The familiar "distance is our friend" suddenly gave Jiang BaiMian and the others a sense of truly returning to Redstone Town.

This was a settlement where everyone believed in the Vigilance Sect, each person being overly cautious, always emphasizing hiding themselves and maintaining distance.

The people the "Old Task Force" encountered yesterday either didn't engage in conversation at all, only having faint interactions, or, constrained by the reputation of Redstone Town's local tyrant, adopted a very low posture, failing to reflect the local characteristics and religious habits.

Thoughts racing, Jiang BaiMian turned her head to look at Shang JianYao, a hint of schadenfreude in her eyes.

Her meaning was:

See, because you leaked the secret to vent your anger, letting them know you are an Awakened and become sufficiently wary, you can't close the distance now. You can't rely on "Reasoning Clown" to make key friends and sneak into the "Underground Ark," right?

This meant that at least a third of Shang JianYao's planned "feasibility方案" was blocked, and that third was the part with a relatively higher chance of success.

For Jiang BaiMian, who was wavering internally and more inclined to mind her own business, this was a good thing.

She responded to Butler Ulrich with a smile:

"I can understand your vigilance."

After what happened last time, you didn't directly shut the door on us, which is already very polite.

Butler Ulrich clearly didn't intend to exchange pleasantries, and asked directly:

"What can I do for you?"

Jiang BaiMian pointed to Genava, who was wearing sunglasses:

"As you can see, we recently obtained a robot, and the number of high-performance batteries we have in reserve is relatively insufficient. We'd like to trade for some from you."

While she was speaking, Shang JianYao looked at Genava and said in a tone appropriate for an ordinary robot:

"Come on, play a song for the butler."

Genava analyzed the situation and felt that this was necessary for disguise, so he activated the loaded playback module, and surround sound emanated from his "mouth":

"only..." (Note 1)

He was stopped by Jiang BaiMian after singing only one word:

"No need, the butler can understand."

Ulrich had some understanding of this ruin-hunting team and ignored the interlude, saying with little change in expression:

"It's still winter, and the goods we stocked up at the end of the year have already been shipped out. As for the smugglers from 'Future Intelligence,' they probably won't be here for another month or two."

His implied meaning was that "Vesa Trade Company" also didn't have any inventory now, and it would be a long time before new smuggled batteries arrived.

Long YueHong's summary of this was:

Even the landlord's family doesn't have surplus grain!

He now understood Bai Chen's fear of old world entertainment materials quite well. If it weren't for the team leader's control, the mission's constraints, and the pursuit of "Mechanical Paradise", he suspected that he would become addicted to it.

People in the old world really lived enjoyably!

Jiang BaiMian remained unmoved and said with a smile:

"The 'Underground Ark' also consumes a lot of high-performance batteries. You must have kept some spares. I wonder if you can spare some for us? The price is negotiable.

"In another month or two, new goods will arrive. Maybe 'Future Intelligence' will have breakthroughs in battery technology, and the new models will leave the old batteries far behind? We can help you clear out your inventory."

Ulrich thought about the various performances of this ruin hunter team in Redstone Town, and the fact that his master was startled but not enraged, and pondered for a few seconds:

"How many do you need?

"If it's not a large number, I'll see if I can squeeze some out."

Jiang BaiMian smiled:

"Fifty."

Ulrich suddenly coughed and could no longer maintain a serious and professional attitude.

Twenty or thirty seconds later, he finally recovered:

"That many?"

Are you trying to form a robot guard?

Saving a little, that's enough to support ten robots - as long as you don't use high-energy modules like laser weapons too often, or need to fight often.

"How many can you provide at most?" Jiang BaiMian asked instead of answering.

Ulrich thought for a moment and said:

"Five."

"That's too few." Shang JianYao made an evaluation in place of Jiang BaiMian.

"There aren't any more." Ulrich's attitude was quite firm.

I'll just have Shang JianYao break into the Ark and turn your warehouse upside down! Jiang BaiMian said something angry in her heart, and said after consideration:

"Keep these five high-performance batteries for us for three days, and we'll ask around in other places."

She didn't plan to stay in Redstone Town for too long, after all, it had very close trade ties with "Mechanical Paradise", and they had revealed in Tarnan that they had passed through Redstone Town, so the "Mechanical Paradise" pursuit team had a good chance of catching up here.

Although Jiang BaiMian already had some different ideas about this, she still felt that she needed to be cautious.

"No problem." Ulrich didn't entangle.

In his opinion, taking out five high-performance batteries to get rid of this ruin hunter team was definitely a good deal, and it wasn't like the other party wasn't exchanging materials.

...

Leaving the underground mall, the "Old Task Force" drove straight to the lakeside and arrived at the lakeside villa where AnHeBasi often lived.

Outside the corresponding underground parking lot, Bai Chen had just stepped on the brakes when Jiang BaiMian looked at the entrance and said suspiciously:

"There's no one inside..."

"That's right." Shang JianYao and Genava gave affirmative answers respectively.

Jiang BaiMian immediately turned her head to look at Genava:

"Do you have a mine detector loaded?"

"Yes." Genava pointed outside and said, "Do you need me to do an inspection?"

"Of course." Jiang BaiMian smiled.

After watching Genava get out of the car, Shang JianYao said with a regretful expression:

"I thought he had loaded a Minesweeper game."

He seemed very envious of such things.

Jiang BaiMian thought for a while and said:

"That should be unified in the entertainment module.

"Uh, what would an artificial intelligence play Minesweeper for? His calculation ability is much stronger than ours."

While chatting, Genava confirmed that the entrance of the underground parking lot had no landmines, no explosives, and was very safe.

Only then did Jiang BaiMian let Bai Chen drive the jeep in.

After a more detailed search, they found some traces of human life, and they were quite fresh.

"Did they leave this morning, or in the middle of last night?" Jiang BaiMian made a preliminary judgment in the manner of a question.

She suspected that AnHeBasi and his men were still here last night.

Bai Chen said thoughtfully:

"Maybe he received intelligence that we had returned to Redstone Town and left overnight."

"Isn't that reaction a bit too excessive? We wouldn't do anything to him!" Jiang BaiMian said, feeling both annoyed and amused.

Of course, she also admitted that Bai Chen's possibility was very high.

It wouldn't be strange for this to happen to a "You Gu" believer. Besides, AnHeBasi had been tricked by the "Old Task Force" before.

...

At the hotel camp, Shang JianYao and the others returned to their rooms.

It wasn't even noon yet.

They had gone to the town guard team in Redstone Town to inquire, and AnHeBasi had indeed left with some of his confidants in the middle of last night, saying that he was going to "United Industries" to discuss a business deal.

At this point, Jiang BaiMian could be sure that this guy was scared away by the news of the "Old Task Force's" return.

"Are we that scary?" Jiang BaiMian asked this question in the car.

No one answered her.

After sending a telegram to the company and explaining the itinerary, Jiang BaiMian walked out of the room and saw Shang JianYao standing outside the door, looking at the other side of the hotel camp, lost in thought.

"What are you thinking about?" Jiang BaiMian asked alertly.

Shang JianYao didn't move his gaze and said to himself:

"I was thinking, can I use 'Reasoning Clown' to infiltrate those servants and sneak into the 'Underground Ark'..."

"There's no feasibility." Jiang BaiMian directly denied Shang JianYao's idea, "Those servants will receive training for a period of time on the first underground floor of the Vigilance Church. Only after they are qualified can they enter the 'Underground Ark.' Do you think you can disguise yourself under surveillance for so long? DiMarco and his butlers know you."

Just as Shang JianYao was about to say something, the silver-black artificial intelligence robot Genava approached and asked in a slightly synthesized voice:

"Do you want to infiltrate the 'Underground Ark'?"

"He does, not me." Jiang BaiMian "cleared" the relationship.

Genava held the sunglasses he had exchanged from Redstone Town in one hand and said in a flat tone:

"Our 'Mechanical Paradise' is responsible for the system transformation of the 'Underground Ark'."

Oh, right... Jiang BaiMian instinctively asked:

"Didn't you say that the corresponding data was destroyed? Didn't you say that only non-intelligent engineering robots can be sent in?"

"Could it be that you secretly made a backup, or left fatal loopholes?" Shang JianYao also asked excitedly.

Genava shook his metal head:

"We have professional ethics."

He further stated his idea:

"As long as there is a data network, there is a possibility of intrusion."

"Do you have a way?" Shang JianYao asked eagerly.

Genava said in an unchanged tone:

"In this situation, I can't do it alone. Someone inside must cooperate.

"He needs to tell me the general system structure. I will write a corresponding virus, put it on a flash drive, and he will take it in and insert it into a node of the data network..."

Jiang BaiMian could understand what Genava was saying, but it felt a bit unrealistic.

She had never been exposed to this kind of "warfare" before.

Although she had once relied on auxiliary chips to crack hunter badges and had once tried to invade the internal system of the mechanical monk JingFa, the matter of relying on a data network to invade and open the "gate" of a force was really only read in some old world books.

On the gray earth, most places don't have computers, systems, or networks, so there is no soil for similar things to happen. Jiang BaiMian naturally lacks sufficient experience and finds it difficult to directly correspond the descriptions in the book to reality.

Seeing Shang JianYao and Jiang BaiMian looking at him without speaking, Genava added:

"Writing a virus is very simple for artificial intelligences. There are many templates to refer to.

"The most important thing in this matter is to find an internal person who can provide assistance. This requires social engineering..."

Before he could finish speaking, he saw Shang JianYao smile:

"Leave this to me."