Embers Ad Infinitum

On the side street, a figure was walking slowly on the roadside.

He is in his forties, almost 1.8 meters tall. He wears a dark black robe, has long black hair, and has a very elegant beard around his mouth. He looks like the man the "old tune team" knows. Du Heng.

But Jiang Baimian, Long Yuehong and Bai Chen were not at all happy to meet their old friends in a foreign land, and even had cold sweats on their vests.

It was too late for them to stop Shang Jianyao.

When Du Heng heard Shang Jianyao's greeting and looked sideways, there was a deathly silence in the jeep.

Seeing Du Heng walking towards this side with a smile, Bai Chen resisted the urge to press the accelerator and let the vehicle run wildly. He stepped on the brakes rationally and stopped by the roadside.

Shang Jianyao opened the door and got out of the car, and greeted him happily.

Jiang Baimian adjusted his facial expression and followed.

"Why did you come to Gerstburg?" Du Heng asked with a smile.

Just as Shang Jianyao was about to answer, Jiang Baimian said first:

"Teacher Du Heng, some things are not convenient to discuss in public. Why don't we go to the hotel where we are staying to have a chat?"

She initially calmed down, holding on to the belief that even if she came here, if she stretched out her head, it would be a sword, and if she retracted her head, it would be a sword, and planned to gather some information.

Du Heng looked around and nodded:

"That's fine."

Although this was Gerstburg and they were talking in Gray dialect, there were so many local ruin hunters that there might be one who was proficient in foreign languages.

In order to punish Shang Jianyao for his impulsiveness, Jiang Baimian asked him to leave his seat to Long Yuehong and let guest Du Heng sit in the passenger seat.

Shang Jianyao can only squeeze into one position with Gnawa, but this cannot trouble them.

Returning to the "Fire and Iron" hotel, he entered the group's suite. After everyone took their seats, Jiang Baimian looked at Du Heng and said:

"Teacher Du Heng, we just went to the ice field to explore Cornimis and came to Gerstburg to replenish supplies."

She observed Du Heng's expression and found that he had no special reaction to Cornynmis and just nodded slightly.

"What about you, what are you doing in Gerstburg?" Shang Jianyao asked impatiently.

Du Heng smiled slightly and said:

"Didn't I hear that the headquarters of the Eighth Research Institute was found? I suddenly remembered something."

It is said that? Who did you hear that from? Teacher Du Heng, you don't belong to any big force... Jiang Baimian didn't say what was in his heart.

"Remember what happened?" Shang Jianyao asked curiously.

Du Heng showed a recalling expression:

"There seems to be something hidden deep in the Eighth Research Institute. It's quite important. I want to take a look."

"There are many powerful people in the headquarters of the Eighth Research Institute. I'm afraid it's not that easy to sneak into." Jiang Baimian said in a concerned tone with tentative thoughts.

Du Heng smiled nonchalantly:

"Analyze the specific situation in detail, and then decide what to do after you get there and see it?

"What if the Eighth Research Institute has been evacuated as a whole and moved to a backup base? Then I can enter their headquarters without any effort.

"If those strong men are still there, I will just wait. Someone will always make trouble for them, and there will naturally be a chance then."

Bang bang bang, Shang Jianyao clapped his hands:

"Very reasonable."

Reasonable as hell? Do you know how big the sensing range of the powerful people in the "New World" is? Do you know what old world creations there are in the Eighth Research Institute? Without anyone knowing, it would be a fantasy to hide around their headquarters... But, Teacher Du Heng may not be able to do it... There are "New World" strong men in Suimo City... Jiang Baimian muttered silently, without interrupting.

The premise of her hypothesis is that this Du Heng is indeed Du Heng, and there really is a group of people in the dust who uniformly "call themselves" Du Heng.

——When there were strong men from the "New World" in the city at the end of the year, Qin Ke, who had become Du Heng, still escaped. In the end, it was "Truth" who personally took action and killed him.

On the other side, Long Yuehong and Bai Chen tried their best to keep quiet, while Gnawa shouldered the heavy responsibility of vigilance.

Regarding Shang Jianyao's praise, Du Heng smiled and said:

"Anyway, I've been living like this for so many years. I've been pursuing certain things, going to certain places, and deciding what to do based on the situation. I haven't encountered any big difficulties."

That's because you are you... Jiang Baimian chose to slander.

"When can I do this..." Shang Jianyao looked envious.

Without waiting for Du Heng to respond, he asked expectantly:

“Can we go with you to the headquarters of the Eighth Institute?

After saying that, he remembered that he had made a decision without authorization, and quickly turned his head to look at Jiang Baimian:

"What do you think?"

Jiang Baimian's heart moved and he did not stop him. He nodded gently and said:

"It depends on whether Teacher Du Heng is willing."

She had never considered going to the headquarters of the Eighth Research Institute before, because it was too dangerous. It was better to leave it to the company and leave it to the "White Knights" and other big forces to deal with it, but if there was someone with mysterious origins and obviously very strong Du Heng went the same way, and exploring the headquarters of the Eighth Research Institute was an option.

Anyway, you can make the final decision based on the specific situation.

Du Heng laughed dumbly:

"What, you are also interested in the Eighth Research Institute?"

"Yes." Shang Jianyao nodded without hesitation.

Du Heng thought about it:

"That's okay. Taking a ride with you will save me a lot of time."

Jiang Baimian said immediately:

"Teacher Du Heng, please allow us to have an internal discussion and discuss the corresponding plan."

"Okay." Du Heng expressed understanding.

Jiang Baimian immediately called Long Yuehong, Bai Chen, Shang Jianyao and Gennava, left the suite and came to the rooftop of the "Fire and Iron" hotel.

"Team leader, didn't we decide to return to the company?" Long Yuehong spoke first.

Jiang Baimian said "hmm":

"But searching the headquarters of the Eighth Research Institute in front of the major forces is a big temptation, and this may allow us to get a lot of crucial information.

"Not to mention what is hidden in the depths of the Eighth Research Institute, their mature awakening process alone is a priceless treasure. You two may be able to take advantage of the opportunity to become awakened."

Now that the mystery of Zhi Sui keeping humans in captivity has been initially solved, Jiang Baimian will definitely not place his hopes on the company's top executives.

Long Yuehong's heart skipped a beat when she heard this.

Considering that he might have to face the die-hards within the company in the future and lead everyone to escape from the underground building, he had an urgent desire to improve his strength.

The same goes for Bai Chen.

"Yes, yes." Shang Jianyao agreed.

Jiang Baimian glanced at the faces of Long Yuehong and Bai Chen, and changed the topic:

“To ensure nothing goes wrong, I plan to split up this time.

"Xiao Bai, Xiao Hong, you two return to the company. Lao Ge and your team will stay in the Black Swamp Wilderness and make contact in the middle. Hey and I will follow Teacher Du Heng to the headquarters of the Eighth Research Institute."

Bai Chen subconsciously opened his mouth to refuse.

Jiang Baimian knew her character and persistence and said first:

"In this way, no matter what Hei and I encountered at the headquarters of the Eighth Research Institute next to Teacher Du Heng, or whether we can come back, there will be at least one person who knows the mystery of keeping humans in captivity, and is always ready to lead everyone to escape from the underground building in the future. Be prepared.

"Xiao Bai, Xiao Hong, my family, my friends, and everyone in the company are all left to you.

"I know this is a heavy burden for you, but I have no choice."

Long Yuehong and Bai Chen felt a suffocating heaviness in their hearts.

After a few seconds, Bai Chen bit his lip and said:

"You convinced me."

Long Yuehong then said:

"Team leader, don't worry, our family members are also in the underground building. We have to shoulder that burden even if we don't want to."

Jiang Baimian nodded happily, and Shang Jianyao clapped his hands.

After a brief silence, Jiang Baimian planned to refine the plan.

At this moment, Bai Chen pursed his lips and said with slightly red eyes:

"You must come back!"

Her voice was slightly shriller than usual, with a bit of a tremor.

"Definitely!" Shang Jianyao said confidently, "We must work together to save the entire company and save all mankind."

Jiang Baimian blinked his eyes, exhaled and said:

"Once I find a way to awaken at the headquarters of the Eighth Research Institute, I will inform Lao Ge via telegram.

"If you haven't returned to the company by that time, you can directly try to awaken. If you have already entered the underground building, be more proactive and apply to Deputy Minister Xiyu to go to the surface for outdoor training on a regular basis. Meet Lao Ge as agreed and go out The reason is very simple, just to be ready to pick me up and feed you at all times."

It is definitely much closer to go to the headquarters of the Eighth Research Institute from Gerstburg than to return to the "Pangaea Biology" underground building from Gerstburg.

But considering the weather in the ice field and the situation at the headquarters of the Eighth Research Institute, Jiang Baimian still made two plans.

"Okay." Bai Chen and Long Yuehong nodded at the same time.

Immediately afterwards, Long Yuehong asked:

"Team leader, what are you going to tell the company?"

If two people come back and two people don't come back, everyone will be suspicious.

"Tell the truth." Jiang Baimian smiled, "Let's just say that we met Teacher Du Heng and had the opportunity to enter the headquarters of the Eighth Research Institute, so we decided to take the risk and try it. Since you are not awakened, the risk factor of participating in this operation is It was too high and I was sent back to the company.”

"The credibility is very high." Shang Jianyao commented.

This is basically the truth, but not the whole truth.

Bai Chen thought for a while and said:

"What if the company sends someone to look through our memories?"