Black Marsh Wilderness, somewhere near the Icefield.
Due to the melting snow, the road was muddy, giving Long Yuehong the feeling of driving on the edge of a swamp.
"Don't you get a sense of déjà vu?" Shang Jianyao, in the right seat of the back row, leaned forward, inquiring with great interest to Long Yuehong and Bai Chen in front.
Long Yuehong recalled for a moment and said:
"The time we encountered the Black Marsh Iron Serpent?"
That time, the swamp expanded and almost swallowed the road.
Shang Jianyao nodded with satisfaction:
"Yes, I still remember how nervous you were at that time, you didn't even know how to use the gun, and you seemed to have peed your pants."
"That's not true!" Long Yuehong immediately retorted, "That was the first time I encountered danger, I have a very deep impression, definitely not like you said."
Shang Jianyao tried to persuade him:
"Maybe that memory is just too unbearable, your subconscious chose to forget it."
"I'd believe you if you were a ghost!" Long Yuehong glanced at Bai Chen in the passenger seat, and a sense of emotion arose. "At that time, we were chased all over the place by aberrant creatures at the level of the Black Marsh Iron Serpent, but now, even if two more came, we could easily solve them."
Whether it was laser or electromagnetic projectiles, it was enough to penetrate the scales of the Black Marsh Iron Serpent.
"Yes." Shang Jianyao agreed. "If we really encountered one, we would throw a nuclear bomb over and detonate it directly, and it would vaporize."
"Hey, consider whether this will accidentally injure our own people!" Long Yuehong experienced what Jiang Baimian often said, "both annoyed and amused."
Shang Jianyao didn't pick up on this topic, but instead began to "tsk tsk":
"What you said just now is not right!
"Didn't we solve the Black Marsh Iron Serpent easily at that time? Da Bai's 'Thunder Spear', Xiao Bai's 'Eye-Piercing Strike', and the Black Marsh Iron Serpent was down. Are you questioning whether they didn't do well enough?"
Long Yuehong hurriedly defended:
"No, I'm just most impressed by the part where the Black Marsh Iron Serpent chased us."
Jiang Baimian finally couldn't stand it anymore and stopped Shang Jianyao:
"Play fewer games, what 'Thunder Spear', what 'Eye-Piercing Strike'...
"Is there any movement in Xiao Chong's gap?"
Shang Jianyao showed a sad expression:
"No, I've been playing so well."
After speaking, he turned his head to look at Genaeva:
"Old Ge, where do you think the problem lies?"
Genaeva began to analyze:
"Maybe Xiao Chong has been playing games, immersed in them, and hasn't paid any attention to what's happening in your 'Sea of Origins'."
"What can I do then..." Shang Jianyao fell into deep thought.
While he was pondering, the Old Task Force's jeep followed the winding mountain road and entered a mountain forest.
"Go left..." Jiang Baimian switched to the passenger seat and pointed the way.
This was also unavoidable, because only she knew where the place they were going next was located.
Shang Jianyao recovered from his contemplation and shouted to Bai Chen, who was driving:
"Right, right, Da Bai has already eliminated one wrong answer."
Bai Chen calmly responded to him:
"There's no road to the right, we'll just rush out and fall down the mountain."
"Then what about forward?" Shang Jianyao quickly changed his words.
Bai Chen used her excellent vision to glance at it:
"Dead end."
Shang Jianyao immediately looked at Jiang Baimian with a shocked expression:
"You're not wrong this time!
"This is unscientific..."
Jiang Baimian gritted her teeth and smiled:
"I'm not blind!"
Shang Jianyao said "oh oh" twice:
"Even a fool can be right once in a while."
Jiang Baimian raised her left hand, and the car seemed to brighten up a bit.
Seeing that Shang Jianyao had finally quieted down, she asked with satisfaction:
"What did you gain from the dream in '506' last night?"
Since being "waited for" last time, the owner of room "506" seemed to have completely given up struggling, and her daily routine had become regular and normal.
Shang Jianyao recalled and said:
"Two things have been confirmed:
"First, the Arbitrator secretly 'eating people' has indeed happened more than once. The owner of the room knows of four or five times, but the first few times didn't cause too much impact. It seems that not too many people were 'eaten', and it was likely limited to a certain laboratory;
"Second, the result of 'eating people' is the death of the corresponding personnel, but the corpses are intact, which is very similar to the situation in Taicheng and Linhe Village in Dajiang City."
These were all speculations that the Old Task Force had made before, and they had been gradually confirmed recently.
Jiang Baimian hummed:
"We may have to hurry up a bit in the future. The longer the time drags on, the greater the variables, for example, the owner of the room finds an effective way to resist the 'Nightmare', or because of too many leaks, she finally attracts the attention of the corresponding Arbitrator and dies a violent death."
"But she only sleeps at night now, and I can't force her to sleep during the day, and she can't fall asleep even if she tries." Shang Jianyao showed a distressed expression.
On this point, Jiang Baimian couldn't think of any good advice and could only continue to direct Bai Chen.
By the time it was almost dark, the Old Task Force finally arrived at their destination.
Their destination was on the opposite side of a mountain stream, a relatively independent peak.
And to get there, they could only rely on the highway bridge spanning the mountain stream.
"That's Cliff Village, a human settlement protected by the company, and also the closest to the Icefield. No matter what team goes to the Icefield to perform missions on this route, they will choose here as the final supply station." Jiang Baimian quietly breathed a sigh of relief, pointing to the various buildings on the opposite side of the bridge that were about to be swallowed by the twilight, and gave a brief introduction.
She was really afraid that they wouldn't arrive before dark, then they would have to find a place to camp and try again tomorrow morning.
Bai Chen nodded, thoughtfully asking:
"Most project groups that go to the Icefield to do experiments will also resupply here?"
"This is the reason why I had to come." Jiang Baimian smiled. "I've been here twice before when I was in another team in the Security Department. Well, some of the villagers here used to be volunteers for some experimental projects."
Long Yuehong understood.
At this time, the guards on the opposite side of the bridge had already discovered the Old Task Force's jeep. A man holding a Berserker assault rifle picked up a megaphone and asked:
"Where are you from, and what are you doing here?"
"People from Pangu Biology!" Without Jiang Baimian's instructions, Shang Jianyao took out his megaphone with relish.
Jiang Baimian then began to "popularize science" to Bai Chen, Long Yuehong, and Genaeva:
"There are a lot of explosives placed on this bridge. If a strong enemy attacks, the villagers will blow up the bridge directly, and that mountain peak didn't have many roads built in the Old World. Except for a few people who are good at special operations and wilderness survival, others can't get up there at all and can only rely on helicopters."
In addition to explosives, there are several railing-type roadblocks on the bridge.
Shang Jianyao, who was communicating with the other side with a megaphone, took the time to interject:
"Their defense system is useless. They still have to ask us who we are and where we come from. Doesn't that mean I can say whatever I want?"
"Do you think there are many people like you?" Jiang Baimian scolded, both amused and annoyed.
At this time, after learning that they were from Pangu Biology, the bridge guards signaled the jeep to drive to the entrance of the bridge to confirm their identity.
There was an electronic device placed there, and the wiring extended all the way to Cliff Village on the opposite side of the mountain stream.
Jiang Baimian opened the door and got out of the car, swiping her electronic card on the device.
A beep sounded, and several railings across the highway bridge were raised on their own.
"You can swipe your card here?" Long Yuehong was shocked.
Didn't this mean that Cliff Village had the employee data of the entire Pangu Biology, or rather, the data of Security Department employees stationed outside?
After Jiang Baimian got into the car, she casually said:
"After all, this is a relatively important settlement for the company.
"And what we provide is a closed data package, only verifying the authenticity of the electronic card and whether the employee photo corresponds."
"What if the equipment breaks down?" Shang Jianyao thought of a problem as the vehicle slowly passed through the bridge.
Jiang Baimian looked ahead and said:
"Initially, there were Security Department employees stationed here. Later, the company trained several villagers who mastered equipment maintenance and program maintenance."
Soon, the jeep arrived on the opposite side of the mountain stream. Jiang Baimian lowered the car window and greeted several bridge guards with a smile:
"Hard work, are we the first group of people after the start of spring?"
The first people to come here, seeking supplies, to go to the Icefield.
The slightly dark and thin bridge guard who had asked the question earlier answered without thinking there was any problem:
"No, a group of researchers came two weeks ago."
"Oh." Jiang Baimian restrained herself and didn't ask further, so as not to appear too eager.
The dark and thin bridge guard looked at Jiang Baimian by the light of the street lamp:
"Have you been here before?"
He had never seen a few women as beautiful as her in his life.
"I've been here twice." Jiang Baimian replied frankly. "Where's the village chief?"
The bridge guard turned to point to a building with lights on:
"In the public office."
Knowing that the village chief sometimes lived in the public office, Jiang Baimian nodded, signaling Bai Chen to drive the car into the village.
Because Pangu Biology provided a lot of supplies, Cliff Village had enough generators and fuel. In addition to the public office and the bridge, many homes were also lit up, giving people a sense of stability and warmth in the increasingly dim evening.
"I wonder what the project group that came two weeks ago was doing..." Shang Jianyao muttered to himself.