wanderers, he lived in paradise.
"It's really pitiful..." Long Yuehong said with emotion.
Bai Chen glanced at him:
"It's indeed pitiful, but when you encounter wilderness wanderers, it's best not to be too soft-hearted. The difference between them and bandits lies only in how hungry they are, how good your weapons are, and whether you are vigilant enough.
"When I was wandering in the wilderness, I was often attacked and often attacked others. In the eyes of wilderness wanderers, there are no good people, no bad people, only living and dying."
She didn't say these words too loudly, so it took Jiang Baimian a lot of effort to barely hear them.
This d6 employee of "Pangu Biology" with a ponytail shook her head:
"It can't be so absolute. I've met many wilderness wanderers who know how to be grateful and are willing to respond to kindness with kindness."
"For example?" Shang Jianyao asked.
Jiang Baimian showed a bright smile:
"For example, Bai Chen!"
Bai Chen was silent for a long time before saying:
"Team Leader, the water's boiling!"
Jiang Baimian nodded and said to Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong:
"Go to the car and bring all four water bladders over."
After replenishing the water, Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong began to learn how to drive the jeep.
Because the road was wide, there were no other vehicles, and they didn't need to park the car in a fixed area, and because the two were the new generation who had undergone genetic modification, their concentration, reaction speed, and hand-foot coordination were excellent, so they mastered the skill of driving almost effortlessly.
"It feels like flying." Long Yuehong reluctantly gave up the driver's seat to Bai Chen.
Shang Jianyao nodded in agreement.
If the road surface wasn't so soft here, and the closer they got to the Great Swamp, the more complicated the situation became, he could have made the car fly.
"It's getting dark, be careful." After Long Yuehong sat back in the back seat, Bai Chen stepped on the accelerator and said, "There's a group of abandoned buildings ahead, said to be a rest stop by the old world highway. We'll camp there tonight."
Jiang Baimian took the opportunity to teach Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong:
"The reason we don't continue on our way after dark isn't because there might be more and more dangerous creatures out at night. Basically, what you encounter during the day you will also encounter at night. The main reason is that after dark, there is not enough light, and the range you can see clearly is greatly reduced.
"This will make it difficult for us to spot potholes and swamps ahead of time, and similarly, we won't be able to detect dangerous creatures approaching in advance, which is very fatal. You should remember one thing: most beasts and monsters, as long as they can be discovered in advance, are not too big of a problem for humans with sufficient firepower. Our most dangerous enemies are more often our own kind and diseases."
Bai Chen, who was driving, interjected:
"I once encountered a swarm of mutated mosquitoes, each the size of a finger. The number was incalculable. Gathered together, they were like a large black cloud flying from the horizon, blocking all sunlight.
"Their bites release a terrible toxin that paralyzes humans and animals, slowing down their thinking.
"At that time, dozens of wanderers were densely covered by them and drained of all their blood.
"And whether it was pistols, rifles, machine guns, or rocket launchers, it was difficult to cause too much damage to them.
"Fortunately, we picked up a few usable flamethrowers that time. With them, one-third of us survived in the end."
Long Yuehong's scalp went numb, and he felt even more fear of the wilderness.
Shang Jianyao's eyes moved slightly, as if he was thinking about what other methods were suitable for dealing with such monsters.
Jiang Baimian nodded slightly and said:
"In this case, the company's 'Weed Removal Bomb' is a good choice."
While the four were talking, the jeep drove to a small ruin.
Most of the buildings, no more than three stories high, had collapsed, and the surfaces were covered with dense ivy, making it almost impossible to see the original walls, as if they had been submerged by a green tide.
In front of these buildings, there was a large open space piled with stones of various sizes, and the ground was cracked in many places, with clumps of plants sprouting from them.
After Bai Chen parked the car, she looked around and said:
"No new traces of human activity...
"We'll rest here tonight. There's a clean water source nearby."
Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong got out of the car one after another. Following Jiang Baimian's teachings, they collected wood to make a bonfire and used the solar charging panels that had been in the sun all day to recharge the jeep's high-performance battery—unless they knew the wilderness well and knew which places had settlements or corresponding ruins that could provide gasoline, otherwise fuel vehicles could only operate within their own sphere of influence or bring enough filled oil drums. And "Pangu Biology" was quite short of petroleum resources.
As for tents, they didn't prepare any, because they could sleep directly in the jeep—two people kept watch, and two people rested, taking turns.
Soon, the firelight illuminated the surrounding darkening environment. Jiang Baimian took out a few military canned foods and began to heat them.
Shang Jianyao, who had eaten an energy bar first, patrolled the surrounding area with the company-issued assault rifle nicknamed "Berserker," guarding against accidents.
Suddenly, he felt something and looked up at the collapsed buildings that were swallowed by ivy.
At the outermost and highest point of those buildings, a dark figure flashed past and then was blocked by obstacles and disappeared.
Shang Jianyao wasn't alarmed and said to Jiang Baimian, Bai Chen, and Long Yuehong as if nothing had happened:
"Eat quickly."
"Huh?" Long Yuehong looked puzzled.
Shang Jianyao said calmly:
"It seems like something is approaching."
ps: The update will be earlier at midnight to ask for recommendation tickets~