Embers Ad Infinitum

The guards hidden at the entrance of Hongshiji saw the mask and recognized the jeep almost at the same time.

Their bodies stiffened for two seconds, followed the doctrine of vigilance, retracted their weapons, and hid themselves even more secretly, without any thought of saying hello.

Shang Jianyao was not surprised at all. He got into the car again and introduced Gnawa:

"This is a folk custom here. Do you want to wear a mask too?"

Gnawa could not analyze the pros and cons of this matter, so he could only give a vague answer:

"let me consider it."

"He just needs to put on sunglasses." Jiang Baimian provided his own opinion while driving the jeep into Hongshiji, "and he also needs to change his clothes."

Gennava is still wearing the dark green military uniform.

And this belongs to Tarnan's robot guards.

"Is there anyone selling clothes here?" Because Shang Jianyao and the others were all wearing masks, Gnawa didn't feel that changing clothes was discriminating against him.

"You don't need to be so particular. It's enough to take off your coat and just wear the shirt underneath. If you have the opportunity, you can buy a few more sets later." Jiang Baimian said thoughtfully.

As soon as she finished speaking, she suddenly had a strange thought:

Will Gnawa ask if he wants to wear pants?

Fortunately, Gnawa did not doubt this question, moved his metal neck and said:

"good."

As he spoke, he took off his coat.

Well, there is a difference between intelligent robots and ordinary robots. They don't have to ask for everything, and they have to explain everything... Jiang Baimian muttered to himself, found a familiar parking space, and parked the jeep.

After entering the Red Stone Collection, before Gnawa could scan the layout and structure of the place, Shang Jianyao rushed to an advertising box from the old world and knocked on it.

As the sound echoed, the door of the box opened, revealing the town guard members holding submachine guns inside.

His mask was raised to the top of his head, and he looked like a typical gray native.

"You're not cautious enough." Shang Jianyao pointed out.

He looked very familiar to both parties.

The town guard member replied a little aggrievedly:

"If I hide in there and put on the mask, I won't be able to breathe."

"Yes." Shang Jianyao expressed understanding.

He turned to ask:

"Who can I find to get more high-performance batteries?"

The town guard member quietly breathed a sigh of relief:

"Mr. Di Marco's butler Ulrich, who is responsible for energy-related affairs of the Visa Trading Company.

"Also, Ankhbas also has channels, and maybe there is still stock."

The high-performance battery smuggling industry is divided into the energy field, and although Ankhbas "contributed" a batch of arms to Shang Jiyao and the others, he is actually closer to an energy merchant.

——He sells weapons to mountain monsters for the coal business.

"Very good!" Shang Jianyao smiled.

He then raised a new question:

“Who is the current Sheriff and Captain of the Town Guard?”

"Captain Tan Jie Tan." The member of the town guard answered truthfully.

"Oh, him." Shang Jianyao nodded happily, "I just like the way he curses without expression."

This... Long Yuehong suddenly felt that Shang Jianyao's performance today was more exaggerated than before.

He couldn't help but mutter:

"What happened to him today?"

Jiang Baimian touched his ears and said solemnly:

"Maybe now he is a performance-oriented Shang Jianyao."

"Uh..." Long Yuehong was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized.

This is all the fault of the old world drama!

"I feel like he has come home." Gnawa gave his own evaluation.

"They are all his brothers." Jiang Baimian explained in a confused manner.

Bai Chen whispered:

"The effect of old world entertainment material..."

At this time, Shang Jianyao had already changed several topics, such as whether anyone from "Machine Paradise" has come recently.

He finally asked:

"Who is the new bishop?"

The town guard member replied:

"Bishop Antoniola, you look strong."

Jiang Baimian took a few steps forward and asked:

"Did he come alone?"

"No." The member of the town guard shook his head, "There are also the 'Dread Bishop' Saint Sigmund and other clergy. However, they left after going to the island in the middle of the lake, which you have been to. that."

"Did they get anything back? Has there been any change on the island in the middle of the lake?" Jiang Baimian mainly wanted to ask this.

"I don't know." The town guard member thought for a while and said he didn't know. "Anyway, we are prohibited from approaching the island in any form. What is the need to prohibit this? How can we dare to go to the lake when the fishmen are here? Heart?"

Shang Jianyao and Jiang Baimian asked about other things and roughly grasped the current situation of Hongshiji.

Apart from the appointment of a new bishop, the most significant change is that Herwig's widow, Mrs. Teresa, has become a figure with a certain status here.

Lehman, the previous arms dealer, has also left. It is said that his face was ashen when he left.

After the exchange, the "Old Tune Team" went to the Kasha Hotel and booked three rooms with cans, energy bars, and compressed biscuits.

This is much more expensive than the last time they stayed. The hotel owner explained:

"You are bringing the robot with you this time, and you will definitely need to charge it frequently. This is the electricity bill collected in advance."

This sentence hits the soft spot of the "Old Tune Group".

They have lots of high-performance batteries waiting to be recharged!

——Gnawa only has one spare battery to use now, and the military exoskeleton device has never been worn since Long Yuehong took it off last time.

…………

Hotel campsite.

Jiang Baimian distributes electronic cards:

"Shang Jianyao and I will share a room, Xiaobai and Xiaohong will share a room, and Lao Ge will share a room by yourself."

Long Yuehong and others had long been accustomed to this plan and did not express any objection. Only Gennava hesitated and asked:

"Are you two couples?"

"Cough..." Long Yuehong choked on her saliva and coughed.

Jiang Baimian looked at Gennava and smiled:

"Why do you think so?"

"Why do people of the opposite sex share a room if they are not a couple?" Gnawa raised his doubts.

Shang Jianyao smiled.

He patted Gennava on the shoulder:

“Lao Ge, your views are too pedantic.

"There are many combinations among human groups. Those who can be called lovers are not only men and women, but also women and men, men and women, neither men nor women, half men and half women..."

He pulled further and further until Jiang Baimian glared at him.

"Besides." Shang Jianyao changed the subject, "Who in our 'old tune group' will share a room with whom only depends on actual needs. Think about it, who of the two of them can restrain me? I sneaked out in the middle of the night and did it If something bad happens, they may not even notice it.”

Hey, are you quite proud? Jiang Baimian was angry and funny.

Gennava thought for a moment:

"I understand this."

He turned to ask:

"Why do you have to sneak out in the middle of the night and do bad things?"

Shang Jianyao thought for a few seconds and replied solemnly:

"My brain twitched."

Before Gnawa could ask what this meant specifically, Jiang Baimian had already said with a smile:

"Old Ge, it was rude of you to directly ask if they were a couple. Look, you made them both feel uncomfortable."

Obviously, the only one who felt uncomfortable was Long Yuehong. Bai Chen looked calm and didn't take it seriously at all.

Gnawa's slightly synthesized voice revealed a bit of sincerity:

"Actually, I know this is not too polite, but didn't you say it? You don't need to care so much about each other. And I also want to improve the understanding of human society towards you carbon-based people as soon as possible, so as to prepare for my future personal survival. and lay the foundation for solo action.

"This is also what you taught me, see more, ask more, listen more, and experience more."

Jiang Baimian laughed:

"That's true, but you can change it to a more polite way. For example, ask me in private, not in front of them."

"That's right..." Gennava responded in a tone he had learned again.

Next, they each went back to their rooms, rested for a while, and then gathered together to prepare dinner.

Among them, Gnawa's "food" is a high-performance battery that is being charged.

At this moment, they felt there was some commotion on the other side of the hotel camp.

"What happened?" Long Yuehong cast her eyes toward the door in confusion.

Shang Jianyao even put down what he was holding and walked out.

In the setting sun, they saw a group of people gathering in the distance, not knowing what they were doing.

"I'll go take a look." Shang Jianyao informed and moved closer curiously.

Jiang Baimian, Bai Chen, Long Yuehong, and Gnawa looked at each other, closed the door, and walked over there.

After the distance was shortened, they could clearly see the situation on the other side:

There were forty or fifty young men and women over there, their faces relatively clean and their clothes in tatters.

Long Yuehong glanced at it and even saw old cotton shoes with toes drilled out and a down jacket with several big holes.

These men and women ranged in age from fifteen or sixteen to twenty-three or four. There were seven or eight people standing around who were holding guns and looked relatively glamorous.

The man who seemed to be the leader of the gunmen said loudly:

"I know that you all suffered a lot in the past, otherwise you wouldn't have been sold to me as a slave.

"But now, your good days are coming soon!"

The forty or fifty young men and women listened with slightly numb expressions, but they seemed to be looking forward to it.

The slave trader continued:

"Think about it, if I hadn't found a good place for you, would I have let you stay in a hotel? There are abandoned houses everywhere in Hongshiji. Isn't it okay to put you somewhere?

"Haha, in two or three days, you will be able to enter the 'Underground Ark'. Even the lowest slaves there can have enough food, free clothes, and can sleep for at least six hours a day. If you give birth, There are doctors to treat illnesses.

"Although you will always live in the underground castle, you don't have to worry about the plague, you don't have to worry about bandits, the army, and other wanderers, and you don't have to be afraid of being attacked by wild beasts. If you behave well enough, you might even be able to become stewards and be assigned Do things on the ground...

"In short, you must receive good training and strive to become Mr. Dimarco's servants..."

Listening to his story, the faces of the forty or fifty men and women gradually brightened.

There seemed to be some kind of light shining in those black and white eyes.

Their toes popped out of their cotton shoes and their fingers with red and swollen joints moved unconsciously.

At this moment, there was only one sentence echoing in Long Yuehong's mind:

"DiMarco was a very cruel man."