Having gotten out of the jeep, Shang Jianyao, ever sentimental, offered another suggestion:
"How about we fire a signal flare into the air to let Xu Datong and the others at the Second Food Company know we're here?"
"Aren't you afraid the enemy will come too?" Long Yuehong immediately thought of the problem with Shang Jianyao's suggestion.
Shang Jianyao, who wasn't wearing a mask, chuckled, his laughter inexplicably familiar to Jiang Baimian.
Shang Jianyao continued:
"Wouldn't that be a good thing?
"We can set up an ambush in advance, and when the enemy sees the signal and rushes over, they'll fall right into our trap."
"Uh..." Long Yuehong was actually a little convinced and couldn't immediately find anything wrong with it.
Jiang Baimian chuckled and teased Shang Jianyao:
"Do you think the Eighth Research Institute's special envoy is that stupid?
"If I were them, and I discovered that someone was firing signal flares in an area that happened to be the Second Food Company I was looking for, I would definitely choose a remote, saturation bombing. Anyway, my destination is to destroy this Buddhist holy site, not protect it. Whatever is convenient and safe is what I'll do."
"The Eighth Research Institute's special envoys are usually very discreet, with few but elite personnel. This isn't their home turf either. Do they have a way to get missile vehicles or cluster rocket launchers?" Bai Chen raised an objection.
Weapons capable of remote, saturation bombing were either very difficult to obtain, mostly controlled by large forces, or required enough manpower to operate. For example, dozens or hundreds of large-caliber artillery pieces could also cover the Second Food Company area from a relatively long distance, but they wouldn't be as accurate, and it would require a lot of people, which didn't seem like the Eighth Research Institute's special envoys' style.
Jiang Baimian explained with a smile:
"As a great villain, a mastermind, it's only right to secretly support some forces and teams.
"Otherwise, who would pass them intelligence, who would prepare supplies and safe houses for the special envoy? Think about it, when First City was attacked, that special envoy also had a team assisting him.
"We must not underestimate the Eighth Research Institute. Perhaps there are medium-sized forces in the surrounding area that are at their command, ready to pull out a well-equipped team to cooperate with the special envoy at any time."
Jiang Baimian felt that compared to the Eighth Research Institute, "Pangu Biology" was no longer suitable to play the role of "great villain."
"That's right." Shang Jianyao slammed his right fist into his left palm, "Just like the company!"
"..." Jiang Baimian lifted the rocket launcher with one hand, "Let's go in."
This time, she didn't let Bai Chen and Long Yuehong stay outside to provide backup. The incident at Building 4 in the family area of the Steel Factory Ruins Second District had taught her that in similar scenarios, having more people observing from multiple angles might reveal different things.
As for the jeep, it was parked in a very close and relatively concealed spot. The Second Food Company was only seven stories tall, and even if the "Old Task Force" climbed to the rooftop, Shang Jianyao could remotely influence the electric car.
--If anyone approached and tried to drive the jeep away, Jiang Baimian would be able to sense the electrical signals.
The five members of the "Old Task Force" split into three groups, led by Shang Jianyao and Jiang Baimian, and entered the food company one after another.
The first floor was no longer the way Shang Jianyao had seen it in his psychological shadow. There was almost no residue of scattered packaging paper, and the overturned or standing transparent plastic boxes and a large number of counters were all gone.
"Like a locust plague..." Long Yuehong looked at the mottled walls and shattered ground and sincerely sighed.
This was the result of the ruins hunters' daily and yearly exploration.
Jiang Baimian nodded lightly upon hearing this:
"This also shows that this place, like the Buddhist holy site at the Steel Factory Ruins, has no visible abnormalities on the surface. The ruins hunters have squeezed every last drop of oil from even the stones."
"Yes, yes." Shang Jianyao echoed.
He was a step ahead of Jiang Baimian, responsible for leading the way.
In the next ten minutes, the "Old Task Force" thoroughly searched the empty first floor and observed the inside from the windows, confirming that there were no problems.
Following this pace, they arrived at the third floor, at the room where Shang Jianyao had discovered the employee introduction board.
The wall had been blown to pieces, and the photos pasted on it had either turned into charred marks or completely disappeared, as had the textual descriptions.
"There was a battle here, at least involving grenade launchers." Bai Chen observed the scene and gave a preliminary judgment.
Jiang Baimian said, "Hmm:"
"The damage to the employee introduction board seems like unintentional collateral damage."
In other words, no one was deliberately trying to destroy evidence.
"Yes." Genvava agreed with Bai Chen and Jiang Baimian's words.
"Then it will be more difficult for us to find the missing photo..." Long Yuehong said with a frown.
If the wall was still intact and the employee introduction board still existed, the "Old Task Force" could use Genvava's high technology and the instruments he carried to analyze the traces left by the missing photo and corresponding description to see if they could find any useful clues.
Shang Jianyao's face showed no worry, and he said eagerly:
"So we still have to be unconventional!"
"Wait a moment." Jiang Baimian retracted her gaze from examining the dilapidated wall, "Let's split up and search all the rooms here, not letting go of every wall crack, to see if the missing photo might be hidden inside."
Frankly speaking, she wasn't too confident about this. Leaving aside the fact that after so many years, the photo that was originally hidden tightly might have been found and taken away, just the original purpose of the person who tore off the corresponding photo and introduction made her think that these two items were likely torn up or burned on the spot—taking a photo and corresponding introduction alone was either for secrecy or for special emotional needs, and the former was more likely. Completely destroying the "evidence" was the best way to keep it a secret.
In this way, the five members of the "Old Task Force" completed the search of the entire building in just over an hour, mainly due to the fact that there were very few items left at the scene, and many places were clear at a glance.
"Didn't find anything." Long Yuehong reported his situation to Jiang Baimian.
"I didn't find anything either." Genvava said immediately after.
Shang Jianyao decided not to be an exception:
"Me and Dabai neither, but she thinks it's too clean, not as dirty as she imagined, with no rat droppings and various feces everywhere.
"Also, the remains of Liu Lu, which should have been there, are gone. I don't think any ruins hunter would take something like that, right?"
"What if someone has a bone fetish?" It was another Shang Jianyao who refuted Shang Jianyao.
Bai Chen replied to him:
"Given the situation on the Greylands, the possibility of that is lower than someone taking the bones back to make soup."
The vast majority of wasteland wanderers are still struggling to make ends meet and don't have that many strange fetishes.
Shang Jianyao smiled:
"Did you forget the price of 'sexual perversion'?
"Since there are people who like car exhaust pipes, it's not impossible for someone to fall in love with skeletons."
This was logical and well-founded, and Jiang Baimian and the others couldn't refute it.
After a moment of silence, Bai Chen directly stated her guess:
"I think someone found a place to bury them."
"Who?" Shang Jianyao looked like he was listening to a story.
"The 'abnormality' that once possessed her." Bai Chen replied, "She was the first person 'he' possessed, maybe some subtle emotions were produced."
"Why?" Genvava couldn't understand.
Bai Chen opened her mouth but couldn't find the right words to express herself.
Long Yuehong tried to help, but couldn't think of a reason either.
"Intuition! Female intuition!" Jiang Baimian chided the three knuckleheads, "You need to have enough delicate thoughts to appreciate that kind of subtle emotional possibility."
"Oh..." Genvava's slightly synthesized voice actually conveyed a sense of "great inspiration."
Obviously, this was imitating Shang Jianyao.
"Enough delicate thoughts?" Shang Jianyao looked at Jiang Baimian with a mixture of doubt and curiosity.
"Don't I have them?" Jiang Baimian was almost embarrassed into anger.
Fortunately, she remembered that they were currently in a strange Buddhist holy site, and there might be dangers lurking around, so she forcibly interrupted the topic.
She said solemnly:
"Alright, since conventional methods are not effective, let's now use the Steel Factory Ruins medical record restoration and the Little Jade Buddha.
"Little Red, you climb out the window and see if there are any additional changes from another perspective. Little White, you wait below Little Red, both to prevent him from having any accidents and to observe the building as a whole.
"Old Ge, you go outside too, set up and adjust all the instruments, and collect the most objective environmental data."
"Yes." "Okay." "No problem." Long Yuehong, Bai Chen, and Genvava replied in succession.
After they were all in position and had completed their preliminary preparations, Jiang Baimian said to Shang Jianyao:
"You can start now.
"Try the medical record restoration first."
Shang Jianyao had already taken out the "Six Senses Beads" at some point. While turning them and chanting Buddhist scriptures, he unfolded the medical record restoration, which was in his pocket.
Because he was sitting cross-legged and his back was relatively straight, the price of the "Six Senses Beads" was quite obvious. Jiang Baimian's facial muscles twitched slightly as she watched.
She wasn't rigid, and even because she had been in the Security Department, she could tell colorful jokes, but this price and the rosary beads, the Buddhist scriptures, and the dignified expression were too contradictory, giving people a feeling of absurdity.
Shang Jianyao was calm and composed, reciting the medical record in a tone of chanting Buddhist scriptures:
"Namo Anuttara-Samyak-Sambodhi, Name Fan Wensi, Sex Female, Age 52, Marital Status Married, Address: Building 4, District 2, Family Area, Room 302..."
In the ethereal and solemn voice, Jiang Baimian observed her surroundings and found that everything was normal.
After Shang Jianyao finished reciting, she picked up the walkie-talkie and asked the team members outside:
"Any situation?"
"Nothing" was repeated three times.
Shang Jianyao put away the medical record restoration and the "Six Senses Beads" with a puzzled expression:
"It even works in my psychological shadow..."
Jiang Baimian didn't try to analyze it and thought for a moment before saying:
"Let's discuss it later. Take out the Little Jade Buddha and try it."
Shang Jianyao immediately took out the lake-green Little Jade Buddha and held it in his palm.
Just as he finished this action, Jiang Baimian suddenly felt that the surroundings seemed a little darker.