Embers Ad Infinitum

Facing Long Yuehong's defense, Jiang Baimian laughed:

"I know, don't I want to give you some confidence?

"This shows that you played an important role in this outdoor training."

Seeing that the team leader was getting darker and darker, Long Yuehong didn't bother to emphasize it any more and just muttered:

"It's better not to use it at all."

"What did you say?" Jiang Baimian tilted his head, as if listening attentively, "Forget it, let's get back to the topic and continue the review."

She then looked around:

"We have discussed and summarized every incident encountered in this outdoor training in detail, and we will not repeat it today.

"What I hope is that you will look at the overall situation and evaluate every choice made before and after the incident to see if there is anything that needs to be reviewed."

Bai Chen listened quietly and recalled:

"I don't think there is any problem. Every decision you make is the best choice under the circumstances. It's just that if you encounter too many accidents, it will appear dangerous."

"Yes, yes, whether it was the gangsters carrying exoskeleton devices, the mechanical monks purifying the law, or the black rat massacre incident, you tried your best to let everyone survive and lead us away from the dangerous whirlpool. "Long Yuehong agreed.

Shang Jianyao nodded:

"The main thing is that my life is bad."

"..." If she hadn't known that Shang Jianyao was like this, Long Yuehong would have thought that he was targeting her.

Jiang Baimian glanced at him and said seriously:

"If you don't like the joke, just tell him that he won't have any friends."

"Actually, I'm actually used to it." Long Yuehong responded subconsciously.

Jiang Baimian spread his hands and teased:

"What else can I say?"

She smoothed her hair on her temples and her expression became serious:

"Although you are all praising me and making me happy, I still have to say that if you do it right from the beginning, a lot of things can be avoided.

"Think about it, how long can Jingfa stay at the ruins of the steel factory? How long can Qiao Chu wait at the Broken Bridge?

"As long as we stagger it by a few hours, there is a high probability that we will not encounter them.

"If we had directly opened fire when we encountered that group of robbers, annihilating them and giving them no chance to wear the exoskeleton device, then our Jeep would not have been damaged, and if the Jeep had not been damaged, we would not have Taking a detour to Shuiwei Town, we would probably arrive at the ruins of the steel plant in the evening of that day and leave the next morning. At that time, the mechanical monk Jingfa would not have come to look for the destined person yet.

"Similarly, I will definitely not meet Wu Shoushi and the others in the future. Once I have the information on the newly discovered city ruins, maybe they have all crossed the river. I can choose another wilderness wanderer settlement to send the information, and I will not be confused by Qiao Chu's Block'."

Seeing Bai Chen and Long Yuehong showing thoughtful expressions, Jiang Baimian asked in a deep voice:

"If it were you who made the decision, when you encountered a similar team again, would you choose to intimidate each other and disengage without conflict, or would you choose to attack directly and eliminate hidden dangers?"

Shang Jianyao immediately replied:

"Team leader, I think you have some misunderstanding about my lofty ideals.

"Do I look like someone who would attack innocent people? It's difficult to judge whether a group of people is guilty or not after a brief encounter."

Jiang Baimian was stunned for a moment, then he laughed and said:

"You look like that!

"Who would want to shoot someone at that time because the other party made noise to their ears?"

"I am aware of their hostility." Shang Jianyao replied seriously, "Besides, I also know that you will not agree."

"Okay." Jiang Baimian turned his head and looked at Long Yuehong and Bai Chen, "What about you? What decision will you make?"

Long Yuehong hissed:

“Nor would I directly order an attack.

"What's the difference between that and those robbers?"

Bai Chen thought about it and said:

“There is a difference between man and beast.

"Unless I was out of food, dying, and had to grab some."

Jiang Baimian looked around again with a serious expression, and the corners of his mouth gradually turned up:

"Congratulations, you passed the first psychological test."

Seeing that Long Yuehong was a little stunned, Jiang Baimian smiled and explained:

“I still hope that my team members have basic morals and principles of conduct.

"Although this cannot be used to measure behavior in desperate situations, at least most of the time, I can safely leave my back to such companions."

Shang Jianyao said "hmm":

“True companionship is what you can dance the Gold Coast Swing Hula with.”

Jiang Baimian was too lazy to respond to this guy and continued to review.

Near the end, she thought for a while and said:

“I have never analyzed the issue of the city’s ruins before, but I am free today and can discuss it specifically.

"What do you think is the relationship between Taoist Jia Luolan's words, 'There is a breath left by Zhi Sui' and the various anomalies in the ruins of the city?"

During this period, Bai Chen occasionally thought about this issue and was the first to put forward his own guess:

"Could it be that some taboo research involving the realm of the gods was being conducted in the laboratory in that city, which offended Zhuang Sheng, who represents the whole year, and therefore he imposed divine punishment?

“Maybe this will also be the beginning of the destruction of the old world.

"And precisely because this city was the origin of destruction, and no one survived in the surrounding villages and towns, the ruins were completely forgotten until they were discovered recently."

She connected the widely circulated theory of "the old world will be destroyed by the old age" with this discovery.

"It's possible, I can only say it's possible." Jiang Baimian did not directly deny it.

Shang Jianyao then asked:

"Then why didn't Zhuang Sheng wipe out the roaring creatures in the laboratory? Why did he let so many 'higher mindless' and aberrant creatures exist in the ruins of the city?

"Isn't this divine punishment too incomplete?"

He paused and said:

"If this is really the case, I feel ashamed for Zhuang Sheng."

Bai Chen was speechless and found it difficult to answer.

If she could answer these doubts, she wouldn't call them just guesses.

"If Zhuang Sheng knew that someone like you was so concerned about his face, he would definitely feel embarrassed." Jiang Baimian joked, "Personally, I like bolder guesses. "

She immediately looked around, lowered her body slightly, and said in a lowered voice:

"Could it be that the taboo research in that laboratory gave birth to the Executives?

"Human beings in the old world tried to create gods, but were destroyed by the gods they created?"

Such speculation, such a low echoing voice, made Long Yuehong's forehead twitch slightly, with inexplicable fear, and a feeling of blasphemy arose spontaneously.

Did the human laboratory create Zhi Sui?

And they destroyed humanity in turn?

"Then why did the executives leave behind the roaring creature in the laboratory? Because that was their younger brother?" Shang Jianyao asked again, "Also, why didn't they destroy the laboratory and hide themselves? The secret of birth? What was the idea of ​​the Eighth Research Institute behind Qiao Chu to send people to find the ruins of the city and blow up the laboratory? "

"I said it was just a guess!" Jiang Baimian glared at Shang Jianyao, "Besides, we can't be sure now that Qiao Chu's mission is to blow up that laboratory. What if he is just looking for information? You know, what happened There are many reasons for the explosion, such as a self-destruct device."

Speaking of this, Jiang Baimian softened his "evil" expression:

“One thing that can be initially confirmed is that without Qiao Chu, the ruins of the city would have been difficult to discover for a long time.

"Ah, I wish I could find the Eighth Research Institute sometime. They must have a lot of secrets of the old world!"

After discussing for a while, Jiang Baimian glanced at the watch on his wrist:

"That's almost it. Let me talk about my future arrangements:

“You get two days off and then everything goes back to normal.

"But, the various trainings every day will be reduced by half. The morning time must be reserved for studying materials, sorting out clues, and preparing for the official start of the investigation.

"We will have to wait until the spring of next year to head to the first scheduled investigation point or the area where the investigation target is located.

"Before this, I will also organize a winter wilderness survival training, but it will be near the company and not far away to avoid trouble."

When Jiang Baimian mentioned the word "trouble", he actually had lingering fears.

"Actually, the city ruins are a very suitable investigation point." Bai Chen said while nodding.

Jiang Baimian said "hmm":

“It depends on whether the company has found any valuable clues there in recent months.

"I'm pessimistic."

Because the most important laboratory was completely blown up.

Mentioning this matter, Long Yuehong asked curiously or worriedly:

"Team leader, after the company intervenes, what will happen to the 'high-level careless' in the ruins of the city?"

"What else can we do? Either migrate, be killed, or become an experimental subject." Jiang Baimian said seriously, "On the dusty soil, unnecessary mercy has no value."

Long Yuehong was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly said:

"But they will definitely bring a lot of casualties to the company... Those are our colleagues, maybe we know each other..."

Jiang Baimian was silent for a while, then said with a not-too-smiling smile:

"This is dust."

While speaking, she stood up and patted Shang Jianyao on the shoulder:

"That's why we're looking for new worlds."

"So we need to save all mankind." Shang Jianyao said very cooperatively.

Jiang Baimian took the opportunity to finish, pointed outside and said:

"It's almost dinner. I'm treating you today to celebrate the successful completion of our first mission."

Long Yuehong, Shang Jianyao, and Bai Chen stood up at the same time.

"To be honest, I've missed the company's canteen for a long time." Long Yuehong sighed sincerely.

Although he tasted a lot of wild animal meat this time, the meat was either very bad or had a not very good taste. Without enough seasoning and cooking techniques, it could only be said to be barely enough to fill his stomach and experience. Not to mention very good.

"Me too." Jiang Baimian responded calmly.

Shang Jianyao raised his hand and wiped the corners of his mouth.