Embers Ad Infinitum

"This is this?" Beside the milky white speedboat, Jiang Baimian saw the town guard members following Han Wanghuo pushing four bicycles over.

Han Wanghuo looked at the lake stained with golden sunshine, took a breath of the biting and cold winter wind, and said with a smile:

"When we get to the island, it's still a long way to the temple. It's not a wise thing to waste time on the road.

"We, the town guards, have put together some ideas and plan to lend you a few more bicycles for transportation."

Obviously, a small and crude speedboat cannot carry a car.

Shang Jianyao was deeply moved by what he heard, and seemed ready to call out "brother" at any time. Jiang Baimian got there before him, pinched the mask on his face, and joked with a smile:

"You are rarely so generous."

Han Wanghuo said frankly:

“We also hope to figure out the matter of the sleeping ‘god’ as soon as possible, otherwise, if an awakened one as powerful as that day appears among the fish-men from time to time, we will be in trouble.

"At that time, the only hope can only be placed in 'Yougu' really protecting Hongshiji, and the vigilant sect is willing to send a fear bishop over."

Jiang Baimian expressed his understanding of their vigilance against hidden dangers:

"Too."

Han Wanghuo then pointed to the four bicycle lanes:

"These are all newly produced by United Industries and have not been used for a year.

"Look, they all have back seats, imitating the early style of the old world. Haha, I have always been surprised that old world bicycles can no longer carry people. Isn't this a waste? They are not very practical at all."

Jiang Baimian had not studied this issue, so he could not agree casually. He could only think about it and said:

"Since there are back seats, two is enough, otherwise the speedboat will be very crowded."

Han Wanghuo had no objection to this and added another sentence while chatting:

"Before, a smuggler from United Industries sold us something called an electric balance car. It was very compact and easy to carry. However, he didn't even look at the road conditions in the ruins, and people would fly out if he wasn't careful. .

"The fishman prisoner said that the roads on the island are well preserved and should be suitable for electric balance cars. Unfortunately, we didn't buy them at the time."

Jiang Baimian smiled and suddenly said:

"Team Han, you seem to be talking more than before?"

Han Wanghuo was startled for a moment, then laughed self-deprecatingly:

"Maybe it's because you have shown great strength and I kind of want to please you."

After chatting for a few more words, Shang Jianyao and Bai Chen each pushed a bicycle onto the speedboat, while Long Yuehong laboriously carried the crate containing the exoskeleton device.

——In order to save power, he didn’t put it on now.

Jiang Baimian was the last one to jump on the speedboat and waved to Han Wanghuo and others amidst the sound of the engine.

Ten seconds later, the milky-white yacht sailed into the raging lake with no end in sight, dragging a long trace on the water covered with golden scales.

The wind on the lake was obviously colder, causing Long Yuehong to shrink.

He looked around and saw that there was only a line left on the shore, and various islands were lurking in the depths of the lake like monsters.

"Team leader, why don't we come at night? It's broad daylight and it's still afternoon. Wouldn't it be too conspicuous? It would be easy for the fishmen to discover..." Long Yuehong asked without understanding.

Similar actions in his imagination were all done at dark and windy nights.

Jiang Baimian laughed, looked at Shang Jianyao who was squatting on the edge of the speedboat, trying to catch a fish and said:

"Explain it to Xiaohong."

She paused and added another word:

"Hello."

Shang Jianyao turned around and asked Long Yuehong a question with his arrogant monkey mask on his face:

"Do you know the way?"

"What way?" Long Yuehong didn't react at all.

"The way to the island in the middle of the lake." Bai Chen reminded.

"I don't know." Long Yuehong replied subconsciously, and then suddenly realized, "At night, we can't find the island at all?"

While Jiang Baimian observed the "landmarks" given by Han Wanghuo to determine whether the route was wrong, he nodded and said:

"right.

“During the day, we can also use maps, descriptions and comparisons with the surrounding environment to follow a predetermined route to the island.

"At night, let alone us, Han Wanghuo and the others will not be able to find Bei."

The lake area is a place where the fishmen have the absolute upper hand, and the townspeople of Hongshiji have not set foot in it deeply.

And this speedboat is very simple and has no so-called intelligent navigation.

"Besides, if you are a fishman, when are you most vigilant?" Jiang Baimian continued, "It must be late at night. I am worried that people from Hongshiji will take advantage of the cover of night to attack secretly, so they will be more relaxed during the day. Nu Lake is so Big, as long as we don’t approach the main areas where fishmen are active, there should be no danger when approaching that island.”

Long Yuehong listened carefully and summed up:

"Analyze each situation on a case-by-case basis."

After a long circle to the west, the speedboat gradually entered Nu Lake.

As time goes by, the sunlight is no longer so clear.

After an unknown amount of time, Shang Jianyao and the others saw a very large island.

There is a mountain peak standing in the center of the island, like a boundary monument.

"Almost there." Jiang Baimian compared the description of the characteristics of the island in the middle of the lake given by Hong Shiji and determined that the target was close at hand.

Bai Chen slightly adjusted the course of the speedboat to ensure that there was no deviation at all.

The wind from the lake roared, making their hair fly and their clothes shake.

Finally, they approached the island and found a somewhat dilapidated pier. Not far from the pier, a small river flowed.

At this moment, Shang Jianyao stood up, bent his back, and looked to the water on the left with excitement.

He immediately said:

"Human consciousness, three."

"It seems to be a fish man." Jiang Baimian had already noticed it, but he couldn't tell whether it was a large fish for a while.

"What should we do?" Long Yuehong felt nervous at first, and then made a suggestion, "Hurry up and get to the shore as soon as possible?"

As long as he doesn't conflict with fish-men on the water, he has nothing to fear.

"They came here very quickly." Jiang Baimian said calmly, "It seems that the fish people have not completely given up on the island, and they will send people over from time to time to check the situation."

At this time, Shang Jianyao assumed a forward posture of jumping into the water.

While controlling the speedboat, Bai Chen pulled out a "United 202" and tried to shoot into the water. However, with the lake shaking, she couldn't find the fishman at all.

Long Yuehong was the same, and even had a strange idea:

"I wonder how waterproof the exoskeleton device is..."

Jiang Baimian reported the fish-men’s movements:

"They dived a little deep and looked like they wanted to cause damage to the bottom of our boat."

She stepped off the wooden deck and said to Shang Jianyao, Long Yuehong and Bai Chen:

"Get off the side of the ship and don't touch anything but the planks.

"There's no need to go into the water and fight with the fishmen. It's not cost-effective."

Shang Jianyao sighed and retracted his body.

When several members of the "old tune team" had their feet on the wooden board, Jiang Baimian squatted down and pressed his left hand toward the lake.

The next second, the light suddenly brightened beside the boat, as if we were back at noon when the sun was at its brightest.

Countless silver-white electric snakes exploded and scurried down the lake.

This lasted for more than ten seconds, and several fish turned their bellies and floated up.

Further out, the three fishmen also approached the water and swam wildly away.

Their bodies were twitching uncontrollably, their eyes were extremely blank, and they didn't know what was going on.

Jiang Baimian stopped when he saw good news and stopped releasing high-voltage current.

She still had to leave some time to explore the temple.

Taking advantage of the opportunity when the fish man was far away, Bai Chen drove the speedboat to the dock and tied it to a pile.

Jiang Baimian jumped off the speedboat, looked around, and was about to speak when he saw Shang Jianyao jump out, rush to the nearby river, and hold up a metal sign with peeling paint and rust.

There are six characters written in Gray dialect on this card:

"No electric fish allowed here!"

Jiang Baimian was stunned for a moment.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Long Yuehong and Bai Chen, who had taken off their masks, pursed their lips tightly and their bodies were shaking slightly, as if they were having a hard time holding back their laughter. As for Shang Jianyao, he was wearing a mask and could not tell whether he was smiling or not. laugh.

"The fishman is not a fish!" Jiang Baimian defended himself.

As soon as she finished speaking, she also laughed, and the dock was filled with happy air.

This is a wonderful coincidence.

After Bai Chen moved the two bicycles to the dock, and Long Yuehong put on the exoskeleton device with the help of Shang Jianyao, Jiang Baimian put away his smile and gave serious instructions:

"Xiao Bai, Xiao Hong, you stay here, firstly to prevent the fishmen from coming back and destroying the speedboat, and secondly to serve as a reserve team.

"I don't know what's going on in the temple. What if we go in together and the group is wiped out? If you stay here, what's going to happen? Can we still expect rescue and response? Well, pay attention to my flares. Also, if we time out , you come and look for it immediately.

"If you finally find that something cannot be done, go back and notify the company."

This is a normal division of labor for a team, and retaining support manpower is also one of the effective measures in similar explorations. Bai Chen has no objection.

Long Yuehong would naturally not object.

Jiang Baimian immediately put on the "Tyrant" grenade gun and "Berserker" assault rifle, helped the bicycle, turned over and sat on it.

Then, she subconsciously turned her head and glanced at Shang Jianyao, realizing that this guy was already ready.

The only problem is that Shang Jianyao, who is wearing gray camouflage, black leather boots, carrying an assault rifle, and wearing "Ice Moss" and "United 202" on his waist, doesn't quite match the behavior of "riding a bicycle". Inexplicably funny.

Thinking that he was like this, Jiang Baimian felt funny and couldn't help but say:

"We are armed to the teeth and ready to explore the unknown, but we are going there by bicycle... This feels weird."

Shang Jianyao thought for a while and replied to her:

"At least not driving a tractor."

"...Same." Jiang Baimian imagined the scene and decided to accept the current conditions.

Then, the two of them hummed and pedaled, fully armed and riding their bicycles in the direction of the temple.