"Really?" Long Yuehong blurted out.

He didn't feel surprised; instead, he was startled.

Clap, clap, clap, Shang Jianyao applauded, unsure for whom.

Gitis glanced at them, not quite understanding why they reacted this way.

You ask questions, but when you hear useful leads, you act like you want to plug your ears.

Knowing these people were mysterious and strange, she suppressed her doubts and recalled:

"That clone encountered this person in the mountains while helping Ester escort goods before you. At the time, he was hunting a wild beast.

"He was about to greet him when he suddenly felt breathless, his vision went dark, and he was about to suffocate to death.

"Just as he was about to pass out, that feeling suddenly disappeared, and the person was gone.

"Over the next few years, Ester's subordinates have found traces of human activity in the forests around that winery, quite a few times."

"Why is it definitely traces of human activity and not 'Heartless' activity?" Honest Shang Jianyao asked what was on his mind.

Gitis answered very bluntly:

"It's not certain."

This left Shang Jianyao with no chance to press further.

"Thank you, this information is very important to us." Jiang Baimian thanked Gitis on behalf of the "Old Task Force," ending the topic.

Leaving Gitis's house and walking towards the jeep, Long Yuehong glanced at Jiang Baimian, hesitatingly asking:

"Team Leader, what do we do next?"

Jiang Baimian pondered for a moment and said:

"No matter what, we have to go to that mountain range Gitis mentioned and search it.

"If it were anything else, faced with these successive coincidences, I would definitely tell you to stay as far away as possible and not meddle, but this concerns the company's future and everyone's safety. We have to take this risk."

"Yeah," Long Yuehong wholeheartedly agreed.

Rarely, he made a decision before seeing Bai Chen's reaction.

Bai Chen followed up:

"Maybe that's why those coincidences fell on us."

"This is fate's arrangement," Shang Jianyao said with anticipation.

Genava moved his metal-cast neck:

"This reminds me of an ancient saying:

"Even if there are tens of thousands of people, I shall go."

This made Long Yuehong feel a little inexplicably excited.

After the team reached a consensus, Shang Jianyao and the others didn't delay any further. Taking advantage of the early hour, they headed straight for the mountain with the mines they had visited before.

When they arrived near Ester's private winery, Jiang Baimian opened the door and got out of the car, saying to her team members:

"We'll split into two teams and enter the forest to search.

"Old Ge, you follow Little Bai and Little Hong, take Fei Ka, and pay attention to their condition at all times."

"No problem." As an Artificial Intelligence, Genava wasn't afraid of the "Mandate" domain's ability to affect breathing or control the heart.

——Qin Ke belonged to the "Mandate" domain Awakened was deduced by the "Old Task Force" from the city elder's narrative and Gitis's clone's experience.

With Old Ge watching over Long Yuehong and Bai Chen, Jiang Baimian was quite relieved. Without further ado, she adjusted the preset content of her auxiliary chip and led Shang Jianyao, no, followed Shang Jianyao, into the forest on the right.

The two symbolically held "Berserker" assault rifles and walked step by step among the trees.

This was deep mountain territory. Cold-resistant plants like red pines stood tall, almost blocking out the sky, making the light unusually dim.

Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao both had excellent eyesight. While carefully observing the front, they also attentively sensed the surrounding human consciousness and bioelectrical signals.

In this silence, time passed minute by minute. After a full half hour, they found some traces left by human activity.

As for whether this belonged to normal humans or the "Heartless," it was unknown.

Following the traces, Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao changed their route, heading towards a more cliffside area.

The vegetation there was lush, and even naturally formed paths were almost nonexistent.

"There are no snakes here," Shang Jianyao kicked the grass in front of him, his mind jumping to who knows where.

Jiang Baimian was used to this state and casually said:

"Maybe no relatively cold-resistant species have mutated..."

Before she finished speaking, her gaze sharpened, and she pointed forward with her gun:

"There's a cave there."

Behind a thick layer of trees, beside a mass of weeds, on a rock face covered in green, was a dark cave.

It was quite concealed, not only located in the depths of a remote mountain forest but also with protruding rocks blocking the view from most directions.

If Jiang Baimian hadn't held the idea that there was a high probability of finding some leads here and repeatedly observed, she might have missed it.

"No human consciousness," Shang Jianyao immediately responded.

Jiang Baimian nodded:

"No bioelectrical signals matching human characteristics either."

As she spoke, she used only her left hand to hold the "Berserker" assault rifle, allowing her free hand to remove the flashlight hanging on her tactical belt.

She didn't rush into the cave, nor did she allow Shang Jianyao to dash in. Standing seven or eight meters from the entrance, she peered inside.

The area of the cave illuminated by natural light retained more traces of human activity. Jiang Baimian approached step by step, turned on the flashlight, and illuminated the darkness of the depths.

Suddenly, she stopped.

She saw a white skeleton sitting against the stone wall deep in the cave.

The skeleton was covered in tattered, dark-black robes.

"Could this be Qin Ke?" Shang Jianyao said.

"It's possible," Jiang Baimian answered cautiously.

Shang Jianyao immediately raised his voice:

"You died so tragically!

"We're too late!"

Jiang Baimian ignored the noise beside her and directly gave an order:

"Go in and check."

Shang Jianyao couldn't wait and dashed into the cave.

Jiang Baimian followed slowly behind him, guarding against any possible accidents.

"Time of death exceeds two years..." Shang Jianyao came to the skeleton and squatted down.

Jiang Baimian nodded slightly, not interrupting his feedback.

"The bones are not fractured..." Shang Jianyao reported, sentence by sentence.

Finally, he picked up something from the crack in the nearby stone:

"There's a voice recorder."

A voice recorder… Jiang Baimian's brow twitched.

This made her think of too much.

"The item itself doesn't contain the power of an Awakened. As for whether the contents inside do, it can't be determined yet," Shang Jianyao dutifully checked.

Jiang Baimian nodded:

"Let Old Ge listen to it once later."

After searching the cave for a while and finding no other clues, the two notified Genava, Long Yuehong, and Bai Chen to meet at this cave.

Genava's autopsy results were similar to Shang Jianyao's, but he confirmed that the deceased belonged to the Ashlander race.

The probability of encountering Ashlanders within the "White Knights" territory was already very low, and the appearance of an Ashlander corpse in this deep mountain forest was even less likely. Based on this, the "Old Task Force" tentatively determined that this was the person Gitis's clone had encountered.

And that person was suspected to be Qin Ke, the former Great Elder of the city.

"Old Ge, listen to the contents of this voice recorder while walking at the front of the team. Tell us if there's any hidden power after we return to the car." Jiang Baimian had Shang Jianyao hand the voice recorder to Genava.

"No problem." Genava never refused.

In this way, the "Old Task Force" left the forest with one in the front and four behind, returning to where the jeep was parked.

After getting back into the car, Genava returned the voice recorder to Jiang Baimian:

"I didn't detect any abnormal fluctuations.

"I have already transcribed the corresponding content into my storage module."

Genava paused, the red light in his eyes flashing intensely, and said:

"The recorded words are both like the ravings of a madman and reveal very important information, information that can solve your questions."

Long Yuehong, Bai Chen, and Shang Jianyao immediately straightened their backs.

Jiang Baimian took a breath and calmly nodded to Genava.

Genava began to play the content he had transcribed.

This was absolutely safe.

The blank part mixed with buzzing noises quickly passed, and a slightly hoarse male voice sounded:

"I am Du Heng. There are some things I must record:

"All the Ruling Stars cannot be trusted!"

As the members of the "Old Task Force" twitched their eyelids, the voice stopped abruptly, followed by another long stretch of "blank" that seemed to have no end.

"There's more later," Genava hurriedly prompted, lest Shang Jianyao and the others couldn't wait.

After another minute or two, the same male voice sounded again:

"I am Du Heng. I know some very terrifying things..."

As he said this, the voice disappeared again, with only the buzzing sound proving that Genava had not stopped playing.

Jiang Baimian looked up at Genava beside her.

Genava explained:

"My analysis is that Qin Ke, who called himself Du Heng, tried to record again and again but was interrupted by something.

"What you heard is actually composed of several recordings."

As Genava said, several recordings that didn't follow up, like a madman's ramblings, were played in succession:

"I am Du Heng. I may not live much longer..."

"I am Du Heng. The apocalypse has never ended. The destruction of the old world is just the beginning!"

"I am Du Heng. I am not Du Heng..."

Just as Long Yuehong was considering whether to urge Old Ge to fast forward, the slightly hoarse male voice sounded with fear:

"I am Du Heng. What I see is that the Ashlands are a large pasture.

"What is raised here are the Ruling Stars' food!

"The Ruling Stars feed on human consciousness!"