Chapter 17

Jiang Baimian, Long Yuehong, and Bai Chen stood there, stunned for a long time, unable to recover.

It turns out that what you meant by participation was whether to "sing" with those beasts... After regaining his thoughts, Long Yuehong wanted to say this, but he felt that in such an atmosphere, whoever acknowledged Shang Jianyao would be the loser.

A few seconds later, Jiang Baimian laughed out loud:

"Bai Chen, you forgot to guard the surroundings!

"Shang Jianyao, even if dozens of wilderness bandits came, they might not be able to deal with us, and you single-handedly dismantled the defense system from the inside!"

Shang Jianyao nodded solemnly:

"So I thought about it.

"Besides, I was guarding against emergencies."

"I was indeed a bit surprised, but I didn't relax my guard around us," Bai Chen forced an explanation.

She felt a bit ashamed of her momentary lapse and neglect.

As a human who had wandered the wilderness for many years, her knowledge was not lacking. She had encountered mentally unstable and abnormally behaving wanderers before, and not a few of them. Their words and actions were much more exaggerated than Shang Jianyao's.

But the problem was that Shang Jianyao mostly behaved very normally, so normally that Bai Chen thought he was just occasionally joking or playing pranks.

She never expected him to be so "creative."

"Good, always stay alert," Jiang Baimian did not expose Bai Chen's words, slightly tilting her head and smiling at Shang Jianyao, "After this training, it's indeed necessary to conduct a mental assessment of all members."

Shang Jianyao lightly clapped:

"I wish you a perfect score!"

Bai Chen didn't expect Jiang Baimian to be so straightforward about the mental assessment, as it would clearly severely provoke Shang Jianyao—although she had suggested it before, at that time Shang Jianyao's behavior was not too exaggerated, barely within the normal range, at most liking to tell cold jokes, so the suggestion was not strongly directed.

Similarly, Bai Chen didn't expect Shang Jianyao to be completely unconcerned, as if it was just an exaggerated prank.

Or, had he long recognized his condition, accepted himself, and was not at all inferior or sensitive? Bai Chen shook her head, reminding herself to do her job well regardless of others, and not be affected.

At this moment, Jiang Baimian looked down at her wristwatch:

"Alright, take turns resting.

"Normally, it should be me and Bai Chen in one group, Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong in another, taking turns to rest, but you two lack experience and are likely to overlook some signs. Moreover, when on duty, dangers are everywhere, and conditions are limited. There's no need to strictly separate by gender. Honesty and trust are the most important. So, I and Shang Jianyao will be one group, and Bai Chen and Long Yuehong will be another."

At this point, Jiang Baimian smiled:

"Actually, the conditions this time are quite good. We have a jeep, so one can sleep in the front and one in the back, without disturbing each other."

Bai Chen nodded:

"I once slept in a tent with two men, two women, a pig, and two chickens."

Jiang Baimian then stood up:

"Alright, go rest. Shang Jianyao and I will start the night watch."

She looked down at her wristwatch again:

"You have six hours."

"Leader, isn't that too long?" Bai Chen was not very reassured.

Starting the night watch for six hours would coincide with the most fatigued and sleepy part of the human circadian rhythm, making it easy to overlook abnormal movements around.

Jiang Baimian smiled:

"We three have all undergone genetic modification and have a common trait of high energy.

"In this aspect, I should be even stronger, able to maintain good focus for one or two days without sleep."

"I can too..." Long Yuehong muttered.

Jiang Baimian turned her head to look at him:

"What did you say?

"Are you saying bad things about me behind my back?"

"He didn't!" Shang Jianyao quickly answered, "He said it to your face!"

Long Yuehong was choked and coughed.

Jiang Baimian waved her hand and said to Shang Jianyao:

"You're quite normal at this moment. Alright, you two go to sleep quickly."

She was looking at Bai Chen and Long Yuehong as she said this.

That night, nothing unexpected happened. When the sun rose from the horizon, dyeing the clouds a golden red, the four members of the "Old Tune Group" were already gathered around the campfire, drinking warm water, and eating energy bars.

"Truly beautiful, truly magnificent..." Long Yuehong looked at the sunrise, realizing how limited his vocabulary was.

The grand and magnificent scene, full of infinite vitality, seemed to cleanse the hearts and minds of Long Yuehong and Shang Jianyao, who were experiencing the surface for the first time, making them feel a certain indescribable beauty and hope.

"I was even more out of control the first time I saw the sunrise," Jiang Baimian did not mock them.

Bai Chen also looked at the sunrise but did not speak.

As a human born and raised in the wilderness, she was accustomed to the sunrise, but each time she saw it, she felt inexplicable joy and excitement.

"Alright, pack up and get ready to leave. Long Yuehong, you and Bai Chen sit in the back and catch some more sleep. Shang Jianyao and I will take turns driving," Jiang Baimian said after filling her water bladder and standing up.

"Yes, Leader!" Long Yuehong retracted his gaze and responded loudly.

After dealing with the campfire, he saw the empty cans from last night's meal casually discarded on the ground:

"Leader, not recycling?"

"Pangu Biotech" is located underground, lacking mineral resources, and has always been in a dire state of metal resources, needing to exchange its own food, genetic modification fluid, biological agents, underground brine, and salt extracted from the surface of rocks for the necessary materials from other major powers.

Jiang Baimian looked back, paused for two seconds, and said:

"No need.

"It takes up space."

After saying this, she opened the car door and sat in the driver's seat.

Since the leader said so, Long Yuehong suppressed his impulse to recycle, held his gun, and quickly returned to the car.

The simulated engine sound started, and the gray-green four-door jeep, topped with a dense array of solar panels, drove out of the open area, away from the small ruins.

A few minutes later, a black shadow emerged from behind the half-collapsed buildings, tiptoeing toward the extinguished campfire.

It paused occasionally, using plants and broken walls as cover, and sometimes crawled forward, alternating its elbows.

After confirming that the four people had truly left, it sprang up, rushed to the campfire, and picked up the metal cans.

It was wrapped in a black burlap, carrying a rifle, about 1.6 meters tall, with a face devoid of skin and flesh, only silver-black metal.

The metal surface was riddled with cracks, revealing various colored circuits and components underneath.

One of its eyes flickered red, the other long "extinguished," and its hands were like skeletons, purely made of silver-black metal.

It was an intelligent robot.

"Picked up, picked up..." it emitted a monotonous, flat voice, holding the cans and running back to the ruins.

After winding through several turns, it entered a hollow formed by a haphazard arrangement of steel bars and concrete.

Inside the hollow was a boy wrapped in an old cotton jacket and animal fur.

The boy was about twelve or thirteen years old, with a dirty face and black mud under his fingernails. Next to him was a dilapidated tricycle loaded with various junk and garbage.

He took the cans, revealing a smile that couldn't be hidden.

Then, he divided the cans into three groups, placing them in different piles of junk, and smiled at the intelligent robot:

"Xiao Qi, this is almost full, we can get you a new eye.

"We still need to save up, winter is coming, and we need to exchange for more food, coal, and your battery.

"We'll exchange these when we get back..."

As he spoke, the boy scratched his head and smiled sheepishly:

"We're almost out of food.

"I've been eating a bit more recently..."

Xiao Qi nodded vigorously, still in that flat tone:

"Very well arranged."

"Get in the car, let's go back to the settlement." The boy sat in the driver's seat of the tricycle.

The "beep beep beep" sound echoed as he drove the tricycle through the narrow, bumpy, and barely passable ruins and plants, heading toward the distance.

While driving, he said to the intelligent robot behind:

"Xiao Qi, do you think Mom and Dad will come back after winter?"

...

The jeep maintained a steady speed, continuously moving forward in the Black Swamp Wilderness.

Around noon, Bai Chen, who was driving, suddenly frowned after a turn:

"There are people ahead..."

Before Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao, and Long Yuehong could respond, she added in a low voice:

"They've seen us."

PS: Here are today's two updates. I forgot to set the timer, so I'm a bit embarrassed.