Under the slightly dim sky, buildings covered in green moss stretched into the distance along cracked roads, like silent tombstones standing in a desolate graveyard.

Shang Jianyao, clad in military exoskeleton armor, and Genaava, encased in "Chameleon" bionic intelligent armor, walked side by side at a distance, the only sound the wind in their ears.

Shang Jianyao turned his head, looked around through his helmet visor, and said with great interest:

"The gloomy sky, abandoned buildings, empty roads, a man and a robot walking towards the unknown... This is what the apocalyptic scenes in the old world entertainment materials were like..."

After two days of travel, the "Old Task Force" arrived at Konigsberg. Then, according to the planned scheme, Shang Jianyao, carrying the "Life Angel" necklace, and Genaava were sent into this area to conduct preliminary reconnaissance, hoping to find out the root cause of the "Heartless Disease" virus residue here.

Genaava, currently in the form of a large chameleon, said what he thought:

"It's still missing a dog."

"Indeed, without a dog, just a lonely man and a robot, it still lacks that feeling, that wasteland feeling." Shang Jianyao admitted his mistake.

He then fell into thought:

"But it's hard to find a dog right now..."

After a good twenty or thirty seconds, Shang Jianyao made a sound:

"Woof woof woof!"

"Now it's complete!" he said with satisfaction.

Genaava had already established a Shang Jianyao behavior database and had some prediction of this development.

What puzzled him more was another question:

"Why did it take you so long to decide to play the dog yourself?

"I thought you didn't care about this kind of face-saving thing at all and could make a decision on the spot."

Shang Jianyao smiled:

"We were conducting a democratic consultation and vote to decide who would play this role, which took a little time."

"Understood." Genaava enriched his Shang Jianyao behavior database.

Shang Jianyao looked up at the sky, completely forgetting what they were discussing, and said:

"Old Genaava, don't you think the closer we get to Konigsberg's main urban area, the dimmer the sky becomes?"

Konigsberg is surrounded by mountains on three sides, blocking the cold currents from the south. The climate is relatively warmer than other parts of the Icefield. In this season, the snow has long melted, forming trickles, and the earth has grown shallow green shoots, a scene of new life.

This should have been a very beautiful scene, but for some reason, this place is always gloomy, with little sunshine, making people feel depressed, as if the apocalypse has returned.

Genaava moved his metal-cast neck up and down:

"Yes."

At the edge of Konigsberg, where the "Old Task Force" was camped, this dimness was only equivalent to a cloudy day. Now, near the main urban area, it felt like dark clouds were gathering.

"Looks like it's not my illusion, this dimness is related to the 'New World'." Shang Jianyao lowered one hand, holding the "Life Angel" necklace, and covered his metal bones with the other, holding the "Berserker" assault rifle.

He said with great pleasure:

"Things will be easier next, we just need to look for the darkest place, that's definitely where the root of the problem lies!"

"Your reasoning is too presumptuous and lacks sufficient conditions." The honest Genaava replied, "Maybe it's just about to rain heavily, maybe the entire urban area is in the same environment."

Shang Jianyao righteously taught his companion:

"Old Genaava, have you forgotten our team's motto?

"Dare to hypothesize, carefully verify!"

"That's Bai Chen's catchphrase, not the team's motto." Genaava remembered clearly.

Shang Jianyao, unable to fool him, "Heh"ed:

"Bai Chen is my role model!"

"Then there's no problem." Compared to before, Genaava now understood what it meant to know when to stop.

He looked at the increasingly closer buildings of the main urban area ahead and earnestly reminded:

"Hey, you have to be careful, the 'Heartless Disease' can infect you at any time.

"Why didn't you let me come in for reconnaissance first, and decide whether to come and find the root of the problem after understanding the general situation?"

Intelligent robots are not afraid of "Heartless Disease".

"Because no matter whether you have reconnoitered any useful information or not, I will come in." Shang Jianyao said as if he were answering that this season was suitable for a spring outing.

Before Genaava could say that you could completely wait until you had done a preliminary reconnaissance before entering Konigsberg, Shang Jianyao added with a smile:

"Besides, I'm not worried about being infected."

Genaava, encased in "Chameleon" bionic intelligent armor, turned his head to look at this guy.

Shang Jianyao raised his right hand holding the "Berserker" assault rifle and said in a low voice:

"The long night is long, may Siming protect us!"

He tried to flick the "Life Angel" necklace wrapped around his left wrist, but gave up because that hand was paralyzed.

The red light in Genaava's eyes flickered a few times, and then he asked:

"Hey, do you think your father is still alive?"

Shang Jianyao was silent for a while and said:

"I always thought he wouldn't just not come home for no reason, something must have happened to him, I need to investigate."

Genaava stepped over the cracked cement ground caused by years of freezing and drying and changed the question:

"Then do you think you can find your father's whereabouts or related clues in Konigsberg?"

Shang Jianyao laughed:

"After joining the 'Old Task Force', every time I go to a place, I hold this belief."

The red light in Genaava's eyes flickered a few more times:

"Your carbon-based people's emotions are indeed richer, more diverse, and more subtle than ours."

He glanced at the darkening sky and the desolate buildings ahead, as if night was about to fall, and then asked:

"Where do you think the clues are most likely to be?"

Shang Jianyao smiled:

"The most dangerous place.

"Since the Special Envoy of the Eighth Research Institute said that the disaster in Konigsberg originated from that team investigating the cause of the Old World's destruction, then the center of the disaster must be where they investigated a certain truth or the place where they last appeared."

"That's one way of thinking." Genaava first affirmed, and then asked, "But what if that's just a slander by the Special Envoy of the Eighth Research Institute?"

Shang Jianyao tilted his head to look at his companion:

"Wouldn't that be a good thing?"

After a brief analysis, Genaava understood what Shang Jianyao wanted to express.

He was about to say something more when he suddenly detected a slight anomaly.

"There are bloodstains there, left no more than two weeks ago." Genaava pointed to the entrance to the main urban area of Konigsberg.

Under a clump of weeds by the roadside, there were some blackening marks.

Dang dang dang, Shang Jianyao could only create applause by colliding the "Berserker" assault rifle against his chest armor because one of his hands was paralyzed.

"I didn't even notice." He was very honest and frank.

Even with the assistance of the military exoskeleton's "Integrated Warning System," even with his always sharp ears and eyes, he was still no match for a genuine intelligent robot in similar detection.

"There are no corpses nearby, but there are some signs of fighting, not too intense." Genaava checked while reporting his findings and analysis.

"Mm-hmm." Shang Jianyao nodded repeatedly. "What do you think is the situation?"

The red light in Genaava's eyes flickered twice:

"Neither side of the fight used firearms. I think the most likely scenario is infighting among the 'Heartless'.

"There should still be a small number of 'Heartless' surviving in these ruins, and the remaining supplies seem to be insufficient."

After all, Konigsberg once had hundreds of thousands of "Heartless".

"'Heartless'..." Shang Jianyao was a little disappointed.

Then, he pointed to the city:

"Let's go, to the most dangerous place!"

...

The entrance to Konigsberg from the western mountains.

The "Old Task Force's" jeep was parked in a forest, hiding itself with the help of natural camouflage.

Jiang Baimian stood on the hood of the vehicle, holding binoculars, observing the distant villages, roads, and edges of the city.

--Konigsberg's main urban area is located in the western part.

Long Yuehong and Bai Chen guarded one side each, watching out for accidents.

After a while, Long Yuehong broke the silent silence:

"Team Leader, why didn't you stop Shang Jianyao?"

"This should be the thing he is most persistent about besides saving all of humanity." Jiang Baimian slowly exhaled.

She paused and said:

"Besides, since we have worked so hard to get here, those existences pushing behind the scenes shouldn't just watch us get killed by the 'Heartless Disease'. Carrying the corresponding items, the people from the Eighth Research Institute can enter, so we can probably do the same."

Those existences referred to the Big Boss, "You Gu", and other Ruling Gods.

As soon as she finished speaking, Jiang Baimian suddenly saw a black shadow flash past in a certain abandoned village.

She had long expected the presence of "Heartless" and wild creatures in Konigsberg, so she wasn't surprised. She simply reported the situation to Bai Chen and Long Yuehong:

"I saw a relatively large black feline creature."

"Feline creature..." Bai Chen pursed her lips and said, "I also saw one in that snowy ruin, but its fur was more white."

The snowy ruin where they encountered the "Rootless" team.

Jiang Baimian frowned slightly and muttered to herself:

"Isn't this too coincidental..."

ps: The February update is completed normally, here is the belated Spring Festival leave, smile.

As I said before, after the quarantine is over, I will make up for the vacation that I couldn't spend with my family during the Spring Festival, but just because I have time doesn't mean my family has time, so it has been delayed until March. Last year and the year before, I took ten days off during the Spring Festival, which means single update for ten days. It will be the same this year, according to the old rules. From March 1st to March 10th, there will only be one chapter per day, updated at 12:30 noon, and then the normal update status will be restored. Thank you all.