Facing the heavy stone door embedded in the black metal wall, Shang Jianyao silently took a breath, leaned forward, and pressed his hands against it.
Inside the three grooves above the stone door, brilliant light lit up one after another, as if stars had fallen from the high sky.
Within these three "stars," illusory words rolled and emerged, quickly solidifying into:
"Reasoning Clown," "Affected Person," "Missing Hand Movements."
Shang Jianyao focused slightly, and the ball of white light representing "Reasoning Clown" suddenly brightened, becoming even more radiant.
Almost simultaneously, the gray-white stone door trembled gently, retreating slowly with a creaking sound, retreating continuously.
In just a few seconds, the gray-white stone door that had troubled Shang Jianyao for many days opened completely.
He then retracted his hands, inserted them into his pockets, and stood quietly in place, gazing at the other side of the stone door.
There, a silver-white metal staircase stood silently, extending upwards, with no end in sight.
On both sides of the staircase was boundless darkness, so deep it seemed capable of swallowing the entire world.
"As expected…" Shang Jianyao whispered, taking out his hands, striding forward, and passing through the door without any hesitation, stepping onto the staircase.
One step, two steps, three steps… Although he couldn't see the end of the staircase no matter what, he still walked steadily and powerfully, without hesitation or haste.
During this process, only the echo of his footsteps reverberated around him; nothing else existed.
This, combined with the profound darkness on both sides, brought an indescribable sense of fear.
After walking upwards for an unknown number of levels, Shang Jianyao finally saw another color in the deep darkness.
It was a gray-white stone door similar to the previous one, still embedded in a black metal wall with no visible upper, lower, left, or right boundaries, and with three grooves above it.
If the situation under his feet hadn't changed, if there weren't "stars" around, Shang Jianyao might have thought he had returned to the original hall.
He pondered for two seconds, quickened his pace, and came to the new stone door in a run and a jump.
Then, he slightly turned his body, put one hand in his pocket, and pressed the other hand onto the door.
As he expected, within the three grooves on the gray-white stone door, white light rose one after another, coalescing into illusory stars.
Within the "stars," countless words rolled, and soon solidified, also into:
"Reasoning Clown," "Affected Person," "Missing Hand Movements."
Among them, the white light representing "Reasoning Clown" was much brighter than the other two.
Unfortunately, this time, the gray-white stone door only trembled slightly, without retreating.
Shang Jianyao went from lightly pushing with one hand to gradually applying force with both palms, his back bending as if trying to put his entire weight on the stone door.
The heavy stone door's swaying amplitude remained unchanged, and the gap did not widen.
Shang Jianyao retracted his hands, straightened his body, and glanced at the relatively bright "Reasoning Clown" and the slightly dimmer "Affected Person" and "Missing Hand Movements," nodding thoughtfully.
When these three balls of white light dimmed and disappeared one after another, Shang Jianyao's figure also blurred.
He truly entered a deep sleep.
After an unknown amount of time, Shang Jianyao suddenly felt his body shaking.
He instinctively opened his eyes and saw Jiang Baimian's dark and straight eyebrows, as well as her bright and spirited eyes.
"What did you encounter?" Jiang Baimian, seeing that Shang Jianyao had finally woken up, didn't hide her relief.
Shang Jianyao thought seriously for a moment and replied:
"Slept too soundly."
Jiang Baimian's eyebrows twitched slightly, as if she used a lot of strength to restrain herself, while Long Yuehong in the back left seat "pfft"ed.
Bai Chen, who was driving, suddenly pressed harder on the accelerator, and the jeep sped up, almost leaving the relatively clear "road."
"Huff…" After a few seconds, Jiang Baimian slowly exhaled, "It seems we've left that abnormal range. Bai Chen, find a relatively hidden place to park nearby."
She turned her gaze to Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong in the back row again:
"We'll camp here for the next few days. After lunch, Long Yuehong, you and Bai Chen will catch up on sleep, and Shang Jianyao and I will be responsible for guard duty and patrolling.
"Until the team sent by the company sends a signal, we'll train in wilderness survival in this area."
"Yes, team leader." Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong had no objections.
…………
A day later, inside the Old Task Force's camp.
Long Yuehong, who had just finished lunch, took out a fruit the size of a longan, covered with a bluish-gray hard shell, from his pocket.
He then used his teeth to crack open the shell, revealing the tender white, plump flesh inside.
Long Yuehong first sucked on the overflowing juice before sucking out the flesh and chewing it in his mouth.
"So delicious…" After swallowing the flesh, he praised sincerely.
During the past day's training, his biggest gain was recognizing this food called "Fresh Fruit."
It came from some widely distributed, drought-resistant, hard-leaved shrubs, had a short growth period, could be stored for a long time, and contained no toxins. The only problem was that the yield was very low, with only a few fruits growing on each shrub, making it impossible to use as a staple food, and no one would specifically collect it.
According to Bai Chen, it was the most beautiful childhood memory for many wasteland wanderers.
Shang Jianyao also had Fresh Fruit in his hand, and he was putting the last bit of tender white flesh into his mouth.
The flesh of this wild fruit was not as soft and dense as he had initially thought, but rather a bit like an apple, with a crisp texture.
Its taste was slightly sour, but it didn't mask the sweetness, making one feel more energetic as they ate.
After chewing and swallowing the few thin seeds hidden in the flesh, Shang Jianyao clapped his hands and stood up.
Jiang Baimian was about to announce the start of the afternoon's training when she suddenly saw three fireworks blooming in the northern sky in quick succession: one yellow, one green, and one blue.
"The company's signal flares…" She frowned slightly and muttered to herself in a loud voice, "They're coming too fast, aren't they?"
"Someone faking it?" Bai Chen thought of a possibility.
Jiang Baimian carefully distinguished them and shook her head:
"These are specially made signal flares by the company. Outsiders can't fake them, and the color sequence is also correct.
"Maybe, there just happened to be a security department team training nearby and they came directly? Or did the company notice the anomaly north of Moon Ruin Station a long time ago, on the night we first heard the roars?"
After listening, Shang Jianyao suddenly laughed:
"Why don't we send Long Yuehong over to confirm first?"
"Why me?" Long Yuehong retorted in astonishment.
"I can only command you." Shang Jianyao was very frank.
Long Yuehong glanced at him, deliberately showing contempt.
At this moment, Jiang Baimian smiled and said:
"What Shang Jianyao said makes sense too."
Long Yuehong's face turned slightly pale.
Jiang Baimian continued:
"We'll return to the Black Rat Town area first. When we get nearby, we'll send someone wearing an exoskeleton to scout."
Hearing about the exoskeleton, Long Yuehong immediately regained his composure.
He raised his hand and patted his forehead, muttering softly:
"How could I forget about this…"
Jiang Baimian tilted her head. Although she didn't hear clearly, she could roughly guess what Long Yuehong was going to say.
She said with a smile, refuting him:
"Do you think you can handle the reconnaissance mission?
"How many Security Department employees do you know?
"When we get there, even if there's reconnaissance to be done, it'll definitely be me."
After speaking, Jiang Baimian strode towards the jeep, leaving behind only a light sentence:
"You guys pack up."
…………
As evening approached, the Old Task Force returned to the hilly area where Black Rat Town was located.
After Jiang Baimian's reconnaissance while wearing the exoskeleton, they completely confirmed that it was people from Pangu Biology who had sent out the contact signal flares.
After putting away the exoskeleton, Bai Chen drove, bringing Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao, and Long Yuehong to the base of the small hill.
There were more than a dozen Pangu Biology employees wearing gray-black uniforms here. They were holding standard Berserker assault rifles, blocking the road in different positions.
Bai Chen stopped the jeep according to the gestures from the other side. Jiang Baimian opened the door first and walked over.
On the way, she took out a rectangular nameplate with red background and gold lettering and put it on her chest.
On the nameplate, the words Pangu Biology shone in the setting sun.
Two fully armed employees wearing the same nameplate came up to greet her. One was holding a handheld electronic device with a screen, and the other asked:
"Electronic card number."
"0." Jiang Baimian skillfully spat out a string of numbers.
The Security Department employee holding the handheld device entered the string of numbers and pulled up Jiang Baimian's related information.
He quickly compared the photo and characteristics and raised his hand in a salute:
"Good evening, Team Leader Jiang."
After Shang Jianyao, Long Yuehong, and Bai Chen verified their employee electronic card numbers, the two Security Department employees on the other side simultaneously cleared the road.
"Which brigade are you from? How did you get here so fast?" Jiang Baimian asked casually.
The Security Department employee who had requested the electronic card number replied:
"After the news of the anomaly north of Moon Ruin Station came back, we set off. We only saw the emergency signal flare you launched on the way."
The employee holding the handheld electronic device added:
"We're from the 23rd Brigade."
Jiang Baimian was not surprised by their answer and felt much more relieved, saying:
"How many teams have you sent?"
"The entire brigade is here, and there are armored vehicles." The Security Department employee on the other side did not hide anything.
"Not bad." Jiang Baimian's face showed a slight smile.
Within Pangu Biology, the Security Department was responsible for external operations, and the basic unit was the combat team.
Each combat team consisted of between twenty and thirty people, with a team leader (D7 level) and a deputy team leader (possibly D4 to D6 level).
To facilitate command, combat teams were further divided—they often set up three to four squads, each with a squad leader (D4 or D5 level).
Similarly, three combat teams formed an operational brigade. With the addition of extra personnel, an operational brigade had about 100 people, and the captain's level was generally D8.
Above that was an operational group, consisting of between four hundred and five hundred people, which was the Security Department's largest organizational structure, and the corresponding supervisor was D9 level.
If a large-scale war broke out, operational groups would form temporary operational clusters, several at a time, commanded and controlled by different operational cluster directors (M1 level management)—the big boss's exclusive guard, management's directly affiliated operational cluster, and important project security clusters were permanent special cases, and the number of people was less than in a true operational cluster.
In other words, the operational brigade could be considered the mainstay of the Security Department's organizational structure.
"Where's your captain?" Jiang Baimian asked instead.
"In Black Rat Town." The employee on the other side holding the electronic device honestly replied.
Jiang Baimian nodded:
"Take us over there. I have important information."
ps: Asking for recommendation tickets~