Embers Ad Infinitum

Jiang Baimian, like most people in the noodle shop, only looked back at the roadside without leaving his seat.

Not long after, the boss, who was in his fifties and smelled of oily smoke, held a tray and placed four large bowls of spicy noodles in front of Shang Jianyao and others.

In the strong fragrance that seduce gluttons, Jiang Baimian held back his appetite and asked casually:

"The library burned down?"

"Yes." The boss sighed, "But I don't see any smoke over there, so the fire is probably not big."

Jiang Baimian glanced at Shang Jianyao, who had picked up the bowl, lowered his head, and started eating, and asked out of curiosity:

"Have you been on fire a lot lately, or something?"

She didn't care that such a question would make her look like an outsider. The most people in Weed City were outsiders.

"It's not a hot day!" The boss shook his head in denial, "I think it was those crazy people who did it?"

"Crazy?" Jiang Baimian became even more interested.

The boss said "Hey":

"Just after winter, there were suddenly a lot of donkey ball games in the city. I'll put some paper under your door. It says something like, 'The old world was destroyed because of knowledge,' Don't learn anything beyond instinct,' Stay away from books. , don't think, listen, listen, is this human talk? This paper is free of charge?

"These lunatics are really capable of burning down the library!"

"The noble gentlemen don't care?" Jiang Baimian restrained himself and asked while listening to the sound of Shang Jianyao eating noodles.

"I don't even know who it is! How can I control it?" The boss was happy to talk about this topic.

His temples were very gray, his hair was cut very short, and there were some wrinkles at the corners of his eyes.

"That's true." Jiang Baimian lowered his expectations for the security situation in Weedong City.

This is definitely incomparable to what's inside the "Pangu Creature".

Seeing that her boss was quite angry, she asked instead:

"You quite like that library?"

The boss wiped his hands on his white apron:

"Can you not care?

"It's all about children's reading and literacy."

"Weed City doesn't have a school? It shouldn't be." Jiang Baimian didn't hear Bai Chen mention this, so he acquiesced that there was one.

The boss glanced at the door:

"Yes, there are, but on North Street, most people are not allowed in.

"Ordinary families like us can only educate their children at home. Fortunately, my grandfather's generation knew a lot, and my father has received no formal education. I can barely learn most of the words in Hui Tu and most of the words in Honghe. Acknowledge everything.

"Let's teach the children. How can we do it without books? Just rely on yourself. The effect will be, hey, don't mention it. I just hope that my grandchildren will succeed, know more words, read more books, and have the opportunity to work in the municipal building. Don't Like his father, he doesn't like reading books or recognizing words, so he becomes a relic hunter and risks his life!"

At this point, thinking of the fire in the library, the boss cursed bitterly:

"Those melons!"

Listening to the conversation between the team leader and the boss, Long Yuehong suddenly realized how difficult it was for Shuiwei Town to maintain public education.

In the dusty world, education is not a natural right for everyone, and most people cannot even read or write.

Jiang Baimian saw that there was a suspected "arsonist" and it seemed more like a coincidence, so he secretly breathed a sigh of relief and joked:

"Boss, your dialect is quite complicated."

"When my grandfather's generation built Weedong City, people came from all over the world, speaking various dialects, including Honghe dialect. After listening to this, they learned it and started talking. Hey, what do you guys want to eat?" When the boss saw a new customer coming in, he stopped chatting and went to greet them.

Jiang Baimian glanced at Shang Jianyao who was digging the bottom of the bowl, picked up his own noodles, and asked Long Yuehong with a smile:

"How is the taste?"

"It's delicious...but...a little spicy..." Long Yuehong replied vaguely.

When Jiang Baimian was chatting before, he had already mixed the noodles. At this time, when he took a bite, the noodles had absorbed the red oil, were fragrant and spicy, and had the unique sweetness and just the right flavor of starch when chewing. The taste is sour, and your breath is filled with the aroma of onions, oil, and spicy pepper.

"It's just too little." Shang Jianyao put down the bowls and chopsticks and added "Bang" Long Yuehong.

Jiang Baimian never treated his team members poorly. He half-turned around and shouted loudly:

"Boss, one more bowl, no, two bowls."

She felt that her own bowl would not be enough. Although two bowls were a little too much, she could share them with Long Yuehong and Bai Chen.

In this way, they ate until their foreheads sweated.

This is an indescribable enjoyment in the cold winter.

Then, as soon as I checked out, it cost 18 delas.

——The small bowl of fried spicy noodles costs 1.5 drapes, and the large bowl costs 3 drapes. The "old tune group" ate six bowls in total, which was close to two ores in total.

After retrieving two 1 deras notes, Jiang Baimian counted the remaining banknotes with a little distress:

“I can’t help but spend this money!”

They only exchanged 10 ores in total, and they ate almost one-fifth of them in one meal.

This little money can last for two days.

"Let's go, go to the Hunter Guild and get a badge. If you want to stay for a long time, you have to make money to support yourself." Jiang Baimian said to Shang Jianyao, who ate the most.

By this time, they had returned to the street and were once again in pairs.

Shang Jianyao touched his belly and said regretfully:

"The second bowl should be replaced with other noodles, the kind with meat."

"As long as you can make money, you will do it next time." Jiang Baimian didn't dislike this guy who only wanted to eat.

This is because their "Old Tune Team" has taken a long detour and there is not much food left. Therefore, their current priority is to solve the problem of survival.

Of course, if you can contact intelligence personnel, there will most likely be other channels for obtaining supplies.

On the streets of Weeda City in the afternoon, the sunshine is no longer so warm, and the cold wind blows into the clothes of pedestrians.

This resulted in many people not going out unless necessary, and the streets were extremely deserted except for the Weed Grass City patrolmen carrying submachine guns and the ruin hunters in a hurry for food.

After arriving at the central square, Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao turned towards West Street. Within a few steps, they saw the Hunters Guild occupying an entire building.

Under the imitation cornices and brackets, there is a "Hunter's Guild" pieced together with mottled white walls and small light bulbs.

The latter has two languages. You can imagine how bright and eye-catching it will be at night after being powered on.

On the ground floor of the guild, all the rooms have been opened up, leaving only pillars and unknockable walls, forming a very wide hall.

At this time, the row of doors were open for people to enter and exit at will.

On the walls and pillars next to different doors, the same large black characters are written:

"Working hours: 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.

“Remember: Our association staff have the legal right to hold firearms.

"Warning: Please consciously maintain order.

"..."

While Jiang Baimian was browsing these contents, a group of people came out of the Hunter Guild.

Two of them stood out.

One is a robot, the whole is silver-black, with smooth lines and obvious texture. Its eyes are like two light bulbs, flashing red light; the other is a man in his thirties, with an ordinary appearance, sharp eyes, and five long fingers on his right hand. The iron is black, and the corresponding area above the wrist joint is covered by the sleeves and cannot be seen.

"Mechanical arm..." Jiang Baimian knew that he was talking to himself loudly, so he had to hold it in his heart.

The ruin hunters coming and going looked at this group of people with envy.

Bai Chen's eyes were also moving with them.

"There are intelligent robots... they are amazing!" Long Yuehong said sincerely.

Even if it is not a combat-type intelligent robot, it is still a good helper for survival in the wild!

They will not be hungry, not tired, not afraid of poisonous gas, not afraid of ordinary firearms, not afraid of harsh environments, and have super strong load-bearing capacity.

The only problem is how to provide them with energy.

It's a pity that since the destruction of the old world, there are no more than three places that can stably produce intelligent robots. As the "antiques" gradually become broken or destroyed, it is indeed worthy of envy to have such a "companion" group.

In the past few years, many humans have been able to survive various dangers, thanks to the companionship of intelligent robots.

——Even in the old world, intelligent robots have not yet become truly popular.

Jiang Baimian looked at it for a while, then withdrew his gaze and asked Shang Jianyao next to him with a smile:

"If you were given the opportunity to install a robotic arm, what function would you prefer?"

"Open the can." Shang Jianyao replied very seriously.

"...It's really useful." Jiang Baimian gritted his teeth.

While talking, the two of them walked into the hunter's guild hall.

There are fluorescent lamps on the ceiling here, which cast a white light. It seems that there is no need to save electricity at all.

In the hall, there are multiple tables scattered around the round table in the middle. On each table, there is a machine with its own LCD screen.

On the large circular platform, a huge screen hangs above, displaying various tasks in a relatively slow scrolling manner.

At the bottom of the screen, there are windows, each with black electronic instruments.

Looking at it like this, Jiang Baimian felt that the inside and the outside were completely different worlds.

The technological content is vastly different.

She then found an empty window and pulled Shang Jianyao over.

Looking at the clean and refreshing girl behind the window, Jiang Baimian smiled and said:

"Registered Hunter."

"Fill out the form. If you don't know how to write it, I'll fill it out for you." The female staff member handed over two pieces of paper, her attitude not enthusiastic but not arrogant either.

The content of the form was very simple, just regular items such as name, gender, age, etc. Jiang Baimian took the pen at the window and filled it out.

Not to mention, making up a fake name is quite laborious.

In order to prevent Shang Jianyao from having a chance to perform, Jiang Baimian helped him complete the filling.

After submitting the form, they took photos and recorded their fingerprints in front of the black machine at the window.

Soon, they got two "Hunter Badges".

The badge is brass-colored as a whole, with a vague human face, a knife, and a gun on the front, and a chip embedded on the back.

"You are now 'novice hunters'. Work hard to accept the mission, and you will soon become 'official hunters.'" When the staff handed over the badges, they said the same blessings.

Jiang Baimian threw down his badge, smiled and said to Shang Jianyao:

"Let's go and see what the mission is."

Shang Jianyao immediately pinned the badge to his chest, very solemnly.