Hearing Shang Jianyao's question, Jiang Baimian was momentarily stunned.
She hesitated before saying:
"It shouldn't be that bad..."
The more she spoke, the softer her voice became, because she had almost no understanding of the situation in the "New World." She had no way of knowing whether the strong individuals there knew each other or whether "Doctor" had widely disseminated information about their team to acquaintances.
After a brief pause, Jiang Baimian "hmmed" and said:
"Even if Doctor knows we're in Ubei, he won't be able to make it here in a short time.
"Leaving aside the lucky chance of that 'Assassin' being nearby, even if it were so coincidental, Doctor shouldn't be able to fully return. His body is still at the Eighth Research Institute, tens of thousands of miles from Ubei. Unless he can teleport, I don't think he'd make it in time."
The "Old Task Force" would be inspected and leave Ubei after daybreak.
"But our understanding of the New World's strong is limited to what Wu Meng said." The honest Shang Jianyao argued reasonably.
Jiang Baimian nodded:
"It's always better to be safe than sorry. First, confirm whether we've already fallen into a dream."
Her understanding of "Doctor" was: a claw of "Nightmare," mastering a series of dream domain abilities.
And because she hadn't prepared in advance and wasn't in a state with auxiliary chips set up, she couldn't monitor whether she had entered a deep sleep.
Shang Jianyao immediately became excited:
"Okay!"
Already knocked to a position near the window, he turned around and looked at the less brightly lit outside.
His figure then appeared on the glass.
Looking at himself in the "darkness," Shang Jianyao said in a deep voice:
"At this time yesterday, I was dreaming;
"Today is not fundamentally different or greatly changed from yesterday;
"Therefore..."
His gaze suddenly became dazed, his eyes slowly lost focus, and he seemed to enter a sleepwalking state.
Looks like we haven't been affected by a dream yet... Jiang Baimian breathed a sigh of relief, jumped up, and landed next to the window.
Seizing this opportunity, she slapped Shang Jianyao to "wake" him up.
Shang Jianyao suddenly came to his senses and looked around, saying:
"Doctor hasn't arrived yet..."
If Little Red were here, she would definitely say not to have such a strong persecution complex... Jiang Baimian muttered to herself and nodded slightly:
"I'll set up the auxiliary chip's instructions.
"Then, at daybreak, we'll report this to the 'Savior Army.'
"I think they wouldn't just stand by and watch a strong individual from the New World descend upon Ubei. Besides, their relationship with the Eighth Research Institute isn't harmonious at all."
In other words, it basically eliminates the possibility that Doctor and the Savior Army's higher-ups know each other and have secretly reached a tacit understanding.
In such a situation, with a large force like the Savior Army to rely on, Jiang Baimian certainly wouldn't let it go.
She often said that a superior man is not born different, but excels in using things.
"Okay." The insidious, cowardly, but timid and cautious Shang Jianyao was very satisfied with this disposal plan.
He and Jiang Baimian quickly packed their belongings, put on their tactical backpacks, walked out of the room, and came to the living room.
At this time, Genaeva was charging while looking out at the darkness and streetlights, seemingly lost in thought.
"Old Ge, what are you thinking about?" Shang Jianyao asked curiously.
He seemed to have forgotten about the possibility of Doctor coming.
This Shang Jianyao was different from that Shang Jianyao.
Genaeva turned his metal neck and said:
"I'm thinking, everyone has selfish desires. What are my selfish desires..."
"Figured it out? If you can't figure it out, let Da Bai make one up for you on the spot." Shang Jianyao asked with concern.
Hey, watch your mouth! Jiang Baimian expressed her dissatisfaction with the defamation of her image.
Of course, she expressed this dissatisfaction with her eyes rather than words.
Genaeva "sighed," and the sound of wind made a strange noise in his metal mouth:
"My selfish desire should be to pursue the definition of humanity and prove my existence's meaning. To this end, I have always restrained myself from returning to Mechanical Paradise and rescuing my wife and daughter.
"Now, the memories related to them may have been completely formatted..."
"Sigh..." Shang Jianyao sighed along with him. "Just think of it as them encountering an Awakened in the Endling domain. When they're rescued, we'll rebuild the relationship."
"Without those past memories, and even with completely changed personalities and components, are they still my wife and daughter..." Genaeva fell into deep thought once again.
Shang Jianyao couldn't answer this philosophical question for a while, so he solemnly promised:
"Once we figure out the source of Mindless Disease and the cause of the Old World's destruction, we'll accompany you back to Mechanical Paradise and rescue your wife and daughter!
"At that time, no matter what problems there are, we can try to solve them."
In this world, not all problems have answers, or rather, solutions... Jiang Baimian grumbled, but didn't interrupt.
At this time, Genaeva realized they had gotten up a little early:
"What's wrong? Did you discover anything unusual again?"
"It's nothing." Shang Jianyao said nonchalantly, "I just thought about Doctor possibly coming."
Even for an Artifical Intelligence, Genaeva was almost confused by the logic of this sentence.
"Doctor possibly coming isn't a small matter." Genaeva corrected, "How did you suddenly think of him?"
The honest Shang Jianyao quickly explained his speculation.
After careful analysis, Genaeva emitted a slightly synthetic voice:
"Although the possibility is relatively low, it is indeed necessary to take some precautions."
The conversation between the three woke up Bai Chen and Long Yuehong, who came out one after another and figured out what had happened.
In this way, the "Old Task Force" waited for more than an hour, finally waiting for the sky to be completely bright.
Ding Ling also came to knock on their door according to the prior agreement.
Finding that Jiang Baimian and the others all looked serious, this Savior Army border outpost captain with sufficient experience frowned slightly:
"Did someone come to bother you last night?"
After resolving the resident in room 214, she didn't think that anything else could happen inside the Ashlands Hotel that would cause the Xve Shi Yue Squad to have such an expression.
Jiang Baimian had already carefully considered her words:
"It's like this, didn't we say last night that when we touched that badge, we suffered an invasion from a strange black shadow? Fortunately, the robot Genaeva was there and released a high-voltage current to stop it?"
"Yes, what's the problem with that?" Ding Ling was quite puzzled.
This was something that had been explained clearly and confirmed last night.
Jiang Baimian looked around and cleared her throat, saying:
"We suspect that the black shadow originated from the New World."
"New World..." Ding Ling's brow jumped.
Jiang Baimian continued, with an innocent look:
"When we were previously chased by people from the Eighth Research Institute, we were targeted by a strong individual from their New World.
"In the middle of the night last night, we suddenly thought: if that black shadow, which may originate from the New World, knew the strong individual who targeted us and knew our characteristics, wouldn't that mean that the strong individual could come over at any time, return to reality, and personally take action?"
Targeted by a strong individual from the New World... could come over at any time, return to reality, and personally take action... On the one hand, Ding Ling felt that she should be numb, and on the other hand, she could hardly restrain the twitching of her facial muscles.
What kind of people are these? They bring up the New World at every turn!
You should know that before accompanying this team to Ubei, she didn't even know that the New World also represented a level of Awakened, and only thought that it was another world that humans were desperately pursuing, symbolizing beautiful hope and a bright future, without Mindless Disease, famine, cold, aberrations, and pollution.
It was only when the "Old Task Force" shared information with the Savior Army through her that she obtained the corresponding authority and learned about this information.
As a result, it had only been a few days, and she had actually encountered something related to the New World, and this was related to the theft of nuclear warheads to a certain extent!
Xue Shi Yue and the others should have been targeted by a strong individual from the New World before they came to our Savior Army, but they have always behaved normally and haven't shown any anxiety... Ding Ling didn't know whether to praise the Old Task Force for being so carefree or for being so knowledgeable and not worrying about having too much debt.
Seeing the border outpost captain silent, Jiang Baimian added:
"If a strong individual from the New World returns to reality in Ubei, I'm worried that something unpredictable will happen. Therefore, I'm reporting it to you in advance."
Ding Ling finally came back to her senses and said, slightly hurriedly:
"Okay, I'll report to Committee Member Huang immediately."
She didn't delay, gave a slight gesture, and turned around to leave the room.
...
In less than fifteen minutes, several members of the "Old Task Force" were led to a room on the first floor of the hotel.
Only Committee Member Huang was in the room.
He was still wearing a black Savior Army uniform without epaulets.
Seeing Jiang Baimian and the others, he said with imposing authority:
"You people always give me surprises!
"If the people from the New World really completely return and personally take action, you won't have any chance of winning. Most of the people in Ubei may have to be buried with you."
"Why do you say that?" Shang Jianyao asked whatever came to mind.
Committee Member Huang was silent for a moment:
"That's because you haven't seen the terror of the New World returnees."
He paused and added:
"People from the New World can actively spread Mindless Disease around them."