In the drizzling rain, a jeep painted in military green camouflage slowed down, heading towards the entrance of the "Pangu Biology" underground building.
Looking at the gate, which they had only seen a few times but was incredibly familiar, Long Yuehong and the others couldn't suppress the excitement in their hearts.
After months of wandering outside, they were finally going home.
Shang Jianyao even raised his hand and wiped the corner of his mouth.
After leaving Redstone Collection, their destination was directly "Pangu Biology." They basically didn't stop anywhere along the way, except for a larger settlement where they replenished some food.
Moreover, compared to when they first set out, they no longer needed to worry about ambushes related to the "Sacrifice of Life," and the group's strength had also increased. Therefore, they didn't detour much, simply avoiding places that were too easily ambushed out of caution.
This effectively shortened the time spent on their return journey.
As the silver-white gate of the "Pangu Biology" entrance opened, Jiang Baimian immediately noticed that the layout here was very different from before.
In addition to the number of security department employees on guard increasing from the original twenty to thirty, two new types of security scanners had also been added.
"What's going on?" Jiang Baimian lowered the car window, stuck her head out, and asked without concealing her confusion.
Liu Chengkun, who was in charge of the entrance area, smiled and walked over when he saw it was an acquaintance:
"Yo, isn't this Mianmian?"
This D8-level captain in the security department was around thirty years old, with bronze skin and chiseled features.
"..." Faced with the long-unfamiliar nickname, Jiang Baimian didn't know how to respond for a moment.
Almost simultaneously, she heard a suppressed chuckle from the back seat.
Immediately afterward, Shang Jianyao, with a "pressed" voice, said to Bai Chen in the passenger seat:
"The nickname Mianmian isn't very Bai at all."
Bai Chen pursed her lips and didn't answer, but the muscles in her face seemed to twitch slightly.
Jiang Baimian took a breath, slowly exhaled, pulled the handbrake, and got out of the car.
She looked at Liu Chengkun and put on a smiling face:
"Team Leader Liu, what's going on? Why has it suddenly become so strict?"
Alas, who told this guy to be her brother's good friend!
Liu Chengkun glanced at Shang Jianyao, Long Yuehong, and Bai Chen, who had followed her out of the car, and said with a smile:
"It's because someone caused trouble.
"Before the New Year, a team returning from an external mission, when handing over items, a reckless fellow hid two items, not giving them to their team leader. As a result, one of the items seemed to have some hidden problem, causing a small-scale chaos, but it was resolved quickly.
"The board of directors questioned the minister about this matter, and the minister was also very angry. As soon as the New Year was over, he changed the rules, requiring the addition of search and registration posts at the entrance, so that teams returning to the company would hand over all items here, and they would be returned after review."
Previously, "Pangu Biology" wasn't so strict about personal belongings. After a preliminary inspection at the entrance, they would be directly released, and the team leader or captain of the corresponding team would be responsible for supervising the members to hand over items brought back from outside.
Upon hearing this, Jiang Baimian frowned and sighed with a smile:
"Really, isn't this causing trouble for everyone?"
The reason she said this was because she was planning to hide items.
--She didn't want to hand over the bluish-green night pearl that had DiMarco's aura fixed on it.
"Yeah, that unlucky ghost was demoted by a full three levels." Liu Chengkun shook his head and laughed. "Alright, please cooperate with the work."
"Okay." Jiang Baimian didn't object.
She called Long Yuehong, Bai Chen, and Shang Jianyao and opened the jeep's trunk.
During this process, she winked at Shang Jianyao.
Shang Jianyao had already inserted his left hand into his pants pocket.
He stood there, watching the team leader and Long Yuehong carry down two wooden boxes, without helping.
"What's this?" Liu Chengkun and several security department employees he had called over to be responsible for the inspection asked curiously.
According to their experience, the items brought back by external affairs employees were all scattered, mostly those carried with them and cardboard boxes filled with cans. Even if there were large items, they wouldn't specifically use a wooden box to store them.
Jiang Baimian deliberately smiled:
"Why don't you open it and see for yourselves."
Liu Chengkun wasn't polite; after all, this was also his job. He directly bent down and opened the lid of one of the wooden boxes.
"This..." Liu Chengkun was immediately startled by the item that came into view.
This, this was actually a military exoskeleton device!
In the next second, he heard gasps of cold air around him.
His subordinates opened the other wooden box.
Inside was also a military exoskeleton device, and it looked like a newer model!
While the inspectors' attention was drawn over, Jiang Baimian glanced at Shang Jianyao.
Shang Jianyao took out his left hand and nodded with a smile.
Huff, Jiang Baimian quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
A few seconds later, Liu Chengkun finally regained his senses, pointing at the two military exoskeleton devices and said:
"You, where did you get these from?"
The company didn't have many of these high-tech mechanical and electronic products, these military weapons, and they were always stretched thin when it came to allocation, but Jiang Baimian and their four-person team actually had two!
"One was exchanged for by accumulating supplies through hunter missions, and one was seized." Jiang Baimian explained simply.
Liu Chengkun and the security department employees around him were listening as if they were hearing a fairy tale, their minds filled with the phrase "I don't believe it."
They were all personnel who had been on external missions, and some even had the identity of relic hunters, but they had never discovered that military exoskeleton devices could be exchanged for by doing hunter missions!
As for being seized, they could understand it, after all, Jiang Baimian's team already had a military exoskeleton device, giving them the corresponding strength.
Liu Chengkun was silent for a few seconds, then opened his mouth and said:
"You guys had a very rich experience on this trip."
He gave up the idea of asking for detailed information, because the person Jiang Baimian needed to report to wasn't him, but Deputy Minister Xi Yu.
"We were just short of saving all of humanity." Shang Jianyao replied with a smile.
Liu Chengkun chuckled and said to the subordinates around him:
"Alright, don't just stare, check them one by one, classify and register them."
With the two military exoskeleton devices as the highlight, the batch of portable computers that the "Old Task Force" brought out later naturally couldn't amaze everyone anymore. They passed the preliminary search plainly and were placed aside, waiting to be handed over for review.
During this process, Jiang Baimian and the others also took out the items on their bodies one by one.
And according to the networked data, Liu Chengkun and the others returned the things that the "Old Task Force" had previously registered and reviewed to them on the spot.
One of the security department employees picked up an ordinary glass ball and casually asked Shang Jianyao:
"These things are everywhere, what's the point of bringing it back?"
Similar things were indeed rare in the "Pangu Biology" underground building, but on the Ashlands, this kind of item that couldn't be eaten, worn, or used could only be given to children to play with, and almost no one would deliberately collect it.
Those city ruins were full of similar glass balls, and most of them were more beautiful than the one Shang Jianyao had.
Shang Jianyao replied sincerely:
"Sentimental value."
"Hehe, which girl gave it to you?" The security department employee made a joke and put down the glass ball.
After completing the preliminary inspection, he signaled that Shang Jianyao could go through the security scanner.
After easily completing the process, Jiang Baimian drove the now-empty jeep back to its original position and led the team members all the way back to their office on the 647th floor.
After showering, they changed into clean clothes and walked towards the elevator again.
According to the instructions in the previous telegram, they needed to meet with Deputy Minister Xi Yu, who directly managed the "Old Task Force," with the entire team before dinner.
Seeing the elevator in sight, Jiang Baimian glanced at Long Yuehong thoughtfully:
"If you don't understand something later, actively ask questions."
"Yes, team leader!" Long Yuehong was just short of patting his chest to guarantee it.
They had already discussed the precautions for meeting the leader on the way back, one of which was:
It's better to ask the deputy minister more questions than to be asked by her!
For the "Old Task Force," who had their own little secrets and planned to hide the matters of saving Genava and beheading DiMarco, reducing the number of questions from Deputy Minister Xi Yu could effectively reduce the risk of exposure.
"Can I ask?" Shang Jianyao was very eager to participate.
"You just... forget it." Jiang Baimian frowned and then relaxed.
She was afraid of exposing the fact that Shang Jianyao's "illness" was more serious than the doctor's report.
At the same time, she was also afraid that Deputy Minister Xi Yu would be so angered by Shang Jianyao that she would lose her composure. In that case, they might be given a hard time in the future.
Before long, the "Old Task Force" arrived at the 646th floor, knocked on the door of Deputy Minister Xi Yu's office, and then, according to instructions, sat side by side on the long sofa.
Dressed neatly and appropriately, with chestnut-colored long hair and a gentle smile, Xi Yu held a sky-blue ceramic teacup, walked to the single sofa, and said with a smile as she sat down:
"I heard you brought back two military exoskeleton devices? Very impressive."
Jiang Baimian didn't answer this question immediately, but showed an expectant smile and said:
"Minister, you said before that if we can get military exoskeleton devices ourselves, you can decide to keep them in our team."
Xi Yu touched her forehead and said with a smile:
"I didn't expect you to get two in one go. Alas, now many people know about it and want to get one for their team. The action cluster director just called me to talk about this. You guys, you've put me in a very passive position."
"I can help you persuade them." Shang Jianyao volunteered.
"How to persuade them? With muscles?" Xi Yu could understand the "Old Task Force's" anxious mood and asked with a smile.
In this regard, he is professional... Jiang Baimian replied silently in her heart.
Not giving them a chance to speak, Xi Yu nodded:
"Fortunately, I can still withstand this pressure. After the review is no problem, those two military exoskeleton devices will have your names on them, and you can directly collect them each time you go on a mission.
"You also modified that jeep, right? Let it be your exclusive vehicle in the future."
"Yes, thank you, Minister!" Jiang Baimian didn't hide her joy.
At the same time, she quietly pinched Shang Jianyao's forearm with her right hand, telling him not to say anything out of line, such as "Thank you for not separating us."
With this conversation, the atmosphere became much more harmonious. Xi Yu looked around and said:
"Let's start with an oral report on this mission."