Chapter 600 - Surname (1/2)

After some communication, the Old Task Force realized that the people who had 'visited' the mountain monsters two days ago were the people suspected to be from the Salvation Army they had previously encountered.

They appeared to have used a certain ability that deprived the mountain monsters of their vigilance and become filled with the enthusiasm of welcoming guests.

There are also Awakened among the mountain monsters, just that there's a relatively small number of them. For them to temporarily control the entire tribe and have the influence remain to this day, they are definitely Awakened at the Mind Corridor level or above…

Since that group of people didn't take away books, magazines, and newspapers from the mountain monsters, it means that those things lack valuable clues. Yes… We can't make a definite judgment on this matter. They might not have as much information as us, or there might be deviations in both parties' information. Some clues are only ordinary records in their eyes, so it's not worth fussing over… Jiang Baimian's thoughts raced as she tried to find the hidden meaning under the surface.

From her point of view, the group of people suspected to be from the Salvation Army might know more. Therefore, they treated the clues that were useful to the Old Task Force as ordinary and left them with the mountain monsters. Or perhaps they had relatively little information and didn't understand what earth-shattering secrets some seemingly ordinary words implied.

There was a high chance of either situation happening, so the Old Task Force had to pay strong attention to everything to prevent themselves from missing any valuable clues.

At this thought, Jiang Baimian turned to look at Shang Jianyao. She signaled him with her eyes and secretly gestured, meaning: Go! Boldly 'make friends!'

The listless Shang Jianyao perked up and raised the blue and white loudspeaker again. ”Everyone, have you discovered that something is amiss? Don't you have to thank me and invite us to your tribe as guests? As the saying goes, count on your parents at home, but count on friends when out. Making more friends ensures that you can exchange for sufficient food and cloth in the future…”

After some 'guidance,' the mountain monsters in front and the hidden mountain monsters on the cliffs agreed with Shang Jianyao. They were convinced that any day worked, and they decided to entertain the guests enthusiastically today.

Their performance stunned the Underground Ark smugglers.

Jiang Baimian fell silent for a moment before saying to the Ark personnel, ”Complete the transaction now and return directly. There's no need to follow us.”

She wasn't worried that the Underground Ark people would show hostility to the mountain monsters to the point of finding an opportunity to surround and attack the mountain monsters after learning of their settlement's location. After all, the favor and deterrence of the five honorary presidents remained strong. She was only afraid that the Underground Ark people would leak the information to Redstone Collection's residents during their daily contact after they grasped the mountain monsters' lair.

Those townsfolk had a blood feud with the mountain monsters.

”Yes, President Xue!” The Ark guard leader in charge of this smuggling team immediately agreed.

They also didn't want to climb mountains and cross rivers to go to the mountain monster settlement that was worthless to them.

At this moment, Long Yuehong raised a question. ”What about our cars?”

There was a high chance that the mountain monsters' lair was somewhere that wasn't conducive for car travel. This allowed them to leverage their talent and avoid most dangers.

”Unfortunately, it can't turn into a robot and follow us.” Shang Jianyao had a look of regret.

He missed Tarnan's Autobots very much.

Jiang Baimian originally wanted Long Yuehong and Bai Chen to guard the car while she and Shang Jianyao went to the mountain monsters' lair. They could attack and retreat at will. However, she realized that Bai Chen wasn't too happy after looking at her. She could only say to the Underground Ark's smuggling team, ”Leave two people behind and help us watch the car.”

After informing them of the things to take note of, she, Shang Jianyao, and Long Yuehong each carried a crate containing a military exoskeleton. They also stuffed some high-performance batteries into their tactical backpacks and followed the mountain monsters onto a mountain road that gradually turned rugged.

Bai Chen was in charge of the crate containing the two bionic artificial intelligence armor.

…

The mountain monsters lived on a cliff. Some places along the way were so steep that it was difficult for normal humans to traverse them, much less cars. The blue-faced and sharp-toothed mountain monsters moved quickly while carrying boxes containing different supplies as if they were on flat ground.

Fortunately, the Old Task Force were agile people who had undergone genetic enhancement or modification, allowing them to barely keep up.

After arriving at their destination, Jiang Baimian looked into the distance and saw many mountain monsters of various sizes. However, she didn't discover anyone that looked especially old.

Most of them were simply wrapped in animal hide. Only the children wore clothes that weren't well-tailored, thanks to the smuggling business.

Upon seeing the adults return with boxes, these children eagerly watched. They hoped that their fathers, uncles, mothers, or aunts would take out a sweet and sour plum candy—which they had exchanged for during the transaction—from their pockets and throw it to them.

But their hopes seemed to be dashed today.