Embers Ad Infinitum

Upon hearing Jiang Baimian’s words, Long Yuehong suddenly felt a little scared and quickly asked, “Who is it from?”

Apart from the company and Genava, who else would send a telegram to the Old Task Force?

Jiang Baimian held the piece of paper and smiled. “Lehman—United Industries’s arms dealer, Lehman.”

“Lars’s lover?” Long Yuehong asked in enlightenment. Compared to Lehman, Lars—whose body was occupied by DiMarco—left a deeper impression on him.

“Yes. He’s also a pitiful person.” Jiang Baimian sighed. “But this doesn’t stop him from being an unscrupulous merchant at the same time. He said that he has already obtained an AC-45 military exoskeleton and a T1 multi-purpose mechanical arm and has asked us if we wanted them.”

“Yes!” Shang Jianyao eagerly replied. As he spoke, he raised his left hand.

Long Yuehong suddenly considered a minor problem. “Another military exoskeleton won’t fit the car.”

In order to stuff the two military exoskeletons into the jeep’s trunk, they had already transferred some of the food to the backseat.

Of course, with the long journey and the expenditure of supplies, the space in the jeep’s backseat was finally freed up, allowing space for Genava to squeeze in.

“We’ll get another car when the time comes. Which is rarer, a car or a military exoskeleton?” Jiang Baimian asked a soul-searching question.

“That’s true.” Long Yuehong finally came to a realization.

Bai Chen echoed, “If it really doesn’t work out, let Genava sit while carrying it.”

A smart bot wouldn’t feel tired or uncomfortable because of this.

Jiang Baimian chuckled and looked at Bai Chen. “I thought you would feel sorry for the robot.”

She remembered that Bai Chen had said that she used to have a robot that she was interdependent on.

“Everyone should do what they have to do,” Bai Chen replied simply.

Jiang Baimian didn’t say anything else. She drafted a manuscript, translated it into a code, and sent a telegram back to Lehman.

After doing so, she turned to Shang Jianyao and the others. “I got him to bring those two items to First City for the transaction. If he replies that it’s undoable, we’ll let him go to Redstone Collection in four to five months. I hope we can complete the main mission by then.”

With the Old Task Force already having two military exoskeletons, there was no rush for a third.

Lehman quickly replied to the telegram. The content was very simple: “Sure, I’ll contact you in two weeks.”

After Jiang Baimian translated it, she casually sighed with emotion. “It seems like he has connections in First City.”

“United Industries is south of First City,” Bai Chen calmly pointed out.

Upon seeing that the matter had progressed smoothly, Long Yuehong couldn’t help but imagine the Old Task Force’s final form.

Three military exoskeletons, an electric eel-like biomechanical limb, a T1 multi-purpose mechanical arm, an Awakened with a range of 30 meters, a Mechanical Paradise smart bot, and a night pearl that provided strange abilities. All of these added together could be said to be beyond standard.

Many Pangu Biology military companies had never fought wars with such affluence!

Although this wasn’t considered strong in a head-on battle between large factions, as a special operations team, they were equipped to complete many difficult missions.

At this thought, Long Yuehong suddenly realized a problem. “What do we use to exchange for them?”

Lehman provided the means to purchase the goods, not the goods themselves.

“We helped him bury Lars.” Shang Jianyao seemed to think that this was very meaningful to Lehman.

Jiang Baimian smiled and said, “Isn’t there still some time? We can first complete the Zhao family’s mission and receive a generous payment. In the meantime, we can also try to raise it from other places. If it really doesn’t work out, we can inform the company and get them to arrange for First City’s intelligence personnel to provide the supplies. I’ll be surprised if the company doesn’t want it!”

Although the Old Task Force wouldn’t obtain the items when the time came, they would at least accumulate contribution points. It wouldn’t be a wasted effort.

Upon seeing his team leader’s smile, Long Yuehong suddenly came to a realization: It’s best not to provoke this woman for the rest of my life.

Jiang Baimian waited for a while longer. When they didn’t receive any new telegrams, she stood up and said, “Alright, use the time to shower.”

“I’ll boil the water.” Bai Chen walked to the door.

They had already missed the time to receive hot water from the empty walls that were connected to the stove. They could only draw water up and boil it with electricity.

Fortunately, it was spring, and water was relatively sufficient. Weed City’s electricity supply wasn’t that tight, and the electricity wouldn’t stop until 10 p.m.

While waiting for the water to boil, Jiang Baimian glanced at Shang Jianyao—who was looking out the window. “What are you thinking about?”

“I’m wondering if I should meet my good brother, Xu Liyan,” Shang Jianyao said truthfully.

Jiang Baimian scoffed. “How can Xu Liyan not know that we’ve returned to Weed City after what Zhao Zhengqi did in the evening? If he wants to catch up with you, he will naturally send someone to invite us tomorrow.”

If he didn’t want to, he would pretend not to know of their arrival.

Shang Jianyao’s Inference Clowning effect was completely dispelled around the end of the year.

Shang Jianyao nodded and sighed. “I also didn’t see my sworn brother, Ferlin, this time.”

After spring, the Rootless embarked on a journey that was without destination. Only the car tracks recorded their previous visit.

As they conversed, Bai Chen finished boiling the water and adjusting the temperature.

As the laborer, she enjoyed the first bath.

Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao, and Long Yuehong moved the conversation outside the bathroom.

Before long, Bai Chen came out, and Jiang Baimian took her place.

At this moment, the wooden door to a nearby room opened. A thin, stocky, and swarthy man then walked out.

He was less than 1.7 meters tall and was in his thirties. He wore a long-sleeved black T-shirt with traces of sewing and a pair of dark-blue canvas pants with many patches.

After glancing at Shang Jianyao and the others, the man pointed at the bathroom. “Is someone showering?”

“You’ll have to line up.” Shang Jianyao pointed at himself and Long Yuehong.

“I thought I didn’t have to wait after missing peak hour.” The man sighed, and as if they were familiar with each other, asked, “Are you new residents? I don’t recall seeing you.”

Without Jiang Baimian’s suppression, Long Yuehong and Bai Chen couldn’t compete with Shang Jianyao. They could only listen to him speak with a laugh.

“Do you believe that a dozen or two neighbors will come out and chat with us when I casually shout out?”

This is a friendship that we built by fighting side by side… Long Yuehong added inwardly.

The man smiled apologetically. “I just moved in a few days ago. Maybe you guys happened to be out.”

“Are you a Ruin Hunter from the Blackmarsh Wilderness?” Bai Chen asked. This was her judgment based on the other party’s Ashlandic accent.

The man nodded. “I wanted to get some rest while passing by Weed City. Oh right, how should I address you? Are you Ruin Hunters as well?”

“Zhang Qubing.” Shang Jianyao seriously introduced his fake name.

“Qian Bai.”

“Gu Zhiyong.”

Bai Chen and Long Yuehong replied.

The man smiled and pointed at himself. “Wang Fugui, a Senior Hunter.”

Bai Chen, Shang Jianyao, and Long Yuehong casually introduced their ranks as well.

One was an Intermediate Hunter, and the other two were Official Hunters.

Wang Fugui didn’t show any signs of disdain and casually said, “There’s a big mission recently that can earn you a lot of credits.”

“What mission?” Shang Jianyao was very curious.

“A legendary white wolf appeared in the mountains on the north bank of the Red River. Any human who encounters it will be amazed by its beauty and be impressed by its charm. They will leave with it and never return. A noble in First City seems to have been mesmerized by it and went to the guild to offer a bounty to capture it.” Wang Fugui described the mission he had seen.

“Is that so?” Shang Jianyao listened very seriously.

Long Yuehong and Bai Chen thought of a certain matter and person.

Wang Fugui laughed. “That’s what the mission said. I don’t know if it’s true or not, so I can only trust the guild. In any case, I’ll set off for First City after resting for a few more days. I’ll enter the mountain from that side. To be honest, I’m also quite curious. How charming can a wolf be?”

At this moment, Jiang Baimian walked out of the bathroom while wiping her hair.

“This is?” She glanced at Wang Fugui.

Wang Fugui suddenly became serious. “A Senior Hunter who lives here, Wang Fugui.”

Jiang Baimian smiled and casually asked, “What were you guys talking about?”

Bai Chen repeated the conversation while mentioning the key points.

Jiang Baimian maintained her smile and said to Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong, “Who wants to shower first?”

“Me!” Shang Jianyao rushed forward.

“Then, we’ll return to our rooms first.” Jiang Baimian signaled to Long Yuehong and Bai Chen with her eyes.

After watching them walk to the end of the aisle, Wang Fugui stroked his chin and muttered to himself, “They’ve undergone genetic enhancement?”

After returning to her room, Jiang Baimian closed the door and turned to Long Yuehong and Bai Chen. “Does it ring a bell?”

Long Yuehong replied in a deep voice, “Qiao Chu! That wolf’s situation is very similar to Qiao Chu’s.”