Embers Ad Infinitum

The gray-green jeep drove slowly on the mountain road with withered green plants, heading towards the wilderness in the distance.

Who is the team leader waiting for? Why is he driving so slowly... As soon as Long Yuehong had this thought, she saw the jeep parked on the side of the road.

Jiang Baimian cleared his throat and said:

"Which one of you will sit in the passenger seat?"

When setting off, Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong both gave up the passenger seat and chose the back seat, seemingly leaving seats for Bai Chen.

Uh... While Long Yuehong was at a loss, Shang Jianyao pushed the door open and got out of the car with great force, and moved to the passenger seat.

Jiang Baimian looked ahead and issued an order:

"You are here to show the way and do the manual navigation."

Then, she added in a pretentious manner:

"The price I pay is the difficulty of knowing the way."

"I'm a fool..." Shang Jianyao suddenly realized.

Long Yuehong was stunned for a moment before she understood:

It turns out that the team leader chose the "Broken Mirror" field, at the cost of being a road idiot...

No wonder she drove very slowly after getting in the car. It turned out to be because she was afraid of getting lost!

Lu Chi...Jiang Baimian asked in a joking tone:

"What, do you think it's funny?"

Long Yuehong replied subconsciously:

"No, the price is such a serious thing."

To enhance his persuasiveness, he added:

"No matter how weird it is, can it be as weird as Shang Jianyao?"

Jiang Baimian nodded secretly and glanced at Shang Jianyao:

"I thought you would laugh."

Shang Jianyao replied with a serious expression:

"I laughed a long time ago."

As he spoke, he smiled.

Jiang Baimian grinded his teeth:

"Please show me the way!"

"First, I have to know where we are going." Now it was Shang Jianyao who was calm and rational.

Jiang Baimian has already thought of his destination:

"You can choose any place no more than two kilometers from the entrance of the underground building."

"Why is it limited to two kilometers?" Long Yuehong was the first to express confusion.

Jiang Baimian glanced at the rearview mirror:

“Isn’t it that we came to the surface to prevent Shang Jianyao’s exploration of that psychological shadow from causing an accident and the ‘weirdness’ leaking out, affecting the surrounding neighbors?

"You don't have to worry about them now, but you have to think about yourself.

"It's two to four kilometers away from the company. It should be within the sensing range of the powerful people who have entered the 'new world' or the awakened people who have explored the depths of the 'soul corridor'. Once something goes wrong, they can provide assistance quickly."

"Yes..." Long Yuehong felt that the team leader had really considered everything.

Just because he chose to stay in the "old tune group" doesn't mean that he is no longer afraid of death or various accidents.

"Believe in my Buddha's mercy." This time the response was from the cyborg monk Pudu Zen Master.

Of course, in the real world, he couldn't get a metal body and his eyes glowed red.

After him was the outspoken Shang Jianyao:

"Do you still need directions now? There is only one way?

"Let's wait until we enter the Black Marsh Wilderness."

Only one road means that there is only one formed, relatively wide road, but there are still many natural "roads".

Aren't I afraid of driving into the mountains? Jiang Baimian, who was determined to return to business and meet Yao, was inexplicably guilty.

After driving along the withered yellow road for a while, Jiang Baimian relied on his excellent eyesight and spotted an army approaching in the distance.

There were dozens or hundreds of them, all wearing the gray and black uniforms of the "Pangu Biological Security Department", driving multiple vehicles and towing artillery pieces.

Among them, the most conspicuous ones in their team are several armored vehicles that look very thick.

"Colleague..." Shang Jianyao was very happy.

"What are you happy about?" Jiang Baimian asked, turning his head.

She had already determined that she was about to encounter an action team from the company.

Shang Jianyao replied seriously:

"We are destined to meet each other, so why not invite them to the bonfire party tonight?"

"When did you say you would have a bonfire party?" Long Yuehong was confused.

Shang Jianyao nodded:

"After seeing them."

I'm so stupid, why should I pay attention to him... The price is getting more and more serious! When Long Yue blushed, the two teams got closer and closer.

When the distance was only a hundred meters, Jiang Baimian realized that he had met an acquaintance.

This is Wang Beicheng's 23rd Action Brigade!

In the case of the Swamp No. 1 ruins, the reinforcements sent to them by "Pangu Creatures" were this action brigade.

"You guys?" Wang Beicheng, who was sitting in the passenger seat of an armored jeep, stuck his head out.

Compared with last year, he is still handsome, but he seems to be a little tanned.

"Long time no see!" Shang Jianyao stretched his right hand out of the window and waved it a few times.

After they got out of the car and stood by the roadside, Jiang Baimian smiled and asked Wang Beicheng:

"Captain Wang, are you coming back from the Ruins of Swamp No. 1?"

Wang Beicheng, who is nearly ten years older than Jiang Baimian, replied calmly:

"Yes, in the past year, we have been taking turns stationed at the Swamp No. 1 ruins with the other two brigades, exploring as much as we can."

Having said this, he smiled and gave a military salute:

“On behalf of my entire team, I have to say thank you.

“Without your help, there would be no chance for us to participate in the excavation of the Marsh No. 1 ruins.

“The ruins of an underexplored city are truly a gold mine!”

Over the past year, every time the 23rd Brigade returned to "Pangu Creatures" for rest, they brought a large amount of "trophies" with them.

Although these will not directly belong to them, "Pangu Biology" is still quite kind and will be converted into contribution points and distributed in proportion. The employees of the entire 23rd Brigade will make a lot of money.

This does not include the harvest they gained from trading with the hunters who were authorized by the company to explore the ruins of Swamp No. 1.

Jiang Baimian shook his head and smiled:

“You would have been there without us.

"After knowing that there was an abnormality north of Yuelu Station, weren't you rushing there?"

"But that way we will lose a lot of important information, and we will not be able to avoid several hidden dangers." Wang Beicheng's attitude was quite sincere, "Besides, didn't you also support us with an armored vehicle and a heavy machine gun?"

"The company has converted them into contribution points and sent them to us as rewards." Jiang Baimian brushed it off and asked curiously, "Did you find anything at the Swamp No. 1 ruins?"

Wang Beicheng raised his hand and touched the gray-black beret on his head:

“That lab was destroyed and we found very little.

"At present, we have explored one-fifth of the ruins. There is a lot of valuable research information involving various technologies, but there should be none that you are interested in..."

Jiang Baimian nodded:

"Have you ever met those 'high-level heartless people'?"

"The first two times, because we obtained the information from you in advance, we handled it fairly well and there were no casualties. After that, we never encountered them again. They may have shrunk to a certain area of ​​the ruins that has not yet been fully explored. ." Wang Beicheng didn't hide anything.

No, he should have gone to work... Long Yuehong, who was next to him, replied silently in his heart.

Wang Beicheng did not continue this topic because many related matters needed to be kept secret, and he had not yet confirmed the authority of Jiang Baimian and others.

He looked at Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong, smiled and said:

"I heard that you have been promoted to D5?

"In the past year or so, I have done a lot of great things."

Seeing that Long Yuehong was a little surprised, Wang Beicheng smiled and added:

“A relative of mine has a colleague on your floor and heard about your incident.

"Isn't this how it is in the company? It's all related."

"Yes." Long Yuehong nodded slightly.

At this time, the honest Shang Jianyao corrected Wang Beicheng's statement:

"D7, we are already D7."

"Ah?" Wang Beicheng did not hide his surprise and turned his attention to Jiang Baimian.

He didn't know where Jiang Baimian's group went and what they did later.

This is beyond his current authority to understand.

Shang Jianyao immediately helped Jiang Baimian add:

"D9."

"Really?" Wang Beicheng couldn't help but want to confirm.

"Lucky luck." Jiang Baimian replied humbly.

Wang Beicheng looked around and sighed slowly:

"It's only been a year, and you've already risen so many levels... You've really done a lot of great things."

As the captain of the D8-level operations team, he knows better than anyone how difficult it is to go from D8 to D9.

He has been at this level for more than five years, and when he met Jiang Baimian last year, she was only D6.

"This is in exchange for your life." Shang Jianyao pointed solemnly at Long Yuehong's robotic arm.

Wang Beicheng expressed his understanding:

"I remember you also have a companion, she..."

"She has been genetically modified and is recuperating." Long Yuehong was worried that Wang Beicheng would say something unlucky, so she hurriedly gave the correct answer.

Wang Beicheng, who originally wanted to chat more with Jiang Baimian's team, suddenly lost interest and managed to remain polite:

"We have to go back to the company to rest. Have a nice trip."

"See you tomorrow!" Shang Jianyao was very polite.

Jiang Baimian smiled and said:

"See you tomorrow."

…………

After bidding farewell to Wang Beicheng and his 23rd Brigade, the "Old Adjustment Group" entered the wilderness and found a place near water and rocks to set up camp.

Although it was still early, Shang Jianyao could not wait to enter the "soul corridor" holding the "Six Senses Pearl", the "Angel of Life" necklace and the original medical records.

Inside the "Tieshan City Second Food Company", Shang Jianyao huddled in the darkness at the stairwell of the second floor. He waited until there were footsteps at the end of the corridor before quietly sneaking to the third floor.

PS: I am looking for a guaranteed monthly ticket at the beginning of the month. It is doubled, so you can vote with confidence ~ The second update will be at 12:30 noon