Chapter 90

"There has never been a savior, nor do we rely on gods or emperors.

"We must create human happiness ourselves..."

Amidst the hoarse singing, the jeep drove wildly through the mountains and forests.

"Finally, we're going back to the company..." Long Yuehong gazed at the endless road, unable to suppress a sigh.

Although the sky was blue, the clouds were white, the sun was shining, and there were trees and various landscapes, the environment was exceptionally open. After being out for a long time, he still missed the stable and quiet life inside the company.

To those who knew the gray earth well, the name "Pangu Bio" was not unfamiliar, but almost no one knew where the company's headquarters was located, which added a layer of mystery to "Pangu Bio" — many relic hunters only knew that the area where the "Old Adjustment Team" was currently located was dominated by several powerful bandit groups, and they dared not approach.

Jiang Baimian, sitting in the passenger seat, heard Long Yuehong's sigh, touched her ear, and smiled, tilting her head slightly.

"I thought you didn't want to go back to the company at all. The girls in Qifeng Town were really热情啊。"

Hearing this, Long Yuehong blushed immediately.

"That's not true, Team Leader, don't say such things!"

Qifeng Town was located in the mountainous area of the Black Swamp Wilderness, remote and hard to find. The "Old Adjustment Team" couldn't even drive the jeep into it.

At that time, they followed the guards at the foot of the mountain and walked for about fifteen minutes on a small path before the scenery suddenly opened up, revealing a large field.

The geographical advantage gave Qifeng Town a sense of security, but it also brought a shortage of water resources.

This wasn't because there was no water on the mountain, but because the water looked dirty, as if it contained a lot of mud. Even if it was used for irrigation, the residents of Qifeng Town were not very confident, fearing pollution and impurities.

Before they joined "Pangu Bio," they either collected rainwater or went to the other side of the mountain to fetch water, which was very arduous.

During bad seasons, when the mountain paths were difficult to navigate, they could only drink the dirty water that had settled, and their average lifespan was much shorter than that of the residents of Shuiguo Town.

Therefore, when the "Old Adjustment Team" brought new purification crystal chips and repaired the rudimentary water plant, the residents of Qifeng Town were genuinely happy and grateful.

To show their appreciation, they took out their cherished food to entertain the guests.

At that time, many of the women in Qifeng Town gathered around Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong, extremely热情, just like the men who circled around Jiang Baimian and Bai Chen.

Jiang Baimian smiled and said,

"Wow, I just have poor hearing, but that doesn't mean my eyes are bad.

"Those few days, you had girls accompanying you wherever you went, and you seemed quite happy."

"Cough..." Long Yuehong coughed, not knowing how to respond.

At that time, he was indeed quite happy, after all, it was the first time in his life that he had been so popular with the opposite sex.

Jiang Baimian didn't "understand" the real meaning behind Long Yuehong's cough and teasingly asked,

"What? Didn't you have a relationship that went beyond friendship with anyone?

"That's not right..."

Shang Jianyao, who was driving and listening to music, interjected,

"He was scared to death."

Long Yuehong wanted to argue but sadly realized it was true.

The girls were too热情, which scared him and made him hesitant to do anything.

Of course, this was also because he had heard from the team leader about the real intentions of the girls:

To marry into the utopian "Pangu Bio."

If that wasn't possible, they would try to get pregnant and add excellent offspring to the town.

Additionally, Long Yuehong had to admit that a small part of his fear was because the girls looked dirty, as Qifeng Town lacked clean water before the purification crystal chips were delivered.

"Being scared is still better," Jiang Baimian clicked her tongue and turned to Shang Jianyao, "What about you? Why didn't the girls keep bothering you later? Did you use your ability on them?"

Shang Jianyao's body swayed slightly with the rhythm of the music,

"No.

"I just had a serious discussion with them about the current human situation, about pollution, disease, famine, mutation, and the 'Heartless Ones,' and about the destiny each of us should shoulder.

"They were very moved and inspired, and they all said they would go back and think about it.

"Yes, it will take some time to digest, but I hope they will understand soon."

Jiang Baimian listened with a tight-lipped mouth, afraid of laughing out loud.

"I still underestimated you," she finally said with a "serious" face.

Bai Chen, sitting in the back, listened to their chat without joining in, but her expression was gentle, and she listened attentively, occasionally smiling.

The jeep drove for a few more minutes, and Jiang Baimian patted the armrest,

"Stop, I'll drive from here on. Otherwise, when we reach the entrance, we'll have to switch again during the inspection."

Shang Jianyao reluctantly parked the car and moved to the passenger seat.

Jiang Baimian then turned off the speaker and laughed,

"Home!"

Then, she stepped on the gas and headed straight for the entrance of the "Pangu Bio" underground building.

During this process, Long Yuehong couldn't help but recall the scenes he had experienced:

The battle with the Black Swamp Iron Snake and the military exoskeleton; the children of Shuiguo Town reading aloud; encountering the Purification Law at the steel factory ruins; the massacre at Black Rat Town; Qiao Chu's powerful charm; the "Higher Heartless Ones" and mutated creatures; the "Heartless Ones" who seemed normal after the "Light" turned on; the mournful songs echoing in the silent city; the热情of Qifeng Town; survival training in the wilderness...

In just a month, he felt as if he had lived for several years.

Soon, the four members of the "Old Adjustment Team" saw the entrance to the "Pangu Bio" underground building.

At this moment, Long Yuehong's heart finally settled, feeling incredibly stable and secure.

It was like a leaf finally drifting to the roots of a tree.

"Being out for a long time makes you want to come back, and staying for a long time makes you want to go out. Humans are truly contradictory beings," Jiang Baimian sighed while driving.

The vehicle continued forward, approaching the gate.

...

After passing a series of inspections, the four members of the "Old Adjustment Team" returned to Room 14 on the 647th floor.

"Hand over everything you brought back from outside to me," Jiang Baimian said, looking around, "These must be reviewed by the company before their fate is decided."

She smiled and added,

"Don't worry, anything that needs to be submitted to the company will definitely have contribution points as compensation, and you won't be treated unfairly.

"Many small things, the company might not care about, and they will be returned to you.

"Ha, I wonder if Wang Beicheng's action team has returned. We have a whole armored car of stuff with them."

Hearing "Wang Beicheng," Bai Chen thoughtfully said,

"I wonder if they found any useful clues in the city ruins."

Jiang Baimian nodded,

"When we meet, I'll ask. I hope the confidentiality level isn't too high.

"Sigh, I think it's unlikely they found any clues. The laboratory was destroyed, and the creature that roared might not have left any remains..."

As she spoke, Shang Jianyao had already taken out all the items he had collected and placed them on the table.

They included:

A pair of black sunglasses, a mechanical watch with a black dial, a transparent glass ball with yellow petals from Shuiguo Town, a piece of paper from the steel factory ruins, a recording pen from the little girl in Black Rat Town, a Wubei 7 pistol and twelve coins from Wu Shoushi, a hunter's badge from the exoskeleton bandit...

—The other items were in the jeep.

Jiang Baimian glanced at the items and pointed to the paper,

"What is this?"

"A piece of paper I picked up from the outpatient area of the steel factory ruins," Shang Jianyao replied.

"Why didn't you mention it before?" Jiang Baimian asked instinctively.

Shang Jianyao said confidently,

"I forgot."

"… That's true, we encountered the Purification Law at that time," Jiang Baimian withdrew her gaze, "Well, hand it over to the higher-ups and let them study whether there's any useful information."

After handling this, Jiang Baimian called everyone to sit down and said with a smile,

"I know you're all tired, but we still need to review the entire field exercise."

She looked at Bai Chen,

"Do you have anything to say?"

Bai Chen thought for a moment and said,

"Everything that needed to be said was already covered in the previous reviews."

"This time, let's focus on the overall picture," Jiang Baimian suggested.

Bai Chen was silent for a few seconds and said,

"There were too many unexpected events.

"The dangers I encountered in this field exercise were as many as those I faced in the first three years."

As she finished, Shang Jianyao nodded seriously,

"Mainly because of bad luck..."

Hearing this, Long Yuehong's expression immediately fell.

"Stop it," Jiang Baimian interrupted Shang Jianyao's "narration" and smiled at Long Yuehong, "I don't believe in fate or luck, it's not scientific at all!"

Long Yuehong exhaled silently, about to say something, but then saw the team leader smiling at him,

"But, your name isn't very good. Why don't you change it? How about Long Aihong? Your parents would definitely be satisfied."

"…" Long Yuehong responded with a blank expression, "Team Leader, you don't believe in these things, right?"

"On the gray earth, sometimes it's better to believe in the existence of such things," Jiang Baimian said, laughing, "Ha, just kidding. Well… I'll mark you as qualified in this mission report and note that you are not suitable for the 'Old Adjustment Team' and suggest a change. This way, even if you are transferred to another position, there won't be any blemishes on your record."

Long Yuehong was deeply moved,

"Thank you, thank you."

Jiang Baimian smiled and shook her head,

"Don't thank me so soon. I only have the right to suggest. Whether you can be transferred ultimately depends on the higher-ups.

"Unless I write that we are incompatible and that you are completely unqualified and have ideological issues, then you can be guaranteed to be transferred, but that would leave a blemish on your record."

"I understand, thank you, Team Leader," Long Yuehong responded sincerely.

Jiang Baimian then smiled,

"Actually, I'm a bit reluctant to let you go.

"Bad luck isn't always a bad thing. Think about it, if we hadn't encountered so many unexpected events, how would we have entered that city ruin and discovered that people in the old world were conducting very dangerous experiments? That's a valuable discovery!"

Long Yuehong weakly argued,

"Team Leader, I'm not that unlucky…"

PS: Thank you, Fei Hui Hei Du, for the silver alliance donation!