Embers Ad Infinitum

The clerk wearing a tiger mask didn't speak much and spoke very quickly, as if he wanted to end the introduction as quickly as possible so as not to be remembered by others.

"When the mission is confirmed, will you come over with the badge to pick it up?" Jiang Baimian asked with a smile.

She had already been deeply impressed by Hongshiji's customs and was not angry at being slighted.

"Yes." The clerk wearing a tiger mask nodded heavily.

Just as Jiang Baimian and others were walking a few steps behind and looking at the big screen, Gaudí, who was wearing a cloth mask, asked:

"Can I go?"

"Okay." Jiang Baimian responded in a relaxed tone.

Gaudi thought for a while and emphasized a few words:

"After you leave Hongshiji, you cannot tell anyone the location of the underground entrance, you can only give a rough range.

"Everyone who can enter here must have found a citizen of Hongshiji in the ruins outside and let him lead the way."

Shang Jianyao asked curiously:

"What if no one leads the way and we find this place again?"

"The guards will stop you and interrogate you where you learned the location of the underground entrance. Then, they will blacklist the people and forces who leaked the information to you." Gaudí seems to have said this many times without any hesitation. Ba, "If you are really just lucky, I will let you go back on your own and find a citizen of Hongshiji to come back."

"It really feels like a ceremony." Shang Jianyao praised.

Jiang Baimian agreed with this because she could not see that this behavior could reduce external dangers.

This is closer to a religious ceremony.

At this point, she also understood why Shang Jianyao's life-and-death brother Feilin, the leader of the "Sangzi" business group, would not give specific location information.

In response to Shang Jianyao's praise, Gaudí nodded like a proud man and said:

"This can please Zhi Sui's 'You Gu'."

He readily admitted that it was a ritual.

At this time, Shang Jianyao suddenly raised a question:

"If every town citizen has the hiding ability of Viel, and outsiders can't be found, won't there be no new hunters and smugglers in your Red Stone Collection?

"In this way, the vitality of the Red Stone Collection will slowly weaken and eventually be abandoned."

I remember the name quite clearly... I suspect you want to hide and seek with that Vierbi... Jiang Baimian couldn't help but curse a few words.

Gaudi was silent for a few seconds, seemingly not thinking about this issue at all.

After a while, he said:

“Not everyone can reach Viel’s level.

“Moreover, if everyone forgets about the Red Stone Collection, it means we hid well and will be rewarded by ‘Yougu’.

"We have opened up farmland in the surrounding hidden areas, and there are many fish in the lake. A moment of forgetfulness will not let us starve to death."

Jiang Baimian laughed:

“But you will no longer have oil and other industrial products to replenish, do you want to go back to the farming era of the old world?

"Those who have enjoyed the afterglow of civilization cannot adapt."

"After that, 'Yougu' will lead us into a new world, where there will no longer be danger and we don't need to be so vigilant." Gaudí responded very confidently.

Jiang Baimian couldn't convince Gaudí, and he didn't want to. He waved his hand and said:

"You can leave now."

"Thank you." Gaudi, wearing a cloth mask, looked at them and exited the Hunter Guild step by step.

When the distance between the two sides became large enough, he suddenly turned around and ran into the side safety passage.

"What do you think?" Jiang Baimian looked back and asked.

Shang Jianyao immediately said:

“It’s too rigid.

"He only cares about his head and not his buttocks. He only thinks about guarding us and does not consider whether there is any danger behind him.

"If I had known better, I would have thrown a banana peel behind his back. He would have stepped on it and fallen down with a sharp thud. He will remember this lesson from now on."

Jiang Baimian laughed dumbly:

"First, you have to have a banana."

This season, given the climate in the Nuhu area, it is impossible for this kind of fruit to exist.

She did not attack Shang Jianyao because of this, but nodded in approval:

"Although Gaudí may have observed the environment and was not worried about stepping on things he shouldn't step on when walking backwards, this direction of thinking is quite valuable."

As she said that, she looked at Long Yuehong:

"Do you have any idea?"

Long Yuehong replied thoughtfully:

"Their ideas sound reasonable at first, but the more I learn about them, the more extreme they become."

"Any good thing will develop in a bad direction when it is taken to an extreme." Jiang Baimian nodded, "This is one of the reasons why many religions can be spread on the earth. They take some very reasonable things from the old world and The packaging became what I wanted, and I added a lot of private goods.”

After commenting on Long Yuehong's thoughts, Jiang Baimian looked at Bai Chen again and said with a smile:

"Tell me about it too."

"I think their philosophy is a bit similar to some of the old world philosophies you told us, um... a small country with few people?" Bai Chen said thoughtfully.

After getting used to it in Weedong City, on the way to Hongshiji, the three members of the "Old Tune Team" were more relaxed than before. Jiang Baimian took the opportunity to tell the team members some knowledge about the old world.

"Indeed, but it's also extreme." Jiang Baimian smiled and looked around, "Remember, individual humans are very small. Only when they cooperate with each other and combine together can we call civilization."

Bang bang bang, Shang Jianyao's applause came as expected.

Jiang Baimian didn't even bother to look at him:

"Okay, let's look for any missions worth taking on."

She knew very well that unless Shang Jianyao was allowed to make "friends", half of the supplies they exchanged for Xu Liyan's bulletproof off-roading would not be able to buy a military exoskeleton device, even if it was an old model.

Therefore, her plan was to take over guild tasks at the Red Stone Collection and save another batch of hard currency.

As the team leader, she racked her brains to improve the strength and survivability of each team member.

As a result, the "Old Tune Group" was divided into two waves:

Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao stayed where they were, watching the scrolling tasks displayed on the big screen. Bai Chen and Long Yuehong went to the surrounding tables to check the corresponding paper records.

"Actually, we can definitely ask your good brother Xu Liyan to support one unit. Didn't he say that after this incident, he would equip his guards and city defense forces with a few more units?" Jiang Baimian said deliberately.

This time, the military exoskeleton device was lost on South Street and was almost useless.

The only good thing is that those wilderness wanderers don't know how to use it.

Shang Jianyao shook his head:

"Brothers will settle the score."

"I feel relieved now." Jiang Baimian smiled.

"Although I am harder-hearted than you, my moral bottom line is not low." Shang Jianyao replied.

"Ah? What did you say?" Jiang Baimian touched his ears, not wanting to continue this topic.

She knew that Shang Jianyao was referring to the riots in Weedao City, but she failed to make up her mind quickly and kill the man who killed the owner of the "time-honored noodle shop" in order to prevent him from starving to death.

Shang Jianyao glanced at Jiang Baimian's left arm and stopped in time.

While talking, Jiang Baimian discovered a very interesting task:

"Survey on the incidence of heart disease in Hongshiji and surrounding areas."

"The reward is: responsible for basic security during the mission, and after that, you will be given enough food to last for half a month. You can choose any type, and you are responsible for saving. Haha, this is not rigorous. If you meet someone who can eat, the cost may be doubled. !" Jiang Baimian said funnyly as he read the content of the task.

Shang Jianyao responded seriously:

"I'm just worried that he won't be able to bring out the food I chose."

"Let me see who released...'Fire Eye'? Are these all missions issued under code names?" Jiang Baimian had a better understanding of Hongshiji's style.

Of course, this must have been reviewed by the guild, and its credibility is still guaranteed.

At this moment, Long Yuehong came back with Bai Chen holding a record.

"Team leader, this mission is not bad." He handed the paper in his hand to Jiang Baimian.

Jiang Baimian took it with curiosity and browsed it quickly:

“Mission: Assist Herwig to retrieve the robbed arms.

"Description: The owner of Gunfire, Herwig, had a batch of arms that could arm hundreds of people. They were robbed in the lakeside area. It is said that there were nearly ten robbers.

"Reward: one-fifth of that batch of arms.

“Mission grade: C, 100 credits.

"Tip: There is a certain danger, please try to form a team.

"Task staff requirements: Official hunter or above.

"Published by Herwig."

"One-fifth of that batch of munitions? This is not a small amount." Jiang Baimian's eyes brightened slightly.

"And the number of people is quite appropriate." Long Yuehong added happily.

He felt that with the strength of his team, one versus three or even one versus four would not be a problem.

Shang Jianyao immediately "analyzed" and said:

"Maybe there were a hundred people lying around during the robbery."

Long Yuehong was no longer as frustrated as before, and his face instantly became depressed. He asked in a funny tone:

"How can there be a reason for a hundred people to ambush and only seven or eight people to take action?"

It must be at least forty or fifty to be normal and in line with normal human logic!

"What if their leader is a psychopath like me?" Shang Jianyao said confidently.

Jiang Baimian interrupted him and said thoughtfully:

“In the old world, there was a saying to describe this situation, what is it called, well, one core is in trouble, eight cores are watching.

"Besides, there will be many people escorting that batch of arms. Those bandits are either very powerful, or there must be more than seven or eight."

Before Long Yuehong could say anything else, she smiled and said:

"But, we can take it over. It doesn't mean we won't do reconnaissance. If there are really too many people on the opposite side, we can also invite other teams of ruin hunters to participate."

She wasn't worried about not being able to pick it up, because Bai Chen was an "intermediate hunter".

After some communication, they took over the task in the name of "Qianbai Team", got Herwig's photo, and learned the location of his shop - the third floor of the underground building, close to the C1 safety passage.

There is no doubt that the store "Gunfire" has no guns and no people.

"It seems that we have to find the person who issued the mission first." Jiang Baimian raised his right hand helplessly and looked at the photo.

It was a chubby man, between thirty and forty years old, with dark green eyes and a shaved head.

"There is no one here." Shang Jianyao immediately concluded.

Jiang Baimian glanced at him and smiled slightly:

"Then why are you still here and not looking around?"

"It must be handled according to the process and cannot completely rely on ability." Shang Jianyao answered matter-of-factly.

"Not bad." Jiang Baimian praised sincerely.

While they were talking, Bai Chen and Long Yuehong had already dispersed. One looked up at the ventilation duct, and the other carefully opened the cabinet.

"There's something wrong there." A few seconds later, Bai Chen pointed upward and said.

There was a bit of black clothing squeezed out from the exit fence of the ventilation duct.

Jiang Baimian's expression suddenly became solemn.

Since Shang Jianyao did not sense human consciousness, nor did she detect human electrical signals, it means one thing:

The man hiding in the ventilation duct is dead.

Been dead for a while.