Cliff Village, in the public office room.

Shang Jianyao woke up, silently shifting from a lying position to a sitting one.

"What's wrong?" Jiang Baimian, in the next bed, was still awake.

Because it was still early, she planned to wait for Shang Jianyao to check room "506" before going to sleep.

Shang Jianyao lowered his voice and mysteriously replied:

"'506' room's owner once believed in 'Zhuang Sheng'."

"She's an Awakened in the 'Zhuang Sheng' domain. When you said you became arrogant before, was it just an affectation? That's not right, '506' starts with '5', belonging to May's governing star, 'The Overseer'. No, that's not right either. An Awakened in the 'Zhuang Sheng' domain can start with any number from 1 to 12." Jiang Baimian muttered to herself.

The honest Shang Jianyao shook his head in denial:

"No..."

"Today, she used a new ability that can amplify my inner impulses at that moment, which is more like the 'Overseer' domain."

Jiang Baimian "hmm"ed:

"So, she simply believes in 'Zhuang Sheng'.

"Then there are two possibilities:

"One is that she accidentally came into contact with that governing star deep within the Fourth Research Institute's laboratory, slowly discovered that He was 'Zhuang Sheng', and quietly began to believe in Him, while the vast majority of people at the Fourth Research Institute are unaware of this secret;

"Two is that she encountered a cult that believes in 'Zhuang Sheng' outside, or the corresponding cult has secret proselytization at the Fourth Research Institute. After becoming a believer in 'Zhuang Sheng', she received a warning from this governing star, discovered the Fourth Research Institute's hidden secret, and confirmed that the one deep in the laboratory is another governing star. It's also because of 'Zhuang Sheng's' protection that she was able to survive the subsequent events and escape."

Analyzing to this point, Jiang Baimian made her own judgment:

"I'm more inclined to the latter possibility, which can explain several of our previous questions.

"'Zhuang Sheng' exposed the Fourth Research Institute's governing star's secret through the owner of room '506'. Is this some manifestation of the 'New World's' struggle?"

Shang Jianyao didn't respond, but instead wore a bitter face.

Borrowing the fairly bright moonlight from outside the window, Jiang Baimian glanced at him:

"What's wrong now?"

Shang Jianyao sighed:

"The first time we talked about why the owner of room '506' was able to survive, her dream changed, and it seemed like a governing star was about to open its eyes.

"At that time, I felt like I was going to die.

"But I'm friends with Xiao Chong!"

He looked dejected.

"Xiao Chong is just one in a million 'Zhuang Sheng'." Jiang Baimian comforted him, "Other 'Zhuang Sheng' may not like you."

"That's right." Shang Jianyao slapped his right fist into his left palm, "We even woke up 'Zhuang Sheng' by calling back then. That's a deep-seated hatred."

What kind of deep-seated hatred is that? Jiang Baimian pondered for a moment and said:

"We've been able to get to where we are now, and investigate so many secrets, most likely thanks to the struggles between the governing stars.

"What exactly are They fighting over, what are They contending for..."

"Who are the good guys and who are the bad guys." Shang Jianyao helped to add to the questions.

Jiang Baimian chuckled:

"In this kind of matter, the distinction between good guys and bad guys doesn't have much meaning. We can only see which governing star's victory is more beneficial to humanity."

"What's more beneficial to humanity is the good guy." Shang Jianyao still insisted on the distinction between good guys and bad guys.

Jiang Baimian didn't say much, and thought for a few seconds before saying:

"Sleep. We'll be resting in Cliff Village for a few days. You'll have enough time to check room '506' and try to get more information."

In dreams, humans are in an unconscious state. It's not like Shang Jianyao can get the corresponding answer just by asking anything. It requires trying again and again.

Bang, Shang Jianyao voluntarily fell down.

...

The next morning, the Old Task Force was invited to the village chief's house for breakfast, and then followed the village chief to the warehouse where supplies were stored.

"Team Leader, I thought of a question." Long Yuehong walked at the back of the team, lowering his voice, and said to Jiang Baimian.

Jiang Baimian turned her body:

"What question?"

"What are we going to exchange for supplies?" Long Yuehong asked very seriously.

The Old Task Force hadn't explored any ruins along the way, nor had they traded for other supplies in Weed City. The jeep only had military exoskeletons, bionic smart armor, conventional weapons, corresponding ammunition, and various canned goods, compressed biscuits, and energy bars, as well as a nuclear warhead.

Military exoskeletons, bionic smart armor, and nuclear warheads were strategic materials. Unless there was no other way, the Old Task Force wouldn't take them out for trade. Even if they did, Cliff Village might not dare to accept them.

As for canned goods, compressed biscuits, and energy bars, the Old Task Force had already eaten more than two-thirds of them. There wasn't much left, and they themselves needed to replenish these kinds of supplies. There was no point in exchanging them unless they just wanted a change of taste.

The Old Task Force hadn't prepared much in the way of conventional weapons and corresponding ammunition, just enough for their own use.

After listening, Jiang Baimian laughed:

"We could swipe our cards when we entered the village. Of course, we can also use contribution points to trade for supplies here."

"You, didn't you say that what you gave was just a closed data packet that could only verify the authenticity of the electronic card and whether the employee photo matched?" Long Yuehong said, expressing his confusion.

Jiang Baimian laughed:

"Yes, paying with contribution points here won't use your original ones, but instead generate an additional piece of data represented by a negative number. When we return to the company and submit our report, the higher-ups will verify the corresponding expenses and help you eliminate them.

"And Cliff Village will get the corresponding data represented by a positive number, which can be used as contribution points to buy supplies from the company's caravans."

"So that's how it is." Long Yuehong finally understood.

Although Cliff Village's equipment didn't have the right to extract most of the data from the electronic card, it could write new data into it.

At this moment, Bai Chen had a question:

"Cliff Village also has people who understand computers and programming. Without supervision, wouldn't they be able to write as many contribution points as they want?"

That would be ripping off the company big time.

Shang Jianyao's eyes lit up as he listened, as if he wanted to do just that.

And Genava, the Old Task Force's expert in this area, was always wearing a robe and shoes to avoid exposing his identity, and didn't dare to speak.

"No, they can't." Jiang Baimian shook her head. "Teams that have completed transactions with contribution points here must keep accounts and submit them to the higher-ups after returning, so that they can be compared with the data in the electronic card. After the company compiles the data, they will know how many contribution points Cliff Village has in total. If they spend more than that, the company will definitely send people to investigate."

Before Shang Jianyao could ask, Jiang Baimian added a few sentences:

"But this doesn't prevent the teams that come to Cliff Village for supplies from colluding with the people here to make false accounts and share the benefits. However, water that's too clear has no fish. With Cliff Village being far away from the company, and with the current technological conditions, it's impossible to avoid all problems. We can only say that if one is exposed, we'll investigate it. Also, many teams that resupply here end up staying in the ice plains forever, and the data can't be transmitted back to the company..."

"Louder." Shang Jianyao acted like he hadn't heard clearly.

Jiang Baimian glanced at the village chief walking in front and ignored this guy.

After twenty or thirty years of stable development, Cliff Village's population had grown a lot, and the originally empty scenic area had gradually been filled. It took the Old Task Force a while to reach the warehouse where supplies were stored.

"The upper floor is the regular warehouse, and the lower floor is the cold storage." The village chief pointed to the building in front and said, "The list of supplies is in the lobby. You can choose for yourselves."

"Alright." Jiang Baimian took a few steps forward and stood side by side with the village chief.

The village chief pointed to the middle-aged old man sitting at the warehouse door and enjoying the breeze:

"Old Zhao used to be a volunteer like you. After returning, we arranged a relatively easy job for him according to the company's regulations."

Old Zhao looked about the same age as the village chief, but his hair was much thinner, and the wrinkles on his face were more obvious. He was wrapped in a thick cotton-padded coat.

In this place near the ice plains, even in April, the weather was still a bit cold.

"What project did you participate in?" Shang Jianyao didn't hide his curiosity at all.

Old Zhao had heard last night that people from Pangu Biology had come to the village, and seeing that they were all handsome men and beautiful women, he easily guessed the identity of the Old Task Force.

He stood up and said with a smile:

"Some human cold resistance experiment."

"Why does the company always do experiments in this area?" Shang Jianyao acted like he had seen it all before.

Jiang Baimian then smiled and said:

"What was your experiment like?"

Old Zhao revealed a look of reminiscence:

"The first time, they dragged us deep into the ice plains and only gave us single-layer clothing. I almost froze to death, but luckily they saved me...

"The second time, they gave us thick clothes, but it was still unbearable. It was so cold...

"The third time, it was a little further south, and the temperature was much higher. They tried single-layer clothing, thick clothes, and the cotton-padded coat I'm wearing, but it still didn't work. People still froze and had problems..."

Old Zhao babbled on, leaving Jiang Baimian and the others quite puzzled.

What exactly was the purpose of the company's experiment? Was it really to test human cold resistance under various conditions?