Chapter 173 - Art of the Gap (1/2)

Chapter 173: Art of the Gap

The snow had long stopped, but white residue continued covering the roofs and the sides of the road.

Jiang Baimian ignored Shang Jianyao’s attempt to mold a super-large snowball and smiled at Lei Yunsong, Lin Feifei, and the others. “Let’s have a good chat when we return to the company.”

The previous chaos had come too suddenly. Their mission was completed before they could get their hands on the self-assembled radio transceiver. Thus, they could only contact Chen Xufeng—who was in charge of Weed City’s matters—and report the general situation to the company through him. They also helped Lei Yunsong’s team apply for basic supplies.

In the end, the company got Chen Xufeng to prepare two cars, enough food, and the corresponding weapons and ammunition to last Lei Yunsong’s team for half a month. They were to return to the underground building as soon as possible to report for duty and undergo psychological evaluations and trauma treatment.

Lei Yunsong—whose eyes didn’t seem to be fully open—pressed the door as he replied to Jiang Baimian. “You mustn’t forget about making contact with the people from Mechanical Paradise. They definitely know some secrets regarding the Old World’s destruction!”

In their previous exchange after their recovery, Lei Yunsong, Lin Feifei, and the others recounted the reason for their team’s arrival in Weed City and their subsequent encounters.

They had discovered a few broken chips that originated from intelligent robots in a wilderness nomad settlement to the south.

After the repairs, decryption, and data restoration, they extracted some useful information. This information told them that the chips came from Mechanical Paradise’s robot guards. They had been attacked by hostile forces during a certain trade transaction and suffered heavy losses. As a result, some of the components had been lost.

Apart from its origins, the term ‘mainframe’ repeatedly appeared in the retrieved information. It gave one the feeling that the ‘mainframe’ had already occupied every industry in Mechanical Paradise—one couldn’t escape its control, no matter what aspect of life it was.

In addition, some of the timestamps in the information indicated that the ‘mainframe’ had likely existed before the Old World was destroyed and had already been put into operation.

In order to confirm these matters and obtain more information, Lei Yunsong’s team chose to come to Weed City and begin the investigation from the local Hunter’s Guild. This was because it had close cooperative ties with Mechanical Paradise.

It was clearly impossible for lowly wilderness nomads to be treated as equals. In order to ensure that the inquiry went smoothly, Lei Yunsong deliberately chose the best hotel and used their actions to show that they had a large faction backing them.

They didn’t know when the Anti-intellectualism Church’s Father took a fancy to them. They could only be certain that they had met the sickly man after they went to North Street and visited the Castellan.

Jiang Baimian tersely acknowledged Lei Yunsong’s ‘request’ and said, “It will ultimately depend on the company’s arrangements. The information you found might very well put you in charge until the end.”

Lei Yunsong exhaled and said, “We might not have a chance to go out into the field after we return. Our team might very well be disbanded.”

After working in the Old Task Force for so long, they still had a certain level of affection and obsession regarding this matter. Therefore, they hoped that Jiang Baimian’s team could take over this trail of clues and investigate further to give them an answer.

Jiang Baimian consoled him. “That depends on the final evaluation. There’s still a high chance.”

Lei Yunsong looked at his team members and smiled. “This is actually a good thing since all of us have families. Every time we leave the company and come to the surface, we would feel nervous and afraid that we won’t be able to return. Look, we almost perished this time.

“Taking this opportunity to transfer all of us to some internal department can be considered a blessing in disguise. We no longer have to let our wives, children, parents, and brothers worry about us anymore. After all, I’ve roamed the Ashlands for many years and visited many places. I’m much better than most of the company’s employees. Yes, I should be satisfied.”

It’s quite obvious that you’re a little reluctant when you put it that way… Sigh, very few company employees—who are accustomed to living on the surface—won’t miss the outside world, even if it’s filled with danger… Jiang Baimian inwardly criticized before smiling and waving her hand.

“Regardless of the final outcome, it’s a good thing. At least you will return alive. Have a safe journey!”

“See you later!” Lei Yunsong and the others waved their hands, opened the door, and got in.

After watching their car drive to South Street, Jiang Baimian slowly exhaled and spoke to Shang Jianyao, who was beside her. “How many times has it been? Why do you still have such high hopes?”

Shang Jianyao was again biting the large snowball that he had made.

“I’m just thirsty,” he replied vaguely.

Jiang Baimian clicked her tongue and walked toward the bulletproof SUV that Xu Liyan had given her. “It’s time for us to do something.”

As she spoke, she turned around and waved at Bai Chen and Long Yuehong—who were behind the second-floor window—indicating that they should get busy with their own matters.

After all, Eugene’s slave hunters were still outside the city, and the mission to hunt down the kidnappers was still ongoing.

The latest news Bai Chen obtained was that, after a short gunfight, Eugene’s gang had decided on a new leader and inherited the slave capturing certificate.

The new leader clearly didn’t want to find Eugene. He only wanted to capture the ‘real culprit’ and show his brotherhood to convince the masses.

After throwing away the large snowball in his hand, Shang Jianyao slid into the driver’s seat and started the car.

Since Long Yuehong hadn’t opened the window, Shang Jianyao gave up on the idea of throwing the snowball at him—this would damage the glass.