Geste Fort was a building with a long history in the Old World. Its tall towers and solid outer walls had allowed it to withstand test after test in ancient times.

Now, its outer walls and towers were riddled with holes, each fitted with a cannon, making it intimidating from a distance.

This transformation originated in the chaotic era when people who had gathered at this ancient fort discovered a military depot nearby. They hauled out a large number of cannons, reorganized the building, and used them to fight against the crazed "Heartless" and roaming bandits.

As time passed, Geste Fort, as an important stronghold on the northern border of the "White Knights," was not only reinforced itself, with the latest and most suitable cannons replaced, but also surrounded by one fortification after another, creating a complete defense system.

After the jeep drove over a makeshift bridge built over a trench, Shang Jianyao, sitting in the driver's seat, raised his right hand, shielding his eyes above, and said with emotion:

"The air quality here isn't too good."

The sky was gray, but unlike the dimness of Kaning Mis, it came from a large amount of smoke and dust, with coal ash deposited on the surrounding buildings.

"That's normal." Jiang Baimian subconsciously covered her nose. "The mountains behind Geste Fort are one of the top coal mining areas of the 'White Knights.'"

The "White Knights" had extremely rich coal resources within their sphere of influence, as well as iron, copper, and various mineral resources.

These were their main export products, and like genetically modified serums, they exchanged them for large amounts of food, some salt, mechanical and electronic equipment, various munitions, and high-performance batteries.

Just as Jiang Baimian finished speaking, a "woo" sound rang out in the distance.

It was a train carrying coal entering the station.

Based on demand, the railway repairs within the "White Knights" sphere of influence were the best, so much so that train cannons had become a common weapon, and many ruin hunters chose to take the train to the larger settlements, then rent cars to go to nearby city ruins to find supplies or complete corresponding tasks in the wild.

Shang Jianyao was immediately excited, muttering to himself as he drove:

"I've never ridden a train before."

"Once you've ridden it, you'll find it's just so-so." Bai Chen responded from the back seat.

When she was a ruin hunter in "First City," she was fortunate enough to ride the train twice, but always accompanied by supplies.

—In the "First City" sphere of influence, passenger trains did not exist; the few repaired railways were all used to transport bulk goods.

Shang Jianyao didn't continue the topic, because his attention was drawn to the blast furnaces in the distance.

Behind Geste Fort, there were several steel mills, their chimneys spewing gray-white and black gases, making the sky even more smoggy.

Shang Jianyao drove with one hand, while raising his right palm and piously chanting a Buddhist prayer:

"Namo Anuttara-Samyak-Sambodhi."

As a member of Buddhism, Zen Master Pudu naturally had to pay respects to the surrounding towers, which could be Buddhist pagodas or blast furnaces.

After passing through the outer fortifications, the houses on both sides of the road gradually increased. They surrounded Geste Fort itself, spreading outwards layer by layer. Some were converted from Old World buildings, and some were purely newly built, with diverse styles mixed together.

The humans who first came to Geste Fort for refuge mainly lived in the castle and its attached buildings. Later, those who came here to mine, make steel, hunt icefield creatures for fur, and provide various supporting services could only live in this area within the fortifications outside the castle.

Before long, the "Old Task Force" slowed down.

Ahead was a checkpoint established relying on the fortifications. Several soldiers wearing silver-black breastplates, holding submachine guns and assault rifles, under the protection of armored vehicles, were inspecting the vehicles entering the Geste Fort settlement.

They were all male, with hair color either brown or gold, tall, averaging over 1.8 meters, and looked quite strong. Their faces had deep lines and distinct contours, possessing a cold and stern temperament.

"They're all 'Chosen Ones'..." Jiang Baimian said with emotion.

"Chosen Ones" were humans who had undergone genetic modification from a young age.

As a force as famous as "Pangu Biology," which also exported genetically modified serums, the soldiers of the "White Knights" were basically "Chosen Ones."

Of course, "Pangu Biology" was also like that. In the "Old Task Force's" jeep, only Gennava hadn't undergone genetic modification.

Bai Chen peeked at the silver-black breastplates on the soldiers, and nodded slightly:

"Only 'Chosen Ones' with optimized strength can wear the 'White Knights'-produced bulletproof alloy armor and still move freely."

The "White Knights," known for their rich mineral resources, also had some unique equipment.

Shang Jianyao heard this and said with a smile:

"Hey, after genetic modification, I'm only 1.75 meters tall and look average..."

"Stop!" Long Yuehong quickly stopped this guy from chanting.

"Should we go up and make friends?" Gennava asked, taking the opportunity.

The trunk of the "Old Task Force's" jeep was filled with a ridiculously large number of contraband items.

If anything went wrong, the entire Geste Fort might be destroyed.

Therefore, in order to pass the inspection, it was a natural and necessary choice for Shang Jianyao to go up and "make friends."

Jiang Baimian looked at the inspection card, and said with deliberation:

"Not for now.

"I don't think those soldiers are trying to find contraband, but rather collecting an entrance tax in this way.

"Even if they aren't, with Wei's current abilities, she can completely make up for any mistakes later."

The soldiers often only glanced at the open trunk.

Jiang Baimian's judgment was correct. When the "Old Task Force" was inspected, the responsible soldier also just glanced at it, estimated the amount of supplies, and said to them:

"Two Knight Silver Coins."

In the "White Knights," the currency used was their own metal coins, which were the common Squire Coins, the more valuable Knight Silver Coins, and the valuable Grand Knight Gold Coins.

This made full use of their mineral resources.

The "Old Task Force" had previously considered investigating the Eighth Research Institute in Geste Fort, so they had exchanged some "White Knights" currency from Smith's "Rootless" team with food. At this time, Jiang Baimian calmly took out two Knight Silver Coins and handed them to the soldier.

As for their appearance, they had already made changes through disguise friends such as hair dye and colored contact lenses, making themselves closer to the "White Knights" mainstream Red River race.

This time, the "Old Task Force" didn't deliberately try to look ugly, because many people in the "White Knights" had undergone genetic modification, and the average appearance wasn't low, so blending into the sea wouldn't be conspicuous.

Based on this, when they were just preparing to disguise themselves, Shang Jianyao even hoped that he had fiery red hair, but it was ultimately rejected.

The "Old Task Force" successfully passed the checkpoint and officially entered the core area of Geste Fort.

"What do we do next?" Long Yuehong asked, watching the various buildings slowly receding outside.

Shang Jianyao answered without hesitation:

"Investigate!"

The "Old Task Force" came to Geste Fort mainly to investigate two things:

The first was the whereabouts of the Eighth Research Institute. They should have a long-term, stable partner here to help them collect the supplies they needed, which was the employer who commissioned Smith's "Rootless" team to transport a batch of goods to the Snowy Ruins.

Although the memories related to this employer had been erased by the Awakened of the Eighth Research Institute, "Wherever you go, you leave a trace." Jiang Baimian believed that it was still possible to investigate some things in Geste Fort.

Initially, Jiang Baimian thought of starting with the acquaintances of Smith's "Rootless" team, after all, it couldn't be a stranger who could get them to accept such a strange and somewhat dangerous task that had to be done in the spring in the icefield, but later, Jiang Baimian gave up this idea, because "acquaintances" could be created, whether it was "Memory Tampering" or "Reasoning Clown," they could easily do it.

In the end, she decided to start with the source of the corresponding supplies.

Those goods would not be affected by the Awakened's abilities.

The second was whether Shang Jianyao's father's old task force had been to Geste Fort, the closest human settlement to Kaning Mis, to see what information they had gained here, or what they had revealed.

Jiang Baimian retorted Shang Jianyao, feeling both amused and annoyed:

"Our primary task now is to find a place to charge, the investigation has to be put after that!"

Shang Jianyao immediately expressed his agreement:

"Yeah, Old Ge hasn't been teaching me how to dance much these days, just to save power."

No sooner said than done, he quickly found a hotel called "Fire and Iron" on the street near the exit of the city.

As soon as he entered, Shang Jianyao, sporting flaxen hair, asked the man at the front desk:

"Do the rooms in your hotel have charging ports?

"Does the power go out here often?"

"From the South?" The man was stunned for two seconds, then asked.

He wasn't old, just in his twenties, about the same height as Jiang Baimian, with blond hair and blue eyes, good features, but no charisma.

"How did you know?" Shang Jianyao widened his eyes, looking curious.

The man laughed:

"I could tell from your accent."

Shang Jianyao's Red River language had certain "First City" characteristics, which was similar to the southernmost accent of the "White Knights."

"Oh, oh." Shang Jianyao suddenly realized.

The man looked at the four of them and Gennava, who was disguised as an ordinary robot, and said confidently:

"Don't worry, we in Geste Fort don't have much else, but we have plenty of coal, iron, and thermal power plants!

"If you choose the most luxurious suite, the electricity bill is included in the room rate, and you don't have to pay separately."

Shang Jianyao was shocked:

"Really?"

"Really, we can sign a contract." The man nodded solemnly.

Thinking of the large number of high-performance batteries in the team that urgently needed to be charged, a thought suddenly flashed through Long Yuehong's mind, who was listening:

Are you kidding me?