Regarding Lei Man's warning, Shang Jianyao showed no embarrassment. Instead, he earnestly suggested:
"If you join, we'll be more than just four people."
As he said this, he glanced back at Jiang Baimian, a hint of eagerness in his eyes.
Understanding that he was asking for instructions on whether to "make friends," Jiang Baimian hesitated for two seconds and then shook her head.
It wasn't necessary just yet.
After leaving the area where Lei Man and his men resided, the "Old Task Force" prepared to head to their next destination:
The "low-rise area" near the lake in the city ruins.
Bazi, one of Hervig's confidants, lived in this area. He had witnessed the entire gun shipment robbery.
Before leaving the motel camp, they returned to rooms "05" and "06" because Shang Jianyao wanted to use the restroom.
As soon as they opened the door, Jiang Baimian saw a piece of paper gently float to the ground.
It was slightly larger than a palm, and written on it was a line of Ashes Earth text:
"Don't meddle in other people's business!"
"No typos," Shang Jianyao said, picking up the paper with a surprised expression.
"Not everyone is from the Anti-Intellectualism Church," Jiang Baimian said, taking the paper and examining it under the winter sunlight.
When Bai Chen and Long Yuehong finished their personal matters and came out of the room, she handed them the paper with a smile and asked:
"Any thoughts?"
"Is it to stop us from investigating Hervig's death or to prevent us from finding the stolen weapons?" Long Yuehong analyzed step by step, following the leader's instructions. "If it's the latter, it means the robbers are likely inside Redstone Town. Otherwise, they would have retreated to another place and only sent one or two people to negotiate a deal. There's no need to threaten us. If it's the former, I think it's too hasty. We haven't found any clues yet. Threatening us is not as effective as warning Han Wanghuo of the Security Department."
Clapping loudly, Shang Jianyao, who had just come out of the restroom, expressed his appreciation.
The applause made Long Yuehong feel both happy and uneasy.
"Not bad," Jiang Baimian said with a smile, praising him. "You've made it into the beginning stages of problem analysis."
After speaking, she looked at Bai Chen:
"Any thoughts?"
Bai Chen, who had washed her face but hadn't put on her mask yet, frowned slightly:
"I think it's a little strange.
"It's too early... isn't it unnecessary?"
She meant that it wasn't yet necessary to warn them.
Jiang Baimian smiled:
"Indeed.
"There are only four of us, and only one 'Intermediate Hunter' among us. We haven't found any useful clues. Why bother threatening us in such a hurry?
"Didn't that arms dealer, Lei Man, also say that with our 'strength,' it's better to give up on the mission early?"
Shang Jianyao hit his left palm with his right fist:
"I get it!"
"What do you get?" Jiang Baimian asked, amused and exasperated.
Shang Jianyao said seriously:
"They must have seen through our disguise and know that we are the 'World Saving Team' sent by the ultimate villain, 'Pangu Biology.'
"They fear our strength, don't dare to confront us head-on, and can only issue a warning with bravado."
Jiang Baimian let out a long sigh:
"You think too highly of us."
She deliberately used honorifics.
Then, she said casually:
"Even if the Hunters Guild's branches regularly exchange data, it will take a while for the events in Weed City to reach here.
"Moreover, the Shang Jianyao Brotherhood's Weed City branch should still be operating normally. No outsiders know what we've done."
As a gene-modified human who can sense electrical signals, Jiang Baimian was certain that there were no eavesdropping devices in rooms "05" and "06" and the surrounding area.
"The ultimate villain and saving the world don't go together..." Long Yuehong muttered.
Not giving Shang Jianyao a chance to refute, Jiang Baimian "complained":
"Really, you interrupted my train of thought.
"Well, since we were warned when there was no need to, I can preliminarily assume that this is actually a form of protection."
"Protection?" Long Yuehong was shocked.
Jiang Baimian explained with a smile:
"The detailed description is: seeing that we are too weak and afraid that we can't bear the consequences of being drawn into the vortex, they give us a warning in advance, so that we stay away from the troubles.
"Well, besides this, there are two other possibilities: one is that the conflict has intensified to a certain extent, and the addition of any external force will cause the balance to tilt, so they have to take some preventive measures. But judging from Teresa's reaction and her choice, this possibility is very low; the second is that someone deliberately created this warning letter in order to frame someone. If this is the possibility, even if we don't publicize the fact that we were threatened, someone will definitely come to inquire and investigate. By then, the clues will be delivered to our door."
Long Yuehong listened with admiration, unable to help but sigh in his heart:
Alas, I only became 1.75 meters tall after genetic modification, and my brain is even farther behind the team leader. Well, she has undergone genetic modification, so there's no comparison, no need to compare...
"If it's the first possibility, why protect us?" Long Yuehong asked.
Shang Jianyao answered earnestly before Jiang Baimian could:
"Because I'm 1.85 meters tall and look good..."
"Stop!" Jiang Baimian stopped the reverse chanting.
She said with a smile:
"Maybe it's because we didn't disguise ourselves when we first entered Redstone Town, and it was obvious that we were Ashes Earth people, no, Ashes Tongue people."
Long Yuehong looked at the "warning letter" in his hand in astonishment, finding that it only contained Ashes Earth text, not Red River language.
He nodded thoughtfully:
"So that's how it is..."
…………
Redstone Town's "low-rise area" in the city ruins consists of three- or four-story buildings with courtyards and walls.
Before the destruction of the Old World, this place had another name, but it has been forgotten and no one mentions it anymore.
In the entire Redstone Town, it is estimated that only DiMarco in the "Underground Ark" or the data left by his family still remembers.
According to Teresa's description, the "Old Task Force" found the ancient tree with several hundred years of history that had been struck by lightning at least twice.
Behind and to the side of the ancient tree, there was also a three- or four-story small building with a courtyard and walls.
Jiang Baimian got out of the car, walked to the gate, and rang the doorbell.
After nearly a minute, a male voice came from inside the ancient tree's seemingly dead trunk:
"Who are you looking for?"
Before this, Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao had already cast their gazes over there.
"We are relic hunters taking over the gun shipment robbery case," Bai Chen, sitting in the driver's seat and facing the ancient tree, replied loudly. "Mrs. Teresa sent us here."
"Wait a moment," the male voice in the trunk said after a moment of silence.
After waiting for another two or three minutes, Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao looked at another building with a courtyard and walls.
A wooden board suddenly rose up on the wall, revealing a large hole.
Behind the hole was not a garden, but a deep passage.
The next second, a man crawled out of the hole.
He wore a metal-gleaming iron-black mask, and his flaxen hair was messy, as if it hadn't been combed for a long time.
As soon as he stood firm, he saw a grinning monkey mask.
Shang Jianyao rushed over with a whoosh.
"Stop! Distance is our friend!" The man wearing the iron mask was startled and quickly took a few steps to the side.
"Can your mask stop bullets?" Shang Jianyao asked curiously.
"No," the man wearing the iron mask replied blankly.
"Okay," Shang Jianyao said, a little disappointed.
At this time, Jiang Baimian had approached:
"You are Bazi."
"Yes," Bazi nodded.
"Was it you who was talking just now?" Jiang Baimian asked.
"Yes," Bazi said, suspecting that the other party had a problem with their ears.
Jiang Baimian suddenly became interested:
"You've dug a lot of tunnels, connecting many nearby places together?"
"I learned this from the Ashes Tongue people," Bazi said proudly. "There are tunnels everywhere, and exits everywhere, so no one can block me! I can even go around to the enemy's back and shoot them from places they can't imagine."
"Good idea," Jiang Baimian praised. "It's just that with the geological structure and soil conditions here, digging tunnels should be more difficult."
"We have machines from 'United Industries,'" Bazi asked, taking the opportunity. "Do you want them? Taking them to war-torn areas that need to dig tunnels can be exchanged for a lot of things."
"First, we have to wait until we get back the gun shipment and get the corresponding rewards," Jiang Baimian replied with a smile. "Besides, in real war-torn areas, you might encounter bunker-buster bombs and thermobaric bombs at any time. Hiding in underground fortifications is not necessarily a good thing."
She stopped chatting and asked seriously:
"Did you see what the robbers looked like? Do you know their origins?"
Bazi shook his head:
"They all wore masks, hoods, and sunglasses."
Speaking of this, he suddenly sneered:
"This can actually explain some things.
"If they were robbers from outside, they would run away after robbing, why would they need to do such strict disguises?
"They probably wear hoods because they don't want others to see what their hair color looks like..."
Shang Jianyao interjected:
"This can also be achieved by dyeing hair. I can introduce you to a professional team, it's just a little far..."
Jiang Baimian interrupted him:
"Looks like you have a suspected target."
"It must be those Ashes Tongue people!" Bazi said angrily. "Afterwards, I and a few others followed the tire tracks all the way and found that they went south, and after leaving the city ruins, they circled to the east!"
After speaking, he roughly explained what the east meant:
The DiMarco family's "Underground Ark" and the Vigilance Church's church are in the north of the city ruins; the Red River people are mostly in the west near the lake area; the Ashes Tongue people mainly hide in the buildings in the east of the city ruins; the south is the territory where the mixed-bloods operate.
——The park corresponding to Redstone Town is located in the middle and slightly west.
"I see..." Jiang Baimian said noncommittally. "Besides these, what else did you find?"
"Nothing else," Bazi shook his head again. "Uh... There were nine people involved in the robbery, their heights were not special, and there were seven or eight people ambushing around..."
After asking for some more details, Jiang Baimian simply replied:
"We will investigate the Ashes Tongue people."
Saying goodbye to Bazi, Long Yuehong sighed after getting into the jeep:
"It seems that the gun shipment was really robbed by the Ashes Tongue people..."
Hearing this, Jiang Baimian looked ahead and chuckled:
"The strict disguise may not necessarily hide the characteristics of the Ashes Tongue people, but also the hair and eye color of the Red River people."