"Stop!"

The voice of the bridge-guarding villager, amplified by a megaphone, could be heard clearly inside the public hall.

Shang Jianyao immediately grew excited, approached the window, and muttered to himself:

"If they don't stop, will there be a fight?"

"Can't you think of something good?" Jiang Baimian also came to the window.

"If there's a fight, I'll have a chance to show my skills," Shang Jianyao said with longing. "Mediation, persuasion, to ultimately make them friends."

You can make them friends without a fight, why take such a roundabout way? Long Yuehong couldn't understand Shang Jianyao's thinking at all, but he didn't voice his doubts.

As if sensing his thoughts, Shang Jianyao sighed as he looked at the bridge spanning the mountain stream:

"It seems like there won't be a fight...

"That means I have no reason to intervene."

The dilapidated convoy stopped on the other side of the bridge, adhering to the rules.

"Oh, so you're all about having a legitimate reason now?" Jiang Baimian responded with amusement.

His logic is actually quite rigorous... Long Yuehong muttered to himself.

At this moment, the bridge-guarding villager used the megaphone to ask:

"Where are you from, and what are you here to do?"

From the passenger seat of the lead vehicle, a man wrapped in a fur coat leaned out and replied loudly:

"From the north, here to trade some things."

"The north..." Long Yuehong repeated the word.

"The north of Cliff Village is the ice plains," the honest Genaverre introduced.

Bai Chen, who was also staring at the bridge area, pursed her lips and said:

"They're lying.

"The ice plains must still be snowing this season, everything is a vast expanse of white, but there's not a single trace on their vehicles."

The bridge-guarding villager, quite familiar with the ice plains, also voiced similar doubts:

"Is there no snow on the ice plains?"

Shang Jianyao became excited again, muttering to himself:

"If this convoy has Awakened, wouldn't Cliff Village be unable to stop them, unable to prevent them from crossing the bridge?"

Not all human settlements have Awakened, in fact, most don't.

And when encountering Awakened who are skilled at manipulating people's hearts, settlements lacking corresponding power, even if armed to the teeth, would be vulnerable, like a sealed can, seemingly indestructible, but sooner or later having its hard shell peeled off.

According to the "Old Task Force's" observation, the possibility of Cliff Village having Awakened was very low.

Of course, this didn't include the "Pangu Biology" teams that came and went.

Jiang Baimian smiled:

"As long as they don't encounter Awakened with a range exceeding five hundred meters, or someone like you who can use electronic devices and their own voice to exert influence remotely, Cliff Village has some defenses.

"Besides having people guarding the bridge, there's also a monitoring room on the top floor of the public hall, always with two villagers on duty, watching the bridge from a distance of three or four hundred meters.

"If they notice anything wrong, they'll immediately notify the village chief and activate the device to destroy the bridge."

Jiang Baimian paused and added:

"Well... this only guards against those who try to force their way through. If an Awakened really lowered their stance, hiding in the dark and influencing the villagers leaving and those guarding the bridge one by one, they could eventually achieve the goal of infiltrating, it's just a more roundabout approach."

As soon as she finished speaking, the man who had responded to the bridge guard earlier spoke up again:

"We went to the south to do some trading first, which took more than ten days."

That could explain their current situation... Long Yuehong quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

He essentially disliked fighting.

The bridge-guarding villager seemed to remember the identity of this group:

"You guys...

"Go to Shanao Town, someone will look for you later."

The people of Cliff Village called the abandoned town used for trading with outsiders Shanao Town.

"Okay!" The people in the convoy didn't waste any time and skillfully disappeared along the mountain road opposite Cliff Village.

"They left..." Shang Jianyao looked disappointed.

Not long after, Jiang Baimian noticed that four villagers from Cliff Village walked out of the public hall, got into a black mountain vehicle, crossed the bridge, and headed towards Shanao Town.

A dozen minutes later, they returned to the village and entered the public hall.

Then, the village chief led them to the warehouse where supplies were stored.

"A transaction," Jiang Baimian retracted her gaze.

This was one of the most common things in Cliff Village during late spring, summer, and early autumn.

"Boring." Shang Jianyao shook his head at first, then became interested, "What do you think they'll trade? Military exoskeletons, Old World entertainment materials, New World nodes, nuclear warheads?"

When the others didn't know how to respond, Jiang Baimian smiled and said:

"Only teams like ours, with the mission of saving all of humanity, can trade for those things."

She was half perfunctory with Shang Jianyao and half telling the truth.

Without the overt and covert struggles of certain high-level forces, how could the "Old Task Force" have obtained that nuclear warhead?

Shang Jianyao was immediately satisfied.

At noon, the village chief knocked on the door of the room they were currently in.

"I could hear someone singing on the stairs," he said with a smile, handing over a few pages of paper. "This is the menu, order what you like, and I'll tell people to make it."

While Jiang Baimian took the menu, she casually smiled and said:

"Seems like there's a big deal in the village?"

"It's alright, it's alright, they come several times every year," the village chief replied frankly.

Shang Jianyao asked curiously:

"Are they from the ice plains?"

"Yes," the village chief nodded. "It's not like every place on the ice plains is uninhabitable."

"That's right," Jiang Baimian echoed, "Some areas have special terrain, chaotic environments, and climates similar to the south, and some areas have abundant geothermal resources that can be well utilized."

However, similar areas weren't large and were like ordinary islands on a vast ocean compared to the entire ice plains.

"Yes, yes, yes," the village chief agreed. "Their settlement is in a valley, the climate is okay, the land is very fertile, and it can support a lot of people."

Jiang Baimian hummed:

"What's the name of their settlement? I'm wondering if I've ever heard of it."

"Year-End City," the village chief didn't hide it.

He was undoubtedly leaning towards "Pangu Biology."

They were the bread and butter of Cliff Village.

Before the "Old Task Force" members could ask further, he lowered his voice and said:

"Year-End City is quite strong, and their teams often have Awakened."

As the leader of a relatively important affiliated force of "Pangu Biology," the village chief was definitely considered well-informed.

"Awakened?" Shang Jianyao looked excited.

The village chief said in a low voice:

"Once, they encountered a gang of bandits, and as a result, after just a few glances and a few words, the bandits laid down their weapons and let them do as they pleased."

"Endings" or "Zhuang Sheng" domain? Jiang Baimian revealed a thoughtful expression.

Shang Jianyao then laughed:

"Have you been influenced to provide them with supplies for free?"

The village chief quickly explained:

"No, no.

"After they left, we reconciled the accounts, not just once, and there were no problems.

"The people of Year-End City are very friendly to us, they probably haven't used their abilities, it's all fair trade, they probably know that we have big backers and don't dare to do things too harshly. There's give and take, that's how business can continue."

This made Long Yuehong flash a thought:

"People with strength and discernment can survive longer in this world..."

After chatting about the people of Year-End City mainly exchanging salt, gasoline, industrial products, and other supplies, Jiang Baimian started ordering dishes from the menu.

Having experienced last night's meal, they all felt that everything else in Cliff Village was average, but the barbecue was excellent.

After the village chief went downstairs and headed to the kitchen, Shang Jianyao suddenly laughed:

"The name Year-End City is very interesting."

"Hmm?" Jiang Baimian, Long Yuehong, Bai Chen, and Genaverre all looked at the guy.

Shang Jianyao's smile became even brighter:

"Year-end is the end of the year, and the end of the year is governed by the Cycle Star 'Siming', our big boss."

…………

Tarnan, Dreamy Inn.

The landlady, Aino, was examining the calendar for the nth time recently.

She muttered to herself:

"It's been almost a month, why haven't the Awakened from the Mirage Dragon Sect come yet? I wanted an 'Endings' domain Awakened who can 'hypnotize', not a 'Shattered Mirror' domain Awakened who gets lost, why is it taking so long?"

Having nightmares every day is not a good thing!

Finally, Aino mustered her courage, put on her most colorful clothes, went out again, and came to the Nanke Temple to see Zhou Yue.

She politely asked:

"Abbot Zhou, why hasn't the Awakened from your sect who can 'hypnotize' arrived yet?"

Zhou Yue carefully looked at Aino's clothes and widened her eyes:

"Ms. Aino, didn't you choose to give up at the time and adapt to the nightmares yourself?

"So, I didn't apply to headquarters."

"I didn't!" Aino blurted out, "I've been looking forward to it every day! I was just comforting myself with 'Everywhere is a dream, why take it seriously' to get through a month of nightmares."

Zhou Yue, besides being face-blind, is your brain not very good either?

"You clearly said at the time to let it go, it wouldn't kill anyone," Zhou Yue responded with doubt.

Uh, I seem to have probably really said that... Aino seriously recalled and said:

"But I didn't say I wanted to give up completely!"

"Forget it, forget it," Zhou Yue was too lazy to argue further, opened her arms, slightly raised her body, and looked at the void, "Everywhere is a dream, why take it seriously?"

Aino almost spat out a mouthful of old blood.

She always had the feeling that her memory and Zhou Yue's were deviating.

Just like the matter of asking for help was a fantasy!

Aino couldn't help but look behind Zhou Yue.

There was a shrine there, and inside the shrine, a giant dragon symbol made of shattered mirrors reflected the faint light.