Embers Ad Infinitum

Got a clue so soon? Long Yuehong was startled.

To be honest, he always felt that unless he was lucky, it would be protracted.

As one of the most wanted targets in the "First City", he believed that he still had certain qualifications to speak in this regard.

It is true that on the dusty soil, the "Old Tune Team" is definitely among the best in terms of experience, ability, and caution. However, their ability to jump in and out of the city at the beginning also benefited from the corresponding training. Factors such as the lack of population management means, the chronology of various technologies, insufficient resource investment, and problems with information exchange.

But now, in the morning, I heard that there were two traitors in the "Salvation Army" who stole military supplies. In the afternoon, there were clues. The effect was astonishing.

In a flash of thought, Long Yuehong thought of the various rumors about the "Salvation Army" that she had found out before, as well as the situation that Ding Ling had unconsciously revealed in her few words just now, and felt that this was somewhat reasonable:

The "Salvation Army" has very strong control over all personnel. Outsiders need to be reviewed and obtain passes. Internally, the existence of bandits and wilderness wanderers is basically eliminated. Even relic hunters must be approved.

Under such an environment, unless the two traitors did not come into contact with various settlements or relic hunters who acted as black market traders, and were self-sufficient in the wilderness and mountains, they would be at great risk of exposure.

Even if they have special awakening abilities, they can escape for a while, not for long. At most, the discovery of clues will be delayed for a day or two.

Of course, long-term effects like the "reasoning clown" are another matter. However, judging from the degree of control of the "Salvation Army", how to avoid the influence of corresponding abilities during the investigation and ask the real situation may have been printed in a manual. , distributed to frontline personnel.

This is completely different from the "prime city" concealing many abilities from the lower-level security officers in order to improve the stability of its own rule.

What Long Yuehong could think of, Jiang Baimian could naturally think of.

She looked up at the ruins hunters who stood up in a hurry and prepared to follow the clues to chase the wanted criminals. She then returned her gaze to Ding Ling and her subordinates and said with a smile:

"I'm thinking about what to eat at night. Is there any special food here?"

"Concerned about dinner so early?" Ding Ling was slightly surprised.

Shang Jianyao helped explain:

"Eating is a major event in life. We have to think three times every day: what to eat for breakfast, what to eat for lunch, and what to eat for dinner."

He learned this from the entertainment materials of the old world. It is equally suitable in today's ashes. He only needs to change one word:

What's for breakfast, what's for lunch, what's for dinner.

Jiang Baimian glanced at this guy and said helplessly:

“I’m half a folklorist, and I like to get in touch with the customs of different places, including various special foods.”

"That's right." Ding Ling nodded first, then smiled, "I thought you were deliberately changing the subject. You didn't want to show your concern about the mole incident and were afraid of arousing our suspicion."

Is not it? Long Yuehong muttered.

Jiang Baimian's long-term performance made him feel that there was nothing wrong with Ding Ling's speculation.

"With this intention, you have to know how to avoid suspicion when you first come here." Jiang Baimian admitted frankly.

Bang bang bang, dang dang dang, Shang Jianyao and Gennava applauded at the same time.

Shang Jianyao immediately turned his head and said to Gnawa:

"You can no longer hide how human you are!"

"I feel like I understand a little more about the ways of the world." Gennava answered honestly.

The conversation between the two made Bai Chen want to turn his head and look aside, pretending not to recognize them, but Ding Ling and her subordinates didn't care much. After all, Wubei is one of the core cities of the "Salvation Army" and there is no shortage of robots. They have seen them before. The kind that can be used for cross talk with a human partner.

Crosstalk is an art form of the old world and has been preserved in some places where the Gray Earth people dominate. The Salvation Army and Pangu Creatures are among this group.

"Very good." Ding Ling praised Jiang Baimian's idea, "In the past, many foreign relic hunters did not understand this truth, so we sent them out of the country as gifts, or were sent to court and sentenced to hard labor."

Is this an implicit warning? Long Yuehong is always rich in ideas.

Without waiting for Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao to respond, Ding Ling smiled and said:

"I enjoyed your canned food at noon, and I'll treat you to a meal with more Wubei characteristics in the evening."

"Okay, okay!" Shang Jianyao was not polite at all.

When the sun set, Ding Ling bought a pile of firewood from the settlement, borrowed an iron pot, an aluminum basin, and a spoon, and started preparing dinner.

She first poured a lot of flour into the aluminum basin, then put in water, sugar and other things, stirred them into a paste, then heated the pot, took a small piece of lard and wiped the edge of the pot back and forth.

After making these preparations, Ding Ling used a metal spoon to scoop up the white paste in the aluminum basin and poured it on the inner edge of the iron pot.

With a sizzling sound, each spoonful of white paste was spread into a thin pancake.

Ding Ling skillfully controlled the heat and turned the pancakes over after a certain amount of time.

The sweet and attractive smell gradually spread, causing Shang Jian Yaogulu to swallow his saliva.

After both sides were cooked, a male Salvation Army member waiting nearby picked up the pancakes one by one and placed them in each lunch box.

Round after round passed, and everyone got six or seven pieces of cake.

Jiang Baimian resisted eating and signaled to the team members, especially Shang Jianyao, not to rush, after all, Ding Ling was still busy.

After the last round of baking, there was still some batter left in the aluminum pot. Ding Ling added a lot of water, stirred it, and poured it all into the pot.

Not long after, a fragrant pot of shabu-shabu soup was ready.

After everyone received half of the lunch box soup, Ding Ling took out a few more canned meats and boiled them into the pot.

"If we who do physical work eat cakes but not meat, we will never be full." She smiled and said to Jiang Baimian and others, "Eat, everyone."

Shang Jianyao couldn't wait to pick up a piece of pancake and stuff it into his mouth.

Long Yuehong followed closely behind.

When he took a bite, he felt that the cake was soft, glutinous and elastic. When he chewed it carefully, he could smell the aroma of flour and the sweetness of sugar. He couldn't stop eating it.

After devouring a piece of cake, Long Yuehong took a sip of shabu-shabu soup.

He felt that it was not greasy at all, just like clear water with the aroma of wheat and a little sweetness.

"Not bad, what is this called?" Jiang Baimian raised his head and asked.

Ding Ling smiled and said:

"Wubei calls this a pot stall."

"Your skills are really good!" Shang Jianyao praised.

The twenty-four or five-year-old woman under Ding Ling nodded in agreement:

"Yes, Captain D often cooks himself and improves our food."

"Learn from others!" Shang Jianyao turned his head and said to Jiang Baimian.

Jiang Baimian raised his left hand expressionlessly to stop the subsequent noise.

After eating and drinking, the "old tune team" rushed to clean up. The main force was Shang Jianyao, who was appointed by Jiang Baimian.

At this moment, Bai Chen discovered that the ruin hunters who had followed clues to find the two traitors had returned to this settlement one after another.

Ding Ling walked over and asked someone at random:

"Anything gained?"

The ruins hunter glanced at the black uniform and corresponding epaulettes on her body, and replied with a hint of fear:

"Yes, we found the two traitors and killed one. The other saw that he couldn't run away and committed suicide by swallowing a gun."

Although the relic hunters who belong to the "Salvation Army" always laugh at the regular army's old-fashioned and conservative nature, they still dare not make a mistake when they encounter it, unless their family has a better background.

"All dead?" Ding Ling frowned slightly, "What were found on them?"

The ruins hunter replied:

"No so-called important military supplies were found, only some cans, biscuits, energy bars, bullets, and lighters."

Seeing that Ding Ling's expression was still serious, he added:

"Most of these are produced in Wubei. They may have been to Wubei and got some supplies from the black market."

"Then someone has to take responsibility!" Ding Ling muttered.

Those important military supplies seem to have been taken away... If they can't be found later, there will probably be a chain reaction... Since his hearing recovered, Jiang Baimian has been able to complete the task of secretly observing.

There was no talking all night, and at seven o'clock in the morning the next day, the "old tune team" followed Ding Ling's mountain bike and continued to drive to Wubei.

After nearly nine hours, at about four o'clock in the afternoon, they finally arrived at this renovated city located on the banks of the Moon Scale River and backed by a nuclear power plant.

The overall appearance of this city is very close to that of the old world, except that there are not so many high-rise buildings, and the colors and shapes of the buildings are relatively monotonous.

With Ding Ling around, Jiang Baimian and others passed the inspections at several intersections smoothly and entered the city.

Suddenly, Shang Jianyao pointed out the window and said "Ah ah ah" with excitement on his face.

What the hell? Jiang Baimian followed and saw two strangely dressed people passing by in the side alley.

They were dressed in ordinary clothes and were all dusty. The strange thing was that they all wore aluminum pots for boiling water and stew on their heads, which made people wonder how they could see the road ahead.

The two people quickly disappeared at the end of the alley, and Shang Jianyao seemed eager to catch up and have a conversation.

When Ding Ling parked the green mountain bike in front of a rather impressive ten-story building, Shang Jianyao quickly got off the car and went over, asking about the background of those citizens just now.

Ding Ling frowned:

"Those are a bunch of psychos!"