Viel? Jiang Baimian exchanged a surprised glance with Bai Chen and the others.
Was this mission about to end as soon as it started?
Shang Jianyao clenched his right fist and slapped his left palm with a “pa,” looking regretful.
Before he could even show his skills, the target had emerged on their own!
They had all studied Red River language. Even Bai Chen had picked up some due to the environment, although their levels varied. At least, they had no problem with basic listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
At this moment, Viel replied to Bishop Renato’s question with a smile:
“I’ve been in the ventilation ducts all along.
“You don’t understand the essence of hiding. You pick a spot and stay put, while I move around depending on the situation. When you come, I go somewhere else; when you leave, I return.
“The only problem is that you have to learn to circle around, so your crawling sounds aren’t heard.”
Renato, wearing a mask, was silent for a few seconds before saying:
“You don’t seem like you’ve been hungry for three days.”
“I prepared food in advance.” Viel smiled smugly. “After circling to the place farthest from you, I could crawl into the bathroom for some tap water and a toilet break.”
He waved his arm and added:
“That’s real hiding. We clearly live in the same place, but it’s like we’re in two different worlds.”
“You aren’t wearing a mask.” Shang Jianyao suddenly pointed out.
He also used the Red River language.
The short Viel glanced at the tall “monkey.”
“I’ve mastered the complete set of disguise techniques. You won’t recognize me even if you run into me again.”
“Your features are too obvious.” Shang Jianyao sincerely reminded him.
The smile on Viel’s face vanished.
In just a second or two, he returned to his previous expression.
“Nothing is irreparable.”
“There is.” Shang Jianyao pointed at himself. “I can’t disguise myself as a midget.”
Viel narrowed his eyes and offered a suggestion with a smile:
“You can break your legs.”
Long Yuehong watched from the sidelines, his lips twitching as if he were watching two kids argue. Jiang Baimian didn’t want the two to keep arguing. She coughed twice, signaling Bai Chen to interrupt.
Understanding her idea, Bai Chen took two steps forward and said to Bishop Renato of the Vigilance Church:
“Viel has been found. Does that mean our mission is over?”
She didn’t use the phrase “Viel has come out,” but emphasized that he had been “found.”
No matter what, this had happened after they had taken on the mission. If there was no credit, there should at least be some hard work.
Moreover, Renato might even entrust them with investigating Viel’s real hiding situation in the past few days.
Renato raised his hand and touched the mask on his face.
“Yes, the mission is complete.
“But in this situation, the reward won’t be much.”
“It doesn’t matter. Fulfilling your previous promise is enough. Consider the story of the DiMarco family as the remaining payment,” Jiang Baimian interjected in a tone that suggested she loved listening to stories.
Being able to establish a relationship with the Vigilance Church would definitely be helpful for the Old Task Force’s trip to Redstone Town.
Bai Chen then grunted to indicate that this member’s thoughts were her own.
“You are honest, fair, and humble, making me feel like I’m seeing a second Captain Han.” Renato highly praised the Old Task Force’s behavior of not dwelling on the reward.
“Captain Han? The one from the Security Department?” Jiang Baimian was quite curious about the second half of the sentence.
Renato nodded.
“Yes, he possesses most of the chivalrous virtues of the Old World.
“If not for this, and just because he’s a Senior Hunter who doesn’t believe in my Lord and always hides, the townspeople wouldn’t have unanimously agreed to invite him to be the security officer.”
“Unbelievable!” Shang Jianyao always spoke his mind.
Long Yuehong could completely guess which aspect he was lamenting, because he had similar thoughts.
A Senior Ruins Hunter who came from the wilderness actually possessed most of the chivalrous virtues of the Old World: humility, compassion, fairness, honesty, courage…
It was as if one were saying that the Mechanical Monks were extremely emotional, lovestruck, and lived up to both Buddha and their beloved.
Even Bai Chen, a Ruins Hunter who also came from the wilderness and was relatively senior, found it absurd and laughable.
She was already considered to have a relatively high moral baseline in this group, but she was still very far from those virtues.
She wondered if she could at least touch “compassion,” and that had to be for a specific target. As for “courage,” she could barely reach it with effort.
“There will always be some exceptions in this world.” Renato didn’t argue about this issue. “Even if Han Wanghuo’s performance is faked, as long as he can keep faking it, he’s a true knight.”
“Mm.” Jiang Baimian expressed her agreement.
She was more interested in another point.
Although there were many people who spoke Ashlands language here, they seemed to be more deeply influenced by Red River culture.
Of course, after the destruction of the Old World and the migration of a large number of people, only fragments of the two cultures remained in many places, and then they merged together.
Renato glanced at Viel, who was much shorter than him.
“Go to the Lord’s altar and pray, completing this Mass.”
“Yes, Your Grace.” Viel walked towards the exit with a slight skip in his step.
When he passed Shang Jianyao, he suddenly turned his head and made a face.
After watching the half-grown child leave, Shang Jianyao clenched his right fist and slapped his left palm.
“What a pity…”
Jiang Baimian rolled her eyes subtly.
She knew that Shang Jianyao regretted that he was wearing a mask and couldn’t return the face.
Renato didn’t ask what Shang Jianyao regretted. He pointed forward and switched to the Ashlands language.
“Redstone Town’s largest arms dealer is here.”
“Mr. DiMarco?” Jiang Baimian was a little excited.
Did this mean they could meet the Honorary Town Mayor who had never left the Underground Ark?
Even meeting through electronic products would be good.
As long as they could communicate, they could ask the DiMarco family about their understanding of the Old World’s destruction!
“Yes, strictly speaking, it’s Mr. DiMarco, but the one actually in charge is Mr. Karl, one of his three stewards.” Renato, wearing a black cloak, explained, “I’ll introduce you later.”
“Okay, okay!” Jiang Baimian mimicked Long Yuehong’s catchphrase.
“She’s so excited.” Shang Jianyao “quietly” said to Long Yuehong.
“Remove ‘so’ and change it to ‘a little.’” Jiang Baimian retorted.
Hearing their conversation, Renato turned his head and glanced at Bai Chen, as if to say that it must be tough to lead such a group of immature and unreliable teammates.
Bai Chen was too embarrassed to tell him that the one leading them was the team leader.
When she couldn’t change Shang Jianyao, she could only join him.
And mental illness was always a chronic disease.
After leaving this corridor and walking around for a few minutes, Shang Jianyao and the others saw another elevator hall.
There were three gray-black elevators that looked very heavy, and two small LCD screens were embedded in the intervals.
Renato took a few steps forward, pressed a button, and waited patiently.
After a while, the screen on the left flickered, showing a middle-aged man.
He wore a black formal suit from the Old World with a meticulous bow tie. His black hair was slightly graying, but it was combed neatly back.
His facial features were typical of the Red River people, with light blue eyes. Although his appearance was average, he had an indescribable temperament.
It wasn’t quite noble or elegant, but his existence gave DiMarco, the master of the Underground Ark, a bit of that feeling.
“Just in time, Mr. Karl. I have some friends who want to meet you and discuss some business.” Renato originally wanted to ask the person on the other side of the screen to pass on the message, but he found that the steward Karl was on duty today.
This time, he switched to the Red River language again.
Karl scanned the four masked people behind Renato through the camera.
“Please have them come to my office between nine and ten tomorrow morning.
“I still have tasks assigned by the Master to attend to today.”
Bai Chen glanced at Jiang Baimian and nodded to Renato.
“Alright.” Renato agreed.
Karl then asked:
“Has this Mass ended?”
“It’s over.” Renato’s tone revealed a sense of relief.
“Vigilance is eternal.” Karl crossed his hands and placed them on his chest, taking a step back.
He politely added:
“See you tomorrow.”
After the image on the LCD screen disappeared, Renato turned to Bai Chen and said:
“Mr. Karl’s office is on the fifth floor of Redstone Town, with the sign ‘Visa Trading Company.’”
“Visa? Why is it called that?” Jiang Baimian, new to this place, was always very curious.
“That’s Mr. DiMarco’s grandfather’s name,” Renato explained.
Jiang Baimian then looked at the elevator and LCD screen.
“Are these things left over from the Old World?”
“The frames are. Later, they were transformed by the Mechanical Paradise, replacing some of the old and broken things.” Renato knew a lot about this, after all, it was necessary to enter the underground through the church he presided over.
Jiang Baimian wasn’t surprised at all that the DiMarco family had cooperated with the Mechanical Paradise, because this was an important smuggling node with many resources needed by the Mechanical Paradise. Moreover, compared to Wild Grass City, it was closer to the southern sea, which was where the Mechanical Paradise was located.
She asked curiously:
“Humans can’t enter the Underground Ark, but robots can?”
“Yes, but they must be non-AI and non-weaponized.” Renato said casually, “At the time, the Mechanical Paradise specially formed a small non-AI engineering team. Hmm… Mr. DiMarco should also have specially trained talents internally. Combining the two, they completed the renovation and transformation of the Underground Ark in no time. When the engineering team left, the corresponding data and information were also destroyed.”
As they spoke, they returned to the fortress-like church on the ground.
After saying goodbye to Renato and getting into the jeep, Jiang Baimian, who was sitting in the passenger seat, suddenly smiled.
“Do you think that Viel was telling the truth?”
Bai Chen, who was driving, replied calmly:
“At least part of what he said was a lie.”
ps: Normal updates will resume tomorrow