Under the dim glow of the streetlights, Long Yuehong walked slowly along the street, observing whether there were any elderly local residents.

In the process, he was inevitably attracted by the dazzling array of goods in various stalls, full of interest in the strange things found in the ruins of different cities.

After walking for a while, Long Yuehong stopped in front of a stall.

It was displaying many jade, emerald, and diamond jewelry.

He felt that his mother didn't seem to have similar things, and thought about getting one or two for her.

Inside "Pangu Biology," ordinary employees' ornaments mainly consisted of silk flowers and hairpins. Necklaces, earrings, rings, brooches, and scarves were either passed down for several generations or "picked up" by "Security Department" employees on their "scavenging" trips. They were scarce and not so easy to obtain.

Long Yuehong squatted down, picked up a diamond necklace that looked quite dazzling, and examined it carefully for a while.

He couldn't tell if it was beautiful for women, so he could only consider it from another perspective:

Gold and silver jewelry were more practical. Even if he exchanged them back and his mother didn't like them, they could be used as equivalents.

During the journey, Long Yuehong, Shang Jianyao, and the others had learned some economic concepts from Jiang Baimian.

"Why aren't there any gold jewelry?" Long Yuehong asked, holding the diamond necklace and scanning around, puzzled.

The stall owner, a gray-skinned man with a face full of stubble, replied unhappily:

"Merchant groups collect all the gold and silver. Why would anyone need to sell it here?"

That's right, these are items with industrial uses and can also be used as currency... Long Yuehong understood and put down the diamond necklace.

He felt that the stall owner's attitude was not very good and didn't want to trade with him.

Just as he stood up, the stall owner also stood up and shouted:

"Outsider, don't you know the rules of our Tarnan?

"You have to buy anything you pick up and look at!

"You've touched it with your hands; how can anyone else want it?"

Long Yuehong was both surprised and a little apprehensive. Just as he was about to explain that he didn't know the situation, the corner of his eye caught sight of a man, presumably a local resident, playing with a set of white porcelain bowls and plates at the next stall, then putting it back and slowly turning to leave.

During this process, no one stopped him, nor did anyone force him to buy it.

Long Yuehong, who had quite a bit of Graylands experience, immediately woke up, pulled up the corner of his clothes, and revealed the pistol on his armed belt.

The stall owner laughed disdainfully:

"Trying to rob me directly?

"I see you don't know how powerful the robot guards are!"

Long Yuehong certainly remembered the law that "private fights are prohibited in Tarnan." He had only done that to show an attitude.

He looked up at the surveillance camera on the nearby street light and asked the stall owner:

"Do you want to hit me?

"That seems to be a private fight too."

The stall owner laughed:

"The robot guards don't care about private fights without weapons."

As he spoke, the owners of the two stalls next to him also stood up, bolstering his momentum.

"So that's how it is." Long Yuehong got the answer he wanted and feigned enlightenment.

As soon as he finished speaking, he took a step, advancing instead of retreating, and charged forward.

When he was working with Bai Chen in Wildgrass City, he had received corresponding instruction:

In similar situations, never show weakness, even if the other party is heavily armed and can kill you, you have to bluff.

Of course, if the enemy doesn't buy it at all, there's another old saying:

"A wise man submits to circumstances."

About a minute later, Long Yuehong patted his clothes, looked down at the stall owner and his two companions on the ground, and said with "confusion":

"It's really strange, how is it that not using weapons doesn't count as a private fight?"

The stall owner and his two companions curled up in a ball, clutching their stomachs, groaning in pain, unable to answer.

To be honest, if the three of them really attacked together, Long Yuehong's fists might not be able to defeat six hands, after all, he couldn't cause fatalities. However, he unexpectedly took the initiative to attack, catching the other party off guard. Before the stall owner's companions could react, he quickly resolved the main target, and then used the weakness of the other two, who were concerned about the goods in their stalls and were hesitant to act, easily dealing with them.

Seeing that the surrounding pedestrians and other stall owners did not interfere, Long Yuehong had a deeper understanding of the survival rules on the Graylands:

In the contemporary era, where order has not been fully established, a big fist is the ultimate truth.

With a bit more confidence in his heart, he stepped forward.

As he walked, he saw a familiar figure:

Shang Jianyao was standing in the middle of the street, looking left, looking right, looking forward, looking very hesitant, as if he couldn't make up his mind about something important.

Eh, does he have times like this too? Long Yuehong was curious and had the idea of asking him.

Just then, he saw the situation on the street clearly:

On the right, a group of people were gathered there, dancing to strange steps to the beat of the drums in the sound system, occasionally shouting in unison, "Praise you, the Door to the New World";

On the left, another group of people were gathered around a half-high wooden platform, singing loudly "The world is an illusion, a dream of Nanke" and "Mirage Dragon is supreme, Shattered Mirror endures forever," bringing out an ethereal and sacred feeling;

On the front right, an iron pot was set up, emitting a rich fragrance. Chicken wings coated in batter were gradually turning light golden. In front of the iron pot, a very thin pole stood. A woman was standing on top of the pole with one foot, fully opening her arms, fully demonstrating her symmetry and balance.

When he looked back, Long Yuehong understood what Shang Jianyao was struggling with:

There were three different religions here. Dancing, singing, and fried chicken wings made it impossible for him to choose!

This is truly a crucial crossroads in Shang Jianyao's life... Long Yuehong suddenly recalled a line from a radio drama.

In fact, if these three weren't so close together, he felt that Shang Jianyao would definitely want "all of them."

At the same time, he tentatively identified which three religions they were:

One was the "Furnace Church" they had just encountered not long ago, one was the "Honor Scale" mentioned by Ferlin, the leader of the "Rootless" merchant group, and one should be the church that worshiped the November Ecliptic "Shattered Mirror."

Tarnan is really lively... Long Yuehong decided not to bother with Shang Jianyao and continue his "adventure."

Although he was also a little hungry for fried chicken wings, he wasn't the kind of person who would sell his faith for a holy meal.

Passing the solemn and hesitant Shang Jianyao, Long Yuehong walked dozens of meters forward.

As he scanned the area, he saw an old woman sitting at the entrance of an alley.

The old woman was wrapped in a thick dark red cotton-padded jacket, with a wicker chair beneath her. Her hair was already white, and she was clearly quite old.

She didn't have a stall in front of her and seemed to be simply out to enjoy the lively atmosphere.

Seeing that the other party was a gray-skinned person, Long Yuehong mustered his courage, approached her, and politely called out:

"Grandma, can I ask you something?"

The old woman raised her head and opened her mouth:

"#%^**"

Long Yuehong was bewildered.

It was only now that he realized that some dialects of Graylands language might be even more difficult to understand than Red River language.

What should he do? Just as Long Yuehong was about to give up and politely say goodbye, the old woman calmly took out a palm-sized black electronic device from her pocket, pressed a button, and repeated her previous words.

Then, the black object emitted an electronic synthesized voice:

"Young man, you're very polite. What do you want to ask?"

Long Yuehong briefly forgot his mission and blurted out:

"What is this?"

He had already confirmed that the other party could understand his Graylands language.

After the old woman babbled again, the black electronic device spoke again:

"This is a 'translator' produced in the Old World, repaired by Mechanical Paradise.

"Last time, a merchant group gave a pile of canned food and this in exchange for our grain, vegetables, and livestock. It's quite useful."

"Indeed." Long Yuehong gradually understood Miens of the Tenfang Merchant Company's words:

There's nothing strange about Tarnan, it's just that there are more robots, electronic products, and mechanical products.

Thinking about whether to tell the team leader to get one or two for backup, Long Yuehong turned and asked:

"Grandma, are you a local?"

"Yes, I am." The old woman used the "translator" to communicate with Long Yuehong, "I came in New Calendar year 3. More than forty years have passed. My children have children now. Alas, my decision to stay was really wise. None of my friends in the southern region have lived to my age. They were either killed by bandits, encountered wars, encountered plagues, encountered famines, or developed various illnesses as they got a little older."

Long Yuehong complimented her a few times and got to the main topic:

"Grandma, you've been in Tarnan for so many years. Do you know what 'Mechanical Paradise' wants the most?"

The old woman recalled and said:

"They want a lot of things. There are also quite a few things they haven't gotten their hands on, haven't made, or don't exist at all, such as 'nuclear power miniaturization technology,' 'ultra-high performance battery technology,' key data on Old World controlled nuclear fusion research, the construction of an oil pipeline from the 'Coastal Alliance' to Tarnan, the repair of more railway lines between the two places, uh, they also seem to be quite short of various ores."

"..." Long Yuehong's expression stiffened.

Ignoring the mineral resources and infrastructure-related matters, if the "Old Task Force" could obtain or create the previous demands, they could directly enter the "save the world" process.

After a few seconds, Long Yuehong reluctantly asked:

"Don't they have anything else they particularly want?"

The old woman thought for a long time before saying:

"There is.

"When I first came to Tarnan, 'Mechanical Paradise' was offering a reward to find a person named Maximillian, a Red River person, who seemed to be a scientist.

"The reward was offered for many years. Later, I don't know if they found him or gave up, and there was no more news."

Maximillian... Long Yuehong noted the name and asked:

"Do you remember that person's characteristics?"

The old woman replied without hesitation:

"I don't remember. I never took on this task. I just heard people mention it."

Long Yuehong asked:

"Then who took it on?"

"That old codger took it on." The old woman said with a smile, "It's the current chairman of the Guild, Gu Bo, Old Man Gu."