Embers Ad Infinitum

"The Eighth Research Institute..." Jiang Baimian repeated the term in a low voice.

Obviously, she had never heard of such an organization before.

Bai Chen, Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong did the same, looking at Qiao Chu with more admiration.

Mysterious origins combined with powerful strength have always been effective elements that make people obsessed.

Jiang Baimian, who was wearing a helmet, moved his lips and seemed to be organizing his words. He wanted to further inquire about where the Eighth Research Institute was located, what technologies it had inherited, what its relationship was with the old world, and why a special commissioner was sent to this location. The ruins of the city come from the depths of the Everglades.

Before she could speak, Qiao Chu turned around and walked to the right, leaving only a fleeting sentence:

"Take off the exoskeleton and save electricity."

"Okay." Jiang Baimian agreed.

This is what she wants to do.

——Today, all the electricity stored in the solar charging panels was given to the Jeep, and it is now night.

Although they still have a spare high-performance battery, in such a strange old world city, they must try to have as much energy as possible to be prepared.

When Bai Chen helped Jiang Baimian take off the military exoskeleton device, Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong looked at their current place.

The first thing that caught their eyes was an LCD screen, which was at least two times larger than the similar one in the "Activity Center" on the 495th floor. It was hung on the wall in front of the right, and it was extremely eye-catching.

"This is a good thing..." Long Yuehong sighed, eager to try it.

If this company can be recovered, no, moved back to the company, even if it is broken, I don't know how many contribution points can be exchanged for it.

Although these are mostly items that need to be turned in, the company will also give certain rewards at its discretion.

Qiao Chu walked to the window on the far right, glanced at Long Yuehong and said:

"In the buildings you just saw, there is such a monitor behind most of the glass windows."

Long Yuehong recalled the tall buildings she had witnessed before and blurted out:

"so much?"

He then asked Qiao Chu with some confusion:

"Why did you suddenly say this?"

Shang Jianyao, who was next to him, interrupted with a smile:

"It means that when picking up garbage, you should also pick out more valuable ones!"

"This is a 'rich mine'." Bai Chen added using a commonly used term among wilderness wanderers.

"Rich Mine" means that the area is rich in various resources, and you won't have to worry about running out of things to pick up within a certain period of time.

In this case, because the items you can carry each time are limited, you have to choose carefully to live up to your exploration.

It's like entering a gold mine. You must put more gold in your bag instead of ordinary rocks.

Long Yuehong thought about it carefully, deeply agreed with Shang Jianyao's words, and continued to look at the things around her:

Under the LCD screen with many stains on the surface, there is a set of long low wooden cabinets. They look gray, and they can barely be recognized as being originally milky white.

On the low wooden cabinet were an emerald green water glass, two palm-sized electronic devices plugged in, and a transparent long-necked bottle.

About one-third of the bottle was filled with dirty water, with some black debris floating above it.

This is consistent with Jiang Baimian’s previous judgment:

If the city had not been "maintained" since the destruction of the old world, then all the water in the bottle should have evaporated - the windows were closed, the houses were dry, and it didn't look like rain had drifted.

Facing the wall where the LCD screen hangs is a coffee table of the same style and color as the short wooden cabinet. On it are placed some dirty water glasses and a pack of tissue paper with a dark outer shell.

There is a trash can full of holes on the left side of the coffee table, with a blue translucent plastic bag inside. On the side of the coffee table near the door, there is a set of dirty-looking ones. I don’t know if they were originally made of snow-blue or dark gray cloth. There is a sofa; between the coffee table and the low wooden cabinet, there is a faded folding low stool. Its surface is pink, and its outline and pattern seem to form a cartoon piggy; to the right of the coffee table is a relatively wide area, where Qiao Chu Just stand there.

Behind Qiao Chu was a row of dusty wooden railings, with several large glass panels standing on the outside of the railings, acting as walls.

Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong had never learned what these windows were called in textbooks, but they had just heard Qiao Chu call them floor-to-ceiling windows, and they thought it was quite vivid.

On both sides of the floor-to-ceiling windows, there is a wash area with a stone platform on one side and several brown-red tile basins stacked on the other side.

The soil in the tile basin was yellowish brown, with some dryness and cracks, and the plants inside seemed to have been wiped out long ago and buried deep, leaving no traces.

In front of Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong was an aisle, and there seemed to be several rooms in it.

There is a small round table to their left, with a tablecloth simply embroidered with a few flowers spread on it. The original white of the tablecloth is almost dark gray.

Surrounding the round table, there are four ordinary armchairs with mottled milky white paint.

One of them had obvious cracks, and the wood inside looked severely rotted.

Opposite the round table, close to the door, there was a semi-open room. Shang Jianyao saw a rice cooker of the same model as his own at a glance.

It also has peeling coating on the outer shell and is stained with rust in many places.

Next to the rice cooker were two metal objects that looked like stoves. On them were two pots, one large and one small. The larger one was iron-black, while the smaller one was pink on the outside and gray on the inside.

In addition to these, Shang Jianyao also saw faucets, metal sinks and various cabinets.

Based on his common sense, he concluded that this must be the kitchen.

"Luxury..." Long Yuehong beside him looked over and sighed with emotion.

Shang Jianyao nodded in agreement and said:

"Yes, yes."

In their understanding, only senior employees can be assigned rooms with kitchens, and for rooms with such a large kitchen, they may have to go to the management residence in the "living area".

While speaking, Shang Jianyao raised his feet and quietly stepped back step by step.

Qiao Chu glanced over.

At this time, Shang Jianyao had retreated to the door and looked up.

"605..." He read out the house number.

"What are you doing?" Long Yuehong asked in surprise.

"There are five rooms on each floor, and each unit has a total of twenty or thirty floors. Each building has several units..." Shang Jianyao said to himself, "There are hundreds of rooms as big as this. "

Qiao Chu obviously didn't catch the focus of Shang Jianyao's thinking, and said calmly:

"Come in and close the door."

After Shang Jianyao closed the door gently, Long Yuehong came back to his senses:

"There are seven or eight buildings here, and there are more buildings around...

"Is this the old world?"

Shang Jianyao ignored him, squatted down, and opened the wooden cabinet on the right side of the entrance.

The stale smell instantly wafted out, and rows of various shoes were quietly placed inside the wooden cabinet.

"Close it!" Qiao Chu pinched his nose and said.

Shang Jianyao didn't take a closer look and slammed the cabinet door shut.

Long Yuehong sighed again:

"luxury!"

What kind of family is this? They have so many shoes!

At this time, the setting sun has sunk below the horizon, and the sky is like a gray metal, reflecting a little light.

Shang Jianyao and others looked through the floor-to-ceiling windows and saw that the entire city had become darker, and the high-rise buildings were like isolated islands, being swallowed by the increasingly fierce dark "tide".

Their hearts seemed to be sinking along with it,

Suddenly, there was some commotion in the neighborhood not far away, and there was a "bang" sound.

Jiang Baimian and others looked at each other and made a judgment at the same time:

This is the sound of gunfire!

Someone just shot!

Before they could speak, a hoarse roar sounded around the area.

The roar quickly "spread" and responses came from all directions, one after another.

"Roar!"

"Woo!"

Such movements continued continuously, and they were all approaching the neighborhood where gunshots were heard.

The city that was completely dead just now suddenly became lively.

After a minute or two passed, the roaring subsided, and the whole city fell into extreme silence again.

Jiang Baimian, who had already taken off the military exoskeleton device, frowned slightly, thought for a few seconds and said:

"Careless person?"

As far as she knows, there are "careless people" lingering in many urban ruins. The specific number depends on how many local ecosystems and remaining materials can support them.

Qiao Chu still carried the silver rifle on his back, facing the floor-to-ceiling window, staring at the dead city outside and said:

"right."

"The ruins hunter who entered the ruins from another way was attacked by a 'careless person' and fired a shot, causing a chain reaction?" Jiang Baimian tried his best to restore what happened just now.

This time, Qiao Chu ignored her and stood there quietly, not knowing what he was looking at.

Shang Jianyao turned to say:

"Could the roar we heard in the wilderness come from them?"

"Impossible, how could a sound of this level spread so far?" Jiang Baimian responded thoughtfully, "However, what we heard was probably the roar of the 'unintentional people' in the area at that time. , they were responding to the first and most exaggerated roar, and looking at the direction, the roar that resounded through the wilderness really might have come from here..."

"Judging from the power of the roar and the response it can inspire from the 'unintentional ones', I'm afraid that monster is dangerous, very dangerous!" Long Yuehong joined the discussion, becoming more and more nervous as he spoke.

After hearing these words, Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao and Bai Chen's expressions suddenly changed, as if they remembered their original decision not to approach the dangerous area.

This is completely contradictory to their current status.

Jiang Baimian's eyes moved slightly, his expression gradually became heavy, and he subconsciously looked at Qiao Chu.

At this time, Qiao Chu turned around, smiled slightly and said:

“Now that we are here, we can only protect ourselves first.

"At the same time, think about what is the most precious thing that you want to protect the most."

His golden eyes briefly lost focus, like a deep lake reflecting the sun.

Jiang Baimian pursed his lips and his eyes became gentle again:

"I see."

Shang Jianyao and others then returned to the state before the discussion.

Qiao Chu withdrew his gaze, looked around and said:

"Eat dinner first, then take turns to rest and wait for the early morning."

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