Embers Ad Infinitum

This time, Long Yuehong didn't ask why, because he could also see that this matter was not that simple.

If it were just two moles who stole some military supplies, the "Salvation Army" would not take it seriously at all. They would send telegrams to various border settlements and key outposts, describing the appearance, height, and clothing of the wanted targets, and specifying the key points. Whatever the recovered materials are, that's about it. If someone drops by after a while, they can add a wanted poster with a photo. There is no need to send out multiple groups of specialized personnel to carry documents to different border settlements and key outposts like now. notify.

"What could it be?" Bai Chen whispered to himself while driving.

Shang Jianyao guessed with great interest:

"Military exoskeleton device? Was it excavated by the Salvation Army, or was it a secret weapon developed by itself?"

"Is there a possibility that the military supplies were just a cover and an excuse to steal something else?" Gnawa's eyes flashed red.

Jiang Baimian made a nasal sound:

“This possibility cannot be ruled out.

"Oh, don't keep guessing. If you don't have any clues, isn't it just like making up your own story?"

"Yes, yes!" Shang Jianyao echoed.

He immediately rebutted himself:

"Isn't it interesting to make up stories?"

"Hey, I have read too much old world entertainment materials, and my vocabulary has been enriched." Jiang Baimian didn't care too much whether the group members discussed or not, since he was idle anyway.

In this way, they followed the increasingly smooth road, and in less than an hour and a half, they completely drove out of Yunshan and entered a vast and overgrown wilderness.

At this time, Ding Ling slowed down the car and waited until the jeep of the "Old Adjustment Team" was level with him before opening the window and saying:

"It takes at least eight hours to get to Wubei. We will find a settlement to rest later and start again tomorrow morning. Is that okay?"

"No." Jiang Baimian shook his head first, and then asked doubtfully, "Only eight hours?"

She has seen high-precision maps of the old world, and also studied the crude maps drawn by ruin hunters in the current era. She feels that the distance from here to Wubei is about the same as that from Weedao City to Hongshiji. With better luck, the time spent is measured in days. When encountering bad weather and frequent disasters, it is necessary to take long detours. It is not too uncommon to use the unit of weeks to measure things.

Sensing Xue Yueyue's surprise, Ding Ling looked at the road ahead and explained with a little pride:

“In the first twenty years of the New Year, we completely repaired the main road from Wubei to Yunshan, and it has been maintained over the years.

“From here to Wubei, except for a few places where pollution is serious and there are many problems and you need to take a detour, other times you can just drive along the road.

"Li Ziren, one of the founders of our Salvation Army, once said that food is blood, industry is bones, and roads are the nerves that connect them all."

Bang bang bang, Shang Jianyao clapped his hands vigorously.

Jiang Baimian also truly felt that the "Salvation Army" had a different temperament from other forces.

Although they are considered to have fallen, on the road to reconstruction, they are far better than the "Primordial City" and other major forces.

In those places, similar words often appear:

"Anyway, many of the roads left over from the old world can barely be driven. Wouldn't it be enough to take a slight detour in some places?"

"How can there be so much material to build roads? Get more high-riding vehicles, and the wilderness will not be unstoppable!"

"I'm afraid that if the road is too well built, it will be easier for slaves to run!"

To this day, in the "Primary City", only the internal streets of major settlements and the roads leading to the surrounding manors have been renovated and often maintained. Other places, including wilderness outposts and border settlements, mainly rely on the old world. remnants of and fairly flat wilderness.

Coupled with the existence of large polluted areas, no-man's land, dangerous areas and the impact of extreme weather, the time cost of people's travel has increased sharply.

"As expected of the 'Salvation Army'!" Jiang Baimian also praised.

It can be seen that Ding Ling and her subordinates are very happy about this.

Regardless of whether they have fallen or not, they are quite proud of and empathize with the past actions and achievements of the "Salvation Army".

At around three o'clock in the afternoon, two vehicles arrived at a settlement.

This is rebuilt around a farm in the old world. Beyond the high walls, vast fields are lush and green, waiting to transform into golden color.

Relying on Ding Ling's aura as a senior soldier of the "Salvation Army" and captain of the border settlement, Jiang Baimian and others entered the settlement directly without a pass or letter of introduction, and followed them to the oil depot in a remote place.

Ding Ling got out of the car and took out a rolled-up white handkerchief from somewhere inside the black uniform.

She carefully unfolded the handkerchief, revealing stacks of small plastic cards of different colors inside.

"This is a 50-liter gas ticket..." After a brief search, Ding Ling pulled out a small light yellow plastic card.

Jiang Baimian noticed that the words "Standard Gasoline", "50 Liters", "Materials Coordination Committee System" were printed on the surface of the slightly transparent card, and there was also an incomplete red official seal printed on it.

When the oil depot guard took over the small plastic cards and started to refuel the green mountain bike, Shang Jianyao curiously approached Ding Ling, looked at the small plastic cards and said:

"Is this your Salvation Army bill?"

"Yes, there are oil stamps, pork stamps, beef stamps, mutton stamps, fish stamps, rice stamps, flour stamps, cloth stamps, clothing stamps..." Ding Ling briefly introduced, "You'd better exchange supplies for some stamps later. , it will be more convenient to replenish what you want.”

"Oh oh oh." Shang Jianyao said "I understand" on his face.

Jiang Baimian took two steps forward and said with a smile:

"How about we exchange some from you first?"

"Okay." Ding Ling did not refuse, and even joked, "Just use the canned sauerkraut and pork you ate yesterday. The taste yesterday made us greedy and we kept salivating!"

Jiang Baimian chuckled:

"This itself was produced by your Salvation Army. It was smuggled across the border and we had a chance to get it..."

While speaking, she glanced at the expressions of Ding Ling and her subordinates and found that they didn't care too much about smuggling.

After negotiation, the "Jiudiao Group" exchanged the canned food and biscuits that they were tired of eating for some tickets, including pork tickets calculated in kilograms.

Long Yuehong watched the entire transaction process and discovered that Ding Ling actually had a bill called a "timber felling bill" in his hand.

"This is it?" He pointed curiously.

Ding Ling looked down and chuckled:

"All the resources of our Salvation Army belong to the whole. If you want to cut down trees and get some wood, you also need receipts."

Shang Jianyao thought for a while, pointed to the solar charging panel on the roof of his Jeep, and asked seriously:

“Do I also need a ticket to get solar energy?”

Pfft... Why don't you ask if you have to pay for sunbathing? Jiang Baimian sneered in his heart.

Ding Ling was obviously stunned by the question:

"No, that's not necessary."

After the mountain bike was filled with gas, Ding Ling and her subordinates led several members of the "Old Adjustment Team" to the campsite in a corner of the settlement.

Along the way, they met some men and women who seemed to be relic hunters.

The reason why Jiang Baimian felt that they should be ruin hunters was because their temperament was very different from the residents and soldiers of the settlement itself.

They were more casual and unscrupulous, not caring about other people's eyes. Some of them even stood on the roof of the car, playing music and twisting their bodies, which made Shang Jianyao's eyes light up.

They can be said to be relic hunters. These are somewhat different from those west of Yunshan. They don't have that special temperament that combines depression and indulgence, and they don't seem to have suffered too much from hunger or cold.

After parking the car at the campsite, Jiang Baimian found Ding Ling and her subordinates and pointed at those people:

"Are they relic hunters?"

"Yeah." Ding Ling nodded first, then saw that Long Yuehong and the others had some doubts on their faces, and then explained with a smile, "In our Salvation Army, being a relic hunter is not something you can do just because you want to."

"Ah?" Shang Jianyao responded cooperatively.

Of course, he was curious.

"Except for children and elderly people, everyone in our 'Salvation Army' has their own positions and responsibilities. How can we just be a relic hunter just because we want to be a relic hunter? You may not believe it, but in our sphere of influence Inside, except for a few deep mountains and those unexplored polluted areas, there are no wilderness wanderers anywhere else." Ding Ling showed her innate pride again.

She detailed:

"In the beginning, we didn't welcome this kind of profession at all. There were specialized teams responsible for exploring ruins and collecting materials. But later, as the city's population increased, the original positions gradually became insufficient. Even if some new ones were created, they would still be there. Not enough, so a group of willing people were diverted to join the Hunter Guild.

"So, in our Salvation Army, those who want to be relic hunters must obtain approval."

This... Long Yuehong was eye-opening at first, but then she thought about it and felt that this was no different from the company.

If he, Shang Jianyao and others were not assigned to the Security Department and were allowed to have certain rights of free movement outside, how could they possibly become relic hunters?

In addition, you can also use the Hunter Guild to obtain basic information about various places in Huitu... Jiang Baimian thought about the changes in the "Salvation Army" from another angle.

Ding Ling glanced at the ruin hunters and said in a slightly complicated tone:

"These people always like to laugh at us for being old-fashioned and conservative, but they also don't think about it, who allowed them to have a bite to eat when their explorations were fruitless, and who allowed them to not worry too much about bandits in the wild? It's their family members, It’s us regular troops!”

Several of her subordinates seemed to share the captain's feelings, and they all nodded.

At this moment, several ruin hunters ran out from somewhere in the settlement and shouted:

"Those two moles have a clue!"