For Davis and the others, regardless of whether they truly encountered two advanced "Heartless" and managed to escape, or even counterattacked, the mere fact that they could return from Ruins 9 and have a fruitful harvest was enough to garner attention from the relic hunters present.
Davis, along with his teammates, found a relatively central location to sit down, and started chatting with acquaintances around them, mainly about their experience in Ruins 9.
They didn't hide much, and over light beer, they talked at length about the situation in the ruins, describing how bizarre the abilities of the two advanced "Heartless" were, and how terrifying their performance was.
Gradually, relic hunters who wanted to venture into Ruins 9 were attracted to them, occasionally interjecting a sentence, praising Davis and his team, hoping to obtain more useful information.
When Davis finished recounting how he and his team fought wits and courage with the two advanced "Heartless", got rid of the bizarre influence, and escaped from the ruins, applause rang out near the bonfire.
Long Yuehong focused his eyes and found that Shang Jianyao had somehow sneaked over and was listening attentively.
Clap clap clap, the surrounding relic hunters were stunned for a moment, then followed with applause.
Davis and his team were initially taken aback, then felt their vanity greatly satisfied.
Although becoming the center of attention in such occasions can be somewhat dangerous, they had enough confidence in their own strength, and there were some corresponding benefits as well. For example, some female relic hunters who were fairly attractive looked at them differently.
Born in the Ashlands, living in the wilderness, everyone may not even see the sun for a few more days, and they definitely want to indulge when they have the opportunity.
In a flash of thought, Davis smiled at Shang Jianyao, who had applauded first, and nodded.
He felt that this guy was very good at handling people, perceptive, and smart.
Encouraged, Shang Jianyao clapped his hands even more vigorously.
This was a side story of the night. After listening to the adventure history of Davis and his team, the "Old Task Force" members had a certain understanding of Ruins 9, exchanged canned biscuits for the light beer, which was very popular in this settlement as a substitute for clean water, and the pickled wild beast meat left over from winter, and enjoyed a dinner that wasn't particularly delicious but had enough flavor.
"Do you know what animal that piece of meat came from?" After eating and drinking to his heart's content, Shang Jianyao asked Long Yuehong with a smile.
Long Yuehong replied skillfully:
"I don't know, and don't tell me!"
Knowing it would affect his appetite and waste food.
What's even more hateful is that Shang Jianyao often just makes up an answer. When you take it seriously and feel sick, he will say "I guessed it."
"Okay, go to the jeep and sleep." Jiang Baimian urged Shang Jianyao, "Your task tonight is to find the owner of room '522' on the cruise ship."
Shang Jianyao had regained interest in this matter, did not resist, and trotted back to the jeep.
...
Mind Corridor, Room "912", the psychological shadow with the cruise ship as the main scene.
After several exits and re-entries, Shang Jianyao finally adjusted the timeline back to the first day of boarding the cruise ship, close to evening.
He didn't stay on the deck and went straight to the cabin entrance.
This was because the passengers and crew outside were all people he had "communicated" with before, and it had been confirmed that there was no owner of room "522".
Entering the corridor, Shang Jianyao sensed human consciousness while knocking on doors in sequence.
When he encountered those he remembered asking in the "later" days, he always apologized directly, saying that he knocked on the wrong door, and never dragged his feet. If his impression of the person who opened the door was not so deep and his memory was a bit blurry, he would cautiously repeat the process of "making friends" and asking questions.
He came all the way to the fifth floor of the cabin and knocked on one of the doors.
The person who opened the door was a young man, in his early twenties, about 1.8 meters tall, wearing a loose black long T-shirt with patterns, his brown hair messy, as if he had just woken up.
"Who are you?" The man glanced with his blue eyes, asking vigilantly.
One of his hands quietly reached behind his waist, as if to take something out.
Shang Jianyao smiled:
"We are all on the same cruise ship. According to the habits of us Ashlanders, it is fate. In your Red River people's words, it is destiny's arrangement.
"Since destiny has brought us together, then we are brothers from different mothers."
Under the far-fetched "thought guidance", the young man's expression gradually relaxed.
He retracted his right hand reaching behind his waist, complaining:
"Didn't you say not to disturb me? I was chased by so many 'Heartless' in the past two days that I didn't dare to close my eyes. Now I can finally get a good sleep."
Shang Jianyao showed an apologetic expression:
"There is something very important I want to ask you.
"By the way, what's your name? The whole cruise ship is full of brothers from different mothers, and my memory is a bit mixed up."
The young man was convinced and nodded:
"I am Ruowang, which is called John in the more common and popular Red River language, but I prefer this pronunciation with the characteristics of our country.
"You, what do you want to ask?"
Shang Jianyao put one hand in his pocket, imitated Jiang Baimian, and asked casually:
"Have you been to the Iron Mountain Ruins?"
Ruowang's face changed slightly, and he asked instead of answering:
"What are you asking this for?"
Shang Jianyao suddenly became excited:
"Have you been to the Iron Mountain Second Food Company?"
He quietly switched to the Ashlands language.
Ruowang could clearly understand, and questioned in shock and wariness:
"How do you know?"
He had never mentioned this matter to anyone. It was a secret buried in his heart.
After going to the Iron Mountain Second Food Company and encountering a strange event, he obtained abilities beyond ordinary people.
Shang Jianyao smiled.
He finally found the owner of room "522"!
Next, as long as he follows his actions and survives the chaos of several nights, he should be able to crack this psychological shadow.
Shang Jianyao lowered his voice and said softly:
"Let me tell you a secret:
"I am from the future, and I have dealt with the older you."
"How is that possible?" Ruowang blurted out.
He suspected that the other party was taking him for a fool.
Shang Jianyao maintained his previous volume:
"Not only am I very clear about what you encountered at the Iron Mountain Second Food Company, but I also know that you will return there in the near future, wanting to resolve the fear in your heart, but this will not be successful once..."
In order to "prove" it, Shang Jianyao told Ruowang in detail about his first encounter in that psychological shadow.
These were all things that Ruowang was sure no one around him had seen.
He was a little convinced.
This guy in front of him is likely from the future!
Wait a minute... Ruowang quickly thought of a question:
"Since you can travel back from the future to the present, what are you looking for me for?"
With this ability, why not save the world?
Shang Jianyao looked serious:
"There are limitations to time travel. If I interfere with history and cause things that should have happened not to happen, or vice versa, it will produce a butterfly effect, leading to changes in the future and the disappearance of my existence.
"I returned to this period in history hoping to understand some secrets. These secrets are very important to the humans of the future. They are related to whether we can completely defeat the 'Heartless Disease' and rebuild the glorious human civilization!"
"So that's how it is..." Ruowang suddenly understood.
He was already in his teens when the Old World was destroyed, had seen many science fiction movies, and was easily "convinced" by Shang Jianyao.
So the humans of the future haven't given up yet, and are still looking for ways to save themselves. For this reason, they invented the time machine and sent specialized personnel back to the present to collect the secrets of the "Heartless Disease"!
Before Shang Jianyao could say anything more, Ruowang asked very concernedly:
"What is the future like? To what extent have humans achieved? How far are we from the dawn?"
"That's a long story." Shang Jianyao began to recall the textbooks, and roughly recounted the process of the gradual formation and establishment of the major forces from the end of the chaotic era to the beginning of the new calendar.
Seeing that he spoke in such detail, which was impossible to make up, Ruowang no longer doubted his identity as a man from the future.
"What exactly do you want to ask me?" Ruowang also lowered his voice unconsciously.
Shang Jianyao was stunned for a moment, and quickly rounded back:
"It's like this, in history, this cruise ship encountered extremely terrible things, and you were one of the few survivors.
"In the next few days, I want to follow you and see what you will experience in order to find out the truth of this matter."
Ruowang was quite surprised:
"This cruise ship will encounter extremely terrible things?"
He didn't expect that after going through hardships and escaping to the Golden Coast, he would still encounter such danger.
Shang Jianyao nodded solemnly:
"What happened on this cruise ship and the anomalies hidden in the Iron Mountain Second Food Company both involve the reasons for the destruction of the Old World and the origin of the 'Heartless Disease'. You have encountered both, which means you are a child of the era."
"Is that so..." Ruowang suddenly felt his image shining brightly, and a bit more weight on his shoulders.
"Yes." Shang Jianyao was quite sincere.
Ruowang was silent for a moment:
"Come into the room, let's wait for the night together."