Embers Ad Infinitum

The archbishop of "Friendly Hand" brought Zug, Shao Liang, Mu Chi and others to meet the local bishop Antoniola under the alert of the Holy Emblem.

The cleric, who was over 1.8 meters tall, wore a black cloak and a minimalist mask, with no grass on his head. He looked quite strong and raised his arms, crossed them on his chest, and took a step back:

“Be alert is a reminder from God.

"Archbishop Dello, your rooms have been arranged."

The thin-haired Archbishop Dello wanted to give Antonio a hug in accordance with the most formal and sincere etiquette of "Friendly Hands", but seeing his undisguised vigilance, he had no choice but to turn around and show his back to him. , and said in Honghe dialect:

“Be kind to people and trust each other.”

The differences between the two major sects were immediately apparent.

Moreover, this is different from the Vigilance Sect and the Fear Sect, which are on different sides in terms of doctrinal focus. Friendly Hands is completely new and has no resemblance to the other two.

The only thing they have in common is that the "Friendly Hands" believe in the same "ghost girl" who held the age of ten in October.

If the vigilance sect and the fear sect were born from the same source, then "Friendly Hands" was picked up from outside.

This is somewhat true in a sense.

——In the era of chaos, the "friendly hand" originated from those people who needed to unite to fight against the "heartless" and various aberrant creatures. Those people relied on helping each other and cooperating sincerely, barely fighting a bloody road, and opening up different paths. The belief in "Yougu" spread among the settlements.

The concept of "Friendly Hands" and the "Salvation Army" have something in common, and the two parties do have a long and close cooperation.

It was not until the 10th year of the New Calendar that, due to the oracle of "Yugu", the "Friendly Hand" regularly sent people to attend the general church meetings between the Vigilance Sect and the Fear Sect.

It is precisely because of their existence that the Vigilance Sect and the Fear Sect did not repeat the previous disputes that led to a fight and almost killed Red Eyes.

In Zug’s self-deprecating words on the road:

Zhi Sui couldn't bear the unnecessary casualties suffered by his own believers due to a little doctrinal dispute, so he sent someone with a "friendly hand" to break up the fight.

After all the people who followed him turned around and turned their backs to Bishop Antoniola of the Vigilant Sect and finished saluting, Dello, the "friendly hand" archbishop, had a warm attitude and said in a soothing tone:

“I’ve been to Hongshiji before and had contact with the guy from ‘Underground Ark’. I’m an old friend.

"I don't know how he is doing now. Can I go and visit him?"

Antoniola wore a white minimalist mask and said in a deep voice:

"DiMarco is dead and the 'Underground Ark' has changed its owner."

"Did you do it?" Dello acted as if it was the first time he heard about this matter.

Antoniola shook her head:

"no.

"It's five outsiders."

"Are they also believers in Zhi Sui?" Dello asked "surprised".

Antoniola shook his head again:

"I don't know much about their beliefs, but they are definitely not religious believers, and they don't usually live in Hongshiji, they only come here occasionally.

"Actually, you should have seen them just now. When you entered the church, they just left the hall and returned to the underground."

"..." Zug next to him thought carefully and realized that Bishop Antoniola should be talking about Bai Chen and the four of them.

them?

They killed an awakened person whom Archbishop Dello considered stronger than him?

When did Bai Chen become so powerful?

Although her companions look like they come from a big force, they are not that strong, right?

too young……

As thoughts flashed through his mind, Zug asked with instinctive suspicion:

“Your Excellency Bishop, didn’t you say that there were five people who killed the original owner of the ‘Underground Ark’?

"We just saw only four..."

Antoniola made no secret:

"There is another intelligent robot, but he didn't come this time."

Bai Chen’s intelligent robot? Zug felt like things were right.

But he still didn't want to believe it.

In just a few years, Bai Chen has grown to the point where he needs to look up to him, and he has joined a team with unfathomable strength? Moreover, it is not that I have gained nothing in these years, it is already a huge difference compared to the beginning.

Archbishop Dello considered it and asked:

"The main force is that intelligent robot?"

Yes, intelligent robots are very capable of restraining awakened people in certain fields, even if the opponent has entered the "soul corridor"... After remembering this, Zug subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief, thinking it was reasonable.

"I don't know, I was not involved, and there is no surveillance video left at the scene." Antoniola replied calmly.

Upon seeing this, Archbishop Dello of "Friendly Hand" could no longer restrain his doubts:

“They are outsiders and don’t believe in Zhisui, so you just watch them break into the church underground and kill the owner of the Ark?

"The owner of the Ark is a religious believer."

Even their own sect, which is known for its friendliness, would not be able to do this kind of thing by opening the door to a thief!

Antoniola lowered her voice unconsciously:

"Zhi Sui acquiesced."

Dello was shocked, looked around and said:

"Zhi Sui acquiesced in killing the owner of the Ark?

"Then why don't you do it yourself? With the strength of your sect, it is more than enough to complete this matter.

"The incident happened suddenly and there was no time to ask the fearful bishops for support?"

Antoniola didn't make any answer, just raised her hand again and saluted:

“Be alert is a reminder from God.”

…………

In the afternoon, the "old transfer team" followed another smuggling team and went deep into Iron Mountain.

They had already sifted through the remaining books in the Ark in the morning and found no valuable clues. In addition, they also took the time to go to the Vigilance Church and visit the Warner Song He and Bishop Antoniola, and obtained some Iron Mountain City from them. Information about ruins.

The meeting place agreed upon by the "Underground Ark" management committee and the mountain monsters is at the bend of a mountain road.

There is a cliff on one side and a cliff on the other side. The terrain is very steep.

For the mountain monsters, once the smugglers show hostility, their companions hiding on the cliff will push down the boulders and confuse the situation. They and others will rely on their talents to climb down from the cliff and disappear into the dense forest. .

Four members of the "old tune team" got out of the jeep one after another and waited beside the car.

About ten minutes later, a group of mountain monsters with blue skin, sharp teeth, and a green-faced fangs flew down from the cliff with vines swinging around.

Like the fishmen, they were also alert enough. After a brief inspection, they discovered that there were four more strangers this time.

Before they could speak, Shang Jianyao had already raised his blue and white loudspeaker and shouted feebly:

"do not worry:

“You are human beings and we are human beings;

“You are here to trade resources, and we are here to trade resources;

"so……"

In order to save energy, Shang Jianyao used the "reasoning clown" that he was more familiar with this time.

The mountain monsters were instantly "persuaded", elected a representative, and took the initiative to ask:

"What resources do you want to trade?"

He used a more dialect-like gray dialect.

Jiang Baimian took the first two steps:

"We exchanged three boxes of flour for information about the ruins of Tieshan City."

These three boxes of flour were obtained from the "Underground Ark" with excess munitions.

The mountain monster representative was stunned for several seconds before saying:

"Just ask."

Jiang Baimian started with the simplest question:

"Did your tribe explore the ruins of Tieshan City during the chaotic era?"

"No at first, it was too dangerous there. After many of the 'careless ones' were eliminated, our elders tried to collect food." The mountain monster representative answered quite skillfully.

Jiang Baimian immediately asked:

"Did your elders encounter anything weird there? Did they collect any useful items or information?"

The mountain monster representative shook his head like a rattle:

“We have been mainly looking for food, clothes and quilts, and the other items we occasionally brought back were sold after someone went up to the mountain to trade them.

"Well...there were many powerful 'Heartless Ones' in the ruins of Tieshan City at that time, with terrifying abilities. We only dared to walk around them. There is nothing strange in other places."

Jiang Baimian thought for a while and said:

"Did you bring back any newspapers, magazines, or books?"

Generally speaking, unless you meet a scholar who studies the old world, it is difficult to trade such items.

The blue face of the mountain monster representative showed a slightly strange expression:

"Yes, there are. We use them to make fires, lay walls, make mattresses locally, and use them as teaching materials for children.

"But someone asked about it two days ago and actually read it. I didn't pick out any book."

Has anyone asked? Just two days ago? Jiang Baimian's eyes suddenly became sharp:

"Which people?"

Shang Jianyao then spoke, extremely "shocked" and heartbroken:

"You, you are not vigilant enough!

"How can you bring a stranger back to the tribe's location?"

The group of mountain monsters were silent at the same time, as if they didn't realize that this was a very serious problem until this moment.