Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong each looked to one side, seeing the stalls along the road. Some were selling old-world style crystal, diamond, emerald, and jade jewelry. Some had different-sized LCD screens and portable computers. Others were selling canned goods, clothes, and other supplies. Still others were simply collections of scattered odds and ends.

“Contains old-world entertainment data…” Long Yuehong read aloud the contents of a paper sign.

It wasn't hung up; it was simply placed in front of one of the stalls.

This stall mainly sold repaired old-world computers.

Hearing the words Long Yuehong read out, Bai Chen, who was driving, reminded them with a serious expression,

“It’s best not to touch them.”

“Why?” Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong asked in unison.

Bai Chen recalled and said,

“When I was wandering in the wilderness, I met a very powerful ruin hunter. He was roughly equivalent to half a Team Leader.”

“Hah, am I becoming a standard of measurement?” Jiang Baimian, who was observing the bustling street with interest, laughed upon hearing this.

Bai Chen didn’t respond to her teasing and continued,

“Once, when he was exploring a city ruin, he found a portable computer that had no major problems except for the battery.

“Later, he found someone to fix the various minor issues, traded for a new battery that could be used, and finally started the computer…”

Because he had to avoid a pedestrian crossing the road, Bai Chen stopped before finishing.

Long Yuehong tried to guess,

“As a result, something terrible happened?

“The old-world entertainment data in that computer hid some kind of danger?”

“No.” Bai Chen said truthfully. “After he found those entertainment data, he became addicted to it and never explored city ruins again. Relying on his previous savings and connections, he did some small business in Initial City, barely managing to maintain his life. Moreover, he couldn’t leave that computer even when he was busy in the shop. He didn’t think about how to do good business or how to expand the scale. He just wanted to stay in front of the computer, constantly clicking the mouse and pressing the keyboard.”

Finally, Bai Chen summarized,

“He was originally a very ambitious and capable person. Maybe one day he could have gotten his own manor. As a result, he just wasted away like that.”

Long Yuehong said “oh, oh” a couple of times,

“That’s really scary, those old-world entertainment data.”

Shang Jianyao said with great interest,

“I want to challenge it and see if my will can overcome those old-world entertainment data.”

During the discussion, Long Yuehong glanced at the Team Leader and noticed that she had her mouth tightly closed, her cheeks were slightly bulging, and her body was trembling slightly, as if she was struggling to hold back a laugh.

*The Team Leader must have been exposed to old-world entertainment data…* Just as Long Yuehong had this thought, Jiang Baimian burst out laughing, laughing so hard that she couldn’t stand up straight:

“Haha, Little Bai, you look so cute when you’re serious!

“Haha…”

Bai Chen pursed his lips and didn't respond.

Jiang Baimian immediately put away her smile and said seriously,

“But we definitely can’t let Shang Jianyao touch those old-world entertainment data.”

The radio programs, song playlists, and year-end reports had already caused Shang Jianyao to make so many odd moves. If he were to come into contact with rich and complete old-world entertainment data, what would happen then?

“Don’t you believe in me?” Shang Jianyao protested.

“No, I don’t believe in those old-world entertainment data. I’m afraid they’ll be contaminated by you.” Jiang Baimian opened her eyes wide and told a blatant lie.

She felt that this should be the most convincing "reason" for Shang Jianyao.

As expected, Shang Jianyao replied,

“You should be glad that I am the arrogant and conceited me right now.”

“…” Jiang Baimian rolled her eyes and slowly let out a breath.

The jeep drove for a while, and Long Yuehong saw someone who had built a semi-high platform by the side of the road, holding a black-covered book, lecturing to the surrounding crowd from a high position. There were also people holding other thick books, constantly chatting with passersby…

“There are indeed more religions here.” Long Yuehong said with emotion, combining it with the information he had obtained before.

Because the intelligent robots of “Mechanical Paradise” didn’t believe in any religion, nor did they care whether others believed in them, many originally secretive sects had surfaced here, setting up churches, temples, or pavilions to preach in public.

As for organizations like the “Furnace Church,” which could openly operate even in the “Lakeside Alliance,” they had no scruples whatsoever. They not only built churches and sent “Devotees,” but also directly turned themselves into the Tarnan service points for many Lakeside Alliance businesses and teams.

Of course, another prerequisite for preaching was having someone to preach to, and Tarnan was not short of people.

Before obtaining the information given by Han Wanghuo, the Old Task Force had thought that Tarnan was mostly inhabited by robots. Humans were mostly traveling merchants, hunters, and trade representatives who were passersby. Moreover, the number of these people would not be large, because there were only a few forces that knew Tarnan and were allowed to trade with Mechanical Paradise. Even if each family sent several merchant teams and the ruin hunters responsible for protecting them, the total population here would not reach the standard of a medium-sized settlement.

Reality overturned this perception. Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao, and the others already knew before leaving Redstone Collection that Tarnan had a large number of local residents.

Their sources were threefold:

First, some members of the traveling merchant teams and their descendants.

Tarnan was controlled by Mechanical Paradise, prohibiting private fights. The public order was quite good, and it had powerful armed forces. There was no need to worry about being attacked by bandit groups or other forces. For many people, it was simply a paradise.

In the chaotic era and the early days of the New Calendar, this was an irresistible attraction. At that time, many merchant teams and trade delegations from many city-states had personnel who either stayed through formal channels or directly broke away from their original forces and settled here. In any case, such a well-maintained city ruin had too many ownerless houses that could be occupied.

At that time, the Lakeside Alliance had not yet been established. Mechanical Paradise traded with multiple city-states in that area. Later, these city-states outside the polluted area were able to form states and then form an alliance in the form of states, which was mostly thanks to the help provided by Mechanical Paradise. This included, but was not limited to, dispatching robot volunteer teams, providing water purification technology, and fighting the Higher Mindless, etc.

Second, wilderness wanderers from the surrounding area.

Such a peaceful and harmonious city where they could exchange for essential supplies made every group that wandered here unwilling to leave.

Third, ruin hunters from outside.

Around Tarnan, including the Qila’er Mountains, there were many city ruins, attracting many ruin hunters. They inevitably discovered such a safe city. After living in Tarnan for a period of time, a large number of them chose not to venture to other places, but stayed in Tarnan to make a living by cultivating farmland and exploring the various ruins in this area, and established a local Hunter’s Guild.

Of course, the premise for the establishment of the local Hunter’s Guild was signing a memorandum of understanding with Mechanical Paradise to ensure that the hunters’ various behaviors were constrained and that they did not actively reveal the existence of Tarnan to the outside world.

The jewelry, electrical appliances, and sundries on the roadside stalls were all found in the surrounding city ruins.

Mins, from the Shifang Corporation, mentioned earlier that Tarnan’s robots didn’t eat grain or cultivate fields, resulting in very few fresh ingredients here, and everyone had to rely on canned goods, biscuits, and energy bars for a living, referring to "outsiders."

Local residents all cultivated farmland on this land, but because it was located in the mountains, the soil was barren, and many areas still had residual pollution, making it impossible to cultivate. Therefore, the grain and vegetables produced were only enough for their own use.

And the livestock they raised were occasionally sold.

In other words, it wasn't impossible to buy flour, rice, vegetables, and other supplies in Tarnan, but it was more expensive and not cost-effective. Many merchants and ruin hunters preferred to get them from the surrounding area.

As they spoke, the jeep finally passed through this bustling street and entered a quieter area.

The street lights here were still bright. Tarnan didn't seem to lack electricity, but only a few houses had lights that were either yellowish or whitish.

Many of the windows were uninhabited.

“I thought Tarnan was already bustling and prosperous, but it hasn’t even filled every room in this city ruin.” Long Yuehong compared Tarnan to Wildgrass City.

“This is, after all, a semi-secret place.” Jiang Baimian said casually.

Long Yuehong looked around again and suddenly said with emotion,

“Compared to Marsh No. 1 Ruin, this is just a small city. There must be cities like this everywhere on the graylands.

“Before the Old World was destroyed, this place was probably full of people, but it was still just a small city…”

Tarnan, which hadn't even filled a fifth of a small city, was considered bustling on today's graylands. How prosperous was the Old World back then?

Shang Jianyao immediately echoed,

“Yeah.”

He immediately said,

“So, are you going to repeat after me?”

“Repeat what?” Long Yuehong was a little confused.

Shang Jianyao replied seriously,

“In order to save all of humanity, I volunteer…”

It wasn’t Jiang Baimian who interrupted him, but Bai Chen.

She stopped the car in front of a hotel.

This hotel was called “Dream,” and it was about two or three hundred meters in a straight line from the busiest street. It seemed to have been a hotel in the Old World, but it was later renovated and rebuilt.

This was the place that several smugglers from Redstone Collection strongly recommended, saying that it was the most comfortable place to stay.

After parking the jeep in front of the hotel, Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao, and the others walked towards the front desk through the automatically rotating door.

During this process, Shang Jianyao deliberately followed the rotation of the door, about to walk back the way he came, but Jiang Baimian pulled him back.

Long Yuehong was also curious about this kind of door that would automatically rotate when it sensed people approaching.

This belonged to some applications in his professional field.

Sitting at the hotel front desk was a woman in her thirties. She was a graylander, wearing a thick wool dress with colorful and unique styles. Her facial features were pretty good, and her temperament was quite charming.

While twirling the strands of her hair that hung down, she smiled at the guests and said,

“Your choice is very wise. If you go to those uninhabited places in the city and just find a room to sleep in, you might encounter…”

Speaking of this, she paused and said in a spooky tone,

“Ghosts.”

Shang Jianyao was immediately excited:

“Where? Where?”

“…” The woman who seemed to be the hotel owner was stunned.