The jeep drove along the bumpy road with a high cliff on one side for a while and arrived at a valley.

In the valley, clear stream water made a crisp sound, flowing merrily forward, nourishing a large area of fertile land.

It wasn't deep, even a bit shallow. The "Old Task Force's" jeep could drive directly over the cobblestones at the bottom.

And the road broke off here, continuing on the other side, with a small settlement built of reinforced concrete standing in the middle.

On the high walls of the settlement, several men in black "Salvation Army" uniforms held semi-automatic rifles, assault rifles, and other weapons, their eyes sharply watching Jiang Baimian and the others.

In the farmland surrounding the stream, some men and women dressed in military attire were working.

Jiang Baimian, in the passenger seat, nodded slightly, knowing this was a border military outpost.

In similar outposts, soldiers took turns on duty, patrolling, farming, and hunting. Except for ammunition, clothing, and other items that needed to be regularly supplied from the rear, they could barely be self-sufficient.

At the same time, Jiang Baimian scanned her surroundings, and with her rich experience, discovered some traces, judging that there were also several "Salvation Army" members lurking on the cliffs around the valley.

"This is to guard against Awakened at the 'Mind Corridor' level attacking the outpost, deploying powerful long-range firepower a few hundred meters away..." Jiang Baimian thoughtfully withdrew her gaze.

She turned to her team members and smiled:

"It's getting dark, let's camp by the stream tonight."

"Okay!" Shang Jianyao answered decisively.

He suddenly pushed the door open and got out of the car, facing the military outpost, raised his right hand, pressed it to his left chest, and shouted loudly:

"For all mankind!"

The "Salvation Army" members on the settlement's wall were momentarily stunned.

They decided to ignore this guy as long as he didn't take further action.

Jiang Baimian, who got out of the car after him, pursed her lips behind Shang Jianyao, pretending not to know him.

Seeing that the "Old Task Force" had no intention of entering the settlement but instead camped at a certain distance, the "Salvation Army" members quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

"They're still pretty good!" Shang Jianyao exclaimed to Long Yuehong and the others.

Long Yuehong was a little puzzled:

"Why do you say that?"

Shang Jianyao replied righteously:

"Meeting us, a few outsiders who seem to have a lot of wealth, at such a remote and deserted border outpost, shouldn't normal soldiers find fault and take action to satisfy their greed?

"But they actually breathed a sigh of relief because we didn't cause trouble.

"What a kind and benevolent display!"

Bai Chen agreed with Shang Jianyao's words:

"Many wilderness outposts in 'First City' have had similar incidents. In the end, ruin hunters and smuggling caravans would rather risk encountering bandits, 'Heartless,' mutated creatures, and accidents to forcibly bypass those places."

If you were targeted by the soldiers of a wilderness outpost in "First City," losing property would still be a good thing. The fear was that you wouldn't even be able to protect your life.

Moreover, if you fought back and injured or killed a few regular soldiers, unless you directly wiped out the entire scene and prevented anyone from finding out afterward, you would definitely be wanted by "First City."

Jiang Baimian mercilessly shattered Shang Jianyao's beautiful fantasy:

"Maybe it's because our resume is too brilliant."

Being wanted by "First City" with escalating rewards, reaching tens of thousands of ore, and still running around alive, didn't seem like an easy team to mess with.

Seeing Shang Jianyao's expression immediately collapse, undisguised, as if he were still a child, Jiang Baimian sighed silently and added two more sentences:

"No matter what the outside world says about the 'Salvation Army' having fallen, I think they should still retain some bottom line and won't casually take action against innocent people.

"Well... if it were a military outpost in 'First City,' how could soldiers be part-time farmers, rotating shifts? They would definitely grab wilderness wanderers as slaves to do these things for them."

"Yes." Bai Chen nodded.

Currently, only some areas of the Ashlands have restored some order, and border or wilderness outposts are clearly not within that range.

Shang Jianyao smiled again, humming a song, and volunteered to go to the stream to test the water quality.

Just as the "Old Task Force" was collecting firewood, lighting a bonfire, and preparing dinner, the steel gate of that military outpost opened.

Coming out was a man and a woman. The woman was about 1.65 meters tall, around thirty years old, mature and charming.

She had black hair and brown eyes, thicker eyebrows, not ugly features, and a complexion similar to Jiang Baimian's, a healthy wheat color, but slightly darker.

She had clean, short, ear-length hair, wearing a black uniform, not fat or thin, quite standard.

At this time, although this lady was walking side by side with the young man, both her temperament and attitude indicated that she was the leader.

--The man was only about seventeen or eighteen years old, with faint fluff on his lips, ordinary-looking, and seemed quite inexperienced.

After approaching the "Old Task Force," the young man, who still retained some boyishness, took the initiative to introduce the lady beside him:

"This is Captain Ding of our border settlement."

"Ding Ling." The lady smiled and extended her right palm, frankly.

Hearing this self-introduction with a slight accent, Jiang Baimian smiled:

"Are you the one who warned us with the broadcast just now?"

She also extended her right palm and shook the other's lightly.

Ding Ling nodded:

"It's our duty at this border settlement. We can't let suspicious people pass.

"Xue Shiyue, right? Although I know this is probably a fake name, it doesn't matter. A name is just a code."

Then, she casually introduced the young man beside her:

"Zeng Ping'an."

"Good name!" Shang Jianyao clapped his hands loudly, so loudly that the young man was a little embarrassed.

"His parents' beautiful expectations for him." Ding Ling explained simply.

Jiang Baimian then introduced her team members.

Of course, she used fake names.

As for Genava, he was now playing the role of an ordinary robot, with no name, only a code, and didn't need to be introduced.

After the two sides exchanged greetings, Shang Jianyao asked Ding Ling with a sense of responsibility:

"If 'First City' chooses to use this as a breakthrough, can such a small settlement, with dozens of people, really stop them?"

He acted like a senior member of the "Salvation Army."

At this moment, Ding Ling felt like she had encountered a superior inspecting.

What business is it of yours whether we can stop them or not? She smiled slightly and said:

"Of course we can't stop them.

"We mainly do early warnings, using several different methods.

"Last year, this settlement encountered a surprise attack from 'First City.' After we gave the warning, we directly abandoned this place, retreated into the mountains in small groups, and then found opportunities along the way to interfere with the enemy and slow down their advance.

"As long as people are still alive, we can definitely establish a new settlement."

Ding Ling answered in detail, mainly to tell the opposing team, which was not weak, that the "Salvation Army" settlements had mature plans for different enemies, so that they would not take risks.

"Retreating into the mountains must be very difficult and dangerous, right?" Shang Jianyao asked with concern.

Ding Ling was stunned for a moment before saying:

"Yes."

Her expression and the expression of Zeng Ping'an next to her both fluctuated, as if they were recalling the various dangers at that time.

After a few seconds, Ding Ling took the initiative to ask:

"You, why do you want to go to the Icefield?"

I felt like you were a bit concerned about the Icefield before... Jiang Baimian organized her words and said:

"Before the Old World was destroyed, part of the current Icefield was still a place with relatively normal weather. There were many human cities. Later, the climate changed drastically, and the Icefield expanded and swallowed those areas.

"Because of the climate limitations of the Icefield, and the scarcity of arable land, there are not many wilderness wanderers and ruin hunters there. Many city ruins are still in relatively good condition, allowing us to return fully loaded."

"That's true." Ding Ling nodded. "Even we 'Salvation Army' only organize teams to go there to collect resources during the summer in most cases. Well, you're going all the way there now, just in time for midsummer."

She opened her mouth, hesitated, and after a while, said hesitantly:

"When you get to the Icefield, can you help me look out for someone?"

"Who?" The Merciful and Compassionate Monk who helps others asked.

Ding Ling lowered her head and smiled:

"My husband, his name is Ji Qiang, a researcher.

"We were originally able to meet twice a year, but the year before last, he joined an expedition team and went to the Icefield, saying he was carrying out a secret mission. If he could succeed, he would be qualified to transfer me back to Wubei to reunite our family. But since then, I've lost contact with him, and his unit has been unable to give me a detailed answer due to confidentiality regulations."

Perhaps she didn't expect the captain to say so much, involving work assignments and transfers, the young man next to her, Zeng Ping'an, was quite embarrassed.

"I see..." Jiang Baimian thought for a while and said, "Looking out for him is no problem. It's just a matter of lifting a finger."

Ding Ling showed a sincere smile:

"I have a photo of him here.

"It was taken in Wubei when we were newly married."

Wubei is one of the most core cities of the "Salvation Army." The Wubei 6 and Wubei 7 produced there are quite common pistols in the Ashlands.