Jiang Baimian wasn't surprised at all by Xu Liyan's question. She chuckled inwardly and said:
"Councilor Zhao has encountered some problems at several manors outside the initial city. He wants us to resolve them."
"We don't know what the problems are, but they sound very strange." Shang Jianyao helped to add.
Although he had always felt that Zhang Qubing was a pure madman, Xu Liyan strangely believed that he wouldn't lie about such things, because this guy was mad in a very upright way.
Therefore, he put down the worry he had been holding and asked instead:
"You guys don't make a living as relic hunters. Do you still need to take on missions?"
"Just earning some extra money on the side." Knowing that Xu Liyan was subtly trying to get information, Jiang Baimian gave a simple explanation.
This was the truest of truths.
In the beginning, the "Old Task Force" just wanted to get some extra funds to operate in the initial city and take advantage of the Zhao family's network there. It could barely be said that they were making extra money on the side. But after receiving Lehman's telegram, they really went there to earn extra money.
"On the side? You guys want to go to the initial city?" Xu Liyan asked thoughtfully.
"No." Jiang Baimian answered before Shang Jianyao could.
She said without changing her expression:
"Didn't a white giant wolf with strange abilities that can charm humans appear in the mountains north of the Red River?
"As you know, our company mainly studies biology. How could we let go of such a specimen?"
She was implying that they were going for that white wolf, but in reality, she didn't explicitly say so in a single word or punctuation mark.
Was "Pangu Biology" interested in that white wolf? Definitely!
After receiving the "Old Task Force's" telegram and learning about this, would "Pangu Biology" send a team to try to capture it? Definitely!
But what relationship did that team have with the "Old Task Force?"
Long Yuehong listened behind Bai Chen, dumbfounded. He felt that if he were in Xu Liyan's position, he would also be misled in that direction.
It's really deceiving... If I hadn't heard about the white wolf last night, what excuse, no, what reason would the team leader have found? Well, we can't reveal to Xu Liyan that we are going to the initial city, even though he is secretly cooperating with the company, he still hasn't left the 'initial city' and has inextricable ties with that place... Long Yuehong glanced at Xu Liyan, who had a look of realization, and muttered a few words in his heart, expressing his sympathy.
At this time, Jiang Baimian was quietly grabbing the back of Shang Jianyao's clothes with her left hand, using this to imply that he shouldn't talk nonsense and shouldn't spoil her plan.
"I've heard of that mission." Xu Liyan nodded and said, "My two advisors and Pure Mind Zen Master all agree that that white wolf is very dangerous. Even if a 'High-Ranking Hunter' goes, they might lose their lives if they're not careful. Haha, with your team's strength, that's not too much of a problem."
Jiang Baimian didn't want to continue this topic. She tugged Shang Jianyao, implying that he should use his unrestrained thoughts to change the topic to another direction.
Shang Jianyao asked a question he had before:
"Which Zen Master is lecturing now?
"Why do I feel that all the mechanical monks look the same and wear similar clothes? Can't they learn from the Artificial Intelligences and give themselves some features? For example, the metal chin can be ground to a point. It might be used as a weapon in close combat..."
He expressed his opinions at length.
Bai Chen agreed with this very much and couldn't help but nod.
As the team moved, they got closer to the wooden platform. Xu Liyan looked at the lecturing mechanical monk and said with a wry smile:
"To be honest, I can't tell them apart either. He introduced himself as Pure Mind Zen Master, so I treated him as Pure Mind Zen Master. If he introduced himself as some other Zen Master, I would treat him as some other Zen Master, as long as he doesn't 'go crazy' in Wild grass city.
"Uh, the one lecturing now is still Pure Mind Zen Master."
Long Yuehong's curiosity was piqued, and he couldn't help but interject:
"Then how do the mechanical monks distinguish each other and accurately recognize who the other is?"
"Sending radio waves, verifying unique keys, etc., etc." Jiang Baimian tried to answer from the perspective of mechanical and electronic products.
As she spoke, she suddenly thought of something:
"Did Pure Mind Zen Master say not to provoke him in a certain place?"
In general, mechanical monks all have a weakness that makes them go crazy when touched.
Some of this comes from the price paid, and some comes from the imperfection of consciousness uploading technology.
Xu Liyan shook his head:
"He didn't say."
"This means that his trigger point won't appear under normal circumstances." Jiang Baimian "hmmed" and extinguished her thoughts of exploring.
As they spoke, they continued to follow the team and move toward the wooden platform.
At this time, many people had already gotten buns and were squatting or standing around, eating them with the porridge. Shang Jianyao looked at them with envy.
None of them left because the only requirement of the Monastic Order for distributing food was to listen to the lecture.
It doesn't matter if you take the porridge and buns and leave this time. No one will stop you, but you will be blacklisted next time, and you won't get anything.
Mechanical monks can scan faces and store a lot of data.
After chatting for a while, Xu Liyan looked at the sky and said with a smile:
"Recently, my butler has collected a batch of animals hunted in the wilderness. Are you interested in coming to a barbecue party tonight?"
Shang Jianyao's eyes lit up.
Then, he sincerely suggested:
"Some ingredients are not suitable for grilling."
Jiang Baimian smiled as if she was thinking:
"City Lord Xu, aren't you afraid of causing unnecessary misunderstandings with the 'initial city'?"
Xu Liyan laughed:
"Taking advantage of the last incident, I reorganized the City Lord's Mansion and replaced many people. The 'initial city' can only know the information I want them to know."
"Then we will accept your kind invitation." Jiang Baimian released her left hand that was grabbing the back of Shang Jianyao's clothes.
Shang Jianyao was very happy, but the question he asked was completely irrelevant:
"How is the 'fake' priest now?"
Xu Liyan's expression darkened:
"Dealt with.
"I originally wanted to recruit him, but his abilities were too dangerous. I was afraid that I would become his puppet without knowing it."
This point also applies to Zhang Qubing, but he has no way to deal with him.
"Well, better safe than sorry." Jiang Baimian expressed her understanding.
Bai Chen and Long Yuehong also felt that this was the best solution. Only Shang Jianyao was vaguely disappointed.
Just as Xu Liyan was about to say something else, Shang Jianyao smiled:
"It's our turn!"
Xu Liyan turned to the side in confusion and found that he had already reached the several iron pots.
Pure Mind lecturing on the wooden platform and the human servants distributing food simultaneously turned their gazes to him.
They all recognized City Lord Xu.
The servants were even lent to Pure Mind Zen Master by Xu Liyan to help.
Obviously, they were all quite surprised that City Lord Xu was queuing here.
Xu Liyan's face flushed red, and he was so embarrassed that he wanted to dig a hole nearby and bury himself in it.
A servant mechanically handed out a bowl and gave two buns. Xu Liyan mechanically took them, watching as another servant scooped a spoonful of porridge into his bowl.
Not bad, it was quite a lot.
……
The next day in the afternoon, outside Wild grass city.
The modified military green jeep sped across the wilderness.
The driver was Genava, who had blue light in his eyes, was wearing a military uniform, and had a shiny metal skeleton. He had rushed over from Redstone Town and charged the high-performance batteries with energy.
For this, Jiang Baimian had Bai Chen compensate Aunt Nan with a lot of Ore.
Shang Jianyao was in the passenger seat. From left to right in the back row were Jiang Baimian, the reserved Long Yuehong, and Bai Chen.
They were all leaning against the back of their seats, looking lazy.
"What's wrong with you?" Genava was a little puzzled.
As his slightly synthesized baritone voice echoed, Shang Jianyao burped, representing his satisfaction.
"Last night's barbecue party was very good." He gave high praise to Xu Liyan's hospitality, looking like a close "brother."
Jiang Baimian followed up with a smile:
"He also let us bring some raw meat and seasonings, but we can't keep it for too long. We have to deal with it in the next few days."
Genava quite understood humans' love of food and asked instead:
"Are we going directly to the initial city next?"
Jiang Baimian responded:
"Yes, go directly to the initial city!"
ps: I originally wanted to insist on not doing single updates, but yesterday I had a bladder game chat with the person in charge and producer of the Mystical animation, so I couldn't code. Today, I'm relying on the drafts. Alas, I can only do single updates tomorrow and the day after. I hope everyone will forgive me. In addition, I would like to report to everyone that I will chat with the director of the Mystical animation later, and the entire project can be launched. Yesterday, we mainly talked about the overall direction of the worldview, creative concepts, etc., and we got along very well.