Chapter 91

Facing Long Yuehong's defense, Jiang Baimian laughed and said:

"I know, I know. Wasn't I just trying to boost your confidence a bit?

"This shows that you played a significant role in this field training."

Seeing the team leader's words becoming more and more negative, Long Yuehong didn't bother to emphasize it anymore and just mumbled:

"Such a role would be better off not existing."

"What did you say?" Jiang Baimian tilted her head as if listening intently, "Forget it, let's get back to the main topic and continue the debriefing."

She then looked around:

"Every event we encountered during this field training has been thoroughly discussed and summarized. We won't repeat them today.

"What I hope for is that you evaluate each decision made before and after the events from a holistic perspective, to see if there are any areas that need to be reviewed."

Bai Chen listened quietly and recalled, saying:

"I don't think there's any problem. Every decision you made was the best choice under the circumstances. It just seems dangerous because of the many unexpected events."

"Yes, yes, whether it was the gang of robbers with exoskeleton devices, the mechanical monk Jingfa, or the massacre in Black Rat Town, you did your best to keep everyone alive and lead us away from the danger."

Shang Jianyao nodded:

"Mainly, it's just bad luck."

"..." If it weren't for knowing Shang Jianyao's personality, Long Yuehong would have thought he was targeting her.

Jiang Baimian glanced at him and said seriously:

"If you don't like such jokes, just tell him directly that he won't have any friends if he keeps this up."

"Actually, actually, I'm used to it." Long Yuehong responded subconsciously.

Jiang Baimian spread her hands and teased:

"What can I say then?"

She smoothed her hair, her expression gradually becoming serious:

"Although you all are praising me, making me feel elated, I still have to say that if we had done things right from the beginning, many things could have been avoided.

"Think about it, how long could Jingfa have stayed in the steel factory ruins? How long could Qiao Chu have waited at the broken bridge?

"By just missing those few hours, we would have had a very high probability of not encountering them.

"If we had directly opened fire on that gang of robbers, eliminating them before they had the chance to wear the exoskeleton devices, our jeep wouldn't have been damaged. Without the jeep being damaged, we wouldn't have taken a detour to Water Enclosure Town, and we might have reached the steel factory ruins by evening and left the next morning. By then, the mechanical monk Jingfa probably wouldn't have come to seek the chosen ones.

"Similarly, I wouldn't have met Wu Shoushi and his group. After obtaining the information about the new city ruins, we might have crossed the river and chosen other wilderness wanderer settlements to send the information, instead of being 'blocked' by Qiao Chu."

Seeing Bai Chen and Long Yuehong with thoughtful expressions, Jiang Baimian asked in a serious tone:

"If you were to make the decisions and encountered a similar team, would you choose to mutually intimidate each other and disengage without conflict, or directly attack to eliminate the threat?"

Shang Jianyao immediately replied:

"Team leader, I think you have some misunderstanding about my noble ideals.

"Would I be the type to attack innocent people? A brief encounter is not enough to judge whether a group is guilty."

Jiang Baimian was taken aback for a moment, then laughed:

"You would!

"Who wanted to shoot because the other side was making noise?"

"I sensed their hostility." Shang Jianyao answered seriously, "And I knew you wouldn't agree."

"Alright." Jiang Baimian turned to Long Yuehong and Bai Chen, "What about you? What decision would you make?"

Long Yuehong hissed:

"I wouldn't order an attack either.

"Would that make us any different from those robbers?"

Bai Chen thought for a moment and said:

"There is a difference between humans and beasts.

"Unless I was starving and about to die, I wouldn't resort to robbing."

Jiang Baimian's expression became serious as she looked around, her lips gradually curling up:

"Congratulations, you've passed the first psychological test."

Seeing Long Yuehong a bit stunned, Jiang Baimian explained with a smile:

"I still hope that my team members have basic morals and principles.

"Although we can't judge actions in dire situations by these standards, at least most of the time, I can trust my back to such companions."

Shang Jianyao responded with a "Hmm":

"True companions can dance the hula together on the Gold Coast."

Jiang Baimian ignored him and continued the debriefing.

Near the end, she thought for a moment and said:

"We haven't analyzed the city ruins issue before. Today, we have the time to discuss it.

"What do you think is the relationship between Daoist Jialan's statement about the 'remnants of Zhisui's aura' and the various anomalies in the city ruins?"

During this period, Bai Chen occasionally thought about this issue and was the first to propose a hypothesis:

"Could it be that the laboratory in that city was conducting some forbidden research involving the divine realm, angering Zhisui Zhuang Sheng, who then inflicted divine punishment?

"Perhaps this also marked the beginning of the old world's destruction.

"Because this city was the origin of the destruction, the surrounding villages and towns were also left without survivors, so the ruins were completely forgotten until recently discovered."

She linked the widely spread "Zhisui's destruction of the old world" theory with this discovery.

"It's possible, only possible." Jiang Baimian didn't directly deny it.

Shang Jianyao then countered:

"Why didn't Zhisui Zhuang Sheng eliminate the creature that roared in the laboratory? Why are there so many 'high-level heartless' and mutated creatures in the city ruins?

"Is this divine punishment too incomplete?"

He paused and added:

"If it were true, I would feel embarrassed for Zhisui Zhuang Sheng."

Bai Chen was speechless, unable to answer.

If she could resolve these doubts, she wouldn't have said it was just a hypothesis.

"If Zhisui Zhuang Sheng knew someone was so concerned about His reputation, He would also feel embarrassed." Jiang Baimian joked, "Personally, I prefer more daring hypotheses."

She then looked around, slightly lowering her body, and said in a low voice:

"Could it be that the forbidden research in the laboratory gave birth to the Zhisuis?

"Did the humans of the old world attempt to create gods, only to be destroyed by the gods they created?"

Such a hypothesis, with such a low, resonant voice, made Long Yuehong's forehead twitch, feeling an inexplicable fear and a sense of blasphemy.

Did the human laboratory create the Zhisuis?

And did the Zhisuis, in turn, destroy humanity?

"Why did the Zhisuis leave the roaring creature in the laboratory? Is it their sibling?" Shang Jianyao asked again, "And why didn't they destroy the laboratory to hide the secret of their birth? What was the Eighth Research Institute, which Qiao Chu represents, thinking when they sent people to find the city ruins and blow up the laboratory?"

"I said it's just a hypothesis!" Jiang Baimian glared at Shang Jianyao, "And we can't confirm that Qiao Chu's mission was to blow up the laboratory. What if he was just looking for information? There are many reasons for an explosion, like a self-destruct mechanism."

Saying this, Jiang Baimian softened her "ferocious" expression:

"The one thing we can initially confirm is that without Qiao Chu, the city ruins would have remained undiscovered for a long time.

"Ah, if only we could find the Eighth Research Institute soon; they must know many secrets of the old world!"

After further discussion, Jiang Baimian glanced at her wristwatch:

"Almost done. Let me talk about the future arrangements:

"You have two days off, then everything will return to normal.

"However, the various daily training sessions will be halved. The morning will be reserved for studying materials, organizing clues, and preparing for the formal investigation.

"Next spring, we will set out to the first investigation site or target area.

"Before that, I will organize a winter survival training, but it will be near the company, not far away to avoid trouble."

Mentioning "trouble," Jiang Baimian felt a bit of lingering fear.

"Actually, the city ruins are a suitable investigation site." Bai Chen nodded and said.

Jiang Baimian responded with a "Hmm":

"This depends on whether the company finds any valuable clues there in the coming months.

"I'm pessimistic about it."

Because the most important laboratory was completely destroyed.

Mentioning this, Long Yuehong asked, either out of curiosity or concern:

"Team leader, what will happen to the 'high-level heartless' in the city ruins after the company intervenes?"

"What else? Either they will migrate, be killed, or become experimental subjects." Jiang Baimian said seriously, "In the Ashlands, unnecessary pity has no value."

Long Yuehong was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly said:

"But they will definitely cause significant casualties for the company... They are our colleagues, and we might even know them..."

Jiang Baimian was silent for a moment, then said with a somewhat forced smile:

"This is the Ashlands."

As she spoke, she stood up and patted Shang Jianyao's shoulder:

"That's why we need to pursue a new world."

"To save all of humanity." Shang Jianyao said very cooperatively.

Jiang Baimian took the opportunity to wrap up, pointing outside:

"It's almost dinner time. I'll treat you all to celebrate the successful completion of our first mission."

Long Yuehong, Shang Jianyao, and Bai Chen stood up simultaneously.

"To be honest, I've missed the company cafeteria for a long time." Long Yuehong sighed sincerely.

Although he had tasted a lot of wild animal meat this time, the meat was either too tough or had an unpleasant taste. Without sufficient seasoning and cooking techniques, it could only barely fill the stomach, and the experience wasn't great.

"Me too." Jiang Baimian responded frankly.

Shang Jianyao raised his hand and wiped his mouth.