Shang Jianyao's good partner, Geng Naifu, accurately grasped the main point of his words:
“Are you saying that the current No. 1 High School of Taicheng is no longer shrouded in dreams, has lost its danger, and can be explored to some extent?”
“Yes, yes.” Shang Jianyao acted as if he was echoing Geng Naifu. “We're already here!”
Jiang Baimian felt like covering her face.
This guy is often reckless and bold, not considering the consequences, not thinking about how much risk he will bear, and doing things on impulse. But who asked him to be mentally ill, making it difficult for her to educate him with enough confidence.
Moreover, Jiang Baimian herself is often conflicted. Rationally, she knows what should be done and what shouldn't be done, when to avoid and when to attack. But emotionally, when facing certain scenes, she inevitably feels that she should do something. Her heart seems to have a voice telling her not to be afraid of risks, to stand up and do what she wants.
This is why she has already told Shang Jianyao not to do something, but when he really does it, she chooses to indulge him and help clean up the mess.
This is essentially a tug-of-war and struggle between her rationality and sensibility.
Without a spirit of adventure, without a bit of romanticism and idealism, one could not proactively apply to establish a cause investigation team for the Old World's destruction.
While thoughts were swirling in her mind, Jiang Baimian turned her gaze to Bai Chen and Long Yuehong in the front row:
“Judging from the current situation, theoretically speaking, there is no danger in exploring the No. 1 High School of Taicheng for a certain period of time.
“Since 'Zhuang Sheng' is awake, he shouldn't fall asleep again so quickly. The previous turmoil in 'Initial City' involved a game between the Ruling Gods. He can't possibly not take this opportunity to do something.
“Like this, Wei, Lao Geng and I will go in and quickly explore it once. You guys guard the door, prevent accidents, and be ready to respond.”
Bai Chen, who was driving, calmly asked:
“There must be enough reason to take such a big risk.
“What do you plan to explore inside, what problems do you want to figure out?”
Jiang Baimian answered seriously:
“Putting aside what secrets this Buddhist Holy Land still hides, just a very simple question is worth us entering again:
“Why did 'Zhuang Sheng' dream of this place, of high school life, instead of other places, other stages of life?
“After his descent, what is currently certain is that he has a complete childhood, adolescence, and youth. And apart from Linhe Village in Dajiang City, which is not known to represent which stage of the dream, there should be many other places where he lived, where he had enough experience. Why does he only dream of No. 1 High School of Taicheng?
“What is so special about this place, or what special significance does it have for 'Zhuang Sheng'?”
“Maybe other dreams haven't been discovered by the Buddhist Sect and listed as Holy Lands.” The honest Shang Jianyao didn't care at all that Jiang Baimian was on their side now.
Jiang Baimian answered without hesitation:
“This is also a direction of exploration.
“For us, before the Old World was destroyed, a Ruling God descended and lived as a human for many years. This is definitely a key point worth investigating. This may involve the secrets of the 'New World' and its impact on the Old World.
“Only by clarifying these problems can we perhaps know why 'Heartless Disease' suddenly broke out that day, leading to a major crisis for humanity.”
Bai Chen was silent for a few seconds:
“Then I'll go in with you. More people explore more efficiently and save more time.
“Lao Geng will stay outside, avoiding the first wave of impact that may exist when the dream restarts, and then enter the school to rescue us. He is an artificial intelligence and is our last reliance. It might be better as a reserve team.”
Long Yuehong pondered slightly and nodded in agreement:
“Yes, yes, let's go in together, leaving Lao Geng outside.”
Jiang Baimian thought for a while:
“Okay.”
None of them knew when "Zhuang Sheng" would fall asleep again, so naturally they had to race against time.
The jeep stopped and turned back outside the No. 1 High School of Taicheng. Jiang Baimian and the others got out of the car one after another and walked towards the electric retractable gate.
They did not carry assault rifles or other weapons, nor did they wear military exoskeletons or bionic intelligent armor. On the one hand, they were bold because of their high skill, feeling that even if they encountered any distorted creatures or high-level "Heartless" in the school, their Awakened abilities, props, mechanical arms, bionic prosthetics, genetic modification results, and the pistols on their bodies would be enough to deal with the opponent, or resist for a period of time until Geng Naifu came to their aid. On the other hand, it was to show respect for "Zhuang Sheng." In Shang Jianyao's words, "Sincerity moves spirits, and too many greetings don't offend the gods."
Jiang Baimian had another reason that she didn't say:
Reducing their own strength, especially relative to Geng Naifu's strength.
In this way, if they fell into a dream again, it would be much easier for Geng Naifu to rescue them, and the resistance encountered would be much simpler.
The four carbon-based humans of the "Old Task Force" carefully passed through the electric retractable gate and walked step by step towards the teaching building in front.
After walking about ten meters, they looked at each other and were delighted to confirm that they still retained their sanity and had not become any character in the dream.
Jiang Baimian turned around and waved to Geng Naifu.
This was one of the predetermined communication gestures.
Geng Naifu also waved, indicating that he could see them.
“'Zhuang Sheng' has not fallen asleep yet, let's hurry up." Jiang Baimian quickly issued the order.
They first walked towards the front teaching building where Du Shaochong, Xu Qiao, Lin Yan, and Zhang Huadong were located.
As soon as they approached, the gazes of the four of them simultaneously solidified to a certain extent.
There was a white skeleton in every seat in the classroom.
They were either lying on the table or had fallen to the ground next to it, wearing decayed and tattered blue and white school uniforms.
This scene made Jiang Baimian and the others even more certain that Taicheng was different from other places. All humans died in an instant and did not become "Heartless."
Although they had anticipated seeing such a picture, seeing students representing the future and the rising sun die in patches in the school, in the classroom, some even still maintaining a listening posture, was still heavy and depressing.
Jiang Baimian took a breath and let reason overcome emotion:
“Start searching.”
They didn't go through every table and corner like Geng Naifu did before to collect data, but instead glanced roughly, picked two or three things with words on them and flipped through them. If they felt there were no problems, they went to the next classroom.
Time was limited!
In Class One of the third year, they did not find Du Shaochong, and in Class Five of the third year, they did not find anyone named Xu Qiao. This confirmed that the No. 1 High School of Taicheng in the dream was not the one at the time of the Old World's destruction, but a reflection of the decades or even longer years before.
This could be further confirmed by the fact that the color scheme of the school uniforms in reality and in the dream was the same, but the style was different.
“This is troublesome.” Jiang Baimian frowned slightly at this.
This meant that the reason why "Zhuang Sheng" cared about the No. 1 High School of Taicheng and allowed the dream to appear here most likely could not be found in reality.
“Anything we can find is something.” Shang Jianyao's disappointment was fleeting.
Long Yuehong nodded in agreement:
“Yes, yes.”
In this way, they should be able to evacuate this dangerous place soon.
Jiang Baimian didn't waste any time and led her team up another floor, ending the search of the front teaching building.
When they turned into the building on the left and entered a teacher's office, their expressions changed more or less.
Among the skeletons sitting in their respective positions, one had quite a bit of rotten flesh still remaining on it, and the surface of its body was wearing a black uniform that was out of place with its surrounding counterparts!
“I didn't see it wrong, did I…” Long Yuehong muttered.
If he didn't recognize it wrong, that should be the uniform of a "Salvation Army" soldier!
Almost at the same time, Bai Chen saw a "Red Maple Forest" assault rifle, a specialty of the "Salvation Army," on the ground next to the corpse.
Jiang Baimian's heart stirred:
“Could it be a member of Ding Ling's husband's exploration team?”
The "Salvation Army's" exploration team must have had military protection.
Before, when she knew that exploration team was heading in this direction, she was a little suspicious that they had entered Taicheng, but later, when she discovered that there was no "token" and could only see the fake Taicheng, she dismissed this guess. Who knew that now, they would encounter the bones of a suspected member of the exploration team in this dangerous Buddhist Holy Land of No. 1 High School of Taicheng.
“Check it out.” Jiang Baimian immediately issued the order.
After some busy work, the "Old Task Force" tentatively confirmed that this was a member of the "Salvation Army" who had died two or three years ago, which roughly coincided with the time when Ji Qiang, Ding Ling's husband, went missing.
“No external injuries, cause of death unknown. Apart from weapons, bullets, and a few biscuits, there are no other items on his body.” Bai Chen stood up and walked back.
Jiang Baimian nodded:
“Go to other places and look again.”
By noon, they had completed a quick search of No. 1 High School of Taicheng, and only found one corpse of the "Salvation Army" that had died in recent years. Apart from that, there were no other discoveries.
Geng Naifu analyzed:
“This person may have been separated from the main force and mistakenly entered No. 1 High School of Taicheng, and as a result, got lost in the dream and died little by little.”
“What about the main force?” Shang Jianyao asked, pursuing the question.