A boundless lake rippled in the wind to the left of the vehicle, alongside which stood buildings originating from the Old World.
Some had collapsed, others were dilapidated, and some were covered with withered plants that occasionally shed a few leaves.
"Is this Redstone Collection?" Long Yuehong, who was driving, asked with surprise.
They had been traveling south from Weed City for some time. Based on the approximate location provided by "Uncle Sun" Sun Fei and the leader of the "Rootless" team, Fei Lin, as well as the routes pointed out by several teams of relic hunters along the way, they had barely managed to find the Rage Lake area and locked in a large range.
Then, they followed the traces left by human activities and found this city ruin located by the lake.
Without satellites providing positioning and without a guide, they could only rely on this clumsy method. After all, Bai Chen only knew about Redstone Collection and had never actually been there. Her former activity area was limited to "Pangu Biology," "First City," and "White Knights Order."
This was the norm for most relic hunters and wilderness wanderers. Although they might be homeless and live by relics, they were still limited to a certain area by intelligence, supplies, connections, courage, and experience.
Bai Chen, in the co-driver's seat, was also a little puzzled:
"This looks like it's been abandoned for a long time."
"The excrement is relatively fresh, indicating that there are many people active here. Even if it's not Redstone Collection, they should know where it is," Shang Jianyao said with certainty from the back seat.
He was very confident in the traces he had discovered.
When they set off from Weed City, in order to raise supplies to exchange for military exoskeletons, Jiang Baimian suggested selling the extra vehicle to the "Rootless" caravan.
Because Shang Jianyao hugged the jeep and refused to let go, saying that they were already companions and must not abandon each other, the "Old Task Force" had to sell the bulletproof SUV gifted by Xu Liyan.
To improve the jeep's survivability and enhance everyone's safety, Jiang Baimian spent about half of the exchanged supplies, asking Fei Lin and others to add bulletproof glass and thicker armor to the vehicle, and改造the electric engine.
Of course, they didn't prepare the food and ammunition needed for the journey themselves. They directly submitted a report back to the company and received a large batch through Chen Xuifeng.
Official matters must be handled officially!
Hearing Shang Jianyao's words, Jiang Baimian raised her hand to her nose:
"Enter the ruins and wander around to see what we can discover."
After speaking, she glanced at the books in Shang Jianyao's hand:
"How's the reading going?"
Before setting off, she used Shang Jianyao's "privilege" to borrow a batch of relatively unpopular disease-related books from the Weed City Public Library.
"Very rewarding," Shang Jianyao said, watching Long Yuehong drive the vehicle towards the city ruins.
"Oh?" Jiang Baimian used her tone to express curiosity.
Shang Jianyao seriously replied:
"Studying medicine cannot save all of humanity."
Jiang Baimian was a little confused for a moment:
"What do you mean?"
"Effective organization, the spirit of exploration, the courage to experiment, scientific methods, the inheritance of knowledge are the most important things, and medicine is just one link," Shang Jianyao spoke eloquently.
"Then, have you found a new idea to deal with 'Disease Island'?" Jiang Baimian cut to the chase.
During this time, Shang Jianyao always discussed the "Disease Island" with her without any hesitation, so she didn't help him avoid Bai Chen and Long Yuehong.
Shang Jianyao solemnly replied:
"No.
"I can only continue to work hard according to the current ideas."
"Not bad, maintain this spirit of repeated defeats and repeated battles," Jiang Baimian encouraged.
Bai Chen looked at the cracked cement and protruding steel bar建筑ruins, hesitated, and gave her suggestion:
"Actually, you can really catch a minor illness and feel the real appearance of the disease."
"I've also considered this plan." Although she had previously rejected Shang Jianyao's similar ideas, Jiang Baimian had not completely abandoned this direction. "The main reason is that this guy is as strong as an ox and doesn't catch minor illnesses at all. If we deliberately infect him, the severity is easily out of control. Well, if it really doesn't work, let's wait until we get back to the company."
Long Yuehong opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but rationally closed it.
The next second, Shang Jianyao said:
"You can let Long Yuehong catch a cold first, and then infect me."
"What's the difference?" Jiang Baimian cursed, "Okay, observe the surroundings."
At this time, the slightly old and tattered military-green jeep drove into the city ruins that stretched far along the lake.
Similar ruins from the Old World always seemed to stretch endlessly, larger than imagined.
This was very similar to the ruins next to the "Rootless" camp. A large number of buildings had collapsed, the road surface had sunk, and there were no valuable items left. It was desolate and eerily quiet.
"In the Old World, how lively this place must have been..." Long Yuehong thought of the scene after the Swamp No. 1 ruins "lit up."
That wasn't even a tenth of what the Old World cities looked like.
"The decline of human civilization is sometimes faster and more thorough than we imagine, and sometimes it's more tenacious and stubborn than anyone thinks," Jiang Baimian said with emotion, looking at the city outside the window that had died for countless years.
Bai Chen made detailed observations:
"These collapses and destructions are quite old, not recent."
She wasn't a professional, so she couldn't judge how many years specifically.
"At least it eliminates the possibility that Redstone Collection was destroyed recently. Well, the premise is that this is indeed Redstone Collection." Jiang Baimian looked at the lifeless gray-white concrete, the messy steel bars, the glass shards revealed in the weeds, and the rusty empty window frames flashing before her eyes one by one.
They circled around in this silent city ruins for over a dozen or twenty minutes, and still didn't find any traces of human habitation.
"It seems we've gone the wrong way. Redstone Collection is somewhere else nearby," Long Yuehong said, stating his judgment. "Such a large city ruin doesn't look like a集town. They should often come here to look for valuable items, which is why they left those traces."
Hearing his words, Shang Jianyao became energetic, as if he was sure that this was Redstone Collection.
"Hey!" Long Yuehong knew what this guy's thought process was like and couldn't help but complain.
Similarly, Jiang Baimian also grasped Shang Jianyao's "reasoning" process:
Long Yuehong had bad luck, his luck wasn't very good, so the route he chose and the answers he gave often deviated from the correct one.
In that case, when he said that this didn't look like Redstone Collection, then this was likely Redstone Collection!
Before Jiang Baimian could scold Shang Jianyao and maintain Long Yuehong's self-esteem, her expression suddenly changed slightly, as if she didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
She coughed and pointed to a tall building by the side of the road. Although it hadn't completely collapsed, it was unusually dilapidated and had obviously been炮击ed:
"There's someone inside."
"Right!" Shang Jianyao echoed with a very certain attitude.
They simultaneously sensed the existence of human electrical signals and consciousness inside that building, and the straight-line distance was no more than fifteen meters.
Long Yuehong's expression suddenly became a little complicated.
"Coincidence, coincidence," Jiang Baimian said with a dry smile to comfort him. "Stop the car, Shang Jianyao and I will go inside and ask that person for directions."
Shang Jianyao also comforted Long Yuehong:
"I'm now more certain of your importance to our team.
"You are our compass!"
What compass, isn't it a指南针? Long Yuehong subconsciously raised a question.
In an instant, as Shang Jianyao's good friend, he understood what this meant:
指南针is used to point in the correct direction, 指北针is used to eliminate incorrect routes!
At this moment, his teeth itched a little.
"You have to be careful that Xiao Hong shoots you in the back one day," Jiang Baimian said to Shang Jianyao as she pushed the door open and got out of the car.
Shang Jianyao thought for a moment, walked to the car window of the driver's seat, and said sincerely:
"You can tell me directly that you don't like me joking about this."
After speaking, he revealed a smile:
"But I'll accept it on the premise that you beat me once when we practice fighting."
"Elementary school level激将法," Jiang Baimian said, walking past him.
Long Yuehong was silent for a few seconds, looked at Shang Jianyao and said:
"I will work hard."
In previous combat training, although he had been working hard to improve himself, his long-standing self-awareness made him accept "mediocrity" and not have the competitive spirit to win against someone.
After watching Shang Jianyao and Jiang Baimian enter the building beside the road, Bai Chen and Long Yuehong took their weapons and got out of the car to monitor the surrounding area, including the roof where snipers might be present.
After a while, when the two switched positions, Bai Chen suddenly whispered:
"Everyone has times when their luck is bad."
Long Yuehong was stunned for a moment and smiled:
"Thank you."
Inside that building, Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao quickly locked onto a room on the edge of the hall.
They then lightened their steps, crossed the area with many gray-white stones and glass fragments, and arrived there.
After exchanging glances, Shang Jianyao tacitly went around half a circle and guarded the other exit of the room.
After he was in place, Jiang Baimian shouted loudly from an area where the people inside couldn't shoot:
"Come out, we've found you."
The room with the wooden door tightly closed was silent, as if nothing existed.
After a dozen seconds, the side door in front of Shang Jianyao opened silently.
A gray, twenty-something-year-old man hunched over and钻ed out.
He suddenly stopped, raised his head, and saw a bright sunny smile:
"Found you!"
The "Icetick" in Shang Jianyao's hand was already抵on the man's forehead.
The man immediately raised his hands, appearing very docile:
"I lost."
Hearing this sentence, Shang Jianyao was a little surprised:
"Why are you saying you lost?
"We weren't even competing."
The man, with a gun pointed at his forehead,坦然replied:
"This is the rule of our Redstone Collection, and it is also the教义of our教派."
"教派?" Shang Jianyao's eyes suddenly lit up, "Is your教义hide-and-seek,躲猫猫?"
The man was stunned for several seconds before answering:
"No, it's to be vigilant at all times, to hide at all times."
Shang Jianyao thought for a moment and asked rhetorically:
"What's the difference between that and what I said?"