Embers Ad Infinitum

Noticing the change in Zhang Qubing's gaze, and recalling Xue Shiyue's statement that he was a fanatical admirer of the "Salvation Army," Hong Guangming put the stack of bills into his pocket and muttered:

"I've been working hard all my life just to make my children and grandchildren live a better life, right?"

He then waved his hand:

"Okay, let's go in and issue a pass for you."

This wave is the right hand of a non-robotic arm.

Seeing Hong Guangming walking back to the "Wubei Management Committee" building with a slight limp, Jiang Baimian turned his head and glanced at Shang Jianyao again.

Shang Jianyao's expression was solemn, seeming a little confused and a little lost.

"Let's go, haven't you been mentally prepared for a long time?" Jiang Baimian urged him.

Shang Jianyao sighed and said:

"You do not understand."

Seeing Jiang Baimian narrow his eyes slightly, he quickly added:

"Reality is reality, and ideals are ideals. When there is a gap between the two, emotions will inevitably be affected. For example, Xiaohong..."

"Stop!" Jiang Baimian and Long Yuehong said at the same time, interrupting Shang Jianyao's potentially very magical metaphor.

Ding Ling didn't quite understand how they got along with each other, so she could only watch quietly without interrupting.

Soon, the "old investigation team" returned to Hong Guangming's office.

Hong Guangming said while immersed in issuing the pass:

"Take out all the bills you have and let me check them."

"Does this also need to be checked?" Jiang Baimian was confused.

Hong Guangming is quite tolerant of polite and good-looking women:

"The routine inspection is mainly to prevent you from bringing a large number of fake bills into the country."

Ding Ling added and explained beside him:

“Our bills are all made of plastic and cannot be forged by ordinary people. They have neither the source of materials nor the corresponding machinery.

"But big forces like the 'First City' can do it, so one of the responsibilities of our border settlements and local immigration and security inspection offices is to intercept counterfeit bills from outside."

Well... In the old world, any small factory or even a family workshop could produce those small plastic cards. Well, this was the convenience brought by the highly mature industrial system at that time. Today's dusty land only has to obtain oil. It's all a difficult thing... Jiang Baimian suddenly sighed.

This is the difference between the old and new eras.

Ding Ling turned to Hong Guangming and said:

"Grandpa Hong, all the bills they have are the ones I exchanged for them yesterday."

"Then there's no problem." Hong Guangming's steel arm snapped out a key, opened the mechanical lock of the drawer below, and took out the official seal and ink pad.

Snap, he stamped the pass with a big bright red seal.

After Jiang Baimian took the pass, he found that there were two more sentences on it besides the regular content:

“This pass does not include intelligent robots.

"When corresponding to four people entering the settlement, they are not allowed to bring heavy weapons, high-tech equipment, or crates."

"Thank you, Director Hong." Jiang Baimian finally thanked him sincerely.

Although there are many restrictions, with such a pass, the "Old Adjustment Team" will have a much easier journey after that, especially in replenishing supplies, which will be more convenient, allowing them to go straight to the ice field without any distractions.

After leaving the "Wubei Management Committee", the "Old Tune Team" drove a jeep and followed Ding Ling's green mountain bike to a place called "Huitu Hotel" on the edge of the city.

It is said to be a big hotel, but it is actually a converted old-world warehouse. It occupies a large area and parking is very convenient, but it is only on the third floor.

"This is specially for you outsiders." After Ding Ling helped the "Old Adjustment Team" to go through the check-in procedures, she followed them to one of the rooms and said with a smile, "You are not eligible for other places, even if you have a pass. .”

The inside and outside belong to two systems... Jiang Baimian nodded thoughtfully:

“I’ve troubled you these past two days.

"How many bills did you give Director Hong before? We will replenish it for you."

"No need." Ding Ling shook her head and smiled, "This is all the price difference I earned from you before, and I can even reimburse you a little later."

After hearing the last half of the sentence, Long Yuehong and others suddenly felt familiar.

Ding Ling looked around, took the initiative to close the door, and said seriously:

"You said before that you stole some information from the 'First City'. What was it about? Is it possible to sell it to us?"

She didn't believe it at first, but after seeing three military exoskeleton devices and two bionic smart armors, she felt that Xue Shiyue's team might not be bragging.

As expected of a team with a total bounty worth over 100,000 Ore!

Jiang Baimian and the team members each looked at each other, smiled and said to Ding Ling:

"In fact, there is no need to hide that information, and the relevant personnel even asked us to publicize it widely.

"It's like this. We tried to contact the descendants of Aure in the Prime City. You know Ore, right? The former governor of the Prime City also served as the emperor for a period of time."

"It's in our textbooks." Ding Ling nodded and said solemnly, "You continue."

Jiang Baimian said "hmm":

“Ore currently has two descendants left, one is his granddaughter Avia, and the other is his grandson Marcus.

"These two people jointly hold some of the secrets left by Orei, and they are closely protected by the 'Primary City', which is also equivalent to guarding them.

“Needless to say the specific process, in short, after a lot of effort, we finally made contact with these two descendants of Ole and obtained the corresponding information from them.

"This includes the fact that there is a secret laboratory in the ruins of Wasteland 13. Olei will use his speculations on the cause of the destruction of the old world and his understanding of the 'new world', as well as how to deal with the information of the 'source brain' of the 'Machine Paradise' Hidden inside, including the fact that Avia has a mysterious mobile phone that Ole once used, through which she can dial a string of garbled codes to connect to unknown and terrifying existences, including that the password to open the secret laboratory is 'Messiah'...

"We later sneaked into the ruins of Wasteland 13, found the secret laboratory, and opened the door with the password, but there was nothing inside, and all the information left by Ole was missing.

"All this stems from a brand new artificial intelligence 'Future' he created in his later years. It can manipulate the electromagnetism in the laboratory through the 'New World' node and control those computers. It has already transferred the information left by Ole and put it The laboratory became a trap..."

Jiang Baimian knew what he could and could not say, mainly to publicize what Ao Lei had left behind.

Hearing this, Ding Ling was stunned.

Her mental journey just now was as follows:

“Why was that intelligence widely publicized?

"It has something to do with the former emperor of the 'First City'... That piece of information is indeed more important.

“This team is really strong, able to bypass the strict protection of the ‘First City’ and gain access to key personnel.

“Although I don’t understand it very well, it sounds pretty powerful.

"Wait a minute, what is she talking about, some node of the 'new world', some artificial intelligence manipulating electromagnetism..."

The further back Ding Ling went, the more confused she became, feeling as if the other party was speaking in a language she didn't understand.

When Jiang Baimian finished speaking, she subconsciously swallowed her saliva and said:

"I, I will report these things.

"If, if it is indeed of great value, we may compensate you with some supplies or notes."

After expressing a friendly attitude, Ding Ling calmed down and asked:

"What's going on with that secret laboratory now?"

Although she didn't understand what happened at that time, it was like listening to a book from heaven, but her experience told her that the secret laboratory was one of the key points, and she didn't need to understand those terms, she just had to grasp the key points.

Jiang Baimian hesitated and said:

"Destroyed."

The honest Shang Jianyao quickly added:

"Don't get me wrong, it wasn't us who destroyed it. It was because we had no choice but to trigger the laboratory's self-destruct device in order to escape from the predicament set by the artificial intelligence 'future'."

This sounds even scarier... Ding Ling nodded:

"I understand. I will report this matter before I get off work. There should be a result tomorrow."

After speaking, she raised her hand and waved:

"See you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow!" Shang Jianyao is always so enthusiastic.

Ding Ling thought for a while and warned again:

"If you encounter any situation, don't rush to do it yourself, especially if you use those pieces of equipment, just report it directly to the Wubei Public Security Management Committee. There is a phone in the hotel room with the corresponding number written on it."

"No problem." Jiang Baimian agreed sincerely.

Anyway, the strongest thing about the "Old Tune Team" is not the equipment or Gnawa, but Shang Jian Yao who can quietly influence people.

After seeing Ding Ling off, Jiang Baimian didn't ask what to eat for dinner because it was still early. Instead, he walked to the window, looked outside, and observed the surrounding environment.

Although this is only the third floor, the surrounding buildings are generally not high and the view is relatively good.

While several people were observing, Bai Chen noticed with sharp eyes that on a certain road in the distance, one after another camouflage green armored vehicles and tanks drove past, accompanied by soldiers wearing black uniforms with live ammunition. The atmosphere seemed a bit tense.