After hanging up the phone, Jiang Baimian sighed and turned her gaze to the computer screen.

Close to noon, she snapped out of it and muttered silently:

"I haven't even finished one game, and it's already this late? Old Ge is still waiting in the lobby lounge..."

Jiang Baimian quickly stood up and called out to Shang Jianyao, Long Yuehong, and Bai Chen:

"It's time to go."

Noticing their situation, the waiter in the white shirt and red bow tie approached and asked with a smile:

"Are you leaving?"

Jiang Baimian glanced at Shang Jianyao, who was taking off his headphones and unplugging the small speaker memory stick from the computer, and said to the waiter:

"Yes.

"How many Ore in total?"

She could actually calculate it herself, but asking was a matter of politeness.

The waiter smiled kindly:

"No need, Mr. Heinrich will pay for it."

Uh... Jiang Baimian was a little surprised.

In her mind, Lehman was synonymous with a miser, and she didn't expect him to be so generous.

Various comments from Lehman flashed through her mind, ultimately settling on the phrase "good skills are not as good as good relationships."

It seems this guy is still very generous when it comes to cultivating relationships... Jiang Baimian didn't necessarily want the "Old Task Force" to pay for it themselves, so she nodded slightly and led Shang Jianyao and the others out of the Old World Internet Cafe.

Just as they exited the door, she suddenly froze and looked back at the Internet cafe.

"What's wrong?" Bai Chen asked keenly.

Jiang Baimian said thoughtfully:

"I was wondering what kind of relationship Lehman has with the people in 'First City'.

"Isn't Markus, Ore's grandson, very fond of watching gladiatorial combat? But he's always in the VIP box. We can't get tickets, and it's easy to be discovered by the hidden protectors if we try to find our way there using the 'Reasoning Clown'. It would be much simpler if we could get a few tickets through Lehman."

"Then ask him during the transaction later." Bai Chen thought it was a good idea.

Long Yuehong nodded first, then hesitated and asked:

"Won't this cause Lehman to be implicated by us?"

Clap clap clap, Shang Jianyao applauded, making Long Yuehong a little embarrassed.

Jiang Baimian laughed:

"There won't be any problems if we do two things. First, wait until Lehman leaves First City and returns to 'United Industries' before using the VIP box tickets. Second, even if we encounter Markus in the box, don't rush to make 'friends'. Wait for an opportunity to arise naturally before trying."

Long Yuehong breathed a sigh of relief, but suddenly noticed a problem:

"What if Lehman gives us the VIP box tickets but doesn't leave First City for a long time?

"Those tickets should all have expiration dates."

Jiang Baimian smiled:

"He has to leave even if he doesn't want to."

"I'll go scare him!" Shang Jianyao said with great interest.

"Let's discuss this after we confirm that Lehman can really get the VIP box tickets." Bai Chen glanced at the lobby of the high-rise building.

Jiang Baimian said "Uh" and then:

"That's right."

They then entered the lobby and saw Genava, wearing a dark green military uniform, sitting on a long sofa, chatting with a few humans.

"It's time to go." Shang Jianyao shouted loudly.

Genava stood up, bid farewell to the humans, who were not very old, and walked back to Bai Chen and the others.

"What were you guys talking about just now?" Jiang Baimian asked casually.

Genava replied in a slightly synthesized baritone voice:

"They saw me sitting there alone and came over to ask if I couldn't find my master. I said you were in the Internet cafe next door. Then they asked where we were from. When they found out we came from the south, they inquired about the situation along the way..."

After Genava finished speaking, Shang Jianyao said with a solemn expression:

"Old Ge, you almost got kidnapped!"

"Really?" Genava asked back in confusion, "They were quite kind and didn't show any signs of abduction."

"If you could detect it, it wouldn't be called abduction." Shang Jianyao looked like he hated that Genava couldn't see it.

"Alright, alright, let's go back." Jiang Baimian stopped the debate between the carbon-based human and the artificial intelligence.

After the jeep slowly started moving, Jiang Baimian glanced at the rearview mirror and said:

"This afternoon, we'll stay in the rented house on Iron Medal Street and make some preparations for the Zhao Family Manor capture operation."

"How do we do that?" Long Yuehong immediately focused his attention.

Jiang Baimian said after considering:

"Mainly two things:

"First, make a backup of your key memories, a double backup. One way is to write them down on paper and give them to the teammate in charge of the pickup. The other way is to enter them into the computer and store them in Old Ge's body. After the operation is over, we'll retrieve them and compare them one by one to see if your memories have been subtly altered.

"Second, discuss the responses we should have in the event of various unexpected situations."

Bai Chen thought for a while and said:

"These are all things that must be done."

At this moment, Shang Jianyao looked at Genava:

"Will you peek?"

"You can't insult my personality." The silver-black intelligent robot said truthfully.

"What about you?" Shang Jianyao looked at Long Yuehong again.

"I wouldn't want to look even if you showed it to me. I'm afraid my mind would be polluted!" Long Yuehong replied angrily.

After settling on the work for the afternoon, Jiang Baimian leaned her right hand on the passenger car door and stretched out her breath:

"Tomorrow, we'll get a primer on Ashlands language."

Suddenly, Shang Jianyao said "Oops".

"What's wrong?" Long Yuehong asked alertly.

Shang Jianyao said with a look of regret:

"In another hour, the Internet cafe would have given us a free special pot rice."

"Yeah!" Long Yuehong also remembered this and felt like he had missed a chance to make money.

Jiang Baimian also felt quite regretful:

"I wonder if their special pot rice is delicious..."

This belonged to the "Pangu Biology" internal no-eat rule.

Without waiting for Bai Chen and the others to respond, Jiang Baimian clapped her hands together and said:

"I've decided, we'll find a restaurant that serves pot rice in the Red Wolf District for lunch."

She then smiled:

"Let's pretend the Internet access wasn't Lehman's treat."

…………

The well-fed "Old Task Force" returned to Iron Medal Street.

After finding a place to park the jeep and placing the alarm in a hidden location, Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao, and the others walked along the narrow road towards the rented house in a leisurely manner.

As they walked, someone came towards them.

The person was wearing a leather jacket with many mottled patches, was about the same height as Long Yuehong, had brown hair and green eyes, and had an old gray scarf tied around his neck, covering his mouth.

After the two sides brushed past each other, Bai Chen looked ahead and said:

"This person looks a bit like the one the sheriff was looking for before..."

Although the clothes were different, the other characteristics were consistent.

Jiang Baimian recalled Bai Chen's previous description and nodded:

"Yes."

"Should we say hello?" Shang Jianyao asked proactively.

"No need, we're not sheriffs of First City." Jiang Baimian shook her head without hesitation, "Even if he's related to the citizen assembly bombing case, it's not a reason for us to overstep our authority."

"Ah?" Long Yuehong was a little stunned, "He's related to the citizen assembly bombing case?"

How did team leader know? Or was it just an example?

Jiang Baimian smiled and glanced around at the team members:

"While you were indulging in old-world entertainment materials, I seriously browsed the public network of First City for a while and discovered that someone mentioned that the suspect in this bombing case was a man wearing a scarf."

Shang Jianyao replied with confusion:

"Weren't you playing a ga..."

"Stop!" Jiang Baimian stopped him, "In short, it has nothing to do with us. Moreover, the more chaotic First City is, the more beneficial it will be to our subsequent investigation."

Long Yuehong nodded and then asked:

"Why does he have to wear a scarf and cover his mouth? He's even changed his clothes."

"This shows that he has more obvious features around his mouth." Bai Chen stated his guess.

Jiang Baimian "Hmm"ed:

"It shouldn't just be features, it's more likely that there's something around his mouth that would be targeted if seen by passersby, such as a criminal tattoo, a slave mark, or some kind of deformity."

A term immediately flashed through Long Yuehong's mind:

"Subhuman!"

…………

In the blink of an eye, it was the day scheduled to capture the "Anti-Intelligence Cult" members at Zhao Family Manor, and the "Old Task Force" once again split up.

Jiang Baimian, carrying Shang Jianyao and Genava, who was wearing a black cloak, opened the driver's seat door of the jeep and said to Long Yuehong and Bai Chen:

"You guys go wait at that place, put on your exoskeletons, and come to meet us as soon as you see the signal."

"Okay." Long Yuehong and Bai Chen didn't talk nonsense and turned to walk towards the gray off-road vehicle loaded with two sets of military exoskeletons.

Jiang Baimian entered the driver's seat, adjusted the rearview mirror in the car, and said to Shang Jianyao and Genava:

"We're going to General Farkas to meet up with his guards."

Shang Jianyao responded with slight excitement:

"Hopefully they're all prepared."

What do you mean "hopefully they're all prepared"? Who are they referring to? Jiang Baimian didn't try to understand Shang Jianyao's words, started the car, and drove it forward.

At this time, it was only 8:30 in the morning, and the number of pedestrians on the road had already become sparse.