Ai Nuo was stunned for a moment:
"Ha, how is that possible?
"Those 'Advanced Heartless' that Tarnan has encountered over the years."
Before Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao, and the others could ask further, she curiously inquired:
"What exactly happened in between?"
Boss lady, your appearance is in your late thirties, almost forty, not to mention your actual age. Why are you acting so gossipy? Jiang Baimian had mastered many old-era words from Jiang Xiaoyue's related materials.
However, she could also understand that the nature of gossip had nothing to do with age. The more idle people are, the more they love to gossip.
"Actually, it's a series of events triggered by a 'Dream Protector' of the 'Mirage Dragon Cult' contracting 'Heartless Disease'..." Jiang Baimian said everything she could, only concealing a few key points.
Anyway, if the boss lady is willing to put in the effort, she will definitely be able to find out about Jiang Xiaoyue and so on.
"I see..." Ai Nuo, wearing a brightly colored long dress, nodded. "It sounds like a ghost story, especially that last jump."
"Yes." Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong both agreed.
If that "Advanced Heartless" had chosen other ways to commit suicide, they might not have felt this way, but he jumped from the building like Jiang Xiaoyue, which inevitably made people have certain associations.
"Anyway, being able to resolve this matter means you deserve half the credit. I'll talk to Old Gu later to see how to get you some substantial rewards." Ai Nuo sat down again, looking at the computer screen while smiling.
Long Yuehong had always been a little curious about the relationship between the boss lady and President Gu, so he couldn't help but ask:
"Ms. Ai Nuo, are you very familiar with President Gu?"
"Familiar, how can we not be familiar? We've been fellow villagers for so many years. Would you believe me if I said we weren't?" Ai Nuo chuckled. "That old man is so cunning, he doesn't suffer losses in anything he does, but he's a bit timid, preferring to miss out than take risks."
After chatting for a few more words, the "Old Task Force" took the elevator back to the second floor.
Ai Nuo rested her cheek on her hand, watching their backs disappear behind the elevator doors, and slowly retracted her gaze.
She leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes.
…………
Inside a pink room filled with teddy bears, lace skirts, and various electronic products.
Ai Nuo sat cross-legged on the bed, staring at the vermilion door with a puzzled expression.
Behind her, at the head of the bed, hung a huge decorative painting, depicting a dim ocean shimmering with light and several islands looming in the distance.
Ai Nuo jumped off the bed, walked step by step to the door, and grasped the brass handle.
She gently twisted and pulled, and the vermilion door opened backward.
Outside the door was a corridor covered with a dark yellow thick carpet, with one room after another on both sides of the corridor.
No matter which end of the corridor you looked at, you couldn't see the end.
The countless rooms all had vermilion wooden doors and brass old locks. Except for the differences in the golden door numbers, everything else was the same.
Ai Nuo stepped into the corridor, glanced left and right, her eyes sweeping over the "door numbers" that had no regularity.
Her body trembled involuntarily.
At this time, this section of the corridor was extremely quiet, and nothing happened.
A few seconds later, Ai Nuo suddenly turned around, walked back to the room, and slammed the wooden door shut.
On her vermilion door, the golden numbers identified its identity:
"506"
…………
Inside room 221, Long Yuehong saw Jiang Baimian take out the radio transceiver.
"Team Leader, shouldn't we wait until we've finished talking to 'Source Brain' before reporting to the company?" He didn't hide his doubts.
Before, Genaeva had clearly stated that after dealing with the aftermath of the "Advanced Heartless" incident and bringing back the intelligent robots and auxiliary robots that had fallen into the cliff, they could arrange for the "Old Task Force" to talk to "Source Brain."
That's just a matter of two or three days.
Jiang Baimian wrote a telegram while answering with a smile:
"Although I don't think the 'Mirage Dragon Cult' is the kind of organization that would commit murder and silence people, we can't be completely defenseless."
"Yes, we can't blindly believe it." Shang Jianyao regained the identity of a vigilant cult "honorary member."
"This..." Long Yuehong suddenly became a little nervous.
Jiang Baimian smiled while writing quickly:
"The main thing is that we can't be too careful, so we still have to report our experiences during this time.
"After that, if we suddenly lose contact, the company will at least know which direction to look for, right?"
After saying it casually, she suddenly froze, subconsciously glanced at Shang Jianyao, and found that his expression was normal, without any change.
"Ahem..." Jiang Baimian cleared her throat. "I'm writing this. Do you think there's any problem?"
She quickly read the original draft of the telegram she had prepared.
Bai Chen listened quietly, frowning slightly:
"Isn't it saying too little?"
Jiang Baimian's telegram only mentioned the origin, experience, ending of the "Advanced Heartless" and the illusion of Jiang Xiaoyue's suicide by jumping off the building, without mentioning the "Old Task Force"'s speculation, judgment, verification, and the role they played.
Of course, this included the numbers "five", "zero", and "three", but without the corresponding interpretation.
At the end of the telegram, Jiang Baimian also mentioned that they would be able to talk to "Source Brain" in another two or three days.
"How much content can a telegram hold? We'll supplement it as needed when we write the mission report back at the company." Jiang Baimian was already an old hand in this regard.
- The batch of computers they obtained from saving people was not mentioned at all when they telegraphed the company last time saying they had arrived in Tarnan.
"It can be made into a serialized form." Shang Jianyao provided a suggestion.
"They don't want to." Jiang Baimian replied briskly.
"They" referred to the employees of the "Safety Department"'s Confidential Communications Office.
Soon, Jiang Baimian translated the original telegram and sent it out.
When the "Old Task Force" had eaten brunch and was preparing to take a nap, "Pangu Biology" sent back a telegram:
"...Well done...After talking to 'Source Brain', you can return to the company for a rest."
Hearing Jiang Baimian read the last half of the sentence, Long Yuehong felt a little overjoyed.
They had been to the surface for several months, from late autumn to late winter.
Counting the time required for the return trip, they would inevitably miss the most lively, grand, and joyful festival of "Pangu Biology" every year - the New Year.
This made Long Yuehong miss home even more than usual.
Just as Long Yuehong wanted to say "finally," Shang Jianyao expressed his opinion:
"These words are a bit unlucky."
That's right... Jiang Baimian suddenly felt that there might be some accidents in the middle.
Bai Chen glanced at Long Yuehong imperceptibly, quickly retracted his gaze, and gently patted his face.
"What's wrong?" Jiang Baimian asked curiously.
"The habits of wanderers in our wilderness." Bai Chen explained simply, "If you say or hear unlucky words, you can slap yourself in the face to pretend that it didn't happen."
"Really?" Long Yuehong tried to imitate Bai Chen's movements.
Jiang Baimian asked suspiciously again:
"Why haven't you done this before?"
Unlucky words were not appearing within the "Old Task Force" for the first time.
Bai Chen was silent for two seconds:
"I didn't quite believe in the matter of auspiciousness before."
"..." Long Yuehong didn't know what to say.
…………
Sleeping until evening, the "Old Task Force" got up and went out to look for food.
Walking through a secluded alley, they arrived at Binhe Avenue.
The streetlights here were not very far apart, and they were all lit, illuminating the streets as if it were daytime.
Under the lights, stalls were lined up in order, most of them containing items retrieved from the ruins of old world cities.
Preaching, singing, dancing, performing balancing skills, each gathered in one place, making "Binhe Avenue" very lively.
This was just like what Shang Jianyao and the others saw on their first night arriving in Tarnan.
Recalling the emptiness and silence of the previous two days, Long Yuehong suddenly felt a little emotional:
"I kind of understand the meaning of our previous work..."
"Not bad." Jiang Baimian nodded with a smile.
Bai Chen's eyes flickered, not knowing what he was thinking.
Shang Jianyao turned his head, looked at Long Yuehong, and said with a smile:
"So, do you want to save all of humanity together?"
Long Yuehong didn't ignore it like he had in the past, but showed a little hesitation.
He opened his mouth, but was stunned to see Shang Jianyao walking to the other side, getting into the crowd of "Glory Balance," and excitedly watching the "performance."
The followers of "Glory Balance" were walking around on stilts, showing their balance.
Besides this, they also had human pyramids, and made bicycles stand on a single wheel. In short, they expounded the doctrine in various ways.
"This is kind of like a circus..." Jiang Baimian muttered in a low voice.
Shang Jianyao didn't watch for too long, because his stomach wouldn't allow it.
- The "Old Task Force" came out to look for food.
They walked all the way to the "Wild Pigeon" bar and pushed the door open.
Because many of the regular customers were still in the hospital, the bar seemed very deserted, with only a few people gathered together playing cards.
Boss Cai Yi stood up with a whoosh when he saw the Qian Bai squad enter, and greeted them at the door, his attitude so warm and his tone so humble that Long Yuehong felt a little uncomfortable.
"Boss, you don't have to be like this." Jiang Baimian also had similar feelings.
Cai Yi rubbed his palms and said:
"Should! Should!
"If it weren't for you, let alone whether this bar could continue to be open, I don't know if I would still be alive.
"What do you want to eat today? It's on me!"
"Just not canned food, biscuits, or energy bars." Shang Jianyao made a request.
Cai Yi laughed loudly:
"No problem, I'll take the frozen meat from home and show you my skills.
"By the way, President Gu said that everyone should collect some supplies these two days and exchange them for a pig. Then, we'll set up a few tables at the Nan Ke Temple and have pig-slaughtering dishes to thank you."
Long Yuehong and the others' saliva immediately became abundant.
"Okay." Jiang Baimian didn't refuse, but said with some embarrassment, "Isn't it not so good to put it at Nan Ke Temple?"
A sacred and solemn religious place, setting up banquets and pig-slaughtering dishes, wouldn't that be not so good?
Cai Yi smiled:
"Abbot Zhou agreed, she said the sooner the better."
At this moment, the same sentence flashed through the minds of Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao, and others:
"Everywhere is illusion, why be serious?"