Embers Ad Infinitum

"There is a boat." As the team's sniper and a human being who has undergone corresponding genetic modification, Bai Chen's ability to observe distant situations is only inferior to Gnawa's.

Hearing this, Jiang Baimian took off the telescope from his belt and brought it up to his eyes. Shang Jianzhao made the same move as he did the gourd and the gourd.

Soon, the two of them saw clearly the black spot that Bai Chen was pointing to.

It was indeed a ship, a ship made of steel but rather crude.

There are many humans on each boat. Some have their legs intact, but they can only crawl on the deck and spread fishing nets in different directions. Some have pointed heads and are swaying, doing some very simple tasks. Some have extra limbs and are busy maneuvering the ship.

For teams like the "Old Tune Team" who have seen too much and experienced too much on the dust, those human characteristics are so distinct that they can recognize them at a glance.

Deformed person!

This is similar to sub-human beings, which are tragedies caused by various pollutions. What is even worse for the deformed people is that the changes in their bodies are basically useless and different, making it difficult to form a stable group.

They are like the disabled among humans. In the dust where many people starve to death every year, it is difficult to find a place willing to accept them. They can only wait to be eliminated by nature like some creatures in the theory of evolution.

The former "Salvation Army" treated them equally and did not give up on them, but later was limited by food problems and no longer accepted new ones.

Today, except for some heavy radiation areas, such people are actually no longer visible.

"I didn't expect that there are still many deformed people living on this big lake." Jiang Baimian observed and sighed, "They look like they make a living by fishing."

Shang Jianyao held the telescope in one hand and rubbed his chin with the other:

"The question is, where do they get the oil for their ships?"

It is possible that some of these deformed people can read old world books, are self-taught, and have mastered the technology of repairing and maintaining those ships, but humans cannot rub fuel with their hands and are creatures out of nothing.

"There should be many islands in such a big lake. Maybe there are oil depots built on one or more of the islands with huge reserves." Jiang Baimian said casually, "It is also possible that caravans come here regularly to use Fuel for specialty products.”

She put down the telescope, hung it back on her belt, then looked around and said:

"Let's go a little further without disturbing these poor people."

This is on the one hand, and on the other hand, the fish in this big lake are polluted and severely distorted. Even if the "old tune team" stays, they will not dare to taste "local delicacies" to reduce the consumption of materials.

Long Yuehong and others had no objection.

The Jeep of the "Old Tuning Team" drove north for nearly an hour along the uneven road near the lake, and accidentally discovered a resting place with a gas station next to a certain old-world wide road.

The house at this resting point is quite well repaired, and there are even lights shining through the windows, dispelling the slight darkness in the evening.

In the old world, similar resting spots must have a large parking lot, and this place is no exception. Now there are five or six cars sparsely filling the empty area.

"Why does it feel like returning to the hinterland of the Salvation Army?" Long Yuehong, who was taking turns driving, said with slight surprise.

Jiang Baimian, who had always been considerate of her team members, had now sat in the back row. She looked at the scene outside the window and said:

"It's even a bit like some of the scenes shown in old world entertainment materials."

After driving on the highway for a long time, I finally came across a resting place with a gas station, a parking lot, a rest area, and a variety of food and merchandise for sale...

Bai Chen pointed to the other side of the co-pilot:

"This place seems to belong to the Salvation Army."

"Really?" Jiang Baimian did not try to cross Gennava and Shang Jianyao to observe the situation on the other side, but waited patiently for Long Yuehong to turn the steering wheel.

Then, she saw four people wearing black Salvation Army uniforms working in pairs, patrolling the entrance to the rest stop and the parking lot area.

These people may be carrying "Red Maple Forest" assault rifles produced by the "Salvation Army", or holding "short neck" submachine guns that are more common on the dust. From the temperament point of view, they do look like soldiers who have received formal military training rather than soldiers who have received formal military training. A gang of bandits running rampant.

"Didn't you say that the Salvation Army has no real control over the ice field?" Long Yuehong said doubtfully.

In other words, the "Salvation Army" only sends people to the ice fields on a large scale every summer to search for supplies and hunt wild animals, and has not established long-term settlements.

Shang Jianyao sneered:

"There are exceptions to everything, just like you have been genetically modified and are only 1.75 meters tall..."

"We'll find out later if we ask." Bai Chen interrupted Shang Jianyao's "singing".

After the "old tune team" parked the jeep, because they were unfamiliar with this resting point, they left Gnawa to guard the vehicle.

Shang Jianyao went straight to a group of soldiers on patrol, preparing to press his hands on his chest and shout "For all mankind", but one of the targets pointed at the connected houses in the rest area with his elbow:

"If you have any questions, go in and ask."

What he meant was not to interfere with his patrol or distract the guards.

"Okay." Shang Jianyao was quite polite when facing the "Salvation Army".

After entering the door of the house, Jiang Baimian and others' eyes lit up.

Amidst the roar of the fuel generator, energy-saving lamps emitted a white light, illuminating the neatly arranged dining tables.

These are tables for four, but some are pushed together, with seven or eight people sitting around them.

There is a counter near the entrance of the hall, and behind it stands a short but wide man with an ordinary appearance.

He was also wearing the black uniform of the "Salvation Army" and had a Wubei 7 on his waist.

"Do you want to see the pass?" Shang Jianyao asked familiarly.

The man was stunned for a moment:

"If you have one."

Jiang Baimian immediately handed over the pass issued by Hong Guangming.

The ordinary-looking man reached out to take it and glanced at it casually.

“This pass does not include intelligent robots.

"When corresponding to four people entering the settlement, they are not allowed to bring heavy weapons, high-tech equipment, or crates."

Uh... The man raised his head and looked at Jiang Baimian and others in surprise and solemnity.

He interpreted the two contents attached to the pass from another angle:

The team on the opposite side really has intelligent robots, heavy weapons, and high-tech equipment instead of equipment.

"We didn't bring anything, and we didn't carry a crate." Jiang Baimian smiled.

Compared to the Red River people, her appearance was more in line with the aesthetics of the Gray Earth people. The man was stunned for a moment before saying:

"If you meet the requirements of the pass, you can enter the Bei'an Lake Rest Point."

"Are you really from the Salvation Army?" Long Yuehong asked curiously.

The man nodded, stretched out his right hand, pressed his left chest and said:

"right.

"But it doesn't mean much to you. Aren't we from the Salvation Army? Why don't you rest here tonight and replenish fuel and other supplies?"

"In addition, there is a difference between civilized and uncivilized." Bai Chen simply replied.

Uncivilized means directly grabbing someone.

The man was speechless.

After a few seconds, he smiled and said

"You can try it."

He looked confident.

"Really?" Shang Jianyao was eager to give it a try.

Jiang Baimian took a step diagonally, blocked in front of this guy, and said with a smile:

“We are just confused as to how there is a ‘Salvation Army’ resting point on the ice sheet.

"By the way, what's your name?"

The man muttered:

"Chang Haijiang."

He paused and said:

“Our ‘Salvation Army’ has rebuilt many similar resting points on the ice sheet, mainly for rest and replenishment of our traveling teams.

"You don't think that our Salvation Army sends people to the ice fields only in summer, do you?"

I really think so... Long Yuehong suddenly felt a little embarrassed.

Chang Haijiang pointed to the north:

“The simplest thing is that we have established several ice sheet meteorological observation and research stations, which are manned all year round.

"Climate changes in the ice sheet are indirectly affecting our food harvests in the Salvation Army's north."

Bang bang bang, Shang Jianyao clapped his hands.

Jiang Baimian's heart moved, he took off his tactical backpack, found a photo, and handed it to Chang Haijiang:

"Have you ever met this man?"

The photo is of Ding Ling's husband, Ji Qiang.

Although Ding Ling did not have any extra photos, the "old tune team" had Gnawa, who completed the scan and established the electronic data at that time. After returning to Wubei, they relied on bill exchange to find a special shop to print out the photos.

Chang Haijiang took the photo, looked at it for a while and said:

"Never seen it. What do you do?"

"The scientific researcher is also a member of your Salvation Army. He went to the Icefield two years ago and never returned." Jiang Baimian simply explained, "We were entrusted by his family to come to the Icefield to find him."

"Two years?" Chang Haijiang raised his eyebrows, "Didn't his unit give him a death notice?"

"I'm not sure about this. Maybe the family members are not willing to accept it and don't want to give up." Jiang Baimian opened his mouth.

Chang Haijiang approved this explanation, nodded and said:

"Well, it's the habit of us Gray Earth people to see people when they are alive and their bodies when they die."

He looked at the photo carefully for a while:

"I don't have much impression."

Just when Shang Jianyao sighed, Chang Haijiang changed the subject:

“But two years ago, a group of people with strange behavior passed by.

“They did not enter the resting point, but sent three people in to replenish fuel and supplies, and purchased a batch of cooked food. They seemed to be wary of us, and they didn’t know why.

"We are all members of the Salvation Army, why should we do this?"