Shang Jianyao briefly recounted his experiences on that island, concluding:
"No difficulties, no monsters. Maybe they're hiding and discussing how to surrender with dignity."
Jiang Baimian ignored the last half of Shang Jianyao's sentence, muttering to herself thoughtfully:
"This is indeed strange.
"Could it be a projection of some psychological shadow?"
Saying that, she turned to look at Shang Jianyao and suggested:
"Try it a few more times and see if there are any changes."
This was the only option. Without sufficient preconditions, they could only rely on attempts to gather information.
Long Yuehong, who was next to Shang Jianyao, smiled and said:
"That 'island' looks like it's for rest and vacation."
"That shouldn't be the case. Every 'island' within the 'Sea of Origins' must have its own meaning." Jiang Baimian shifted her gaze to Long Yuehong and chuckled, "If it were you, I could guess what psychology this 'island' corresponds to and predict what will happen next."
"What is it?" Shang Jianyao asked curiously.
Long Yuehong tried to stop her, but failed. Jiang Baimian said with a smile:
"It's Xiaohong's fear of his own will being corrupted and disintegrated.
"Think about it, an island with plenty of sunshine, a warm and gentle sea breeze, spacious and exquisite houses, all kinds of ingredients, everything you need, a beautiful wife, all your relatives and friends, frequent visitors. All of this combined will definitely make Xiaohong forget his ambitions and erode his will to strive."
With all of that, why bother striving? Isn't that the goal of my struggle? Long Yuehong didn't dare to say what was on his mind.
"He might think it's a gift from the Ruling Age," Shang Jianyao helped.
This time, Long Yuehong didn't refute him, only quietly corrected a mistake:
"Heaven."
He didn't believe in any Ruling Age, so of course it was a gift from Heaven.
Jiang Baimian knew when to stop and didn't continue the topic. She thoughtfully said to Shang Jianyao:
"Could that island really be eroding your will?"
"I just found it very boring," Shang Jianyao answered truthfully.
Seeing that they couldn't come to any conclusion on this matter for the time being, Jiang Baimian picked up the walkie-talkie, pressed the button, and said to the car behind:
"Did you hear the reminder from that Ruin Hunter?"
Although she wasn't sure if it was a Ruin Hunter team, everyone they encountered in the wilderness could temporarily be given the title "Ruin Hunter."
Jorgensen held the spare walkie-talkie that Bai Chen had given him before departure, answering eagerly:
"I heard it.
"But don't worry, it's very close to Tarnan. Once the people from 'Mechanical Paradise' receive the news, they'll send a team of intelligent robot guards to clear it out. They aren't afraid of any 'Higher Mindless'."
They probably aren't too afraid of Awakened either... Jiang Baimian muttered silently and asked directly:
"How long will that take?"
"I don't know. It depends on when Tarnan receives the news," Jorgensen answered honestly.
Jiang Baimian pondered for a moment:
"Is there another way to bypass that area?"
"Yes, but it will take an extra half a day. The road is also very bad, and trucks can't go at all, but these two vehicles we have should be fine." Jorgensen tried his best to play his role as a "guide."
He didn't want to be tied up before getting into the car like some of his companions.
While waiting for the car behind to overtake, Long Yuehong couldn't help but feel a little worried:
What if that "Higher Mindless" moved to another place and happened to be blocking the new road?
This wasn't a real beast with a fixed area of activity. Even beasts might "move" when stimulated.
Long Yuehong didn't bring up the question, afraid that it would come true as soon as he said it.
At that time, Shang Jianyao would surely "sigh" gleefully:
"Alas, that's the power of a bad name."
...
Perhaps because Long Yuehong held back that question, the Old Task Force didn't encounter any accidents on the road afterward. It was just that the road was broken and the car was driven very slowly. There were also obstacles to be cleared from time to time, wasting a lot of time.
At dusk, after crossing an old stone bridge, Jorgensen reported through the walkie-talkie:
"Another half an hour south and we'll be in Tarnan."
So smoothly? Long Yuehong couldn't believe it.
While he was uneasy, the following developments were uneventful. After dark, the Old Task Force and their "entourage" arrived in Tarnan.
This was a small city spanning the river. There weren't many tall buildings, the roads were gray and white, neat and intact.
"Lucky Goddess bless us," Jiang Baimian could finally say that.
"Wrong," Shang Jianyao retorted, "It's Lucky Xiaohong blessing us."
"How did he bless us?" Jiang Baimian replied.
Shang Jianyao, who was driving, smiled:
"He didn't speak."
You two are enough... Long Yuehong cried weakly in his heart.
Fortunately, as the vehicles entered Tarnan, Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao's attention was focused on this small city dominated by intelligent robots.
On both sides of the clean and tidy concrete road were street lamps, shining brightly in the dark night, like stars reflected on the ground.
Beyond the sidewalks were buildings that weren't too tall. At a glance, the tallest building was only fifteen or sixteen stories high.
These buildings formed semi-enclosed courtyards in groups of several. Although the exterior walls were old, they were very clean, and no plants grew out of the cracks.
This made Long Yuehong and Bai Chen naturally think of the Swamp Ruin No. 1.
That's what it looked like dimly lit, only on a larger scale and more shocking.
At this time, a slightly complicated red truck turned from the intersection and stopped next to an extinguished street lamp.
The next second, this small truck underwent strange changes.
It first slowly propped itself up, and then stretched out its various parts, reorganizing some places.
After about thirty or forty seconds, it slowly transformed into a five- or six-meter-high robot.
Then, it slowly but steadily removed the broken street lamp and checked the circuit.
The four members of the Old Task Force in the jeep saw this scene and opened their mouths halfway, unable to recover for a long time.
Their only difference was that their emotions were somewhat different:
Shang Jianyao was excited, curious, and agitated, Jiang Baimian was surprised, invigorated, and eager, Bai Chen was stunned, shocked, and confused, and Long Yuehong was shaken, bewildered, and surprised.
Seeing the car behind slowing down, Jorgensen picked up the walkie-talkie and said:
"Don't worry, that's Tarnan's repair robot. It's clumsy, inflexible, and not good at fighting."
"But it can turn into a car!" Shang Jianyao's voice came through Jiang Baimian's walkie-talkie.
That's enough!
Jiang Baimian withdrew her gaze, took a breath, and said:
"First, take us to Mayor Gnawa's place."
"Okay." Jorgensen introduced it in detail, "This is Hexi, the area where the 'Mechanical Paradise' robots are active... After crossing the bridge and arriving at Hedong, it is a place specially reserved for humans... Mayor Gnawa's house is by the bridge in Hexi..."
As he spoke, he directed the driving robber to turn towards the destination.
——He certainly couldn't drive down the mountain road for a whole day. After obtaining the consent of Jiang Baimian and the others, he released a companion he could deal with and took turns driving with him.
The city wasn't big. In less than ten minutes, the Old Task Force arrived next to a relatively new bridge.
To the right of the bridge, the area near the river was lined with detached buildings, all shaded by trees. Some of the entrances were even covered with lawns that were still green in winter.
"The white one is it." Jorgensen had his companion stop the car, opened the door, and introduced it.
With the aid of the streetlights along the road, Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao, and the others barely managed to see the area where the intelligent robots lived. They also saw a group of people walking towards this side from the bridgehead.
"Mountain Fox" bandit leader Pannania held his ox-horn helmet and said to his subordinates next to him:
"It's better to go directly to Officer Gnawa. We suffered too much this time. If we don't sell the supplies as soon as possible, we don't know how to get through the winter!
"Those profiteers will definitely lower the price when they see what we look like. These robots are fair. Although they won't give too much, it will definitely be a lot."
As they spoke, they turned onto the riverside road, preparing to walk towards the robot mayor Gnawa's residence.
At this time, under the light of the streetlights, they saw several familiar figures.
There were their companions that they had abandoned before, and there were also the people who had caused their team to suffer heavy losses!
Although they hadn't encountered Shang Jianyao at the time, and couldn't see Long Yuehong's appearance through the helmet of the exoskeleton, the beautiful woman with the shoulder-mounted rocket launcher had left an extremely deep impression on them:
One side was blood and fire, and the other was as beautiful as a painting.
With a buzzing sound, alarm bells rang in their minds. Without even thinking about it, they took out their weapons and assumed a defensive posture.
Jiang Baimian, who had noticed them coming in advance, quickly scanned them and muttered to herself:
"Fourteen..."
She immediately said to Shang Jianyao:
"You in front, we in back."
Meaning you're responsible for the nine in front, and Xiao Bai and Xiao Hong and I will suppress the five in the back.
This was simple.
As the atmosphere instantly became unilaterally tense, Jorgensen and the others trembled a little, not knowing whether to obey the upcoming order from their current "master" to fight their boss, or take the opportunity to rebel and get rid of their shackles, or, ignore everything else and just not stand in the middle of the two sides—they would be shot to death.
The next second, next to a streetlight, the black surveillance camera emitted a synthesized electronic voice:
"Private fights are prohibited in Tarnan. Please put away your weapons immediately, or you will be responsible for the consequences."
Hearing this sentence, Pannania and the other bandits breathed a sigh of relief at the same time:
Fortunately, it was in Tarnan.
As soon as they had this thought, they saw Shang Jianyao rush under the streetlight, raise his head, and excitedly urge:
"Say some more, say some more!"
The talking surveillance camera fell silent, as if it had never encountered such a request before, and there was no corresponding content in the database.